006

“Well, if it isn’t the Chief. Your boisterous spirit remains unchanged as ever.”

“Hahaha, that’s why I’m so popular around town, isn’t it!”

The man responding to Adollo’s barbed comment with hearty laughter, completely missing the sting, was none other than someone wearing a police uniform. Sion quickly assessed the mustached man who removed his hat and bowed politely.

What terrible luck! On his first day venturing into town, to encounter one of Ponten’s few police officers right in a bakery! He felt he needed to reassess his supposedly decent fortune.

“But… who’s this unfamiliar face?”

Like Jerry, the officer immediately showed interest in Sion standing quietly beside them. Sion had never encountered a police officer this closely before. Despite his questionable morals, his heart shrank like a frightened bird’s.

“I’ll have to make introductions again. At this rate, we’ll end up touring the entire village center.”

Adollo directed Sion toward another introduction with dispassionate eyes, and Sion couldn’t refuse. He barely managed to lift the corners of his mouth that threatened to stiffen, pretending once more to be an unruffled person as he exchanged greetings with the officer.

“I’m Daniel O’Neil, the new butler working at Lady Agate’s villa.”

“Ah! A newcomer. I’m William Müller, Chief of the Ponten police station. Ha, you look exactly like me in my younger days.”

Not just any officer but the Chief? Sion definitively confirmed that his luck was abysmal.

“Hey, isn’t that a bit much? Making claims that can’t be verified?”

Thankfully, it was Jerry the bakery owner who cut through the one-sided conversation. Sion unconsciously gave Jerry a subtle smile as he approached with William’s requested sandwich and a glass bottle of milk.

In small towns, people typically know the names and faces of everyone they regularly encounter, and Ponten was no different. The bakery owner, police chief, and lady’s butler—people with seemingly no connection—quickly revealed their familiarity with each other.

When Jerry delivered his daily bread along with a jab, William countered with a few frivolous jokes of his own.

“Seeing you here at this hour, you must be slacking off under the pretext of patrol again, right?”

When Jerry eyed William suspiciously, the man, who had been voraciously chewing his sandwich, wiped his mouth and suddenly boasted loudly.

“My friend, that’s a dangerous accusation! When have I ever slacked off? I patrol this peaceful—boringly peaceful—town every single day without fail!”

“You mean your neighborhood strolls disguised as patrols.”

As Jerry shook his head, Adollo silently nodded in agreement. Backed into a corner, William pounded his chest indignantly before gulping down his milk.

Did they think neighborhood strolls were enjoyable? Truly, the Ponten police station couldn’t be anything but tedious.

Though a mere speck compared to the metropolitan police headquarters, he was still technically the head of a police station, yet his duties consisted only of routine paperwork and neighborhood patrols, which made him feel rather pitiful. Occasionally training new officers when they were assigned was his most important duty—that said everything about how idle the Ponten police station was.

“But today is different from usual! Since this morning, my officers and I have been going around every corner of town putting these up, and I’m making do with just a sandwich for my meal!”

William proudly straightened his shoulders like a victorious general and pulled out a stack of papers from his chest. The three men’s attention focused on it like arrows hitting a target. Sion nearly stopped breathing.

[MILES TURNER]

The name written prominently on the paper was none other than his most recent alias. This paper was a wanted poster for Sion, the swindler who had made off with a substantial portion of a baroness’s fortune in the capital.

“Take a good look at this face, gentlemen. This is the worst of the worst—a scoundrel who continuously sweet-talked a wealthy baroness in the capital until he completely emptied her safe. There’s a nationwide search for him now, and we’re plastering these wanted posters all over Ponten.”

‘Ha, to be precise, she approached me first.’

Sion suppressed his urge to correct William’s misinformation and carefully examined the sketch on the wanted poster.

‘…What on earth happened here?’

Sion’s eyes, which had been narrowed in concentration, gradually widened like a goldfish’s as he took in the sketch.

Wanted posters are typically drawn based on witness testimonies. But the person in this sketch…

Was completely different from him.

Except for the glossy blonde hair and eyes the color of fresh green leaves, everything else was entirely dissimilar. The handsome man depicted in the poster resembled a frivolous playboy who looked like he exclusively targeted wealthy women.

The face lacked any trace of trustworthiness—someone who couldn’t commit fraud even if they wanted to—literally just a slick, superficial appearance.

“Indeed… that’s the face of a swindler if I ever saw one. Tsk, tsk…”

“If such a luxurious and debauched-looking fellow came to Ponten, rumors would have spread throughout our small town already. It doesn’t seem likely to concern us.”

Jerry and Adollo offered their merciless assessments of the sketch. Clearly, none of them even considered that the wanted criminal might be Sion standing right beside them. Even Sion, whose heart had been pounding anxiously until moments ago, felt relieved.

‘I don’t know how they ended up with such a shoddy sketch, but I can rest easy. This wanted poster is worse than useless.’

“What a shameless character. As the butler said, someone like that would stand out immediately in Ponten. He’d be walking straight into a trap.”

Having regained his composure, Sion deliberately played along. No one could possibly know that the sketch was a poor creation resulting from the baroness giving the police a string of useless descriptions.

“Don’t be so complacent, everyone. Remember, it’s darkest under the lamp. The baroness wasn’t fooled because she was stupid. While Ponten is suburban, it’s relatively close to the capital, so the possibility isn’t entirely out of the question!”

‘The baroness was indeed stupid. Face-stupid…’

Despite William’s warning, neither Sion nor anyone else paid any attention to his caution.

“Oh my, Chief! You’re probably hoping the wanted criminal does show up because you’re itching for some excitement in this boring town! If this Miles fellow arrived, you’d welcome him with open arms, wouldn’t you?”

William was stung by Jerry’s accurate jab and sealed his previously unstoppable mouth as if it had been coated with honey.

“Chief, as the person responsible for the town’s safety, should you be hoping for criminals to arrive? Daniel, the young lady must be waiting. We should go now.”

When Adollo, who had joined in with his own sharp rebuke, finally suggested leaving this uncomfortable bakery, Sion’s expression noticeably brightened. Thanks to the shoddy sketch, he seemed unlikely to be suspected, but facing a police officer still felt like having a fish bone stuck in his throat.

“Well, I’ll see you next time, Jerry.”

“Yes! Take care!”

Sion also exchanged brief eye contact with Jerry. As he was about to give a slight bow to William as well, Sion’s gaze sharpened imperceptibly.

William’s look was unsettling. For a very brief moment, Sion’s keen eye caught William’s gaze examining his face with a purpose beyond mere greeting.

When their pairs of eyes met in mid-air, that moment—about a second long—stretched into tiny, minute fragments for them.

If this strangely chilling moment were left unaddressed, it would remain as a significant memory. Sion wasn’t about to let that happen.

“Well then.”

“……”

He quickly covered the cold discomfort with a gentle smile as he passed William. William maintained his rigid expression and merely nodded his head slightly.

Ding-a-ling

Even after Adollo and Sion left the shop, William’s gaze remained firmly fixed on their retreating figures.

“Hey, Jerry. That man… that new butler called Daniel. Doesn’t he resemble… this swindler?”

William, who had been staring intently through the glass door, finally turned his gaze and thr*st the wanted poster back at Jerry. Jerry furrowed his brow as if he’d just heard the most absurd statement.

“Where on earth do you see a resemblance? Aside from hair color, their features are completely different. Why? Has your famous ‘Müller’s intuition’ activated again?”

“No, why would you say such things…”

When the dishonorable nickname was mentioned, William roughly dropped his arm and hid the wanted poster. William Müller, the current Chief of the Ponten police station, had a painful past closely related to that dishonorable moniker.

Though now treated as a lazy police station grasshopper in uniform, he had once been—no, until just two years ago—a promising inspector at the Central Police Headquarters. Unusually upright and incorruptible among public officials, he was a superior praised by his subordinate officers and maintained an attitude of leading by example and enthusiasm in everything.