I kept wanting to blurt out harsh words, but I held them back.
If he had come incognito as usual, I might have pretended not to know and hurled some insults at him.
Unlike usual, he came openly without hiding his identity, and knights stood around him as his guards.
If I let my temper get the better of me and spoke harshly, I might be harmed by those loyal knights.
“Ha, ha….. How did you come to find this humble place, Your Majesty.”
Conscious of the knights behind him, I greeted him with the most gentle smile I could muster.
I’m not sure how he interpreted my smile, but his eye smile deepened.
“I heard that Miss Jella has started a new business.”
“New business? If you need a hangover cure…”
I tried to offload the remaining hangover cure stock and send him away, but it wasn’t that simple.
“I heard you recently changed your business to personal protection services?”
“That’s not true. Who said that?”
As I tried to play dumb, a voice came from behind.
“I told him, Sister!”
Felitz, who had followed me in, was looking at me with a proud expression.
I shot a fierce glare at that bright-eyed face that seemed to be seeking praise, and Felitz immediately became dejected.
However, even seeing his crestfallen appearance didn’t make me feel sorry.
Of course, I wasn’t unaware of why Felitz was so excited and happy about this.
A request directly from the Emperor – if successfully completed, it would surely be a great opportunity for the newly started underworld business.
Moreover, hadn’t my ambitious hangover cure business recently failed spectacularly because of Yupheon, who collapsed spewing blood in the middle of the street?
Sadly, that incident had left us with a pile of unsellable stock, so the Emperor’s request was an unparalleled opportunity. However…
‘I can’t get any more entangled with Niel Alpenhayer.’
My head was already aching from the appearance of the slightly unhinged Yupheon and Cail, along with matters concerning the strange religious group and Yuria, and now Niel too.
The more I get involved with the original story’s protagonists, the further I get from the modest pharmacist life I dream of.
“It’s true that we changed our business, but we’re still in the early stages, so we won’t be of much help. Besides, there’s the Imperial Knights.”
I tried to explain calmly in an attempt to salvage the situation.
Niel then sighed deeply and spoke in a worried voice.
“As you may have heard, Miss Jella, there’s a dangerous villain roaming the capital these days, harming heroes.”
Gulp.
I was inwardly startled by those words when.
“Eek…!”
Turning towards the choked sound, I saw Felitz pale-faced and trembling, his eyes wide. On top of that, he kept glancing at me and making eye signals.
‘That useless fellow…!’
Isn’t he practically shouting ‘This person is the culprit!’?
Ignoring Felitz, who was blatantly acting like a thief caught red-handed, I laughed awkwardly.
“Oh my, such a vicious villain is roaming around? This is the first I’ve heard of it.”
Niel then looked into my awkwardly curved eyes and smiled gently.
“My, you didn’t know?”
He explained in a kind voice.
“Yupheon Arne was poisoned and vomited blood in the street, and Cail Aleret was rushed in after being ambushed by an assailant.”
“…”
“These so-called heroes of the continent are quite weak and causing trouble, aren’t they?”
“…”
I felt wronged but couldn’t make any retort.
“The capital is in turmoil because of this villain assassinating heroes, and coincidentally, there’s a widespread rumor that the three heroes will gather in one place at tomorrow’s event. That’s why I came to find you, Miss Jella. I’m not at ease with just the Imperial Knights’ protection.”
“W-well, if it’s about that, I don’t think you need to worry too much.”
I timidly argued back, rolling my eyes around.
“It’s truly unfortunate that such unlucky incidents happened to the heroes, but they’ll probably be more careful because of it… And to begin with, the rumor about a villain trying to harm such great people might be nothing more than an unfounded, ridiculous rumor…”
Niel then let out a pleasant laugh.
“Of course, I’m not worried about them. In fact, even if they die at the hands of the villain, it’s none of my concern. It might even be better.”
“Pardon?”
I blinked my eyes, wondering if I had misheard him.
However, he continued in a smooth and eloquent voice.
“Miss Jella, you just need to guard me during tomorrow’s event.”
“I-I don’t know how to do bodyguard work! I’m just an ordinary pharmacist!”
To begin with, I’m the vicious villain people are talking about who only assassinates heroes!
Who! From whom! I am supposed to guard whom?!
“But Miss Jella’s subordinates have already accepted the request.”
Niel fluttered a piece of paper on the table.
The request contract had a seal stamped on it.
It was the seal of the underworld.
I had repeatedly told them to only accept righteous and legitimate requests…!
“I told you not to stamp the seal carelessly!”
I shouted at the organization members who were only glancing around nervously from the corner.
“B-but isn’t this a righteous and legitimate request?”
“Th-that’s right, Sister! It’s a request from His Majesty the Emperor, after all…”
“Besides, our financial situation isn’t good due to the unsold stock in the warehouse, so we’re not in a position to be picky…”
Ugh, these petty fellows. How dare they bring up my hangover cure.
“S-still, I know nothing about this! You who stamped the seal, you handle it!”
At my refusal, they began to cling to me with expressions as if the world was ending.
“H-how can we guard His Majesty the Emperor without you, Sister?”
“You said you wouldn’t abandon us!”
“Sisteeer…!”
My head started to throb because of these guys clinging and crying.
As they said, if they tried to guard Niel without me and something went wrong, it would be troublesome.
Above all, it was a matter of the underworld’s credibility.
“Sigh.”
As I sighed, Niel said with a bright smile.
“Then I’ll entrust this to you, Miss Jella.”
I glared at him.
“This time, you better pay the proper price for your life. Don’t try to settle with some strange necklace like last time.”
“Strange necklace? I’m hurt.”
“You gave me some useless junk that I couldn’t even sell.”
“It was an heirloom from my grandmother… I guess it wasn’t to your liking.”
Niel replied with a pretend hurt expression.
At this, his loyal knights glared at me with bulging eyes.
It was as if they were trying to kill me with their gazes.
‘With those guys alone, the guard should be sufficient, is his life that precious?’
They say the rich are even greedier.
Seeing Niel’s greedy side, requesting a private security service despite having so many guards, I clicked my tongue and said,
“Fine, but this time pay the proper price for your life. No strange necklaces… I mean, no goods, cash only.”
Since it’s come to this, I might as well fleece the imperial treasury!
After Niel left, Felitz, who had been crumpled in the corner, slunk over.
“As expected, our Sister’s strategy is amazing.”
“Strategy? What strategy?”
As I tilted my head in confusion, he gave me a thumbs up and exclaimed admiringly.
“Wasn’t it your plan to spread rumors about a villain trying to assassinate heroes to get a request from His Majesty the Emperor? I almost misunderstood you without knowing that… Hm? Was it not?”
“…”
I looked at him with bleary eyes and shook my head.
Anyway, this means I have to see those three in one place tomorrow.
“Ugh…”
The thought alone was dreadful.
***
Late into the night.
His Holiness, who had jumped out the window saying he would kill Sir Cail Aleret, had returned.
Upon hearing the news, Demian, a priest of the Holy Kingdom, went to his room with an armful of papers.
These were approval documents that Yupheon hadn’t even looked at, using his illness as an excuse.
“Your Holiness, did you successfully kill Sir Cail Aleret…”
Demian, who had carelessly opened the door and entered, froze in his tracks.
Yupheon, who was standing by the window without even changing out of his outdoor clothes, turned to look at him with cold eyes.
It was a frigid expression like midwinter frost, without a trace of his usual playfulness.
Demian instinctively realized he had done something wrong.
“…”
“…”
Gulp. The sound of swallowing seemed to echo louder in the quiet stillness.
Step. Step.
Yupheon walked towards Demian.
Flutter.
A piece of paper in Yupheon’s hand fluttered to the floor.
Thud.
Demian’s eyes shook violently as he saw the paper that had fallen to the floor.
It was a portrait of a delicate-looking woman with bright blonde hair and purple eyes.
“Th-this is…!”
And the geometric pattern mark drawn in the corner of the portrait.
“Someone was careless enough to drop this.”
A chilling voice that seemed capable of freezing the entire world flowed from Yupheon’s lips.
It was an eerie and spine-chilling voice, unlike his usual self.
But Demian knows. That this is his true nature.
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midori
thanks! i’m…quite unhappy with the situation with niel wherein the group that she is trying to help is just being a burden to her. it’s too much like society rofl, forcing you to do things you could otherwise avoid because you don’t want to do it. at least with cail, she was already a sucker for his looks ahhaha