I Will Become a Poison Detector of Darkness

2. The Villain’s Lair is Safe

Episode 20

Leniel, who replied sullenly, narrowed his eyes.

A clear handprint was on Giselle’s neck. It wasn’t just simply due to force. It was a wound caused by the collision of the mana that Dylan had raised and the energy of black magic that colored Giselle’s body.

Giselle didn’t seem to understand her body properly, but Leniel could recognize it at a glance.

Dylan branded Giselle.

Mana branding is usually done on vicious criminals who are in danger of fleeing, making it easy for the mana master to track them down. Although it is not permanent, it cannot be erased by force, and as much as possible, it had to wait for the stigma to be erased by hiding in a place where various magical powers were intertwined.

In that sense, Van Hell was a city suitable for hiding, but he couldn’t trust that alone.

“I don’t know if beautiful Viviana still misses me.”

Sejak’s eyes changed slightly at the words that came out like a hum. It was a momentary change, but that was enough. Leniel smiled brightly.

“Do not worry. At least I will allow you to walk on your feet to the front of the house.”

Sejak’s breathing gradually became harsher. Leniel, who wrapped his hands around Sejak’s head, whispered in a friendly tone.

“I want you to see the traces left by you and recognize them right away.”

***

“It needs improvement.”

It wasn’t a huge improvement. It was just very basic.

“From a human point of view, we have to strictly observe the opening and closing times.”

Even if the store is located in a downtown area, does it make sense to say that there is an employee who stays and eats at the store and no one takes the time to break in?

Ten, who was crouching in the corner of the store at my desperate words, looked at me with puzzled eyes. I stared at him resentfully because Ten was also one of the culprits that made me make this commitment.

“You, Ten! Do you know what time it is?”

“Yes. Yes?”

“Why aren’t you going? You don’t even have to go to work!”

Ten raised his eyebrows as if my bitter reprimand was unfair.

“Ha, but Windria often visits at dawn. If I stay here, I will be able to see her.”

“In the first place, coming early in the morning is a problem! And why does she come at dawn? You’re here all day, so she comes at dawn to avoid you!”

This terrible bondage was born from Ten and Windria’s relentless quarrel. When he went to her laboratory and Windria did not accept him, Ten began to stick his buttocks in the general store.

At first, Ten came to coincide with the opening and closing times of the general store. It was a bit cumbersome, but I left him there for a few days because I wondered how desperate he would be, but when Windria saw this, she stopped coming to the general store at sunrise.

The problem was that Windria’s main abilities, necromancy and witchcraft, required a variety of materials. She had to get her supplies from the general store, so she ended up visiting the grocery store at dawn. At first, I woke up several times at dawn to sell things, but no matter how much I ate and slept here, I could not receive them forever.

One day, I fell asleep without knowing who had come to the store, and when I woke up in the morning, I found that Windria had taken care of herself and that she had picked up items and left money at the checkout counter. Starting that day, she openly opened the locked door at dawn and came in and bought things on her own.

Finally, after finding out about Windria’s travels, Ten says that he will definitely meet Windria today.

“I told you not to fight here, go out and fix it!”

“It’s not a fight. There is no way Windria would abandon me like this.”

“So you’re going to sit and wait at the general store that is closed now?”

“Giselle, you can go in and rest.”

Wow, how the hell did Windria keep this guy?

“No, how can I trust and leave the store to you! Are you an employee here?”

“Do not worry. I will take good care of it.”

“You’re the problem…”

I really wanted to cry.

As I clenched my fist in frustration, I stared at the front door. I’d rather go to Windria and ask her to take this disciple with you.

But if she had been a villain who would have accepted such a request, it would not have come to this point in the first place. She was a person who broke into a store that’s closed early in the morning to buy things she needed and left money behind…

If I leave Ten alone overnight, I think Windria won’t come to see me at dawn.

At last, when such rationalization was reached, two butterflies fluttering and playing among themselves flew to Ten. The familiar black powder from the red spots…

“No, no! Don’t kill him! He’s a customer!”

[Huh?]

“Put your powder back in!”

[But he’s noisy. You can’t sleep.]

“I admit it, but you shouldn’t try to paralyze or kill people like that.”

[Why?]

“Because it’s extreme and scary!”

[Why?]

[What are you scared of?]

“…I’m afraid I’m weak. I might faint. So you must not do that.”

Butterflies flapped around Ten. They reluctantly returned to my side. Ten, who had no idea how dangerous he was just before, was looking up at me bewildered.

If I hadn’t just stopped them, would you have believed that you would have died of poison powder? I shook my head and turned around.

Having made such a commitment, I settled down at the cashier’s desk. Ten kept saying thank you and something, but I couldn’t hear it. I’m so sleepy…

“Well, let me lie down for a moment. Wake me up when Miss Windria comes.”

Before I could hear Ten’s answer, I fell down on the counter. Rather than this, I could hear two butterfly voices that just went in and slept, but even that became more and more distant from my consciousness.

If I knew this would happen, I should have talked about overtime pay when I wrote the contract…

***

The surroundings were bustling.

I woke up quickly because I had a good night’s sleep, but my head was blank. My shoulders and arms were numb from sleeping in an uncomfortable position. I raised my head, rubbed the back of my neck, smiled happily at the sight of Leniel, whom I had not seen in a long time.

“Oh, boss.”

Although I was half-asleep, it was a really perfect employee attitude that I could see from the president who visited unexpectedly.

I was complimenting myself with satisfaction, but Leniel stared at me. As I blinked slowly, I realized that something was wrong with the atmosphere inside the store after a little bit of sleep.

There was some irritation in Leniel’s posture, and his red eyes were cold.

‘What time is it now?’ Ten said earlier that he would wait for Windria here…’

“The relocation of the grocery store to a large place did not mean attracting a lover.”

From Leniel’s words, I reflexively spat out an un-brainly answer.

“Why are you talking nonsense when you haven’t been here in a long time?”

Oh my.

“I mean, hmm. It’s not nonsense. No, you’re right, but what do you mean lover? How can I date someone right now?”

It was hard to make ends meet day by day.

Perhaps my expression full of resentment worked, for Leniel’s cold expression was a little relieved. As soon as I calmed him down, who seemed to explode at any moment, I found Ten lying at his feet.

Oh, I didn’t know you were saying that when you saw Ten. Don’t you know that Ten was a pupil of Windria? Oh dear. But why is Ten sleeping in such a pitiful form over there?

…Oh my god, he can’t be sleeping!

“Did you kill him?”

When asked with a shocked look, Leniel tapped Ten with his toes.

“This one?”

“Did you really kill him? Oh, my god, there’s no reason why things are so violent!”

“You said it wasn’t a lover.”

“He was a guest sir! It was true.”

“What kind of guest are you having at this hour?”

That’s exactly what I wanted to say. Tears covered my eyes when I met someone who agreed with me. After all, the boss is the boss. The boss is the only one who can take care of the employee’s welfare!

“That’s exactly what I needed to say. As a result of my work experience, I found out the serious shortcomings of this area. Customers don’t consider the hours of operation of the grocery store at all.”

They came only when they felt like it. He’s the boss, so I have to make suggestions when I meet him like this.

I recited what serious facts I had suffered in the last few days. Lifting his stiff face, Leniel listened with interest to me. Furthermore, he sometimes nodded lightly and even responded.

The joy of communicating with my employer made me vent all my anger.

“Even if I lock the door, they’ll just break in and take things with them. What’s the point of putting money on the counter? Then why do you have staff and operating hours?”

“Oh, it’s open today, isn’t it?”

Just in time, the door opened, and one of the causes of my stress recently appeared. I immediately pointed to her and complained.

“Look! They’re coming at this hour!”

“Well…”

Windria, who had just opened the door of the store, stopped. Standing in front of the cashier, Leniel glanced back at her. Windria’s easygoing expression froze.

“The shop is closed.”

As he smiled and said, Windria smiled vaguely and nodded stiffly.

“Well, is that so?”

“When the store is closed, you have to wait for the opening time.”

“Yes, yes.”

Windria was frozen to the bone. I couldn’t believe that he was always indifferent and didn’t care at all what others said.

I opened my eyes wide and looked at Leniel and Windria alternately. Leniel smiled leisurely, and his tone was as usual. Even compared to when I woke up earlier, he didn’t look so unhappy now.

Is she just under pressure from the boss? But Windria is Wayne’s right-hand person.

“And you’ve brought personal disputes here.”

“What do you mean disputes? That’s not true!”

“My staff felt threatened by this man, so if it’s none of your business, can I handle it on my own?”