“Bad person!”
Tia suddenly shouted while pointing a finger.
It was something everyone already knew, so there was no need to raise her voice.
Anyway, that bad person, regardless of Tia glaring at him, nonchalantly removed his hat and walked into the shop.
I was at a loss for words, taken aback by the audacity of someone acting as if this was his home.
It just happened to be a day when the innkeeper was late, so there was no man to respond to him.
… Although I didn’t think the innkeeper could have stopped a hero in the first place.
“It’s not open yet, customer. We start serving at 5 PM, so could you please step outside…”
“I’m here to talk to Julia personally. Could you move out of the way?”
“…”
Sasha growled and thrust her horns at Leopard.
Maybe it was because he hadn’t shown up the day he came to the shop, but he seemed quite confident.
If she had seen him casually throwing glasses and smashing chairs, she wouldn’t have been behaving like that.
Irina, who had witnessed Leopard’s tyranny, quietly lowered her eyes, completely contrasting Sasha’s attitude.
“Could you please leave?”
“As long as I achieve my purpose, I can leave quietly, miss. So if you’d kindly step aside, I would greatly appreciate it.”
“Huh?! No, that won’t do!”
Swiftly, Leopard naturally slipped inside Sasha’s horns.
Of course, he wasn’t aiming to stab, and with the Hero’s exceptional physical abilities, that was to be expected.
In an instant, as her only weapon was neutralized, Sasha stood there flustered, not knowing what to do.
Leopard briefly held Sasha’s horns and locked eyes with her.
Sasha, who had no immunity to men, immediately looked dizzy and fainted, while Leopard smoothly passed by Sasha and approached me.
Even in the midst of all this, Irina remained still, frozen in fear.
“Julia. We still have things to discuss, don’t we?”
“…”
“Could you please move for a moment, ladies?”
“No. Let’s talk here.”
I made my decision.
Whether I intended to or not, since I had taken over the body of the Holy Maiden, there was no avoiding Hero Leopard’s antics toward me.
It’d be better to talk where others could see us.
Of course, I couldn’t predict if that was a good judgment or not.
That Hero better be the usual unpredictable type.
“Here? If that’s what you prefer.”
“…”
It was only a brief moment before he put on a surprised expression.
He quickly returned to smiling and answering me.
His sickly sweet smile made me feel nauseous.
How could a guy smile like that, resembling a girl?
If there were a contest for the best cross-dresser, I’m certain he would take first place without question.
“Is it about an hour until opening? That’s plenty of time.”
He went to a table in the corner, dragged a chair, and plopped down.
I felt drained by that sight.
I cautiously scooped Tia and approached him.
I thought Leopard might feel uncomfortable having Tia in his face since he was wary of her.
Oh man, she’s heavy.
It felt like I was carrying a sack of rice.
I quickly regretted it.
“Say something.”
“…”
He looked up at me as if he couldn’t believe it.
Carrying a rather large child looked ridiculous, apparently.
Tia seemed not to fully understand the situation, gazing back and forth between me and Leopard.
I didn’t really expect anything from Tia.
I just hoped she’d function well as a suppressor against that lecherous Hero.
“Isn’t it heavy? Why not just put her down?”
“It’s not heavy.”
“Really? Your arms are shaking.”
“Ugh, it’s heavy. I can’t hold on anymore.”
“Wh-what?!”
I ended up dropping Tia onto the floor.
She seemed like she’d hit her back but then, like a cat, gracefully turned and landed on all fours.
She shot me a resentful glance.
However, as I sat down, slapping my thighs, Tia’s gaze quickly softened, and she shyly approached, settling on my lap.
It was just as heavy, but my thick, fatty thighs were enough to support her weight well.
Feeling guilty for having dropped her earlier, I gently stroked the back of her head, trying to soothe her.
Mother’s hand is gentle, so she’ll be alright soon.
Sure enough, the bump began to subside almost instantly.
“Did you abandon the original child and adopt a different one?”
“What are you talking about?”
“It looks like the child has doubled in size since the last time I saw her…”
Hmm. Is that so?
Tia suddenly turned her head to meet my gaze.
Maybe because I saw her every day, she didn’t seem that different to me.
“Don’t you have something to say to me?”
“What?”
“You came all this way. I thought you might have something to say.”
“…”
She just suddenly came by and then asks me if I have something to say?
I was at a loss, completely taken aback.
How could someone be so shameless?
I was about to tell him to get lost since I had nothing more to say and needed to prepare for opening when I remembered something.
“Tia’s school…”
It would be great if I could send Tia to school since she had no chance to see friends her age or learn anything.
With the Hero’s connections, getting Tia enrolled should be a piece of cake.
But bringing this up with that sinister fellow was a different matter.
He would surely demand an enormous price…
To him, I was undoubtedly the hateful one who stole the body of the beloved Holy Maiden.
Thinking about how he might enjoy the idea of how to twist me around made my head spin.
“No, nothing.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. So if you have no other business, I’d appreciate it if you could leave so we can get ready for opening.”
“You seem to be too shy to speak. Then, let me offer you something: I’ll introduce you to the Dragania family, so come work for us. Whether as a maid or a housekeeper, anything will do. Unless you have some utterly unacceptable, fatal flaw, I can guarantee you’ll be hired 100%…”
“Wait, wait a moment!”
I thought I must have misheard that.
Dragania is the noble family supporting Leopard.
Rumor has it they have drastically fewer people than before, worrying about extinction, but they still possess an enormous fortune.
The workload is light, and the employers don’t even touch their maids, making it a dream job.
“Why the sudden offer?”
“You really have a strange way of expressing gratitude. Just go without any more nonsense.”
“What’s the catch?”
“Catch? There is none. I just want Julia to be happy.”
“…”
Empty words.
The moment I saw his sickening smile, my insides twisted, and my body trembled in disgust.
It was certainly not a goodwill without a price; he was clearly planning to leave me in debt.
Nothing was scarier than being in debt to that guy.
Until the day I repay the debt, I would have to live in fear, wondering what kind of perverted request he would bring while grinning at me.
I’d have to endure a life much more anxious than when I cluelessly opened a stock trading account and lost all my pocket money at the peak.
“I don’t need it. I just received my citizenship certificate.”
“Oh, I came to confirm that it was issued. No matter how much my introduction might help, Dragania wouldn’t hire someone whose status is unclear. Just because you have that one citizenship certificate doesn’t mean you can freely choose your position. Far from it. The only noble willing to hire you will likely be a pervert expecting nighttime services. Do you understand your position now?”
He raised his voice loudly, causing Irina and Sasha, who had merely been glancing over nervously, to perk up and observe us like meerkats.
That was mostly true.
But despite that, the Hero’s attitude felt quite different from before; it felt jarring.
Perhaps it was not a separate matter.
“Looking closely, it seems you’re the one in a hurry.”
“What?”
The Hero’s expression crumpled.
I must have hit a nerve.
“If I don’t go to Dragania, it seems you’ll be in trouble, right?”
“What nonsense…”
“Isn’t it? Then it wouldn’t be a big deal if I refused, huh? I’m not going.”
“…”
The tips of the Hero’s eyes twitched.
He was clearly furious.
It seemed he was trying to hold it in, but it didn’t seem to be going well, as the chair he had gripped tightly was cracking.
I must remember to bill him for the chair.
“Hey, Julia. Are you crazy? When given an opportunity, you kick it away? If someone offers you a kindness, should you not just accept it with gratitude and not let pride get in the way?”
“I’m not particularly interested in your kindness. Unless it’s goodwill without expecting something in return.”
“You crazy b*tch. Fine. I’ll do it as you wish.”
He clearly showed his agitation as he pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket.
It was a pledge.
A blank pledge with the seal of Duke Dragania already stamped on it.
He laid it out to show off and began to fill in the blanks with a pen.
It was just a short pledge consisting of only two sentences.
Finally, he scrawled his name and signature beneath the seal before crumpling the pledge and throwing it to the ground.
“Is that enough?”
“…”
I stood there dumbfounded, unable to find words, when he stormed out, unable to contain his excitement.
I had no idea at what point he got angry.
“Did Tia upset him…?”
“No. That person just has anger management issues. Tia isn’t at fault.”
After putting Tia down, I picked up the crumpled pledge and unfolded it to read.
It stated:
– I, Leopard, will recommend Julia to the Dragania family.
– I, Leopard, will not demand anything from Julia in return.
Would it not be awkward when I opened this tomorrow to find all the writing miraculously disappeared?
I had to believe he wouldn’t stoop so low.
Anyway, getting a decent job for free seemed advantageous, but something felt off.
What was the reason I had to get tied to Dragania?
It was a mystery.
