IBRIP l CH 25

Chapter 25

Clink, clink.

At some point, I opened my eyes wide. My vision was shaking.

I must have passed out for a moment, but what was that strange scream…?

Raglia’s antics, throwing gold coins, almost made Yosef find out I was here.

The pile of gold coins was large enough to hide a person, which was fortunate. Otherwise, I would have been caught right there.

[Lily, His, Roya… Hehehe!]

Meanwhile, I noticed my wrist was moving on its own and looked up.

“Hey, can you stop?!”

Raglia, excited, was piling the gold coins onto my skirt.

“Raglia, stay still!”

In the end, I was so angry that I raised my voice again.

Dragon-killing weapons can be commanded by calling their names. I should have done this earlier!

In an instant, Raglia stopped with a whimper, and I quickly wrapped it in one hand and stood up hastily.

I shoved the gold coins back into the pile and, fearing someone might arrive, hurriedly opened the secret passage door and went inside.

Once again, I was greeted by deep darkness.

“…Raglia, can you do something about this darkness?”

I decided to try and called out to Raglia, but it was silent. Then, the bracelet suddenly began to flicker, and the red gem illuminated the surroundings brightly.

‘This thing is useful!’

I was impressed by something as simple as a flashlight and quickened my pace.

While the red light didn’t illuminate as well as white light, it was much more useful than the candle I had brought.

‘Oh, right. I dropped the candle…’

The thought that I had dropped the candle in the warehouse made me quietly groan. But it was already too late to go back for it.

I didn’t know how much time had passed since I fainted, and most of all, I was afraid of that unknown scream I heard just before I passed out.

Just hearing a scream from far away had made me faint.

I vaguely realized that the owner of the scream was the “dangerous thing” the spirit had mentioned, so I hurried my steps.

I quickly climbed the ladder and, in front of the round door, asked for the bracelet again.

“Raglia, is someone outside?”

[…No one!]

The two gold coins in my pocket clinked as they bumped against each other.

Raglia’s voice didn’t sound too happy, probably because I only brought Mari and Serena.

I groaned and opened the entrance.

“I’ll go back and get more. So don’t worry, just wait a little bit.”

…Actually, even though there were valuable items in the warehouse, I had no intention of touching them.

I may be poor, but I have pride. I swore I wouldn’t touch other people’s things.

But when I thought about it, the pile of gold coins in the basement wasn’t really Raglia’s, was it?

Maybe Raglia just gave them to me to play with because it was noisy?

‘And right now, Raglia is mine.’

So, those gold coins… could they be mine too?

I bit my lip, trying to suppress the smile that wanted to form.

I crawled through the window I had entered and moved as quietly as I could, my cold sweat dripping from the fear that Yosef might be nearby.

Rrrrrr.

Then, a thunderous sound came from my stomach. Surprised by the sound, I quickly inhaled.

[Jewels? Who am I kidding? I’m starving, and I didn’t even know it!]

I heard Raglia’s angry voice, and I whispered to it to quiet down.

Since I hadn’t eaten dinner, it felt like I might collapse any second.

“Huh? Why didn’t I eat dinner…?”

Why? Because Lottie didn’t bring me food.

Huh? When was the last time I saw Lottie?

‘I saw her in the secret passage of the office…’

I hadn’t gone back there since.

After returning to my room, I had been too focused on thinking about the basement and neglected Lottie…

I probably thought she would come back on her own.

I felt a pang of guilt as my fingers turned pale, and I quickly turned around, heading for the back.

‘Ah, no way. It’s so late, she wouldn’t still be there, right?’

I forced a smile as I stood at the entrance of the office secret passage, constantly glancing around.

Then, I opened the cleaning supplies cabinet and, just like Lottie did, pressed my palm firmly against the inside wall.

Click.

The door opened, and I silently squeezed through.

I walked down the familiar path, climbed the ladder again… and then, I heard a sniffle from afar, so I ran again.

I then gathered strength in my stomach and shouted loudly.

“Why are you still here?!”

Lottie, crouching with her freckled face buried between her knees, slowly raised her head.

Tears-filled Lottie smiled widely.

“I stayed here because you told me to. I did well, didn’t I?”

***

“I didn’t realize it had been so long.”

I brought Lottie back to my room.

Lottie, with her swollen face from crying, looked a bit dazed.

“It’s been more than six hours. Didn’t your legs hurt? Why didn’t you think about leaving?”

I felt frustrated and pounded my chest.

Lottie scratched her cheek and said, looking confused,

“I don’t know. I didn’t realize so much time had passed. I just thought I should wait until you came back…”

Having crouched for so long, Lottie’s movements seemed awkward.

“…Sorry.”

I muttered softly, feeling upset.

Lottie blinked, looking like she had no idea what was going on.

I made Lottie sit on my bed and gently pushed her head down to rest.

“You can sleep in my bed tonight.”

“Cool…”

“…Are you asleep?”

I looked down at Lottie, who had fallen into a deep sleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, and touched my forehead.

Soon, the bracelet trembled eagerly, and in a lively voice, it shouted.

[I hate you! I will hate you until the end for making me leave my jewels!]

I carefully took the gold coins from my pocket and said,

“First, you’re already dead.”

[I hate you! You broke the promise! You didn’t offer the treasures, so I’ll eat your eyes!]

“Second, there was no deadline for offering them, so you can’t take my eyes.”

[What?!]

I smiled slyly.

“It’s a lifetime contract, Raglia. Shall we stay together until we die?”

I blew a kiss at the bracelet, and Raglia began to flail wildly as it realized its mistake.

“Ugh! Raglia, stay still!”

But it had to stay still.

I carefully removed the bracelet. I had turned on the lights in the warehouse, and I also dropped a candle there.

It was a dusty place, so there might be footprints left with each step I took.

Would Yosef have seen it? I wasn’t sure, but I decided to assume he had.

I approached the built-in dresser. Opening one of the drawers, I found only two shabby outfits.

Next to it was a small box, and inside, I placed the two gold coins and the bracelet.

‘Wearing this bracelet might be a little risky.’

My original goal wasn’t to use Raglia.

I had made the contract with Raglia to prevent Yosef from using it and put out the immediate fire.

Of course, I didn’t plan on leaving it here forever. Raglia could complement the lack of power I had and could be useful in many ways.

But if I wore it around the Rohia mansion and it made a sound in front of others, it would cause a lot of trouble.

“Raglia, just sleep for now. Stay quiet until I come to wake you.”

Can it even sleep?

I felt a bit guilty for forcing a conscious entity to stay like this, but I closed the box, hoping it would sleep if it could.

…I had no idea how badly I would regret this in a few days.

***

‘The light is on.’

Yosef returned to the warehouse. The air in the warehouse felt subtly different.

‘Footprints.’

Yosef checked the unnatural marks on the crates and the dust that had been stepped on.

The footprints were unclear, as if deliberately smeared, but there were a few clear toe prints left.

“A child?”

Yosef’s eyebrows twitched as he stepped on the footprints.