Beast in the Woods, Deep in the Night - Chapter 30.2

Chapter 30.2

It was not because of the jewel she had sneaked into his pocket, but because he secretly had a chimera observation journal.

‘I’m glad to know he was guilty of something else.’

It was as if the jewel she had put in his pocket had played a role in discovering a spy in the guild. Christine decided not to feel remorse.

“Thank you for your hard work, Miss Christine.”

Sonia seemed to think that the reason Ein was dealt with so neatly was because she had exerted her power.

“I really didn’t do anything.”

“You asked Mr. Edgar for a favor, right?”

“Hmm?”

When Christine gave a vague answer that was neither negative nor positive, Sonia asked with twinkling eyes.

“Is Miss Christine Mr. Edgar’s girlfriend?”

“…”

Girlfriend. It felt so cute when the little chimera uttered it, but for some reason, it seemed like a cute title that would never be associated with her and Edgar for the rest of her life.

However, upon hearing the words ‘Edgar’ and ‘girlfriend’, the young chimeras began to gather around the two. The somewhat older chimeras had their ears pricked up instead of approaching.

“Mr. Edgar is Miss Christine’s boyfriend?”

Who would have thought of giving Edgar Richard the cute title of boyfriend? As expected, the children were naive and cute.

“Ahem, that’s not it.”

“But Miss Christine…”

At this rate, Christine felt that the chain of questions would never end, so she decided to be moderately evasive.

“I like him. He’s a very nice person. But I don’t know how he feels.”

“Ah…”

“So will you keep it a secret from Edgar that I like him? I want to stay by his side quietly like this.”

Christine’s specialty was to speak in a voice so soft that it would touch everyone’s hearts.

The young Sonia and the little chimeras immediately accepted the sadness in Christine’s words and her affection for Edgar. And it was no different for the chimeras who were almost adults.

“Then I’ll go now. I want to keep things clean around here before he arrives.”

Christine stood up, slightly hinting at the fact that she was cleaning up the area even though she was a guest in order to win Edgar’s heart. With this, even if she swept the floor and cleaned up the training hall, the gazes towards her would be a little less odd.

She walked, having no idea how seriously the chimeras here would take her unrequited love for Edgar.

***

That night, Edgar finally raided the building that the Blue Hammer Guild had used for chimera research. There was no need to hesitate as the chimera used in the experiments had already been rescued a few days ago.

The Blue Hammer Guild was being dealt with helplessly for trafficking a chimera and hiding the laboratory.

“Finish it.”

As Edgar spoke in a low voice, the eyes of the chimeras that followed him twinkled. They were already feeling a sense of murder when they saw a cage similar to the ones they had been trapped in.

But when they got their master’s permission to run wild, the instinct of the beast flowing in the chimeras’ bodies began to boil. They punished the useless researchers one by one with sharp swords, to the point that even the Blue Hammer executives abandoned them.

“P-please… have mercy… Ugh!”

“…”

Edgar walked inside without even frowning at the blood that splashed on his coat. There was something bothering him.

‘The chimera I saved is too young.’

The chimera he had rescued during last night’s operation was only about five years old. Even if the chimera was smaller than average due to abuse and malnourishment, it didn’t make sense.

In the past decade since Edgar abandoned his status as the grand duke’s successor and started working in the guild, he had been traveling all over the grand duke’s territory and rescuing chimeras. Starting with the overthrow of the largest chimera laboratories, he raided all kinds of human trafficking sites and rescued them.

And whenever a rescue was successful, he made a list. Now that most of the chimeras in the territory had been rescued over time, the list had become a kind of chimera genealogy. Their children and siblings were also meticulously recorded and cross-checked, so there were few errors.

According to the records, the youngest chimera in the territory right now had to be about ten years old. Then where in the world did Polhensio get a five-year-old chimera?

“…”

It seemed necessary to investigate what the leader of the Blue Hammer Guild, Polhensio, intended to do and when he started messing with the chimeras as soon as he got back.