There’s Something Special About Her – Chapter 35

Author: Asternkm

“There’s Elza, Elza Weiden.”

“I’m Mina Köhler!”

“I-I’m Rine Berg.”

Elza, Mina, Rine.

I rolled their names around in my mouth for a moment, then bowed my head.

“Thank you every time. I’ve been enjoying them.”

I was simply thanking them sincerely, but for some reason, the three of them burst into giggles.

Their lively laughter was nice to hear, so a smile naturally spread across my face too.

“But I feel really sorry for always receiving things like this. I’m not very good at cooking…”

When I said this while scratching my cheek, the three waved their hands.

“Oh, Rookie, it’s more than enough for us if you enjoy eating them!”

“That’s right. Especially Rine. She thinks about Rookie all day long. A few days ago, she even went to look for Rookie by herself without telling us! How unfair, keeping it all to herself!”

“You came to look for me?”

I had no memory of that at all.

When I looked at her with my head tilted, Rine seemed a little flustered before explaining.

“I had a little free time in the morning… It wasn’t anything important! I just got some delicious chocolate and went to your room to see if you liked it. But it seemed like no one was there, so I came back.”

“I see.”

“You must be really busy with action squad work these days, Rookie.”

“Not particularly…”

When I stared at her, Rine hurriedly looked away.

Watching the two of us, Elza asked suspiciously,

“Rookie, you don’t have a girlfriend, do you?”

At Elza’s words, Mina and Rine looked upset.

“A girlfriend?! No! I mean, it’s not that he can’t have one, but still…”

“We, we should wish for Rookie’s happiness…”

I hadn’t even answered yet, but the three of them were already looking troubled and wishing for my happiness.

At this rate, there might even be a rumor going around that ‘the Little Hero is dating!’

There was hardly anything more interesting to talk about than someone else’s love life.

“No, I don’t. I don’t have anything like a girlfriend.”

“Then where were you?”

It was a sharp question from Rine.

She had only said ‘a few days ago,’ so I had no way of knowing exactly when she had come looking for me.

Besides, if it had been in the morning, I would have been buried in the Nest’s storage room after finishing my night shift with the action squad.

I answered with an expression that showed how unfair I felt.

“I was probably in my room.”

“But you didn’t answer even when I knocked…”

“I’m a very heavy sleeper. Once I fall asleep, I’m completely out and can hardly wake up. That’s why my seniors scold me quite often.”

At my excuse, Elza and Mina became very excited and whispered among themselves.

“…Sleeping a lot is a cute point…”

“…I should tell everyone at the Rusamo meeting…”

Of course, I could hear every whisper passing between them. I had sharp ears even when I was sleeping, let alone when I was awake.

But I pretended not to hear.

It was their private conversation, after all, and more importantly, I couldn’t even begin to guess what they were talking about.

“Then, Rookie.”

Rine, who had been standing apart without joining her friends’ conversation, spoke to me.

“If I come to your room next time, will I be able to see you?”

“Oh my.”

“Is she crazy?”

Elza and Mina stared at Rine with wide eyes, but they didn’t stop her.

Instead, they seemed to be cheering on their friend for finding the courage to say it.

“Hmm.”

I paused for a moment, then shook my head.

“That might be difficult.”

“I won’t come often! Rookie needs to rest too.”

Rine looked deeply hurt, but she didn’t back down.

Her earnest attitude was enough to make the other two feel sorry for her too.

“But if you just open the door for a moment…”

“I don’t want you to come into the action squad dormitory, Rine.”

“…Rookie finds me annoying.”

Rine muttered dejectedly.

She looked upset enough to make me think, ‘Should I just tell her she can come?’

Especially since I had been receiving cookies from her all this time.

However, I spoke in a calm but sincere tone.

“The action squad dormitory isn’t safe for someone like you to come into. I feel a little bad saying this about the action squad I belong to, but…”

I let my voice trail off, cleared my throat once, and continued.

“There aren’t any female members in the action squad right now. So the dormitory is full of men… Anyway, I don’t want someone I’m grateful to because of me to end up in a difficult situation.”

“Rookie…”

“That’s so touching…”

Elza and Mina covered their mouths, deeply moved.

It was exactly the reaction I had intended.

I awkwardly messed up my hair, then looked straight into Rine’s brown eyes and asked,

“Do you understand, Rine?”

“…Yes.”

“It’s the same for you two. From now on, let’s meet in open, bright places when your shift ends, just like we’re doing now.”

At last, Rine nodded.

Only then could I smile in satisfaction.

****

After parting with the three women, I went straight to work for the second time that day.

“I’m back.”

The words the other Crows always said whenever they entered the Nest had somehow become natural for me too.

“Is no one here?”

The Nest was unusually quiet today.

Wondering if someone might be lying around somewhere like last time, I walked around the office area and checked every corner.

“Really, no one’s here.”

I hadn’t seen a man named Konrad since my first day.

He had disappeared while I was studying in the storage room, so I still didn’t even know what he looked like.

Noah Benton, on the other hand, was always there, to the point where I wondered if he was a ghost bound to the Nest.

But today, his seat was completely empty.

“So I’m alone.”

I checked that the door connected to the reception room was still properly closed, then quickly moved over to Gisela Lott’s desk.

Unlike Noah Benton’s messy desk, cluttered with used teacups and scattered writing tools, hers was neatly organized.

A neatly bound stack of documents sitting on a polished desk caught my eye.

What a lucky find.

I had been bored from looking at nothing but books filled with basic knowledge every day, so this was perfect.

But before I could even touch the file, I became bored again.

“…Figures.”

I couldn’t even read the title.

The documents were written in a code rather than the Imperial language.

No wonder they had left them sitting out in a place where anyone could see them.

I looked at them a little longer just in case, but it wasn’t a code I knew.

It was even different from the code used by the Knox Intelligence Department.

It seemed to be something the Crows had created on their own.

If I put in enough time and effort, I might be able to decipher at least a little of it, but unfortunately, I had neither.

I clicked my tongue in disappointment and quietly stepped away.

Then I headed toward a nearby window and looked outside.

“This was the perfect spot.”

The plaza in front of the main building could be seen at a glance.

I had been hoping to catch sight of Gisela Lott, but by coincidence, I spotted Deacon Gold and Dupon Clanshier instead.

It seemed that coming out to the plaza around this time was part of their daily routine.

“Are they receiving a report?”

Besides their aides, there was a man standing beside the two and saying something to them, but even from a distance, the atmosphere looked terrible.

Dupon Clanshier and Deacon Gold’s expressions were as cold as could be.

After staring down at the man, who had lowered his head for a while without saying anything, Deacon Gold turned around.

Then Dupon Clanshier gave a nod of his chin, and people wearing the distinctive red-trimmed uniforms of the Punishment Department appeared and dragged the man away without mercy.

“P-please, spare me…!”

The man’s cry echoed for a moment, but soon disappeared behind the gag that was put over his mouth.

‘How foolish.’

He should have run away while he still had the chance.

Once they put a gag on him, escaping would only become harder.

I clicked my tongue and was just stepping away from the window when—

“What are you doing there?”

Gisela Lott, who had just entered the Nest, spotted me and asked.

Then she quickly walked toward me, her face stiff.

Thud—!

The first thing she did was shove the file on her desk into a drawer.

Even though it was written in a code I couldn’t read anyway.