#48. Such a Useless Man
“I don’t care. We just do the work we’re paid for and leave. Forget about unnecessary curiosity.”
The older laborer clicked his tongue and dodged Isaac’s question. Not just him, but almost all the workers gave the same answer, so Isaac hadn’t expected anything different—but still, he couldn’t help sighing. Information usually flows through documents or word of mouth. Yet here, no information flowed at all. Anyone with eyes could predict the altar that was being built, but no one with eyes spoke about it. The laborers who actually broke and carried stones only thought it was well-paid work, so they never cared what they were doing, and even the architects overseeing them didn’t seem to know anything either.
Isaac’s ears perked up at a complaint rising from among the architects, not the laborers.
“Damn it, if we build the foundation this loose, it might look fine now, but it will definitely collapse later!”
“Hey, be quiet. We just follow orders.”
One architect who was angry had his shoulder grabbed firmly by another.
“Haven’t you heard the palace walls have ears?”
“Hey, it’s your first time here—how would you know? You’re new too.”
“Keep it down.”
Hearing this conversation, Isaac tilted his head. They were using architects who were new to the palace to build a new building in the royal palace? Not even restoring one of the palace’s main structures, but building a completely new one? Among the information drought, this was something Isaac could hold onto, and he naturally melted into the shadows to listen to the grumbling architect and the one calming him down.
“…So, we don’t know how long this will hold.”
“We did our best according to the palace’s requirements.”
“Damn it, if my master knew, I’d be disgraced. And there’s something else that’s even more unsettling.”
The disgruntled architect’s face suddenly filled with anxiety.
“See that guy over there? You know him, right?”
“Yeah, the idiot obsessed with gods and demons.”
The other architect clicked his tongue, but without disdain. Some architects were often deeply into religion. If you were to name the most famous buildings on the continent, about half would be temples dedicated to certain gods. The architect who first called him an idiot shook his head reluctantly.
“Idiot? That’s harsh for a budding talent.”
Unlike when complaining about the building, this response seemed gentle toward a younger architect. On the contrary, the architect who calmed him replied cynically.
“Tsk, he’s too obvious about it. Extremes are never good.”
“That may be so. But what I meant was, that guy keeps saying this building is ill-omened nonsense.”
The first architect clicked his tongue again.
“I knew it. It’s because he’s overly religious.”
“Maybe. Still, the symbols carved all over the building are definitely unfamiliar.”
He tapped the blueprint, but his gaze was mostly on the nearly finished building. Strangely, the symbols that were unclear on the blueprint were clearly visible on the structure itself. The other architect reluctantly nodded.
“Yeah… that’s true.”
Probably they dared not say it aloud, but it seemed to be an altar dedicated to an unknown god. As they said, the palace walls have ears, so anything not ordered by the palace shouldn’t be spoken of. At the end of their slow glances was a younger, still somewhat naive architect biting his nails and muttering.
“It’s ominous. Very ominous.”
No one replied to the pale younger architect’s muttering. Only one person listened quietly. Isaac looked at the young architect trembling as he clicked his tongue. An ominous symbol on an altar-like building. It was truly unsettling, but all was just speculation. Nothing certain. It didn’t seem to be something disguised as an altar… but for which god was this altar built? There must not have been any news about the official religion of Norden changing. A national religion changing is a huge deal. Even though religion had become a part of everyday life and temples lost political power compared to the old days, their influence on people was still not to be ignored.
Isaac studied the intricate symbols carved all over the altar but couldn’t recall any deity. Could it be that the outer mist was painted with random symbols…? No, such a thing wouldn’t happen in a sacred temple dedicated to a god. Isaac finally let out a deep sigh from his heart.
“If it just ends like this, there’s no information to gain at all.”
Even someone who knew little about architecture could tell this building was almost finished. Of course, information after completion would be necessary, but he had to gather as much as possible beforehand. If, as the young architect said, this was an ill-omened building, then information before completion was all the more crucial.
“There’s no time.”
As usual, Isaac moved to break through. Now that he had reached the limit of what he could hear and see from the people around him, he had to enter the altar himself and dig out information. Moving quickly, he quietly knocked out one of the laborers moving stones and took his place, carrying a stone and heading toward the entrance to the underground.
“Hmm? Haven’t seen you before.”
“Ah, yes. I’m here as a substitute.”
“Is that so? Don’t just stand there, move quickly.”
“Yes.”
So simple and fast, Isaac melted among the workers. The secrecy of the construction was laughably lax, but none of them doubted anything. Even Isaac, despite the reckless and crude plan he had, had no hesitation.
Just as Isaac carrying stones reached the underground entrance and was about to slip into the darkness, a murmur like waves surged from the opposite side. Isaac, seizing the opportunity, slipped into the altar’s underground entrance—but he couldn’t descend. Because in the middle of the crowd’s murmuring stood a certain person.
“Wait, how did that young lady get here?”
When Isaac unexpectedly met someone he never expected at an unexpected place, Olivia was encountering someone as usual, but in a predictable place. Or rather, it would be better to say she was the one who discovered him unilaterally.
In the palace’s library and historical archive—the endless rows of books detailing the history of the Bolsheike family, said to have started with the continent—stood Cryer. His long, rough fingers flipped through the pages, and the wind blowing outside brushed his hair over his shoulders. The breeze gently brushed Olivia’s cheek and swayed her rich, silky, bright red hair as it passed.
How long had she been watching him? The moment Cryer’s fingers brushed the corner of the page, Olivia opened her mouth to call him, but no words came out. Wearing an indescribable expression, she suddenly felt her cheeks burning and hastily hid behind the bookshelf. She wildly tousled her hair. Why did she have to sit by the window, read in the sunlight, and feel the wind blowing? She hadn’t meant to spy, yet she ended up spying and hiding.
Biting her lower lip tightly, Olivia opened and closed her eyes and tried to stand abruptly—but she unknowingly peeked from behind the bookshelf again. He was still there. Silver hair falling over his tilted face and dark red eyes radiating a lazy light.
gulp
Unconsciously swallowing dry saliva, Olivia instantly noticed and her face fell. She splashed cold water on her face with both hands and thumped her pounding heart wildly. What was she going to do with this pounding? His sacred and breathtaking appearance was so overwhelming it took her breath away. But running away was not an option! Olivia crouched and buried her face in her knees. Her heated cheeks were burning hot, and her heart felt miserable.
Was she crazy? Had she gone mad after four regressions? No matter how handsome Cryer was, that was only skin deep. He was the one who had killed her four times. Of course, now he was an excellent, incredible, and tremendous comrade. A comrade who had defeated the ancient god possessed by the Demon King or whatever. Yes, he was only a comrade.
Olivia rubbed her reddened ears repeatedly and whispered softly,
“You’re so annoyingly handsome. Really useless. Such a useless man.”
Letting out this insult she didn’t really mean seemed to relieve her a little. Maybe she felt queasy when he wasn’t around because she always saw his handsome face. She was going to stand up, turn her back, and leave. Then her hot cheeks and ears would turn white, and her wildly pounding heart would find its rhythm.
One hundred, ninety-nine, ninety-eight…
But Olivia didn’t even count that far. Just as she muttered seventy-two while biting her red lips, a long shadow fell across the hem of her skirt. That shadow instantly swallowed her whole from head to toe. Like Cryer’s greed, the owner of the shadow looked down at Olivia’s round crown and grinned, baring his teeth. Then, in the next moment—
“Olivia.”
A low voice calling ‘Olivia’ instead of ‘Your Highness’ rang softly by her ear as she kept her eyes tightly shut.
