Chapter 9

04. I’m Here to File a Complaint!

The day after my wonderful day ended in complete confusion, the sun rose as usual.

Because I had gotten into the habit of checking the village’s mushroom farm every morning, I normally woke up early.

But today, when I opened my eyes, it was already afternoon.

I wasn’t hungry.

I didn’t even have the energy to get up.

So I simply stayed in bed.

The telescope demonstration wasn’t until tonight anyway, so I decided to lie here until evening.

Staring blankly at the ceiling, I rolled onto my side and curled up.

“…Sigh.”

Jun was Ethan.

I never could have imagined it.

From the Lowest Place was a fantasy novel without any romance.

So seeing that side of Ethan had been completely beyond my expectations.

…No.

Maybe I just hadn’t finished reading the novel.

Perhaps that’s why I never could have predicted it.

But what truly unsettled me wasn’t that.

Until now, I’d known how old Ethan was when the novel began.

Yet I’d never been able to learn his actual age in this world.

All I could do was roughly estimate the timeline from newspaper articles.

Yesterday…

Jun had told me his age.

He was twenty.

The same age as Tetis.

Unless he’d lied about that too…

Then the Rifts…

And the Apocalypse…

Would happen this year.

“Ugh…!”

I rolled around on the bed and grabbed my hair.

Of course I’d already thought about where to evacuate the people of Oligo if the events of the novel became reality.

But I hadn’t warned anyone yet.

I’d decided it was still too early.

“No…”

“I can’t relax like this.”

“I’m going back tomorrow.”

Originally, I’d planned to spend an entire week sightseeing around the capital.

But in my current state, there was no way I could enjoy the trip.

If I could, I’d leave immediately.

Unfortunately…

The sun had already begun to set outside the window.

If I left now, I’d only have to stop and rest before getting very far.

It would be better to stick to my original plan and visit the academy tonight.

Sliding reluctantly out of bed, I wandered over to the window.

In the distance stood an enormous, magnificent palace.

That…

…was the Imperial Palace.

Actually, the Temple had already received a prophecy about the Rifts.

The only problem was that the prophecy hadn’t included an exact date.

Because of that, it had only been secretly reported to the Imperial Family.

The Temple had decided not to announce a prophecy without a time limit because it would only create unnecessary panic.

It had been the correct decision.

Thanks to receiving the information first, the Imperial Family managed to stabilize the country only a few days after the Rifts appeared.

The real problem was the gigantic monster that appeared afterward.

The Apocalypse.

Even knowing about it in advance wouldn’t stop it.

So…

Even if I knew how the story unfolded…

There wasn’t much I could actually do.

Rubbing my tired eyes, I headed into the bathroom.

Considering dinner and the evening demonstration, it was about time to get ready.

After changing my clothes and going downstairs, the innkeeper greeted me warmly.

“Morning, sweetheart.”

“You’re coming down pretty late today.”

Apparently, after accidentally speaking informally yesterday, the innkeeper had decided to keep doing so.

It didn’t feel disrespectful.

If anything, he seemed older than I was.

Still…

Had we really become that close?

“Good evening.”

“I was tired, so I rested a bit.”

“Until this hour?”

“It’s almost dinner.”

“Don’t tell me you haven’t eaten a single meal today?”

“I… somehow ended up like that.”

Though, unintentionally, you were probably the biggest reason.

I swallowed those words instead.

The innkeeper, however, was surprisingly perceptive.

“Ah.”

“So it’s because I accidentally let something slip yesterday.”

“What am I going to do?”

“Huh?”

“No, that’s not it.”

“No, it definitely is.”

“If some handsome guy suddenly approached me, lied about his name, and disappeared…”

“I’d spend the whole night overthinking it too.”

Putting a hand dramatically over his chest, the innkeeper suddenly launched into a one-man performance.

“Why couldn’t he confidently tell me his real name?”

“Does he have some tragic past?”

“Or…”

“Maybe he wasn’t sincere with me after all?”

Wow.

His acting is actually pretty good.

I was admiring it despite the situation when the innkeeper instantly dropped the performance and smiled brightly.

“You’re heading out for dinner, right?”

“I feel bad, so dinner’s on me tonight.”

“But…”

“You have to promise not to tell Ethan I was the one who let it slip.”

Ah.

So that’s why he’d been so unusually friendly.

He was trying to buy my silence.

Although I seriously doubted I’d ever see Ethan again…

I gladly accepted the free dinner.

“Come on!”

The innkeeper hung up a “Be Right Back” sign before coming over to me.

I’d only ever seen him sitting behind the counter.

Now that he was standing, I realized he was actually rather petite.

“You don’t have any foods you can’t eat, right?”

“No.”

“I’m fine with anything.”

“Great!”

“Let’s go eat meat!”

“Yay!”

Being someone who was easily won over by people treating me to food, I happily agreed.

The innkeeper hooked an arm around mine and cheerfully led me outside.

“Oh!”

“You don’t know my name yet, do you?”

“I’m Dallin.”

“You can call me Darling if you want.”

“I’m Tetis, Darling.”

“Oh my.”

“…I mean, Dallin.”

It had come out so naturally that I’d walked right into the trap.

By the time I corrected myself, he’d already heard it perfectly.

My face burned with embarrassment.

I pressed the back of my hand against my cheek to cool it down.

Seeing that, Dallin burst into laughter.

“You’re adorable.”

Please let the ground open up and swallow me…

Fortunately, we soon arrived at our destination.

It was an elegant restaurant that looked extremely expensive.

I’d never been somewhere like this in my current life.

Feeling awkward, I simply sat down.

Dallin ordered everything for us without hesitation.

At moments like this…

He really did seem like a proper adult.

After the server left, Dallin rested his chin on the back of his hand and looked straight at me.

“You know…”

“Ethan lied to you.”

“And I ended up helping him.”

“Did you really?”

“I wouldn’t say you were helping.”

I tilted my head.

Until yesterday, Dallin and I had barely interacted.

Calling it helping felt like a stretch.

Apparently, he disagreed.

He looked at me silently for a moment before returning to his usual playful expression.

“…Anyway.”

“So…”

“As an apology, I’ll tell you one thing about Ethan.”

“What are you curious about?”

Curious…

There were plenty of things.

Most of them, however, involved the novel.

Those weren’t questions I could ask Dallin.

Even so…

This was still a valuable opportunity.

I thought carefully.

“Can I ask anything?”

“Come on.”

“You already know.”

“Nothing that’s too difficult.”

I’d read enough of the novel to know almost everything I needed about Ethan.

Besides…

Talking about someone behind their back made me feel a little guilty.

“Then…”

“What about you, Dallin?”

Instead of asking about Ethan…

I changed the subject.

Apparently surprised, Dallin’s eyes widened slightly before he smiled.

“Go ahead.”

“Ask.”

“You don’t only run this inn…”

“…do you?”

Earlier, when we’d introduced ourselves, he’d simply told me his name was Dallin.

At first, I’d assumed he was just an ordinary innkeeper.

But the more I thought about it…

The stranger it seemed.

Despite charging surprisingly cheap room rates for such good service…

He looked perfectly at home in a restaurant like this.

Every time I’d seen him, he’d been wearing different clothes.

And most importantly…

He already knew Ethan personally.

Putting all those clues together…

There was only one person I could think of.

“…Hmm.”

“I didn’t expect you to be this perceptive.”

“Maybe bringing you here was a mistake.”

The look in Dallin’s eyes suddenly changed.

The back of my neck stiffened.

I’d only guessed based on the personality I’d seen in the novel.

Had I gone too far?

Just as cold sweat began to form…

Dallin’s lips curved into a broad grin.

“Well…”

“The fact that Ethan took an interest in you should’ve told me you weren’t ordinary.”

“I underestimated you.”

Those were words I really wished I hadn’t heard.

Dallin beckoned me closer.

Leaning across the table, I watched him do the same.

Then he whispered into my ear.

“Ethan would’ve told you eventually anyway, right?”

Told me what?

I blinked blankly.

Dallin laughed quietly.

“So I’ll tell you first.”

“My real name…”

“…is Dallin Tasis.”

I knew it.

I barely managed to stop myself from sighing aloud.

The younger sister of the current Marquis Tasis.

The Second Lady who ran away from her noble family and built the Philia Trading Company.

A brilliant businesswoman.

And the protagonist’s hidden supporter.

Hin.

The novel had only ever referred to her by her alias, Hin.

I hadn’t known her real name was Dallin.

“You have to keep this a secret.”

“Understood?”

Everyone knew that the second child of House Tasis owned the trading company.

But Hin always worked through representatives.

Very few people actually knew who the owner really was.

Especially since the Tasis family considered their second child a disgrace and never spoke about her.

“I honestly never expected to be the one leaking information.”

“But…”

“This was fun.”

“So I’ll count it as a free bonus.”

“You get one more question.”

“Another one?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“You can even ask what kind of relationship Ethan and I have.”

I already knew the answer.

Ethan and Hin worked together because their interests aligned.

Now that I knew Dallin was Hin…

There wasn’t really anything else I wanted to ask.

But…

This was exactly the opportunity I’d been waiting for.

Whenever Hin unexpectedly enjoyed herself, she became unusually generous.

And while she was in this mood…

There was one thing worth trying.

“Instead of another question…”

“Could I ask you for a favor?”

“If it’s inconvenient, please feel free to refuse.”

“Hmm.”

“We do take requests from time to time…”

“But our fees are very expensive.”

“I don’t know…”

“At this point…”

“Isn’t the information you just gave me worth far more than that?”

After all…

You are the owner of the Philia Trading Company.

I deliberately answered with shameless confidence.

Dallin let out an incredulous laugh.

Then he collapsed onto the table, laughing so hard that even the waiter carrying our food looked completely bewildered.