IBMB :10

CHAPTER :10

‘W-What was that?’

I looked around, but there was no one in sight.

No matter how I looked at it, the feng shui of this Black Dragon Castle was terrible.

Just as I was thinking I should leave as soon as possible—

[Dummy. It’th up here, the ceiling.]

The voice spoke once more.

‘The ceiling?’

I stopped running on my wheel and whipped my head up. There, in a corner of the ceiling, I saw something sparkling.

Hidden in the darkness, the creature flinched back in surprise before slowly revealing itself.

Bright yellow skin covered in leopard-like spots—

‘A lizard?’

[It’th Lord Leopard Gecko Elegant Gorgeouth Sebathtian.]

‘O-Oh…’

I nodded quietly in response.

As expected, nothing in this Black Dragon Castle is predictable.

Instead of a mouse, a Leopard Gecko Elegant Whatever-it-was is living hidden in the ceiling.

I was blinking, hovering somewhere between bewilderment and absurdity, when—

A loud, rumbling growl echoed through the bedroom once more.

*He’s hungry.*

At that moment, a brilliant idea struck me.

The method that allowed a mere tiny squirrel like me to quickly and easily conquer Bear Mountain.

Wearing the sweetest smile in the world, I held out a single grape.

‘There’s plenty here. Do you want to share?’

[Hmph, hmph. I thall not decline.]

As the Leopard Gecko Whatever crawled down the wall, I reached through the iron bars and deftly unlocked the latch.

‘To think they thought they could trap the great Muriel with a measly thing like this.’

What naive reptiles they are.

I snorted disdainfully toward the bedroom door where Kenich and Gerard had disappeared. Just then—

[Th-That’th amazing. How did you do that?]

From behind my head came the sound of tiny clapping paws along with an exclamation of awe.

Seen in the light, he was an even brighter yellow and a very tiny lizard.

Despite his solemn tone, he seemed to be quite young.

‘This is as easy as eating acorns while lying down. What do you think, want me to show you again?’

[There’th no need for that.]

I swaggered, leaning against the cage, but was rejected at the speed of light.

‘Tch.’

[If you’ll exthuthe me, then.]

*Bow.*

After bowing, the Leopard Gecko Whatever scampered inside and began wolfing down the lettuce, followed by apples and grapes.

I couldn’t be sure, but he looked like he had been starving for a very long time.

‘E-Eat slowly, Leopard Gecko El…’

[I thall allow you to call me Teby.]

Said Seby, stuffing his mouth full of fruit.

‘Sure, Teby. Have some water too.’

[It’th Seby.]

‘Mhm, Seby. But why do you talk like that?’

I asked with genuine curiosity.

Honestly, I had been wondering about it from the very beginning.

[Everyone in thith cathtle talkth like thith.]

Ah, of course.

This castle is problematic in so many ways.

Seby only finished his meal after devouring all the fruits and vegetables left on the three-tier tray.

After patting his plump, round belly a couple of times, Seby declared that he would definitely repay this debt of gratitude one day.

‘What a naive little lamb. No, a naive little lizard.’

Unfortunately for him, I had been waiting for those exact words all along.

A triumphant smile spread across my face.

*Slam!*

Closing the cage door with a loud thud, I cornered Seby step by step.

And I put on a menacing expression, just like the brown bears going to collect interest on a loan.

‘Well, that’s going to be a problem.’

[W-Why are you doing thith? I don’t have anything right now…]

‘Oh, but you do.’

I shook my head firmly.

In any group, a pyramid of power is bound to exist.

It was true for Bear Mountain, and it’s the same for this Black Dragon Castle.

While the predators at the top can easily get food, for low-level prey like Seby, finding even a single crumb is no easy task.

Thus, they must wander here and there all day long in search of food.

In other words, they see and hear a lot of things.

‘Information.’

Based on the information brought to me by weak, powerless animals, I provided what they wanted most.

Sometimes I provided food to fill their bellies, and sometimes I procured medicine for their injured young.

By expanding my influence like that, I was eventually able to stand at the absolute peak of Bear Mountain.

Ha, truly a tear-jerking epic.

Ah, but that’s not what’s important right now.

‘Bring me information.’

[…Information?]

Seby tilted his head, still seemingly unable to grasp my meaning.

I lowered myself to his eye level and began to explain patiently.

‘Seby, where do you usually hang out?’

[The ceiling above the Duke’th bedroom. Thometimeth I go to the kitchen, and thometimeth to the dining room too.]

So his primary residence is above this bedroom. Which means—

‘Then you must have seen who came by in the early hours of yesterday morning?’

A sudden silence fell between Seby and me.

His pitch-black eyes, resembling dark diamonds, blinked slowly.

[Of courthe I did.]

* * *

‘Who was it?’

[Cawwot.]

‘Carrot…?’

What is that? No, who is that?

[They wore a flowy dreth.]

Seby wagged his tail from side to side, as if trying to describe the shape of the dress.

It had to be the dresses worn by the maids of the Black Dragon Castle.

Unfortunately, however, this wasn’t a significant clue.

Since nearly half of the servants wore the exact same outfit.

‘Seby, this isn’t enough.’

Disappointment quickly washed over my once-expectant face.

Seby might have been young, but he was quick-witted.

Reading my emotions in an instant, he quickly added more.

[Theby can guide you.]

Perhaps he instinctively realized that this matter would have a huge impact on our future relationship.

In other words, it also meant he could have just been making it up.

‘…Is that true? Do you really know who it is?’

I asked again, narrowing my eyes.

[It’th true. Cawwot hath already come here theveral timeth. I even thaw her hiding thome powder!]

‘Some powder?’

I didn’t know what it was, but I was certain it wasn’t some health supplement.

It would be nice if it were just medicine that the maid, “Carrot,” was taking herself, but realistically, the chances of that were slim.

At this rate, the ultimate recipient of that powder would likely be Kenich.

‘Kenich Croiz…’

He was a scaly dragon who locked me in this cage and threatened to stuff me at every opportunity, but I couldn’t just let him die.

Because Kenich is my final line of defense against the Imperial Family!

Afterward, we slipped into the ceiling of the Black Dragon Castle through the hole Seby had come out of.

Perhaps because it was out of reach, gray dust lay piled thick like snow along the wooden framework.

It looked like a complex, tangled web of cobwebs.

‘Poor Seby, you’ve been living in a place like this.’

Just as I was thinking I should pack him a snack for dinner once this was over—

[What are you doing? Hurry up and follow me.]

Seby, who was ahead of me, urged me on.

‘See if I ever give you a snack.’

I squeezed through a narrow passage barely wide enough for my head, and crossed a precariously balanced wooden plank.

After walking for what felt like ages, noisy clamors began to rise from beneath my feet.

[Thith ith the kitchen.]

No wonder a sweet, mouth-watering aroma had been tickling my nose for a while now.

It seemed today’s lunch was veal steak braised in red wine.

They say the taste you know is the scariest, and I felt the crazy squirrel inside me threatening to burst out once again.

It was Seby who brought me back to reality.

[There she ith, Cawwot.]

Through a small gap, a red-haired maid came into view.

She was a middle-aged woman with fierce-looking eyes.

She was chopping parsley to garnish the soup, but she seemed nervous.

Glancing warily to her left and right, she stealthily slipped her hand under her apron.

What she pulled out was a squarely folded paper packet.

‘I knew it…’

It was the absolute worst-case scenario I had anticipated.

What she did next was as clear as day.

Mixing the contents of the paper packet into Kenich’s soup.

Finally, as the woman sprinkled the chopped parsley on top, a faint chuckle escaped her lips.

“Finally…”

It was a sound of ‘triumph’, starkly different from the voice filled with resentment from last night.

Seeing the woman’s face flush with an overwhelmed, emotional smile made my stomach turn.

To feel such childlike joy while harming someone.

I couldn’t understand it. Nor did I want to.

I felt a sudden wave of nausea and covered my mouth with both paws. Just then—

“The Duke has ordered his lunch to be brought to his bedroom. He just left his office, so hurry and get it ready.”

The kitchen door opened, and someone delivered the Duke’s instructions.

‘His bedroom? He just left his office?’

Panic seized me instantly.

Though I had described the journey from the bedroom to the kitchen briefly, our trip had been anything but simple.

Not only were there numerous obstacles, but the distance from the kitchen to the bedroom was twice as far as the distance from the office to the bedroom.

Which meant, at this rate, I was in imminent danger of becoming a stuffed taxidermy specimen.

“Chuuu—!”

Save this squirrel!