Chapter 3 – The Younger Sister’s Displeasure

The Count's bedroom was only small and faintly lit, and there was no sign of anyone.

Of course, except for a man lying on a bed at the back of the room, who appeared to be the Count.

(I never thought that the first room I would be breaking into in the middle of the night would be an old man's room.)

Thinking that my gestures were similar to sneaking up to a woman's room to have an affair, I moved briskly to make things quick.

I searched the cupboards and small boxes where the medicine might be stored.

(No, not this one… is this it? Here goes nothing.)

I found what seems to be a medicine chest, but the real work starts from here.

Among the many medicines, I have to distinguish the one prepared by the Marquis.

(Damn, it's hard to tell them apart, especially in the dark.)

On top of that, most of the medicines are in powder form, so you can only judge them by their color and the fineness of the powder.

Of course, I wasn't searching blind. Before this, I had our mentally manipulated maid make a list of what she was buying from the apothecary, so in some way, I was able to distinguish the ones that were given by the marquis by excluding the items on the list.

(Looks like it's this one? Just to make sure, let's take a sample of each one.)

I transferred a small amount of the medicines from the wrapper to the container I had brought, and sealed it tightly.

But the moment I put the medicine box back in its original position, I heard Anastasia's impatient voice in my ear.

[Yuushin, there is light coming from the hallway. Someone might be heading that way. Hide!]

"Damn it, what bad luck."

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I listened carefully, and sure enough, I could hear footsteps coming toward me.

I spotted a large closet and crawled into it.

Then I squatted down on the spot and looked at the bedroom through the gaps in the closet door.

After that, as expected, the bedroom door was opened.

(After all that had gone so well, here comes the trouble…)

As I suppressed my irritation, I heard Anastasia's voice again.

[They don't look like they're making a fuss, so it's okay for the time being. But it looks like you've accomplished your mission. I'll make preparations for your escape now.]

"That's very thoughtful of you. I guess I'll have to thank you when I get back."

As I let out a sigh and muttered, someone entered the opened door. It was Milena and Lacy. If y ou are ab le to r ead th is me ss age, yo u ar e re ad ing fr om an unau t ho rized ag gr eg ate si te. Re ad at m y Wor dPr ess at stab b ing w ith a s yr in ge. h ome. b log to sup port me and m y tra nsl ations.

The girls turned on the lights in the room and approached the Count.

"Father seems to have not woken up in the last few days. Is he all right?"

Lacy asked her sister while holding the Count's hand.

"I'm sure he's fine. That shows that uncle's medicine must be working. At least, this is much better than him being in pain."

Milena put her hand on her sister's shoulder and reassured her.

They really love their father, aren't they? If it were a drama, this would be a touching scene.

"Speaking of which, we still have that medicine, right?"

"Yes, I get them every time I do my uncle's work, so I have enough for another week."

So, the medicine is given in exchange for the results of their work, not just the attempts.

That explains why they have been so active recently.

I can't speak for the Marquis, but he does some pretty nasty things.

As I was thinking this, Lacy spoke to her sister with something on her mind.

"Sis, about uncle's jobs…"

"What's wrong? Are you getting tired by any chance?"

"No, it's the opposite! I want him to give me more work to do!"

While Milena responded in kind, Lacy became a little angry.

(The situation has turned around out of the blue. Let's see if we can hear something interesting.)

I kept my breath low for me not to miss their conversation.

"Lacy, what do you mean by you want more jobs?"

"I mean exactly what I said. I'm already in the military, so I'm already an adult! You don't have to treat me like a baby, sis!"

"Listen, Lacy. Uncle's job pays well, and he gets medicine, but it's also very dangerous. The job we are doing now is not something you can do for a living, okay?"

Milena spoke to Lacy as if she was trying to warn her.

"Not only is it dangerous, but some of it is also on the edge of or outright breaking the law. We don't want you doing those things and getting caught."

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Her tone was gentle, but the atmosphere was almost an order.

She doesn't want her sister to do dirty work, so she says such things that push her away.

However, it only brought the opposite effect.

"You're trying to keep it all to yourself again! Even I see that our vassals are helping you, so why exclude me?!"

Lacy looks at her sister with an expression that is a mixture of anger and sadness.

It seems she can't stand being assigned a low-risk job just because she's younger.

Well, that's a common way of thinking at an age like Lacy's.

That said, it cannot be denied that Milena's overprotective treatment has made her this strong.

"Lacy, please understand. Also, please, not here in front of our father."

"It is you who is not trying to understand, sis! Why don't you just listen!"

The quarrel between the sisters heated up in front of my eyes.

Milena was calm at first, but maybe because of the stress, she's also starting to get irritated with Lacy's rebellious attitude.

"Lacy, go to bed today. Let's talk about this tomorrow."

"You're going to put this off like that again?"

"Enough, Lacy! I said we'll get through this tomor-"

Just as Milena was about to lose her patience, the entire mansion shook.

It was an earthquake.

"Kuh…"

It was about a 3 on the Ritcher scale, but because I was squatting in an unstable position, I hit my head on the closet door.

"…?"

"Sis, that was…"

At that moment, the sisters, who had been fighting until then, stopped moving.

I ran a cold sweat on my back.

I quickly put on the hood of my cloak and pulled up the collar to cover my mouth.

"I know you're in the closet. Come out!"

"I'll give you a chance to explain yourself now. The sooner you come out, the better it will be for you."

They spoke as they stood side by side and braced themselves.

It's hard to believe they've been fighting just now. They coordinated so well together that it almost brought tears to my eyes. Thi s ch ap ter tran slati on i s ma de poss i ble by st abb ing wi th a s yri nge tran slati ons. che ck on ly u p-t o-d ate tr ansl at ions on my W ord pr ess sit e.

"Yuushin, the recent earthquake has started people to turn on their lights everywhere. If you want to get out, now is the time!"

I heard Anastasia's voice like a scream in my ear.

"Yeah, I know. I'll be out in a minute."

With that, I secured my hood and blasted out of the closet, heading for the window, which should be the most probable exit.

Once outside, Anastasia should be able to back me up.

"Wait! I won't let you get away!"

Lacy, who was quick on her feet, quickly followed.

But I was much closer to the window than she was, so I didn't hesitate to break through and roll out.

There were already servants and guards outside to see what was going on. This is not good.

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"There's an intruder in the yard! Catch him!"

Milena shouted, and the guards reacted quickly.

First, two guard dogs came toward me.

They bared their sharp fangs and quickened the pace on a speed much more agile than the goblins.

"I am not really a dog person, but if I want to choose, I'd rather be chased by a cute little pup!"

I rushed toward the guard dogs and kicked one of them in the face.

But the other dog used that chance to jump on me.

"Damn!"

As soon as I tried to defend myself with my arms, I heard a whistling sound, and the other guard dog was blown away.

"Anastasia! Thank goodness!"

Without looking back, I ran toward the escape route I had decided on.

But soon after, Lacy approached me from behind.

"Just surrender peacefully!"

In her hand was a drawn-out sword goodness knows when she pulled out.

I felt my life was in danger and moved my feet faster than ever before, but Lacy was closing the gap.

Almost… there… Aaaaguh!!"

But just before she could catch up, something caught her foot, and she fell.

At her feet was a hole several inches deep. It must have been a trap made by Anastasia.

I kept running, keeping up the pace even after escaping a distance from the Count's mansion.

When I finally managed to disperse my pursuers, Anastasia came down from the top of a nearby building. It seems she has also followed me by jumping from rooftop to rooftop.

"That was a close call, Yuushin. Did you get what you came for?"

"Yeah, sort of, thanks to you. Your timing was perfect."

Anastasia smiled happily as I said this while out of breath.

"I've been on the edge of my seat for a while now, and it's been fun. I'm glad I chose to follow Yuushin that day."

"I don't know what to feel about that, but I will take it as a compliment. All that remains is to present this to the merchant and ask him about this medicine."

'Yes, yes, then we'll have a date afterward, and then we'll go back to the base. After all, you told Lucy we were going out, didn't you?"

She wraps her arms around me as she says this.

Apparently, she has no intention of letting me go on this.

Smiling bitterly as I thought this to myself, we left the place casually as it was.