That Damned Knox!
That damned Knox! He wouldn’t even let me drop my guard!
I ground my teeth inwardly while keeping up the act of being asleep.
After all, Runelk Ainz, a low-ranking member of the action squad, would be dead to the world until someone knocked on the door.
Swish. Scrape.
With my hearing sharpened, it became even clearer.
This was on a completely different level from the noise that Senior Jake, who had zero sense of caution, would make.
Scrape. Scrape. Swish.
The faint sound of shoe soles lightly brushing against the floor was like the whisper of the wind.
Even in the dead of night when everything was silent, these footsteps were so quiet that you’d only hear them if you strained your ears. They belonged to a properly trained professional.
Please just walk on by. Please.
I didn’t know who it was, but maybe the hallway to the infirmary was a shortcut to wherever they were going?
Please.
Swish—
Damn it!
The footsteps inevitably came to a stop right in front of my hospital room.
Click.
Even after turning the doorknob, they didn’t open the door right away.
It was a careful move in case the target inside had woken up from the noise.
The intruder was probably pressing their ear against the door right now, checking if my breathing or presence had changed.
The best response would be to kick the door open and launch a preemptive attack.
But I focused solely on maintaining my even breathing.
There’s no killing intent.
They were sneaking in, but there was no sharp intent to kill.
That meant they had a different purpose.
Something like surveillance or intimidation, for example.
Which one is it?
However, extremely skilled assassins could also hide their killing intent until the moment they swung their weapon.
Swish. Swish.
I didn’t miss the footsteps approaching my bed, even quieter than in the hallway, and prepared myself to open my eyes and roll under the bed at any moment.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a rough cloth covered my face, and when I opened my eyes, I couldn’t see anything.
Oh right, there was the kidnapping option too.
When I struggled as if startled, a strong hand clamped over my mouth.
“Mmph!”
If the target looked like they were about to scream in resistance, one might shout or threaten to kill them if they didn’t stay quiet.
But the intruder—no, the kidnapper—didn’t do that.
My attempt to glean any hint about the unseen opponent from their voice or tone fell flat.
The price for failure came in the form of a sharp chop to the back of my neck.
Thwack!
Ah, it was off the mark.
Still, I let my body go limp as if I’d fainted, and the kidnapper hoisted me over their shoulder and began to move.
Doesn’t seem like it’s from the Wickers.
There was no way they’d treat the enemy who killed their boss this gently.
For now, I breathed a sigh of relief just from the fact that it probably wasn’t ordered by Edward.
Yeah. Kidnapping isn’t the kind of thing that guy would pull.
He’d probably storm through the front gates of Knox if anything.
Then who could it be?
I was reflecting on whether I’d made any enemies worthy of a kidnapping during my time at Knox when I heard a clack sound.
Following the sound like a small bead rolling, a sweet fragrance spread.
Is he eating candy?
No matter how much I was pretending to be unconscious, there was no way he could be this relaxed.
It made me lose my own tension as well.
But something felt off.
Why is he going up?
The infirmary was located on the first floor of the main building, in the east wing.
For someone with this level of skill, it would be advantageous to take a person outside while avoiding others’ eyes.
Yet the kidnapper was heading upward instead of outside.
And using the central staircase at that.
Second floor, then third.
Amusingly, the kidnapper walked through the main building’s staircase as if it were their own home, only quieting their steps once they reached the third floor.
What was on the third floor of the main building again?
I recalled the map of the Knox mansion in my head.
The third floor’s layout was simple.
The large conference room where the previous incident had occurred, and then... and then......
No way.
Even as I let out a hollow laugh, a chill ran down my spine.
I need to escape.
When I heard the door open, I struggled to break free, but I was thrown onto the hard floor like a piece of luggage.
Thump!
The damned kidnapper, as if their job was done, slyly crept away by themselves.
“Ow……”
Rubbing my throbbing backside, I roughly pulled off the sack covering my face with my other hand.
Or at least, I tried to.
I froze.
There’s someone here.
I sensed a faint presence a short distance away.
It had appeared for just a fleeting moment before vanishing, but I was definitely not alone here.
It’s probably too late to pretend I fainted again.
Ugh, I don’t want to take this sack off.
If possible, I’d rather not see anything for the rest of my life.
Slide.
The wretched hood, already halfway off, slipped down against my wishes.
What entered my brightened field of vision was.
“You’re here.”
If I could turn back time, I wanted to go back a few hours and grab Dupont Clancher by the collar to give him a piece of my mind.
His Grace the Duke is so swamped with work, you said!
No, if I could turn back time in the first place, I wouldn’t have stopped the Green Merchant Guild leader.
Whatever happened to someone like Killian Knox, I should have just left him to it.
As was usually the case with regrets, it was already too late.
Gulp.
The sound of me swallowing dry saliva rang out loudly.
In the needle-point silence, Killian Knox’s golden eyes glowed with an eerie light.
But what made my breath catch even more was the killing intent that pricked at my skin.
Blatant killing intent, with no attempt whatsoever to conceal it.
The density of it, something I couldn’t even imagine coming from that expressionless face, was pouring down on me.
He wanted my blood.
......Why?
“Runelk Ainz, a member of the action squad.”
Killian Knox called out my name.
“Y-yes, sir. I am Runelk Ainz......”
“You blocked the Green Merchant Guild leader here today.”
As expected, I was kneeling in the center of the Duke’s office.
After all, the third floor of the main building only had the conference room and the Duke’s office.
“How did you know?”
“What do you mean by that... I was definitely asleep in the ward, so why am I......”
“I’m asking how you knew that the Green Merchant Guild leader was aiming for my life.”
Killian Knox questioned me, chewing out each syllable.
This was completely unlike him.
This is bad.
The Killian Knox I’d encountered in the bathroom, and the one who had kicked an assassin’s head to shut his mouth, had both been plenty threatening.
But none of them compared to the man before my eyes now.
“Well, the truth is...... I noticed something a bit strange.”
I answered while keeping my body as low as possible.
“Even though there was more than enough time before the appointment time noted in the letter sent by Decon Gold, he was excessively urging haste saying he’d be late. And he seemed rather anxious about something......”
“Anxious?”
“N-normally, everyone gets nervous on their way to meet Your Grace. But that man was acting like he couldn’t wait to meet you, so it felt suspicious......”
Even though I’d spouted the kind of thing an enthusiastic low-ranking member might say, no reply came.
......Did it work?
It had to have worked.
Otherwise, I......
At that moment, Killian Knox walked up in front of me and ordered.
“Lift your head.”
I slowly raised my body that had been pressed flat against the floor.
I knew that if I didn’t follow orders, Killian’s foot would crush my skull right then and there.
“It is strange.”
It was the instant I lifted my head with all my might.
He suddenly pushed his face right up to mine.
I held my breath in surprise.
Looking at me, he murmured.
“Quite strange indeed.”
Interest? Disgust?
I couldn’t begin to decipher the emotions flickering in those golden eyes.
“Even a moment ago, you sensed my presence before you even removed the hood. Am I right?”
“T-that was purely by coincidence......”
“When the Green Merchant Guild leader arrived.”
This time, Killian Knox’s words jumped to the events of the afternoon.
“Neither Dupont, nor Decon, nor any of the knights guarding the door noticed that the man was targeting me. It’s been a long time since a bug came charging directly at me, so I was the only one watching him closely. Yet you saw the same thing I did.”
A low growl mixed into his quiet voice.
“Is that a coincidence too, Runelk Ainz?”