Chapter 6
I stared at Rashak, frozen in place.
If I were the female protagonist, I might have thought even that expression of his was handsome… But I was different. He just gave me the chills!
“You didn’t answer me yesterday. If you don’t want the job, what’s the reason?”
“I just… I feel like your world isn’t one I dare to step into…”
“My world?”
“You tortured that… assassin right in front of me the other day.”
Once the words left my mouth, I wondered whether I had sounded far too insolent.
But the golden eyes gazing back at me were… surprisingly gentle.
So gentle that I almost wondered whether Rashak was even capable of making such an expression.
If he said, with that look on his face, ‘I won’t make you do that sort of thing,’ I felt like I might actually believe him…
“But what if I paid you a lot of money?”
“So you really were going to make me do it…!”
“It’s fine. You’ll get used to it once you’ve done it a few times.”
“Getting used to it is a problem in itself…!”
“You have people you hate enough to want to kill, too. Like that boss who sexually harassed you, for example.”
“That’s true, but…”
“He was just another bastard like that to me. If someone tries to take what belongs to me, they need to be punished. Don’t you agree?”
“I can’t say I don’t understand how you feel, but…”
“Exactly, right?”
What was I supposed to do?
I was gradually getting talked around by Rashak.
“The annual salary is one hundred million. I can’t guarantee that you’ll always leave work on time, but I promise you’ll receive compensatory leave for any overtime. There will also be additional rewards based on your performance.”
The terms were excellent, too.
Where else could I possibly earn an annual salary of one hundred million?
I was already struggling to imagine how I would find a job at all.
“Fine. If you’re really that afraid, how about a probationary period?”
“…Probationary period?”
“You work for a month, and if things go well, we sign a formal contract.”
“A-A month later… what if you decide I’m not suitable for the job?”
“Then we go our separate ways.”
“……”
“What? Do you think I won’t let you go?”
Yes.
You certainly look like that kind of person.
“Don’t worry. I have no intention of forcibly holding on to someone who doesn’t want to work for me. If you’re not the kind of talent I’m looking for, I have no reason to keep you, either.”
“……”
“Of course, things would be different if you secretly stole or tried to uncover information other than what I gave you during that month.”
“I-I wouldn’t have the guts to do something like that…”
“That’s another thing I like about you.”
His smile grew even wider.
“I’ll send Fidel to your house tomorrow. Think it over carefully tonight and give me your answer. Whether it’s a probationary position, a permanent job… or an outright refusal.”
But everything I’ve said so far has been an outright refusal.
…That was what I wanted to say, but Rashak’s gaze was far too frightening.
In the end, I slowly nodded, and the corners of his mouth lifted in satisfaction.
“Then I’ll look forward to your answer tomorrow.”
With that, Rashak turned and walked away.
For some reason, even his footsteps seemed unusually light.
I hurried away, too.
I was afraid he might chase after me, saying, ‘No, I’ve changed my mind. Make your decision right now.’
Yet even after I returned to the familiar streets of my own neighborhood, that strange feeling of pressure refused to disappear.
The underworld, steeped in torture and violence, was frightening.
But even more frightening was the thought of stepping into an unfamiliar world in the first place.
Starting something new. Meeting new people…
“Haah… I feel like I’m becoming more and more of a coward…”
I rubbed my face, frustrated with myself, when—
“Hey! Watch out!”
At the sudden shout, I jumped in surprise and stopped in my tracks.
The next moment, something lightly struck my shoulder.
And then—
CRASH!
The sound from behind me made me freeze.
When I cautiously turned my head, I saw shattered pieces of glass scattered across the ground.
And the moment the woman standing there met my eyes, she suddenly flew into a rage.
“I told you to move! How are you going to take responsibility for this?!”
“E-Excuse me…?”
“Do you have any idea how much this vase cost?!”
The woman stamped her feet as she stared at the glass fragments, which were so thoroughly shattered that I could barely tell they had once been a vase.
Then she turned a cold gaze on me.
“You’re obviously going to compensate me for it, right?”
The woman immediately grabbed me, still dazed, and dragged me toward the local guard station.
Where do you think you’re going?! Pay me back right now!
I had been so shocked that running away hadn’t even crossed my mind.
She then spoke to the knights, who forcibly made me sit in what looked like an interrogation room.
Do you know how much that vase was worth? One hundred million rupen! One hundred million!
I thought she was insane.
Who carried a vase worth one hundred million rupen around a crowded marketplace in a wooden crate?
I’m going to get every single rupen of that one hundred million back. Right now.
Her aggression was so overwhelming that I couldn’t even open my mouth.
I wrote a statement as the knights instructed me, but I could barely remember what I had written.
And what happened next?
CLANG!
“Stay here. We’ll bring you breakfast tomorrow morning.”
Just like that, I found myself locked in a holding cell.
“B-But if you just let me go, I’ll find a way to get the money and come back!”
“Who would believe that? You’re just going to run away as soon as you get the chance.”
“This is driving me crazy! I’ve given you my identity, my address, everything! Why would I run away?! So what, I’m just supposed to stay here forever? You said I had to compensate her!”
“We said we’d let you contact your family, didn’t we? Your family can come and pay at least part of the compensation. Then you can leave. Wouldn’t that make things much easier for everyone?”
“……”
“You have family, don’t you?”
…Technically, yes.
The problem was that I hated them more than I hated strangers now.
“…I can’t contact my family.”
“Why not?”
At the knight’s puzzled expression, I gripped the bars tightly.
Because I could already imagine what they would say the moment I showed up.
What on earth have you been doing to get yourself into this kind of mess?
You left home, and this is the best you could manage?
I knew something was wrong when you told us you’d ruined your shop.
Have you ever seen Lenoa getting herself into this kind of trouble?
They would belittle me and hurl hurtful words at me until they eventually dragged me back home by force.
Back to that house… where my younger sister, who was carrying my ex-boyfriend’s child, lived.
“I absolutely can’t. No—I won’t.”
“…Well, then, there’s nothing we can do.”
At the knight’s words, I bit down hard on my lower lip.
I felt as though I were trapped in a horrible nightmare.
I’d barely finished dealing with a debt of one hundred million rupen, only to find myself owing another one hundred million.
And it had happened so quickly, in the most absurd way imaginable.
Think… Think, Hiel. What can you do to get out of this situation…?
At that moment, one person came to mind.
Just one.
I really, really didn’t want to do this, but…
“I don’t know about family, but I do have a boss.”
“A boss?”
“Please contact Lumiere Dessert & Tea Salon for me.”
An hour later.
A man as broad as a door entered the narrow corridor in front of the holding cells.
Looking down at me through the bars, Rashak spoke.
“I said I’d hear your answer tomorrow.”
“F-The sooner, the better, isn’t it?”
“Well, I suppose that’s true.”
He dragged a small chair from the corner and sat down in front of me.
“So, what’s going on?”
I calmly explained everything that had happened to me that day.
Rashak stroked his chin and said,
“Hmm… I see.”
“So, um… I was wondering… About the annual salary. Would it be possible to get an advance?”
“There’s no reason I couldn’t arrange that. Your meals are provided separately, too, so even if you use your entire salary to pay the compensation, you should still have enough to live on.”
His words instantly released the tension that had been building inside me ever since I entered the holding cell.
Wait, the annual salary doesn’t even include meal expenses? Amazing! These terms are even better than I’d imagined…
“However, I’m not entirely convinced.”
“…Pardon?”
“I intended to hire Miss Kevernon as my secretary because I believed you were an exceptional talent. But seeing you sitting in a cell like this…”
“……”
“I’m starting to wonder whether my judgment was mistaken.”
If there had been a mirror in front of me, I would have seen my eyes shaking in panic.
“W-What if I promise to serve you with all my heart and do my very best?”
“In this line of work, there’s nothing more foolish than trusting a verbal promise.”
“T-Then what am I supposed to do?”
“I’m the boss of an organization, not a teacher.”
My heart began racing with a surge of betrayal.
He was changing his tune completely, less than twelve hours after we’d spoken!
“Then I’ll be leaving now.”
My mind began racing.
I couldn’t let him leave like this.
I had to find some way to keep him here!
“It’s not my fault!”
I gripped the bars even more tightly.
“This incident wasn’t my fault! I was just walking down the street when that woman came along and smashed her vase into me.”
“……”
“Doesn’t the whole thing seem suspicious from the start? Who carries a vase worth one hundred million rupen through a crowded marketplace? Unless it was packed securely with plenty of protective cushioning, of course.”
“……”
“It’s also strange that there was only one person carrying it. When an item is that expensive, you’d normally worry about it getting lost or stolen. But there was only one woman guarding the thing.”
“……”
“Based on my experience working at a merchant guild… an item of that value should have at least five people protecting it…”
“……”
“I might be overthinking things, though…”
Even after talking so much, I grew frightened and let my voice trail off.
But I wasn’t uncertain about my reasoning.
I looked at him with a firm gaze.
“That doesn’t sound like overthinking to me.”
Rashak sat back down in the chair.
“That’s a reasonable deduction. Have you had experiences like this before?”
“If I had, I’d be getting thrown into jail all the time, wouldn’t I? I just… thought it through based on what I’d learned as a child. I used to be a knight trainee…”
In this world, knights also performed duties similar to those of detectives in my previous life, including catching criminals.
“Fine. Let’s assume you’re right, Miss Kevernon. Then who was responsible? Who arranged this?”
“I don’t know… There are so many people who hate me.”
“Then we can narrow it down to the people who hate you. Someone who wants you to end up in debt.”
“……”
“And who would stand to benefit from that?”
He added lazily,
“It doesn’t necessarily have to be financial.”
At those words, I finally understood.
“…Lenoa Kevernon.”
Rashak smiled.
It was the very same expression I’d seen that morning—the look of a man who wanted something so badly that he could hardly stand it.
