The bad guy

Creak

The old door made a faint noise as it opened slightly. I lowered my head and peeked outside through the small gap I just opened. It was about dinnertime, and the sky was dark with only the moon brightening it a little bit, so the outside corridor was slightly lit by the silver moonlight. I looked around, but there were no servants going in or out of the residence.

"Phew!"

I heaved a sigh of relief as I took one step out of the door. I wanted to change my cloth to some dark black ones, like the ones that burglars wear, but I changed my plans. That would be too obvious! It would be like screaming loudly that I wanted to do something illegal.

I was wearing my usual servant uniform. A white shirt and a black vest with a tailed back, like a sleeveless tailcoat, black pants, and a bow tie. Me and Severin's uniforms looked a lot like the butler's cloth, but the butler's uniform had some more details. Its vest didn't have a tailed back instead, it had a tuxedo, and the butlers used black ties instead of bow ties. Their cloth also had different designs on them that differentiate them from the simple clothes we wore.

Putting my hands in my pockets, I casually strolled out of the servants' residence. There was no one inside the building, but once I exited it, I could see a few figures here and there. There was a gardener who was sitting on the fence of the stone garden and playing with some flowers, and some young servants, children, who didn't have any work to do and were playing with each other. One or two maidservants were busy carrying some cloth to laundry and there was also the carriage driver that was coming back from the stable.

"Oh? Brother Ian!"

Just as I was walking out of the door, I heard the voice of a kid.

"Eh? Weren't you sick? Why are you going out?"

I turned my head towards the voice, only to see a boy in cheap and ragged clothing sitting at the edge of the window and swinging his feet. He leaped down from the edge of the window and stood in front of me, narrowed his eyes, and sent a suspicious look at me.

"Old Ranger told me not to let you out!"

Look at this brat!

"I want to get some fresh air!"

"I'll tell him that you want to go out, and if he permits, I'll let you go!"

"No, you won't!"

"I will!"

If my memory is not wrong, this boy was brought here one year and a half before after one of the carriage drivers died of old age. His name was Ralph and he was an orphan. As a kid, he couldn't become a carriage driver so he was placed in someone else's spot for that person to take the spot of the dead carriage driver.

"He told me to keep an eye on you. I won't ignore old Ranger's words!"

"Is that so?"

I smiled, took out my hand from my pocket, and held my fist in front of the kid's face. The boy was taken back, thinking that I wanted to punch him in the face thus he took a step back, only to get stunned and freeze on his spot once I opened my palm. There was a small cookie in my hand.

"W-what?"

Ralph stared at the cookie inside my palm with shaking, shining, and doubtful eyes. He glanced at it then glanced back at me.

"Where did you get this..."

"Dr. Reeve gave it to me. You know, due to young master Alaric's order, I get to eat reeeaallly delicious and expensive food every day!"

I shot Ralph a smog smile and pushed the cookie to his chest. The kid looked at me with a mixed expression of shock and envy, then looked at the cookie.

For a servant in this count's house, and a low-ranked one at that, a cookie was something they'd probably never eat in years. I've seen other servants in other regions eat and receive great amounts of sweets and other kinds of food as their payment, but not here. Our lord was really not that generous towards us.

"Take it. It's yours. Oh, and also eat it somewhere that the other kids wouldn't see. If they do, I have to give the rest of the cookies to them."

"Y-you have more?"

"Of course!"

Ralph took the cookie from me, gulped down his saliva, and stared back into my eyes.

"Can I-I get more? I promise! I won't tell Old Ranger that you left your room!"

"Hmmm~"

I curled up the edges of my lips to a smile and went closer to the little boy.

"That... and also... Do me a favor! I'll give you all of my cookies if you do it well!"

Realizing that I wanted to make him work, the boy frowned slightly and glared at me. However, he sniffed the cookie in his hand at the same time, lowered his head, and nodded with a defeated face.

"What should I do?"

Haaah! Look at this kid accepting anything only for a bunch of cookies! Ah! I feel like the devil here!

"Go to the main hall where the count and his family are having dinner and pull the curtains on the right side of the hall close."

"W-why?"

"Isn't that obvious?"

I clicked my tongue and shook my head.

"I want to take a stroll in the garden, and that includes me moving in front of that window. What if Ranger sees me out of my room?"

"You'll be fucked!"

"Yeah, I'll be- wait, what?"

I moved my head up and glared at Ralph.

"Little kid, you shouldn't talk like that!"

Why the hell would a kid this age use such words?

'Oy, Ranger! You seem to have aged and can't take care of a single kid properly! Look at the way he talks! Look at his words!'

If I'd said such a word when I was Ralph's age I have no doubt that the old man would chop off my tongue! In front of my harsh glare, the boy lowered his head and mumbled a silent apology. I heaved a sigh and continued my words.

"I'll be in great trouble if he sees me, so do it as naturally as you can. After you are done, go back to my room and take the cookies from the drawer beside the bed."

Ralph didn't waste any time contemplating the matter. He nodded his head immediately, stuffed the cookie in his mouth, and started running towards the building.

'Oh, boy. You could just wait for me to leave and then go pick up the cookies without doing what I asked you!'

The innocence of the kids, they say! I truly feel like an evil person right now who uses clueless kids to fulfill their evil goals.

"Sigh. Anyway."

I put my hand back inside my pocket and strolled around aimlessly, waiting for the kid to do what he was assigned.