That Guy Was Way Too Annoying

Lynch, who had gone to get the notebook, had no idea that Rozanne was planning to write a novel about him and Klein. He thought he had already taught the girl a lesson, and headed downstairs in a pretty good mood.

Everyone he passed greeted him politely. He just couldn't figure out why their eyes seemed to sparkle with gossip.

This had to be Rozanne's fault. He'd give her another swatting later.

At least Dunn was still normal. As soon as he heard why Lynch had come, he approved Lynch's request to go to Old Neil and get the fake Antigonus Notebook.

Of course, even though it was fake, Lynch still had to return it.

It had been kept here as evidence.

Lynch went to find Old Neil again and got the Antigonus Notebook from him.

He opened it and took a look. There really was writing in it; Old Neil and the others just couldn't see it.

Had it really recognized its owner?

He remembered that in Lord of the Mysteries, Beyonder items without self-awareness weren't supposed to recognize an owner. He hadn't expected this notebook to actually become his.

"Lynch?"

Old Neil noticed his expression and made a small sound to get his attention.

Lynch quickly came back to himself and explained, "I just can't figure it out. I thought the notebook I got before was the real one, and I thought I'd be able to earn great credit. I didn't expect I'd still have to find a way to get a new notebook."

Old Neil laughed at his disappointed expression.

"We only just learned about the Hermit Order, and this is the first time we've heard of the Antigonus Notebook. Otherwise, we'd probably have taken it more seriously. Maybe we just haven't had the luck to get the real notebook yet, just like you and Klein."

Old Neil winked at Lynch.

Lynch:!!

"Rozanne was talking nonsense!"

Lynch gritted his teeth. He tried to explain things to Old Neil for a while, but when he realized that only made Old Neil more interested, he hurried upstairs.

Rozanne was still secretly writing her novel. She had already been sneaking around, and the sound of Lynch's voice startled her so badly that she nearly knocked over the ink on her desk.

"You—you—you know what?"

Rozanne covered her novel.

But how could Lynch fail to notice her furtive movements? He snatched the notebook off the desk and saw line after line of words that filled him with despair.

"Rozanne, I swear, I'm really going to kill you!"

Lynch grabbed Rozanne and smacked her hard on the bottom twice. He was about to hit her again when he saw the girl quietly start to sob.

"I'm not even crying. What are you crying for?"

Lynch pushed her away helplessly. He felt like he'd brought this on himself: he'd spread rumors about Klein, and now the consequences had come back to haunt him.

"Boo-hoo-hoo. Ever since my father passed away, no one's hit me like this."

Rozanne sniffled softly.

Lynch awkwardly rubbed his hands together and hesitated before saying, "Then should I call you Daddy from now on?"

"..."

Could you show a little humanity?

Rozanne glared at Lynch, cheeks puffed out. Then she turned away and said apologetically, "Sorry, I shouldn't have written any of this. I was just bored. I wasn't actually going to share it with anyone. I was just writing it secretly for myself. I won't cause you any trouble."

Trouble?

At that word, Lynch no longer felt awkward.

He immediately pointed at the people who were sneaking glances at them.

"Explain yourself, Rozanne! They've all started suspecting that Klein and I have something going on. If you can't clear this up, I'm going to kill you today!"

Rozanne looked at their gossiping faces and realized she had a problem on her hands, too.

Gossiping had never seemed difficult, but explaining it away was a little...

Under Lynch's menacing stare, Rozanne obediently apologized to him in front of all those people.

Afterward, she seemed about to explain that some of the things Lynch had said had inspired her, but Lynch clapped a hand over her mouth to stop her.

"You're not allowed to say anything else. That's Klein's private business. If you let it slip, you'll have me to deal with!"

Lynch pretended to threaten her viciously.

Rozanne raised her brows, instantly shifting from apologetic to smug.

"Buy me breakfast tomorrow. Otherwise, your threats won't do you any good!"

Lynch: ...

That was one expensive breakfast!

Sure enough, one lie took a lot more lies to cover up.

He was wrong. He really was wrong. He should never have transmigrated in the first place!

"Fine. I'll buy you breakfast once, and only once. Otherwise, I'll put these up outside the Blackthorn Security Company!"

Lynch raised the pages in his hand. Rozanne's clear handwriting covered them, telling the story of Lynch and Klein.

Rozanne's eyes widened.

She wouldn't have been embarrassed if she'd written it privately and sold it privately, but posting it at her workplace would be public humiliation.

Her father's good name!

"Aren't you afraid people will say you and Klein..."

Rozanne couldn't help asking.

Lynch's face twisted into a scowl.

"We go down together. Got it?"

Got it, got it. Absolutely!

Rozanne watched timidly as Lynch put the pages away, her expression full of things she wanted to say but couldn't.

She really wanted them back. It was so awkward having her dignity in someone else's hands.

Then she thought about how Lynch would read what she'd just written, and her face turned red at once.

That guy really was so annoying!

And he'd even smacked her bottom!

She rubbed her backside and pouted so hard her lips could have held a bottle.

After dealing with Rozanne's nonsense, Lynch finally dragged himself out of the security company, exhausted, and climbed into a carriage he hailed outside.

He really needed a moment to himself. Don't ask him who this "moment" was.

"What happened?"

Just as Lynch was relaxing, a cold voice sounded beside him.

He immediately drew his revolver and pointed it at the other person's nose, nearly firing on the spot.

Fortunately, he soon realized who it was, and let out a breath of relief.

"Could you stop appearing out of nowhere? You did it that night, too, and now you're doing it again. You're going to scare me to death."

"If you don't do things that weigh on your conscience, you don't need to fear your creditors showing up!"

The other man looked at Lynch calmly.

Lynch rolled his eyes.

That was something Roselle had said, right?

An exotic version of "Let your conscience be your guide, and you won't fear the knock at the door."

"I did something that weighs on my conscience. I went to the Nighthawks' team and nearly brought shame upon the Lord."

Lynch immediately shot back.

The other man froze.

"You went to the Nighthawks' team?"

"Yeah, I just came from there. Look, this is the Antigonus Notebook. They said it was fake, but this was the one I saw when I had it. Could someone have swapped it out in advance?"

The man in black examined the Antigonus Notebook, then tossed it straight back into Lynch's arms.

"It couldn't be any faker. Your guess is right. We only found out that Klein had been bewitched, so we wanted to take advantage of the chance to snatch the notebook. We didn't expect that person to have switched it out beforehand.

"But I still can't figure it out. How did Klein, a Beyonder, get bewitched? You're not lying to me, are you?"

The man's expression turned cold.

Lynch wasn't the least bit troubled. He stuck out a leg and kicked him.

"Lying to you? Why would I need to? I'm so loyal that even when I went to the Nighthawks' team, I had no intention of betraying the Lord in the slightest. How dare you insult me like this? Believe me, I'll kill you right now!"