Chapter 78
“Why are you all staring like that? Were you planning to keep it a secret?”
Ferdinand spoke as if he were dumbfounded.
It’s not that we were trying to hide it…
The situation was rather complicated.
Both Kennih and Yelloise knew that I was a beastkin, yet as if they had made a pact, neither of them brought it up.
And so I, too, had gone along with that unspoken agreement…
Only for this pirate grandpa to shatter it.
In a situation like this, there were only two things I could do.
-
Admit it cleanly.
-
Play dumb to the very end and deny everything.
I pondered seriously for a moment.
If I chose option two, I might provoke Ferdinand’s anger.
Having lived only eighteen years, I was afraid of the anger of an eight-hundred-year-old black dragon.
So the choice I made was—
“Chuu-chit.”
That’s right.
I stood up solemnly, determined to tell the truth.
Then, hop, I climbed onto the reception table and knelt down.
“Chuuut. Chuu-chit chuu-chit.”
As you may have guessed, I am a beastkin.
“Chuu-chit-chuu, chuu-chuu-chit.”
Due to circumstances I cannot speak of, I am temporarily staying at Black Dragon Castle.
Ah, it’s not like I came here because I wanted to. I’m a victim too—I was kidnapped.
“Chuu-chit, chuu-chuu-chuu-chit.”
However, I will conduct myself properly so that your two grandchildren are not inconvenienced.
Like a devout believer confessing before a temple statue, I poured out the truth with complete sincerity.
Of course, I had no idea whether Lord Ferdinand, whom I had met for the first time today, could understand what I was saying.
But sincerity always gets through, doesn’t it?
But why is it so quiet?
When silence stretched on for a long while, I cautiously opened my eyes.
As I lifted my head, only Lord Ferdinand’s lower face finally entered my view.
“……”
The wrinkled corners of his mouth were twitching.
D–Don’t tell me he’s about to curse?
Like that letter filled with profanity he’d sent to Kennih?
But then, what poured down over my head was—
“Pfft, hahahaha…!”
A frivolous burst of laughter.
“What is this tiny thing babbling about? Did this little rat come in as some kind of clown? If so, you picked well for the role.”
Every time Lord Ferdinand shook with laughter, thick droplets rained down onto my head.
Seriously…
“Chuuuuu!”
You vulgar thug of a grandpa!
Go live your life staring at account books that keep multiplying like loaves of bread in a painting!
You idiot, thug, pirate grandpa!
Since he wouldn’t understand anyway, I hurled every curse I could think of at Lord Ferdinand and bolted out of the office.
“Th–that little bastard—did it just insult me?! Stop right there, you—!”
“Chuuuuu!”
Who would stop just because you tell them to?!
The corridors of Black Dragon Castle echoed with nothing but the sounds of a chase between a squirrel and an old man like a walking boulder.
A week had passed since Lord Ferdinand arrived at Black Dragon Castle.
The reason he was still there, despite looking like he’d leave for the south at any moment, was simple.
He still hadn’t resolved the bank issue.
Kennih said he couldn’t extend credit until the casino was dealt with, while Lord Ferdinand insisted he still had matters to attend to and needed to return south.
Like grandfather, like grandson.
Because they both only repeated their own arguments, the same conversation looped day after day like a Möbius strip.
Yelloise, as if used to this, treated the two of them like invisible people.
Of course, she was also busy designing prototypes to be unveiled next year using the trial-mined crystals.
Kennih and Jerad were no different.
With the crystal mine followed by the development of the Haver River, they were swamped.
Naturally, that left only two unemployed people in Black Dragon Castle.
“Chuuut?”
“Tsk, this Black Dragon Castle is practically yours now.”
That would be me and Ferdinand.
Since our only routine was eating and sleeping, the only place we went was the castle garden.
After three such chance encounters—
“Hmph. Since this is fate, how about a cup of tea?”
Lord Ferdinand was the one who suggested tea time.
One thing I learned from observing him for a week—
He likes tea more than I expected.
Contrary to his image of downing strong distilled liquor on an empty stomach from morning, he always sat alone in the garden drinking tea.
From just after lunch until around sunset.
He would sit at the garden table, gazing at the sky.
I didn’t know why, but from his rock-like back, I often felt a deep sadness.
That was why—
“Chit, chuuut.”
Sure, why not.
I nodded without hesitation.
“I thought you’d refuse. That’s unexpected.”
So you do know.
I merely shrugged at Lord Ferdinand’s teasing question.
Truth be told, since our first meeting, there hadn’t been much progress between us.
And the reason lay entirely with Lord Ferdinand.
Over the past week, he had called me by quite a variety of names, such as—
‘Hey, you little rat.’
‘Field mouse.’
‘Rat tail.’
And others like that.
Being unable to escape the “rat” category was frustrating enough, but there was something even more unfair.
“Your fur is flying all over Black Dragon Castle. This old man starts his mornings sneezing because of you!”
It was molting season since it was autumn—what was I supposed to do?
If you hate the castle so much, why don’t you just leave, Lord Ferdinand…
Every time, I swallowed the words that rose to my throat.
Then I would retrace my steps and pick up the fur I’d shed.
“Khahaha! You’re picking it up again!”
He even treated that as entertainment.
From then on, Lord Ferdinand regarded me as little more than a way to kill time.
Inviting me to tea today seemed to be part of that.
“Field mouse, what do you usually do to pass the time?”
“Chuuut……”
Field mouse again.
I ground my teeth for a moment, then resigned myself to fate.
At least it was better than “little rat” or “rat tail.”
Field mouse sounded kind of cute, after all.
“Chuu-chit……”
Hmm, since Kennih’s been busy lately, I go for walks with Ria or read books in the library.
I made a few simple squeaks while saying all that in my head.
No matter how hard I chattered, we couldn’t actually converse.
“I have no idea what you’re saying.”
“Chuu-chit.”
You never intended to understand in the first place.
“Did those squinty eyes just curse me again?”
“Chuu-chit!”
That’s not it, okay?!
When I deliberately opened my eyes wide, Ferdinand coughed and backed off.
“Ahem. So this time it wasn’t?”
“Chit!”
I nodded vigorously.
“Then that’s a relief.”
Ferdinand chuckled lightly.
After taking a sip of tea, he gazed at the sky for a moment before continuing.
“When you reach my age, you know, you wake up at the crack of dawn.”
“Chuuut.”
“Then you just lie there thinking. What should I do today? In the south, I usually… walked along the coast of Sunset Town.”
Ferdinand closed his eyes, as if recalling old memories.
“Solana liked dipping her feet in the seawater.”
He said the grains of sand glittered like gold, the waves broke and scattered silver foam…
And against that backdrop, the woman he loved would smile enchantingly.
“So I’d follow behind, carrying the shoes Solana had taken off.”
“……”
I couldn’t say anything at Ferdinand’s words.
I didn’t want to interrupt him as he quietly reminisced about his departed lover with his eyes closed.
“Truth be told, I don’t particularly like the seaside. I hate how the salty smell feels like it seeps into my mouth.”
“Chuuut…?”
“And you’re wondering why I insist on the south?”
I simply nodded.
“Because Solana is there.”
He said that even when he walked the streets alone, it felt as though he was with Solana.
So from early morning until sunset—
Until the coastline was filled with his footprints—
He walked the same paths over and over again.
“As I kept walking like that, I thought… maybe someday I’d find what Solana hid.”
Lord Ferdinand said.
Though I didn’t deliberately look at his face, his voice was heavy with longing for someone he missed.
But then—
Something Solana hid…?
Perhaps Lord Ferdinand’s insistence on the southern territory was connected to this.
