Chapter 152: Side Story 8 

While Alexa was treating patients at the infirmary, Ysildus grabbed Terrun by the scruff of the neck and dragged him out. Terrun shot him a look of clear displeasure, silently demanding to know why he’d been dragged away from Alexa’s side like that.

Ysildus let out a dry chuckle. He thought he’d warned him enough times already. How could someone be this oblivious? Was this bear just born without a sense of awareness? Or was he pretending not to have one?

“Out with it. You wouldn’t have called me out here for no reason.”

Terrun glanced toward the room as he pressed for an answer.

“Terrun.”

At the low call, Terrun finally turned his gaze fully toward Ysildus. It wasn’t hard to read the warning behind that tone. Terrun scratched at his neck.

“I didn’t do anything.”

“I didn’t ask, did I? Sounds like you’ve got a guilty conscience.”

At Ysildus’s sharp remark, Terrun quickly shook his head. As if.

“I was just doing my best to protect Alexa.”

His reply was solemn, but Ysildus clicked his tongue in mild annoyance. The only reason he allowed Terrun to stay near Alexa was that he genuinely didn’t think Terrun had it in him to make a move on her. Terrun was just a bear, nothing more.

Ysildus gripped Terrun’s shoulder firmly. Terrun winced and pulled back from the grasp.

“I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Sure. Up until now.”

Ysildus smiled gently as he added,

“I hope that doesn’t change.”

Honestly, it was enough to make him pity himself for having to keep such a bear of a man as an aide. What on earth had Baron Visten done while raising this son of his?

“…Terrun.”

Still, Ysildus didn’t actually think Terrun was stupid. On the contrary, he was probably just quick to sense where he could safely stretch his legs.

“There’s going to be a shift in power within the Temperchi Empire. Power will start to move around Thersion. Some will try to align themselves with us. Others will try to strike. You understand what I’m saying, right?”

Now serious, Terrun nodded slightly. See? A bear with the cunning of a fox.

“Keep an eye on Jeremiah.”

“Jeremiah?”

“I don’t like the guy, but he’s the best card we’ve got. No doubt someone out there will take aim as soon as they realize he’s here.”

“Humans really live such complicated lives.”

Terrun shook his head. Wolves followed the law of strength: the strongest became the leader. That was true for both Carlisle and Ysildus. They were born with power strong enough to lead Thersion as Grand Dukes.

Anyone who faced Ysildus’s true form would feel fear. When the ferocity hidden behind his smile revealed itself, that was the real Ysildus. Alexa would probably never know that.

“Then you’d better do your job right, Terrun, before these complicated humans make things even more complicated.”

“When is Mother coming back?”

“Once Jeremiah safely becomes Emperor. She should return before my wedding.”

“You’re seriously sending Jeremiah to the Imperial Palace? He’s weak. Sure, for a human, he’s strong, but that’s all. Jeremiah isn’t a wolf.”

“That’s exactly why he has to go, Terrun. A human can’t stay among wolves forever. Unlike Alexa, Jeremiah is fully human. He’s not one of us.”

Ysildus spoke gently, quietly.

“What if he dies?”

Terrun liked Jeremiah. That bat-like man made it easy to complain about Ysildus with. More than that, Jeremiah wasn’t sly like other humans. Terrun believed that at the very least, Jeremiah wouldn’t betray Ysildus, Terrun, or Alexa.

“He won’t die, Terrun. Thersion will protect him.”

As long as he doesn’t screw around. Ysildus added the thought coldly.

He turned Terrun by the shoulders, directing his gaze. Terrun found himself staring at Jeremiah who hadn’t taken his eyes off Alexa the whole time.

“And there’s one more thing to be wary of, Terrun. What if Jeremiah tries to steal Alexa and run off with her? He’s pining like crazy over there.”

“…Alexa doesn’t like Jeremiah. To her, he’s just a friend.”

“I’m not talking about Alexa, am I, Terrun? What about Jeremiah?”

Terrun gulped. He was sure he’d never mentioned it out loud, yet this fox of a wolf seemed to know everything already.

“So you’d better keep your guard up, right?”

Terrun nodded quickly.

The air around Ysildus was practically vibrating with killing intent as if to say that if anything went wrong, he’d break Terrun’s neck and kill Jeremiah too.

Watching his poor friend, still glued to Alexa with no idea of the danger surrounding him, Terrun cried out silently in his heart:

Nope. This won’t do, Jeremiah. Fall back!

* * *

Do humans around here have no sense of compassion whatsoever?

It had only been two weeks since he arrived, but that was more than enough time to figure out how this place worked. The man clutched his dark red hair in frustration.

‘Is this why people say even a dung heap in the land of the living is better than the afterlife?’

His usual strategy of appealing to others’ sympathy, something that worked more often than not, had completely failed him here. At first, he figured it was because of his unfamiliar name, so he even borrowed the name of a soccer player he liked to make up something that sounded legit: Neimir Sentos.

But in this world, Neimir had been completely ignored.

Once it became clear that freeloading wasn’t going to cut it, Neimir had no choice but to look for a way to survive. The only ones willing to hire him, a man without even a proper ID badge, were those who operated in the shadows.

He’d wandered out of Thersion Castle, begged to be hired by anyone who’d listen, and ended up here, in a mercenary group full of rough men. Apparently, one of their decent fighters had recently died, so they gave him that guy’s spot. The man had gone into Thersion and never come back.

Neimir still didn’t fully understand what kind of place Thersion was.

But there was another reason this mercenary group had taken him in: they’d received another job related to Thersion. None of the mercs wanted to take it. The mission was incredibly dangerous, enough that they were ready to walk away from the money just to stay alive.

Then Neimir showed up. When he claimed to be from Thersion, they figured, Aha! Finally, a traitor from that closed-off bunch, and hired him on the spot. Even after being assigned the job, though, he was still sitting there with his face buried in the table.

“Godd**n it. This b*st*rd said he came from Thersion, so we gave him a chance, and now he’s just loafing around? Hey! You took the job, shouldn’t you be doing it? You don’t get paid unless you earn it!”

Neimir clenched his teeth and glared at the man who’d just kicked his leg.

“What, you got a problem? You gonna keep staring at me, or are you gonna get off your ass and move?”

“…Please stop.”

Neimir muttered under his breath.

If it were any normal job, he might’ve done as he was told. But this? They wanted him to kill someone. How the hell was he supposed to take on a job like that?

‘Don’t they have police in this world? What about forensics? Or is murder so common here they just don’t care anymore?’

By modern standards, this world was a total hellscape. How had he ended up in a place like this?

“What, don’t tell me you’ve never killed anyone?”

Well, it’s weirder that you have. But as he thought that, a name floated to the front of his mind.

‘Han Yu-hee.’

After he ran off with the money, he only ever heard one thing about her. That she’d died. He didn’t bother asking about the cause. Somehow, he just knew.

“Huh? Seriously? You’ve never killed anyone?”

…Maybe. Or maybe not.

He was probably the one who pushed Han Yu-hee off that cliff, metaphorically speaking. He could still remember her bright smile as she’d said, ‘My parents always dreamed of me opening a private clinic. I’ve finally made it happen.’

Maybe that was the last of his conscience speaking.

Even when he ran off with her money, it had weighed on him. It was just that, at the time, profit had mattered more than guilt.

“…I think I have.”

“Yeah?”

The man’s expression lit up.

“Then what are you hesitating for? Go make us some d**n money!”

Kicked out of the building, Neimir let out a long sigh and stared up at Thersion Castle. He’d been the one to walk away from it, and returning was also his choice.

So why did it feel like someone was shoving him forward against his will?

‘They said they were wolves, right?’

Wolves, describing people.

Apparently, according to the mercenary guy, people from Thersion were born with completely different muscle strength and stamina, physically superior in every way.

Dragging his feet, Neimir trudged toward the castle. Why did it feel like he was walking straight into the jaws of death? He didn’t have an answer.

……

T/N: Scamming Han Yu-hee in your last life, you deserve some hard bite on the neck from Ysildus