YDPTB Chapter 20

“Peep?”

Judging by the perspective, it seems to be at a human’s height, but… where is this place? Only my head was outside, while my body was still inside the clothes. As I looked around and raised my head, I saw Karhan’s chin.

“Cheep?”

Chin? Only then did I realize that I was peeking out from Karhan’s robe near his neck. If someone else were to see, my face would probably be visible right below Karhan’s face. I stood still, holding onto the robe tightly with my feet.

Karhan must have felt my weight because he raised his hand and stroked me, who was peeking out from near his neck.

“If it’s comfortable for you there, you can stay. Just behave yourself.”

“Peep!”

Yes!

I, who had planned to stay here even without Karhan’s permission, cheerfully exclaimed. With the robe as the final touch, Karhan seemed to have finished his preparations and left the room. As we descended the stairs and exited the inn entrance, we spotted another person wearing a deeply pulled-down robe.

“Cheep!”

As I, with only my face sticking out, made a sound, he raised his hand and slightly lifted the hood that was covering his face. Beneath the shade, Doel’s eye smile with brown eyes was visible. He naturally reached out to touch me but seemed to find it slightly awkward to touch me under Karhan’s chin, so he withdrew his hand. Instead, he greeted me softly.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Peep!”

He knows I slept too. Feeling awkward, I exhaled, “Phew.” Doel chuckled and pulled his robe down deeply again. In the middle of the night, the two people wearing dark robes pulled down to cover their faces were undoubtedly suspicious to anyone who saw them.

As the two walked a short distance away from the inn, they didn’t exchange any words. Perhaps due to the sound of small insects in the night, the atmosphere wasn’t awkward or heavy with silence. I, who was hanging onto the duke’s robe, slowly felt my legs going numb.

“Peep peep!”

Let me out!

As I wriggled and shouted from inside the robe, Karhan, who had been walking, briefly stopped and reached inside to grab me. Then, he carefully took me out to avoid hurting me and met my gaze. I flapped my wings and climbed onto Karhan’s shoulder. And before he could turn his head, I quickly grabbed his hair with my feet and climbed onto his crown, which was deeply covered by the robe. After a short climb, I reached that round spot and plopped down, settling into place.

“Cheep peep!”

Although the robe covered the front and blocked my view, thanks to Karhan’s lush hair, it was easy to feel warm, soft, and secure. As I thought, there’s no place like this. I made chirping sounds and lowered my head. Karhan stayed still for a moment, then raised his hand and patted the robe. With me sitting on top of Karhan’s head, the robe must have been in a strange, protruding state.

“Cheep.”

I like it here.

I stood up and sat down repeatedly, signaling him to leave me be. At my small protest, he lowered his hand that had been fumbling with the robe. Done! I felt a sense of satisfaction and savored the warmth with my whole body.

“Peep peep.”

“I’ve always felt it, but… Peep really likes being on top of Your Grace’s head.”

“It seems he likes high places.”

“Yes, and right now, it looks quite suspicious, which is just perfect.”

The two engaged in a strange conversation and continued walking down the street. I slyly opened my mouth slightly and bit the navy-blue hair, one strand at a time, surrounding it in a circular shape like building a castle. If only Karhan would ignore it, a perfect nest would be completed. As I was playing quietly by myself, the two stopped walking.

“We’re here.”

“Yes.”

The two halted their steps and looked ahead. I wanted to see too, but being on top of the head, the robe covered my entire body, and I couldn’t see the situation outside. One thing I could tell was that two other people were approaching Karhan and Doel. Feeling like something was about to happen, I stopped playing and listened attentively.

“Stop right there.”

The two people who had been walking from afar noticed us and hurried over. They made clanging sounds as if their clothes were made of heavy metal, with something hard colliding. Are they knights? The two approached and stopped in front of us.

“Wrapped up tightly in the middle of the night…”

One of them muttered softly. It seemed that Karhan and Doel’s attire looked suspicious. The people currently standing in front of us were probably the village patrol guards. Doel stepped in front of Karhan and said,

“Are you perhaps the village knights? If you know of a reasonably priced inn…”

“An inn at this hour? You’re just vagrants, aren’t you?”

“Ah, our clothes may be shabby, but we’re not vagrants… We’re on a humble journey.”

Doel tried to continue speaking while shaking his head, but the patrol guards standing in front of him didn’t listen and whispered to each other, giggling. Then, they let out a snickering laugh. The deflating laughter somehow gave the impression that they were mocking us.

What kind of delinquents are these people who are supposed to protect the village? I couldn’t hide my dissatisfaction as I flapped my mouth. I wanted to chirp loudly in protest, but since Karhan and Doel remained still, I also obediently stayed in my place.

Doel, who had been standing quietly, opened his mouth.

“I’m sorry, but if it’s not a big problem, we need to find an inn…”

“You clearly look like vagrants. Hold out your hands in front before you get hurt.”

“Pardon? Have we done something wrong?”

Doel tried to protest in a deliberately flustered voice, but they drew the swords hanging from their waists as if they had expected it. The sharp blade of the patrol guard pointed towards Doel and Karhan. Only then did Doel close his mouth, obediently raise his hands, and take a step back.

“These kinds of folks never understand even when you kindly explain to them.”

“Kneel down and put your hands behind your back!”

I, who had been quietly observing the situation from the top of Karhan’s head, reached the peak of displeasure. I exhaled heavily. I have to endure it. I must endure it. Karhan must have something in mind. I remember he resolved it well in the original story.

Karhan and Doel obediently knelt down and put their hands behind their backs. Then, one of the men in front hurriedly went behind the two and tightly tied them up with a rope. The two slowly stood up from their positions with their hands tied. The patrol guards snickered as the two obediently followed their orders.

“Will they give us a good amount when we hand them over?”

“Who knows? Last time, when that guy Scott gave them to the Young Master instead of the minor lord, he received more.”

“That lunatic gives more money?”

“From what I heard, the precious Young Master is busy with his cravings these days.”

The two of them whispered all sorts of filthy things, giggling and discussing how much money they should receive, regardless of our presence.

As I eavesdropped on their conversation, I learned that these two men in front of us, along with a few others, were engaging in human trafficking using vagrants. Anger surged through me, making my fur stand on end. Far from protecting the village, they had been bringing in people without any connections and offering them to the minor lord’s household to make money. I wanted to come out of this robe right away and let those two in front taste my stinging beak.

And so, we were dragged by the patrol guards and walked for a long time until we arrived in front of a large mansion. Although smaller than the Duke family’s mansion, it was still enormously large compared to other ordinary houses in the village. I wonder how long they’ll continue to live well and eat well. I gritted my teeth.

Upon arriving at the mansion, they whispered to the servant standing in front. The servant, perhaps in cahoots with them, nodded and told us to wait for a moment, leaving us outside while entering the mansion. The patrol guards held us tightly from behind, fearing we might escape.

After a long wait, the tightly closed door opened. We were hurriedly dragged inside. As we stepped into the building, we felt the warm air. Bright light seeped through the gaps of the deeply covered robes.

As I listened attentively to figure out where we were, a thick and greasy voice reached my ears.

“So, you brought two of them?”

“Yes, minor lord. We apologize for taking up your precious time. We eagerly brought them, thinking they were quite valuable.”

“I see… Did you check their faces?”

“Pardon? Ah, well… We took a slight peek, and they looked pretty good. Haha.”

No! Karhan and Doel aren’t just pretty good; they’re incredibly handsome and good-looking! I exhaled heavily, feeling like my babies were being insulted.

The person with the greasy voice, the minor lord, approached us closely. Then, he made a humming sound and said,

“They’re tall. Good. But… I don’t like the feeling of being looked down upon.”

As soon as the minor lord finished speaking, the patrol guards on either side hurriedly grabbed Karhan and Doel. The slight shaking made me, who was on top of Karhan’s head, lose my balance and almost roll off. I desperately grasped Karhan’s hair with my toes. At that moment, I felt a slight floating sensation, and the height changed. It seemed that those bastards had forced Karhan and Doel to kneel.

I felt so aggrieved by the way the two were being treated that I felt like tears were about to fall. I’m not sure about Doel, but Karhan has been raised so preciously! Of course, I haven’t seen the process of him being raised preciously since I only met Karhan recently.

These bastards!

The minor lord chuckled, satisfied with Karhan and Doel’s lowered height.

“Enough. It’s not like I wanted something like this. Hurry up and take off their robes. We need to see where to send them.”

The two men on either side reached out and grabbed the robes. Then, they pulled back the robes that had been tightly concealing Karhan and Doel’s faces. In an instant, bright light poured onto the crown of the head as well.

With the robe that had been blocking my view gone, I, who was on top of Karhan’s head, could finally observe the surroundings. Karhan, who had been keeping his head down obediently, slowly raised his head.

“It was quite a unique experience, Baron Valdez.”

He spoke in a chilling voice tinged with amusement, as if he found the situation intriguing. I, not to be outdone, spread my wings wide and shouted.

“Cheep!”

You bastard!

The tables had turned.