BVSM 10

Chapter 10

It was rare for Aden to agree.

Across from him, Lennox brightened.

“Right?! Anyway, I’ll stay a bit longer in this town and gather more clues. Ah! Here comes the postman! Who could have sent mail here? I’ll subtly try to get information—”

“Let’s end it here. Contact me if there’s any progress.”

Aden ended the communication without hesitation and stared at the recorded footage.

She claimed not to have learned hand-to-hand combat, yet she used the terrain to defend herself and then landed a decisive blow.

Her excessively calm manner of speaking. The assertion that, with no prior information and solely through observation, she uncovered corruption within a single day.

[Isn’t it common sense to pick your targets carefully before pulling something like this?]

Aden gazed at Illian in the video muttering that. He paused the magical device at the scene where Jeremy had flinched and stopped himself from attacking her.

“I suppose I have no choice but to admit it, Miss Gracia. I don’t know who sent you,” Aden added, recalling Illian’s shining teal eyes. Those eyes he’d seen behind her crooked glasses. “But that person’s eye is… rather decent.”

Aden did not notice the faint smile tugging at the corner of his own mouth.

I’d been forced to leave work early.

As I stumbled out of La Mar, it suddenly dawned on me.

“Why are you following me, Mr. Luther?”

But Luther answered, looking even more bewildered than I felt.

“You think I’d just send you home alone after something like that?”

“Well, yes, actually. I’m not really injured…”

“Goodness. Even if you’re not physically hurt, fatigue and emotional shock hit you later. I don’t want to hear that a La Mar employee collapsed on the street!”

Come to think of it, in the original story, Luther was a pretty decent person. Decent enough that I’d wondered why he stayed by the mastermind’s side until the very end.

Anyway, I realized it was well-intentioned, so I decided to accept his kindness gratefully. Besides, the address I’d put on my resume was my real one, so hiding where I lived was pointless.

Still, ‘Miss Secretary’? That term is more of an emotional shock, Mr. Luther.

Earlier, when Aden had shoved the employment contract at me.

I’d quickly pulled myself together and thought of an excuse to quit. Even something like, ‘I’m too scared to keep working here.’

But before I could even open my mouth, the mastermind struck first.

“Didn’t you say yesterday that your motivation for applying was money?”

“I never said that so directly…”

“If that’s true, there should be no reason to hesitate. Why are you hesitating?”

Only after hearing that did I realize it.

If I’d tried to make an excuse like, ‘I’m too scared to stay with the merchant group,’ I should have started crying and sniffling right away. After answering all his questions so readily, there was no way that suspicious bastard would leave me alone if I suddenly begged to quit.

As I stood frozen, Aden drove in the final wedge.

“Just like someone who has a different motive they’re not telling me.”

And so I…

“Well, anyway, congratulations. You’re probably the first and last person in La Mar’s history to skip the probationary period and get promoted in one day. Haha.”

Just as Luther said, I’d skipped probation and been promoted in a single day. To be honest, I couldn’t really blame anyone. I was the one who’d literally blown away my senior and created the vacancy.

I wanted to cry. I squeezed my eyes shut, then opened them and asked.

“So what happened to Jeremy?”

“Huh? Oh, uh, well… it’s better if you don’t know.”

“…”

“Handled according to internal regulations! That’s what he said. You’re new, you don’t need to know the regulations yet. They’ll just give you a headache.”

The way he emphasized “handled” was subtle, but it definitely wasn’t my imagination.

Maybe Luther wasn’t following me out of consideration. Maybe Aden had just cleared the room so he could “cook” Jeremy however he wanted…

As I was thinking that, Luther spoke up in a slightly exaggerated tone.

“I know you’re flustered now, but there are a lot of benefits to becoming a full-time employee. Your salary goes up, of course, and if you need it, you can get additional training or a company loan…”

Of course, those benefits were far ahead of their time, but since the head of the merchant group was the one and only Aden, I couldn’t take it at face value.

A company loan? You want me to go into debt to Aden? Isn’t that just putting shackles on me with money?

Unaware of my true feelings, Luther continued listing the perks of being a regular employee and then smiled.

“Word that a new employee has joined must have spread by now. Everyone’s probably curious. A lot of them are away right now, but they’re all good-natured people, so don’t worry. Guys like Jeremy really don’t exist, I tell you.”

I understood he was trying to reassure me, but again, I couldn’t take it at face value. It seemed my personal information had been sold all across the empire. I was in big trouble.

I gave a perfunctory reply and started walking ahead. Luther’s voice came a little closer.

“So, about that.”

I looked up. Luther scratched the back of his neck and asked cautiously.

“That, uh, spy business… you probably have your own hardships, right? Am I right?”

“Well… I suppose so?”

“You must have your own circumstances.”

“Probably?”

What he said wasn’t wrong, but why was he telling me this?

Was he close with Jeremy?

But I didn’t think a guy like Jeremy would have any particular backstory.

Luther looked at me, tilting my head in confusion, and seemed about to say something, having made a decision.

“Ah, this is my house. Thank you for walking me home.”

Luther’s mouth fell open.

“This is your house, Miss Secretary?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure this is okay?”

“Yes, well. It’s a bit old, but for a place I found in a hurry, it’s fine.”

My house on the mountainside looked less like a house and more like a shack.

Of course, I’d like to live in a decent place, but there weren’t many options within my budget in the capital.

Still, this house—though its exterior was quite worn—was actually rather cozy inside.

But then…

“…So that’s why. That was the situation…”

Luther’s eyes, which had been looking back and forth between me and my house, suddenly grew moist.

“Why are you doing that?”

“Ah, nothing, nothing! Well, I’ll be going now. Get some good rest.”

It was the face of someone having a bizarre misunderstanding, but I couldn’t quite tell what it was.

I watched Luther hurry off, confused, then went inside.

“Luther was right.”

Even though I’d only been here a day, my body recognized it as home, as a safe place, and fatigue washed over me in an instant.

Not even making it to the bed, I flopped onto the floor and mumbled.

“Should I try running away overnight? No, that won’t work. Should I restart the ‘become a useless employee’ project? No, after everything I did today, that won’t work. Or maybe I could embezzle like Jeremy, but just a tiny amount… No, what am I even saying…”

I was just rambling.

Then I saw the employment contract sticking out of my open bag.

It said that my monthly salary, including base pay and other items, would be a whopping 6 million gold.

Enough money to steadily pay off my debts without needing two or three jobs.

“Honestly, just looking at the conditions, it’s not bad. Good pay, good benefits. Why did that guy Aden have to be a villain? If he’s that rich, he should just live for the joy of spending money.”

As a commoner drowning in debt, I couldn’t help but be tempted by that money.

If it weren’t for Aden, La Mar would be a truly perfect workplace!

“…Well, strictly speaking, he’s not really a ‘villain’ yet.”

I mulled over my own words and tilted my head.

Come to think of it, Aden right now—though quite terrifying—wasn’t yet the worst villain in the world. He only went off the deep end after meeting the original story’s female protagonist. That’s a few months away, time-wise.

“Oh.”

If that’s the case…

“Couldn’t I just make sure they never meet?”

I was lying there blinking, but then I shot up.

Wait a minute. I’m his secretary, aren’t I?

“I can just adjust his schedule so Aden never even sees the heroine’s face! Then Aden won’t go crazy, and he won’t become the mastermind!”

And most importantly,

“That way, I won’t get arrested along with him just because I worked at La Mar!”

Overjoyed at finding hope, I cheered silently, then suddenly stopped.

Because I remembered there was a very big obstacle to this simple, clear plan.

“…To do that, I’d have to gain Aden’s trust first.”

Aden not liking me very much was, surprisingly, the second problem.

My predecessor, Jeremy, was a secretary in name only; he hadn’t received any major assignments for six months.

And yet, even with that limited authority, he’d managed to embezzle 300 million gold.

“Even if I go in tomorrow, he’ll probably be suspicious of me just going to get water…?”

Damn it, this is useless!

Groaning, I clenched my fist and thought.

I really should have hit that bastard Jeremy one more time.