Don't Be Holy! - Chapter 29
After hesitating briefly, she soon stepped into the hallway, masking her presence.
The dark hallway was quiet, with only light from the windows illuminating parts of the long corridor.
Eir made the sign of the cross as quietly as possible and let out a determined sigh. With that faint sigh, she opened her eyes. Her green eyes flashed in the darkness.
After all, this was a matter of life and death for her too.
Though her heart was racing at the thought of raiding none other than Rubel Shinote’s bedroom, when one needs to take steps, they should do so without hesitation to avoid complete failure.
Rubel’s room was a small one at the very end of the hallway. She had worried he might insist on using Granny’s room, the largest in the house, unable to break his noble habits, but he had deliberately avoided the old woman’s room and set up his bed in the most secluded spot, furthest from Eir’s room.
With each step toward the man’s room, Eir felt her thundering heartbeat echoing in her ears. The hallway, which usually took only six or seven steps to cross, seemed strangely endless.
As she placed her hand on the doorknob of his room, images of Rubel Shinote splitting Alupu in half flashed through her mind. She worried her head might roll across the floor the instant she opened the door.
Gulp.
Eir’s throat moved noticeably as she swallowed, took a breath, and carefully opened the door.
Fortunately, her expectation of finding a sharp blade pointed at her the moment she opened the door proved wrong. Instead, she was hit by the strong smell of alcohol. It was so intense she had to hold her nose.
Wait, why would someone who barely gets drunk because of his powers do something so pointless?
‘And these bottles…….’
They were familiar bottles. They were definitely from Granny’s cellar.
Only then did Eir remember mentioning in passing to the man that the old woman had a hobby of brewing alcohol every year.
Among them were many strong spirits aged for years, which he had apparently stolen like a thief and emptied.
‘They say the quiet cat is the first to climb the wall.’
Acting so devout and diligent in the village, winning over the adults, while secretly bringing alcohol to his room at night to get completely drunk.
The room was packed with bottles, suggesting this wasn’t a one-time thing.
Eir thought this was actually fortunate and moved toward the man with less hesitation. The room was dark with only moonlight trickling in, and the man lay on his side on the narrow bed, sleeping as if he had collapsed from exhaustion.
Her slender feet formed an arch as she stood on her tiptoes, and like a cat, she hitched up her nightgown skirt and skillfully navigate between the bottles to approach him.
Even his exhaled breath reeked of alcohol.
There were even sleep-inducing herbs on the bedside table, stolen from somewhere without Eir’s knowledge. The rim of the bottle was stained with herb powder, suggesting he had ground and mixed it with the alcohol.
“Completely fallen from grace.”
Eir muttered this while crouching down to steal a glance at the man’s face, partially hidden by fallen hair.
Come to think of it, this was probably the first time she’d seen him sleeping like this. No, everything happening in this room felt unfamiliar and unsuited to the man.
Rubel’s limp arm was barely visible. It was due to his large frame not fitting properly on the narrow bed.
Eir hesitantly reached toward the bed. Thinking of him in this vulnerable state somehow made her feel more invasive.
The straw she touched rustled and gave way. When she grabbed some of the man’s hair between her fingers, its unexpected softness gave her a strange feeling.
Holding her breath, she cut a small portion from near the nape of his neck where it would be less noticeable.
Eir quickly put it in the envelope. But at that moment, Rubel, whom she thought was passed out, suddenly grabbed her hand tightly.
Ugh.
The small scissors she had been holding loosely pricked her finger. As the scissor blades closed together, the sensation of flesh being cut was more chilling than painful.
“I-I was just…….”
Trying to catch the alcohol thief…….
As she tried to string together some excuse, the man, still seemingly drunk with sleep, dully raised his upper body and grabbed her collar with a harmless grip. Only when his body heavily shifted did Eir realize he was still in a sleep-induced state.
“Chris.”
He called out someone’s name in a low voice. Though his tone was matter-of-fact, whether due to his deep, husky voice or his vulnerable state of sleep, it felt as if the owner of that name was someone very important to him.
