Between Your Letter and My Reply

Chapter 112
Episode 6: If Life is a Carousel

Casey lived like a cat.

He wasn’t the type to have a set schedule, so he usually spent his time lounging on the sofa, napping or flipping through the newspaper.

Occasionally, he would disappear at night and return with injuries. Others were unaware of this, but Damian knew.

One day, as Damian was meticulously disassembling and cleaning his gun, someone knocked on the window.

Unfazed, he approached the window, checked who it was, and then opened it. Casey hopped into Damian’s room with a nimble movement.

Blood was visible, staining his clothes from a wound in his side. Damian asked, scratching his head, “Through-and-through, or just a graze?”

“A graze,” Casey replied nonchalantly, and Damian treated him with the same casualness.

As Casey naturally settled into a chair, Damian lifted his clothes to examine the wound.

“A knife. And you allowed close combat? That’s unusual.”

“I was caught off guard because my back was against a glass wall. He broke through it and jumped out.”

Fortunately, the wound wasn’t deep. However, it seemed to have nicked a blood vessel, causing more bleeding than it appeared.

Unperturbed, Damian expertly stopped the bleeding, applied disinfectant, and spread ointment over the wound. He finished the treatment by covering it with a gauze bandage.

As Damian put away the first aid kit, he asked, “So, who was it today?”

Although the wind had washed away much of it on his way home, a faint, acrid smell of burning lingered on Casey.

“Oh, just…”

Casey was about to straighten his clothes, but seeing the part torn by the knife, he simply set it on fire with a flick of his hand.

Damian frowned at the ashes falling onto his clean floor, but Casey lacked the consideration to care.

“I ran into some golems while chasing a noble who had contact with Charlotte Shelbyr. I lost him because of that.”

“What were you planning to do if you hadn’t lost him?” Damian asked.

Casey frowned and replied, “What do you mean what was I planning to do? I was just going to eliminate him.”

“But Casey… I understand if they attacked us directly, but I’m not sure if it’s right to kill people just because they’re associated with Charlotte.”

“Who cares? They were the ones who bothered us first.”

Damian sighed softly at Casey’s utterly inhumane remark.

Casey was going around eliminating anyone who showed the slightest inclination to attack Lilliana. Those who had connections with Charlotte Shelbyr, and the nobles who sided with Marquis Sutton.

Although Damian questioned the necessity of killing even those who posed no immediate threat, he couldn’t stop Casey.

He now understood why Pascal and his father had tried to prevent Casey from killing. Casey had no qualms about killing anyone who tried to harm him.

Of course, the other side was in the wrong, but not feeling any guilt about taking a life was a problem. Damian, as a former soldier, knew this best.

“Since you lost that noble, there was no need for any cleanup, right?”

“He was just a small fry. There won’t be any serious retaliation.”

“If he was just a small fry, you shouldn’t have bothered in the first place. It’ll be troublesome if the police get involved.”

The involvement of the police was Damian’s biggest concern. Lilliana had even suggested reporting them to the police for treason, but that had been dismissed because gathering evidence would take considerable time and effort.

Sigmund Sutton wasn’t stupid. He would have created escape routes for himself. Lilliana didn’t have the time to dig into those loopholes one by one.

“Leave the police and all that to me, you just stick by Lily’s side. I’m closer to a spirit, so avoiding humans isn’t a big problem for me, but it’s different for Lily. She’s living as a human; she shouldn’t be hunted by them.”

“Then please don’t touch Sigmund Sutton for now. Charlotte Shelbyr’s foundation isn’t stable yet, so we have some leeway to go after her, but not Sigmund Sutton. He was one of the most influential nobles in the old monarchy, and he was loyal to the royal family, so his faction is quite tightly knit. Plus, he’s excessively wealthy. Going after him carelessly is like poking a beehive.”

“I know. That’s why we were hiding.”

Casey ruffled his hair in annoyance.

“But like I said, that was because I couldn’t kill people before, but now I don’t have to, so if it comes down to it, I’ll just kill them all…”

Damian smacked Casey on the head.

“If your plan goes as intended, this will eventually come to light, don’t you understand? If Lilliana wants to build a life in human society, it can’t be known that her brother is a major criminal who burns nobles to death.”

“I know! I know! That’s why I said ‘if it comes down to it’!”

“Your ‘if it comes down to it’ sounds quite terrifying, so please refrain from saying that.”

Damian went back to cleaning his gun.

“If you have nothing else to say, then go.”

“It seems they know Lily is in Nichio.”

Damian stopped his busy hands and looked at Casey.

“How?”

“Because of me. They probably know that Pascal’s hideouts have been exposed and she’s fallen into slumber. Though they won’t know the exact duration. That leaves me as the only one who can protect Lily, and I’ve appeared in Nichio. What else could that mean?”

Damian wanted to clutch his head and lie down.

“This is why I didn’t like you running around.”

“But I can’t just ignore the looming threats. They would have found out eventually; it was just a matter of time.”

“That’s true.”

Damian started assembling his gun again, and after fitting the last part, he tested the firing pin.

After confirming that it moved smoothly with a click, Damian didn’t put it away immediately. He loaded the magazine with bullets before placing it under his pillow.

Then, he asked Casey, who was still in his room, hugging the back of the chair and watching Damian assemble his gun, “Why? Do you have anything else to say?”

“If something happens while I’m gone, you’re the only one I can trust, but you’re human, so if the police catch you, it’s over. You understand?”

“…”

“It’s not a problem if the police catch me or Lily.”

“I wouldn’t mind getting caught,” Damian shrugged. He was confident that Marquis Jeska wouldn’t just stand by and watch if he were arrested.

“It would be quite a sight. I wonder what kind of expression he would make if rumors spread that Marquis Jeska’s illegitimate son is a murderer.”

“If Marquis Jeska intervenes, getting caught once or twice won’t be a problem. I’m receiving hazard pay from Lilliana, so that’s something I have to consider. That’s how this line of work is.”

“But you hate asking Marquis Jeska for favors,” Casey asked, blinking. He knew about Damian’s background because Damian had told him.

There was no particular reason why Damian had shared his personal story with Casey. He simply wanted Casey to understand that he had the backing of his sponsor, whom he called his father, and that Casey shouldn’t worry about his safety.

Damian couldn’t tell Lilliana about this conversation with Casey. She knew how much Damian disliked his father, so she understood how much he hated relying on him.

If Lilliana knew he was asking Marquis Jeska for help, she would definitely nag him about it.

“You can’t just do things you like in life.”

Of course, he hated asking Marquis Jeska for favors. He hated it, but there were things he had to do.

He had received money on the condition of being Lilliana’s bodyguard, so he had to earn his keep. And that included using his guardian’s influence if necessary.

“But even if we get past it once or twice, they’ll keep coming after us persistently, won’t they?”

“So you just have to find the right opportunity and burn them all.”

“Oh.”

“But not now.”

“Oh…”

Damian snorted at Casey, who went from anticipation to disappointment.

“I don’t think I can keep running away forever either. If the opportunity arises to eliminate Sidel Luriantz or Marquis Sutton, I’m half serious about burning them to ashes, so you can look forward to that.”

If Damian were alone, he wouldn’t even dare to attempt such a task. But with Casey joining in and sharing the burden of guarding Lilliana, his range of action could widen.

Their rule was that when Damian was by Lilliana’s side, Casey would take care of other matters, and when Casey was with Lilliana, Damian would do the same.

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