Chapter 106: Invest Carefully (2)

“An in-investment…?!”

Nero asked back, flustered.

But, whereas before it was the panic of a bunch of strangers coming in, now it seemed a bit different.

“Wh-What is that, what…”

Like the reaction when hearing something for the first time.

“…What?”

Ibi, who was watching this, also immediately noticed the difference and was puzzled.

But that was also for a moment.

“──?! N-No way…!”

Nero, who had been looking up at the investment certificate in my hand with a bewildered expression, suddenly her mouth dropped open as if she had just remembered something.

“Th-The people who came from the bank a while ago, saying they were looking for me… were they real…?!”

Aha.

I think I know what happened.

Why, even though I had invested a whole 10,000 gold, nothing had changed in the ‘Nero's Atelier’ from my memory.

I thought that even if Nero didn't spend it lavishly due to her personality, she would at least have some alchemy tools and the like… why I couldn't find any of that.

“I-I thought, it was a scam, of course…!?”

Well, because she hadn't touched it.

The 10,000 gold.

“Ah! S-Surely… you guys are also, scamme…”

“We are not.”

I cut off Nero, who had started to be suspicious again, and handed her the investment certificate in my hand, telling her to check it herself.

Nero, who had received it with trembling hands, put on the glasses that had fallen off when she had fallen earlier, and began to read the contents carefully.

“N-No matter how I look at it, it looks real…?”

“Because it is real…?”

“B-But…! To me, who has never even sold a single item properly… to suddenly invest such a large sum of money, there can't be such a person…!”

“Here I am.”

“O-Of course, I thought it was a scam, so… I-I mustered up my courage and chased them away…!”

Why on earth did you muster up your courage for something like that?

“What? You haven't sold a single one?”

At that, Ibi, who had been listening to Nero's story, repeated it as if an unacceptable remark had come out.

From Ibi's perspective, since she had been suspicious all along that I had thrown 10,000 gold on the ground, she must have been sensitive.

“No then, how on earth are you still in business…? No, are you even in business in the first place?”

“A-A while ago… some, customers came who wanted to place an order, so… I was barely able to pay the rent…”

“What? An order?”

Nero answered Ibi, who was questioning her with a look of disbelief, in a slightly frightened tone.

“I-I can't tell you, what kind of order it was… b-but, I just happened to know the method…”

Surely, she must be talking about the people we had fought with when we rescued Rine from the auction house.

It seems they had safely arrived here.

“Did you succeed?”

“Y-Yes…?”

“Their order.”

The 「Slave Brand」 that was stamped on them was not something that could be erased just because you wanted to.

It was a restraining tool made with magic to completely deprive and control an individual's freedom.

Therefore, just as each person has different genes, the structure of the brands also differed complexly for each person they were stamped on.

So, as is the case with all brands, it was easy to stamp, but very difficult to remove.

Moreover, since most 「Slave Brands」 had a so-called ‘kill switch’ as insurance in case the slave rebelled, there were many cases where one would lose their life if they were tampered with incorrectly.

“Uh, yes… I succeeded, but…?”

But she had erased such a brand without any problem.

“I'm glad.”

It was proof that Nero was a very skilled mage.

Just that she was not yet known to the world.

Who would have imagined that a mage and alchemist of such great skill would be cooped up in a shabby warehouse like this.

“Th-Then… did you really, invest, 10,000, 10,000 gold… in me…?”

“I did.”

“W-Why, on earth……?”

Ibi, gesturing as if to agree, saying that was exactly what she wanted to say, began to glare at me.

“Wh-What are you… going to make me do…?!

“…Huh?”

“S-Something, that you can't tell anyone else… you're going to make me do it, aren't you…?!”

“Ah, don't worry. It's not a crime.”

Strictly speaking, I wasn't asking her to commit a crime, but to track down a crime.

However, Nero still looked up at me with suspicious eyes, and then.

“I-If it’s not related to a crime… to give me so, so much money…… Aah!”

She suddenly flinched and hugged herself with both arms.

“D-Don't tell me…!?”

“I don't know what you were thinking, but it's definitely not that either.”

As Nero started to have a huge misunderstanding, this time Ibi stopped glaring at me and took my side.

“No, this guy is not that kind of guy…”

To be precise, she was about to, but stopped.

“…? No, is he…?”

“What do you mean, you too?”

“Y-Yes, of course…!”

Look.

Nero also jumped to conclusions and got scared because of you.

“You’re trying to… te-tempt me, with so much money that I can’t refuse, aren’t you…!?”

“I’m not.”

How on earth do you reach that conclusion.

“…Really not?”

“Why are you doing this to me?”

“Look back at your actions.”

What did I do?

Are you serious, you bastard?

Why are you doing this to me too?

“S-Such…! It’s not true!”

Suddenly, Miki, who had been quietly observing the situation, stepped up as if he could no longer just watch the misunderstanding spread.

So the only one I can trust in this situation is Miki──

“Mr. Yubin is someone who always seduces people with his looks and eloquence! He is not someone who would use such a cowardly trick…!”

“──?!”

“Thanks for defending me, Miki… but I don't think that's very helpful right now….”

I thought there wasn't one, but it was just that there was no one to trust.

As a result, Nero, who seemed to have mistaken me for a piece of trash who goes around seducing everyone she sees, became even more frightened and cowered.

Mistaken?

…No, well, I did seduce them!

But it wasn't just anyone.

Are you asking me to correct it to a piece of trash who seduces not only people but also dragons?

Why are you doing this to me, really?

Not only that, but this time, for some reason, even Lily bowed her head, her face similarly red.

“…What’s wrong, Lily?”

When Toric, who had noticed this, asked, Lily fidgeted with her demurely clasped hands and answered shyly.

“What? Ah… no, well… I, I was just reminded of a shameful, thing that Mr. Yubin did to me, so…”

“E-Even, even the Sister…?!”

“S-Seduction, you mean seduction?! Shall we agree not to omit important words that confuse us!?”

You mean it was shameful that you lost to temptation as a cleric of Sistina, right? Right??

You're not doing this to bury me here on purpose, but because you have no knowledge that it could be interpreted in another way, right?

“…Don't tell me, did you do something in secret again?”

“I didn't….”

“You…”

I immediately explained, but I don't know how he took it, but Toric said to me in a somewhat worried tone.

“I know that bards in general, live very free-spirited lives… but I’ve seen many who have gotten into all sorts of trouble because of it. There was even one among the Kapers. I’m just saying this out of concern… but, you, you too should be a little…”

“…Yeah. Thanks for the advice.”

This one really sounded like an adult who was seriously worried about me, so it was a bit hard to argue with him.

“…I just came here because I have about three requests for you, Miss Nero.”

After clearing the air with a long sigh, I looked at Nero, who seemed to have a huge misunderstanding about me, and clearly stated my purpose.

“A r-request…?”

“Yes. First, the first request is to track down the origin of the gold coins.”

I untied the small sack that was hanging from my waist and handed it to Nero.

Inside it, of course, was a part of the gold coins we had stolen.

“As a skilled alchemist like you, Miss Nero, you will surely be able to track down where these gold coins came from.”

“U-Um, I’m not a skilled, alchemist or anything…”

“But, you can do it, can't you?”

Nero, who was looking down at the gold coins in the sack, did not deny my question in the end.

“I-I think, I can, though…”

“…Really?”

Ibi looked as if she didn't believe it at all, but it was true.

Nero would surely find out the origin of the gold coins in a day.

There was nothing to worry about in that regard.

“The second request is… we would like to sell one of the items you have made on consignment.”

“C-Consignment…?”

“Yes.”

Actually, this… was not a request I had originally planned to make.

But since I had found out that she hadn't touched the 10,000 gold I had invested at all, I had no choice but to add it in a hurry.

Because I had boasted that the investment at that time would surely triple, to 30,000 gold.

But at this rate, Ibi, who had been glaring at me from a while ago, would kill me.

“You don't have to make a new one, just give us one of the ones you have now that you're confident in.”

So, it was practically a rescue request to save my life.

“A c-confident item……?”

At my words, Nero seemed to be lost in thought for a moment, and then.

“Uh, I don’t have one, though……”

She answered in a crawling voice, saying that no matter how much she thought about it, she didn't have anything like that.

“…Why are you in business, kid?”

“I-I don't know how to do, anything else but this…”

But that answer was not because the quality of the items was really low.

It was just that she didn't know how great the quality of the items she made was.

Primarily, it was a problem of confidence, which had naturally hit rock bottom due to her catastrophically low communication skills.

And for the same reason, unfortunately, she had no connections to ask to evaluate her items.

And she certainly had no courage to somehow find those connections.

“Anything is fine, really. A potion, an elixir, an artifact, it doesn't matter.”

But in that regard, I could certainly help.

“At first, the goal is to show the customer Miss Nero’s skills.”

The current Nero was practically a jewel that no one knew existed because she was cooped up in the corner of this shabby warehouse.

And I was a bard who could sing and sell even a non-jewel as a jewel.

“Finally, the third request is…”

This time, it was a request I had decided on from the beginning, before coming here.

“I would like you to erase my companion's ‘brand’.”

“…! A b-brand, you mean…”

Yes.

Rine's body still had a 「Slave Brand」.

Even if she was not in a contract state, as long as the brand was not erased, the world's view of Rine's status was still a ‘masterless slave’.

Unless the ‘Eastwood's Contract’ that I had just taken out from inside my clothes, and the 「Slave Brand」 that remained on Rine's body, were removed, Rine would not be completely free.

“You can… erase the brand…?”

Ibi was incredulous, saying that she had never heard of such a thing being possible.

“There is.”

It was possible.

“Right?”

At my question, Nero answered with a voice that had no confidence at all.

“I-I think, I can….”

Nevertheless, she slowly nodded her head.

“Is that true?”

“What? Ah, probably…?”

Of course, she still had no confidence in herself.

But I am confident.

“──With this, you are now completely free, Rine.”

Therefore, I looked at Rine and showed a smile.

Because I was happy.

How could I not be happy, when it was the moment Rine was not just nominally free, but actually free.

Of course, even in that moment, Rine just looked up at me with her usual emotionless expression.

But, even a Rine like that, surely in her heart…

“I don't want to.”

“……What?”