There’s Something Special About Her Chapter 42

“Vanessa!”

“Welcome back!”

“Senior Vanessa!”

Everyone beamed and hurried toward the entrance where the voice had come from.

Now’s my chance.

I quickly got to my feet.

Luckily, Gisella didn’t notice me getting up.

She seemed too excited about the return of someone named Vanessa.

“Ugh, my head.”

I rubbed my sore scalp and studied the unfamiliar Crow.

‘Woman, mid-to-late thirties, wearing glasses, long brown curly hair neatly tied up, gray-green eyes. Plain-looking, with no scars or distinctive features. Short and small-framed.’

In short, she was an extremely ordinary woman who wouldn’t attract attention as long as she didn’t do anything unusual.

That might have been a rude assessment for an ordinary person, but from my point of view, it was practically the highest praise.

The most frightening assassins aren’t the ones with outstanding physical abilities or flashy techniques.

They’re the ones who approach looking like someone no one would be wary of, complete their mission, and quietly disappear.

In that respect, this woman named Vanessa had the perfect qualities.

And she must have realized her own advantages a long time ago.

‘Not a single unnecessary movement.’

Regardless of her outward build, she had the restrained air unique to someone who had trained consistently.

‘She’s strong.’

While I quietly finished assessing her, the other Crows were exchanging warm greetings.

“Senior, did you enjoy your vacation?”

Noah Benton asked, wagging his nonexistent tail excitedly.

“How’s your family? Is everyone doing well?”

Dimart also asked with a bright smile that crinkled the corners of his eyes.

“Yes, Senior Demi. Thanks to you, everyone is doing well.”

Seeing how she politely bowed and answered Dimart’s question first, she seemed like the type who was very conscious of rank.

Then, after gently patting Noah Benton on the head, the woman finally turned to Gisella and asked,

“You didn’t cause any trouble while I was gone, did you, Gisella?”

“I was too busy to cause trouble, Senior.”

Well, look at that.

Even Gisella Roth, who always glared at me like she wanted to set me on fire, seemed to take one step back—or rather, two steps back—from this new woman.

She was much more relaxed around Dimart Shuren, who was far older than her, too.

But where had that rough thug gone?

In her place was a gentle little lamb, constantly trying to please her.

That’s right!

Even Gisella Roth had a natural enemy!

The woman walked toward me as I quietly celebrated my discovery.

The low click of her heels echoed with the same neatness as her appearance.

“So you’re the one.”

“It’s nice to meet you. My name is Lunelk Eins.”

“I’m Vanessa Karsten. During the day, I work as a clerk in the Administration Department.”

The Administration Department was a major division responsible for the internal operations of Knox and the management of the Duke of Knox’s territory.

If Deacon Gold’s Finance Department handled and increased Knox’s tangible and intangible wealth, then the Administration Department was the department that actually kept Knox running.

It suited Vanessa Karsten perfectly. She seemed much more at home with the smell of paper and ink than the smell of blood.

“I heard you caused quite a bit of trouble while I was away.”

Vanessa stared at me over her glasses.

“I hope they haven’t brought in another troublemaker like Gisella.”

After warning me by lumping me together with Gisella Roth, Vanessa walked to her desk as if she had nothing more to say.

Her desk was the one at the very front by the window, where the sunlight came in well.

No wonder I’d noticed that the biggest pile of paperwork seemed to be growing there day by day.

I was quietly watching Vanessa’s back as she calmly organized her desk when Gisella Roth noticed me and growled.

“Who told you to get up?”

“If I stay like that any longer, I think I’ll go bald.”

“You’ve only been there for twenty minutes. How are you going bald? Get back down……”

“Lunelk Eins.”

A calm voice cut Gisella off mid-sentence.

I quickly turned my head.

Vanessa Karsten was standing by the doorknob of a room I hadn’t entered yet.

“Come with me.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

Honestly, being disciplined wasn’t painful enough to kill me.

My body wasn’t that weak.

This was a matter of mood. Purely a matter of mood.

Besides, I had the perfect excuse.

As expected, the look on Gisella Roth’s face was priceless.

It might have been different if another Crow had called for me, but it was Vanessa Karsten herself.

Gisella couldn’t exactly stop me from leaving.

I deliberately smiled even more brightly and said,

“I’ll be back!”

“Ugh!”

I could hear Gisella venting her frustration behind me as I hurried away.

Then Senior Dimart said something to her.

“Hey, Gis. Why are you pushing him so hard?”

Even though the Crow was over forty, he didn’t automatically treat his junior harshly.

“I know it’s your first time being a mentor, but you can’t be that strict with him all the time. Rookie’s adapting pretty well for a newcomer, too.”

“No, Senior. You’re being fooled, too.”

Gisella grumbled as if she were frustrated.

“That guy is really smart. But he pretends he doesn’t know things on purpose, and it drives me crazy.”

“What do you mean? You’re saying Rookie deliberately got questions wrong on the test so he could get disciplined?”

“Th-that might not be exactly it……. Anyway, it’s obvious he could do much better if he just tried a little harder, but he keeps taking shortcuts.”

“There are sometimes people like that. Don’t do that. Try to coax him along and see how it goes.”

“I shouldn’t have taken him as my rookie. That guy is incredibly sly.”

Hearing those words from behind, I couldn’t help feeling a little nervous.

How did she figure out that I already knew everything in those books?

She really was sharp.

I decided I would have to be even more thorough about pretending not to know anything from now on, and slipped into the room Vanessa Karsten had summoned me to.

“Sit.”

The moment I closed the door, Vanessa Karsten, who was already sitting in a chair, spoke briefly.

She lightly tapped the chair opposite her with the tip of her foot.

With that simple motion, the fairly heavy-looking chair slid toward me without even wobbling.

It was something only someone who knew exactly how much strength they possessed and how to use it could do.

“Thank you, Senior.”

I obediently sat down in the chair she had pushed toward me.

I wasn’t sure when she had brought them in, but Vanessa placed several documents on the table.

As I faced her, I looked around the room.

‘A document storage room?’

I couldn’t be certain.

Every wall was completely covered with drawers, but they were all closed, so I couldn’t see what was inside.

The reason I guessed that the deep, sturdy-looking drawers contained ‘documents’ was the old smell of paper lingering in the room.

‘What kind of documents are they keeping so carefully?’

Just as my fingertips began to itch out of habit—

Tap.

Vanessa Karsten straightened a stack of papers by tapping them against the table, then held them out to me.

“What are these?”

“Mandatory documents that every Crow must sign.”

“Mandatory documents?”

That meant these were documents that absolutely required my signature.

But wasn’t this awfully late?

As if she had read my thoughts, she slightly furrowed her brow and explained.

“It is late. I went on vacation after leaving my work with someone else, but that person happened to leave on a long-term mission as well.”

“I see.”

Apparently, Vanessa Karsten was in charge of managing the Crows.

Every organization needed someone who served as a strong adhesive holding everyone together.

Even the prettiest and most expensive jewels would simply scatter if there were no thread to string them together.

“That’s fine. But……”

It was a little touching to see documents that I could actually read, even though I hadn’t learned the code yet in the nest, apart from the books Gisella used for her tests.

But as I read through the words, something felt strange.

I’d assumed that documents requiring my signature would be some kind of contract.

“This looks like paperwork for opening a bank account and a safe deposit box. Did you give me the wrong documents?”

“I don’t make mistakes like that.”

Vanessa answered firmly and adjusted her glasses.

“And these are indeed the documents that require your signature.”

“I could understand if it were an employment contract, but I don’t really need a bank account.”

“An employment contract?”

She shook her head.

“You already signed a contract as a member of the Duke of Knox’s action squad, didn’t you?”