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Chapter – 38
“I have no intention of killing you. In fact, didn’t I tell you to do something instead?”
“Do you really… mean for me to report myself?”
“Yes. I think it’d be quite entertaining to let the whole world know just how much of a piece of trash you are.”
“N-no, absolutely not. I’ll never do that. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything, I really am…!”
Even as he begged, his eyes kept darting around, clearly searching for a chance to escape. But the emperor’s knights had already sealed off every possible route.
“Do you want to run?”
“I really had nothing to do with it. Just as Your Majesty said, I—I only needed a young woman. That’s why I gave money to Count Avalon. It’s not that I’m completely blameless, but… I swear I’ll never do anything like this again, so just this once…!”
Once again, the emperor’s gaze turned to me. This time, however, he didn’t ask me anything.
“To be honest, I feel disgusted.”
“Y-Yes…?”
“If I’d arrived any later, someone like you might’ve dragged Raviel away. So I think killing you would make this stifling feeling ease a bit. But since Raviel doesn’t want that, I’ll let you go.”
“Th-thank you, Lady Raviel. Your Majesty, thank you so much.”
Bleeding heavily from his legs, he barely managed to bow his head before starting to crawl away again. Watching him, the emperor slowly stroked my hair once more.
“Let’s go back inside. You need to wash up.”
“Ah.”
“The mercenary office already took money from the count, so—”
“I have more money.”
There was no further explanation. He stopped stroking my hair and took the lead toward the mercenary office.
When I stepped inside, the mercenaries—who had gradually disappeared after the emperor’s arrival—stared at us with shocked expressions.
However, having witnessed what the emperor had done, none of them dared approach. Naturally, the emperor ignored them and stopped in front of the reception desk.
“Where’s the boss?”
“Pardon? The boss isn’t here right now.”
“Is that so? Go fetch him.”
“Yes.”
Without hesitation, the emperor shifted his gaze to one of the knights behind him. The knight dashed off as if he’d been waiting for the order, while the emperor casually leaned against the reception counter.
“Um… are you planning to stay here?”
“I’ll stay until the boss arrives. Why, do you have a problem with that?”
“N-No, it’s just…”
Several minutes passed. Then another ten. Even after a long while, the emperor didn’t budge an inch. With the knights surrounding the area as well, one sharp-eyed employee finally lost his nerve and ran inside. When he returned, he brought with him a man nearly as large as Count Avalon—the manager of the mercenary office.
Khan, who had complained all day about the decision, looked at the manager with a blank expression.
“What’s going on, Khan? I hear a customer came in and refuses to leave.”
“With someone standing right in front of you, I’m not sure why you’d ask that instead of speaking to them directly.”
Even so, the manager ignored the emperor and continued looking only at Khan. Apparently, he hadn’t been told that the ‘customer’ loitering at the desk was the emperor.
Even with knights present, remaining that calm took a certain kind of talent. The other mercenaries merely sighed quietly, offering no explanation.
Khan replied indifferently.
“I don’t know.”
“Pathetic. What’s the point of you being here if you don’t even know that?”
“Wouldn’t it be faster to ask the person himself, Manager? Though even without asking, seeing him here with Lady Raviel, it seems he’s here because of the way you treated her.”
“Find out.”
“You pig. Ignoring someone right in front of you—do you think that makes you look strong?”
Only then did the manager turn his head to look at the emperor.
“You’re quite rude for a first meeting.”
“And you’re hardly in a position to talk, ignoring people at a first meeting.”
“Where do you get off speaking so casually?”
“Oh. Since you started talking casually, I thought we were keeping it informal.”
The manager scoffed in disbelief.
“What nonsense are you spouting?”
“Whatever. I heard you chased Raviel out over a handful of coins?”
“A handful of coins? I simply accepted a request and carried it out since there was no issue with it. What’s the problem with that?”
Arrogant and conceited, he merely shrugged, showing no sign of intimidation even at the emperor’s words.
“What, is she your lover or something? That why you’re picking a fight?”
The emperor said nothing and instead looked to one of the knights. Without hesitation, the knight placed a coin pouch on the counter.
“Seems like money makes anything possible.”
The moment the heavy pouch thudded onto the table, the manager’s eyes gleamed.
“Well, not necessarily… Are you offering this so the woman can stay here?”
“That’s part of it.”
“If that’s all, I’ll accept the request. I’ll make sure the mercenaries don’t chase her away anymore. There, satisfied?”
Brazenly, the manager reached out to take the pouch. Instead of handing it over, the emperor glanced at the knights again. Another pouch was added on top.
“And this… what’s this for?”
“What? You were speaking so curtly earlier—now that there’s money involved, you suddenly have a lot to say?”
“N-No, it’s not that… Haha. But do you have another request?”
The change was blatant—astonishingly so.
“Oh, I do.”
“Just say the word. As long as there’s money, we’ll do anything.”
At that moment, someone burst inside in a panic.
“What is going on here?!”
A man appeared, barely dressed.
“Ah, Boss, you’re here? I don’t see why you came when I’m handling things.”
The manager forced an awkward smile, clearly displeased. But the boss ignored him and hurriedly bowed before the emperor.
“Your Majesty!”
“Oh, you’re here.”
“T-The emperor…?”
As the emperor nodded while leaning casually, the manager stared at his superior in shock.
“Boss… what’s with that reaction?”
“This is His Majesty the Emperor!”
“You should’ve known just by looking. Don’t tell me you were rude to him?”
“N-No, of course not. Rude? I’d never—”
“You were extremely rude. Boss, you know this, right? I personally favored you and allowed this to be the empire’s sole mercenary office. But now I’m thinking of opening another one.”
So this was what it meant to crush someone with authority. The emperor pressed without hesitation.
“What are you saying, Your Majesty? Haha.”
“I’m not joking. That manager of yours isn’t right in the head.”
“If he offended Your Majesty, I’ll make sure he’s properly disciplined.”
“He didn’t offend me. He took a few coins and chased away one of my people.”
The manager stammered, his mouth opening and closing uselessly. I, having unintentionally become ‘one of the emperor’s people,’ could only scratch my head awkwardly.
“My deepest apologies. I had no idea.”
The boss quickly bowed toward me.
“I’m sorry.”
“Oh, no, it’s fine. Haha.”
Naturally, the boss then turned on the manager with a furious expression.
“What exactly have you been doing?!”
“I just took the money—”
“I told you, this office doesn’t work for money alone. You judge people. You dared to touch His Majesty—how do you plan to take responsibility?!”
Looking utterly wronged, the manager protested.
“How was I supposed to know he was the emperor? If I’d known, I wouldn’t have acted like that!”
“And you think that makes it better?! Apologize immediately!”
Only then did the heavily built manager finally lower his head.
“If I offended you, I’m sor—sorry.”
Unexpectedly, the emperor smiled and shook his head.
“No. No need to apologize.”
“Pardon…?”
“So, Boss, I have one request.”
“Just say the word.”
“Fire him.”
There wasn’t even a hint of hesitation.
“M-Me? Are you talking about me?!”
The ‘him’ the emperor pointed to was the mercenary office manager. Realizing this, the man exploded.
“I apologized! Why should I—!”
“Is an apology enough? If you’re a manager, you should take responsibility.”
“Responsibility? This wasn’t that serious! I just chased her out for a bit—!”
“Do you know what Raviel went through because of what you did?”
Everyone’s gaze turned to me. Seeing the blood matted in my hair, they all gasped.
“You were injured because of him, Lady Raviel?!”
The most shocked was Khan. At his words, the atmosphere turned grave.
“N-No, that’s not—”
I hurried to deny it, but the emperor cut in, as if deliberately encouraging the misunderstanding.
“You see, Boss?”
“Ah… I’m so sorry.”
“I’m not saying this to get an apology. I’m telling you to fire him. From what I see, that manager will do anything for money. So kick him out. I’ll pay you for it. If it’s not enough, say so. Money’s the only thing I have in excess.”
Chuckling softly, the emperor looked at the manager with amusement.
“You chased Raviel out for money, so now—Manager—if you want to survive, try bringing me money.”
