Chapter 2

Since I knew what happened in the novel, I was confident that I could help Aria have the best life possible. All I had to do was remember the novel’s storyline and avoid pitfalls along the way. But for now, we needed to get on with our everyday lives. Aria would only need to stay in this situation until she was adopted by the count.

After calming her down, I dragged my tired feet out into the street.

I need to hurry. Checking the time, I clicked my tongue. There were only ten minutes left until my regular six o’clock Sunday evening meeting. I leaped into the air, pushing the limits of my mana circulation, which had been slowed down by the previous few days of exhausting beast-slaughtering work.

This client’s quite the odd one... I sighed softly as I thought of the man.

My client was indeed strange, but it was a strangeness I had become accustomed to. I had been working for him for the past two years. We always met at Helene, a restaurant located in an alley behind the Temple of the Sun. It was reservation-only and so secretive that most people were unaware of its existence. Since one had to be masked to enter, it was also the perfect place to hold clandestine meetings.

Beyond that, their prices were outrageous. Since my client was always the one to pay for the food, I had been meeting him for quite a while before I realized how expensive it was.

“Is this... pure gold?”

“Don’t worry. It’s been imbued with magic to make it completely edible. If you don’t like it, we can just throw it out.”

“Are you insane? Why would anyone do that?!”

It wasn’t until I was served a plate of grilled truffles sprinkled with gold flakes that I took a look at the menu. It completely blew my mind.

Just thinking of such extravagance made me frown, but I focused on my disguise. I tied on a black mask that left only my eyes and mouth visible and put on a magic device that changed my voice.

I cleared my throat. “Testing… One, two…” Once I confirmed that my gender couldn’t be determined by my voice, I was ready. It was time to work as Mire the mercenary.

***

One look at the restaurant’s clientele told you everything you needed to know about the establishment’s opulence. Draped in my dull black cloak, I felt like a crow among the peacocking nobles wearing their colorful masks and flashy outfits.

“Is that Mire? You know, the Dark Disaster?”

“It can’t be. Why would he be in a place like this?”

“I’ve heard rumors that he often dines here.”

“He has his share of imitators, though. His costume is all the range among mercenaries these days.”

“You’re quite right.”

My arrival caused a momentary stir in the restaurant, but it didn’t take long for things to settle back down.

Since I had made a name for myself as Mire the mercenary, there had been a boom of other mercenaries copying my black mask and cloak. Two out of ten mercenaries wore this very outfit. At this point, I could walk around in public and no one would even suspect I was the real Dark Disaster.

More convenient for me, I guess.

“Do you have a reservation?” the head waiter said, bowing politely.

I nodded. “I have an appointment with the heavens at noon.” It sounded like nonsense, but it was a password only those involved understood.

The look in the waiter’s eyes changed. “I see. And what would you like to order?”

“On a bright day like today, I’ll have a steak with a sunny-side up egg. To drink, a glass of red champagne. That would be perfect.” It had been cloudy all day and red champagne didn’t even exist. Nevertheless, the waiter nodded and gestured toward the VIP room.

“This way to the heavens.”

He led me to the door. I followed as I had become used to.

“Please enjoy your stay.” After guiding me to the VIP room at the end of the hallway, he bowed again and left.

I just have to do my best. Just like I always do. In my career as a mercenary, I had met my share of “interesting” clients, but this one stood out. I turned the round door knob and pushed the door open, determined not to let him get to me this time.

The interior of the VIP room was so extravagant that it rivaled the reception room of a palace. I felt out of place, like a bacterium shivering in the middle of a sparkling clean kitchen floor.

Four attendants were waiting in the room, each dressed in the uniform of the holy knights. Passing by their familiar faces, I walked up to my client. His body was fully obscured by a white cloak and he wore a white mask shaped similarly to mine.

Behind the mask, I could see his silver eyes glinting. I felt like I could never lie to those eyes, which were clear and gentle as those of a newborn.

The faint scent of lilies tickled the tip of my nose as I greeted him. “I trust you’ve been well, Father?” I gave a short and formal bow.

He had been staring out the window but finally turned his head to me. “Didn’t I tell you to call me by a different name?” he asked.

His reddish lips formed a small smile. It had the delicacy of a bouquet of lilies. Having to face such a smile was awkward enough.

“I trust you’ve been well…” I hesitated, then embarrassingly uttered the name the client had requested I call him. “El.”

El continued to smile softly. “Please, take a seat. Make yourself comfortable.”

I sat across from him as I always did. He signaled with his hand and his entourage left the room.

Is he unafraid of facing a Sword Master by himself? Or maybe he’s sure I won’t harm him. In my head, I sighed dismissively. Being alone with a Sword Master meant he was putting his life on the line, but El seemed unnaturally calm.

“Have you been well?” I asked politely.

El slowly rolled his eyes. “Life in the temple is always the same. Boring and repetitive.” Resting his chin on his hand, he nudged a flower in a vase on the table before his gaze slowly turned to me. “That’s why I’ve been looking forward to seeing you. You always amuse me.”

His glistening eyes ogled me as though he was taking in something he desperately adored. I couldn’t help but flinch. I never know what’s going on inside his head.

I let out a soft sigh. Though El always hid his true intentions, he had a penchant for saying things that could be misinterpreted. Even his handsome features were too obviously striking to be completely hidden behind a mask.

“Here’s the hide of a Clarky and the blood of a Madorus...” Avoiding his gaze somewhat, I pulled out a small sack. This bag was connected to a huge subspace. Right now, it was full of magic beast parts that I had collected over many sleepless nights of hunting.

“Excellent work, as always. Here’s your pay.” Without even checking what I had to give him, El handed me a white envelope. Intentional or not, his fingertips slowly brushed against the back of my hand as he handed me the check.

My pay... I stared at it for a moment. This was the reward for my hard work. With this money, I could buy Aria’s medicine. But even though I had the check in my hands, I couldn't rest easy.

El had behaved strangely a few times in the past. I would meet with him once a week to hand off useful beast parts I got from my hunts, and he would compensate me in turn. They appeared to be everyday transactions, but oddly, I was always given exactly 1,000 gold. One hundred gold was close to a month’s worth of living expenses for a commoner, while one thousand gold could afford a bottle of Fairy Forest Elixir.

The beasts that appear vary depending on the area and the season, which means that the value of the parts I bring him isn’t consistent. I had explained time and time again that he was losing out by paying me a fixed rate of 1,000 gold, but he would always fork out the same payment.

Not only that, he always has to joke around when it comes to my pay. I’d been surprised by his pranks countless times. At his urging, I opened the envelope. I sighed when I saw the check.

“Father...”

“El.”

“El...”

“Yes?”

His smile irritated me. I sighed again. “There’s an additional zero here.” This time the check was written for 10,000 gold. It seemed my client had completely lost his mind.

“Is that so?” El nonchalantly sipped his tea, which only exasperated me further.

“Is that so?” That’s all he has to say? Ten thousand gold wasn’t an amount to be taken lightly. It usually required half a year of painstaking labor to obtain such a sum.

I know he’s a high priest, but this is over the top. I grasped the check tightly. El hadn’t revealed his identity, but he didn’t seem to be trying hard to hide it either. I’d roughly guessed he was a high priest, and since he never denied it when I called him “Father,” I was quietly confident that I’d guessed correctly.

I’d normally never even cross paths with a high priest. The Solatine Empire was ruled jointly by the temple and the imperial family, meaning the temple held considerable sway. Politics were divided between three factions: the imperial loyalists, the aristocrats, and the temple. This meant that the Pope’s influence was equivalent to an emperor’s and a high priest was like a marquess. Why would a high priest with that much power want to keep meeting me, and why did he keep giving me so much money? I couldn’t wrap my head around El at all.

“My mistake. You can keep it, Mire,” he said, shrugging. Even the way he gracefully lifted his teacup made him look like a work of art.

I sighed and tried to hand the check back to him. “I can’t accept this kind of money. It’s far too much.”

“Not at all. That’s compensation for all the blood you’ve shed.”

El’s calm gaze and low voice rendered me speechless.

What does he think he knows about me? I clenched my hands into fists in my lap. It was my choice to live the life of a blood-drenched mercenary. I had never regretted it. Even though I’d suffered losses and had to face danger at every turn, I wasn’t ashamed. He knows nothing of the pain I’ve endured. How dare he talk about the value of my blood?

My fists trembled in anger. A high priest could never understand anything about the life of a simple mercenary. Maybe it was my inferiority complex getting the best of me, but I felt like he was making light of my struggles.

“Please don’t poke fun at me, Father.” Gritting my teeth, I pushed the check towards him. I no longer wanted to be the source of his entertainment.

“Can’t you just take it?”

“Father!”

“I don’t have ulterior motives. Consider it a token of my appreciation. I’m just trying to return the kindness you showed me, but for no reason, you—” He suddenly gave me a pained look and quickly shut his mouth.

I showed you what, now?! I racked my brain trying to remember what “kindness” he could be referring to.

El panicked and avoided my eyes, as though he realized he’d said too much. “I-it’s nothing.”

Something’s fishy. Frowning at his reaction, I sighed. “Stop playing around. One thousand gold is plenty.”

“I’m sorry for upsetting you. I really wasn’t trying to mock you, Mire.” The man looked at me with sadness in his eyes.

Such a gloomy face made me feel a little guilty. I knew that wasn’t his intention. I was good at picking up on lies and animosity, and I knew there was no way someone trying to make a fool out of me would make such a pathetic face. It does hurt my pride… But if that was the only issue, I could swallow it and take the check.

I stared blankly into space. Once I had even crawled like a dog at the nobles’ feet just to earn some money. But there was one thing I couldn’t compromise on, even if it ended up crushing my ego.

“You must put your principles ahead of your ego. Never let them waver under any circumstances.”

That was something my mentor had taught me. Refusing El’s ridiculous overpayment was a matter of principle. People might scoff at the idea of a poor mercenary having such strong convictions, but I had to be true to them. To not take what I don’t deserve, to receive only what I have earned, and to never do anything unlawful. I had gone as far as I could without violating my beliefs.

“I overreacted. You don’t need to be sorry,” I said. I had gone too far this time. I should never have acted that way in front of a high priest, especially one who was trying to do me a favor.

After absorbing my apology, El slowly opened his mouth. “Mire.”

“Yes?”

“I don’t expect much from you, but I thought we were something like friends.” The silver eyes beneath his slowly fluttering eyelids glistened with tears. “I’m sorry for acting how I did. Please, won’t you call me El? When you call me Father, I feel like the connection between us just grows wider.” Tears threatened to fall from the corners of his drooping eyes at any moment.