There’s Something Special About Her Chapter 32

I didn’t think Gisela Lott was a terrible supervisor who would abandon her junior.

From the way she had treated Noah Benton just now, she actually seemed like quite a good senior.

Her words and actions were a little rough, but she knew how to roll up her sleeves and step in for a junior who couldn’t take care of himself, and she didn’t hesitate to nag him with genuine concern.

She had a strong sense of duty as a Crow, and she was just as deeply attached to them.

I could tell from the strangely relaxed expression and tone she had after we moved over to the real Nest.

In many ways, she had a personality that was rare in this line of work.

Giving someone your heart meant exposing yourself to the risks that could come from it.

‘Then there’s only one reason she would leave me like this.’

I hadn’t entered Gisela Lott’s circle yet.

It was a bigger problem than I had thought.

If Gisela Lott was simply the type to keep a high wall between herself and other people, it wouldn’t matter.

Just being a Crow might not be enough to make me someone special to her.

But what if it was because I wasn’t a ‘real’ Crow yet?

I let out a deep sigh and opened The History and Genealogy of Knox.

The door was closed, and there were no windows in this sealed room, but that didn’t mean there was no way to watch me.

Especially here in Knox, where all kinds of unbelievable mana-engineering technology were scattered everywhere.

I stretched my neck from side to side and started studying.

“Guess it isn’t over until it’s over.”

 

 

 

*****

 

 

 

 

 

Clack.

I opened my eyes at the faint sound coming from outside the door of my room.

“Ah, I’m so hungry I could die. What’s on the cafeteria menu today…?”

“I heard it’s not very good. Maybe we should just eat out…”

Judging by the voices fading away as they chatted, it seemed to be noise that had nothing to do with me.

I had suddenly woken up, so I wondered if I should go back to sleep, but the drowsiness was already gone.

Well, then.

Judging by the fact that they were talking about lunch outside, it seemed to be around midday, so there was no way I would fall asleep again.

I got up lightly and checked the window and door.

There were no signs of an intruder, and everything was just as it had been last night.

I picked up the necklace hanging beside the bed and stood in front of the mirror.

A woman with long black hair and red eyes was reflected in it.

When I quietly put on the necklace, she soon became a boy.

It was Runelk Eins, who was still too young-looking to be called a mature man, with vaguely blue eyes and fluffy blond hair that scattered like dandelion seeds.

Once I had returned to a form that felt much more familiar than my original one, I felt more at ease.

“Yaaawn. Should I go for a walk?”

It was a sudden impulse, but it turned out to be an excellent choice.

The weather was sunny and warm enough to make the sunlight sting my eyes, and yet simply taking a leisurely walk seemed to slowly relax all the tension in my body.

“Oh, Rookie! Going to get some food?”

“The cafeteria food is bad today. Go eat somewhere else.”

“Yeees, goodbye.”

People from other teams within the same action squad noticed me walking out of the lodging and tossed a few words my way before passing by.

“Days off are nice.”

That’s right.

Today was a day off.

According to Knox’s rules, there was supposed to be one day off every week, but because of the constant shortage of people, if you were lucky, a day off came around only once every two weeks or so.

Yesterday, when Gisela Lott heard about my day off, she glanced through some documents and casually said,

“Really? Then don’t come to the Nest tomorrow. Get plenty of rest.”

That was how I ended up with a real day off, free not only from the action squad but from the Crows as well.

So I should have been delighted, as if I had just gotten an unexpected cookie.

But…

“It still feels pretty suspicious.”

Five days had already passed since Gisela Lott gave me five books.

Along with ordering me to memorize two of them completely, she had simply left me alone.

Even when I went to the Nest, I spent each day looking through books filled with obvious information I already knew.

At first, I thought it wasn’t so bad because I had plenty of free time and nothing was particularly boring.

But now I was starting to wonder if I had become like a piece of furniture abandoned in the storage room and forgotten about.

“She even looked surprised to see me yesterday.”

I was talking about Gisela Lott.

I had been so bored that I left the storage room and went over to talk to her, but she was startled to see me and then gave me a day off as if I were a nuisance.

“I can more or less guess why.”

I stopped my leisurely walk.

I thought I had been walking along the outskirts where the action squad’s lodging was, but I had somehow wandered much farther inside than I realized.

Today was only my day off, while everyone else was in the middle of their work and would soon be coming out for lunch.

I stood at a busy intersection and watched the other people walking toward their respective destinations.

Then I thought without meaning to,

‘There wasn’t a rule saying I couldn’t come to the Nest on my day off… was there?’

Without thinking much about it, I turned around to use the passage toward the annex.

There was one thing I had overlooked as I impulsively went out for a walk and then impulsively headed back to the Nest.

To get to the annex, I had to pass in front of the main building.

In front of the main building was a broad avenue paved smoothly with gray stone.

At the main gate, where the avenue began, there was a small plaza.

It was a sort of meeting place where people gathered in small groups to enjoy the sunlight or chat with one another.

Since the plaza was always crowded, I didn’t pay much attention to it.

My destination was the annex, which could be reached by taking a side path at the fork that appeared just before reaching the plaza.

I walked along the avenue, keeping my ears open only to the conversations of the people passing by.

“The Winterdale Clan…”

“We’ll have to review the budget again…”

All the conversations sounded like extensions of their work.

Besides, although it was called a plaza, it was technically an attached facility in front of the main building, so nobody carelessly raised their voice or laughed and chatted loudly.

The main building was not only their workplace, but also the workplace of Duke Killian Knox and the seven executives.

“Rookie!”

So when I heard someone shouting my name, I thought I was imagining it.

Unless they were crazy, there was no way someone would shout that loudly in front of the main building.

“Rookie! Over here, this way!”

But when I didn’t stop walking, the voice only grew louder.

To make matters worse, all the people who had been talking among themselves nearby were now looking in my direction.

‘Seriously? They’re really calling me?’

I stopped in surprise and looked up.

In the very center of the plaza, in the best spot where the sun shone down most brightly, I saw Deacon Gold waving both hands at me.

Shouting someone else’s name loudly in front of the main building didn’t mean he was crazy.

He was simply an executive with enough absolute power that he didn’t need to worry about what other people thought.

“Rookie!”

And Deacon Gold wasn’t alone.

Perhaps they had been enjoying the sunlight together while smoking, because Dupon Clanshier was also standing there through the hazy smoke.

“Come over here!”

Damn it.

Was he really planning to keep doing that?

At this rate, even people working normally inside the building might open their windows and look out.

I hurried into the plaza.

Meanwhile, Deacon Gold rubbed out the cigarette he had been smoking in an ashtray politely held out by his aide, then waved his hand around to scatter the thick smoke, making a big fuss.

As a result, the sleeve of Deacon Gold’s clothes fluttered, and Dupon Clanshier, who had a cigarette between his lips, slightly frowned and stepped backward.

“D-Deacon, did you call for me?”

“Long time no see, Rookie. Have you been well?”

No, why did you call me?!

And why did you wait until everyone around here was staring at me?!

I wanted to shout that at Deacon Gold, who was calmly asking me how I had been, but on the outside, I smiled and nodded.

At the same time, I didn’t forget to discreetly watch Dupon Clanshier, who was observing us from a few steps away.

The cigarette in his large hand looked pitifully small.

“Oh, I’m late with the introduction. Brother, this is Runelk Eins. He’s the action squad member who took down the Green Merchant Lord.”

Deacon Gold said this to Dupon Clanshier.

It seemed that in private, the two were comfortable enough to call each other by familiar names.

Well, they had grown up inside the walls of Knox and had been close since childhood, almost like relatives, so it made sense.

“Brother, you even came to visit him when he was in the infirmary. Do you remember him?”

At Deacon Gold’s question, Dupon Clanshier took a deep drag of his cigarette until his cheeks sank inward, then rubbed out the ember in the ashtray and gave a short nod.

“I think I do.”

Hmm.

So we were pretending not to know each other.

A new Crow only had to do as the Crow captain told him.