𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟎: 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥 (2)

Oswald left the Mercenary Guild. He had to find a place to stay for the next two days. With only 7 gold left, he needed to find a budget-friendly inn. Or, perhaps. . .

‘𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳’𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯.’

He was worried that doing so would reveal his location, but. . .

‘𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵.’

He had been pushing himself hard ever since he came to this world, and he was honestly quite exhausted. He needed to replenish his energy with a delicious and nutritious meal in a soft bed.

Having made up his mind, Oswald immediately hailed a nearby carriage and gave the driver the address.

About 30 minutes later, they entered the Nobles’ District, known as the most affluent district in the capital.

Oswald paid the coachman 1 silver and walked into the street. Perhaps it was because of his disheveled appearance, but a Sword guard patrolling the street stopped him.

“Hey! Let me see your ID.”

“Ugh. . .”

As soon as he removed his hood and presented his ID, the guard immediately bowed his head and apologized for his rudeness. Oswald waved his hand dismissively and headed towards his sister’s mansion.

“It’s huge.”

It was a mansion that reflected the vanity of Earl Aisen.

‘𝘔𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘞𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘴𝘰. . . 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.’

He thought as he pressed the doorbell of the mansion, and soon after, the butler of the mansion came out.

“Who is it. . . Oh, it’s Master Winchester.”

The butler recognized him and greeted him since he had visited several times while attending the academy.

“I need a place to stay for a while. Could I stay for two days?”

The butler was taken aback by his sudden change of tone but soon nodded with a smile.

“Fortunately, the Earl’s wife is here as well.”

“. . .?”

‘𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦?’

“Please, come inside.”

Led by the butler, Oswald entered the mansion in a daze. Not long after, his sister, Natalia, came out with reddened eyes, having heard the news, and greeted Oswald excitedly.

“Oh my! My brother! You must have suffered a lot outside. Oh. . . You’ve gotten so thin. . . Razak, tell the chef to show off his skills today.”

“Yes, madame.”

Soon, the maids who received Natalia’s orders took Oswald to the bathroom and helped him wash away the dirt from his travels.

Oswald returned as a clean and well-dressed gentleman.

“You seem to have matured a bit, perhaps because you’ve lost weight. Hmm.”

Was it because of Oswald’s expression? She cleared her throat after speaking.

“Oh, right. Have you heard the news?”

“What news. . .?”

He almost used polite speech but managed to use informal speech instead.

“Apparently, your suspension from the academy has been lifted.”

“What?”

What kind of nonsense was this?

‘𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦. . . 𝘈𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢?’

Somehow, he felt that the resourceful Alicia, who had promised to repay his favor for helping her during the train bombing, had done something.

“Oh. . . I guess you haven’t heard. I thought. . . You came here because you were going to return to the academy.”

“. . . . . .”

“Rather than that, what have you been up to since you left home? I heard that you were helpful during the train bombing incident. . .”

“I just traveled around.”

“Is that so? So, are you planning to return to the academy right away?”

“Hmm. . .”

He couldn’t give a definite answer.

“I’m not thinking about returning yet. I want to travel a bit more.”

“Why?”

“Just. . . I guess I want to reflect on myself.”

When he uttered the concept of self-reflection, his sister seemed to be lost in thought for a moment before nodding her head.

“So, where are you headed next?”

“Principality of Kiev.”

“It’s a beautiful place where you can see the white snowy mountains.”

“Yeah. . . Something like that.”

He just gave a vague answer since he had no intention of sightseeing the snowy mountains.

“Will you be okay without an escort?”

“It’s fine. I’m not going anywhere dangerous. . .”

Rather, he thought it would be more troublesome to bring an escort.

Oswald was able to rest comfortably after dinner.

Meanwhile, while Oswald was asleep. . . Natalia sent a telegram to Winchester Nation through the butler. It was for the person who had mobilized even the Information Guild to find Oswald. So she thought it would be a good idea to inform them of Oswald’s whereabouts via telegram.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

𝕒𝙬ė̇𝐛s𝔱𝘰𝕣𝐢ᴇs.𝔠ȯ̇𝔪

The next day, Oswald woke up early, ate the toast the butler brought him, and went outside. Fortunately, he didn’t sense anyone following him like in Winchester Nation, so he felt comfortable going to find Jack the Ripper.

‘𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘑𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘳. . .’

The first was to go to Sword headquarters and catch him directly, but this method would not work unless he had a high enough rank.

The second method was to barge in when he was bringing a victim to his workshop to kill, but since he didn’t know when the murderer would strike, he couldn’t just stay in hiding.

The last method was to find the secret showroom hidden in his house and report it. To do that, he had to infiltrate his house. . . Now was the perfect time.

‘𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮 𝘪𝘴. . . 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦. . .’

After much deliberation, Oswald decided to use a third party.

Oswald headed to the Imperius Empire Academy. He entered the academy grounds with his hood pulled low over his face in case anyone recognized him.

‘𝘈𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦.’