There’s Something Special About Her – Chapter 26

Author: Asternkm

The place Gisella Lott led me to was somewhere I had already been once before—the Nest.

We had started from a completely different place, yet we ended up standing in front of the same door with a dragon statue.

The secret passage that appeared behind the fireplace had only minimal lighting, and there were several branching paths like a maze.

So I had absolutely no idea which direction we were walking in.

“You’ve been here before, right?”

“I followed Sir Dupont Clansher here yesterday.”

The couch that had provided overwhelming comfort came into view.

And so did the soft carpet and the quietly burning mana-stone fireplace.

The moment I first stepped into this place, I had struggled to hide my amazement at every turn. But now, none of it seemed attractive at all.

That was because I had remembered an eternal truth I had briefly forgotten.

A workplace having luxurious supplies and facilities?

That was not a good sign at all.

It meant either they had to keep their employees from leaving with comfortable facilities, or they worked them so hard that this level of support was still worth it.

“That couch is really comfortable, right?”

“I suppose it was.”

“So you’ve already sat on it?”

“Yes, for a moment.”

That thing was especially the devil’s couch.

Its soft surface and firm, steady support for your rear were almost devilishly comfortable, but that wasn’t the problem.

This wide, enormous couch was perfect for using as a bed instead.

Which meant there was a high chance I might have to eat and sleep here without even having time to return to my quarters.

“You even had time to sit down. So it really is true that the boss has taken an interest in you?”

“I’m not sure what you mean by taken an interest in me…….”

“Sit. Let’s sit down and talk first.”

I really didn’t want to put my butt on the devil’s couch ever again, but Gisella Lott had already taken a seat across from me and gestured for me to sit, so I had no choice but to sit in the same place as last time.

‘Damn it.’

It was comfortable.

I knew it was the devil’s temptation, but even so, there was no denying how comfortable and cozy it was.

“Good grief, I’m tired.”

Gisella Lott propped both feet up on the low table in front of the couch and leaned back, half-sprawled across the seat.

“You’ve probably heard the basics from the boss. If you have any questions, ask.”

I almost blurted out, ‘Don’t you need to know something before you can have questions about it?’

But I forced the words back down my throat.

Instead, I slowly raised my right hand and asked,

“You’ve mentioned ‘the boss’ several times. Who exactly is the boss?”

“Our boss? Dupont Clansher.”

Gisella Lott said the first executive’s name as casually as if she were talking about a friend from her neighborhood.

“So Sir Dupont Clansher…… is the boss.”

Did that guy have ten bodies or something?

He was Killian Knox’s closest aide, the leader of the seven executives, the person ultimately responsible for all of Knox’s major affairs, and now he was also the boss of the real intelligence bureau?

Only then did I understand why Dupont Clansher had seemed so familiar with the Nest.

I raised my hand again to ask my second question, and Gisella Lott gave me permission with a nod of her chin.

“Who is Sir Gisella Lott?”

“Me?”

Gisella Lott pointed at herself with her index finger and asked as if my question were ridiculous. I nodded.

“You brought me to the Nest, so I assume you’re one of the Crows. But all I know about you is your name.”

“Ah, so you’re wondering who I am and why I left you a note telling you to come here?”

“Well, something like that…….”

“Yeah, I can see why you’d be curious.”

Gisella Lott chuckled and pointed at herself and then at me.

“You, new Crow. Me, your mentor.”

“M-my mentor…….”

I jumped up from the devil’s couch and bowed to Gisella Lott again.

“I’m sorry I failed to recognize you! I’m Runelk Eins! I look forward to learning from you!”

“Oh?”

Gisella Lott smiled, gently wiggling the tip of one foot that was propped up on the table.

“What’s this? I thought you’d be completely useless since you came from the action squad, but I guess that’s not the case?”

Cold sweat ran down my back.

From the moment we first met in front of the warehouse until we arrived at the Nest, Gisella Lott had acted as though there was nothing wrong.

But apparently, she had been judging me as ‘completely useless’ in her head.

‘Damn it.’

In any group, life became miserable if you got on the bad side of your direct mentor.

Especially for a newcomer, distinguishing between ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ was meaningless.

After all, you were going to get yelled at even if you just stood against a wall and breathed.

So there was only one standard that mattered:

‘Am I getting on my mentor’s nerves?’

Just becoming part of the intelligence bureau again was annoying enough.

I didn’t want to make things even harder by getting on my mentor’s bad side.

“I’ll be more careful from now on!”

“It’s my fault for not telling you I was your mentor. The Crows tend to be pretty casual with each other, anyway.”

Gisella Lott shrugged as if she really didn’t care.

But I wasn’t fooled.

Whenever that woman said something so reasonable, there was always some true feeling waiting behind it.

“But I do like keeping new recruits in line.”

See?

Still, I could understand liking to keep new recruits in line.

Newcomers needed to be taught strictly.

You had to work them hard and keep working them until they shined.

That was how they learned quickly and became at least somewhat useful.

“Yes, I can see that.”

“……Ha.”

Gisella Lott crooked one corner of her mouth and let out a hollow laugh.

She seemed to be in a bad mood.

Why?

She said she liked keeping new recruits in line, so I had simply agreed with her!

“Did I do something wrong?”

“No, no. I just think things are going to be fun from now on.”

“I think so too.”

I wasn’t sure why, but it was always better for your health to agree with whatever your mentor said.

“Riiight. Then sit back down for now.”

“No. I’m more comfortable standing…….”

“My neck hurts from looking up at you.”

“I’m sitting!”

“To think I have to explain every little thing like this before you understand. You really have a long way to go.”

She clicked her tongue as she watched me put my butt back on the devil’s couch.

“Then you’ve probably finished asking your questions.”

Who the boss was, and who she was.

I had only asked two questions.

“Now I’ll tell you what you have to do as a new Crow. First, return to the Nest immediately after your action squad shift ends. If you get caught wandering somewhere else, you die.”

She thrust a fist toward me, but I was more frightened by something else I had just realized.

“I still have to…… continue working in the action squad?”

“Of course. If you want to maintain your cover identity, you have to keep doing that job too. If you’re not Runelk Eins of the action squad, then what are you?”

Gisella Lott frowned and growled.

“If someone asks what you do at Knox, are you planning to tell them you’re a Crow?”

“No, that’s, that’s not it.”

I hurriedly rubbed my face with both palms.

If I didn’t, I felt like I might start spewing out a string of colorful curses in front of my mentor.

‘Right. She said it was a cover identity.’

The weight of Dupont’s offhand remark was terrifying.

‘Does this mean I have to go to work twice?’

It wasn’t just going to work twice.

I had to do both jobs—the action squad and the Crows.

My slow, peaceful life at Knox was truly over.

And it was all because of Killian Knox, that damn lizard.