TSWJ 6

Chapter 6

An Unexpected Debt

I froze, staring at Rashak.

If I were the heroine, I might have thought even that expression of his was handsome… But I was different. He was simply terrifying!

“You didn’t answer me yesterday. If you don’t want the job, why?”

“I-I feel like your world is one I wouldn’t dare set foot in…”

“My world?”

“You tortured that… assassin right in front of me last time.”

After saying it, I wondered if I’d sounded far too insolent.

But the golden eyes meeting mine were… surprisingly gentle.

So gentle that I almost wondered if Rashak was actually capable of making such an expression.

If he told me, “I wouldn’t make you do something like that,” while looking at me this way… I felt like I might actually believe him.

“But what if I paid you a lot of money?”

“So you really were going to make me do it!”

“It’s fine. You’ll get used to it eventually.”

“Getting used to it is a problem in itself!”

“You have people you hate enough to want to kill, too. Like that boss who sexually harassed you and whom you threw over your shoulder.”

“That’s true, but…”

“He was just another bastard to me. If someone tries to take what belongs to me, they deserve to be punished. Don’t you agree?”

“I can’t say I don’t understand your feelings…”

“Exactly.”

What was I supposed to do?

I was gradually getting talked around by Rashak.

“The annual salary is one hundred million. I can’t promise you’ll always leave work on time, but I will guarantee compensatory leave for the extra hours you work. There will also be additional rewards based on your performance.”

The conditions were exceptionally good.

Where else could I earn an annual salary of one hundred million?

I was already struggling to find a job.

“Fine. If you’re that afraid, how about a probationary period?”

“…Probation?”

“I mean, you work for a month, and if things go well, we sign a formal contract.”

“A-and if you still think I’m not suitable after a month?”

“Then we go our separate ways.”

“……”

“What? Do you think I won’t let you go?”

Yes.

You have exactly that kind of face.

“Don’t worry. I have no intention of forcibly holding on to someone who doesn’t want to work here. If you’re not the kind of talent I’m looking for, I have no reason to keep you, either.”

“……”

“Of course, that would change if you secretly tried to steal or uncover information other than what I gave you during that month.”

“I-I wouldn’t have the guts to do something like that…”

“That’s another thing I like about you.”

His smile grew even broader.

“I’ll send Fidel to your house tomorrow. Think it over tonight and give me your answer. Whether it’s probation, a permanent position… or an outright rejection.”

But I’ve been outright rejecting you this whole time.

…That was what I wanted to say, but Rashak’s gaze was far too frightening.

In the end, I slowly nodded, and the corners of his mouth lifted in satisfaction.

“Then I’ll look forward to seeing you tomorrow.”

With that, Rashak turned and walked away.

For some reason, even his footsteps seemed unusually light.

I hurried away, too.

I was afraid he might chase after me and say, “Actually, I’ve changed my mind. Make your decision right now.”

Yet even after I reached the familiar streets of my neighborhood, that strange sense of pressure refused to disappear.

The underworld, steeped in torture and violence, was frightening.

But even more frightening was the thought of stepping into an unfamiliar world in the first place.

Starting something new, meeting new people…

“Haah… I think I’m becoming more and more of a coward…”

I rubbed my face, frustrated with myself, when—

“Hey! Watch out!”

A sudden shout startled me, and I stopped in my tracks.

The next moment, something struck my shoulder with a light thump.

And then—

CRASH!

The sound from behind me left me frozen.

When I reluctantly turned around, I saw shards of glass scattered all over the ground.

And a woman who suddenly flew into a furious rage the moment our eyes met.

“I told you to move! How are you going to take responsibility for this?!”

“W-what…?”

“Do you have any idea how much this vase cost?!”

The woman stamped her feet while glaring at the shattered glass, which was so thoroughly broken that I could barely even tell it had once been a vase.

Then she turned her icy gaze on me and declared,

“You’re obviously going to compensate me, aren’t you?”

The woman immediately dragged me, still too stunned to understand what was happening, to the local guard station.

“Where do you think you’re going?! Pay me back right now!”

I hadn’t even considered running away. I was far too shocked to think of anything like that.

She spoke to the knights, who then forcibly seated me in what looked like an interrogation room.

“Do you know how much that vase was worth? One hundred million Rupen! One hundred million!”

I thought she must be insane.

Who carried a vase worth one hundred million Rupen through a crowded marketplace in a wooden crate?

“I’m going to get every last bit of that one hundred million Rupen back. Right now.”

She was so aggressive that I couldn’t even open my mouth.

I wrote a statement as the knights instructed me, but I barely remembered what I’d written.

And what happened next?

Clang!

“Stay here. We’ll bring you something to eat tomorrow morning.”

Just like that, I found myself locked in a holding cell.

“B-but if you just let me go, I’ll find a way to get the money and bring it back!”

“Who would believe that? You’d just run away the moment we let you out.”

“This is driving me crazy! I gave you my identity, my address, everything! Why would I run away?! Am I supposed to stay here forever, then? You’re the ones demanding compensation!”

“We said we’d let you contact your family, didn’t we? They can come and pay at least part of the compensation. Then you can leave. Wouldn’t that be easier for everyone?”

“……”

“You have family, don’t you?”

…I did.

The problem was that I hated them more than I hated strangers now.

“…I can’t contact my family.”

“Why not?”

At the knight’s puzzled expression, I gripped the bars tightly.

Because I could already imagine exactly what they would say the moment I arrived.

What on earth have you been doing to get yourself into this kind of trouble?

You left home, and this is all you’ve managed to accomplish?

I knew something was wrong when you said you’d ruined your shop.

Have you ever seen Rena getting herself into this kind of trouble?

They would belittle me and hurl hurtful words at me until they finally managed to drag me back home.

Back to that house, where my younger sister—the one carrying my former boyfriend’s child—lived.

“Absolutely not. No… I won’t do it.”

“…Well, if that’s your decision, there’s nothing we can do.”

At the knight’s words, I bit down hard on my lower lip.

It felt like I was trapped in a horrible nightmare.

The moment I settled a debt of one hundred million, another debt of one hundred million had appeared.

And in the most absurd way imaginable, all within the blink of an eye.

Think… Think, Hiel. What can I do to get out of this situation…?

At that moment, only one person came to mind.

Someone I really, really didn’t want to involve.

But—

“I don’t know about family, but I do have a superior at work.”

“Your superior?”

“Please contact Lumiere Dessert & Tea Salon for me.”

An hour later.

A man as broad as a door appeared in the narrow corridor outside the holding cell.

Looking down at me through the bars, Rashak spoke.

“I said I wanted your answer tomorrow.”

“T-the sooner, the better, isn’t it?”

“Well, that’s true.”

He dragged a small chair over from the corner and sat down in front of me.

“So, what happened?”

I calmly explained everything I’d experienced that day.

Rashak rubbed his chin and murmured,

“Hmm… So that’s what happened.”

“So, um… I was wondering… about the annual salary. Would it be possible to get an advance?”

“There’s no reason I couldn’t do that. Your meal allowance is paid separately, too, so even if you use the entire salary to cover the compensation, you’ll still have enough to live on.”

The tension I’d felt ever since entering the holding cell suddenly melted away.

Wait, the annual salary doesn’t even include meals? Damn, these conditions are even better than I thought…

“But I’m not entirely convinced.”

“…Pardon?”

“I was planning to hire Miss Caveron as my secretary because I thought she was an extraordinary talent. But seeing you locked up like this…”

“……”

“It makes me wonder whether my judgment was mistaken.”

If there had been a mirror in front of me, I would have seen my eyes trembling in sheer panic.

“E-even if I promise to serve you with all my heart and do my very best, Boss?”

“In this line of work, nothing is more foolish than trusting a verbal promise.”

“T-then what am I supposed to do?”

“I’m the boss of an organization, not a teacher.”

My heart began pounding with a rising sense of betrayal.

He was changing his tune completely, less than twelve hours after we’d spoken!

“Then I’ll be on my way.”

My mind began racing.

I couldn’t let him leave just like that.

I had to find some way to hold on to him!

“It wasn’t my fault.”

I gripped the bars even tighter.

“This incident wasn’t my fault. I was simply walking down the street when that woman came along and smashed her vase against me.”

“……”

“Isn’t the whole thing suspicious to begin with? Who carries a vase worth one hundred million Rupen through a crowded marketplace? Unless it was carefully packed with plenty of cushioning material, that is.”

“……”

“It’s also strange that there was only one person transporting it. When something is that expensive, people usually worry about it getting lost or stolen. But there was only one woman guarding it.”

“……”

“Based on my experience working for a merchant company… an item worth that much should have at least five people protecting it.”

“……”

“I might just be overthinking things, though…”

Even after talking at length, I faltered at the end because I was afraid of what he might say.

But I wasn’t uncertain about my reasoning.

I looked at him with a determined gaze.

“That doesn’t sound like overthinking to me.”

Rashak sat back down in the chair.

“That’s a reasonable deduction. Have you had experiences like this before?”

“If I had, I’d be getting thrown in jail all the time, wouldn’t I? I just… thought about it based on what I learned when I was younger. I was a knight trainee…”

In this world, knights also performed duties similar to those of detectives in my previous life, including catching criminals.

“Fine. Let’s assume Miss Caveron is right. Then who’s the culprit? Who might have arranged this?”

“I don’t know… There are too many people who dislike me.”

“Then we can narrow it down to the people who dislike you. Someone who would want you to end up in debt.”

“……”

“And who would stand to benefit from that?”

He added lazily,

“It doesn’t necessarily have to be financial gain.”

At those words, I finally understood.

“…Rena Caveron.”

Rashak smiled.

It was the exact same expression I’d seen that morning—the one that seemed to say he wanted me more and more.