Playing the Perfect Fox-Eyed Villain Chapter 31

Episode 31. Uncomfortable Meeting

The combination of emerald eyes and platinum hair. Looking at Linne's beautiful face, I felt cold sweat running down my back.

‘… …Why is Linne here?’

The soul stone currently contained in the jewel box is a material for the resurrection of the demon that has not been revealed to the world until now.

So if this thing gets caught by her, the repercussions are unpredictable.

'If I get caught… … .'

Currently, I am providing a means for 'Geumseong' to find out that I am a member of the Yeomyeonghoe.

Of course, it could just be my delusions. Even if I witnessed someone possessing a ghost stone, there's no way I can avoid it.

'You can just say it's loot.'

But there is a "what if".

For me, who doesn't want to take any unnecessary risks, not showing the soul stone would be the best option in this situation.

“Sudden encounters like this are quite common. Miss Linne, seeing you here from the heavens makes me feel a strange sense of fate.”

I hid my feelings as much as possible and acted naturally as usual.

Since Yurian's face is always smiling, she doesn't show her emotions easily, so you won't notice her flustered look.

“……Room 114, room 114…….”

Linne, who had not shown any reaction even after hearing the greeting, began checking the room number and her ticket again.

This was the right place, and only then did her face crumple when she realized the fact.

“You’re probably thinking, ‘Why are you here?’”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I wanted to say.”

“I went to the border town of Bernidun on business. Miss Linne said…….”

I trailed off and looked at the suitcase she was holding. Not only was she holding it with one hand, she was also pulling a wheeled case.

The case was so full of stuff that clothes were sticking out.

Judging by the color and design of the clothes that came out, it seems to be the uniform of Bayer Academy. Come to think of it, Linne was on the verge of graduating from the Academy at this time.

“It looks like you visited your parents’ house?”

As I mouthed the answer I had deduced from the contents of the suitcase, I glanced at the jewelry box on the table.

The jewelry box sitting on the round table really caught my eye. Putting it in my bag before she notices it and becomes interested in it is my top priority right now.

“……How did you know?”

“It looks like you’ve packed enough to fill two cases. It’s probably clothes, since it’s the season changing.”

“Maybe you just came back from shopping?”

“Then why would you leave the system? The products are more diverse and easier to obtain in the system. And…….”

I pointed to the case with my finger.

“Clothes, they’re sticking out.”

Linne turned her head slightly and looked at the top of the case she was dragging. Seeing the white cloth and light blue ribbon sticking out slightly, she quickly put it away.

Linne glared at me, pretending that nothing had happened, but unlike her expression, her earlobes were bright red, perhaps because she was embarrassed by her clothes sticking out.

“Don’t worry about other people’s private lives.”

“I’m sorry if I offended you.”

As I answered, Linne began to load the cases into the cargo hold in a chic manner.

'Now is the time!'

I tried to take advantage of the gap and put the jewelry box in my bag.

“But this room… When I made the reservation, there were definitely no other passengers. Are you perhaps stalking me?”

She turns her head and speaks.

I was so surprised that I returned my hand to its original position and smiled as if nothing had happened.

“My train ticket was purchased on my behalf by the secretaries of the Imperial Family due to the nature of my work. In this case, I rather suspect that it was Miss Linne who followed me.”

“I, I chased you!?”

“Please don’t overreact… I’m just joking.”

“Haha,” I said with a small laugh, but my feelings were not like that at all.

If I had known this would happen, I wouldn't have taken out the jewelry box. No, this is an act of God. Who would have thought this would happen?

Linne looked this way as if she didn't like it.

Looking at my clothes and luggage, it seems like he's guessing what I've been doing, just like I did a little while ago.

“You said you went to the border town of Bernidun. Did you happen to see the Ascension Festival?”

“I just came back from performing the ‘closed eyes’ task.”

“Considering that, your clothes are fine, and you only have one sword hanging from your waist.”

Her face, which pretended to be blunt, was filled with some emotion. There was no time to look deeply into that emotion right now.

“Even if the mission in the old slums wasn’t that far from the system, it would still be quite a distance to Bernieden. I think the Master said it would be good to always carry a spare sword in case of an emergency.”

“Oh, oh. How could I not remember that? However, ‘right now’ I don’t need a spare sword in this area… Ah, at Ms. Linne’s ‘level’, I might need three or four.”

“……What, what……!”

“I’m joking. Don’t blush for no reason. I just forgot to bring spare swords.”

Linne, who had been listening to me, frowned and sat down in her seat.

Whoosh.

She turned her head sternly toward the window, giving the impression that she didn't even want to see my face anymore.

'Okay. Just keep looking outside.'

I quietly reached out to the table without Linne noticing and grabbed the jewelry box──.

“By the way, is that jewelry box yours? It doesn’t match at all.”

I already had it in my eyes.

I felt a pang of regret when I saw her taking interest in the jewelry box on the table.

Well, it's a box with an eye-catching design.

There was a box like that sitting right there on the table, so there was no way I hadn't seen it!

“It is a box containing jewels as you can see.”

“……Jewels? Do you have that kind of taste?”

“Yes, I have an old-fashioned hobby unlike anyone else.”

I spoke provocatively on purpose to divert Linne's attention elsewhere. When she averted her gaze in anger at my words, I could just act coy and naturally put the jewelry box away.

"joy."

As expected, Linne turned her head back to the window again, looking as if she didn't want to see anything.

This is the time!

I reached into my jewelry box.

As the hard texture touched my fingertips, I began to feel a sense of relief, and only after I lowered it under the table where Linne could not see did I feel a small sense of joy.

'Now just put it in the bag─.'

Click──!

But the joy didn't last long. The train running on the railroad shook violently, and the entrance to the jewelry box opened, spilling the soul stone inside out.

The location where the soul stone fell was…

'… … F**k.'

On Linnaeus's knees.

It was the moment when all the efforts made to hide this confusion up until now went down the drain.

A red soul stone that shows off its immense majesty to the world.

Linne suddenly climbed up to my knees and looked at me with surprised eyes. I couldn't help but be embarrassed by this sight.

'shit…….'

He was discovered by Linne to be in possession of the soul stone.

I expected Haydn Reich to notice it someday, but I didn't expect it to be discovered this quickly.

If Linne reports this fact to the Sword Masters, it is obvious that they will become suspicious. What should we do from now on──.

“That’s too bad, if it was something you cherished, it would have fallen on the floor and gotten scratched.”

fortunately.

Judging from Linne's tone of speech, it seems that she has not yet properly grasped the existence of the 'soul stone'.

However, perhaps sensing the ominous energy that the soul stone held, she narrowed her eyes and began to look into the soul stone.

'Do you feel anything?'

At that moment when all sorts of thoughts were running through my head, Linne, as if she wasn't interested, placed the soul stone in the jewelry box I was holding.

“I think it’s about this work. Take good care of it.”

A cold voice.

At times like this, I like you for not being interested in me.

***

“Miss, I will help you with your luggage.”

As the train arrived at the island, Linne, who did not want to spend even a moment with Yurian, quickly left the cabin. And, just as she was about to hand her luggage to the attendant,

“Oh, just a moment.”

Linne, who remembered what Yulian had said in the room, began to look through the case again. She was looking for any clothes that might have been sticking out, but thankfully, there was nothing noticeable.

“We have prepared a carriage so that you can head straight to the Academy dormitory.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Linne thanked the servant and handed him the luggage.

Chump chump.

When she heard the sound of footsteps on the iron stairs behind her, she turned her head to look in that direction.

“It’s quite a struggle to ride a long train. Well, it’s better than a carriage, though.”

Yurian, who shared room number 114 with him, appeared through the open door.

As expected from someone from a prestigious family, his gait was graceful. Although his usual behavior and words had diminished his brilliance.

“That’s true. Even my fellow passengers were uncomfortable, so getting here was like hell.”

“Is that so? It’s better because I have someone to talk to.”

Linne frowned at the way they were pretending to use different rooms, but said nothing.

Losing my temper here would only make that man feel better.

“Then I will go. I hope we can meet again later.”

Yulian, with a smile that made the onlookers feel alert, walked forward holding only one bag in her hand.

A back view moving away.

Linne desperately wanted that back view to disappear, but her pitiful pride would not allow it.

“Lord Yurian.”

As I said the name in a low voice, Yurian slowly turned his head and looked in this direction.

Cross-eyed, with no visible pupils.

It was clearly the same expression as when he had pointed his sword at his master, 'Geomseong', but for some reason, it felt more human now.

“Thank you for your work in the slums. If you hadn’t been strong, I would have had a hard time too.”

Linnaeus never imagined that he would say something like this. The reason for this change of heart was probably because of the footsteps he saw in the blacksmith shop, 'Twilight Flame'.

He is a man who cannot be trusted among the human race.

A person who is sincere only in swordsmanship.

So I thought I could at least show my respect as a fellow inspector.

“Why are you bringing this up? Aren’t we ‘schoolmates’?”

“No, I am not your disciple. You were excommunicated by your master, weren’t you?”

Having awe and being friendly are two different things. Linnaeus drew a clear line when it came to the word “comrade.”

“The time of burial is…….”

With a faint smile on her lips, Yurian walked away from the station again.

Linne, who had been watching his back for a while, opened her mouth to speak to the servant.

“Then let’s go too.”

“Yes, Miss.”

She boarded the carriage that had been waiting for her and took in the scenery of the station moving away.

The streetlight pouring down a reddish light made me suddenly think of the jewelry box that Yurian had.

“……That jewel, where have I seen it before? It looks a little familiar.”

“Huh? Miss, what did you just say?”

When the servant responded to Linne's muttering to herself, she waved her hand and said it was nothing.