Chapter 146

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“Clearly…”

Half an hour later, Jerome looked pale and seemed to be half out of it.

“You said you were scared of many legs…”

“Did I? Did I say that?”

Juliet replied, adjusting her robe with a slight frown.

“Someone was busy dropping a sword. I don’t remember well.”

“Pfft.”

The knights, who caught the horses that had run away in surprise, burst into laughter.

Blue butterflies, seemingly content after a long feast, fluttered about here and there.

Jerome kept stealing glances at those butterflies.

Juliet might have openly treated Jerome like an idiot, but his skills weren’t that bad. He did his fair share.

But because he had left a bad first impression, Juliet continued to ignore Jerome.

After the appearance of the unidentified blue butterflies, the monsters started fighting in terror and eventually killed each other.

Having witnessed that scene, Jerome seemed totally deflated.

From then on, Jerome no longer ignored or undermined Juliet. Instead, he nervously circled around her with a fearful look.

“Why on earth would you need an escort if you can handle something like that? Huh?”

Jerome mumbled as if he felt very wronged. It seemed like he had something to say. Juliet, feeling annoyed, asked him tersely.

“Do you have something to say to me?”

“Yes.”

Surprisingly, Jerome readily admitted.

“Then just ask.”

“Well… How long have you been handling that demon?”

Juliet lifted her head.

“If you’re talking about the butterflies, they’re not demons. They’re spirits.”

“Ha-ha. What a joke.”

Jerome laughed as if he had heard a real joke, but when Juliet didn’t laugh along, he blushed.

“Ahem, you mean the spirit summoner? I know. But we don’t call it a spirit. That’s not a spirit, it’s a demon. So, it would be better for you to be careful too.”

Juliet shrugged her shoulders.

The creature that feeds on emotions could indeed be called an evil spirit or a demon. But Juliet didn’t seem to heed his warning, so Jerome spoke again.

“Let me tell you an old story, Miss.”

Juliet sighed heavily.

With so many injured, it was a rash decision to head to the territory of Marquis Guinness with this group.

“About ten years ago, there was a weird guy named Julio in the mercenary group I belonged to.”

Jerome was very talkative, and Juliet hated men who talked too much.

“He was a flashy and somewhat creepy guy, but he had a unique trait. Whenever he had money, he obsessively bought useless jewelry, claiming it was treasure.”

“And then?”

Juliet asked with a hint of annoyance.

She couldn’t understand why Jerome suddenly brought up a story about a former mercenary colleague.

“Julio was a gold-tier mercenary. You know? Being gold is a big deal.”

Of course, she didn’t know.

Juliet just assumed it must be some sort of rank and brushed it off.

“But the thing is, for a mercenary, his sword skills weren’t that great. The sole reason he could possess the gold-tier mercenary badge was that he was a spirit summoner.”

“…A spirit summoner?”

Only then did Juliet show a hint of interest.

She seemed to understand why Jerome brought up this story and why he was showing interest in her.

“Yes, just like you, Julio summoned demons from another world.”

Not demons.

“Your creature is a beautiful butterfly, but the demon he summoned was truly terrifying. It was a giant yellow snake, so massive that you couldn’t tell if it was a snake or a dragon. It was excellent at killing people.”

A snake?

Juliet frowned, deep in thought. Indeed, a terrifying snake might appear more majestic than butterflies.

“After a while, Julio started saying weird things, like waking up from drunken sleep to find the snake opening its mouth wide at night.”

“And then?”

“Julio bragged about it. He said his loyal demon stands guard even at night.”

“Tell me more details. About… Julio. Is he still working as a mercenary?”

But Jerome just shrugged.

“There’s not much to say in detail. He’s dead now.”

“Dead? Why?”

“Just one night, Julio disappeared.”

Juliet seemed to have relaxed, but Jerome spoke with a rather serious expression.

“But everyone in the mercenary group knew. They said he was eaten by a snake.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Miss, you’ve never seen a big snake, have you?”

Jerome smirked with implication.

“When a big snake opens its mouth and stays still for a while, it’s assessing whether something is of a size it can swallow.”

Jerome confidently asserted.

“It definitely wasn’t guarding behavior. Well, that fool Julio was happily thinking that snake was protecting him. But it’s clear that Julio was eaten by the snake he used to handle.”

Juliet was stunned by the unexpected conclusion, but Jerome remained serious throughout.

“When I leave here, I will go back. I don’t want to get unnecessarily involved in any incidents here, regardless of the knights or anything else.”

His words were quite rude and blunt, but Juliet didn’t blame him.

“Don’t take it too seriously.”

After Jerome left, Cain approached Juliet and advised her.

“Jerome is fine, but he tends to exaggerate. I too was part of the same mercenary group as Julio, but the idea that Julio was eaten by a snake is ridiculous.”

“Why?”

“Because Julio has been seen in the desert several times since then.”

“But according to Jerome…”

“…”

“Yes, he believes Julio has gone missing.”

Cain reassured Juliet.

“But the story that he was eaten by the snake spirit he raised is too fantastical. He definitely pretended or tricked people into thinking he went missing due to gambling debts, and staged such a cumbersome act to thoroughly hide his true identity.”

“…”

“So, Miss, don’t take Jerome’s words too seriously. Mercenaries tend to boast; even if they catch a snake, they’ll claim they caught a dragon. They exaggerate a lot, so filter what you hear.”

Cain seriously advised Juliet, then escorted her to the carriage and returned to the barracks.

However, Juliet couldn’t sleep for some reason.

Alone in the carriage, Juliet pondered.

A yellow snake.

Juliet had never seen another spirit summoner besides herself. But from what she heard, spirits were very different from her butterfly creatures.

They were merely creatures from another realm that lend their power for a short time.

But the ‘yellow snake’ spirit Jerome mentioned seemed to have similarities with Juliet’s butterfly creatures.

For instance, appearing on their own without being summoned or hovering around a sleeping person even if not requested to.

(…)

Juliet looked up and glared at the butterflies, which had suddenly appeared and were quietly circling around.

“Are you going to eat me too?”

(No. Eat. Contractor!)

The butterflies protested in a voice that seemed somewhat annoyed.

(We. Like. Contractor.)

(Contractor. We. Hate.)

(But. No lies. We tell.)

(That. Snake. Yellow.)

(Bad. Snake. Bad…)

Spark.

There was a brief spark.

Juliet was startled.

At the same time, the butterflies fluttered their wings as if in pain.

(We. Not. Snake.)

“I get it, so you can stop.”

A startled Juliet quickly stopped them, but the butterflies seemed to have been hurt, falling weakly onto her outstretched palm.

Some had already shattered into light or were consumed in a blue flame and disappeared.

(We can’t talk. About it.)

(That’s how it is.)

Juliet suddenly remembered that the butterflies had said that before.

Perhaps the fact that they couldn’t talk wasn’t about their own kind.

‘He said he collected ancient artifacts.’

Juliet mulled over that statement.

The only artifact she knew of was named ‘Snowdrop,’ but maybe Julio had one too.

And.

That’s why he summoned a suspicious spirit or entity.

‘An artifact that summons a snake spirit.’

Juliet became immensely curious.

She only knew of her blue butterflies, but confirming the existence of another entity was a first for her.

What kind of power did that spirit possess?