IBSGAD Ch 11 — Bad Guy, Weird Guy, Nasty Guy

this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!

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Still, the mana that had been boiling inside of me when I was hitting the pillow had now subsided a bit.

I now felt refreshed, even though my stomach had felt hot, just like it normally did the day after I had drunk too much alcohol.

The problem was that I was so relieved that I had lost my strength and fallen asleep.

“You didn’t even end up giving me a gift!”

I suddenly woke up in the middle of the night and tried to wrap my head around it. At some point in time, the pillow, which had been beaten up by me for the crime of resembling Cassian, had been put away.

There was even a hammer on top of it. 

As if they had wanted to use it on Cassian too.

It was clear that my quick-witted maid, Azelta, had been the one to put it on top of it.

“Pfft.”

A burst of laughter leaked out of me. 

But would you even have been able to do such a daring thing if you were just an ordinary maid?

After all, the basic requirement to being a maid was to put things back into their proper place.

Well, to be fair, there had been something strange about Azelta since earlier as well.

Starting from when the other maids, and even the chefs, who she would constantly nag at, would respectfully call her ‘Miss Azelta’.

“She doesn’t seem to be just a maid, but at least a head maid…”

Or maybe she had another position.

I tossed and turned while deep in thought. 

Whether it was because Azelta had tucked the blanket up to cover my shoulders, sleep seemed to come as the warmth returned once again.

“Heup¹.”

I turned my body, which was facing the door, toward the window.

There were pillows on both my right and left, but whether or not it was because they had found out about my bad sleeping habits was still unknown.

“Mm, how soft!”

It was when I was rubbing a pillow against my cheek with a satisfied smile.

My eyes suddenly shot open.

“Weren’t my curtains shut?”

It was because bright rays of moonlight were now shining into my room.

There’s no way that Azelta would have made such a mistake, right?

It was when I suddenly got up.

— Knock knock.

I heard a sudden knock on the window. As if someone were trying to open it.

“What is it?”

As I slowly pulled my head, what greeted me outside was… 

‘Open up.’

There was a man with rather dark blond hair, mouthing something to me.

It’s you again??? 

It was none other than Cassian. 

To think that I’d open the window, did he think I was crazy? I whipped my body away from him again. Then, a voice came through the gap in the window.

“If you don’t open it, I might fall to my death.”

I wondered how his voice could squeeze through such a tight space in the window.

Whether you fall to your death or not!

I closed my eyes. Then, Cassian spoke up once again.

“I guess it can’t be helped if rumors about how your father killed his own brother start to spread then.”

What do you mean by that?

I jumped to my feet unconsciously and saw Cassian sitting on the windowsill, with a face that was trying to look pitiful.

“…”

At the same time, his objective was clear, just from his raised index finger.

“Passing the night together with me wouldn’t be nice, huh?”

However, it was obvious just by looking at that punk that he was the type of person who would only bring more trouble to us if I just left him as he was and eventually fell to his death.

“Sigh.”

I sighed deeply and got out of bed. Rabbit slippers were placed in its spot instead of the teddy bear slippers, which had suffered from stepping on that sandy floor.

“Heup.”

The window also had a handle that would spin at the bottom, so that even the young me was able to open and close it with ease.

Of course, perhaps because they feared that I would fall, the height of the window itself sat rather high up on the wall.

— Click. 

Cassian’s expression immediately smoothened out the moment the window was opened. I opened the window very slightly, then locked it in place once again.

That way, he couldn’t get all the way in unless he chose to break the window.

And if he broke it, Sir Rottier would come in.

“…”

I looked at the door to the hallway where Rottier would be. 

Should I call for Rottier?

‘Eyes like a beast.’

However, if I did, this punk would only begin to spout bullshit again, all the while never failing to make me feel uncomfortable.

I thought it’d be better for me to just listen to him quickly before kicking him out, no matter what the purpose of this fuss was about.

“I’ll scream if you come in!”

Cassian laughed when I said that.

He was a punk who had a strange talent that enabled him to smile widely, even with his face stuck on the window.

“Oh, I’d feel unpleasant if I ran into that beast-like thing too.”

He keeps calling Rottier a beast! But who’s really the one who resembles a beast more?!

Even if I didn’t… fully trust the people of this area yet, one thing was certain.

There was no one who made me feel as bad as Cassian.

It was the moment I had such an impression of him.

“I was just going to give you a present and leave. Here.”

Cassian reached his hand through the crack in the window and dropped some sort of stone.

—Thud, gureureureu²…

I stepped aside instead of going to receive it.

“Isn’t it fascinating that they’re sparkling?”

That was true. It was indeed a stone that shone with a strange light.

I could feel an unstable mana force from within the stone.

He probably wouldn’t have given it to me if he had known it was a mana stone. But naturally, it would’ve been troublesome if I revealed the fact that I knew it was a mana stone.

“What is this?”

“It’s something fascinating. Since there are a lot of strange, bizarre, and ominous things in this place.”

Cassian grinned. I’ll let the strange and bizarre things slide for now, but…

“Ominous things?”

Why are you giving me something ominous?

I opened my mouth in disbelief, dumbfounded, but Cassian merely stretched out his hand.

“Then, I’ll take my leave now, since my niece has already received her present.”

Cassian disappeared quickly, just like that.

Did you really stick to me so tenaciously, just to give me this one thing?

—Shut.

I scowled at the stone he had dropped after shutting the window.

“It’s not even made properly.”

Although the mana stone was a mana stone, it was a stone that had been ruined by abnormal mana.

This was widely regarded as a waste stone and was never used properly, even in my previous life.

In addition, if a mage, who was frequently around mana, accidentally came into contact with such an unstable mana stone, the mana stone could explode.

Although there’s no way a person who was in a world where magic was forbidden, would be aware of that.

Wouldn’t that guy have been aware of it if he was a mage?

“Ugh.”

I narrowed my eyes and backed away. 

Anything that was shiny or disappeared would definitely catch the interest of a child.

At least that would’ve been the case for me, if I wasn’t a mage.

I turned around without picking up the stone in question. 

—Flop! 

I flopped onto the soft bed and pouted. I’d have to ask Azelta to clean it up tomorrow.

She wasn’t a mage, so that mana stone wouldn’t explode.

“Wait, but!”

I jumped up abruptly, just as I was about to fall asleep.

The stone was a stone, but I couldn’t help but have a bad feeling!

Just what the hell are you up to, you fucker???

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pls do not share this anywhere or the transmigration gods will transport u into boku no pico !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

“This stone is…?”

Azelta, who came into the room the next day, was also curious about the source of the stone.

Her eyes sharpened for a moment, as if checking for any intruders.

“That mister gave it to me and left.”

Azelta paused at my words.

“Are you talking about… Cassian?”

“Yeah.”

Azelta narrowed her eyes.

“Did he open the window?”

“No.”

If that was the case, then I would’ve called for Rottier beforehand! I waved my hand dismissively.

“He only coaxed me to open the window, so I opened it.”

“Young Miss.”

Azelta turned to me. She looked quickly did a once-over of me, as if she were reading a book, and immediately let out a short exhale.

I knew what she was trying to say.

I waved my hand.

“He said he’d do something weird if I didn’t. So I opened it, just a little bit.”

I spread my thumb and index finger. 

Although the gap suddenly became too small since it was a child’s hand instead, Azelta seemed to be more concerned about something else.

“Do something… weird?”

It seemed as if I could already see all the dirty things she was already picturing, floating around in her head.

If I just left it like this, then Cassian would really seem like a son of a bitch, even more than I could even imagine. 

But still, did I really need to go and correct it?

“Young Miss, can you tell me what he said?”

That was when Azelta asked me as she approached me cautiously. Judging by the way she was holding both of my hands tightly, it was clear that she had some sort of misunderstanding.

“But if you don’t feel comfortable enough to, then you don’t have to tell me either.”

“No, it’s…”

It’s not that serious! 

In the end, I decided to save what was left of Cassian’s reputation, just this once.

But it wasn’t for that bastard though.

It was because I thought that Azelta would feel sorry for me if I let her imagination run wild.

“Last night…”

As I told her about that night, Azelta’s face changed bit by bit each moment.

“Are you saying that he was talking about His Grace, the Duke?”

“Yeah. So I just opened it for him.

I pursed my lips slightly. Of course I didn’t expect for Cassian to fall to his death as I said, but would a five year old know any better?

Azelta hugged me with a brief sigh, just as I was rolling my eyes.

“…!”

My eyes widened, startled by the sudden action.

“Azelta…?”

It seemed like ever since I had been reborn as Nassia, that this was the first time that someone had ever hugged me like this.

Although at first, I was startled and stiffened up, I slowly lowered my arms, as if I was melting in the warmth that was permeating through.

She clearly let out a sigh of relief.

“Young Miss. In the future, no matter what anyone says, don’t open the window so carelessly.”

Azelta’s hand, which was hugging my back, was hot. As if she were nervous.

It felt like a rather damp and humid warmth, different when compared to when she normally held my hand. Was it because her hands were sweaty?

“Although you were thinking of His Grace this time, His Grace is someone who is so strong, he doesn’t need Young Miss to protect him.”

Azelta continued to speak.

“That…”

Right, that did seem to be the case.

No, if Cassian had been someone who could harm the current Duke of Ether, then the position of the Duke of Ether would have gone to Cassian instead.

I already knew that. 

The reason I opened the window was because I knew Cassian would somehow still continue to bother me.

Rather than that, it’d be better to end it quickly.

If he were to harm me in any way, it definitely would have been loud enough for Rottier to hear, and if that were to happen, then Cassian would never have been able to walk away unharmed.

I, who had opened the window with just one word, had believed that Cassian wouldn’t be able to directly harm me in any way.

“He would never be able to harm His Grace. So Young Miss should value your own safety more.”

However, it wouldn’t have looked like that to Azelta.

She seemed to have been overly startled. As if something similar had happened before… 

“…Alright.”

Only after I had replied did she finally let me go. Then she fell to her feet in front of me, shocked. 

“I’m sorry, Young Miss.”

“Huh?”

Oh, you mean the hug?

I waved my hand.

“It was nice since it felt warm.”

I smiled bashfully. Azelta’s eyes widened at my words, then laughed silently.

But it was true.

Perhaps because it was the only warmth I had felt in a long time, despite feeling rather sour, my heart was still warm.

The wall around my heart that I had subconsciously built up sturdily ever since I came into this world, seemed to have melted a little without me realising it.

“Why… do you like me?”

“Because you gave me this.”

I suddenly recalled the image of Azelta, who had said that whilst holding out a piece of candy a few days ago.

I had thought that the candy friendship that had been formed back then would have only amounted to a simple favour.

Since humans were the ones who only looked after their own interests, and for that purpose, would even push their colleagues, whom they had experienced hardship and adversity together with, into boiling lava.

Just like Layton.

 “…”

However, the warmth that Azelta had shown me somehow had the power to dull the thorns around my heart.

Was it because this was the first warmth I had felt after five years?

I looked at Azelta.

“Give me a moment!”

Having said that, she ran out the door to talk to Sir Rottier with a serious expression on her face.

I could see Rottier’s face stiffening.

“…It is my responsibility.”

He looked at me and then lowered his head. I waved my hand. 

Perhaps because of Azelta’s warmth, his grave expression also seemed to genuinely touch my heart.

As if he was worried about me.

It was when I frowned slightly in that odd atmosphere.

I will guard you to ensure that there won’t be any intruders, even outside your window.”

Rottier said abruptly.

Isn’t this the fourth floor though? I turned to him.

“How? Perhaps… by hanging from there?

I smiled mischievously as I thought of Rottier hanging from the windowsill.

“If you want me to, I’ll do it.”

My smiling face instantly stiffened.

“Nope! It’s fine!”

However, Sir Rottier was still trying to enter the room, even now.

Ack! I had forgotten that Sir Rottier was such a serious person!

[1] 읏챠 is used to express mild difficulty, e.g. when you pick up something heavy, or when getting out of bed despite the fact you’re sleepy and don’t want to, w/ a motivating/encouraging sort of connotation.

[2] sound of [something] rolling.

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