5. Come With Me
No matter how he turned it over in his head, he couldn’t believe what was happening. In the end he thought, To hell with it. Whatever happens, happens.
“I may have gone too far. My apologies. I’m Ar— no, call me Dante. And you are?”
“I’m Lina. I’m sorry too. I didn’t even thank you for helping me.”
Dante laid the unconscious Mark on a cot inside the guard post. Before he could leave, Lina decided to settle one thing.
“And what are you going to do about this?”
“About what?”
“You tore up the burial mounds. And the plaque and the shovel are broken.”
Once she’d laughed hard, the words came easily.
“The mounds and the plaque—those were the boar. And the shovel—you broke that, didn’t you?”
A man this handsome and this prickly? So much for a pretty face.
Lina refused to back down.
“Wasn’t it you who drove the boar into the cemetery in the first place? That makes you half responsible!”
“I drove it here?”
He flinched, then smoothed his face as if nothing were amiss. Of course he hadn’t herded the boar in.
But if someone asked why he hadn’t dealt with it sooner… he had no excuse. The moment he spotted the boar near the cemetery, he’d thought of the former gravekeeper girl.
Maybe I should step inside the cemetery…
He’d been distracted for just a moment—and lost the boar. In that sense, it was partly his fault. He hadn’t handled it in time.
“If you’re a hunter, be professional and take care of it in the woods. Driving it here could have ended in disaster. What if mourners had been around?”
“A hunter?”
“You’re not?”
“All right, all right. Fine. I’ll pay for everything. On one condition.”
“What condition?”
He tapped the bandages wrapped around his brow.
“Thanks to you I’m dizzy and need an assistant. How about working as mine? Come with me.”
Ghosts who had risen early were clamoring from afar.
Lina! No!
Don’t go off with a stranger!
Of course, Lina couldn’t hear them. Yet perhaps by some sixth sense, she answered without hesitation.
“No.”
“…What?”
He seemed not to believe his ears.
“Why should I quit my job for someone I met today? Especially when you’re the one who caused the problem to begin with?”
Caused the problem? A vein twitched on Dante’s brow again. Not entirely wrong—still, she was going out of her way to needle him.
His fist clenched before he noticed. He forced a smile with twitching lips—so stiff it looked like a tic.
“Listen, miss.”
But when he met the sparkle in her eyes, the tension in his mouth loosened a little.
“Bodyguard work is far better. Be a gravekeeper all you like—people will avoid you like the plague. Whispering about ghosts.”
“Excuse me? What’s wrong with being a gravekeeper? They just raised my weekly pay!”
Dante snorted.
“You do know there’s a Crown Princess selection ball at the end of the month?”
“Yes.”
“Commoners can attend. The whole empire’s in a frenzy over it, and you think earning money matters more?”
Lina snorted right back.
“Listen, mister.”
“M—mister?”
“I don’t know what’s so great about a prince I’ll never even meet.”
Dante burst out laughing in disbelief.
“You—honestly… hah.”
“Even if I went, I wouldn’t be chosen. After buying a dress and paying for etiquette lessons, who’s refunding that money?”
“So you’re not interested in anything but money? Why are you working here, of all places?”
He asked seriously, wondering if she had circumstances she couldn’t share.
“Obviously… to make money.”
“And why skip a once-in-a-lifetime event just to earn cash?”
“Mm… that’s…”
No neat answer sprang to mind. Dante’s lips tipped up; he asked, unhurried:
“All right. How much have you made here so far?”
He flashed a lethally charming smile. Lina flushed and mumbled. A smile like that at a first meeting was unfair.
“One hundred and fifty…”
“What? A hundred and fifty thousand gold?”
“…A hundred and fifty gold.”
For a moment Dante wondered if his hearing had failed. Surely he’d misheard. By his standards, that wouldn’t buy a proper meal.
“…”
Lina could tell he was incredulous.
Why am I answering him so honestly?
She regretted it at once. They’d only just met. He looked thrown, so she added, a bit defensive:
“Starting this week, the pay goes up to sixty gold a week.”
Dante was silent a beat, then came back to himself.
“G-good. Then bodyguard work is even more the better choice.”
“Pardon?”
Maybe she misheard, but his tone almost sounded gentle.
“You clearly don’t know. As a guard, you can pick up items dropped by monsters—money comes fast. It’s not even comparable to gravekeeping.”
Lina’s head snapped up, interest piqued.
“Really?”
“Of course. I don’t go out every day, so you’d only need to come when I do.”
“Oh—so only sometimes.”
“And think about it. Who cuts the finer figure—a gravekeeper, or a dashing swordsman?”
Comparing a gravekeeper to a dashing swordsman? Obviously the one with “dashing” attached… She was about to snipe back, then shut her mouth. Something about him radiated a do-not-cross dignity.
“So if we slay monsters or find items, do I keep everything?”
“Whoa there. Don’t get ahead of yourself. You’d be my assistant—follow me and help gather things. Even so, you’ll earn far more than here.”
A sudden drive surged in Lina. It stood to reason: with skill, a swordsman could earn money quickly.
“Then let’s set terms. Sixty–forty?”
Heterochrome eyes narrowed as he looked down at her. He had to be at least six-foot-three. Amused, clearly.
“Keep dreaming. Ninety–ten.”
“T-that’s too— Seventy–thirty?”
Dante’s mismatched eyes curved as he studied her face. Her soft-violet irises shone; her flushed cheeks looked like a novice merchant braving her first haggle.
Even ninety–ten would beat gravekeeping by a mile, but if she lost outright, she’d be disappointed. He wouldn’t mind zero–ten for himself; still, too much kindness could be poison.
“Eighty–twenty. Take it or leave it.”
Lina fell into serious calculation. Was eighty–twenty decent?
“I’m leaving. If you’re in, be at the west forest gate by nine in the morning. You can’t miss the big oak.”
Far off, the ghosts were in an uproar.
“Over my dead neck! Lina—refuse him!”
“Hey—why are you strangling my neck?!”
“He’s trying to whisk away our sweet Lina!”
They scuffled among themselves in frustration, but none dared step forward.
Neither Lina nor Dante noticed how near the ghosts were. Dante, however, naturally sensed the chill of magic. In a place steeped in death, that cold was normal. Even with his considerable power, he felt a touch of it. Rubbing the gooseflesh on his arms, he shook his head.
This won’t do. Leaving her alone to keep a cemetery…
Lina ignored Dante entirely, absorbed in her sums. Amused by the unexpected sight, he turned away.
“Even if I was careless—she knocked me out. I’ll need to keep her close and observe.”
His features cooled at once. His footsteps soon vanished into the wind.
“Oh dear, Lina mustn’t leave!”
“Exactly! The outside world is dangerous!”
“No, no!”
A few ghost-knights, unable to contain their anxiety, flew to Reinhardt.
“What do we do, Captain? We can’t just let that dark fellow steal our Lina!”
“He’s right! Out there, we can’t protect her!”
“We have to stop her from going!”
Reinhardt’s face grew heavy. He too had watched the exchange between Lina and the intruder from afar. His ash-gray eyes clouded over.
If only he could follow, he would protect her—at least until the red light faded from the holy sword, Calibur.
“…”
He looked down at his hands: translucent, spectral. For the first time, he found himself envying a living man’s flesh. Never once had he regretted laying down his life for king and country—until now.
Seeing his response, his men slumped in resignation.
“Ahh…”
In life, Reinhardt had been a thoughtful commander who looked after his subordinates, though he was reserved for his age—more proper and dignified than talkative. Standing there longer wouldn’t change anything; he wasn’t likely to say more.
“So there’s nothing we can do…”
One by one, the ghost-knights drifted back to their places. They knew their limits well.
They were specters. The barrier kept them from leaving the cemetery entirely. Powers or no, that made them little different from prisoners.
Worried or not, they couldn’t follow and guard Lina. Truthfully, even if she stayed as gravekeeper, they couldn’t protect her by day. In this situation, there was almost nothing they could do.
“Lina…”
Reinhardt murmured the name he could not shield, recalling the crimson glow along Calibur’s blade.
“Be safe…”
Tenderness tinged his voice.
To be continued.
