RGDNF 09

Chapter 9

“Your daughter is very well-mannered. And she has quite a loud voice, too.”

“She’s not my daughter.”

Flip.

Vasily was rendered speechless.

That damn brochure…

More importantly, why hadn’t she gone home?

Why was she still here?

The child peeked her eyes over the edge again, watching Vasily’s reaction.

Perhaps sensing something unsettling about Vasily’s silent, motionless figure, the child began to fidget nervously.

“Next, next!”

She hurriedly flipped through the sketchbook.

Then, suddenly, her silver crown of hair wobbled, and she toppled backward—

“Eek!”

Grab!

“You little—! Are you trying to do something dangerous?!”

Vasily barked fiercely.

It hadn’t even taken two seconds for him to throw open the window and catch the little brat’s falling body.

Haniel dangled in midair, blinking.

She stared at his wide-open red eyes before twisting around to look behind herself.

The wooden box she’d been standing on had collapsed.

‘The floor’s covered with plenty of straw, so it would’ve been okay even if I fell.’

Thump, thump, thump, thump.

For some reason, Vasily’s heartbeat sounded terribly loud.

“……”

Haniel stared blankly at the man holding her in his arms.

They were large and solid arms.

And incredibly warm.

Almost like her father’s arms…

“Thank you!”

Haniel hurriedly hopped down to the floor.

Vasily let out a long sigh.

“Haah, seriously… So, why are you here?”

“Oh! I came to apply for the welcome kit!”

Smack!

Haniel thrust the brochure toward him.

Vasily narrowed his eyes.

“I seem to recall that I never welcomed you.”

“I did! You said I could live here until the day after tomorrow. That means I’m a resident for three days and two nights. So you gave me a short-term welcome, right?”

“……”

Was that really what he had said?

For some reason, it was difficult to argue with her logic.

“So, so! I was hoping you’d lend me just a little bit…! Your time, Your Grace!”

Vasily stared at Haniel.

Somehow…

She looked even grimier than before.

There was dirt smeared all over her cheeks, too.

‘A hoe…? Is that a hoe?’

Something that definitely looked like a hoe was sticking out of the bag on her back.

He couldn’t make sense of it at all.

“Hey, Hippo.”

“I’m not a hippo. I’m Haniel.”

“Where’s Camilla?”

“Butler Camilla? She went home for a bit because she said she’d give me some warm bread and soup! Sounds yummy, right?”

“……”

The Ice Knight is dead.

Apparently she’d melted completely some time ago and defected to become the Knight of Plain Water.

Vasily gave up on thinking about it.

He crooked a finger at Haniel.

“Come here.”

The child scampered over and, like a puppy, held out her front paw—

No.

Her palm.

Vasily casually placed the handle of a small pouch into the child’s hand.

“This is the welcome and goodbye kit I can give you.”

“Huhhh?”

“I’ll give you a pouch of southern sugar and a pouch of southern spices. Go sell them outside. You can make a decent profit if you sell them in the neighboring territories. Everyone around here goes crazy for anything from the South.”

“Mm.”

“Now we’re done, right? So please go.”

“Your Grace? Th-that…!”

Ruden’s horrified voice could be heard, but Vasily paid no attention.

“Goodbye, little brat.”

“No! Not goodbye! I can’t sell these!”

“Why not? You said there was an adult who came with you.”

Vasily repeated something Haniel had casually mentioned earlier.

‘She seems to have a perfectly healthy father, too.’

The picture he’d seen in the sketchbook came back to him.

“No, that’s not—”

Haniel’s eyes rolled around before landing squarely on Ruden.

Slowly, she scanned him from head to toe, then stopped at one particular spot.

Ruden followed her gaze and discovered a bit of straw stuck to the hem of his trousers.

Just an ordinary piece of straw.

And yet, for some reason, his shoulders flinched.

Before Haniel could say anything, Ruden abruptly snatched the pouch from her hands.

“Your Grace! You can’t! She looks like some little brat who crawled out of a slum somewhere. Just send her away! Why should Your Grace go this far for her?”

The angry knight’s voice filled the warehouse.

“She clearly came here deliberately to beg. Remember what happened before! We saved them, and they just sucked us dry, robbed the treasury, and ran off… At least those guys chopped firewood a few times! Why on earth would we keep some little brat around who isn’t going to be of any use to the territory?!”

“Hey.”

“No, no, that’s not all. Kids these days are even more cunning, so she’s obviously up to—”

“Ruden.”

It happened in an instant.

At the sound of Vasily’s low voice, the knight’s mouth snapped shut.

As though the loose, easygoing atmosphere from moments ago had all been a lie, the air around them suddenly tightened.

“That’s enough.”

Thud.

A large hand closed around Ruden’s shoulder.

“Shouldn’t you?”

An overwhelming pressure descended.

The Grand Duke’s ominous aura, which he’d kept neatly restrained beneath his light tone and casual demeanor, poured toward Ruden.

Vasily stared at the trembling knight for a moment before gathering his power again.

Then, as though nothing had happened, he casually dusted Ruden’s shoulders.

“Hey. Have things been rough for you lately?”

“……”

“I know you had a hard time going all the way to the South, but why are you being so stingy over sending a kid off with a few pouches?”

“…I’m sorry.”

“I’ll take care of things here, so go get some rest.”

Ruden hesitated before finally bowing his head.

Then he quickly left the warehouse with his subordinates.

‘What am I supposed to do about that?’

Vasily rubbed the back of his head.

‘And what am I supposed to do about this?’

He sensed the presence of the little brat standing behind him.

She was awfully quiet.

Is she crying?

Or has she already started?

‘This is exhausting in so many ways.’

A grown man had just pointed at her and shouted.

She must have felt unfairly treated, being branded as a bad little kid who only caused trouble…

Vasily abruptly turned around.

“Um, I’m sorry. I’ll apologize on his behalf—”

And froze.

“Huh?”

The child was smiling brightly.

“What for?”

“……”

An inexplicable feeling washed over him.

“Well, what my subordinate just said was a little over the line.”

“Oh!”

Haniel gave him a shy smile.

“It’s okay! People can get angry sometimes!”

She answered as though it were nothing.

Then, as though she’d suddenly remembered something, her expression changed to one of shock and she began waving both arms frantically.

“But, but! I didn’t come here just to suck you dry! Really! I’ve never even tried to rob the treasury. Well, I am aiming for the bread, the bread is definitely something I’m after, but that’s something I’m going to receive as the rightful reward for my hard work…!”

What is that supposed to mean?

“Anyway, I’m not dead weight anymore, so don’t worry!”

The way she said it almost made it sound as though she’d been treated as dead weight before.

Or perhaps she thought of herself that way.

For some reason, Vasily’s mood worsened.

He plopped down onto one of the nearby crates.

A long sigh escaped him.

“So.”

“Yes?”

“You wanted some of my time. What are you planning to do with it?”

Haniel blinked her large eyes.

“You said you wanted an hour.”

“Oh! Right!”

Haniel came scampering over.

“You’ll do it?”

“You said you were going to be a resident for three days and two nights, didn’t you?”

“……!”

“Then I should do what you ask.”

Vasily said it despite knowing that something was going terribly wrong.

“I don’t go back on my word. I’m actually a pretty decent lord, you know.”

“Waaaaah! Then, then!”

The child jumped up and down, grinning from ear to ear.

Vasily stared at her.

‘She’s really not my type.’

He didn’t like children.

And children who smiled a lot were even worse.

Those sorts of kids usually had something enormous hiding inside them.

‘This is going to be exhausting.’

Well, now that it had come to this, he’d humor her until the day after tomorrow and then send her on her way.

What could a six-year-old possibly ask for?

Eating bread together?

Looking around the village?

Something like that—

“Would you like to come with me to drain blood from the Mining Dragon’s corpse?”

“I’m sorry, but our territory is closed.”

What the hell is that brat?!

What on earth is she hiding inside that tiny body?!