Chapter 14
A Very Special Delivery (2)
* * *
The shabby battle gear with the grim na Heaven-Slaying Star, hanging at Kairus’s waist, was actually sothing he had been indefinitely borrowing without the original owner’s permission.
“Besides, even if I wanted to return it now, I couldn’t….”
Kairus planned to keep this sword until the original owner ca to ask for it back.
For that to happen, the dead would have to return to life.
“No doubt you killed soone and took it.”
“I didn’t kill him.”
The sword’s original owner had simply paid with his life for the foolish desire to roast at in a forest where wolves road.
“I figured as much.”
But the guard didn’t look like he believed Kairus’s words.
While they were exchanging this idle talk, another guard in the distance approached Kairus.
“The boss has summoned you.”
Kairus’s expression stiffened slightly. The boss ant the leader of the Rose Garden.
“What would soone like be needed for…?”
“We only follow orders. Weapons are forbidden, so we’ll search you.”
Kairus calmly spread his arms to the sides and submitted to the Rose Garden mbers’ body search. Naturally, he also had to leave behind the battle gear at his waist.
“Follow .”
He had no way of knowing why the Rose Garden’s boss had called for him. Kairus hefted the food he had brought once more and followed the mber into the mansion.
Walking silently behind the mber, Kairus stopped in front of a massive door on the mansion’s third floor.
“Don’t raise your head until the boss permits it. Don’t speak first, and only answer questions. You must comply with any orders.”
Kairus nodded instead of replying and prepared himself ntally. The door opened, and with his head bowed, he stepped through the doorway.
“Oh my, you’re young.”
At the woman’s voice, Kairus almost lifted his head.
“I greet the boss of the Rose Garden.”
“All right. I’m Cecilia Longhorn.”
As Kairus offered his greeting, her voice responded again. If a voice could have form, it was one you’d certainly call beautiful, but her tone was also rather dry.
“You must be wondering why I called you. If you have any idea, I’d like to hear it.”
This must be a question. Thinking that, Kairus opened his mouth.
“If there was any tampering with the food, or so mistake, you could deal with it right here on the spot.”
If Kairus simply dropped off the food and ran away, and it was later discovered that he had ddled with it, they would have to hunt him down again.
But by bringing him here and keeping him waiting while she began her al, if sothing went wrong, they could cut his throat on the spot.
“My goodness, you say things like that so easily? How frightening. Did you all hear that? He says I’m going to kill soone.”
Though she claid to be scared, there was still no particular emotion in her beautiful, clear voice.
“I’m joking. Your guess was correct just now. You’re not entirely dull.”
The sound of sothing dragging across the floor echoed.
“You may raise your head now.”
When Kairus lifted his head, the first thing he saw was a woman wearing a beige blouse and a navy blue wrap skirt.
Opposite her stood a slightly plump middle-aged man with an awkward smile.
Finally, what ca into view was the tal restraining chair fixed to the floor, which Cecilia was pointing to with her right hand.
Once seated, his arms, legs, and neck would be secured by the restraints attached to the chair.
“You gave the right answer earlier, so let’s see if you can do it again. What do you think you’re supposed to do now?”
Instead of replying, Kairus walked over to the restraining chair.
“I like people who are quick on the uptake.”
As soon as he sat down, mbers of the Rose Garden bound Kairus to the chair.
“How is it, does it hurt? From the calm look on your face, should I assu you have sothing to rely on?”
“My employer ordered to deliver food to this mansion, and I rely carried out that order.”
Kairus glanced briefly at the restraints binding his limbs before continuing.
“If there is sothing I rely on, it’s that I have nothing to hide.”
“Ah, I see.”
Cecilia gave a short, derisive snort at his words. With that slightly mocking remark, she lost interest in Kairus and turned her gaze to the plump middle-aged man sitting across the table.
“From now on, it wouldn’t be appropriate to call you by your real na, would it? I’ll call you Spring Parsley.”
“Y-yes! Thank you for your consideration!”
At Cecilia’s words, the middle-aged man, now called Spring Parsley, flinched as if he’d been stabbed and hurriedly answered.
“It’s still warm. Let’s eat. You first, guest.”
Though she phrased it politely as letting the guest eat first, in truth, it was her way of saying that if there was poison in the food, the man opposite her could die first.
The middle-aged man knew well enough what Cecilia intended, but who in their right mind would dare argue about it?
“So, is it possible?”
Spring Parsley, who had begun transferring the food to his plate, answered Cecilia’s question.
“It requires quite a bit of preparation. It’s not sothing that can be solved just by numbers. We need people with real skill. If I could have help from the Rose Garden’s mbers…”
Cecilia shook her head slightly as she listened.
“No. In this matter, our role is just to broker the deal. We have no intention of participating directly.”
Stealing the Empire’s tax funds wasn’t exactly the sort of appealing job that an organization the size of the Rose Garden would savor.
Kairus did his best to follow the conversation and understand the situation.
Judging solely by the conversation passing between Spring Parsley and Cecilia right now, it looked like the Rose Garden was instructing Spring Parsley to handle so job.
What exactly that job was, Kairus didn’t know, but Spring Parsley needed people with real skill. And naturally, that skill wasn’t about baking cookies.
By sheer coincidence, Kairus happened to want work that required skill and paid well.
“Hey.”
“We’re in the middle of a conversation.”
As soon as Kairus opened his mouth, Cecilia imdiately snapped at him with a curt rebuke. Unlike her indifferent tone from before, her words now carried a distinct edge.
Don’t speak to her until she asked a question first.
The Rose Garden mbers had already warned Kairus about that. But even so, he didn’t want to let this chance slip away.
“You Spring Parsley, was it? If you need soone skilled, how about ?”
So, instead of addressing Cecilia, Kairus spoke to the middle-aged man with the unfitting na, whose belly bulged like a tadpole.
“What, you little shit? Does this look like the kind of place where a restaurant delivery boy can stick his nose in?”
Naturally, there was no pleasant reply.
Business had been going quite well lately, so he’d gained a bit of fa and was making decent money. Then, out of nowhere, the Rose Garden called him in and ordered him to raid the Valorn Empire’s tax convoy.
His head was about to split with the headache of it all, and now this delivery boy popped up claiming he had skill and asking to be hired.
Given how irritated Spring Parsley already was, it was no surprise curses ca spilling out.
“My plan doesn’t include any need for food delivery, so get lost.”
At Spring Parsley’s words, Kairus imdiately replied.
“I’m actually pretty good in a fight.”
Spring Parsley squeezed his eyes shut for a mont, then looked over at Kairus.
“Yeah? In that case, I guess dealing with a knight of rit no, a paladin should be nothing to you.”
What Spring Parsley was agonizing over was precisely the paladin escorting the tax convoy.
Even decent-level fighters struggled to handle a decorated knight of rit.
Hearing this, Kairus showed a brief nostalgic expression.
Ah, a knight of rit. For a mont, Kairus was lost in old mories before returning to reality.
“Can you tell what kind of dal he holds? Depending on your answer, mine will change.”
At Kairus’s words, Spring Parsley’s expression shifted slightly. He hadn’t expected soone to ask about the dal type instead of simply saying yes or no.
“White Heron, Third Class.”
It wasn’t Spring Parsley who answered.
Cecilia, who until monts ago hadn’t shown any real interest in Kairus, now looked at him with an amused expression as she spoke up in reply.
Kairus’s mind spun quickly, dredging up mories from the past. The White Heron dal an honor awarded for distinguished service on foreign expeditions.
A Third Class dal ant that the recipient had either killed more than fifty enemies in a single battle or played a crucial role in achieving mission objectives during a small-scale operation.
“If just one condition is t, I can handle it well enough.”
“Oh? I’m curious what’s that condition?”
At Cecilia’s question, Kairus answered without hesitation.
“I need a good battle gear.”
His current battle gear was limiting his capabilities. With this cheap, military-issued equipnt, there was no way he could stand against a knight of rit.
But with proper gear, Kairus was confident he could take on five or more White Heron Third Class knights.
Cecilia rested her chin on her hand and studied him.
“Is that so?”
The way she looked at him was not the way a person looked at another person. It was closer to how a chef might inspect a fish up for auction at a fish market.
eting that gaze, Kairus beca convinced that the woman sitting before him Cecilia, boss of the Rose Garden was, as befitted the leader of one of Bennett City’s worst organizations, not a normal person.
While Kairus was forming this conviction, Cecilia, too, continued her assessnt of him.
Her standards of judgnt were quite different from ordinary people’s.
“Your na?”
“Kairus.”
Until just monts ago, Cecilia had regarded him as nothing more or less than a suspicious food delivery man.
But now, as if she had suddenly reached so conclusion, she began to show interest in him.
“What you say and what you do don’t always match. What’s your most proficient weapon?”
“The sword.”
At his answer, Cecilia nodded.
“All right. Then the sword it is.”
She decided swiftly, still watching Kairus as she spoke.
“Is there anyone outside the door right now?”
A reply ca imdiately from beyond the door.
“Yes. Is there sothing you need?”
“It would be good if you brought Number 31 from the storeroom.”
The subordinate who heard the instruction promptly headed down to the basent.
“I told them to bring a sword that’s fairly usable. Three years ago it was appraised at fifty thousand Pyint. But in my estimation, it’s worth about seven hundred thousand.”
“…Good battle gear isn’t sothing you can buy just because you have money.”
At Kairus’s answer, Cecilia touched her chin thoughtfully and nodded.
For anyone else to purchase the battle gear she had ordered, there were conditions.
A recomndation letter from an executive of Filtrix Steelworks, mbership in at least one of several prestigious social clubs, and finally, a certain degree of social standing.
Luxury items were not luxury because anyone could buy them. Even now, with the mass-production system for battle gear fully established, that principle hadn’t changed.
Therefore, the real price of the gear Cecilia had ordered was not fifty thousand Pyint.
If you converted into money all the effort, ti, and talent needed to qualify to purchase it, the price she quoted wouldn’t be considered excessive at all.
However…
“Reputation, dignity, qualifications those are rather hard to asure in money.”
At Kairus’s remark, Cecilia let out a soft, derisive laugh.
“The battle gear I just had them bring is mine. Whatever price tag I decide to put on sothing I own that’s up to .”
There was nothing wrong with that statent. Cecilia’s expression looked a bit more intrigued as she slowly appraised Kairus again.
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