Chapter 6
Chapter 6
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Lady of Revelry Ellis - 3
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"What are you gonna do?"
A light pink rabbit. Lady of Revelry Ellis gazed up at me with trembling eyes.
Her whole body was shaking, sweat pouring down—it was the exact side effect of low-grade narcotics, and she was in that state right now.
"Tohi, tohihi… Tohihihi!"
She suddenly burst into mad laughter. She alternated glances between the pizza cutter gripped in her hand and me, then finally managed to open her mouth.
"Florian… Florian, right? What the hell makes you think you can pull this off? You're dead. Dead, I tell you…"
"I'm not dying at your hands. And I won't die before you do."
"Come check out the situation in Wonderland soon. If you pull something like this on me, they won't let it slide there…"
Slap—!
"Kyaaak!"
I slapped her across the cheek before she could finish.
The rabbit-ear headband on her head flew off into the distance.
I didn't need to hear the rest.
Because I sure as hell knew Wonderland was involved in this.
Wonderland was nothing more than a group of scummy noble ladies banding together under Elfriede Dice to commit heinous crimes.
It wasn't an organization to take lightly, sure—but backing off out of fear would waste this precious second chance I'd been given.
I grabbed a fistful of Ellis's light pink hair and threw her words right back at her.
"Aren't you gonna kill the Mad Hatter? If not, you're the one who dies."
"…I won't."
She tossed the pizza cutter to the floor and snapped her fingers with a sharp click.
The trumpet-card-shaped decorations on the walls turned pitch black.
Probably some trick to keep anyone outside from seeing into the drawing room.
Then, as if she'd made up her mind, she took a deep breath, stood on her own two feet, and glared at me.
Whooo, blue mana began gathering around her arm.
"I said I won't?"
"You're the one dying here. Flori…"
Thwack—!
"Kya, kyahaha… Ugh!"
I kicked her square in the gut before she could finish.
Ellis clutched her stomach with both hands and collapsed to the floor.
I looked down at her crumpled form.
"Selling drugs while fooling everyone around you takes a serious lack of shame—and you've got plenty of that. Don't you know what you need to do right now to stay alive?"
"Urghhh… Ugh…"
But around then, the weight of my threat—tied to the Mad Hatter's life—evaporated.
He hacked up a cough, cough, and then his breathing stopped.
"Well, damn. He went and died. Guess you're next anyway, Ellis."
"…!"
Ellis's eyes shook violently, wide as saucers. You could almost hear her eyeballs rattling.
"W-W-W-Wait a sec."
"What's there to wait for?"
"I can be useful. You'll find a use for me if you keep me alive."
"What use?"
"You have business with Wonderland, right? Right?"
"How'd you figure?"
"Who stays this calm after hearing 'Wonderland'? I'll play along with you. I'll say whatever you tell me to."
I just stared at her silently.
Growing uneasy, she rushed on.
"If I die! Wonderland will change their plans. It's way better for you if I stay alive, isn't it?"
She wasn't wrong.
Wonderland's ladies were far sharper than Ellis. If they heard she'd been taken down—or killed—they'd switch tactics immediately.
Damn, her instincts were spot on. Too spot on, annoyingly so.
But decisions like this demand setting personal feelings aside.
I soon concluded to keep Ellis alive.
Largely because I didn't want to draw attention before properly tackling Wonderland.
I pulled up a chair and sat back at the table.
"Fine. Handle your servants however you want."
Ellis nodded as she picked up the fallen rabbit headband and put it back on.
She cracked the door open slightly and issued some orders to a maid.
Probably figured if she seemed like she was hiding something from me, she'd get beaten to death—so she deliberately raised her voice.
"Bring some booze. For the injured guys— And make sure the shipment going out today…"
Her instructions were clear and precise.
You could feel her years of experience in this underworld.
The maids paled the instant they saw her swollen cheek.
But of course, none dared ask about it. They just left.
A moment later.
Bottles of liquor—stuff you'd never even glimpse normally—filled the table. Ellis hurriedly poured one into my glass.
"Jesus."
The state of those bottles was ridiculous.
The ones they'd brought earlier were just okay, even without the maids saying much—but these? Top-shelf, no questions asked.
The napkin meticulously tied around the neck gave it away.
"If it's laced with drugs, I'm good."
"It's not."
"Then you drink first."
Ellis shot me a resentful glare but downed it in one go.
Obviously, big-time drug dealers never touch their own product.
Do that, and you're hooked—business over that same day.
Ellis was no exception. Seeing her chug it proved the booze was clean.
"Haa…"
She licked her lower lip, like the taste was bitter.
Suddenly frustrated, she filled a fancy glass to the brim and slammed it back.
She set the glass down with a thunk.
"Tell me."
"What?"
"What the hell are you? What's your goal?"
"Winter Dormouse knew, but you don't? Commoner, Valhalla Academy dropout, servant up until a bit ago."
Ellis figured I was lying.
"Ha… Fine. I won't ask who you are. Just tell me your goal."
"Crush all the scummy noble ladies committing heinous crimes. And eventually, kill Elfriede too."
"You're full of shit…"
She shook her head like she'd asked a stupid question.
"Sent by the Meynens family? Though all their elders died from drugs… No, wait. Whatever. If we crossed you somehow, I'm sorry. I'll pay—money, whatever. Let's settle this nice and clean."
"Ellis."
"……?"
I called her name softly, and her shoulders flinched.
"You keep talking down to me like that, and I'm not seeing the upside in keeping you alive. It's pissing me off."
"What…?"
"I said it's pissing me off."
Crash—!
I grabbed a bottle and smashed it on the table. Shattered glass makes a hell of a weapon.
More threatening than Winter Dormouse swinging a dagger, that's for sure.
Ellis shot to her feet.
She dropped to her knees, removed her headband and set it aside, took off her shoes and placed them neatly beside her.
Then she flattened herself on the floor, forehead and chest pressed to the ground.
"I'm sorry. I'll make sure you see the value in keeping me alive. Please, just spare me…"
"Good. That's more like it."
Ellis started to rise and reach for her headband.
"Didn't say you could get up."
"……"
She pressed her forehead back to the floor.
"Ellis."
"Yes, yes?"
"When do Wonderland's people get here? Tell me what they check when they come down."
"Soonest today, I think. They'll check the drug quality and sales volume, then head back. Today's report decides if I get recruited into Wonderland."
"Huh. You don't mix in that creepy 'tohihi' laugh much when you talk."
"Should I?"
"Do, and you're dead. That's why you're still breathing."
"……"
Silence hung for a moment.
"So, how's it looking? Think you'll get recruited into Wonderland?"
Normally, she would. That's how it went before.
"Probably… but if things don't wrap up smoothly today, it'll be tough."
"Like what?"
"Like if I die, or the mansion's owner changes… or something unsavory happens inside…"
"Eh, I don't care. Should I just kill you?"
"N-No? But you have business with Wonderland!"
Ellis tacked on quickly.
"Wonderland's so secretive—miss this chance, and catching their tail again will be a pain! Better to keep me around."
She wasn't wrong.
And I already knew that. Made me wanna hit her more.
"Can't just leave you as mansion head forever, though. You're sly—you'd scheme the second you saw Wonderland folks."
"M-Me?"
I yanked her real ear hard—not the headband one.
"Owowowow!"
She was the worst kind of lady. Casually pulling 'Me?' after all that.
"A-Ack! Even if I'm not mansion head, just tell me a way to survive! Please let go!"
"There you go. That's how you talk."
I nodded. Guess rabbits need the whip, huh.
Wait, wrong idiom? Eh, Ellis isn't a real rabbit anyway.
"Ellis."
"Yes."
I grabbed her hair, yanked her head up to force eye contact. Been doing that a lot today.
"You'll do anything to survive, right?"
"O-Of course."
"Announce we're engaged. That dodges suspicion clean for now."
Ellis's eyebrows twitched. The tremor spread through her whole body.
"Tohihi…?"
Suddenly, she cracked a pale-faced laugh.
The shock must've been too much.