The woman who handed me the strawberry cake asked casually, almost as if it meant nothing.
I had been staring blankly at the fluffy swirl of cream when I nodded.
“Yes, that’s right. Why?”
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
“Hehe.”
The lady laughed awkwardly for some reason and dusted off her hands with a few light pats. Something about it felt suspicious, but before I could ask further, customers began pouring into the bakery one after another.
In the end, I simply stepped outside and shrugged.
‘Guess I’ll just head home.’
I’d already finished everything I came out to do. I was curious, sure, but there was no reason left to stay.
Clutching my bag tightly, I turned into the alleyway.
The house I’d been scammed into buying sat a little away from the bustling streets.
‘He’s probably still asleep, right?’
A week ago, the man who had barely survived had fallen unconscious—and he’d remained that way all the way until this morning.
Every day I checked to see if he’d somehow died in his sleep, but thankfully, he was stubbornly alive.
‘He’s breathing, at least.’
Even after his condition improved, he still hadn’t regained consciousness.
‘Don’t tell me he’s in a coma?’
No way.
I hurriedly shook my head. Even joking about that felt awful. A coma would be far worse.
‘So why won’t he wake up?’
At first I worried he might attack me once he regained consciousness.
Now I was worried because he wouldn’t wake up.
“Ugh…”
Still grumbling to myself, I eventually arrived in front of the house.
But the moment I pulled out my key, I noticed something strange.
“…Why is it open?”
Blink. Blink.
I rapidly blinked my eyes and cautiously examined the doorknob.
‘Did I forget to lock it?’
No way. Not in this hellish place called Proud. If nothing else, I was obsessive about locking doors.
My brows furrowed suspiciously as I narrowed my eyes and scanned the surroundings sharply.
A thriller movie I’d once watched flashed through my mind.
Quietly, I stepped backward.
Instinct screamed that something was wrong.
‘Stay calm. Calm down.’
This was the underworld district. I’d only been gone for a short while, yet the door was open. And for the record—I had no family. No friends. No acquaintances.
‘…’
I glanced sideways at the doorknob. My heart pounded wildly.
Part of me desperately wanted to rush inside, but barging in recklessly felt dangerous.
‘There could be poison on the handle.’
I mean, people got paralyzed from picking random stuff up off the street all the time, didn’t they?
In situations like this—
‘Break it down!’
The moment the thought crossed my mind, my leg flew up.
And then—
BANG—!
I kicked the door open.
“Who’s thereee—?!”
…Huh?
The foot I’d dramatically planted forward froze awkwardly in midair.
Standing there like an idiot, I tilted my head.
“What?”
My bewildered gaze landed on the empty sofa.
The blanket I had carefully tucked over him that morning now lay crumpled on the cold floor.
“Uh… uh—”
Where did this guy go?!
Gone.
No matter how much I searched, he was nowhere.
Just in case, I even checked beneath the sofa.
“Hellooo~?”
Yeah, right.
There was no way a grown man was hiding under there. All I accomplished was inhaling a lungful of dust.
Running a hand through my hair, I groaned.
“Seriously, where did he go?”
I searched every corner of the house, but there wasn’t even a trace of the man left behind.
Dropping onto the sofa with a thud, I looked around the empty room.
‘At least the money’s still here.’
And all the other belongings were untouched too. Did he really wake up and leave immediately?
‘Wrapped in bandages and all…?’
The more I thought about it, the stranger it became.
The potion had closed his wounds, but there was nothing I could do about his clothes. They’d been too soaked in blood to salvage.
‘There was no way to keep them.’
Which meant—
There was absolutely no way he could wander around dressed like that.
‘Damn it. This is making me nervous.’
Surely someone hadn’t dragged him away by force?
Then again… this was Amazing Proud. Totally possible.
Or maybe he thought I’d kidnapped him and ran away the second he woke up.
Honestly, either scenario sounded believable.
Letting out a heavy sigh, I leaned my head back.
‘He suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and now he suddenly disappear—’
“……”
“……”
I slowly shut my mouth.
‘Why.’
Why are you on the ceiling, sir?
At the same time—
After hearing of Wistonz’s disappearance, the young boy furrowed his brow and irritably swept back his brilliant ocean-blue hair.
“Tch.”
Displeasure practically radiated from him.
Maytal, the aide delivering the report, cleared his throat awkwardly.
“Well… it’s not exactly the first time this has happened.”
“Maytal.”
“……Yes, sir.”
“What’s today’s date?”
A face as beautiful and innocent as an angel turned toward him.
The boy curled the corners of his lips into a faint smile.
Forced into answering, Maytal laughed stiffly.
“May 5th?”
“Yes. Today is May 5th.”
“……”
“I’ll ask again. How many days has the old man been missing now?”
“I-It’s been a week.”
“That’s right.”
An entire week already.
The boy glared at Maytal.
“Useless fools.”
“My apologies.”
“You should apologize. I’ve been handling the work myself for an entire week already.”
Leaning back against the sturdy leather sofa, the boy crossed his long legs lazily.
Tap. Tap.
The arrogant tip of his shoe swung idly in the air.
Seven days had passed since Wistonz, the head of Kazlyden, vanished—naturally leaving the responsibilities to the boy.
After all, ever since his father died and he’d been placed under his grandfather Wistonz’s care, he’d been raised as Kazlyden’s successor.
“Anything else to report?”
“Ah. It seems a new organization has appeared in Proud.”
“I doubt I need reports about some petty gang.”
The boy straightened slightly.
If it had reached his ears, then the matter clearly wasn’t trivial.
“Correct. Their recent movements have been… unusual.”
“Summarize.”
“It began with robbing empty houses, so we assumed they were ordinary thieves. But recently, they’ve gotten bold enough to target Kazlyden territory and shops as well.”
“They can puff themselves up all they want.”
A parasite was still just a parasite.
“Ignore them. Someone will deal with them soon enough.”
This was the kind of place where provoking Kazlyden got you erased without leaving bones behind.
The boy sneered coldly.
“That all?”
“……There’s one reason we can’t ignore them.”
Resting his chin against his hand, the boy tilted his head.
A crooked gaze landed on Maytal.
“The leader of the organization has apparently been gathering healing potions obsessively. There’s an auction coming up, and it seems they’re targeting only potions there as well.”
“In large quantities,” Maytal whispered quietly.
The boy frowned.
Healing potions were one of the very things Kazlyden had been buying up themselves.
“Is that true?”
“Yes. And near the place where His Grace was last seen, we discovered traces of this organization. The group itself also appears more organized than expected.”
“……”
At last, the boy cursed.
“Where?”
“Proud Angelo.”
“Angelo…”
The duke had last disappeared near the neighboring district, Zentukan. The two neighborhoods were separated by little more than a single street.
“That damned old man.”
No one made life more troublesome than him.
“You said Proud Angelo, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct. Felix— ah, Young Duke.”
“Postpone all my schedules.”
“…Pardon?”
“If I’m going to search for the old man anyway, I’ll go personally.”
Felix, the young duke of Kazlyden, picked up the bell resting nearby.
“Prepare everything.”
Ding.
The sound of the bell echoed through the room.