The day after Rashak had driven Renoa away from me, I found myself worrying.
…But seriously, how am I supposed to make a living now?
Even if my debts were taken care of after a week of serving as bait, I still had to worry about my immediate living expenses and what I would do afterward.
After closing my shop, I no longer had any source of income.
I couldn’t keep living off my savings forever, could I?
Sure, I could work and earn money, but I didn’t have a job. And even if I tried preparing to find another one, I had no idea where to start.
A trading company… Well, I did have experience.
That sexual harasser will probably sabotage me. He managed to get a perfectly decent job at another major trading company, so he’ll definitely find some way to interfere.
Then again, getting a job at a magic potion shop…
Rumors that I make weird magic potions are everywhere. Who would hire me?
So, I spent several days visiting employment agencies, only to be rejected everywhere I went for some inexplicable reason.
It was as if someone had deliberately intervened.
Even the three-year misfortune cycle couldn’t make things go this badly. …Wait, does this world even have a three-year misfortune cycle?
I was trudging out of yet another agency after forcibly thrusting my résumé into the employee’s hands when—
…What’s this?
The moment I turned the corner, I felt someone watching me.
It wasn’t my imagination. Ever since my school days, I’d been exceptionally good at sensing this kind of gaze.
…Because I was always afraid my teachers would make me give a presentation.
What? Don’t look at me like that.
I’m not the only one who’s scared of those things.
Anyway.
Someone’s… following me.
My professional coward’s instincts began blaring like crazy.
I remembered what Rashak had said.
‘They probably won’t kill you right away. They’ll capture you first, then ask where you’re from, why you saved Rashak Barsen, whether you planned it in advance, and all sorts of other questions.’
So… they’d really come?
Those spies, also known as rats?
What about Rashak’s people?
I casually shifted my gaze and spotted several of Rashak’s subordinates in an alley across the street.
I recognized them from the abandoned building a few days ago, and I’d sensed their presence several times while coming and going, so I found them right away.
I tried to act naturally and play my part as bait.
My plan was to hold out until Rashak’s subordinates ambushed the spies.
…But then—
How exactly am I supposed to be bait?
I mean, Rashak had told me to act as I normally would. But what was I supposed to do normally in a situation like this?
What made things even more maddening was that Rashak’s subordinates had started signaling to me.
Was that… a signal to lure them somewhere? What?
They wanted me to lure them in?
I desperately steadied my trembling hands and started walking.
I was scared out of my mind. But I had to repay my debt.
Stay calm. Take it easy. Just walk as you normally would.
I was naturally a fast walker, so this pace should look perfectly normal.
For some reason, though, the scenery around me seemed to be whizzing past.
This should be enough…
“Get her! She’s running away!”
I wasn’t running away! I was just walking!
A stampede of footsteps began thundering behind me.
Startled by the sound, I started running, too.
The one saving grace was that I was pretty good at running.
You could say it was an essential skill for a professional coward.
“It’s a dead end! Grab her!”
Fortunately, I was also good at climbing walls.
I grabbed the protruding bricks, used them as footholds, and quickly climbed upward. The pursuing footsteps came to a halt far below me.
“She’s supposed to be an ordinary woman!”
“Two of you, go around! The other three, keep chasing her!”
Some people might ask how a professional coward could possibly climb a wall so high up.
But I had no choice.
Back when I was a trainee knight, I used to run away from monsters so often that I earned the nickname ‘She Was Just Here a Moment Ago.’
One day, my instructor cornered me and a low-level monster in the courtyard of an abandoned building.
His intention was to suppress my instinct to flee by trapping me somewhere surrounded on all sides.
…Instead, right in front of every instructor there, I managed to awaken a brand-new talent: wall climbing.
I mean, think about it.
Getting mauled by a six-eyed wolf drooling all over the place versus overcoming your fear of heights.
Isn’t the latter overwhelmingly preferable?
“Damn it, that Barsen bastard! He even trained her to do that?!”
By the time I reached the rooftop and finished reminiscing about the past, my pursuers were still hot on my heels.
“She’s on the roof! She’s on the roof!”
“Just… get her! Hah…! Haaah…”
They were using the same footholds I’d climbed, but they were moving considerably slower.
I was growing increasingly anxious, wondering what I should do next, when I spotted Rashak’s subordinates again, far below in the distance.
They signaled me to lure the pursuers all the way to the rooftop.
So… the plan was for the pursuers to climb up here, then follow me down the stairs, where Rashak’s men would be waiting below to nab them in one swift move.
Wasn’t that asking a little too much of me?
Hang in there, Hiel. You have to repay your debt.
After thinking for a moment, I cautiously approached the edge of the rooftop and spoke to my pursuers.
“Um, hello…”
They stared at me in bewilderment. Apparently, they hadn’t expected me to speak to them.
To be honest, I didn’t have anything particular to say, either. I’d just figured I should do something.
Still, I’d already started a conversation.
Hmm. What could I say that came to mind right now?
“You’re not supposed to do it like that…”
Their shoulders all flinched at once.
The mustached pursuer glared at me as if he wanted to kill me.
“No… If you keep doing that, you’re going to slip…”
“Are you mocking us?!”
“Well, your legs seem to be shaking… And you, sir, it would be easier if you put your foot right over there instead. Yes, yes. There. You, too.”
The two men moved their legs as I instructed.
But no matter how much they stretched their feet, they couldn’t reach the footholds.
Neither of them could.
I sighed in disappointment.
“Oh dear… You have such short legs.”
And just like that, I awakened a new talent in all three of my pursuers.
In other words, they all started climbing toward the rooftop where I was standing like madmen.
Once they reached the top, they resumed chasing me with even more murderous glares than before.
And so, I successfully lured the pursuers toward the stairs where Rashak’s subordinates lay in ambush.
***
“…And… that’s what happened.”
After finishing my explanation, I cautiously glanced at Rashak to gauge his reaction.
He’d seemed a little less frightening the last time we met, but seeing him today reminded me just how scary he could be.
I really shouldn’t have listened to Mr. Fidel when he said, ‘You should report directly to the boss,’ at the entrance.
He could’ve just told him I’d caught the spies.
Why did he have to drag me all the way here?
I was anxiously worrying about that when—
“Pfft—”
A sudden burst of stifled laughter came from across the table.
With the trace of a smile still on his face, Rashak spoke.
“So you caught them by climbing walls and running?”
“Y-Yes… That’s right.”
“And even went so far as to approach the pursuers and mock them to their faces?”
“It just… sort of happened.”
“Well done. You have a remarkable talent.”
I looked at him in surprise.
After all, my impression of Rashak was that he was utterly cold and ruthless.
In the original novel, he’d done nothing but make sarcastic remarks no matter what the heroine said. Reading those scenes had practically left me gasping for air.
“Now that we’ve caught three of them, we should be able to find out who’s behind them. The rat inside the organization will probably show its tail soon, too.”
“…You think so?”
“Then I suppose it’s time for me to fulfill my promise.”
Rashak stood and walked toward the corner of the bookshelf.
It looked exactly like a safe, so I turned around to give him some privacy. A moment later, a black bag that looked like something straight out of a mafia movie was placed on the table.
I hurriedly opened the clasps and checked the banknotes inside.
One hundred thousand… Two hundred thousand…
There was no doubt about it.
One hundred million rupen. The entire amount was there.
“Thank you, Bos—”
Before I could finish speaking, Rashak abruptly snatched the bag away from me.
I stared at him in stunned disbelief, and he asked,
“Why didn’t you ask Count Brent to repay your debt?”
“……”
“That old man could easily spare this amount. Aren’t you close to him?”
I’d never said that in so many words, but it was true nonetheless.
Even so…
“How could I shamelessly ask him for help after breaking up with Allen?”
“You weren’t the cause of the breakup. I don’t think ‘shamelessly’ is the right word.”
“…I suppose you’re right.”
“You’re quick to admit it. That’s good.”
What was this?
Why did I feel like I was being evaluated in a job interview?
“But you need to learn to be a little more shameless.”
“…I don’t understand what you mean.”
“We’re continuing the interview we couldn’t finish last time.”
And just like that, it really did become an interview.
…Wait a minute. If that was the case—
“I’ve been losing a lot of people lately while weeding out the spies. I’m short on manpower.”
“W-We should hurry up and hold the next test, then.”
“There’s no need. As it happens, I have a promising candidate right in front of me.”
“Boss, as you can see… I’m an extremely ordinary person…”
“An ordinary person wouldn’t knock out an assassin with a single punch.”
“I’m also a terrible coward…”
“Then we’ll train you.”
“The people who’ve said that to me have seriously underestimated just how difficult it is. And I didn’t succeed in everything they tried to teach me…”
“You’ve never worked under me before.”
He smiled as he spoke.
“Don’t worry. I’ve never been known to give up on something once I’ve set my mind to it.”
It was a smile that could only be described as sinister.
It would’ve been perfect paired with a line like, ‘You dare to cheat me out of my money? You’d better be prepared for the consequences.’
Perhaps thanks to that, I managed to summon the greatest shamelessness of my entire life.
In other words, I grabbed the money and ran away.
***
The moment I left the state-owned bank after repaying my entire loan, Rashak was waiting for me.
“How did you know I’d be here?!”
“You came into money. It wasn’t hard to guess where you’d go.”
Even in broad daylight, right in the middle of the main street, his appearance was intimidating. Not a single subordinate was around, yet he still radiated an inexplicable pressure, just as he always did.
“You’re really fast when you run.”
He raised the corner of his mouth into a sly grin.
“The more I see you, the more I want you.”
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