“That Natalia girl needed money to buy a house! Damn!”
“I told you to stop lending money to kids······.”
“Oh! She seemed fine when I first saw her! She had the face of someone who would keep her promises!”
“What kind of face is that, Irina······.”
A situation arose.
An emergency was declared at Ryuba’s tavern.
It was said that a young girl had taken Irina’s money and ran.
Does she really lend money to anyone?
There’s no fool like this fool.
Lately, everything had been feeling too warm and comfortable, so it was a bit unsettling.
Yeah. This is how it should be.
In a place where working women gather, this kind of incident should occur as a matter of course.
In fact, it was strange that nothing had happened until now.
“When did she go out to her shop?”
“Two hours before closing.”
“Hah. Time’s passed quite a bit······.”
“Quickly, contact the guards. I’ll look for bounty hunters.”
Irina and the innkeeper seemed calm despite having lost money equal to the price of a house.
Only Sasha and I were anxious.
Tia was sitting on my lap, yawning······.
“A blonde woman in her twenties. Weighs about 50 kilograms and stands just under 160 centimeters. Yes, yes. Also······.”
Irina immediately grabbed the receiver and began to describe the appearance of the woman named Natalia in detail.
The innkeeper seemed to be contacting someone else nearby as well.
At this point, it had become an affair that didn’t really concern me, but since it wasn’t too late yet, I decided to stick around and watch.
I was curious about how this would be resolved.
“Oh! Apparently, she already passed through the south gate? To the north gate.”
“Damn. That’s quick. This means we’ll have to hire someone.”
“Get the cheapest one you can find.”
“Here’s the thing. Everyone’s off work now, and there’s only one person waiting.”
“What’s the problem? Hurry and get that person to chase after Natalia.”
“That person happens to be a sailor, though?”
“Ugh.”
Irina’s expression crumpled.
What’s wrong with a sailor?
“Sailor? What’s that?”
“They have mercenaries on standby here. They’re like contractors who will do anything if you pay them. But among them, the one who is notoriously expensive is the one called Sailor.”
“How much did they quote for the bounty?”
“Ten million.”
“Ugh······.”
“It’s not like we’re asking them to find a girl we don’t even know; we’ve given them her location and direction, and it’s still ten million! Hah!”
So this Sailor is the highest-priced errand boy in the information brokerage.
Right now, it seems he’s the only one available.
From Irina’s perspective, it must have been driving her crazy.
She looked angrier than when she first heard the news of the theft.
“Damn. This is getting more expensive than the fee.”
“What will you do? Let her go?”
“No. We’ll hire her. I need to show that I can catch the girl who took my money no matter what.”
What a strong-willed girl.
I thought she was just a pushover, but it turns out that’s not the case.
I quietly accepted a popcorn bucket that Sasha had popped and kept watching with Tia.
“Yes. Yes. Ten million. I’ll deposit it right away. Is that enough? Yes!”
“Is it done?”
“Yes. She’s on her way and will deliver right here.”
“Of course. It’s a ten million service. If I had to go find her myself, I would’ve bombed their rating.”
“Now that we’ve done all we can, let’s just wait.”
Now, all we had to do was wait.
Perhaps because we had just burned through ten million in an instant, Irina’s face had grown quite grim.
Even when Tia playfully poked her side, her expression wouldn’t lighten, showing she was genuinely upset.
“Auntie. Auntieee.”
“······.”
“Is it Irina unni?”
“Oh dear, did you call for me, Tia? Sorry, I didn’t hear.”
“That’s a lie.”
“I’m telling the truth. I usually don’t hear when someone calls me auntie.”
Seeing how she melted at being called “sister,” it seemed that wasn’t true.
Anyway, we waited for about ten minutes.
Suddenly, the telephone rang with a clatter.
The innkeeper quickly snatched up the receiver.
“What did they say?”
“They said they successfully captured her and are in the process of delivering her.”
“Really? Already? Wasn’t that guy just sitting next to Natalia, chatting?”
“If it’s this quick, it’s no wonder they charge so much. Ten million might be worth it after all.”
“Who’s calculating their worth? Is it reasonable to pay ten million just to grab one unarmed woman by the hair······.”
It seemed like the situation was wrapping up nicely.
As long as that guy named Sailor didn’t bring back the wrong girl, it would be perfect.
Irina was still grumbling about it when the call came in, less than five minutes after she had hung up.
The door swung open roughly, and a man walked in, carrying a large sack.
“Is this the order for service? The order name is, let me see… Pretty Magical Girl Iriri?”
“That’s not us-”
“It’s me······.”
The innkeeper turned red and raised his hand.
Good heavens.
Why on earth would someone have such a nickname······.
I was so stunned that I couldn’t say anything.
“Please check. I didn’t inflict any injuries, just put her out cold.”
“Ah. Right. Natalia.”
Irina clapped her hands after peering into the sack.
They handled the request and completed the delivery in just fifteen minutes.
It was almost like a flash.
Is this the might of the number one errand boy in the business?
‘I thought he’d be burly. Guess not.’
I had expected a bulky man since he was a mercenary, but he was pretty short and looked delicate enough that you could believe he was a woman.
I had never seen a man smaller than that damn Leopard.
Actually, maybe he really is a woman.
But Tia’s demeanor was strange.
She kept staring intently at the sailor’s face, which was obscured except for his eyes due to the mask.
“What’s up, Tia?”
“Someone I’ve seen before.”
“······?”
Hearing Tia’s words, I took another careful look.
If Tia recognized him, there was no way I wouldn’t know.
But no matter how I thought about it, I didn’t recall any pervert wrapped head to toe in black clothing.
“Are you sure?”
“Umm······?”
Tia tilted her head.
It seemed she wasn’t entirely sure.
That makes sense.
I only know of one person who looked that ominous—either the priest named Alex or Alexander.
“I’ll deposit the money first thing tomorrow morning when the bank opens.”
“Confirmed, Lady. Thank you for using our service, and please come again.”
“Hahaha. Of course.”
Irina flashed a bright smile.
In translation, it’s equivalent to saying that I won’t be coming back again.
Just as the sailor was about to leave the tavern, his gaze fell on Tia and lingered for a moment.
That gaze gradually rose and met mine.
For just a moment, I caught a slight flicker in his stare.
“Excuse me.”
“I’ll take my leave now.”
Ignoring my voice, Sailor vanished in an instant.
I hurriedly followed out, just in case, but he had already disappeared without a trace.
I thought that perhaps he might know about me······.
“What’s wrong? Do you know him?”
“No. He’s someone I might not know.”
“Oh. Sounds romantic! Are you smitten?”
“What are you talking about······.”
Ugh.
Nausea washed over me.
There’s no way I would like a man.
“Well, since we burned through ten million catching this cutie, what do we do now?”
Irina opened the sack with a flourish, and a blissfully sleeping blonde girl tumbled out.
Ah. I remember her.
She was the one who pushed Tia over for no reason.
When Sasha was frantically asking to borrow some sanitary pads, I remembered she ignored her even though she had pads in her bag.
Seeing her now, she seemed like someone who deserved it.
“What would be the best way to create a scandal about this······.”
“Just kill her. Cut off her head and hang it in front of the shop. That would make for a good example.”
“······.”
I had said that jokingly.
I could feel the gazes of everyone prickling against me.
Even Tia was looking up at me blankly.
After a moment of looking at me with disbelief, Irina opened her mouth.
“You idiot. We wouldn’t be able to recover the money if we do that. We can’t kill her.”
“······.”
She’s being really serious right now.
I had been wrong to make a joke in this situation.
I decided to step back and let the two handle it themselves.
“Should we sell her into slavery for sure?”
“Are you confident you can get more than ten million? I don’t think anyone would pay that much for a girl like her.”
“Then should we make her work without a salary for a while? I’ll collect her salary instead.”
“No. I refuse. I don’t want an employee like this.”
“Then maybe killing her is not a bad idea, as Yulia suggested. We could dismember her and sell the parts to hospitals for a good chunk of change.”
“Oh······.”
“Tia, should we go somewhere else for a bit?”
The conversation became too grim.
Feeling scared, I hurriedly took Tia outside.
My joke seemed to be on the verge of becoming a reality.
Looking back, Sasha had also run out, covering her ears with both hands.
As I looked at Sasha for a moment, my mood darkened.
If I ended up working as a servant, I would likely have a hard time enjoying my freedom, making it harder for me to meet Sasha or Irina often.
I wanted to create more memories.
“Let’s leave the cleanup to the two of them and head home.”
“Y-Yeah······.”
“Sasha. Do you like curry?”
“Yes? Curry?”
“I made too much. If you want some, feel free to stop by my place and have some. Or you can take some with you.”
“Sasha! Mom’s curry is delicious!”
“Then let’s not be rude and try it out.”
“Muheh. Holding mom’s hand. Holding Sasha’s hand······.”
It would be the first time I had guests over at home.
Strangely enough, it felt as comfortable as welcoming family rather than inviting guests.
Sasha and I each held onto one of Tia’s arms and walked side by side.
