Chapter 91 – The Mindset of an Ice and Snow Worker (2)

What kind of person is Lehel Darad?
If someone were to ask me about her, I would be able to answer without hesitation for even a second.

Crazy bitch.
It’s not that harsh, but he’s a strange wizard anyway.

In addition to the name and surname being the same even when read from front to back, he has unpredictable thoughts and a personality that changes quickly.
Moreover, his way of life is quite different from that of others.
Aside from the fact that she was crazy about gambling, she was a very strange person.

Even though everyone else is in a serious situation, he can’t seem to be serious, and judging by the way he keeps taking off his clothes, he seems to have a barrier to exposure.
In this way, she wasn’t the type of person you wanted to keep around, but if you were to ask her if she hated Lehel, that would not be the case.
At least he listens to me carefully and knows what to do at important moments.

Anyway, our chairman has a very useful transfer door shuttle… She is a business colleague.
Without her at her academy, her store would not have prospered as much as it has.
Therefore, I planned to cure her gambling addiction little by little.

“Please give me this hairpin.”

The jewelry store I visited last time was Rushopard.
As I point to the silver hairpin and endure the painful expenses, a familiar employee hands me a packaged accessory and asks.

“Oh my, didn’t you buy a ring last time? Lover… Field? “I hope you like it.”
“Oh, I’ll give it to someone different from back then.”
“… “Trash.”

The last words were hard to hear because they were just before the door closed.

The next place I headed to was the chairman’s office.
Lehel, who was always watching Mon’s palace, got up and greeted me warmly when I came in without knocking.

“Are you here, Boss! “What are you doing today?”

This is almost the level of loyalty towards the boss of an organization.
To be treated with such respect by Duke Yunhoe, one of the five great dukes of Penheim.
Somehow I got into the mood and placed the Magic Cube I borrowed from Liv on the desk! He put it on his back and said it in an awkward manner.

“Hey, Chairman.”
“Yes?”
“There’s something I’d like to introduce into our store recently…”

She looked at her Magic Cube and immediately took on a tearful attitude with her eyes shaking.

“Oh, no, right? My only money… Without this, our Grand Canyon feed…”
“Are you going to make me cum? “It’s between us.”
“No, please just this once…” … !”
“Where’s the contract? Oh, should I go directly to the Magic Tower and use it? That’s good. “Move quickly!”
“Huh… ! “You devil!”

So far.

After catching her breath for a moment, Lehel patted my shoulder, wiping away her crocodile tears.
Her face was also filled with a playful smile.

“Hey, boss. What kind of wind is blowing that makes you play with me like this? Oh, I guess you were bored because it was vacation!”
“…”
“The last time I asked you to go gambling away with me, you refused. After all, I’m the only one, right? Look! “Kids these days are so obsessed with employment and grades that they don’t know how to enjoy life like us.”
“…”
“President… ?”

Sensing that something was unusual about her, I held on to Lehel’s soft hand.
And as she did, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and drove her towards the wall.
Just like the older brothers who used to get ripped off in the alleys.

“What are you doing? “Let’s go.”
“Yes? Song? Where… ?”
“I just said it. Even if the Chairman created the Magic Cube, wouldn’t it be sold at Magic Tower? Go and write a contract. “We will supply it to the canteen from the start of next semester.”
“Ahhh… !”

My already white face became as white as a sheet of paper.
I stroked her head gently as if there would never be a third time.

“Open the teleportation door quickly.”

***

Lehel, who lived a longer life than others, had one habit.
The thing is, she doesn’t own many personal items.

The things she cherished were so few that she could count them on her hands.
A set of old medals, robes, and cone hat.
A rosary made from dragon ashes and a crystal ball for broadcasting the Mon King Battle.

Even though I was always addicted to gambling, these were items that I did not bet on until the end, and even if they were stolen, they seemed to come back later.
Does she think she is some kind of pirate king wannabe?

“Uh, welcome. Tower owner. “It’s been a while.”
“Hi! Oh, it’s been a while… ! But, whimper, who were you?”
“Ah… This is Thompson. Even after this, ten years ago, I received direct permission to enter the upper floors from the tower owner…”
“Oh, I understand. That, Thompson? Greetings here. He’s the store owner… Well…”
“Yes? I beg your pardon?”
“Gye yaak…”
“I came to buy some Magic Cubes. “Can you get me the contract?”

Instead of Lehel babbling over her pronunciation, I delivered the message to Thompson.
He nodded hesitantly and led us to the upper level of Merak Tower.

“Please wait for a moment. “The person in charge is on vacation right now, so I’ll get it with the car soon.”

As the door closed, only Lehel’s sobbing echoed in the small space.
The tower owner’s seat, which could be said to be her office—— The top of the Magic Tower was so bare that one could believe it was a building that had begun demolition rather than the Archduke’s office.
There was only discolored parchment and books written in archaic language lying around.
After wiping away the dust that had accumulated on the desk with my finger, I peeked over and said to Lehel, who was sobbing again when our eyes met.

“By the way, where is the doll I told you to retrieve last time?”
“This, this?”

Lehel took out a pretty cute-looking teddy bear from under her robe.
When I take it, it’s not a doll. Curse me or throw it away. A small murmur was heard.

‘Also…’

As expected, the manufacturer is listed.
I decided to ask Bill to investigate this separately later.

“Hey, Chairman.”
“Yes?”
“How much have you gambled lately?”
“Joe, I only did a little… !”
“So how much?”

She shyly held out her five fingers.

“50 gold? “What’s the price of a Magic Cube?”

Hehe.

“500?”

From here.

“Surely 5,000?”
“50,000.”

Crazy.
Didn’t she owe her a debt of about 80,000 gold that Darling paid back when he brought her out of Alsace last time?
It only decreased by 30,000.
No, of course, the debt was only 80,000, but if you consider the amount lost at the time, it would have been quite a lot, so I guess I am showing a lot of restraint at this level.

However, he was spending too much money on gambling to just give me a few magic cubes worth 50 gold each.
In the first place, there are many places that need cubes, except Parencia Academy.
Just selling a few items at a cheaper price at the store did not dramatically reduce her income.

“Hand.”
“Hey Iik!!”

I grabbed Lehel’s wrist, who was scared and was hiding her arm.
The white forearms sticking out from under the loose robe were pulled upward as if lifting a fish.

“Now, now, now, use it wrong! “I won’t do it again, so please just watch it once, just once!!”

What I’m worried about is how to get people to quit gambling.
There are no gambling addiction treatment centers in this world, and I have no professional knowledge…

“Should I just cut it…”
“Hiyaaagh——!”

If it weren’t for the person next to me, I would have let him hang up with both hands.
This is a truly difficult problem.

“Okay, let’s take a photo first.”
“Yes?”

After thinking for a moment, I looked at the contract in Thompson’s hand, who came in just in time, and placed Lehel’s wrist on the table.
First of all, I have to stamp it.

***

— Ouch! Kenyon~!! It’s been so long, you’ve grown so much! You’ve been missing your master all this time, right?
— Wow!

As soon as the contract was signed, Lehel returned to life as before.
This too is her difficult personality.
No matter what happens.
Surprisingly, there is no lingering over things that have already passed.
In fact, I was scared because it was in front of me, and it was also because selling a few cubes for cheap wasn’t that big of a loss.

Perhaps because we don’t usually stop by the Magic Tower, we decided to go see the Grand Canyon while we were already here, so we came down to the middle floor.
Lehel lovingly stroking the horn of a huge beast that looks like a combination of an elephant and a rhinoceros.
As I was smoking a cigarette in the back, Thompson, who was said to be her student, came up to me and handed me a copy of the contract and said,

“Titan Rhinos are among the monsters that are good at dealing with people. “Antlers are quite expensive as a reagent material and have a long lifespan, lasting up to 200 years.”
“Okay?”
“Yes. In fact, the first job that apprentices take on is taking care of raising familiars and monsters within the magic tower.”

From what I heard from seniors, it is said that they have been raising it for generations since their parents in Grand Canyon.
It seemed like he had a special attachment to these guys because they could definitely wait for him in the next life.

— You, you guy! Why do you always lose? If you keep saying that, I end up losing money! Ugh, there are so many foolish idiots.

“It’s rare to see the tower owner smile like that.”
“You’re always like that when you’re with me?”
“Then it seems that Louis also has an unusual relationship with the owner of the tower.”

It is said that Merak deals with magic that is appropriate for the Buddhist world.
In general, unlike a paranoid wizard, he has an aspect of liberation.
If it were me, I would have been upset if my boss had a gambling addiction and had signed an unfair contract with a business partner that had cut the unit price.

— Boss, come here!
“You are calling me.”

Lehel waved her hand, which had almost been cut off a moment ago, from a distance.
As I stubbed out her cigarette and walked closer, she tugged on my sleeve and led me closer to Grand Canyon.

“Isn’t it cute? This is Grand Canyon. “Our Mage Tower’s Mon King Battle prospect!”
“It’s not cute at all.”
“It can’t be. Stick closer. Come this way.”

Lehel kept rubbing her smelly animal cheek against my body, like a sea otter showing a human to protect her young.
And as expected, she pointed alternately between the contract in my hand and the Grand Canyon, and then gave a coy look in her eyes.

“There you are, boss…”
“Tell.”
“If I go into the cradle later. “Can you please look after this child?”

Is this really such a request?
No matter how stupid Lehel sometimes looks like Adella, she is. She is not a woman who sits in the top position without thinking.

“It’s safe here. “It’s a magic tower that was still intact during the Great War.”
“You know that! But once you fall asleep, you never know what will happen when you open your eyes.”

As I remained silent for a moment, the voice crawled in and the force pulling on my sleeves gradually loosened.

“Not… Can?”

Okay, how about this?

“Chairman.”
“Yes?”
“Do you want to gamble with me?”
“Gambling?”

I’m not sure if this will cure her addiction, but it was my best bet.
Your sword always follows the best path.
These were words that Hubblet said out of envy.

“If you play rock, paper, scissors with me and the boss wins, I will listen to what you just said.”
“What if I lose?”
“Let’s just rip out that expensive horn. Oh, one more thing.”

I cupped her hand and held it out in front of her.

“I will only use my fists.”
“Yes? No way… It’s a lie, right? Are you trying to deceive me?”
“Whether you believe it or not, it doesn’t change anything. Now, shall we? Scissors, rock…”
“Ah, ah! For a moment… !”

Lehel hurriedly raised her hand and I just stood there.
Eventually, when the result was decided, it was the Archduke who retreated with a bitter expression.

“Haha, I lost.”
“…”
“Of course I thought you were lying. Because this is also psychological warfare… “As expected, boss, you have talent, right?”

Well. Am I talented or is it the opposite?
Until now, we have never heard of Lehel winning her money in her gambling.
This was quite intentional, unless the probability was so low that one day he would suddenly be summoned to another world.
Perhaps she has been trying for a long time to avoid falling further into her gambling.
Because playing games where you just lose is boring.

“Well… I’m sorry I lost, but can you please watch me cut off Kenyon’s horns? Please, just cut off my hand!”
“Is it so? Then…”
“Hi! W, just take the horn!!”

What should I do?

“Oh, it hurts! It’s cut! Wow!!”
“It’s a shame. “Take this.”
“Yes?”

Her eyes were tightly closed, and what she was holding in her hand was a small hairpin.
The big, blinking eyes are full of surprise.

“I’ll give it to you. “It’s a gift.”
“Yes… ?”
“I will also grant you the favor I mentioned earlier.”
“That… “I lost?”
“What do you think?”

I said, adjusting her chin again as she had left her mouth open like an idiot.

“From now on, only gamble with me. “It may not be something great, but if there’s something I want, I’ll bet on it.”
“But winning or losing…”
“What’s important is whether you win or lose. “It doesn’t matter who wins.”
“That means…”

I knew better than anyone the weight of oaths and promises, but unless some crazy person tilted the magic tower, Grand Canyon would be safe.
Moreover, compared to the benefits she gave me today, this gift was like blood on her new feet.

“Aren’t we one family? We all eat and live together. That… What was it? Joint name?”
“Go, co… !”

Darling certainly said so.

“Okay?”

Lehel, whose previously pale skin had now turned red all the way to her neck, nodded, tucking her hat down.

“Yes, yes, yes…” …”

She didn’t even say no this time.

***

“Ah, bound for Parencia.”

The way back was a bit leisurely.
It would have been faster if she had transferred to Gate 〉 just like when she came to the Magic Tower, but for some reason she suggested that Lehel not go in her former chariot.
I wanted to choose the faster option, but I remembered what Liv said about relying too much on magic to lose your sense of reality.
So, as I was standing on the platform with Lehel, who had grown quite precocious in the past few hours, a horn honked.

“Let me check your ticket.”
“Here you go.”
“Thank you. “If you don’t have any luggage, we’ll show you to your seat right away.”
“Boss, let’s go.”

The hairpin I gave her sparkled on Lehel’s head as she took off her hat to pass through the narrow door.

When we opened the door to the compartment where our seats were located, following the guidance of the station attendant, a nauseating smell suddenly filled the air.

“Ugh, what is it?”
“I’m not the only one in charge, right? What?”

As we moved to our seats, wiping our noses, the four-person seats facing each other were the epicenter of the smell.
I guess not… We checked our tickets several times, but our seats were correct.

“No, what on earth did you have on the chariot… Huh?”

However, I saw familiar blue hair beyond the guest room door.
The moment I unconsciously opened the door, thinking it might be Adeline——

“Hmm?”
“Matriarch?”
“Fuck?”
“President?”

I made eye contact with a woman I never wanted to see again.