IBVSM 02

Chapter 02

I swallowed hard before opening my mouth.

“…My apologies. My throat suddenly tightened up for a moment. I’ll continue answering.”

The final method for survival.

For now, obediently do as I’m told.

After clearing my throat, I carefully began answering Aden’s question as cautiously as possible.

“Seven years ago, when the Airen flower—a specialty product from the island nation—became popular in the Empire, some merchants distributed seeds of poisonous plants that looked similar. So I…”

“I already know the background of the incident. What I’m asking is how you distinguished the ‘fake’ ones.”

Aden coldly cut me off mid-sentence.

“Surely you’re not claiming that a fourteen-year-old at the time possessed expertise in botany?”

‘Look at the way he talks.’

Was this an interview or an interrogation?

My expression almost cracked, but I somehow managed to maintain my smile.

“No.”

“I thought not. Then—”

“In the first place, it wasn’t something that required botanical knowledge. The sacks containing the seeds themselves were suspicious.”

The Airen flower had become a nationwide trend crop, and naturally many Imperial citizens suffered damages from counterfeit seeds.

Yet not a single accident occurred from the seeds distributed through my small harbor town, Sirena.

“You said the sacks?”

“Yes. The seeds are highly sensitive to moisture, so they’re supposed to be stored in double-layered waterproof sacks. But the shipment that arrived that day used single-layer sacks. I figured there was no way anyone would package such expensive cargo that carelessly.”

The moment I sensed something was off, I tore open every sack and inspected them all.

It was an old-fashioned testing method—floating the seeds in water.

It took several times longer than usual, but it was worth it.

“As a result of the full inspection, I discovered the entire shipment was fake and was able to take action.”

‘Though honestly, the sacks weren’t the only strange thing. The expressions on the island sailors transporting the cargo were different from usual too.’

But adding that detail would only drag the explanation out longer.

I stopped there and anxiously watched Aden.

The gaze he used to review my résumé and recommendation letter was emotionless.

That made it even more chilling.

There wasn’t the slightest softness in his face, and even his eyes lacked warmth.

At this point, he felt less like a person and more like some artificial being.

‘When is this going to end? It already feels like the interview’s been going on forever.’

“One final question.”

Finally!

Composing my expression, I nodded calmly.

“A while ago, you said you didn’t know what kind of goods handles.”

Damn it.

Before realizing who Aden truly was, I’d said something like that.

But it wasn’t as though I’d had any opportunity to gather information. I’d only arrived in the capital a few days ago after living in a rural port town.

‘Finding a job was urgent. I didn’t even have time to research what the company sold. And even if I had looked into it, is such a secretive trading company that there’s no way an ordinary job seeker like me would’ve learned much.’

“Even so, why did you apply?”

My mind spun rapidly.

‘The original story starts one year from now. The information I know is all from around that point in time.’

In other words, trying to bluff my way through guessing what currently did would be suicide.

But giving some generic answer like “I wanted an opportunity to grow” was also out of the question.

‘What if they actually hire me? I need to fail this interview!’

Then what?

‘Guess I’ll have to be honest.’

An answer came to mind that fit with what I’d said earlier and was probably the exact kind employers hated most.

The reason I’d applied to despite knowing nothing about the company was obvious.

“Because the job posting said you offered the highest salary in the industry.”

“So, money?”

“Yes. Honestly, at first I doubted it, but after coming here, I realized it probably wasn’t a lie. It also seemed unlikely that salaries would be delayed.”

“Hah.”

Was that a scoff just now?

“And why did you think that?”

After asking, Aden lowered his gaze back to the documents.

It sounded like a perfunctory question.

Or maybe he’d asked without thinking because my answer was so absurd.

Either way, I needed to answer quickly and get out of here.

I mentioned the first thing that caught my eye.

“Because you use genuine blackwood desks.”

“…What did you say?”

“Blackwood. It’s a species that grows extremely slowly, so it takes nearly a hundred years before it’s large enough to make furniture from. Which makes it very expensive.”

That was why even wealthy people usually painted darkwood furniture black instead of using real blackwood.

With good dye, it was hard to tell the difference at a glance.

“But not only your office—the desks in the workrooms are all genuine blackwood too. So I figured you probably wouldn’t have issues paying employees.”

“You recognized that immediately? The moment you walked into the interview?”

“Yes.”

More precisely, I’d inspected so many fake blackwood furniture pieces during cargo inspections that I could tell the difference.

It was my first time seeing real blackwood, though.

The sheen was subtly richer and smoother.

‘Then again, for someone who’s secretly the final villain, it makes sense his office would be pitch black everywhere. That’s how I noticed.’

Honestly, not just his clothes—even his office was drowned in black.

Was he expressing himself like this because he was worried people wouldn’t realize he was a villain?

At this point, it wasn’t taste anymore. It was obsession.

Half exasperated internally, I politely asked,

“Then… are your questions finished?”

“…Yes. We’ll contact you through the employment agency.”

“Understood. Thank you.”

As I left the room, one thought crossed my mind.

Yeah.

There’s no way they’re calling me back.

‘Thought I was going to suffocate in there.’

Only after backing out and closing the office door behind me could I finally breathe deeply.

Still, this was probably for the best.

‘There’s no way I passed, right? Definitely not. Aden didn’t seem to like me at all.’

I was actually pretty good at sensing these things.

Even without knowledge of the original novel, the moment I opened the interview room door, I’d instinctively known getting hired would be nearly impossible.

And I’d even stumbled over my words midway through the interview, so the result was obvious.

‘Surely they won’t kill me just because I failed an interview…? It’s unsettling that I personally handed over all my personal information, but it’s not like I can steal it back now.’

Adjusting my glasses and straightening my clothes, I stepped into the hallway.

Someone was leaning against the doorway in the distance.

It was the employee who had greeted me when I first arrived at .

“How’d the interview go?”

“Haha… I hope it went well.”

“Our boss ain’t easy to deal with, right?”

Despite his somewhat intimidating appearance, the man spoke in a friendly manner.

His name was Luther.

Suppressing the urge to agree with complete seriousness, I forced a smile and answered,

“I learned a lot thanks to him. It was a valuable experience.”

Apparently he hadn’t expected that answer.

“Oho…” Luther stared at me briefly before grinning.

“Well then, good work. Here’s your interview fee.”

Before I could even properly accept it, Luther slipped the envelope straight into my bag and waved his hand.

“Take care on your way back.”

At last, I left behind.

The company’s emblem was engraved on the closed doors.

Waves, jagged cliffs, and the silhouette of someone sitting atop the rocks.

Staring at the logo, I let out a hollow laugh.

“Mr. Mason always said people from the capital couldn’t be trusted… but I didn’t expect to run into the worst of them here.”

Mason, the owner of my former workplace——and I had been quite close for seven years.

Even so, the reason I came to the capital was because Mason had retired.

Traveling the world after retirement had been his lifelong dream, but he’d hesitated because he was worried about me losing my job.

It had only been a few days since I practically shoved him out the door and said goodbye.

Composing myself again, I started walking briskly.

“First things first—back to the employment agency.”

Running into Aden had been shocking, but I still needed to focus on what mattered.

I had debts.

And not ordinary debts, either—debts tied to vicious loan sharks.

‘The principal is around two hundred million gold, but the monthly interest alone is five million gold… Honestly, paying off the principal is basically impossible.’

Since it was gambling debt left behind by my father, it couldn’t legally be forgiven either.

So I needed to find a job as quickly as possible.

‘Come to think of it, how much did they even give as interview pay?’

I searched through my bag and pulled out the job posting.

[※ Highest salary in the industry guaranteed]

[※ Paid training period (1 month)]

The salary offer alone was tempting enough, but—

[※ Interview fee paid immediately]

—the biggest reason I’d applied was this interview fee.

I desperately needed every coin I could get right now.

‘Though honestly, using expensive office furniture doesn’t necessarily mean a company pays well. And it’s Aden we’re talking about. I shouldn’t expect too—’

But the moment I pulled out the envelope—

“Huh? If it’s this thick, then…”