Now that I knew what the novel was about, it was a matter of giving Aria a good life. Even if she rode the original route, she would achieve happiness.
But until then, you have to keep your daily routine.
Aria had to keep this routine until she would be adopted by the Count’s couple. Standing by her side, I would defend her as her sword.
My legs, heavy as cotton soaked in water, moved slowly. It was with great difficulty that I could go out on my way, ignoring Aria who is nagging me to rest.
I have to hurry.
I checked the time and clicked my tongue. There were about 10 minutes left until the appointment time, which was always fixed at 6 p.m.
The mana circuit, which was suppressed for several days, was forced to operate. As soon as the energy flew inside of me, mana wrapped around my feet.
I jumped lightly into the air. I had to meet a client who I had been working with for two years. I would always meet the client in the area around the most spectacular and crowded Solar Temple of the capital.
“This client is very strange.”
I sighed, recalling a familiar but still, strange client. This client’s behavior always gave me a headache, whenever I met the client, he then went on a trip, causing trouble.
When I entered a dark alley, a neat and luxurious restaurant stood at the end of the street.
Helene.
It was only on a reservation basis, and so remote that most people didn’t even know it existed. It was a perfect place for high-ranking people to have a secret meeting, because it was possible only to enter with a mask on. Even the price is extravagant.
Until recently, I didn’t know how expensive it was because my client had always paid for my meals.
“Is this real gold?”
“It’s food gold, so don’t worry. If you don’t like it, throw it away.”
“I’m not crazy! Why would I throw this away?”
Then one day, I was treated with grilled roasted mushrooms sprinkled with edible gold powder. After checking the menu with the price written on it, I felt like I was grinding diamonds with every meal.
I put on a black mask that would only reveal the eyes and the lower part of my face, and even used a magic artifact that modulated my voice.
“Ah.”
It was a voice that was so altered that it was hard to even guess the gender.
It was time to work as ‘Mir’ the mercenary.
* * *
The restaurant came into view showing its lavish exteriors, while the interior was full of nobles wearing fancy masks.
Surprised eyes followed my movements. Wearing a black cloak among these fancy costumes, I felt like a crow in a pack of peacocks.
“Mir, The Black Disaster?”
“No way. Why is he in such a place…”
“But I’ve heard rumors that he hangs around this place a lot.”
“There are so many people who copy Mir. The mercenaries are all dressed like that these days.”
“That’s true.”
For a moment, there was a fuss in the restaurant area, and I could hear their whispers, but soon the gazes turned around.
As the mercenary “Mir” made his name, the number of mercenaries who began to imitate Mir’s unusual appearance increased exponentially. Two out of ten mercenaries wore this outfit, so people would have misunderstood me even if I walked around without a disguise.
“It’s an honor to have you here. Do you have a reservation?”
The waiter bowed politely. I nodded lightly.
“I have an appointment with ‘Heaven’ at noon.”
The waiter’s eyes suddenly changed. It was out of the blue, but it was a code that he would understand.
“…. I see. What would you like to eat?”
“On a sunny day like today, I think a steak with red champagne and sunny side up is the best.”
Today was a cloudy day, and there was no such thing as red champagne, so it was clear that it was nonsense, but with a short nod the waiter pointed to the inner VIP room.
“I’ll show you to ‘Heaven’.”
Leading the way, he moved to a familiar area.
The meetings with ‘Heaven’, my client, always took place in Helene’s VIP room.
“Have a good time.”
As usual, the waiter who led me in front of the room at the end of the hall, bowed down and went back.
Let’s do our best today as well.
Working as a mercenary, I met a lot of clients. I also faced extraordinary human beings. But even so, this client was uniquely odd.
This time I made up my mind to not be anymore involved with him.
I turned the round handle and opened the door.
The room was dazzling enough to believe that it was a parlor of the Imperial Palace. Compared to that, I was like a dirty stain in this sparkling space.
There were a total of four attendants in the room, all dressed up with the uniforms of the Holy Knights.
I walked to the client, passing the familiar faces.
A body covered with a white cape. A white mask, similar to mine, with visible sparkling silver eyes.
His bright, clear eyes were as gentle as a child who had just seen the world. I didn’t think I could lie in front of him.
A subtle scent of lilies crossed the tip of my nose.
“How have you been, Inspector?”
I uttered a formal greeting with a short nod. After staring over the window, he turned to me.
“There’s a name I asked you to call me instead of that.”
His red lips were curved beautifully. It was embarrassing to face a smile as beautiful as a drop of lilies.
“……how have you been, L?”
After hesitating, I awkwardly used the name that he had been constantly requesting. L smiled softly.
I intentionally tried to distance myself from my clients, but the problem was that I was nervous when I was with L.
“Sit comfortably.”
I sat across from L. When he made a sign with his hand, the attendants went out.
Are you not afraid to face a Swordmaster alone, or do you believe I won’t hurt you?
I clicked my tongue.
If a powerless man stood still in front of a Swordmaster, he had given up on his life.
L was excessively keen for danger.
“Have you been well?”
I put aside the formal greeting. L rolled his eyes slowly.
“Life in the temple is always the same. It’s boring, it’s cliche.”
He brought the flower inside the vase near his chin. His languid gaze turned to me.
“I’ve been looking forward to meeting you. You always made me happy.”
L’s eyes towards me always glistened as if he was deeply in love.
These are words that I couldn’t understand.
The handsome client, even covering his face, never expressed his thoughts honestly and always said things that people would misunderstand.
“…..Clarky’s leather and Madorus’ blood..”
Dodging L’s heavy gaze, I pulled out a small bag. The bag was connected to a huge subspace filled with the parts of the beasts that I had killed.
“You always work hard. Here, it’s your remuneration.”
L handed over a white paper bag without checking the inside. Maybe it was a mistake, but his fingertips slowly swept the back of my hand while he handed the sack.
Remuneration…
I looked down at the envelope for a long time.
My bloody efforts were the price of it. I was going to buy Aria’s medicine with this.
But I couldn’t just be happy with this money.
It’s not the first time L has been on a trip.
Four times a month, I sold useful monster by-products to him, and he paid me. So far, it was our deal.
The odd thing was that the amount he handed me was always set at a thousand gold.
A gold coin was close to the monthly cost of living for the common people. A thousand gold was enough to buy a bottle of fairy forest mineral water.
There are different monsters appearing depending on the region and season. As a result, the value of the by-products obtained is not consistent.
The value of the by-products I brought fluctuated according to the time and place. So I had repeatedly explained that it was his loss to pay a thousand gold as regular payment, but L, who always gave me this large sum of money, was a mystery to me.
And he’s always playing pranks on top of that.
There were days when I was surprised and freaked out by his pranks.
At L’s urging to open the sack quickly, I opened it and pulled out a check. And I sighed deeply.
“……Sir.”
“L.”
“……L.”
“That’s right.”
The rising corners of his mouth couldn’t be more annoying.
I sighed again.
“There is an extra zero in the agreed remuneration.”
10,000 gold.
My client was quite the crazy person.
“I see.”
L, who shrugged his shoulders, picked up a teacup. I was going crazy.
“I see”, that’s it?
Ten thousand gold wasn’t the sum to be given even as a joke. It was the sum of money I could barely earn for half a year of work.
No matter how much I think he is acting in the name of an important figure.
I squeezed the check in my hand.
L didn’t say who he was, but he didn’t try to hide it either. I had roughly predicted his identity as a substitute. L didn’t deny it when I called him “His Highness”, so I was almost sure that he was an Inspector.
Instead, he is a man I can’t even look up to.
In the Solatine Empire, where the temple and the imperial family reigned together, the temple had great power.
Politics consisted of the Emperor, Aristocrats, and of the temple in which the Pope was equivalent to the Emperor, and the Inspector was equivalent to a Marquis.
Why does the Inspector keep meeting me and act like he’s fretting because he can’t give me anything?
I couldn’t understand L.
“It’s my mistake, so Mir should just take it.”
L shrugged his shoulders. Even the elegant tilting of the teacup looked like a piece of sculpture.
I sighed and returned the check to him.
“I can’t accept this kind of money. It’s too much.”
“Nothing goes too far. It’s the price of Mir’s blood.”
Somehow saddened by L’s placid gaze and low voice, I was at a loss for words for a moment.
“What do you know…”
I squeezed my hand on my thigh.
I had never regretted my bloody life as a mercenary.
It was my choice.
Although I suffered losses and had to face a crisis every day, I was never ashamed of my path.
But you don’t know anything.
How dare you talk about the price of my blood.
My hands trembled.
There was no way that a condescending officer understood the life of a mercenary who lived off the price of blood. I felt like I was being deceived.
“Instead, don’t trick me anymore.”
I gritted my teeth and threw the check at him. I didn’t want to be his entertainment.
“…Can’t you just take it?”
“Inspector!”
“I really don’t mean anything. It’s just a favor! Why can’t you accept my kindness? Why won’t you let me return your favor? You did the same thing! For no reason whatsoever, I…!”
At one point, he closed his mouth while talking with a teary face.
…you what?
I narrowed my eyes. L, who bit his lips embarrassed, avoided my gaze.
“Nothing, nothing.”
That’s suspicious.
He sighed as he narrowed his eyes.
“That’s enough of a joke. It’s too much.”
A thousand gold was already too much.
I wasn’t a person who could happily receive a suspicious favour.
“……I’m sorry if I have offended you. But I’m not trying to mock Mir.”
L stared at me with sad eyes. Somehow, I felt guilty about his expression.
In fact, I knew L wasn’t doing this to deceive me. Because I was sensitive to lies and hostility. A man who wanted to make a joke of me couldn’t have looked at me like that.
If it was a matter of pride, I would have just taken it casually.
I sighed as I looked around the room. I once even crawled like a dog in front of the nobles to earn money. My pride wasn’t the problem.
Still, I won’t accept any unfair money.
Nevertheless, in the past I had put my pride aside and my self-esteem hit the ground, but I had never received unjustified money.
“You have to have faith, not pride. It’s a belief that will not waver in front of time and circumstances”
The lesson that my teacher once gave me. I have abandoned my pride, but I had my own beliefs. And it was in my belief to refuse L’s payment.
A poor mercenary who lived for money would laugh at this, but it was a value that I wanted to keep.
I won’t receive unreasonable remuneration.
I didn’t do anything illegal to get paid for what I had worked for. The maximum I could accept was a thousand gold. To receive more than that was against my beliefs.
“I hope you won’t do this next time. But my reaction was also too much. It’s nothing for you to be sorry about. I’d rather, you forgive my rudeness.”
I admitted that my reaction was severe this time. It wasn’t a behaviour to show in front of L, who was an Inspector, and even more, it wasn’t something to say to anyone who showed favor to me.
Looking straight at him and apologizing politely, L slowly opened his mouth.
“Mir.”
“What?”
“I don’t want much from you. However, I thought you and I were good friends…”
Under the slow-blinking eyelids, the silver eyes glistened with clear drops of water.
“I’m sorry, and it’s fine. Still, can you call me L? If you call me “Inspector” I would think Mir and I have anything to do with each other.”
Tears seemed to fall at any moment at the end of his drooping eyes.