There’s Something Special About Her - Chapter 40

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 40.
Ironically, the most decisive clue came from Noah Benton’s slip of the tongue.
“You’re not the first person to score perfectly on an exam he set, are you?”
Noah Benton had said he was the youngest among the Ravens.
For someone so timid, it was telling that he’d grown this excited and pleased over such a long time.
Then where had all those who’d solved the problems set by Gisela Rote gone?
If they’d left this organization for some reason, were they still alive?
That couldn’t be.
Only the Ravens knew about the Ravens’ existence.
For various reasons like this, I’d already suspected I hadn’t been fully recognized yet.
‘Though I never expected them to drug the cookies.’
When I remembered the taste of cookies that had been so much to my liking, I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly.
My taste turned out to be “cookies that taste like medicine.”
And I’d eaten five of them in one go, fighting off drowsiness the whole time.
……No one saw that happen, I hope.
I sat up so abruptly out of embarrassment that the room spun.
‘Seems like I overdosed.’
They wouldn’t have expected me to be able to eat five of those cookies.
“You seem to have a sensitive constitution when it comes to drugs. We’ve never had a case where someone had difficulty breathing like that before.”
Noah Benton’s guess was wrong.
If anything, I had a constitution resistant to medication.
It had become that way from building up toxin resistance.
‘The proper dose would be one cookie? Or maybe two?’
Even after seeing the iron bars of the Underground Prison and determining the situation wasn’t real, how mortifying it was when the truth slipped out moment by moment.
Especially that part…….
“I wish you’d forget it.”
That wouldn’t happen.
The fact that a Raven named Dimark Shren had bothered to mention it again meant it had burned itself deep into memory.
“Sigh.”
How embarrassing.
Still, my first impression of Dimark Shren wasn’t bad.
No matter what form you take, you’re still one of us in the Nest.
That’s what he’d said to me while flicking my head.
I knew he wasn’t speaking with knowledge of my situation, and I knew those words would mean nothing if it were revealed that I wasn’t Runelk Ains but Helena Morton.
But still.
Those words weren’t unpleasant to hear.
“I’m back!”
Just then, Noah Benton’s voice came from outside the door.
He seemed to have returned with food.
I was fully awake anyway, and rolling around in bed felt pointless, so I’d just reached for the headboard to get up when something caught.
Clink.
A small note lay beside the pillow along with something round.
“A pocket watch?”
It wasn’t mine.
I tilted my head in confusion and unfolded the note, finding a brief message.
It was written in Gisela Rote’s rough handwriting.
[Ravens have no days off.
Starting tomorrow, come on time.]
“Huh.”
For some reason, all the strength drained from my shoulders.
I stayed sitting on the bed, fiddling with the pocket watch in my hands.
And once the watch’s solid surface had warmed against my body heat, I slowly stood.
“Stolen sandwiches taste the best.”
Tap.
As heavy as the weight of the pocket watch tucked into my inner pocket, my chest felt weighted down.
***
The next day.
I was walking through the Annex Building.
Of course, I’d taken a long detour to avoid the main avenue in front of the plaza, just in case I ran into Deacon Gold again.
“I’m not late.”
When I checked the pocket watch, I still had about an hour before my shift started.
Click.
The cover closed with a pleasant sound, and I tucked the watch away carefully.
But I didn’t head straight to the Warehouse with Fireplace.
There was somewhere I needed to go first today.
The Main Kitchen on the first floor of the Annex Building.
Unlike the Barracks Cafeteria, it was responsible for meals for those working in the Main Building.
So naturally it would be a bit more calm and quiet…….
“Celery! We’re short on celery! Get some more, quick!”
“Who’s on fire duty?! Are you trying to burn all the bread?! Can’t you control the heat properly?!”
“Who’s the idiot that chose shellfish for tonight’s main—something so labor-intensive?! This is duel-worthy!”
……Or so I’d thought, but no.
Kitchens were warzones everywhere.
Doctors, cooks, knights—whatever their profession, there was supposedly an inverse relationship between blade-wielding skill and character, or so academia claimed.
“Hmm.”
I was peeking in, wondering who to talk to without getting stabbed with a bread knife, when I spotted someone coming out from the pantry area carrying an armful of celery.
A kitchen apprentice who looked about sixteen years old.
“Excuse me!”
“What?! I’m swamped!”
Already so rude despite being so young.
The kitchen’s future looked very bright indeed.
“Sorry to bother you. Could you call Rene Berk for me?”
“Rene? You want her?”
The apprentice looked me up and down with a skeptical eye before answering smugly.
“Then wait a minute!”
“Thank you for—Wait, that runt?”
The apprentice didn’t even wait to hear my thanks before rushing back into the kitchen.
Maybe I should slip some worms into his apron later.
No, I should hold back.
Given his temperament, he’d probably become an incredible cook one day.
I was steadying my nerves with deep breaths when
“Rookie?”
Rene Berk emerged from the kitchen with quick steps and her eyes widened when she spotted me.
“What brings you here?”
“I have something to give you.”
“For me……?”
“Could you hold out your hand?”
Rene Berk extended her hand uncertainly, following my instructions.
Whether from hurrying out of work, her clasped hands still had round water droplets beading on them.
I pulled out what I’d prepared from my coat pocket.
“It’s a token of my thanks for always baking such delicious cookies.”
A wooden box with rounded edges and a flat surface settled into her small palm.
“What is this?”
“Try opening it.”
As I smiled and spoke, Rene Berk mirrored my smile with a faint one of her own.
Click.
I’d done some searching to find a lock that was easy to open yet wouldn’t accidentally come undone.
Rene Berk gazed at the beads nestled tightly in the small box for a moment before asking.
“Candy……, is it?”
“That’s right. You like candy, don’t you?”
“I do like it, but…….”
“As you know, I don’t care much for overly sweet things. But since someone knowledgeable about desserts recommended the shop, the taste should be good.”
The ‘someone knowledgeable about desserts’ I mentioned was, of course, Deacon Gold.
I’d gone through such trouble to dissuade him when he asked if I wanted candy and insisted on buying some to send.
“I didn’t bake cookies because I expected something in return. Still, I’ll treasure these and eat them carefully. Thank you, Rookie.”
“I’m glad you like it. Well then.”
I glanced around briefly.
The corridor was empty, and the kitchen was still utter chaos.
There didn’t seem to be anyone idle enough to notice or eavesdrop on our conversation.
I leaned close to Rene Berk and whispered near her ear.
“I’ll head to the Nest first.”
“……What?”
“I’ll use the watch well. Thanks to it, I don’t think I’ll ever be late again.”
“Rookie, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
I said nothing and simply looked at Rene Berk.
She kept her lips sealed as well.
Silence flowed between us for a moment.
How much time passed like that.
“One moment.”
She excused herself to me, then called over a boy who’d just emerged from the kitchen carrying a large basket.
It was that culinary yellow bud from before.
“Jimmy, tell them inside I’m clocking out thirty minutes early today, would you?”
“Today’s slow enough that it should be fine. But where are you two going?”
“Do me this favor.”
“Tch, got it.”
The apprentice went back into the kitchen.
“Should we go together for a bit?”
“Yes. But was that kid serious? Today’s really slow?”
I couldn’t believe it.
If that was slow, what on earth did busy look like?
She led me to the most secluded room off the corridor where the kitchen was.
It seemed to be a place for storing cleaning supplies like brooms and wooden buckets.
I was looking around briefly when I heard a ‘click,’ and I turned.
She’d reached back with her hand to lock the door, and her smile vanished in an instant.
“When did you figure it out?”
Different appearance, but the menacing expression and careless tone.
At last—the Rene Berk I knew. Or rather, Gisela Rote.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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