If You're Going to Sell Yourself, Sell It to Me - Chapter 70

“I think this is the place.”

Henry pulled the carriage to a stop in front of a two-story house with a large oak tree and double-checked the numbers painted on the wall and a note he held.

“He probably won’t be here, but still… huh?”

Henry turned around to find the seat Locke had occupied was empty. It seemed Locke had jumped out the moment the carriage had stopped.

Under normal circumstances, Henry would have been glad to see the always rational and composed Locke showing emotion, but given the situation, he hesitated, scratching his head as he wondered whether he should try to restrain his superior.

Locke, now standing at the door, peeked inside through a window next to the front door before knocking. The modest interior was adorned with decorations, as one might expect in a home where a baby had just been born.

The sound of a baby’s cries and an elderly woman’s soothing voice drifted out through the open window.

Pressing his ear against the window, Locke strained to listen, but he couldn’t hear Georgiana’s voice.

Nevertheless, he adjusted his appearance in the window’s reflection, hoping for even the slightest possibility, and then knocked on the door.

“Who is it?”

The door opened, and a young woman, around Georgiana’s age, appeared. Her brown eyes were filled with suspicion as she eyed him warily.

Locke put on the brightest smile he could manage and greeted her. “I’m here to see Mr. Jerry Hanson. The people in the village directed me here after I went to repay his kindness from earlier.”

“My father?”

The woman seemed to let her guard down slightly as she took in his polite attire, though she still eyed him with suspicion.

“Yes. Some time ago, I was in a dire situation after losing my money to a robber and collapsing on the road, but Mr. Hanson happened to pass by and helped me, taking me home. I wanted to repay the favor, but circumstances prevented me from coming sooner.”

The woman’s tense expression softened, and she shook her head with a smile. “Well, that sounds like my father. He loves helping others, even now.”

Locke’s heart raced at her words. He felt a strong intuition that he would find a clue about Georgiana here.

“Is Mr. Hanson home now?”

Locke’s face lit up even more, but the woman seemed troubled.

“Oh dear, actually, he’s not here right now because of that very reason. I kept telling him to stay to meet his grandchild, but he had to leave in a hurry for some reason. I think he’s gone to help someone else again.”

“Do you know where he went?”

“I’m not sure. He left in such a rush and didn’t tell us exactly where he was going.”

The woman’s words sounded sincere, and Locke sighed. If even Mr. Hanson’s family didn’t know his whereabouts, finding him in such a vast land seemed unlikely. Georgiana wasn’t here, and it appeared she hadn’t even visited.

If she had, the woman wouldn’t have spoken as though she knew nothing.

Locke rubbed his face with a rough palm.

He hadn’t come here expecting to find her right away. He had tried to temper his expectations, but the moment he arrived, hope had blossomed without him realizing it.

The pain that he had managed to forget for a brief while now stabbed at his heart again.

At least, it was a relief that when Mr. Hanson returned, Locke could ask for information about Georgiana. Perhaps it would be best to wait here instead of wandering aimlessly.

Though he wasn’t sure if he had the patience to wait.

Deciding to take shelter at a nearby independence base and wait for Jerry to return, Locke offered the money he had prepared as a token of gratitude.

“I’ll be back. Please accept this small token. When I see Mr. Hanson, I will reward him more generously.”

“Oh, no! Please, just give it to him when you see him. He won’t accept it, I’m sure, but still.”

It was clear that the family shared Jerry’s good nature, and the daughter rejected the money, insisting on waiting for her father to accept it. Locke felt a sense of relief knowing Georgiana had been with such a kind-hearted family.

“W-wait a moment!”

As the woman refused again, he tossed a pouch of money at her and turned to leave, only to have his coat caught once more.

Though she grabbed him in haste, her expression was uncertain as she began to speak.

“I can’t say for sure, but my father mentioned he was planning to visit his brother in Norfolk. He said he would go while my mother took care of me and the baby.”

“Norfolk?”

At the mention of Norfolk, a shiver ran down Locke’s spine.

Norfolk was the place he had initially planned to send Henry and Georgiana for their safety, in case anything went wrong.

Could fate have led her there?

The hope that had dwindled now reignited.

“Plans may have changed, but before coming here, he was supposed to stop in Norfolk.”

“Thank you.”

“Oh, you’re welcome. But… my uncle moves around a lot, so it might be difficult to find him. I can’t guarantee the address is still accurate, and my father would be the one to know for sure. If you really want to meet my father, you’d be better off waiting here. It could take at least a week to go there.”

Though she offered to give him the information, she seemed unsure if it was worth the trouble. Locke insisted that he had other business in Norfolk and obtained the address.

Locke expressed his deep gratitude and turned to leave.

“Did you find anything?”

Having hidden behind a wall, unsure when to step out, Henry approached as soon as the front door closed.

“We need to head to Norfolk right away.”

“Norfolk? Is the lady there?”

“I’m not sure, but it seems likely.”

“It’s easier to move around there than here. It’s hard to get through with all these checkpoints, but leave it to me. Oh, before that, we need to stop by headquarters. There was an order to bring the captain in once his injuries healed.”

“Alright, let’s go there first. I’ll explain the situation and have us removed from the next operation.”

Finding Georgiana was his top priority now. If he explained that he needed to help a civilian who had gotten caught up in the conflict, headquarters likely wouldn’t object.

“That’s good to hear. I’ll take you right away.”

Henry drove the carriage like an eager soldier ready for discharge.

When they arrived at headquarters, Locke bounded up the stairs despite his injury. A few soldiers descending the stairs widened their eyes in shock, having never seen Locke, known as the “mad dog,” running before.

Locke had been away on missions as far as the Empire for several months, so it felt awkward to immediately request to be removed from the operation. However, his injuries were still fresh, and he believed explaining the situation would suffice.

As he walked down the second-floor hallway, Locke spotted a familiar head of brown hair approaching from the opposite side.

Without giving Henry a chance to stop him, Locke rushed forward and punched Kyle in the face, interrupting his conversation with a fellow soldier.

Smack.

Kyle’s head snapped to the side.

Before Kyle could react, Locke’s foot struck him again, pummeling him mercilessly.

Standing over Kyle’s crumpled form, Locke pressed his boot against his chest and leaned in with force.

“Ugh!”

“You must have known what to expect when you lied to me.”

Locke had recently learned from Henry that the operation that day had been unnecessary. The higher-ups had decided it was safer to track Edmund as he boarded and disembarked from the ship rather than taking needless risks.

They had mentioned that, if an opportunity arose, dealing with him directly wouldn’t be a bad idea. However, Kyle had omitted the first part and only passed along the command to “deal with him directly.”

The fact that Georgiana had suffered the most from Kyle’s scheme was unbearable. It had even led to their separation. And now, with Henry and everyone else branded as wanted criminals, even killing Kyle on the spot didn’t feel like it would be enough to satisfy his anger.

“I-I’m sorry. I misunderstood the orders,” stammered Kyle, bowing his head repeatedly in fear of Locke’s piercing gaze. His reputation for climbing the ranks through cunning wasn’t unwarranted.

But Locke wasn’t about to let it slide.

“No, you understood perfectly well. You just sacrificed your comrades to secure yourself a higher position, didn’t you?”

“Do you have proof? There’s no evidence that I said anything like that!”

“Proof? I’m alive, and that’s proof enough. What more do you need?”

Locke pressed his foot harder into Kyle’s chest.

“I-It’s a misunderstanding! I swear I’ll never make such a mistake again. I-I promise!”

“There won’t be a next time. I’m ending you right here.”

To Locke, sending comrades to their deaths with false information was a crime that deserved the harshest punishment. It was the only way to prevent a second or third betrayal like this.

Deciding to punish Kyle just short of killing him, Locke grabbed him to haul him to his feet. But before he could act, someone caught hold of his arm.

“That’s enough.”