Home/I Saved the Villain and Fell Asleep/ch 38

Chapter 38

I couldn't bring myself to turn around and met Kali's gaze instead.

Looking again, his face wasn't one of annoyance at the mention of Irein—it was the face of someone who'd encountered something and gone stiff.

I felt someone's warmth behind the now-quiet table. The rustle of fabric, and a warm hand landed on my shoulder.

"Hmm? It's been a while, but you're ignoring your brother? Oppa's sad."

Irein's pink hair swayed before my eyes. As he wrapped his arm around my neck and rubbed his face against the back of my head, I spoke in a trembling voice.

"Wh-who are you?"

It felt as if the flow of air had stopped. The honeyed, sweet voice that had been chattering cut off abruptly, and the hand holding my beer glass began to tremble.

Damn... Why did Irein suddenly pop up here?

Is this what it feels like to get caught by a guardian while committing juvenile delinquency?

Just then, a man standing diagonally behind Kali made an X with his arms and shook his head violently, as if his neck would fall off.

His face looked familiar—it was Irein's adjutant, Senté.

He was frantically sending me signals with his whole body, so I raised my hand and firmly grabbed Irein's face, which had sprouted above my shoulder.

"Wow, if it isn't my eldest brother! It's been so long!"

I continued in an obviously awkward voice. Kali, who had fully adopted a spectator mode as if this had nothing to do with him, sipped his juice with an annoying smirk.

Turning my head, I met Irein's eyes. His wide green eyes scanned my face thoroughly, then he made a subtly strange expression and leaned back slightly.

"...Who are you?"

Irein repeated my words back to me as if getting revenge, with a puzzled look. In response, I grabbed him by the collar.

"Waaah! My little sister isn't this tall! She's still this small!!"

Irein pointed near his thigh and shouted.

"What are you talking about! I'm taller than that!!"

When I snapped back, Irein finally broke into a mischievous smile.

"Ah! I get it! You're wearing the bracelet I gave you! So you are my little sister."

With all the commotion, my robe had slipped off, and I could feel Irein pressing his cheek against my crown and rubbing it.

Senté, who had been watching from a distance, let out a sigh of relief and approached. It seemed he hadn't wanted to stay near a bomb that could go off at any moment.

"Long time no see, Senté."

"Long time no see, young lady. This is hard to get used to—you suddenly grew up so much while I wasn't looking."

Since I doubted Irein would give me a proper answer, I grabbed Senté and sat him next to Kali.

"How did you end up here?"

"What do you mean? The Duke was in a frenzy after you and the young master disappeared. We were able to confirm your safety because you were wearing a magical tool with a location tracker."

'Ah, right. Location tracking!'

The age-transformation bracelet was one of the tools Irein had sent. And most of Irein's tools had location-tracking magic on them.

Both Kali and I knew that, but we'd completely forgotten.

"Rüyer is in the Heiren mountain range—it's a four-day carriage ride from the villa. I'm very curious how you got here so quickly, and where you were before suddenly appearing in Rüyer... For now, let's move to the lodging we've secured. It's too risky to leave Lord Irein loose like this."

Senté looked at Irein like a dog off its leash.

What happened before you got here?

"Brother, did you eat?"

"Hmm, did I? Senté, did I have dinner?"

"You did."

"Then why am I so hungry?"

"I said you ate."

"Maybe I didn't eat enough lunch? Hari, want to go have dinner with your brother?"

"You had four sandwiches an hour ago."

Senté sighed and gave up. Irein seemed completely unreachable. When Senté looked at me for help, I had no choice but to stand up.

"Fine. Let's go."

At times like this, it's best to just go along with it. Kali, looking disgusted, pulled his robe tight and pressed close to my side.

"Hari's grown so much, but why is the little chestnut still so small? Not eating enough? Is Hari not feeding you?"

"I'm big enough! I'm tall for fifteen!"

Kali's height was above average for a fifteen-year-old. But arguing with Irein right now was like playing along with a drunkard's nonsense, so I shook my head and stopped Kali.

"Huh? Where was our lodging again? Isn't this it?"

"It's the building next door, Lord Irein."

Grabbing Irein by the scruff of his neck, Senté went straight to the second floor, marched to the end of the hallway, flung open an empty room door, and tossed Irein onto the bed.

"Please let Lord Irein sleep."

"Didn't Brother say he was hungry?"

"He doesn't even remember eating the sandwiches. If he roams around in this state, it'll be a disaster."

Senté pressed down on Irein's head as he struggled to get up.

Senté hadn't always been like this. But after sticking with Irein for so long, it seemed Irein's craziness had rubbed off on him—Senté had gotten a bit strange too.

"I haven't had dinner yet, though. I'll go eat and come back. Your room is across the hall, and the young master's is the one to the left."

After explaining the room assignments with a weary face, Senté rubbed his shoulder and left the room. Watching him drag his tired feet out, I felt too sorry for him to stop him.

"I want to eat."

"Brother said you already ate."

"No, I didn't. I said I didn't."

"Yes, you did. Senté said you ate. Think about it—the sandwiches."

"Hmm..."

Irein pulled the blanket up to his chin and closed his eyes, as if trying to remember whether he'd eaten or not. But no answer came, no matter how long I waited.

Kali waved his hand in front of Irein's face.

"I think he's asleep."

"Ha... I'm exhausted."

After confirming Irein was asleep, I slumped into a nearby chair. What kind of sudden disaster is this?

I wanted Irein in his right mind, not one with a few screws loose.

"Kali, what about you? You barely ate. Are you okay not having more?"

"You only drank beer too. The first floor is a restaurant—let's go down together."

Good idea. I'd been so captivated by the first taste of draft beer that I hadn't touched any food, and now my stomach was hollow.

We went down to the restaurant and joined Senté's table to order food. As he ate with a haggard expression, I asked him about the auction I'd heard about at the tavern.

"Senté, do you know anything about the underground auction on Royce 1st Street?"

Irein and Senté traveled all over the empire, tracking dark mages and catching mages who committed crimes—either executing them on the spot or investigating them.

Their main tasks usually involved catching human traffickers who bought and sold young mages, or mages conducting unauthorized experiments.

The moment I heard "underground auction," Irein came to mind, so I asked just in case—and sure enough, Senté choked on his food.

"Hck!! Cough, cough!!"

"Drink some water."

I patted Senté's back and pushed a glass of water toward him.

"The villagers seemed to know about it, so I don't think it's an illegal auction."

"Ah, young lady. Are you interested in the underground auction? You shouldn't be interested in things like that."

"There's something I want to buy."

"Something you want to buy? Uh... what is it?"

"A mansion."

"Pardon?"

"A mansion."

"Ah... a mansion, a house. You want to buy a house. The young lady wants to buy one. I see."

Senté was so flustered he stuttered and kept making meaningless gestures.

Not buying it wasn't an option. That haunted mansion—I absolutely had to buy it.

Of course, the ghost part was a little concerning. No, actually, a lot concerning!

"I heard it's being held tomorrow evening. Do you think Brother would go with me if I asked?"

"Actually, we have business there too, so we need to attend."

"Huh? Business?"

"Yes..."

Senté smiled awkwardly. If it were a secret auction openly trafficking humans, the tavern waitress wouldn't have known about it. So they must be using a different method?

"What kind of business?"

"If I tell you, Lord Irein will kill me."

Irein's busy with work, so I guess I have no choice.

"Then I'll go with Kali alone."

"Pardon?!"

"Huh? You're busy, right?"

"Lord Irein won't allow it!!"

"Then we'll go secretly."

"Excuse me?! If I already know about it, that's not really 'secretly'!"

"Then you'll just have to keep your mouth shut."

"I don't want to die right now!!"

Senté wailed with a face that said he was losing his mind.

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