Chapter 190
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 190
Chapter Title: Who Are You?
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Thief and victim.
Two men who could never get along under normal circumstances were now calmly facing each other and chatting away.
"Come on, don't get so worked up. Theft's just a misdemeanor anyway. You know all it takes is a few months of playing nice, and you'll get parole."
"Easy for you to say—it's not your ass on the line."
"What's so hard about it? Everyone in London knows being a servant in a countess's house is a cushy gig—even the dogs."
"The work's easy enough, but screw up even a little, and it's lectures, discipline, re-education... non-stop."
"Anyway, just behave for now. When you get out, I'll split the reward with you."
"Damn it, half still feels too low no matter how I think about it."
"Hey, cut me some slack. I was on the verge of bankruptcy. I need at least half to pay off what I owe the Makers Guild."
"Goddamn it, calling a guy like you a friend."
"Don't be too bummed. The countess paid so handsomely for that junk that half will more than cover our troubles."
"Hah, long live the countess, then."
"Yeah, it's all thanks to the merciful Countess Rose."
They praised the Cisspent Countess's generous purse and compassion for only a moment.
Max and the street vendor debated how to split the reward money after his sentence, then parted ways with good-natured laughs.
"......"
But they didn't know.
Far out of their sight, a blue-haired woman had overheard every word of their conversation.
And the young man beside Rose, who had caught it all with his superhuman hearing.
Rimon spoke flatly.
"What will you do, Countess Rose? If you want to grab them and give them a beating, I can wait as long as needed."
"Are you saying I should punish them right now?"
"Isn't that obvious? They dared to scam a countess."
The brief exchange was enough to grasp the situation.
That the theft had been staged. That Max and the vendor's goal was the Cisspent Countess's household's reward money.
And now that she knew the truth, Rose had every right to punish them.
But Rose shook her head.
"......No, it's fine."
"You're just going to let them off?"
"I'll give them a fitting punishment for the fraud. But I have no intention of personally retaliating."
Her response was quite unexpected.
Rimon narrowed his eyes at her.
"I thought your clan placed great importance on honor. You're just going to forgive this insult?"
"Of course honor is important."
The Blue Dragon Clan was just and merciful, but they tolerated no affronts in three matters.
One of them was insults to honor.
What if the other Blue Dragons learned that these men had deceived and fleeced Rose herself—not just any clan knight—and laughed about it?
They would go berserk to protect their revered princess's honor and punish the two.
Yet the person in question, Rose, wore a bitter expression instead of anger as she spoke.
"But honor can only be enjoyed after fulfilling one's duties. I have no right to blame them."
"No right? Why not?"
"Because our clan is the reason they were driven to desperation and resorted to this."
"What nonsense is that?"
"Look at this city."
Rose slowly turned her head.
She gazed at the streets filled with magic lamps, flying carpets soaring through the sky, pedestrians walking monsters on leashes, and more.
She continued softly.
"Thanks to our agreement with the Makers Guild, London has prospered more than ever. But that prosperity has brought side effects in equal measure."
Countless magic players.
Magic items overflowing the city.
Citizens accustomed to the spectacle.
On the surface, London seemed like a dream city where everyone could enjoy the benefits of magic skills.
But just as magic demanded a price, every change came with side effects—and London was no exception.
For starters, the disappearance of automobiles had left countless people unemployed.
The Makers Guild had granted them rights to sell magic items as relief.
But mass-produced items flooded the market beyond demand, and many proxy sellers ended up buried in debt instead.
And that wasn't all.
The expanding influence of magic players had bred subtle class discrimination.
The city's warped structure, where most citizens depended economically and technologically on the Makers Guild.
Over the past few decades, London had undergone more changes than any other city, and those who couldn't adapt had fallen into poverty.
A dual city, where thick undercurrents of harm lay buried beneath the glamorous facade.
That was London's hidden reality.
"......In short, because the Cisspent Countess's household failed to prevent London from becoming what it is, those men turned to crime out of poverty—and that's the original sin on your head?"
"Something like that."
"You're responsible for London's security, not its welfare."
"It's not about responsibility—it's a matter of duty."
As a knight or a noble, protecting and caring for the weak was a given obligation.
Watching Rose speak earnestly, Rimon twisted his lips slightly.
As if he'd heard a joke.
Or as if something irked him.
He gazed at her with a sneer close to mockery, then spoke abruptly.
"Hey, Countess. Doesn't living like that get exhausting?"
"I'm just doing my job."
Why would fulfilling one's proper duties be tiring? Rose stated flatly.
But instead of agreeing, Rimon flashed an even colder smile.
"Maybe, but your complexion looks pretty worn out for someone who says that...... I knew a black company employee who wasn't this bad off."
"It's just from a few sleepless nights."
"Sleepless nights? Why?"
"......"
"What's with that resentful glare?"
"It's nothing."
For a moment, Rimon puzzled over her look—as if she were staring at the shameless culprit playing innocent.
Then he chuckled.
"Fine if you're not tired. I was gonna offer some encouragement otherwise."
"Encouragement?"
"Well, you don't lack for material things, so...... maybe pat your head?"
"I'll gratefully decline......"
"Ah, right. Since you're having trouble sleeping, I could play a lullaby."
"......"
"Nah, you probably don't need that. Right?"
Not tired, and just take the sentiment—fine, encouragement it is in spirit.
Muttering jokingly, Rimon sauntered off without noticing.
Rose reaching toward him, lips parting, only to slump her shoulders in the end.
Just then, Rimon and Rose resumed their patrol disguised as tourism.
Dong—
"Hm...... Has it gotten this late already?"
Rimon nodded at the bell toll—like a thousand cannons slamming into the city walls—a sound every Londoner knew.
Rose said calmly.
"If you'd like another tour this evening, I can guide you."
"Why?"
"If you're dissatisfied with me, I can assign another knight."
"No, that's not it. Why are you talking like the daytime tour ends here and I'm heading back?"
"Because this afternoon, you'll be practicing violin with Miss Julia......?"
Rose paused mid-reply.
Rimon tilted his head crookedly.
His mischievous smile and meaningful gaze sparked a sudden realization.
Dong—
"Surely you're not saying you'll tour London at twilight?"
"I'm in a magic city for once. Wouldn't it be a shame to miss London's top attraction?"
"That's......!"
Rose was stunned.
Touring London at twilight?
Any Londoner—no, anyone who'd ever visited—would call it madness.
"If you don't feel like it, head back, Countess. I'll look around alone."
But Rimon was nonchalant.
His whole demeanor said he'd continue the tour, with or without her.
Gazing at him with complicated eyes, Rose finally sighed and spoke.
"......At least stay close by my side. You never know what might happen in London's twilight."
"I'll try."
Dong—
Shortly after Rimon's half-hearted reply and impish smile.
With the thirteenth toll, fog deeper and thicker than the ocean swallowed Rimon, Rose, and all of London.
Every breath drew damp moisture into the body; every step sent thick fog rippling like waves.
Even in the dimness where visibility barely reached a foot ahead, surroundings appeared unnaturally sharp in outline.
This was surely the ground.
Yet it felt like walking the ocean floor.
The dissonance was so thick and eerie that an ordinary person would succumb to terror from it alone.
That unsettling feeling was a big reason twilight was feared in London.
But right now.
Rimon strolled through the fog with utter composure.
Truly like a tourist, receiving a friendly guide's rundown of London's historic highlight.
"Contrary to popular misconception, this London Great Barrier wasn't created during the Demon God War."
"Oh?"
"Yes. Records say it was crafted in the Silver Age by the three great witches known as the Ladies of the Lake to stand against the Demon King."
Rose thought.
What an irony.
Earlier, she'd been too busy with rescues and security to give a proper tour.
Now, she was pulling off a perfect guide act without issue.
Well, in a way, it was natural.
Rescues and security required people to act on—but no lunatics wandered London at twilight.
......Except herself and this young man.
"As ages passed and the Ladies of the Lake died or vanished, the Great Barrier faded, and London's fog dispersed."
"Until the witch from Magic City's 27 Districts revived the London Great Barrier, right?"
"Exactly. And as such, all sorts of things happen in the fog that spreads at twilight."
Feeling oddly like a lunatic herself, Rose continued her diligent tour.
She gazed into the thick fog at an approaching shadow and added softly.
"Like that."
Shh...
At a glance, it was just a featureless, ordinary human silhouette anyone might have.
But Rimon spotted its oddity instantly.
Not just because it stood out vividly in the hazy fog.
It lacked the most crucial thing: a physical body casting the shadow.
"......London's ghosts, huh."
"Yes, that's what people call them."
Clearly empty air filled with fog.
Yet a human-shaped shadow stood sharp and clear—a vision of pure horror.
Even more so as the shadow moved along the street like a real person, stirring instinctive dread.
"It might look creepy, but they don't actually harm anyone, so don't be scared."
"I know."
Rimon nodded.
And muttered again, as if it were important.
"I know very well."
"......?"
Rose looked puzzled.
Not just because he showed no reaction to London's ghosts, which usually freaked people out.
Bitter?
Nostalgic?
Regretful?
A mix of all, yet something else entirely—whatever emotion flickered on Rimon's face held her gaze.
But Rose soon had to look away from his face.
Another shadow slowly rose behind the silhouette approaching them.
'Two London ghosts?'
Rose was a bit surprised.
Even at twilight, London ghosts weren't that common.
Much less two together.
That's why, when a third shadow appeared behind them, her eyes widened.
But that was just the beginning.
Shhh...
"......!"
From three to ten, a hundred, hundreds.
Surging from the ground, bursting through walls, emerging from alleys.
Surrounded by countless shadows popping up everywhere, Rose found herself encircled and could only stare in shock.
'What is this...?'
She'd lived her whole life in London and, as the Blue Dragon Princess, knew nearly everything about it.
Even so, she'd never heard of so many shadows appearing at twilight.
Her shock was so great.
She unconsciously gripped her sword.
But the man she meant to protect, Rimon, kept walking without a care.
As if the horde of London ghosts were invisible, straight into the waves of overflowing shadows.
"Wait—!"
Stunned by Rimon's unforeseen action, Rose hurriedly reached to grab him.
But she stopped midway. She had no choice.
She saw it.
The moment Rimon stepped forward.
The shadows filling the street parted three steps to either side, clearing a path for him.
Like Moses parting the sea with the Fairy Queen's power in ancient legend.
Rose could only watch, dumbfounded, as Rimon calmly entered the parted way.
"What're you doing? Come on."
He turned back casually, as if nothing had happened, urging her to hurry.
But she didn't move.
She only tightened her grip on her sword and asked softly.
"......Who are you?"
Rose stared straight at Rimon with eyes deep as a lake.
She glanced at the shadows parted to his sides—at their deference to him—and asked again.
"What exactly are you that London's ghosts pay you such respect?"