It was a technique called “Sheep Cloud Walking.”
I could walk without making a sound or leaving any sign of my presence.
No matter how sharp their ears or senses were, even beastkin usually couldn’t detect me if I deliberately used Sheep Cloud Walking.
When the man reached into the display case to take out a new bottle of alcohol, I quietly opened the bottle cap containing the sleeping syrup.
Pop!
The faint sound of the cap opening echoed.
Since it was the stillness of night, I worried he might have heard it.
After glancing around carefully, I quickly dropped a single droplet of the sleeping syrup into the glass he had been drinking from.
I heard even one drop is enough to knock someone out…
But this client was a beastkin who drank strong alcohol every night and had a high resistance to drugs.
One drop of sleeping syrup might not be enough this time.
Cherrybell said that even an overdose of sleeping syrup wouldn’t cause any major problems…
Since I was already giving it to him, wouldn’t it be better to add a generous amount for stronger effect?
I emptied the entire bottle of sleeping syrup into his glass.
When I had poured out every last drop, a smile crept across my lips.
Luckily, the glass was full of partially melted ice, so the colorless and odorless sleeping syrup didn’t stand out at all.
Just as the man was about to turn around, I hurriedly hid behind the curtain.
My heart pounded so hard it felt like it was going to burst, just thinking about what was about to happen.
Now, I only needed to confirm that he drank the sleeping syrup-laced alcohol and fell asleep.
This request would be successfully completed.
It was going so smoothly that it felt almost suspicious.
The man sat back down with the new bottle of whiskey.
After uncorking it, he poured the clear liquid into his glass.
The sound of the liquor splashing into the glass rang out more crisply than usual.
Yes, hurry up and drink!
Drink!
The man’s long hand wrapped around the glass.
With a very slow motion, he brought it to his lips.
Finally, I heard the sound of him swallowing the liquor.
I was so happy that I wanted to scream from how perfectly everything was going.
The glass he drank from clinked back onto the desk.
Even though the amount of liquid hadn’t decreased as much as I’d hoped, he had taken a sip — and that would be enough for the sleeping syrup to take effect.
This should be fine, right?
Holding my breath, I smiled, wishing he would hurry up and fall asleep.
However, what came next was not what I expected — a cold voice.
“I’ve waited long enough. Isn’t it about time you came out?”
I was confused by the sudden muttering.
efore I could even process what he meant, the man spoke again.
“I even went out of my way to drink vodka for you. Guess that still wasn’t enough, huh?”
In that instant, it felt like my heart dropped to the floor.
I had thought he hadn’t noticed me.
Could it be that he had known everything from the beginning and just pretended not to?
No way… since when?
I racked my brain to find a way out of this situation.
Just as something was starting to come to mind, the curtain I was hiding behind was suddenly pulled open.
And there, right in front of me, appeared the man’s face — one I had never seen before.
“Now they’re sending little kids to do the job?”
The man let out a dry laugh.
His deep blue eyes, reminiscent of the stillness of dawn, stared directly at me.
Contrary to my expectations that a wolf beastkin would look frightening, I found myself captivated by his handsome face.
Can a person even look like that?
Yes.
It seemed that even the fear of carnivorous beastkin could be completely neutralized in the face of overwhelming good looks.
Thinking back, when I had fainted in shock after seeing that snake beastkin, maybe it was just because he had been so ugly.
His neatly arranged silver hair looked so soft it seemed like it would scatter at the lightest touch, and his sharply defined features stood out so vividly they almost seemed to possess a life of their own.
Perhaps the very concept of beauty existed for people like him.
“So, what kind of poison did you put in that glass?”
…What was he even talking about?
The unexpected turn of the conversation left my mind blank.
“…Huh?”
“But unfortunately for you, I’m immune to most poisons.”
If I were to sum up the current situation: this man was treating me like an assassin sent to kill him.
Should I be relieved about that, or worried?
It was hard to say.
Maybe I should just try to stall for time?
Cherrybell’s sleeping syrup was supposed to be incredibly powerful — it could knock someone into such a deep sleep within two minutes that they wouldn’t even notice being carried away.
The man in front of me seemed ready to skin me alive at any moment, but if I could just hold out for a little longer, maybe I could manage.
Scraping together what little courage I had left, I opened my mouth to speak.
“It’s… it’s not poisoned.”
My voice buzzed like a mosquito, barely audible.
Tension made it hard for me to speak properly, but fortunately, the man seemed to catch what I said.
“Ah, of course it isn’t.”
The problem was that he clearly didn’t believe me at all.
Still, I had to explain as much as I could without revealing my true identity.
“It’s not harmful. It’s actually medicine… that’s good for your body.”
The man chuckled.
A faint smile broke across his previously cold face.
Maybe it was because he was so handsome, but that one smile lit up the room like a dazzling flash of light.
“What a refreshing excuse.”
“It’s not an excuse…!”
“So what you’re saying is, you snuck in here — as an assassin — to improve my health?”
His sarcastic tone was sharp and cutting.
Listening to it, even I had to admit it sounded unbelievable.
And just like that, the faint smile on his face vanished.
His eyes grew sharper and more dangerous, and the pressure he exuded made him seem even larger, looming over me.
My voice shrank in response.
“I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s true!”
“Then how did you get past all the soldiers outside?”
“Soldiers…?”
“There are at least twenty squad captains out there, not to mention hundreds of regular soldiers. You risked your life sneaking in… for my sake?”
Who the heck was this guy, to have that many soldiers guarding him?
When carrying out missions, we were usually given only the bare minimum of information about the client.
So all I knew was that he was a wolf beastkin suffering from insomnia due to substance abuse.
As I stood there, dumbfounded, the man continued speaking coldly.
“And it just so happens that the place you’re hiding in is perfect for landing a fatal blow.”
“Listen. If I were really an assassin, the moment I got caught, I would’ve pulled out a weapon, right? I don’t even have a weapon on me!”
“Is a weapon really necessary? You lot would probably commit mass suicide if someone just ordered you to.”
I felt like I was going to explode from the sheer unfairness of it.
Where else in the world could you find a sheep beastkin as harmless and gentle-looking as me?
With only a slight exaggeration, I could say I was the kind of person who couldn’t even bring herself to step on an ant.
Any further conversation would only aggravate both our tempers.
When I glanced at the clock hanging on the wall, I realized three minutes had already passed.
Ah…
Sadly, it was time to accept it.
Cherrybell’s sleeping syrup had no effect on him, and my final mission had truly ended in failure.
I really thought I was going to succeed this time…
Maybe I had dreamed too big.
All I had wanted was to become a proud, honorable sheep of the Slimeira family and finally see the world beyond the fences of Meadowland.
Now, I was about to be branded a “failure” forever.
I sighed heavily and slumped my shoulders, weighed down by despair.
Even then, the man’s sarcastic tone showed no sign of letting up.
“So, what’s next? Are you going to cry and beg for your life?”
Since I had already failed the mission, I didn’t see any reason to sit here and listen to this anymore.
To clear up the misunderstanding, I pulled out the medicine bottle Cherrybell had given me from my pocket.
“Look! This isn’t poison, it’s—!”
Just as I was about to hold it out confidently, I noticed something strange about the bottle.
A sloppy herbal sticker had been clumsily pasted over it.
Curious, I gently peeled it off — and underneath, I saw some unfamiliar letters and a cute little elephant drawing.
An… elephant aphrodisiac?
Why is something like this here?!
Panicking, I quickly tried to cover the writing with my fingers.
But no matter how much I hid the words, the cheerful elephant illustration was still clearly visible.
Even though Cherrybell and I bickered a lot, she wasn’t the type to pull a prank like this.
Unless someone had swapped the bottle somewhere along the way…
But even more serious was the question of how I was supposed to explain this.
At this point, I honestly would’ve preferred if the bottle had contained actual poison.
“Let’s end this ridiculous game.”
The smile that had been lingering on the man’s face vanished, replaced by a chilling coldness.