Chapter 124
Chapter 124
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 124
Chapter Title: Human Lessons (5)
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The warden's office had grown dim and shadowy.
I hung my bundle of house keys on the key rack.
'Anyway, everyone treats the warden's office like their own room, coming and going as they please. If I leave them here, they'll grab them when they need to.'
"Hey, one key's missing, isn't it? There were supposed to be four."
I turned to Clea, who was sorting through the paperwork, with a puzzled look.
"Did one of the prisoners take a key, by any chance?"
"I'm not sure. One thing's for certain—they all acted completely indifferent and just left them on the table as they were."
So, none of them had even the slightest intention of visiting my musty old bachelor pad that reeks of middle-aged man.
Well, whatever. It's not like I opened it up because I particularly wanted to.
I did it hoping those brutal prisoners would get hooked on cooking and mellow out a bit.
'Still, was it too meddlesome after all? I feel a little embarrassed now.'
I scratched my cheek, pulling on a stoic expression.
'Then why did the Empire's stability suddenly skyrocket? Did something good happen far away, unrelated to me?'
All the things I've done so far might have rippled out like a butterfly effect, bringing positive changes to the Empire.
If that's the case, it's a fantastic sign.
"Got it. Well, I'm heading out then."
I slipped on the uniform jacket draped over the chair.
My hat, now sufficiently broken in, went tossed casually into my bag.
"Tomorrow, I'll watch the juniors, so feel free to head out and do whatever you want."
"I don't really have anywhere to go."
Isn't twenty the age when you have a ton of things you want to do?
Come to think of it, Clea was always especially quiet and reserved.
She didn't have hobbies like Anje did.
"You're twenty, and you don't have any friends?"
"No. I don't particularly like wandering around outside. And there are always so many annoying people."
Ah.
Yeah, with her looks, she'd naturally attract a swarm of guys buzzing around her.
It was enough to make even royals drool, so of course it was inevitable.
Feeling a pang of sympathy, I tossed out a casual joke.
"Then, I guess I don't need to visit your place anymore?"
"Well...... You wouldn't be missed if you didn't."
Clea whipped her head away, neatly stacking the bundled files with precise taps.
Her voice was utterly indifferent.
"Though I was planning on making braised short ribs for dinner that day."
Braised short ribs?!
My lighthearted steps toward the door halted abruptly.
'As expected of the scary vice warden. She even practiced my hometown dish just to lure me over for chores.'
Truth be told, braised short ribs were something she'd picked up from overhearing me mutter to myself.
A while back, a recipe had been circulating in the community forums, so I mentioned it, and one day she just whipped it up perfectly.
The amazing part was that she'd nailed the flavor here in the western lands, as if she'd hunted down every single eastern continent ingredient one by one.
"I can't resist braised short ribs. Guess I have no choice—see you tomorrow."
"An excellent choice."
Clea, having finished sorting all the papers, smirked with the knowing glint of an older woman.
If she were the warden, she'd have figured out every prisoner's tastes and made them all utterly dependent on her.
With those thoughts, I strolled down the moonlit corridor alone.
"I wonder if they cleaned up the dining hall properly."
Before leaving, I stopped by the site of the earlier explosion.
The floor gleamed spotlessly, and the tables stood in perfect alignment.
They must have grumbled all the while but worked hard at it—the place looked immaculate.
'Anyone hearing about this would be shocked. The Red Saintess and the Sword Sage diligently learning to cook.'
As I turned to head home with a satisfied smile,
something shiny on one table caught my eye.
'What's that?'
Up close, it turned out to be the key to my cabin.
The fourth one I'd thought was gone.
"I thought it was missing, but here it is, safe and sound."
I examined the key closely.
Rust spots and worn teeth had been meticulously restored.
As if a skilled artisan had painstakingly polished up the rusty thing.
"Ah, maybe someone cleaned it because it was so worn. That's why it seemed missing."
But aside from Clea, who else would do such a thoughtful thing?
The prisoners didn't strike me as the type for that level of delicacy.
Feeling uneasy, I pocketed the key anyway.
At least it wasn't lost for good.
"......"
My cabin was a twenty-minute walk from the prison.
A shabby wooden hut nestled in a small forest, so unassuming that no one would notice it unless they went looking specifically.
It wasn't exactly a well-equipped secret hideout.
Having served as a wine cellar for past wardens, it was falling apart.
The bed was rock-hard, the floorboards creaked and wobbled, and the old wooden walls were riddled with holes.
Still, there was one reason I chose it as my lodging: safety.
No matter how sturdy a fortress, if it's visible, it'll eventually fall to enemies.
Humans are instinctively driven by the urge to conquer, after all.
'But a rundown wreck like this? That's a different story.'
If it doesn't catch the eye in the first place, there's no risk of a surprise attack.
This was hard-earned wisdom from my three regressions.
Of course, it wasn't without drawbacks.
It was brutally hot in summer and lethally cold in winter.
And the bed was so stiff that a bad night's sleep left my back throbbing.
Tonight, I planned to crash on that stone slab of a bed for a quick nap.
'Even so, with the big match coming up, maybe I should've splurged on a nice place for a few nights.'
I gave my back a few absent taps as I pocketed the key.
Then, the moment I stepped inside the cabin,
'Hm? Why doesn't my place smell musty today......?'
The stale bachelor odor that always hit me upon returning was completely absent.
On the contrary, a soothing floral scent wafted through the air.
As if a young woman lived here alongside a lonely widower.
"......"
Puzzled, I lit the lantern first.
But......
"What the—did I come to the wrong house?"
My cabin looked utterly transformed from yesterday.
It was unrecognizable as the shabby hut it had been.
The floorboards that used to shriek like banshees with every step had been replaced with sleek tiles.
No more noise when I walked now.
And the outer walls gleamed with high-grade mana-infused wood.
This was the stuff reserved for the family head's room back at the main estate......
I suddenly recalled my father, Count Damon, fussing over it lovingly.
'They paneled the entire wall with this? That's worth a whole villa just in materials!'
Even more astonishing, it wasn't just the materials.
The moment I touched the wood, my mana resonated with the infused magic.
"This has...... both soundproofing and defensive spells woven in?"
Laying dual enchantments like this required a master to pour serious time and effort into it.
It was like wrapping the place in the same heavy barrier used for royal tombs.
Even with my Swordmaster-level strength, it could absorb everything I threw at it.
To breach this now, it'd take someone like Myoran bombarding it with sword auras nonstop for twenty-four hours.
"Impressive. Who the hell renovated it like this?"
Amazed, I flopped onto the bed.
Wait...... had my bed sheets always been this plush?
I pressed down on them with my hand.
A fragrant scent rose, and a heavenly softness cradled my palm.
It melted away the day's fatigue completely.
"Whoa......"
I sighed in admiration and lay back fully.
My whole body relaxed like I'd sunk into a hot spring.
'This is insanely comfortable. Sleep's crashing over me the second I lie down.'
I hadn't even changed out of my clothes, but the otherworldly comfort had my eyes drifting shut.
Which industrious housewife pulled off this miracle?
This was exactly the life I'd dreamed of forever.
A cozy bed filled with piles of gold and jewels.
True, no treasures yet—but dumping the wealth I'd squeezed from the Walter Group would make it reality.
As my hazy mind surrendered to drowsiness,
I somehow clung to wakefulness and sat up.
"No way. You think I can just crash knowing someone did all this?"
I bolted from the bed and flung open the cabin door.
Then circled the exterior, which still looked like a rundown shack.
Who had come to my hideout and left such a gift?
"Damn it, who was it?"
Had to be the prisoners, right?
They must've left it as thanks for teaching them cooking today.
But who goes this overboard with gratitude......
Now I just feel guilty.
After the match, I should treat them all to a fancy restaurant.
With that in mind, I headed back inside.
Toward the newly expansive bed.
Perfect gift, except it was comically oversized for one person.
The cabin light went out.
At that moment, a woman stepped out from behind a tree.
She clutched a bundle of twenty duplicated cabin keys in one hand.
"Looks like he likes the gift."
Mysterious golden hair shimmering in the moonlight.
Lake-blue eyes gleaming within.
"That's right. Rest well there from now on, Derek Minster."
The majestic aura of the sovereign who'd descended upon the prison earlier was long gone.
In the dark forest, the princess's eyes flashed like a lioness's.
"I'll come visit soon enough."
Camillia watched her pet snake approvingly settle into its new den.
Her usually pale, porcelain face faintly flushed.
"I get the bed, but why put defensive magic on the cabin?"
Conan, waiting behind her, asked slyly.
Camillia turned with a frosty glare.
"Someone might ambush him. It's just precaution. Isn't that obvious, Commander?"
"......"
Conan, her violet hair tied in a ponytail, swallowed hard.
"No other motives, right?"
"You first—any ulterior motives on your end?"
Camillia shot back at her childhood friend.
"I heard you two calling each other 'husband' and 'darling' at the black market today......"
"Th-that was unavoidable, like I explained earlier."
Conan stammered, a blush creeping up at the embarrassing memory.
"Stuttering now? An elite from Intelligence?"
"You're the weird one lately. Where'd that righteous gaze go? What's with those sly eyes?"
Camillia's sensually upturned eyes softened to her innocent girlhood innocence for a moment.
"Sly? How are my eyes sly? And you, parading around like that—what would people say?"
"Like what? This is standard military gear!"
In the dark woods, the lioness and the pony bickered loudly.
"How long are you gonna milk the military excuse? Should I start dressing like that too, as Northern Army Commander?"
"Absolutely not. With your figure, it'd ruin the royal dignity."
"Yours is fine? You've been bulking up since switching to desk work."
The twenty-four-year-old childhood friends continued their spat in front of the younger man's house.
But they soon had to drop it.
"By the way, didn't the cabin floor look different earlier? What's up with that?"
"The floor? I didn't touch the floor. Just the defensive magic and the bed."
The princess and Conan exchanged blank stares.
Someone else had altered the cabin's structure besides them.
The floor tiles hid a teleportation device triggered by specific conditions—a spell only Holy See mages could craft.
And it wasn't just the floor.
Unnoticed by all, a path once blocked by massive boulders had been cleanly carved open.
As if sliced apart by sword for easy passage.
While the warden slept, great changes had come to the area around his cabin.