Atonement, About it's Cruelty - Chapter 6
Moments later, the employee emerged from the storage room holding an aged document and a small box.
With practiced ease, he arranged the key, documents, and box on the table, then retrieved a thick magnifying glass from a drawer. He began by enlarging the engraving on the key with the magnifying glass to match the information written on the document.
Established on April 25, 878, by the then-president Mattis von Witte… his seal was present.
After verifying the information on the front of the key, the employee used the magnifying glass to examine small inscriptions on the side. He meticulously compared each unique code noted in the document.
“AD…5608, …87…BX.”
Surprisingly, even the complex unique code matched exactly. He calmly double-checked the information, and there were no discrepancies.
Having confirmed there were no errors, he put the documents aside and picked up the box. His hands trembled slightly as he set it down.
The palm-sized black box, engraved with ‘5555’, had a small hole that resembled a keyhole. The box was specially made for key verification.
Although rare, there had been instances of Felpe Bank safe keys being duplicated. Most failed the verification of the inscribed information, but not all. Those few that passed still failed to open the locks, as the keys didn’t actually turn in the locks.
Felpe was historically renowned for its safes and still highly valued its locksmiths.
The only things that a one-of-a-kind key could open were the safe in the basement of Felpe Bank and the verification box. Opening the verification box implied that the key could also open the installed safe, thus proving the key’s authenticity.
The employee inserted the key into the hole. With a smooth glide, the key slid in, and he felt the pins inside the lock click into place.
He held his breath like threading a needle, focusing intently on the end of the key. Then, calmly, he turned the key…
Click.
“…!”
Events often occur without warning.
But never had he imagined that tonight, of all nights, such an event would happen.
The box that hadn’t been opened for about 25 years slowly began to reveal its contents. An old, musty wood smell that could make anyone sneeze wafted through the narrow gap.
Just then, the supervisor of the verification center approached.
“Which key number is it?”
He asked, and without waiting for an answer, he leaned over to check the engraved number on the box himself, nodding before returning to his position.
But after a few steps, he suddenly turned back and asked bluntly.
“Who brought this in?”
“Well, we haven’t verified their ID yet.”
“Was it a man?”
“No, it was a woman.”
“A woman? What did she look like?”
He muttered almost to himself as he rolled his eyes.
“She wore a coat…”
“A coat?”
He nodded.
“Yes, she was wearing a coat.”
“A coat? In this weather?”
“Yes.”
“….”
“…..”
Their gazes locked in the air for a moment. Then, as if on cue, they both looked out the window when a distant rumble, like clouds heavy with rain, could be heard approaching.
* * *
As the door closed behind the departing employee, Seo-ah was left entirely alone. Her gaze, which had been constrained, now relaxed, and the tension in her shoulders and back momentarily eased.
She leaned back against the sofa, scratching her face where the employee’s gaze had lingered as if it itched.
“Have you seen the youngest miss? Quite peculiar.”
Although gazes typically make no sound, Seo-ah felt as though she could hear such whispers. Here too, it was the same. That meant, ultimately, that she was seen by everyone as strange, different, and peculiar.
She wished it was something other than her face that was unusual.
Then it might not have been so uncomfortable.
Seo-ah rubbed her face until it turned red, then scowled at the heat rising up through the gap in her coat.
Should she take it off, even for a moment?
She glanced at the door through which the employee had disappeared, listening intently for any signs of someone approaching, but felt nothing.
Seo-ah quickly unbuttoned her coat and slipped off the sleeves. However, the dress she wore underneath was just as thick, and the heat did not subside. She felt her entire body sticky with sweat. Yet, the heat was just one of many issues she faced.
“I should have gone to the inn first.”
Seo-ah had intended to settle her luggage, wash up, and rest in a quiet place before coming here early the next morning. But from the train to Felpe, she noticed that certain individuals were watching her closely, following her even after disembarking.
To evade them, she ducked into a crowd and accidentally ended up on a carriage.
“Where may I take you?”
In Felpe, or rather, on the entire continent of Norfolk, there was only one place that she could confidently name.
“Felpe Bank, please.”
The coachman, after a moment of silently sizing her up, shrugged and shut the carriage door with a thud.
Being pushed into the carriage by the crowd helped her shake off the suspicious followers, and she enjoyed a brief moment of rest alone in the carriage. However, she had not anticipated the cost.
“Who knew a carriage would be more expensive than the train.”
From the moment she left her homeland, money had become a finite resource, and she had to carefully calculate every expense. Recounting her journey to Felpe Bank, Seo-ah automatically did the math in her head.
“How much is left?”
The inside of her coat was filled with various pockets, including one for her money. As she counted what was left, her face turned pale.
Altogether, she only had a hundred twenty thousand kerte.
Though she was still adapting to the strange civilization of Norfolk continent, she understood that the amount she had would not last a week, perhaps not even a few days.
What was the problem?
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