CH 83

“Ehhh. …”

“Um, Ed-san. Are those people …?”

“…, yeah, I think so.”

The white cape wrapped around her head swept her curly hair to the back of her head, and she was wearing a white apron over a dress that was not suitable for a food stall in any way, even with such a disguise, there was no way I could mistake the face of a wanted woman I had just confronted a short while ago.

I mean, Claude standing next to her was dressed just as he was at that time. What’s with the butler’s uniform at a skewer stall? You guys don’t have the slightest intention of hiding, do you?

“Toby. Just … confirming it, but can a wanted person really be that brazen?”

“I… don’t know about that. Until now, I didn’t think that was the case either, but no one seems to care…”

“Tia, any sign of magic?”

“Unless it’s very highly concealed, I don’t think it’s …… just ……”

“Just what?”

“I don’t think people know what they look like when they think about it, do they? You know, we only become aware of them when we got information like ‘they’re causing havoc nearby’ otherwise no one would take the time to look at a wanted person’s face.”

“Ah, that’s a ……… blind spot.”

Tia said with a reluctant look on her face, and I couldn’t help but agree with her. Certainly, unless you specialized in bounty hunting, you would only glance at the faces on the wanted list in a corner of the wall. Unless they had a very memorable face, you may miss them if you just pass them in town.

And if they were ordinary people, they would not go out of their way to visit the guild to see the faces of the wanted. Especially since Palm was the type of bandit who carefully selected her prey, so she didn’t even have to worry about being attacked except by nobles or rich people. Still, I was sure the town gatekeeper would remember it. … Well, if it was just them, they could be fooled in any way they wanted. ..

“So…. what are we going to do?” Toby asked,

“I don’t know, we’ll just have to go there.” I said,

Since they went out of their way to get ahead of us and were in such a conspicuous place, it was not a good idea to ignore them as we proceeded. It was common knowledge that the longer you put off the problem and the debt, the more debt you incur.

“Okay, then, let’s go …. Um”

“A~ra, Welcome, How many do you want?”

“Huh? Uh, no, uh, …”

“How many do you want?”

“….T-Three”

“Claude! Three bourgeoisyaki, please!” 

(T/N: An isekai food that’s the literal translation, imagine grilled meat)

“Understood, Ojou-sama.”

Toby, who was easily overwhelmed, ordered, and Claude finished the skewers with his excellent hands. The grilled meat looked, frankly speaking, delicious.

“Here you go. I’ll take whatever treasure you have in your possession for the price, okay?”

“No, you can’t do that!”

“Ara, what a pity. Then six silver coins will do.”

“If that’s the case….wait, Six silver coins!?”

Toby, who was about to take out his wallet with a relieved look on his face, raised his voice once again at the price. That’s right, no one would be stupid enough to pay two silver coins for a single skewer from a street vendor. No, but …

“What’s your problem? I have the price written down right there.”

“Uegh!? C-Certainly…”

The sign in front of the stall read, “For you, the finest in convenience, bourgeoisyaki, two silver coins a piece.” In other words, the reason why there were no people at this stall was not only because it was run by an overtly suspicious person, but also because it was stupidly overpriced.

“Ugggghhhh, two silver coins … for one skewer …..”

“Can’t help it. Here you go, Ojou-san.”

Pushing aside Toby, who was gnashing his teeth with a face like the end of the world, I put a silver coin in Palm’s hand. Instead, he snatched the skewers from her with a flick and handed two of them to Tia before biting into the remaining one.

“Ooo, it’s delicious.”

“Fufu~, I use the finest ingredients.”

The juices that seeped out every time it was bit into, and the thick sauce was quite good. Personally, I would buy it for seven or eight copper coins every once in a while, but of course, I did not feel that it was worth two silver coins.

“So? What are you going to do with the difference? As far as I’m concerned, I’d appreciate it if you’d get away from Toby.” I said,

(T/N: So I think what happened author made some kind of typo because it says MC placed silver coin in her hand and then asks for difference aka change, that should not happen as skewers are priced at 2 silver a pop, So perhaps it was some other kind of coin)

“No way! The things you have aren’t cheap enough to give up with such a small amount of money. Besides, I always get what I want. I choose my means, but I will not give up.”

“I see. Even so, why do you want that thing so much?” I asked,

“Because it’s beautiful, of course! That radiance should be in my hands by all means. It would be churlish to keep it in the depths of the temple.”

“Uh, ……?”

Palm provided a nice bit of information in response to my query. From what she said, I wonder if the treasure Toby was carrying was some kind of gem-like object? However, the fact that it would be kept … in the depths of the temple, I could only assume that there was some kind of negative effect.

“Ridiculous! It’s ridiculous that a single individual would own something like this! And the reason for that is because it’s beautiful, what are you going to do when this thing wakes up!?” She exclaimed,

“Do you really think I would fail to manage my treasures? How dare you underestimate me?”

“That’s not the point!”

“No, that’s the problem. Hey, you …… Toby, right?”

In response to Toby, who was furious, Palm came out of the stall and took his hand.

“!? W-What!?”

“I can see that if you bring such a dangerous object to a temple, it will eventually be used as a tool in a petty power struggle. But if it’s me…precisely because it’s me, I can promise you that I would use it only for the purpose of loving it. Even in terms of management, unlike those who never knew when they would be dazzled by greed, Claude would never betray. When it is in my hands it is safer than anywhere else. So Toby-sama, Please trust me and entrust it to me. ”

Palm gently wrapped her hand around Toby’s. Looking up at him with moist eyes, Toby frowned … more than ever, but shook his head and shook her hand away.

“Ugh,……, N-no! I won’t give in to that temptation!”

“Oh, well said, Toby! But as expected of the ojou-san, you can’t get through with that, y’know?”

Then, from Toby’s side, I talked to Palm. Toby has properly brushed off the request, so it was my turn to proceed.

“Would be understandable if that was what you first tried, but to use force first, then try to entice after it failed is a little unreasonable, no?”

“Ara, really? I always take the most efficient means. I tried to solve the problem with money and he refused, so I tried to take it away from him. That failed too, so this time I tried to get it with my charm, not with money or force. That’s all there is to it. … Though it seems that you don’t accept my sincerity.”

“No, sincerity is …” Toby stuttered,

“Fufu~There is no honor in power. It’s just a matter of superiority and inferiority. It is so common that we don’t even need to talk about the history of the lords who are lured by beautiful flowers to hand over their secrets and treasures, do we?”

“Ah, well, that’s for sure.”

I scratched my head at Palm, who said this with a generous smile on her face. There were certainly plenty of people, from royalty and aristocrats to thugs, who were ruined because of love.

“So let’s try a different approach. Are you interested in working for me? If you’re just a bodyguard, I’ll pay you enough to keep your career clean, okay?” She asked me,

“What? Me? Of course..not”

I told Palm, who looked at me with a seductive, flirtatious gaze, without a moment’s hesitation. Palm was a little surprised at my attitude.

“May I ask you the reason for your immediate answer….without hesitation?”

“Hmm? It’s not such a big reason,….”

Our goal was to be with Toby, so it stood to reason that we wouldn’t be motivated by money. But even without those selfish reasons, I was sure I wouldn’t take that offer.

Even if it had never happened now, I would always remember the journey we took to get the treasure back from the Palms. The journey with Toby, who was still weak and I was still weak, was full of danger and adventure, and although it was hard, it was fun.

So――

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“I want to help my friend who is in danger. That’s all I can say.”

I said with a laugh, looking back to the future that had passed.

(T/N: I was having a translation burnout because I finished 4 novels on Zetro Translations last month. I’ll start posting regularly, Thanks for bearing with me. I’ll link the zetro novels in the comment section if anyone wants to read them.)