# Chapter 36
**Jeannie Davern.**
She was from *Haronan*, known as the largest jungle region on the continent.
To put it nicely, it was a great jungle, but in truth, it was no different from the backwoods.
Even there, Jeannie Daven was especially poor.
She begged constantly, while her two parents worked in the mines to keep her fed.
It was the common life of the impoverished.
Yet Jeannie was somewhat content.
Though she went hungry nearly every day, her daily life with her parents was, in its own way, happy.
But after her parents slipped and were injured in the mines, her outlook on life changed drastically.
> “Why won’t you treat them!?”
> “Because you have no money.”
> “But they’re dying!”
> “And just because someone’s dying, do you expect money to sprout out of thin air?”
The village’s one and only physician turned her parents away simply because they had no money.
In the end, unable to receive treatment, her parents did not last a month before becoming corpses.
From that incident, Jeannie’s personality shifted sharply.
> “Damn it, damn it, damn it.”
The foul words stuck to her lips, and she ceased to trust others.
She began to view the world through a lens of negativity, believing money to be everything.
> *“Fine… money. I’ll make damn sure to earn it.”*
And so she left the village and naturally drifted into Arcane.
But with no knowledge and no skills, there wasn’t much she could do.
She had come to Arcane with great dreams, but reality offered only despair.
Still, she couldn’t just starve to death, so she searched for work.
What she found was Willet’s office.
Dangerous, yes—but with great pay.
A mercenary’s job: risky, but with the chance to overturn one’s life if done well.
And so she spent about three years in the shadows.
Doing all sorts of dirty work, sordid incidents, and at times, even committing murder.
Thanks to that, she did lay her hands on a good amount of money, but that was it.
In Arcane, where the cost of living was murderous, even staking her life to earn money was not enough to buy a single house.
After three years of effort, the fact that she still couldn’t afford a home to rest in filled Jeannie with rage.
> *“Damn it… this cursed money, money, money. One way or another, I’ll buy a house.”*
A house so grand and luxurious that anyone would envy it.
If she could own such a home, no one would ever again tell her she was lacking money.
And so, Jeannie Daven went off again today to gather money—like a moth drawn into fire, chasing a goal she knew she could never reach in her lifetime.
—
—
She blinked, wondering if she had imagined it.
But nothing changed.
The young-looking man standing in the distance, waiting for the train—his face was unmistakably the same as the one burned into her memory.
> *Ares Arekis. Chief Magician of Khan Madrid.*
And also the nemesis whom, just a few days ago, he had learned about through a back-alley magician named Hazes.
Arthur tightened his grip on the meteor iron sword.
> *Should I kill him?*
His nemesis, whom he hadn’t been able to kill even in his past life, was right before him.
But the problem was the place.
> *If I swing my sword here at the station, everything will go wrong.*
No matter how much Ares Arekis was his sworn enemy, that was not the outcome Arthur wanted.
And yet, reason was being devoured by the madness within him.
*Your enemy is right in front of you, and you won’t kill him?*
*Is this all your thirst for vengeance amounts to, Arthur Bayern?*
That madness whispered like a devil, and the corners of Arthur’s lips curled upward.
Without realizing it, he stepped forward.
At that moment, Jeannie’s voice rang out.
“Um… Sir Donn? Did I do something wrong?”
“…?”
“Th-that… why are you holding a sword?”
Arthur blinked.
And in that instant, the crimson-stained world returned to its normal state.
Letting out a breath, Arthur smiled.
“Ah. Thank you, Jeannie-ssi.”
“…Excuse me?”
“Thanks to you, I held back. You see, when someone talks to me, sometimes my madness calms down a bit.”
Jeannie furrowed her brow, puzzled.
But Arthur, his focus wholly locked on Ares, didn’t notice her expression.
Watching Ares and the four magicians beside him, Arthur muttered inwardly.
> *But why is he so weak? The Ares I remember… was one of the most formidable among the Imperial Court Magicians.*
The magical power emanating from him now, frankly, was nothing noteworthy.
But then Arthur soon realized why.
> *The Ares of that time was at least twenty years into the future from now.*
Plenty of time for a magician to reach a much higher realm.
Which meant that the Ares before him now had not yet reached the heights where he could manifest such miracles.
> *He’s not lacking, but… objectively, he’s below Sir Tacen. Compared to a magician, he’s about on par with that necromancer I fought before.*
Finishing that thought, Arthur let out a small laugh.
“Wow… if I’d swung my sword, that could’ve been bad. Even if I’d killed him, I might’ve lost out.”
With that, he turned his gaze.
“Right, Jeannie-ssi?”
“……”
“Why that expression? Like you just saw something you shouldn’t have?”
Jolted by his words, Jeannie cleared her throat.
“I… have a facial muscle disorder.”
“….”
“When I witness something shocking… my face twists on its own.”
Arthur nodded.
“Oh, I also just experienced something shocking.”
“…Did you now?”
“Yes. Anyway, shall we board the train? It’d be troublesome to miss it.”
And so, boarding the train with Jeannie, Arthur sat in his assigned seat.
It was a private compartment—and Ares, too, had taken one of these compartments.
> *Hmm… first, I need to assess the situation.*
With that thought, Arthur gauged the distance to Ares’s compartment.
It wasn’t far, but likely due to some special magic, not a single sound leaked out.
As he pondered how he might eavesdrop, his gaze shifted.
There sat Jeannie, staring blankly at him.
“Uh, Jeannie-ssi?”
“Yes?”
“Could you perhaps help me with something?”
Arthur’s lips curled.
“I’d like to do some eavesdropping. Could I borrow your abilities for that?”
—
—
“…What do you mean, Sir Donn?”
“If you use a sylph’s abilities, you can eavesdrop without leaving a trace, can’t you?”
Jeannie answered with a reluctant look.
“You’re asking me… to eavesdrop?”
“Yes. But I’m not asking you to do it for free.”
Arthur handed something out.
Suspicious, Jeannie looked closer—and gasped.
“…Gold coins?”
“Yes. About twenty gold. Wouldn’t that be enough for my request?”
Jeannie’s eyes widened further.
*Twenty gold? For a single eavesdrop?*
At that amount, there was no reason to refuse.
But still, she didn’t answer right away.
*This lunatic… what’s his real game?*
The reason she was headed to Boris Village was partly due to the aftershocks of what she’d gone through days earlier.
The butcher, Tacen.
The necromancer who would not die.
The Black Cross.
Even for someone seasoned in backstreet life, surviving encounters with true underworld monsters had been nothing short of miraculous.
But Boris Village’s reputation as a resort wasn’t the only reason she was headed there.
It was also because of *him*—the mercenary named Donn, who had been on guard duty with President Tartan.
That madman who had drunk her blood.
Though two weeks had passed, Jeannie’s stomach—pierced by that lunatic—still ached.
And more than once, she had woken up screaming, memories of Arthur flashing through her mind.
So, no matter how much she liked money, she really didn’t want to grant his request.
Because the lunatic before her could just as easily slit her throat after handing over the money if the mood struck him.
When Jeannie didn’t reply, Arthur raised one finger.
“Twenty gold upfront.”
“…?”
“And another twenty once it’s done. How about it?”
Jeannie blinked.
“Really?”
“Yes. If you accept the request.”
“You’ll pay forty gold just for eavesdropping?”
Arthur beamed.
“The conversation is worth that much to me. So—you’ll accept, won’t you, Jeannie?”
She couldn’t hide her reluctant expression.
Forty gold.
The escort job for President Tartan was paying her fifty.
That was the highest-paying job she could get at her rank.
So the hesitation she had felt a moment ago was replaced with a new dilemma.
*Do I trust this lunatic’s word?*
But still—forty gold, with an advance no less.
After thinking it over, Jeannie cautiously asked:
“…Can I take the advance first?”
“Here.”
Arthur handed over the coins.
Jeannie quickly snatched them up and began counting.
One, two, three… twenty.
Exactly as he said.
The glittering gold made her swallow hard.
“Just the eavesdropping. Nothing more!”
“Of course. Just the eavesdropping.”
Sighing, Jeannie summoned a sylph.
*Fwiiish—!*
A mid-tier wind spirit whistled, releasing a subtle energy that slipped past Arthur’s compartment and beyond.
Eyes closed, Jeannie muttered:
“You’ll hear it now.”
With her words, an unfamiliar voice filled the compartment.
Ares Arekis.
The voice of the chief magician who stood beside Khan Madrid.
> \[So, the experiment is going well, yes?]
> \[Of course, Instructor! Everything is proceeding without issue!]
Arthur’s eyes gleamed.
*Experiment?*
He’d heard of experiments before… what kind this time?
> *And… Instructor? That means he hasn’t joined the Imperial Army yet?*
Arthur nodded to himself.
Even now, Ares was a fine magician—but compared to an Imperial Court Magician, he was still lacking.
Then Ares’s harsh voice rang out:
> \[“Without issue” isn’t enough! Do you know why I’m spending my time here!? Risking all this danger? I need results—results that will prove my research!]
> \[Th-the thing is….]
> \[I risked everything to bring you fifty children, and this is how it turns out? If there are no results, I’ll replace you with someone else!]
Beside him, Jeannie stifled her breath.
*Experiment? Fifty children?*
*What the hell… this sounds way too dangerous.*
She nervously glanced at Arthur.
His face was expressionless, lost in thought.
She couldn’t bring herself to say anything to him.
Just as she turned her head away—Arthur’s shoulders trembled.
And Ares’s voice rose again:
> \[This time it must succeed! The experiment to replicate the lightning bloodline’s ability! Only then can I secure a professorship!]
Other voices chimed in.
Unfamiliar words, all steeped in danger.
Experiment. Money. Fame.
Jeannie gulped unconsciously.
Arthur raised his hand.
“That’s enough, Jeannie.”
“Uh… really?”
“Yes. I doubt we’ll hear anything worthwhile if we keep listening.”
Reluctantly, Jeannie dispelled the sylph.
Silence fell. She stole glances at Arthur.
After a moment’s thought, Arthur spoke.
“Jeannie-ssi.”
“Yes?”
“If I wanted to hire you… how much would it cost?”
Jeannie’s eyes went wide.
Arthur pressed on.
“How much to hire you? I’ll pay double whatever you normally receive.”
Blinking, Jeannie answered.
“I don’t want to.”
“…?”
“No matter how much you pay, I don’t want to.”
Arthur was taken aback by her firm reply.
“Uh… why not?”
“You’re planning to kill those people, aren’t you, Sir Donn?”
Arthur blinked in turn before replying.
“…Did you learn mind-reading, Jeannie? How did you know?”
—
