The Villain’s Aide Has Run Away

At the low and clear voice, Kailos’s face slowly contorted. He looked back at the door, then turned to look at Leslun again.

The expression that had earlier seemed to say it was fine to be moved by the moment gradually disappeared. It was as if he had just realized what he had done.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

A trace of disbelief passed over his face, and Kailos tilted his head back, rubbing his jaw before muttering briefly.

“…Damn it.”

Leslun pressed a hand to his forehead. He had not expected to be trapped like this.

He wanted to ask why he had shut the door, but doing so would only mean pointing out the Crown Prince’s mistake once more.

“The outside was too noisy. I thought they might cause trouble.”

Leslun’s expression twisted as though incredulous.

“So that is why the students were murmuring.”

It was natural. The Crown Prince had come in person.

“Was it because of me? On my way here, one of the staff nearly dropped a plate when they saw me.”

Kailos spoke with a smile, but Leslun could not bring himself to smile at all.

No matter how much Kailos turned the heavy iron handle, there was no response. After trying several times, he turned back and offered Leslun an excuse.

“No one told me.”

Who would have known the Crown Prince was coming to the storage room? Or perhaps someone had seen him enter?

Leslun swallowed a sigh and went back to the place he had left half-searched earlier. Since it had come to this, it was better to finish what he had been doing rather than waste effort trying to force the door open.

“Instead of that, how about hearing me out?”

“Understood.”

Leslun stood at once, straightening his posture. His expression was not particularly good, but it was still an order from the Crown Prince.

“I was going to ask what you were… doing.”

“I was checking the boxes.”

“For what reason?”

Even as he asked, Kailos approached the place where Leslun was. Then he squatted down, and after some hesitation, Leslun crouched as well. He drew a small knife and slit open the box just enough to peer inside.

“I was inspecting them.”

“Do you suspect something?”

“…Yes.”

Leslun nodded honestly. The unease in his heart had not gone away, which was why he was still in the process of investigating.

“Recently, fewer food supplies have been delivered. The difference was small, but it was consistent, which made it suspicious. I was trying to figure out why.”

“So the possibility of someone diverting them midway is not enough to erase your doubts.”

Kailos sharply grasped Leslun’s underlying thoughts.

“But can you really figure it out by looking here?”

Leslun silently agreed. He himself doubted there would be any answer in such an obvious place. Still, he hoped to find even a single clue.

He bent low and checked each box one by one. Dust smeared onto the back of his hand, and his knees pressed against the cold floor, but he did not mind.

Kailos, quietly watching him from the side, soon pulled one of the boxes toward himself without a word, as if to help.

“I will do it.”

“It’s fine. I caused this in the first place, so I will make up for it by acting as your assistant.”

He spoke casually as he set the box down beside him. Leslun lifted his gaze slightly, then wordlessly turned back to focus on the next box. Now that two of them were working together, the search progressed much faster. It gave him a brief moment to catch his breath, though the tension had not left him.

It was then that Leslun suddenly stopped.

“This is…”

Inside the box, sacks of grain were neatly stacked. Something unfamiliar was smeared on the sack at the very top. He brushed it with his hand, and a yellow-brown powder came off. A faint oily smell reached his nose.

“What is that?”

Kailos leaned closer to look and Leslun turned his head to answer, only to freeze. Their faces were too close. His breath caught, but he quickly averted his gaze and parted his lips as if nothing had happened.

“It smells like oil.”

“So what about it?”

“This box once held weapons.”

At Leslun’s low-voiced words, Kailos’s face hardened.

“How do you know that?”

Now that he had spoken, he had to be cautious. Leslun carefully moved aside the grain sacks to inspect the bottom of the box. Faint marks were left on the wooden boards.

“This smell is not from food ingredients but from weapon-preserving oil.”

He ran his palm over the bottom of the box.

“Marks like these do not come from foodstuffs. They are left by blades or heavy metal objects.”