Beast in the Woods, Deep in the Night - Chapter 44.1

Chapter 44.1

It seemed like a rather random thing to have been found in Christine’s room.

“A train ticket?” Edgar asked reflexively.

“Yes. It was cleverly hidden at the bottom of the box where the chimera’s tears were hidden.”

“…”

“I purchased a ticket for the same train, just in case. As you said, the ticket I found was put back in place.”

Isaac held out the train ticket to Edgar. Edgar looked at it without saying a word.

The starting point was the train station closest to the Black Forest. The destination was near the hideout of the Golden Horseshoe Guild. And… the departure date was a week later.

‘… A week later?’

If Christine had this train ticket, that meant one thing.

It seemed as though Christine Baines only intended to stay in the Black Fang Guild for a little less than a month from the start.

He didn’t think she would stay here forever, but he had no idea she had bought a return ticket beforehand.

Feeling strangely irritated, perhaps because it had only been a day since he decided to make her an observation object, Edgar asked Isaac.

“Why are you only reporting this now?”

“… I apologize.”

Sensing the anger contained in his master’s voice, Isaac immediately bowed his head. However, he felt a little wronged.

‘It’s my fault that I didn’t expect Edgar to ignore a matter related to the chimeras.’

The moment the chimera’s tears were discovered in Christine Banes’ room, Isaac decided that the train ticket was not even worth looking at. She tried to steal the jewels containing the power of the chimeras, so he was sure that Edgar wouldn’t let her off easily.

According to the unwritten rules, Christine would either lose her life or be imprisoned somewhere if she were lucky. If its owner died or was imprisoned, the train ticket would have no value, so he didn’t report it to Edgar.

But… when Edgar broke his expectations and let Christine stay by his side, Isaac found himself in a difficult situation. Edgar’s lenient treatment of Christine may have been due to his personal feelings, but the train ticket meant that she was about to leave.

In the end, Isaac, who had been feeling distressed all morning, came to Edgar to report about the train ticket.

But when Edgar checked the date of the train ticket and remained silent longer than expected, a cold sweat ran down his back. Isaac wanted to finish his business quickly and get out of this freezing office.

“Also… the movements of the Blue Hammer guys are suspicious, so I’ll keep an eye on them.”

“Okay.”

“Decius is investigating why Christine entered the archive room and will report back soon.”

“Get out.”

Finally, the words he had been waiting for. Isaac bowed his head and left.

Only Edgar sat there for a long time, glaring at the crumpled train ticket that looked like it had been issued a long time ago.

***

The next day, Christine entered Edgar’s office. It was the same reason as always; she wanted to earn her keep since the Black Fang Guild was feeding her and giving her a place to sleep.

Until now, she didn’t mind coming to his office and secretly touching him under the pretense of helping him with his work and then going to collect the chimera’s tears. Even though he was a bit harsh with his words, Edgar’s face was worth looking at.

But the story was different now that Edgar had caught her breaking into the archives. Christine felt like she was sitting on a thorny chair just being in the same room as Edgar.

The fact that he didn’t punish her or ask her about what happened that day, treating her as if nothing had ever happened, made her even more wary.

He should also feel uncomfortable and uneasy and kick her out, but strangely enough, Edgar kept holding on to her by giving her small chores.

It was mainly about organizing data on how much money was spent on chimeras and what items were provided.

‘A seven-year-old chimera at the Black Fang Guild is treated better than the elite of the Golden Horseshoe Guild…’

Christine wrapped up what she was doing, feeling the truth that a maid’s work should be done in the mansion of a prestigious family.

“Here, I finished organizing the ledger you asked me to earlier.”

“…”