Chapter 5
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 5
The woman placed the document on the tray, and the employee retrieved it. It seemed too heavy for mere paper, and a strange warmth emanated from it.
Strange, he thought. Why would she be carrying something like this?
Everything about her was suspicious, which only fanned the flames of his curiosity. Who exactly was this woman?
With a strange flutter in his chest, the employee unfolded her identification papers. In that instant, the professional smile plastered on his face evaporated.
He blinked, his gaze shifting blankly from the woman to the document and back again. The woman, who had been watching him as warily as a cornered rabbit, finally asked, “Is there a problem?”
“Ah… well…” The employee’s voice trailed off.
There was a problem. The only issue was that he couldn’t bring himself to say what it was.
In all his years as an educated man on the Norfolk Continent, he had never encountered a situation like this.
The employee pressed his lips into a thin line and stared at the document again, not that it would solve anything.
The problem was simple: among all the characters written on the document the woman had handed him, there wasn’t a single one he recognized.
* * *
Seo-ah berated herself.
When she had been swept up by the crowd and into that first coach, that had been her chance.
Instead of asking to be taken to the bank, she should have found an inn. She should have rested for the night and come here first thing in the morning.
To put it bluntly, the processing of her identification papers—which she had been clutching like a sacred relic—had been put on hold.
After scrutinizing the papers from every angle, the employee had hurriedly brought over several other staff members. They huddled together like sparrows pecking at grain, poring over the document and even holding it up to the light.
As she watched the absurd scene unfold, one of them suddenly asked, “Which country issued this certificate?”
If the coach had been her first chance, then her second and final chance was the moment she heard that question. The moment they asked such a thing, even with the name written plainly at the very top.
“Danguk.”
“…Dan-what?”
She enunciated slowly, “Dan. Guk.”
“Dae-an-guk?”
“Dan. Guk.”
“Di-an-guk?”
“…Yes,” she sighed, finally giving up. “I suppose that’s right.”
Instead of engaging in that meaningless exchange, she should have just asked them outright if they couldn’t read the script. She should have told them she would permit them to make a copy, that they should find someone to translate it for verification, and that she would return later. She should have just taken her Certificate of Key Acquisition Rights and left.
But while she hesitated, unable to speak up like a fool, the day had completely faded into night. In her defense, the VIP lounge had no windows, so she hadn’t realized how late it had gotten.
After a long back-and-forth, they concluded that translating it was currently impossible. Only after spending a good long while copying the identification papers did the employee finally draw up the document certifying her as the Key Holder.
She felt the chilling presence just as the flock of sparrow-like employees disappeared, at the very moment she received the completed certificate.
“……?”
Her muscles, which had been as limp as wilted grass from the heat and boredom, tensed in a conditioned reflex. She instinctively held her breath, trying to pinpoint the source of the chill that had just crawled down her spine.
It was seeping in from beyond the staff door.
This wasn’t just a feeling or a trick of the mind. She could feel the fine hairs all over her body stand on end.
This was no ordinary presence. These were the deliberately silenced footsteps of someone trained to erase their presence, and she could sense them just beyond the door.
One person? No, it sounded like two.
A soft, rhythmic shuffle. Shh, shh, shh, shh.
Like prey hiding from a predator, Seo-ah prayed they would pass by.
Please, just keep going. Please.
But the silenced footsteps stopped directly in front of her room. Then, they moved closer to the door, as if someone were pressing an ear against it.
Her heart pounded as if it would burst.
Just then, a series of knocks—so leisurely they were unsettling—shattered the quiet air.
Knock, knock, knock, knock.
Seo-ah’s head snapped up, and her eyes met a pair of green ones.
“……!”
The employee, who had been scrutinizing her, smiled as if he had been waiting for this moment. He glanced toward the door behind him before rising from his seat.
“My apologies. I’ll be right back, so please wait a moment. As it is quite late, I will call a coach for you.”
“……”
Instead of replying, Seo-ah simply nodded.
Stay calm. You have to stay calm.
Suppressing the urge to bolt, she watched the employee’s every move with bated breath. When he strode over and opened the staff-only door, Seo-ah squeezed her eyes shut.
Click.
As soon as the door closed, Seo-ah exhaled the breath she had been holding. Her own ragged breathing, scratching at her throat, sounded as loud as thunder. Beyond that thunder, a profound silence fell.
It was as if no one was there. No voices, no sounds of movement.
This meant the person who had knocked and the person who had answered were now standing stock-still together in front of the door, as if by some unspoken agreement.
Why?
“The moment you reveal you have that key, your life will be as precarious as a candle in the wind.”
Seo-ah rose to her feet as silently as a shadow. She calmly placed the Certificate of Key Acquisition Rights and the Key into her coat pocket, securing it so they wouldn’t fall out. Then, she picked up her travel bag and began to back away.
Without making a sound, she reached the customer entrance, cracked the door open, and peered outside. She could sense the guards, but their presence was nothing compared to the focused intent directed at her room.
Confirming the hallway was empty, she slipped through the doorway like a snake. Then, as smoothly and quietly as flowing water, like a shadow without substance, she moved through the Pelfe Bank’s tight security.
If this many guards were actively trying to catch her, she would probably be caught. But as long as she wasn’t their target, she was confident she could erase her presence and slip away like the wind. After all, elite soldiers can fend off an armed enemy, but they can’t stop a single mouse from slipping through a crack in the castle wall.
Having escaped the Pelfe Bank without being stopped, Seo-ah quickened her pace, trying to put as much distance as possible between herself and the building.
The late hour, the deserted streets, the utterly unfamiliar city—it all felt like a form of violence.
Her mind went blank. She had no idea where to go or what to do.
Just then, a dark shadow slipped out from the mouth of a dim alley, faintly lit by the moon.
Though she couldn’t see his face clearly, she knew instinctively it was the same man who had been following her since the train, the one she thought she had lost. She saw his lips curl into a smirk.
A mouse slipping through a crack in the wall must be silent to escape. But a cornered mouse can’t get away by simply tiptoeing.
Seo-ah gritted her teeth and ran. Her heavy coat and travel bag pulled at her like a swamp, but she pushed onward, running desperately.
A vile laugh echoed from behind her.
“Well now, aren’t you fast?”
In the cruel, violent darkness, the only sounds were the man's cackling laughter, her own ragged breaths, and the pounding of her feet against the ground.
Isn't anyone here? If only there was a place to hide… I’m so good at hiding, please…
Just as her mind was about to blank out from panic, a coach appeared on the road as if by a miracle.
“Hey! Over here! Over here!” she shouted, her voice raw, wanting to shatter the oppressive darkness.
Thankfully, the coachman stopped his horse at her urgent cry. With his hood pulled low over his head, he clicked his tongue at the sight of her sprinting toward him.
“A woman shouldn't be out alone at this hour!” he scolded. “Get in, quickly!”
She had sworn she would never take a coach again, but right now, money was the last thing on her mind. Seo-ah scrambled into the carriage and slammed the door shut. The coachman set off at once. As she stared anxiously out the window, he called out in a loud voice.
“Where to?”
Seo-ah pressed herself against the wall closest to the driver's seat and whispered through the small window.
“An inn.”
Hearing her whisper, the coachman lowered his voice as well.
“An inn?”
“Yes. Please, take me to the busiest one you know.”
The busiest inn, eh?
The coachman cracked his whip, and a grin spread across his face. Yellowed teeth glinted from beneath his deeply drawn hood.
“You got it, Young Lady. Don’t you worry.”
The coach, carrying the naive Outsider, sped down a road dense with trees before turning to follow the banks of the Daub River.
Seo-ah stared out the window, her hands clenched tightly. Soft light spilled from the buildings lined up along the riverbank. They rounded a corner, passing an enormous and beautiful stone manor where a massive, intimidating black carriage was parked at the entrance.
What kind of place is this? Who owns a carriage like that?
The meaningless thought evaporated the moment they passed the manor, replaced by a fresh wave of anxiety.
I don't have much money. I hope I have enough for the fare and the inn. What if that man follows me again?
As one worry gave way to another, the coach’s speed slowed considerably. Finally, it came to a complete stop.
“We’re here!” the coachman called out.
Clutching her travel bag and the collar of her coat, Seo-ah looked out the window. Standing before her was a manor just as ornate and beautiful as the stone one they had just passed.