Chapter 113 — In which they meet for the ‘first’ time (4)

“But older brother, what happened to your clothes?”

Durio, who tied her night robe with one hand and teeth with a skill Sangria kept being impressed by every time he saw it, asked.

He looked down at his clothes, who were messily put on unlike the clothes of Rambeta and Durio, who looked immaculately.

Sangria wasn’t someone, who cared much about looks, but he wasn’t particularly untidy.

He liked to believe that he was at least looked tidier than Young Master Vern, who barely put anything on if he didn’t have to go out.

And these days he found himself caring a bit more about those things, feeling a bit competitive when he saw Durio and Rambeta’s clean and perfect knots.

At the surface, the thought was ‘I have full capability of two hands, yet someone can tie them much better than me with just one hand and mouth…?’

But it was actually more that he didn’t want their ‘older brother’ appear unkempt.

In truth, Sangria overlooked very important fact.

Most people didn’t care about knots and how the clothes were layered.

If someone was really clumsy with it, people would naturally notice, but usually those things remained invisible.

The only reason why Sangria paid so much attention to it was because his deep research into Purplus’ culture, where layered clothes and complicated ties held much higher significance.

But he didn’t want to admit to himself that he did enormous research into the culture of the people, he supposed to hate, or at least treat with high vigilance.

“There was a bit of excitement during Young Master’s ceremony.”

When Durio’s eyes started to drill a hole in his skull, as his silence prolonged, he finally answered.

He decided not to inform three siblings about the assassination attempt on the Archmage.

This case was complicated and should remain top secret.

So instead he asked to divert the subject:

“Did you get good look at the Flavun’s nobles?”

He knew that the two talkative women were fascinated by the stories of Flavun’s nobility, and as he expected, bringing them up swiftly turned attention away from him.

“Ah… Yes, a good look indeed.”

“I heard they’re refined, but I didn’t expect for them to be refined this way.”

“They aren’t warrior state for nothing.”

“Did see…”

Rambeta’s words trailed off, as she pointed with her chin to her arm.

Durio nodded energetically, with the look of profound understanding.

Sangria understood nothing out this conversation.

Still, he was glad that nothing bad seemed to happen.

The last thing he saw before the assassin came was that they were heading to deal with what he suspected were puppets made into Flavun’s envoy’s likenesses.

Though their life-like quality disturbed him quite a bit.

After the twin sisters dragged out their strangely quiet younger brother and headed to bed, Sangria finally had a moment to breathe.

And breathe he did, as he sighed deeply over and over.

He tried to analyze many things, but his mind ultimately returned to one person.

They surely didn’t meet before, so why that stranger looked at him with such a sense of familiarity?

And asking about eyes…

His hand unconsciously moved to his eye and touched the eyeball.

….

He was tried. His mind was tired. His eyes were tired. He should just take them off and go to sleep.

After doing so, Sangria wrapped himself in the blanket.

Though night was warm, he felt strangely cold.

And soon, after he drifted into sleep, he indeed shivered as the cold and dark past seeped into his mind.

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Alchemist knew that something was wrong the moment he entered his laboratory.

There were no signs of disturbance.

Not physical ones at least.

But the shadows that used to linger in the corners were suddenly gone.

Something was wrong.

Alchemist didn’t know if the strange shadows that gathered in his laboratory were tricks of his mind, or something else, but there must have been a reason for their disappearance.

Someone was here.

That was the most reasonable explanation.

But who?

No one had entrance to his laboratory.

No guards, no workers, no subordinates, no stuffy nobles.

Only he and the king.

But the king wouldn’t move from their throne to visit his laboratory in his absence.

Right?

Alchemist grabbed an empty flower vase, unsure why, but he felt safer holding it.

He slowly crept through his laboratory, carefully scrutinizing every corner, when…

He finally found an intruder.

It was a strange sight.

Cloaked in a dark hood, only their outline and the sharp edges of the fox mask shimmering in the light of the candle.

The shadows he thought were gone, gathered around this figure, raised their fingers and pointed at different things at the desk.

As if explaining something and the figure tilted their head, as if listening.

It wasn’t how he imagined a robber to look like, but it was the first time Alchemist faced a robber, so he just strengthened his grip on the vase neck.

He was about to take a step closer, but…

“I would put it down. This mask is sturdier than it looks.” The figure tapped on their mask, letting out clear sound. The figure did not turn around. “And that’s a pretty artwork. It would be a great loss to break it here.”

Alchemist glanced at the vase depicting a dragon soaring into the sky.

He didn’t think it was that pretty.

He only accepted it, because the person who gifted it to him looked at him with such an earnest gaze, as if begging to take it.

Recalling that person, he hesitated.

In the meantime, the robber picked up one of the boxes and looked inside.

“What is it?”

“Angelica root powder.”

Alchemist answered instinctively and then frowned.

He didn’t like how this voice seemed to wriggle into his ears and turn his brain into mush.

It was so androgynous that he wasn’t able to tell if the robber was a woman or a man, making things even more confusing.

“Hm… and this?”

The robber held a piece of lapis lazuli to a candlelight.

Alchemist bit his tongue before he could blurt out an answer and instead asked:

“Who are you and what are you doing here?”

“Ah… You’re starting with such hard questions.”

They finally turned around and faced him.

The fox mask glistened in the faint light, as they stroked their chin.

“Who am I, and what am I doing? Most people spent entire lifetimes searching for answers to those two questions. And most of them fails. I’m no better, I’m afraid.”

Alchemist thought those were the most straightforward questions one could ask.

He even put them on the questionnaire for the patients coming to their senses after surgeries.

If they couldn’t answer them, it usually meant something went wrong.

So Alchemist asked:

“Did you hit your head?”

“In the timeline where you didn’t put that vase down, perhaps.”

Alchemist put the vase down.

“Thank you for sparing its life.”

The robber bowed deeply, as if they were deeply touched by Alchemist’s magnanimous action.

Alchemist was unmoved.

“What are you doing in my laboratory?”

“As for right now, I believe I’m talking with its owner.”

He received a no-answer.

‘It seems the alarms were turned off somehow, but I still should be able to swiftly turn them on and call the guards…’

He hated to let people in to his laboratory, but it was better than dealing with this individual with unknown intentions alone.

Just when he opened his mouth to distract the intruder, while he was to manipulate arrays close to him…

A pang in his chest reminded him why did he come here late at night.

“Cough. Cough! Cough!!”

The embers of pain, quickly turned into full-blow explosions, as he grabbed the table beside him and struggled to breath.

His vision swirled, and his legs gave up.

He was about to fell, but someone caught him and then gently laid him down on the floor.

“Damn it. You’re sick?”

Their voice was full of dissatisfaction, as if Alchemist’s sickness somehow personally offended them.

“Do you have prepared medicine here somewhere?”

“Keugh-ugh. Cough!”

Alchemist could only answer with gurgling and coughing.

The robber sighed and looked around.

“Got it. Got it. No conversation with you today.”

They moved out of Alchemist’s vision, followed by the sound of glass bumping against each other.

It seemed they turned to what robbers ought to do.

Alchemist could only wish they wouldn’t steal medical herbs that he couldn’t openly seek out, that when he wakes up it will be less than a week later, and that people won’t try to move him into another body.

His vision and thoughts were purged white by hot pain that ought to kill if death could find him.

But it could not.

“Open your mouth and swallow it.”

Someone held his head up and poured something into his mouth.

Bitter and salty. With strong taste of herbs.

He coughed and spilled out most of it, but part of the elixir got into his throat and went down his esophagus.

Alchemist wasn’t quite sure how much time passed.

But it had to be less than few hours.

His body was stiff, and his mouth was dry, but didn’t feel that bad when he came back to his senses.

Whatever went down his throat worked.

He blinked.

He was still laying on the floor.

A pillow tugged under his head for minimal comfort.

“Finally back?”

He heard a sonorous voice, and soon a fox mask appeared in his vision.

Eyes like purple diamonds were glaring down at him.

“You should eat something by the way. You kept vomiting water, and water and only water.”

The intonation of this sentence was slightly off.

If Alchemist heard it correctly, the robber was angry at the fact he vomited ‘water’, rather at the fact he ‘vomited’.

Alchemist turned his head slightly to examine his surrounding.

He saw no stains of vomits, nor smelled them.

It seemed that the robber cleaned them up.

Did robbers usually act like doctors and nurses for the people, who they robbed?

Alchemist was new to this whole robbery thing and was very confused.

“I have a strange feeling you’re thinking of something very stupid, while ignoring what I say. Well, fine. It’s not like I care.”

The robber grumbled and Alchemist couldn’t help but glance at them.

Because people don’t usually do such things if they didn’t care.

“Don’t look at me with such eyes.”

The robber scowled.

“I hope you will learn the basics of taking care of your body, so next time you’ll be able to answer my questions properly.”

Wasn’t the one who couldn’t answer even a question properly, the robber?

While Alchemist was confused, the robber seemed to whisper something to the strange shadows and the shadows jumped and hang on the robber’s robes.

Then they picked something from the table, as they propped their leg against the windowsill.

The fox mask turned towards Alchemist for the last time.

“I’ll be taking it as a payment for a treatment.”

The piece of lapis lazuli sparkled strangely in their fingers.

Alchemist just frowned in the answer.

But the robber didn’t expect any response.

The next second, they leapt out of the window, and then they were gone.

A cold breeze brushed Alchemist’s cheek, as he mumbled:

“You could at least close the window.”

He didn’t have strength to get up and close it.

The strange robbery exhausting all his energy.

He just closed his eyes and curled up on the floor, waiting for the pain in his chest to subside.

… In the morning, Sangria woke up very tired and cold.

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