Chapter 14
A Very Special Delivery (2)
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The shabby battle gear with the grim name Heaven-Slaying Star, hanging at Kairus’s waist, was actually something 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 came to ask for it back.
For that to happen, the dead would have to return to life.
“No doubt you killed someone 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 meat in a forest where wolves roamed.
“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 meant the leader of the Rose Garden.
“What would someone like me 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 members’ body search. Naturally, he also had to leave behind the battle gear at his waist.
“Follow me.”
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 member into the mansion.
Walking silently behind the member, 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 mentally. 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 some 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 meddled with it, they would have to hunt him down again.
But by bringing him here and keeping him waiting while she began her meal, if something 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 someone.”
Though she claimed 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 something 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 came into view was the metal 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, members of the Rose Garden bound Kairus to the chair.
“How is it, does it hurt? From the calm look on your face, should I assume you have something to rely on?”
“My employer ordered me to deliver food to this mansion, and I merely carried out that order.”
Kairus glanced briefly at the restraints binding his limbs before continuing.
“If there is something 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 name, 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 something that can be solved just by numbers. We need people with real skill. If I could have help from the Rose Garden’s members…”
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 some 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 immediately 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 members 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 someone skilled, how about me?”
So, instead of addressing Cecilia, Kairus spoke to the middle-aged man with the unfitting name, 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 fame 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 came spilling out.
“My plan doesn’t include any need for food delivery, so get lost.”
At Spring Parsley’s words, Kairus immediately replied.
“I’m actually pretty good in a fight.”
Spring Parsley squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, then looked over at Kairus.
“Yeah? In that case, I guess dealing with a knight of merit 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 merit.
Hearing this, Kairus showed a brief nostalgic expression.
Ah, a knight of merit. For a moment, Kairus was lost in old memories before returning to reality.
“Can you tell me what kind of medal he holds? Depending on your answer, mine will change.”
At Kairus’s words, Spring Parsley’s expression shifted slightly. He hadn’t expected someone to ask about the medal type instead of simply saying yes or no.
“White Heron, Third Class.”
It wasn’t Spring Parsley who answered.
Cecilia, who until moments 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 memories from the past. The White Heron Medal an honor awarded for distinguished service on foreign expeditions.
A Third Class medal meant 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 met, 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 equipment, there was no way he could stand against a knight of merit.
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.
Meeting that gaze, Kairus became 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 assessment of him.
Her standards of judgment were quite different from ordinary people’s.
“Your name?”
“Kairus.”
Until just moments ago, Cecilia had regarded him as nothing more or less than a suspicious food delivery man.
But now, as if she had suddenly reached some 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 came immediately from beyond the door.
“Yes. Is there something you need?”
“It would be good if you brought me Number 31 from the storeroom.”
The subordinate who heard the instruction promptly headed down to the basement.
“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 something 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 recommendation letter from an executive of Filtrix Steelworks, membership 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, time, 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 measure 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 something I own that’s up to me.”
There was nothing wrong with that statement. Cecilia’s expression looked a bit more intrigued as she slowly appraised Kairus again.