Chapter 142
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 142
Seo-ah stared down at the sloping ground, where weeds grew in wild disarray, until Oscar's voice drifted over. Drawn by the sound, she looked up and saw his back. He stood with his back to her, giving instructions to one of the Wolves.
“……”
Her heart, which had been beating with a secret flutter, refused to calm down.
As she idly toyed with the hem of her long coat, an impossibly massive shadow fell over her. The man was shockingly large, and he grinned the moment their eyes met.
“Need anything, Young Lady?”
“I'm fine, thank you.”
After her reflexive refusal, Thebes stood beside her, rummaging through his pockets as he muttered to himself.
“Ah, man, I'd kill for a smoke right now.”
“…A cigarette?”
“Nothing beats a morning smoke, you know?”
“Then why don’t you have one?”
“Hmm… Should I?”
Thebes tilted his head, casting a wary glance around them.
Smoking.
Though the form was different, many people in Danguk smoked as well. Theresia had been a frequent smoker, though she rarely did so in front of Seo-ah.
“What does a cigarette taste like?”
“Taste?”
“I’ve always wondered why everyone smokes so much.”
Thebes rolled his eyes as if he’d never been asked such a question before, then mumbled a reply.
“Well, it's not really about the taste. It’s more like… it calms your nerves, I guess.”
At the mention of calming one’s nerves, Seo-ah hesitated before asking, “Then… I’m sorry, but could you spare one for me?”
Thebes’s eyes narrowed slightly. His large hand, still buried in his pocket, toyed with his cigarette case.
It wasn't a difficult request. Among the Wolves, sharing a cigarette was as mundane as eating or breathing.
Yet, his hand wouldn’t emerge from his pocket. It felt as though someone were pinning it down.
Blinking, his hand still inside his pocket, he glanced around. Not too far away stood Simon, who gave him an arrogant nod as if he had something to say. Thebes snorted.
“If you want something, come over here yourself.”
Simon scowled, but he ultimately relented and walked over, muttering under his breath about how you avoid filth because it’s disgusting, not because you’re scared of it. As Simon approached, Thebes pulled his empty hand from his pocket and spoke to Seo-ah.
“Ah, what a shame, Young Lady. Looks like I’m completely out.”
Then, he casually turned to the approaching Simon.
“You got a smoke?”
“……”
Simon remained silent, but Thebes whispered to Seo-ah, “He's a noble, you see. His cigarettes are bound to be better than mine.”
He was telling her to ask Simon instead.
In truth, excluding Oscar, Simon was the most intimidating of all the Wolves. Seo-ah would never have dared to ask him. She stole a flustered glance in his direction, but he wasn’t even looking at her. Instead, he was glaring at Thebes with a murderous grin.
“Look at this son of a bitch trying to use his brain.”
The Fighting Dog acted on instinct, while the Devil calculated probabilities. And the Devil was always one step ahead.
Having finally caught up on sleep and food, Oscar had fully regained his reason. Simon was curious to see how a rational Oscar would treat this woman—their target—and what her ultimate fate would be, but he lacked the data to make a prediction.
A cigarette and a woman.
As the Devil pondered his next move, an unlucky wolf caught his eye.
The wolf, who had just arrived at the mountain cabin on Barbara's orders, was summoned by the Devil without knowing a thing. Simon whispered softly to the poor creature.
“She seems curious about cigarettes. Give her one.”
With that, Simon turned and strolled away as if nothing had happened. Thebes, possessing the sharp instincts of a beast, quickly followed suit.
Having received this bizarre instruction, the unsuspecting wolf pulled out a cigarette without a second thought.
“You’re curious about smoking?”
“Ah, thank you.”
Taking the cigarette from him, Seo-ah awkwardly placed it between her lips. As the round filter slipped past her teeth and touched her tongue, the wolf who had given it to her chuckled.
“Man, you look so awkward holding that.”
“……”
“Hold still. Let me light it for you.”
The Devil and the Fighting Dog, who had been at each other's throats all morning, stopped at a safe distance and turned around in perfect unison. The scene that met their eyes was chilling.
A woman awkwardly holding a cigarette, and a wolf striking a match to light it for her.
Oscar, who had been mid-sentence giving orders to the Combat Team 4 Leader, had fallen silent and was staring at them.
He didn't blink, watching them like a predator concealed in the brush, its eyes locked on its prey.
“He's so fucked,” a voice muttered from afar, but the curse failed to reach the poor wolf's ears.
Ssshhk.
With an expert flick, the wolf struck the match. Utterly oblivious to his master's fierce glare boring into him, he lit the cigarette between Seo-ah's lips. The flickering flame caught, sinking into the dried tobacco and releasing a plume of pale gray smoke. He even offered some friendly instructions.
“Don't hold it like that. If you want to look cool, pinch it between your index and middle fingers… Well, you still look awkward, but whatever. Now, take a drag like you're taking a deep breath! Let the smoke go all the way down to your lungs.”
“He’s so dead,” muttered a wolf with a broken leg.
As Seo-ah awkwardly tensed her lips around her first cigarette and her slender shoulders rose to take a deep breath, Oscar finally moved.
The wolf who had lit her cigarette chuckled as her eyes went wide upon inhaling her first puff. But his laughter died instantly, and he nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw his master bearing down on them from behind her like a demon.
“Cough! Cough!”
Inhaling secondhand smoke was entirely different from breathing it in directly. The acrid smoke felt devoid of oxygen, as if she had swallowed pure soot.
“Cough, cough! Cough!”
Suddenly, someone snatched the cigarette from her hand. As she fell into a violent, choking fit, Oscar stared at her back before whipping his head around to glare at the wolf who had taught her how to smoke.
“Y-Your Excellency.”
Pale with shock, the wolf felt an instinctive terror grip him under Oscar's gaze.
When he cautiously looked around, he saw a familiar look on his comrades' faces—especially on the face of the Devil who had summoned him. Simon von Bernheim was watching him as if observing a lab rat, and it seemed he had drawn an important conclusion from this experiment.
'So that's what happens. You get absolutely fucked.'
That demonic bastard.
Just then, Oscar growled at the pale-faced wolf.
“Go fetch some water.”
The innocent wolf, white as a sheet, scrambled away as if fleeing for his life.
As the smoke burning her lungs finally escaped with her coughs, Seo-ah's breathing gradually steadied. Oscar turned to her as she straightened her back, his eyes flicking down to the cigarette that had just been between her lips.
Though her coughing fit had subsided, Seo-ah felt her breath catch again at the sheer presence of the man standing just a step away. His cold, blue eyes, filled with cynical disdain, made her instinctively hang her head.
With her head lowered, she saw the cigarette burning between his fingertips. As she hesitantly reached for it, a dry chuckle escaped him from above.
“You really do try your hand at everything, don't you?”
She felt a small pang of injustice at his words.
“Everyone else does it…”
“Just because everyone else does,” he cut her off, his tone sharp and icy. He slowly placed the very cigarette she had been smoking between his own lips. Held between his long, prominent-knuckled fingers, the tip glowed a bright, melting red. He took a deep drag, his cheeks hollowing, and a haze of smoke drifted from his lips like a shimmering mist.
“…does that mean you can, too?”
He didn't cough once; his expression didn't even flicker, as if he had merely inhaled fresh air. Shrouded in the white smoke, Oscar cast a brief glance at the wolf who had rushed back with water, then turned away. He threw the cigarette to the ground and ground it out beneath his boot.
The Wolves, who had been watching with bated breath, collectively averted their eyes, staring off at the distant mountains. Oscar, a cynical smirk playing on his lips, muttered a quiet curse. The other wolves, who had been discreetly fingering their own cigarettes, immediately shoved them deep into their pockets.
Thebes asked Simon in a hushed voice, “So, does this mean smoking is completely banned now?”
“You have eyes, don't you? Why the hell are you asking?”
“Fuck, didn't you tell me not to bother thinking in the first place?”
Just then, the Backup Team returned with the carriage. Oscar's eyes met Abel's, who was among them. Abel stood at attention and offered a polite bow. When told he could join any unit he pleased, Abel had gone so far as to lower his own rank just to join the Backup Team. The sight of him was irritating enough to make Oscar sick.
Oscar crooked his finger at Simon, who was watching him warily from a distance. Receiving the silent command, Simon bowed, and Oscar climbed into the carriage.
“We're moving out.”
As Oscar boarded, all the Wolves began moving to their positions. After rinsing her mouth with a cup of water, one of Simon's men approached Seo-ah.
“He wants you in the carriage.”
Seo-ah gave a barely perceptible nod, then forced her heavy feet to move. As she walked toward the carriage, Abel approached her.
“What's wrong? Have you been crying?”
“No.”
“Don't lie. Your eyes are all red.”
At that, Simon's wolf, who was following behind, whispered, “It's because she smoked. Took one puff and went into a whole coughing fit.”
Abel's face contorted in anger.
“Who told you to smoke that?”
“No one. I asked for it…”
“Are you crazy? Why on earth would you smoke?”
“Everyone else does.”