I Became A Squirrel Seeking For The Villain

In fact, Yohan was suffering because of the magical power boiling inside him. Because of the magic that had been entangled for a long time, it was still difficult to handle magic. ‘Still, it’s thanks to Momo that I can even use this much…’ He had reluctantly tried a magical power, thinking everyone would die if he didn’t. In the end, it seemed like it was a good gamble. But since he couldn’t receive any more of the divine power, he didn’t think he could use magic anymore. “Anyway, we should move quickly to safety.” “Wait….” Yohan said, clutching his chest with a pained expression on his face. “I can still…sense some of the beasts alive.” The soldiers were all exhausted at this point. If a wild beast came down from the scorched mountain, it would be a disaster. “Using magic…I’m not good at it yet…” Even so, Yohan was thankful that he had not used magic in the duke’s residence. ‘There were countless times when I wanted to blow away Tezen and Ella with magic, but if I couldn’t control my power like this, I might have blown up the entire capital.’ Not to mention, even the squirrel would’ve been hurt. Therefore, Yohan did not regret those long days of patience. “Ah, the beasts…hmm…” The soldier said hesitantly. “How about just leaving it alive?” “Why?” Well, actually…” When John asked in a puzzled manner, the soldier sighed cautiously. “Since the disappearance of Duke Medes, we’ve refrained from deliberately killing beasts. Especially tigers.” “What…?” The more he heard it, the more absurd it became. When Yohan made a face of absurdity, the soldier quickly explained. “You know that the first head of the Medes family was a beast, right?” “Isn’t that just a legend?” “Yes. And there is also a legend that the people of the Medest family can turn into beasts.” Naturally, no one believed that absurd legend. Because there were no people from the Medest family who actually turned into beasts. “But many soldiers claim to have seen the Duke Medes…transform into a tiger.” “What?” He felt as if his whole body was being torn apart, but even in the midst of it all, a look of bewilderment began to appear on Yohan’s face. No matter how much he thought about it, it seemed like a ghost story from a battlefield. “It’s true. That was the day that relief supplies arrived from the temple, so all the soldiers were staying in the barracks. Then the enemy suddenly made a surprise attack like today. But in that critical situation, Duke Medes turned into a tiger and fought off the enemies, then suddenly disappeared.” Yohan, looking at the soldier with disbelief, the soldier trailed off with an uncertain voice. “Really….They say there are people who have seen it.” “Hmm.” Now struggling even to stand, Yohan leaned on the soldier for support and turned away. He didn’t necessarily believe in that absurd statement, but he saw no need to deny the soldiers’ superstitions either. “Well, then let’s just go.” He wondered what the squirrel would’ve said if it had seen him now. It would probably gloat, claiming it was thanks to its help that he could even use this much magic. Then it would demand lifelong repayment of its favor. Missing the squirrel more than ever, Yohan walked slowly. * * * In the dawn, when it was still dark, Jayden woke up to a commotion outside. He was already tired because he couldn’t sleep due to an upset stomach, and to make matters worse, someone was knocking on Jayden’s door. “Count?’ Jayden frowned and sat up. “Can I come in for a moment?” It was the voice of the old doctor who always stayed at the duke’sHouse because of Sienna. “What’s going on? Come in.” The doctor who entered Jayden’s room cautiously had a very serious look on his face. “That’s….” He hesitated before speaking. “There seems to be something wrong with the sandwich that young lady Yurika and you ate earlier. Young lady Yurika said she had a really bad stomachache and insisted I check on you as well…” “I’m okay.” Jayden said, waving his hands. “I’ve been feeling bloated after eating meat recently, but the doctors said it wasn’t anything serious.” “Still… Lady Yurika made those sandwiches herself and she was worried. Even if just as a formality it would be best If you accept it…” ‘If Yurika was suffering from guilt, there would be no end to this.’ Reluctantly, Jayden gave in. And shortly after… “Count?” As time passed, the doctor’s expression changed slightly after he finished the examination. “Why?” “I’d like to conduct a few more tests… Something seems a bit concerning.” The doctor moved around busily and brought some more medicine. Then, for quite a while, he conducted various tests that even made Jayden feel exhausted. A few hours later, the doctor spoke in a trembling but firm voice. “Count, listen without being surprised.” Of course, it was impossible not to be surprised at those words. The doctor continued speaking cautiously, looking at Jayden’s already stiff face. “It seems… you’ve been exposed to poison for quite some time.” * * * Everything went smoothly. On the way to the duke’s house, I had already heard from Runart about the most easily accessible poisons. According to Runart, the poisoning process takes a very long time because even doctors can only carry a very small amount of poison. “As poison accumulates in the body, you’d experience nausea, but even doctors wouldn’t notice it. Because the dose is so small.” “Oh, then there’s no way to know?” “In theory, yes.” “Are you saying you know a way?” Runart, being a medical genius, had already formed a hypothesis on his own. “I think the results might come out better if you fill your stomach with heavy food and then take the test.” And I trusted Runart. He simply could not formally publish his ideas because he did not have the resources to research and experiment at the time. So I made a plan based on what Runart said, and the conclusion was that the doctor who was on duty at the duke’s residence was able to immediately notice Jayden’s poisoning. After that, Jayden hurriedly returned to the estate and soon discovered the whole truth. Of course, the culprit was the Linishite family. “Oh my god, there are so many bad people in the world.” Mariel sighed after hearing the news. “Do you know why my uncle made Seili his goddaughter? It’s because she resembles the missing Yurika.” “Oh, really?” “Yeah. She has light brown hair and red eyes. My uncle thought she would be just like Yurika when she grew up, so he adopted her as his goddaughter as soon as my uncle heard her introduction. They must’ve taken advantage of Uncle’s guilt.” After hearing the whole story, it turned out that the Linishite family was the first to request godparenthood from Jayden. They even claimed Seili looked similar to Yurika and suggested Jayden treat her like his second niece. After that, he asked for a large sum of money for medical expenses using Seili’s illness as an excuse. “They say that the poison was given to them by Seili’s doctor. They were all in on it together. In reality, Seili wasn’t sick at all.” They had planned to slowly poison Jayden, and in the original story, their plan coincidentally aligned with the end of the war. In the end, the Linishite family faced severe punishment for attempted murder. “It’s a really scary world.” Mariel said with a deep sigh. “All that for money… What is money worth that they’d go that far…?” ‘There are many people who do much worse things for less money.’ As I was sighing inwardly, Mariel spoke cheerfully. “Anyway, my uncle has finished everything and is on his way back to the duke’s house.” “Yes? Why?” “Why do you think?” Mariel smiled brightly and said, “He just wanted to say thank you. After all, you saved his life.” Well, I don’t think it’s necessary to go that far, but still… I had no intention of actively trying to stop him from saying thank you. After all, it was true that I had saved his life. A few days later, Jayden arrived at the duke’s house again. As soon as he arrived at the duke’s house, Jayden came to me. “There’s somewhere I want to take you.” “Yes?” ‘Could it be that he’s planning to take me to a clothes shop and shower me with expensive gifts?’ I think that’s usually how rich people repay favors. But contrary to my expectations, the place Jayden took me to was the corridor in the basement of the duke’s house. As I went down the dark stairs holding a lantern, a larger space appeared than I expected. “This place…” “This is where the portraits of all the heads of the Medes Duke family are kept.” Perhaps because it was a place untouched by humans for a long time, it felt strangely cold. “This way.” “Yes.” Jayden guided me to the portrait located near the entrance. Beneath the large portrait stood a man with light brown hair and blue eyes, looking stern. He had a very handsome appearance. As expected from the head of the famous Medes family, he had a good appearance. “Uh, this person….” As I blinked and looked up at the portrait, Jayden smiled bitterly and said, “The current Duke of Medes, Oscar Medes.” * * *