IBRIP l CH 79

Chapter 79 

[“Aaaahhh! Get me out of here! You are the worst owner ever!”]

The bracelet shook with rage. I gently cupped it and said,

“I don’t know where your nose is, but… is this any better?”

[“I shouldn’t have made a contract with you! I left all my jewels behind! You promised to give me a mountain of new ones, but you never kept that promise!”]

It sounded like Raglia was about to cry. I started to feel guilty and said,

“I’m really sorry. But I will keep my promise. I just need a little more time, I swear!”

[“I don’t believe you! Not at all! Hmph! Wahhh!”]

“Ahhh! Okay, okay!”

To calm down the crying and shouting Raglia, I made an offer.

“…I get an allowance now. I think I can afford to buy you at least one gem.”

I knew I shouldn’t be spending the Emperor’s money carelessly, but Raglia sounded so desperate that I felt I had to buy one.

“What kind of gem do you want?”

[“Red! A blood-red gem!”]

“Alright. I’ll buy it tomorrow. Now be quiet, please.”

[“Take me with you! If you lie again this time, I really won’t forgive you!”]

“Fine, if I lie again, I’ll— I’ll dip my hand in peanut butter!”

Only after I said that did Raglia finally calm down.

I swung the bracelet around to scare away bugs and waited for the time to pass.

But then—splash—

No way. Someone’s really coming down here?

I froze. I could hear footsteps in the not-so-distant water.

“It’s hard for taggers in such a huge place like this. But this tag game was really just an excuse to make you run around. So I didn’t mind.”

It was Joseph’s voice.

I covered my mouth and backed deeper into the dark tunnel.

Splash, splash…

His light footsteps were slow but steadily coming toward me.

“I knew I wouldn’t be able to search the whole arena. I’m not like Boris or Oscar—I’m not good at running. So I wanted to narrow things down.”

“…”

“Did you know? Mice dig into the ground like crazy when they’re surrounded by enemies.”

Joseph was heading straight to where I was hiding.

“But who would expect a noble to hide in a place this dirty—unless they had something really important to hide?”

I clenched my teeth.

Joseph appeared with a shadowy smile on his face.

“Knew it. We really do think alike.”

“…”

“You were the mouse hiding in the warehouse that day, weren’t you, Izana?”

I swallowed hard and slowly crawled out of the hole.

“…How did you know exactly where I was?”

The sewer was full of paths. But he found me so quickly.

Joseph pointed at the ground.

“Sewers are full of dirt and grime. Your footprints were clearly visible.”

There were faint footprints beneath the filthy water. You had to look carefully to notice them.

Joseph bent down to examine them and said,

“The size and direction match the footprints I saw in the warehouse. And your way of walking is different from other nobles.”

“So… you changed the game rules and brought up the bracelet just to make me panic?”

“Yes, exactly.”

Joseph glanced around the sewer.

“The arena is huge and you’re small—there were too many places you could hide. I had to cut down your options.”

“What if I didn’t come to the sewer?”

“I didn’t think about that. But if I were you, I would’ve come here too. It’s the kind of place no one else would go. If it were me, I’d have even put up a ‘Do Not Enter’ sign to make sure.”

He then smiled and added, “Anyway, let’s get out of here. Not the most pleasant place to be.”

He walked ahead.

I caught up and asked, “What about the others?”

“They’ve all been caught.”

“What wish are you going to ask from me?”

Joseph suddenly stopped walking. So I stopped too.

“Are you going to ask for the bracelet?”

Joseph let out a small laugh.

“Of course not.”

BEEP—BEEP—

The timer went off, loudly announcing the end of the game.

Joseph smiled and said,

“Izana, you’re the rightful owner of Raglia. Even if I took it, it wouldn’t mean anything. I just wanted to know what you were thinking.”

So… in the end, he cornered me to make me reveal something myself.

“…Are you going to tell anyone about Raglia?”

“There’s no reason to. It’s a forgotten relic anyway. Don’t worry, Izana. I don’t want to cause you trouble. Even if I wanted to… it wouldn’t be so easy anymore.”

“Then what will you wish for?”

“I haven’t decided yet. The wish was never really the point.”

Hearing that he didn’t care about Raglia made me feel a little relieved—yet strangely more anxious.

It reminded me again how dangerous Joseph could be. He wasn’t just clever—he was truly hard to deal with.

—

We returned to the outdoor training arena.

But something shocking was happening.

“Both of you, stop right now!”

Boris and Oscar were being held back by several knights, but they looked like they were ready to tear each other apart.

Lord Radd stood between them, shouting in anger. But they didn’t seem to hear him. They were both so furious, they looked like they’d attack at any second.

“What the heck happened?!”

Even the dog Berry, who had been tied up earlier, came running freely toward Joseph, barking excitedly.

Joseph patted Berry on the head and said,

“Oscar let Berry loose so he could find Boris, who was the last prey besides you.”

“Isn’t that against the rules?”

“Only magic is banned. You can do anything else. Oscar really wanted to win—maybe because of how badly he gets along with Boris. But as soon as he touched Berry, Boris came out of hiding on his own.”

“I guess Boris got mad because Oscar touched Berry without permission?”

Boris did care about Berry a lot.

Still, for Boris to reveal himself in the middle of a game just because of that felt… strange.

“If you want to know why they hate each other so much, you should ask Oscar directly. It’s something personal.”

Joseph frowned slightly.

“It hasn’t been long since I started to understand Oscar. He’s hard to figure out. But that’s why I’m glad we became friends.”

I walked closer to the chaos to figure out what had happened.

From up close, it was obvious why Lord Radd was so furious.

Boris and Oscar both had bruises on their faces—looks like they had actually fought.

“My wish is for you, Boris Rohia! Fight me right now if you dare!”

Oscar’s usually gentle face was twisted with rage.

“If you lose, I’ll break your legs too!”

“Go ahead and try!”

Boris shouted back without fear.

“You think I’d still be crying over that after all this time?!”

That?

I looked between the two of them, both radiating pure hatred, and thought,

I never really thought Oscar was that important in the original story since he disappeared halfway through…

Oscar.

Oscar Tradi.

Why did you disappear?

Just as that thought came to mind, a certain line from the original story popped into my head:

***

“My son—the only heir of the Tradi family—went to Boris Rohia’s funeral and came back dead, Your Majesty! Don’t you remember how much Yudis Rohia hated Oscar because of what happened to Boris?!”

***

Oh…

Why did I only remember that now?