There Is No Place For Fakes

“Ha… Ha…!”

William rushed into the dim warehouse, breathing heavily through his mouth.

He scanned the darkness, but there was only silence around him. Fortunately, there were no security guards present.

This place was a warehouse that was secretly managed by the Hounds family. 

It seemed that the security forces were unaware of its existence, as the owner’s name was registered under someone else.

“Damn it!”

Furious to the core, William angrily punched the box in front of him. He had narrowly escaped by using his subordinates as decoys.

How did things get so messed up?

“What the hell happened?”

The security forces were convinced that the Hounds upper-class establishment had committed illegal activities. Furthermore, they had directly mentioned the fairy wings.

“Obviously, the information got leaked. Who could have done it?”

The face of the corrupt investigator, whom he had bribed, came to William’s mind. It couldn’t have been him.

The bribe William had given him amounted to a year’s salary for that man. He was not the type to give up a bribe easily.

Then, the faces of those who knew about his plan to smuggle fairy wings crossed William’s mind, one by one.

“Of course, it couldn’t be family members, and the employees have a low possibility…”

That left only one person.

The person who he had shown the fairy wings personally today.

“Philomel, you wretched women!”

That idiot has gone and caused trouble. Putting not only herself but the entire family at risk.

“Such ungratefulness!”

He kicked the object in front of him again with his golden foot.

Thud—!

“Aaargh!”

With a pained scream, he clutched his foot and rolled in excruciating agony. It seemed like he had kicked something extremely firm.

After a while, William stood up and swore resolutely.

“I will definitely kill her!”

For now, he had no choice but to retreat, but once the situation calmed down, he planned to come back here.

William smiled wickedly as he examined the dark interior of the warehouse.

“Hehe, with these alone, I’ll be able to make a comeback like nothing happened.” 

This warehouse was where he stored his hidden treasures. 

“I’ll take these and head to Beleroph. The remaining family members and the upper-class establishment will suffer, but the most important thing is for me to survive for now. They will surely understand.”

“But it’s so dark here.”

He felt around the shelf next to the entrance. The lamp should have been around here.

Found it.

He took out the matches from his pocket and lit the lamp. The faint light illuminated the dim interior.

“This is…”

He was able to see the object he had just kicked. It was William’s head. More precisely, a head made of stone, resembling William.

He immediately realized its identity. It was the head part of a statue made in his likeness.

The head of the statue was rolling on the floor, detached from its body.

It had been a hollow statue specially made to conceal smuggled goods and made transporting them easier. It had been kept in the warehouse at William’s request.

“W-What is this?”

Cold sweat gathered on the back of his neck.

Someone was here.

William hastily ran towards the location of the vault.

That was the moment.

“Looking for this?”

With a clear voice, a bright light illuminated the whole warehouse.

Blinded by the light, William instinctively covered his face. After a while, as his eyes adjusted to the light…

“We meet again.”

Philomel was there.

And she was sitting on top of the vault he had desperately searched for.

Without even considering how she had gotten here, William shouted at her.

“Move aside! You arrogant brat…” He suddenly realized one fact.

Philomel was alone.

He didn’t need to wait for a long time to give her the punishment she deserved for what happened today.

In such a desperate situation, he couldn’t even fathom the thought that Philomel would be the one who seeks him out first.

Just as he was about to rush towards her,

Thud-!

An object swiftly passed by his face, causing an injury where blood began to trickle from his cheek.

Slowly turning his head, he looked at the object that had made a loud noise as it collided with the wall.

It was the right hand of the statue.

“Oh, I missed.”

The silver-haired man holding a metal rod calmly spoke.

“But it was still a nice shot.”

The red-haired man next to him placed a stone on the ground. Upon closer inspection, it was the chest part of the statue.

“This time, I’ll aim better…”

The silver-haired man raised his rod towards the statue fragment.

“Wow-wow-waaah!”

Soon, countless fragments of the statue flew towards William.

After a while.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Please…please give me a break.”

Philomel stared at the man hanging in the air, bound by ropes. His once lively face was now covered in bruises, swollen and pitiful.

‘He was supposed to live a good life…’

Initially, Philomel  had no intention of getting directly involved to this extent. She had planned to report William to the authorities and be done with it, but her feelings changed during the course of the events.

Since she had started this, she wanted to see it through to the end.

There was also the fact that William had not been caught by the authorities and had escaped. She couldn’t leave loose ends behind.

Above all, she had encountered ‘him.’

Shortly after leaving the central security office, Philomel was arranged to meet ‘him’ by Le Guin’s arrangement. He requested Philomel’s help.

She couldn’t refuse that request…

“B-But, how. How do you know about this place?”

Philomel snapped out of her thoughts at William’s voice.

In response to the abrupt change in his tone after experiencing violence, Philomel answered him with politeness.

“I have my ways.”

The truth was that it was thanks to the tracking magic Le Guin had placed on him. When he witnessed William in the form of a cat at the palace, he attached it just in case.

‘I suppose it’s about time I lend a helping hand, since then.’

Anyway, Le Guin and Jeremiah followed Philomel, so they came here together.

Lexion contacted Jeremiah about another matter and followed along after hearing the story, finding it interesting.

Jeremiah murmured as he stabbed William with a sword.

“Why don’t we just kill him here?”

“Hee-hee-hee!”

William made a strange noise and wriggled to avoid the sword.

Lexion opened each wooden box that was in the warehouse.

“Oh, there are quite valuable items here. Let’s take them with us.”

From violence to theft. They were a bunch of villains without any redeeming qualities. And now, Philomel was also part of that gang of villains.

Just when Philomel was starting to feel distant from her past, William shouted.

“Philomel! Ugh!”

After almost getting cut by Jeremiah’s sword, he changed his address.

“M- Miss Philomel.”

Philemon gently raised her hand to stop Jeremiah.

“Speak, uncle.”

“Please, release me! I’m Catherine’s brother, aren’t I? Even if you just let me see her face…”

“Unfortunately, I don’t have that kind of loyalty to my uncle. Even, I am not kind enough to release someone who wants to kill me.”

The man’s face, like a blank sheet of paper, turned pale at the self-talk he had just remembered.

“I’m sorry! I lost my composure and said thoughtless things!”

“You seem fine.”

“If you release me, I will give you 20% of my entire fortune!”

“Only 20%?”

“50%!”

“Not necessary.”

“Argh, I’ll give you everything!”

“My wealth is much greater than that, so I’ll decline.”

“Lies!”

It was true. The fortune Philemon received from Eustis was at least ten times the net worth of Hound’s Upper-class establishment.

Despite its seemingly favorable appearance, Hound’s Upper-Class establishment had been plagued by chronic management difficulties. Philemon had discovered this fact while reading the establishment’s records while waiting for William.

The decline of Hound’s Upper Estate had started about ten years ago. It was the year when the previous estate owner passed away, and William took over the business.

‘So, he must have been frustrated with the troublesome fairy wing trade.’

In short, William Hounds was a human with no virtue or ability in a delicate and problematic business.

No matter what persuasion he attempted, Philemon showed no sign of wavering, so he shouted.

“Fine! Do as you wish! Hand me over to the authorities! But even if my sister manages to survive, that’s it!”

There was a reason why William shouted so loudly.

The maximum penalty he would receive legally was death, but it was rare for someone to actually receive the death penalty.

Because the beings that suffer from fairy-wing fabric are fairies, not humans.

If William were to be handed over to the authorities, he would likely receive a punishment ranging from life imprisonment to thirty years in prison.

If he bribed the judge well, the sentence could be even lower.

William chuckled.

“When I come out of prison, I’ll come find you again. Then, ugh!”

As Jeremiah kicked the man, blood dripped from his nose and mouth. Jeremiah, with a rather annoyed expression, said,

“Let’s just kill him right here.”

Philemon grabbed his shoulder.

“Hold on. That’s not our job.”

She looked at William.

“It’s not possible for you to go to the police or the empire’s prison.”

“… What? What does that mean…”

Whooooosh!

At that moment, Le Guin, who had briefly left his position along with a radiant light, arrived.

“I brought them.”

And behind him, a new figure revealed itself.

With flowing pink hair, slightly pale skin, and translucent butterfly-shaped wings, a woman overflowing with elegance and enchanting charm spoke.

“I’m sorry. It took some time to bring all the children who wanted to come along.”

A voice that penetrated the ears like wind chimes. It was the same person Philomel had met before.

It was the Fairy Queen, Seraphine.