CH 46

I finished my meal, and after a while, I opened the back door and a young man entered.

He seems kind of shifty.

“I’m here to make a delivery, oh my, isn’t Ilda-san in today?” he said.

“She’s not here today,” Marissa said.

“Is that so?” the man said, hesitating. “Then Marissa-san, please sign the slip.”

“While Ilda-san is absent, this girl, Makoto-sama, daughter of Baron Kimball, will be in charge,” Marissa said.

“…Are the students in charge?” he said. “I-Isn’t that unusual, no, rather surprising. I’m Kain, you’re rather cute, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Please check the items first, Marissa-san,” I said.

“Right,” Marissa said.

“Huh, you usually don’t check, no, please sign the slip and pay as soon as possible, hahaha,” Kain said, laughing.

“As usual, half of the items are good for the upper-class nobles, and the ones for the lower-class nobles are…” Marissa said.

“No, it’s the same rolled barley as usual, and you can still eat the meat, don’t worry,” Kain said.

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“Then you should eat it yourself,” I said quietly.

Kain stopped moving.

The boring exterior disappears, and something scary begins to mix in his eyes.

Corinna-chan put a bowl of porridge on the table, made from rotten rolled barley and drowned in salt.

“If you can eat it, eat it, and if you finish it, we’ll pay you your money for your trouble,” Corinna said.

“…”

Kain glares at me.

He’s more of a thug than Hans.

“Carol, Chain-kun,” I said.

“Right, right,” Carol said.

Jyari-jyari-jyarin, Chain-kun stood up and blocked the back door.

The two-meter giant chain is truly intimidating.

“O-Omae, you dare do this…” Kain said.

“Who dares to do what? I’d love to know who you’re working for. Kain-kun,” I said.

Kain fell silent when I asked.

“Everything has been found out, the dormitory knights have found out, the dormitory masters have found out, and the headmaster has found out,” I said. “Someone has been caught leeching the budget of the girls’ dormitory cafeteria. Now then, who are you working for?”

“B-But the headmaster is on o-our side…” Kain said.

“Heh,” I said. “Then I’ll take this incident to Kevin-ouji, no matter what, the royal family won’t be on your side.”

Kain began to tremble.

“Even if you don’t tell me, I will find out the name of the person you’re protecting,” I said. “That person will drown you to maintain your silence. No matter what happens to you, who cares? I’m not even interested.”

“Oh, I’m… I’m…”

“First say your name, after that eat the porridge I gave you, then weep and beg us to hide you as a witness so that you don’t have to pay for this rotten delivery, that’s all you can do, Kain-kun,” I said.

“Y-You’re going to screw me out of money?!” Kain yelled.

“So far, you’ve made many times more than what you’ve purchased, haven’t you?” I asked. “Or what is it, do you value money more than your life, you merchant?”

Kain’s internal pressure rose with a sharp sound.

His eyes looked at me and saw Chain-kun blocking the back door.

Then he gritted his teeth and slumped his shoulders as if he stepped down because he couldn’t win.

“You’re a baron’s daughter against that person, huh? There’s no chance of winning, you know?” Kain said.

“Are they higher than a baron? Because Carol is the daughter of a count.”

Kain’s eyebrows rose slightly.

“Is the mastermind an earl?” I asked.

“Kuh, tha-that person is an expert in shadow warfare…”

“Huh, so stealing money from the girls’ dormitory cafeteria is the job of a shadow warfare expert,” I said.

“… Gu-Gustav Mahler-sama, he’s a count,” Carol said.

I look at her.

“The Venomous Spiders of House Mahler,” Carol said. “They’re the shadow warfare experts of Pottinger-kyou’s Faction.”

“A big shot?” I asked.

“They’re the subterfuge experts from our ancestors’ time, they’re quite a formidable opponent,” Carol said.

“That’s interesting, isn’t it?” I said.

“Makoto, you keep picking fights with people you shouldn’t have touched the ire of,” Carol said.

“Just leave it to me,” I said.

“That was not a compliment,” Carol said.

“Th-That’ enough!” Kain stammered. “I’m going to be a witness! That’s why you should hide me, my wife, and my children.”

“Go home and go to the Great Temple with your family, show them this and they will protect you like a jewel in their pockets,” I said, giving him a signed piece of parchment with the order written in it.

“What is this thing going to be worth to me?!!” Kain yelled. “Will the Great Temple move from a baron’s daughter’s signature?!!”

“They’ll move, because I’m a saint candidate,” I said.

Kain stared at me in astonishment. “S-Saint-sama, is that so?”

“That’s right,” I said.

Kain crumpled up and started crying. “I’m saved, my family and I are saved.”

He knelt down and started praying for me.

“Thank you, Saint-sama, I will go to the Great Temple with my family immediately.”

“Hey, Kain, I’ll let you go after you’ve finished eating the porridge,” I said.

“Huh?”

Huh, he thought it was going to be that easy, did he?

Because of him, everyone suffered from the terribly salty porridge, so I go ahead and punish him.

After Kain finished the bowl of salty porridge, tears running down his eyes the whole time, I sent him off with a deep sigh of relief.

“Somehow, I was scared because you looked like a thug, Makoto,” Carol said.

“What? Anyone could have done that,” I said.

“You’re the only one, you’re cute, Makoto, so once you start threatening people, you’ll be even more compelling and terrifying,” Carol said.

“That’s right, ehehehe,” I chuckled.

“I didn’t say that to compliment you,” Carol said.

Marissa is writing down the items Kain brought on parchment.

“They took a portion of the ingredients, didn’t they?” I asked.

“It’s tiny compared to the money they plundered,” Marissa said.

For the time being, I’ll put Heal spells on the rotten rolled barley, rotten beef, and wilted vegetables that they delivered.

“Having the Saint-sama is very convenient, isn’t it?” Marissa said. “With this, we can serve both high-ranking and low-ranking nobles a delicious dinner.”

“I have to think about the supplier, the men’s dormitory cafeteria wasn’t serviced by Kain, was it?” I asked.

“Yes, they use someone different,,” Marissa said.

“Then please go and ask if you can purchase from them and how much it is, roughly,” I said.

“Understood,” Marissa said.

“Maybe with the money Kain saved us, they’ll deliver better supplies,” Corinna said.

“Yes, that’s for certain, Corinna-sama,” Marissa said, smiling softly.

“Bread is next, isn’t it?” I asked.

“Why don’t you buy from Hiyoko-Do?” Corinna asked.

“Recently, there have been a lot of temple-related orders, and our ovens are all full,” I said.

“I see,” Corinna replied.

Hiyoko-do could build a factory or hire more people, but my dad won’t tolerate it as he wants to make his own bread.

Because my father is stubborn, Hiyoko-Do stops at a hidden famous store.

Well, that’s the charm of it.

“We have a bread oven, so I’d rather bake here,” I said.

“Freshly baked bread is delicious, isn’t it?” Corinna said.

“Carol, Corinna-chan, can you help me?” I asked.

“It sounds fun, let me help you,” Carol said.

“I don’t even want to imitate being a baker, it’s just for the sake of delicious food,” Corinna said.

“If we can bake our own bread, the cafeteria’s operating costs will go down,” I said.

“Mmm, that’s enticing,” Corinna said.

Well then, let’s analyze the current enemy.

“Who is the daughter of House Mahler, the one eating in the girls’ dormitory cafeteria?” I asked.

Carol clapped her hands twice.

Like magic, Anne-san opened the locker room door and showed her face.

“You called, Ojou-sama?” she said.

She’s a ninja, or rather, an intelligence maid is a ninja.

“Do you know the name of House Mahler’s daughter?” Carol asked.

“Hilda Mahler, currently a 2nd-year student within Pottinger-kyou’s Faction, but she hasn’t made any noticeable moves,” Anne replied.

“So she’s going to be the heir to the shadow warfare division?” I asked.

“Yes, the current Head Shadow Operative of Pottinger-kyou’s Faction is Grave, the butler of the 3rd year marquis’ son, Bacchus Ridley.”

Is the butler a second-tier shadow operative?

But why isn’t the child of the shadow warfare house joining their faction’s shadow warfare division?

“Deborah Wyeth, the daughter of Countess Wyeth, is the Head of Intelligence for Pottinger-kyou’s Faction in the school, isn’t she?” Carol said.

“Rumor has it that Hilda-sama is not on good terms with Vivian-sama,” Anne added.

“Does the shadow warfare house do espionage as well?” I asked.

“There is a dedicated house for espionage, but the shadow warfare house is a combination of both espionage and sabotage,” Anne said. “They’re upwardly compatible.”

“There’s so many things going on, this is a world that has nothing to do with the nobles of the vestments,” Corinna said.

“Corinna-chan is going to get ahead in the administration, so you have to remember these things,” I said.

“Huh? I don’t want to,” Corinna said.

“Hilda Mahler-sama is also known as the Venomous Spider Lady,” Anne said.

Hyah, that’s intimidating.

Hilda-san smells like a formidable enemy.

But why is such a dangerous house involved in petty embezzlement?

I don’t think it’s the evil deeds that a shadow warfare house does.

It’s childish and beneath them.

It wouldn’t be very profitable to suck up the sales of the cafeteria.

What a mystery.