Chapter 104

“Sion, was it?”

I sighed, watching the girl continue to clink her coffee cup on the table.

Truly, I hadn’t the faintest idea what to say to this young, pitiable soul.

“…Let’s address this first. Did you honestly think that barging in out of the blue like this, then stubbornly insisting on taking a job, would make me say, ‘By all means’?”

Even for someone in the underworld, a professional should observe at least some semblance of procedure and discipline, shouldn’t they?

This sudden intrusion is simply too much of a breach of etiquette.

“No one wants to entrust a job to someone unprofessional. If they lack capital… they might hire thugs instead of a proper person, but unfortunately, I have sufficient funds. And you, of all people, should know that best.”

“Well… I suppose so.”

Sion listened to my words with her hands primly folded on her lap, like a timid child being scolded in the principal’s office.

…If not for the multitude of daggers visible through the gaps in her cloak, she might actually seem like an ordinary child.

“Why would I hire you? I concede you possess skill. Identifying a member of the Imperial family simply from the musculature was impressive, but that’s all. I will not work with someone as lacking in basic manners as you. It’s out of the question.”

I stated firmly, facing Sion, who was now looking at me with a pitiful expression.

“Um… I understand perfectly. Could you give me just five minutes? I’ll explain precisely why you *should* hire me.”

Judging by her swift acknowledgment, it seemed she was somewhat aware that clients disliked it when others behaved as brashly as she herself did.

“No.”

“Oh, come on, please? I’m confident I can do a good job.”

Sion’s crimson eyes were wide and pleading.

“If you hear me out, you’ll change your mind, I swear. Just once.”

“…Finish it in three minutes.”

I hesitated a moment, then answered.

Even after enduring that ridiculous commotion, the reason I gave her a chance was simple.

The girl before me had guts that bordered on madness; it was no exaggeration to say she was completely out of her mind.

Any normal person, upon discovering the Imperial Family was behind someone investigating the Military Mist, would have immediately dropped the matter.

For the underworld figures who made their living through illegal means, the Imperial Family was akin to a plague, and the ‘General,’ one of the Family’s greatest assets, was the tiger’s fang itself.

That was precisely why I’d spread rumors in the back alleys, using the fake identity of a ‘merchant who amassed wealth through the silk trade.’

If the underworld criminals took fright and ran, gathering information or hiring people would become impossible.

But this girl, Sion, even knowing that a ‘General’ was behind the rumors, hadn’t fled.

No, far from running, she not only willingly entered the tiger’s den, but she also performed the bizarre act of sticking her head inside the tiger’s mouth.

Having demonstrated that level of courage and initiative, wouldn’t it be okay to grant her a chance for self-promotion as a reward?

If I didn’t like what I heard… I could simply tell the soldiers waiting outside to handle things themselves.

“Uh…okay, great. When do we start? Are you timing me now?”

Sion asked as she rose from her seat. The chair scraped and the coffee sloshed in the cup.

“Already started. You have two minutes and forty-nine seconds left.”

I said flatly.

“Ah, okay! Right, focus!”

Sion spread her hands, gathering the attention of her audience.

…Though, truthfully, all eyes in this room were already fixed upon her.

“First! Let’s discuss opportunity cost, shall we? The value of my day and General Veen’s day, that is.”

“Ahem.”

“It embarrasses me to say this, but I’m rather… expensive help. I earn an average of one gold a day, and on particularly lucrative days, I can pull in over two. Seeing as I’ve self-declared every Monday a holiday, my average monthly income is around 30 gold.”

“Well… yes. Continue.”

“And General Veen, standing before me… He is expected to become more powerful than even a Sword Saint. His growth, undoubtedly, will be remarkable day by day, yes?”

“Perhaps.”

“Our days are worth more than the days of others, aren’t they? The entire process of choosing… of selecting the right person is a monumental waste. A loss, I say!”

Sion emphasized the word ‘loss’ with great force. Her voice was so loud, the coffee on the table rippled.

“…”

“While you’re out searching for other people, I could already be at work on this. And yes, you might find someone out there more competent than me… well, a few, perhaps. If you scour the entire continent.”

Sion placed both hands on the table, leaning forward as she continued. As her face drew closer, Leer and the servant tensely adjusted their grips on their cane and sword hilt, respectively.

“Will the next person you meet truly be more skilled than I am?”

Seen up close, Sion’s eyes shone brightly, like finely cut rubies.

“Perhaps! Perhaps… that’s true”

The next moment, Sion slammed her hand on the desk, abruptly straightening up from her leaning posture.

…Other than anything, she would have to get some acknowledgement for her passion.

“But would you squander so much time and money on that ‘perhaps’?! You could be continuing your training, reaching the 6th Circle, the 7th! Isn’t this a terrible calamity for all the people of the continent?”

“…”

“I didn’t come here to make a deal! I came to prevent a disaster, to save the world! To start work as soon as possible, to save Veen-nim’s precious time! Even taking the reckless step of infiltrating the Imperial Palace, this… this denizen of the back alleys, Sion, has made a sacrifice!”

Zion, as if a performer upon a stage, continued her speech with exaggerated gestures.

*My god*, you need *this* much zeal to be a freelancer.

It truly isn’t easy, is it.

“Won’t you save the continent with me? Sign up for the Premium Elite Course now, and it’s no different than saving the world with the Premium Elite Course!”

Having finished her fervent speech, Zion was panting for breath, the collar of her mantle even slightly damp with sweat.

“……”

“……”

As Zion’s words ended, an awkward silence, carried on the heated air, embraced the surroundings.

The air, warmed by her passion, cooled in an instant.

“That’s it? You caused all this commotion, and *that’s* all you have to say? Opportunity cost? Is there nothing more?”

“Uh…wait a moment, I don’t think you understand me. General Bean *needs* to save the world, with the Premium Elite Course.”

Zion, as if not having anticipated my apathetic reaction, scratched the back of her head with a flustered expression.

“The Standard Course simply isn’t enough. You, General Bean, are qualified to contract the Premium Elite Course! You own hundreds of *pyeong* of land in the capital!”

“……”

“A hero has a hero’s way, isn’t that right? Saving the world with a Standard Course, like other ordinary people, just wouldn’t suit you, would it? Yes…?”

I stared at Zion with a nonchalant expression.

Well, I’ll give you credit for the passion.

Just keep at it.

You have talent.

If you keep living like that, you’ll hook some sucker someday.

“I hadn’t planned to bring this up… but hear me out. Of all the people you’ll meet, General, no one will be as deeply connected to the Archipelago Mist as I am.”

“…Alright, try me.”

I decided to grant Sion a second chance, especially considering his passion.

…Though the outcome likely wouldn’t change.

“I lost my father when I was four years old. He was a decent hunter, and that day, like any other, he left the house with his sword and shield to hunt monsters in the mountains.”

Sion had abruptly launched into a story from his childhood!

He seemed to have revised his strategy, opting for an emotional assault.

“And then? My father never came back. As ill luck would have it, the Archipelago Mist appeared in those mountains for a fleeting five minutes and then vanished.”

“Hmm.”

Truthfully, the moment Sion started his little tale, the word ‘bullshit’ had sprung to mind.

Let’s see how far he goes with this.

“My mother, determined to find my father, researched the Archipelago Mist until she fell ill and became bedridden. She died the year I turned eight. A pathetic affair.”

Well… still, his acting wasn’t *terrible*, so I suppose it was tolerable.

“From the year I turned eleven, when I could properly wield a sword, I started researching the Archipelago Mist. And I even discovered a unique pattern that no one else knows about. I’ve ventured into the Archipelago Mist more than twelve times!”

Seeing those jewel-like eyes welling up with tears, I could almost feel my own heart aching.

“Of all the people you will encounter, how many will be as sincere in this matter as I am? How many would risk their lives, as I did, to burst into the General’s chambers, demonstrating such courage and drive?”

Sion had actually climbed onto the chair and was now reaching toward the ceiling, shouting at the top of his lungs.

“Probably none but me!”

Sion stared down at me, his eyes bloodshot and intense.

Tears then streamed down his pale cheeks, a final flourish that could only be described as the perfect finishing touch.

“…….”

“…….”

Silence refills the room, thick and heavy.

“……If I speak frankly, you’ll make the contract. Is that truly so?”

“Actually, it was all a lie. This Zion here, grew up without even knowing his parents’ faces, a natural-born orphan~”

Huh, imagine a child speaking of being an abandoned orphan with such glee.

For speaking so honestly, should I split his head open with a golden axe or something?

“Out.”

Instead of an axe, I spoke with a tone as sharp as an axe blade.

“……The contract?”

“Get out, you crazed lunatic.”

If my strength was even 10,000 points higher, I would’ve asked a servant to bring a real golden axe, consider yourself lucky today.

“No, how can this be, you said you’d make the contract if I told the truth!”

This brazen little imp, he seems incapable of admitting defeat.

“You actually believed that? Of course it was a fib. If you leave quietly now, I’ll generously overlook the crime of infiltrating the Imperial Palace, just thinking of you as some peddler who wandered in selling goods…….”

“Ah, okay! 50 percent discount on the down payment! How about that? You’ll never get an opportunity like this again…….”

“…….”

“Ah, 50 percent is no good either? Okay! I, won’t take a down payment. This is all behavior that ruins the market economy, seriously. No choice, I guess. Just don’t go around spreading rumors that you received services from me without paying a down payment…….”

“Manifest.”

I scrunched up my face, focusing on the foreign sensation in my chest. Soon, tiny particles seeped out from within, beginning to gather near my shoulders.

*Kreek—!*

The sound of gears meshing together. At the same instant, a snapped rapier leaps from the servant’s scabbard.

* * *

Beyond the ruined wall, the shadow of a girl cloaked in deepest black shrinks into the distance. Soldiers give chase, spears launched and arrows loosed. Against the black sky, a bolt of white lightning abruptly flares, following the path of the girl’s retreat.

“Next time, I’m taking a 300 percent advance! You’ll regret this… you really will…!”

The girl, executing acrobatics to evade the hail of attacks, shouted toward me, seated before the ruined outer wall.

“…If I work with you after all this, I’m lower than a dog, a dog.”

Behind me, the Imperial palace corridor unfurled in flames.

The corridor became this chaos because the soldiers and mages poured out their attacks to chase away Sion.

On one side, a section had been ripped open, exposing the water pipes in their entirety, and on the other wall lay the corpse of a mud golem, cleaved in two.

From the ceiling, pebbles and dust rained down incessantly, shaken loose by the relentless assaults, and the long carpet covering the floor was blackened with soot.

Mages wielding water hurried to quell the fires that had erupted throughout the palace, frantically waving their staves, while armored soldiers and assassins clad in black moved swiftly, in pursuit of the intruder.

“Aish, insane.”

Surveying the chaos within the palace, I sighed and turned toward my chambers.

…What in the world is happening?

‘Sion, Sion, you say…’

A name I’d never heard in my life.

If she’s a skilled thief capable of treating the Imperial palace like her own home and turning the Imperial Guard into chumps, I should have at least heard her name.

‘An alias, then, probably?’

Among the named NPCs with thief-class jobs, there were quite a few characters who concealed their faces behind masks. ‘Sion’ was surely one of them.

“Malis… no, couldn’t be. The build is completely different. Gropher the First? Nah, he’s not capable of that level. He’s, what, level 40 at best?”

“Um, where will you be sleeping tonight?”

Rirr popped her head out, interrupting my thoughts as I stood in my room, letting the cold night air clear my head.

She must have felt sorry for me, looking at my room – a wall crumbled, the bed torn, the floor littered with the wreckage of a piano and shattered glasses.

“Ah, Alter said he’d put me up for the night. He already asked a servant to have a bed brought in, so no need to worry.”

Alter’s room was quite a distance from the disaster zone that was mine.

Calling the dwarves at this late hour to build me a new room, or even just repair mine, would be too much to ask. I’d have to rely on Alter for a day, I suppose.

And besides, even with his injured leg, Alter was considered the strongest 8th circle mage.

No matter how skilled an assassin might be, they wouldn’t dare barge in with me and Alter in the same room.

“Tch… Okay, fine.”

Hearing my explanation, Rirr clicked her tongue slightly, looking almost disappointed.

…What’s that about? Why the sour face?

I looked up at Rirr with a puzzled expression, but she refused to meet my gaze.

My head already hurts, why is she being like this?

‘My spot next to Master should be mine alone! This is infuriating!’ or something like that?

…Please, don’t make me more tired than I already am.

Focus.

I need to figure out who that kid from earlier even was.