Chapter 15
Drops of water splashed onto my face.
“Ugh, cold! Who the heck is—?”
I frowned and opened my eyes, only to see a cold, handsome man with ice-blue eyes… or rather, it was Kin.
“W-what’s going on?”
“You fainted all of a sudden. Don’t you remember?”
“Ah…”
Only then did the previous events come back to me.
‘I fainted because I was startled by a creepy hand that popped out of a pile of straw.’
What on earth was that hand? Could it have been a hallucination only I saw?
I was about to jump up and ask for an explanation when a strange voice came from behind me.
“Looks like the young lady has woken up.”
Startled, I turned my head.
“Who’s there?”
“Oh, I’m Bernard. I’m the original resident of the place you trespassed into.”
The man calling himself “Bernard” seemed to have light blonde hair.
I said “seemed” because his hair was matted with dirt, making it impossible to tell its true color. His face, too, was smeared with grime, obscuring his features. The only thing that was clear was how pale his skin was.
‘His hand is ghostly pale… That must be the one that grabbed me from the straw pile.’
With that realization, my fear vanished, and courage welled up inside me.
“Um, original resident… does that mean you’re a prisoner here?”
“Is that a question? Are you a bit slow, young lady?”
“What?”
I was taken aback. But surprisingly, Bernard’s cheeky tone didn’t make me feel any resentment. On the contrary, I found him somewhat amusing.
I replied gently.
“…You’re quite witty, aren’t you?”
“Even so, I’ve had hundreds of people laugh and cry at my gestures up there.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle. It was a bold boast, but it sounded believable.
Someone like him… I could imagine that being true.
‘But how did someone like him end up in the lowest level of an underground prison?’
I felt a mix of pity and curiosity.
I looked straight into Bernard’s eyes, and his profile popped up.
Name: Bernard
Race: Human
Age: 29
Gender: Male
Hometown: Reps Plains area
Traits: Con artist, swindler, wanderer, source of rumors, seeker of past traces, prisoner in underground prison, filthy, Awakened (charming braggart)
‘…That’s a lot of descriptors.’
The most striking one was, of course, the Awakened marker.
‘Charming… braggart?’
A strange title. I’d never seen such a vague descriptor before.
While I was lost in thought, Bernard whispered in a subtle voice.
“Well? Young lady? Judging by how you’re looking at me, I must have caught your fancy, right? Then how about showing a bit of kindness to a poor prisoner? Open that pouch over there and give me some food…”
Earlier, I had thought his voice was pleasant, but now his slimy tone felt very artificial.
I scowled.
“Are you crazy? Even if I’m easygoing, do you really think I’d entertain nonsense from a stranger?”
Come to think of it, his earlier comment had also irritated me. It wasn’t funny at all—why did I even laugh?
A low voice whispered in my ear as he chuckled.
“Not bad.”
“Ah! You startled me!”
Kin scanned me from head to toe, as if to say, “I thought you’d be hopeless, but you’re actually better than I expected.”
“You’re the first person who hasn’t fallen for his tricks.”
“Tricks? What do you mean?”
Kin frowned.
“…You don’t know?”
I shivered and asked quickly.
“C-could it be related to his Awakening ability?”
“You know quite a bit. Yes. Don’t try to test me.”
“Ugh, Lord… why bring a woman like this? Strange, isn’t it?”
Bernard muttered.
“This is the first time my ability hasn’t worked from the start on someone.”
I blurted out.
“Your Awakening ability? Um… is it that charming… braggart thing?”
Bernard’s eyes went wide.
“Whoa? You even know the name of my Awakening? Wow, who are you? A total expert! Should I roll out a mat for you somewhere?”
“Thanks for the advice, but I already did.”
“Really? Are you a fortune-teller?”
“Let’s just say I’m an astrologer who reads the will of the heavens and listens to the stars.”
Bernard scratched his messy hair.
“Astrology? You have all kinds of skills. Well, not that I’m one to talk, having this strange ability myself.”
He then casually explained his Awakening.
“I’m a former storyteller, and as you might guess from my profession, people love to hear my stories.”
As an “Awakened charming braggart,” Bernard gained the ability to easily attract people and make them believe his words.
Kin abruptly interrupted Bernard’s excited chatter.
“With that ability, he caused chaos in the world and ended up here.”
“…I don’t understand why people think my honest feelings are lies. I’ve never really caused big trouble.”
Kin frowned at his protest.
“No matter your intentions, the results were disastrous. You’re a nuisance who needs to be isolated from society.”
Judging from Kin’s attitude toward Bernard, and their conversation, Bernard didn’t seem like a truly dangerous criminal.
‘But you never really know what’s in someone’s heart.’
Kin then explained the biggest flaw in Bernard’s ability.
“His power doesn’t work on anyone who knows about it.”
I finally understood.
“Ah, that’s why it didn’t affect me…”
When I first saw Bernard, I felt an unexplainable liking for him and believed his words.
‘But as soon as I saw his profile and knew his exact Awakening name, that strange feeling vanished.’
Just as Kin said.
‘A power that becomes completely useless the moment it’s known.’
It seemed impressive, yet strangely unimpressive.
As if reading my thoughts, Bernard muttered while scraping the prison floor.
“Would three years be enough to reflect on the mistakes I made with my sharp tongue?”
“You wreaked havoc on an entire village, and now you think nothing else will happen if I let you go?”
Bernard slowly shuffled closer to Kin and made a request.
“Or could you at least move me up one cell? I’m sick of listening to that guy bark all day.”
“No.”
Kin was adamant. I paused and whispered in his ear.
“Really not possible?”
“Why, are you enchanted by him again?”
“No. Raul was attacked right in the middle of this hall. And there are exactly two prisoners here.”
Bernard, being here, was an important witness.
“…”
Kin looked at me, seeming to understand my meaning.
But…
“Doesn’t necessarily need to be a carrot. There’s also the stick method.”
No, this guy only knows half the story! Or maybe he’s never heard of a preemptive sunshine policy?
I sighed and continued to persuade him.
“Fine, it doesn’t have to happen. Let’s just pretend we’re granting his request and try to coax him a bit!”
Kin’s eyes narrowed. I had a bad feeling.
‘I hope I didn’t just provoke him…’
While I worried and tried to come up with an excuse, Bernard chimed in.
“But Lord, what brings such an esteemed person down here? And bringing such a unique person along?”
Our eyes briefly met, and he winked from behind his messy bangs.
‘Thankfully, he distracted Kin’s attention…’
I vowed never to forget this kindness and spoke.
“There’s been a lot of rumors about the ghosts in the underground prison lately. I came to investigate. And apparently Raul was attacked just yesterday…”
“Oh, that?”
Bernard spoke before I could finish.
“I had no idea that guy was such a terrifying ghost.”
I had to double-check my ears.
“Excuse me?”
“I thought he was a good companion, even if dead, but turns out he’s a malicious spirit that chops people’s arms and legs off.”
Kin jumped from his seat and grabbed Bernard by the back of the neck.
“Gah, gack! What are you doing! Stop shaking me around, I’m getting dizzy!”
“…Bernard. Explain in more detail what you just said.”
“You mean, you saw, s-saw a ghost? Or talked to a ghost?”
I felt like I was about to pass out from sheer terror.
‘I hoped it wasn’t a ghost… but it really was?’
Hearing it said so definitively made my body tremble with fear.
Fortunately—or unfortunately—Kin didn’t seem to care about my state.
He was busy interrogating Bernard about what happened on the day Raul was attacked and earlier events.
But as expected, Bernard was not an easy person.
“Me? With nothing but my mouth? Why me?
