“I said I’ll pay! Lieutenant Hazen! Is it your head, your ears, or your personality that is bad!?”
Major Simanto screamed, even while lying on his back unable to move.
“……I cannot understand. You are saying you will pay an amount exceeding the lifetime wages you can earn?”
“It’s not about money! It’s not about money……”
How much hardship had he been forced to endure to reach this rank of Major? As the second son, he was always treated with contempt by his family. But the military is a meritocracy. Even for high-ranking nobility, the rank of Major is viewed differently.
How many times did he have to bow his head? How much did he have to flatter and fawn to survive? He replied YES to everything his superiors said. Until now, desperately, that is how he had lived.
His status as a military man was everything to him.
“……I’ll tell you now, but for this amount, a verbal promise won’t do, okay? You must properly conclude a contract, verify your assets, and organize them. With your ability, I think it will take more than six months, but…”
“Major Simanto. If you leave it to me, I will show you I can organize it in one day. The clauses of the contract include a trial period to verify that ability.”
“Y-Yan. You are……”
For the first time, Hazen showed a flustered expression. Major Simanto was convinced. This girl named Yan was this abnormal person’s Achilles’ heel.
“Kukuku…… Hahahaha! Hahahahahaha! How unsightly! Were you taking it easy, flashing your trump card around!? Only capital punishment awaits you now. It’s too late to regret it, you know? Well, if you say you’ll eat horse manure, I might consider it, though————!”
“Wait! Major Simanto! Provoking Master… what are you thinking!? You’ll be killed! Please stop.”
While Yan tried desperately to stop him, Hazen wore an offended expression.
“……Are you mistaking me for a beast or something? I certainly didn’t expect you to intrude here. If it is a legal contract cancellation, there is nothing I can do. Leifa. I don’t want to hear this unpleasant voice anymore, so take that man to the infirmary.”
“O-Okay.”
Leifa lent a shoulder to the supine Major Simanto and carried him out of the room.
“I won…… did I? Truly…… against that man……”
Major Simanto, in a daze, recalled the scene over and over, and eventually, muttered under his breath.
“I won…… Yes, I won!”
He had done it. Something that neither Captain Lorenzo nor the other Lieutenants could do.
“Ahahahahaha, Ahahahahahahahahahaha!”
Major Simanto’s laughter echoed loudly throughout the hallway.
＊
“Was that okay?”
In Hazen’s room, Yan sighed heavily.
“Ah, that was good acting. I thought you were genuinely angry.”
“I-I was violently, genuinely angry, though.”
The pink-haired girl said this and sighed.
Major Simanto’s behavioral predictions had already been conveyed to Yan. Based on that, she had been instructed to play along and propose the cancellation of the magic contract.
“Uugh…… The guilt is terrible.”
“Guilt is unnecessary for trash.”
“Far from terrible, you’re too terrible!”
Yan made a jaw-dropped expression.
“So, this is the new contract.”
“……”
Yan, being a concerned party, could not create a contract with the intent to deceive. However, it is possible for a third party, Hazen, to create a contract favorable to himself.
“……Is he really going to be deceived by a contract like this? There are quite a lot of loopholes.”
“People believe what they want to believe. Right now, in this moment, he won’t doubt Yan, his savior.”
“……”
It was hard to believe immediately. Looking at this contract, intentional manipulation was visible here and there. First of all, she wouldn’t sign this contract herself.
With this contract, the act of Yan deceiving Major Simanto prior to the signing would be permissible. And, it was a content so full of holes that there was no need to confess it. Furthermore, the concealment of Hazen’s act of trying to frame Major Simanto had already been concluded by a separate contract.
“It is a good opportunity. Study just how corrupt the upper echelons of the Empire are.”
“……Is that study necessary?”
“An eye for people can only be cultivated through experience. There are eyes that can only be cultivated by looking at trash.”
“……”
When the contract is rewritten, Yan will be forced to act for Major Simanto’s sake. Inevitably, she will have no choice but to take action for him in earnest.
“Is it really absolutely no problem if I turn against Master seriously?”
“None. Maybe in a few years, but with the current you, it’s as easy as twisting a baby’s hand.”
“Kuh…… The ultimate bad personality.”
In that case, I might as well struggle as much as I can. It might be interesting to see Hazen’s regretful face.
“More importantly, pack your bags and get out quickly. If you stay too long, those around us will get suspicious.”
“I know.”
“Also, take Leifa with you.”
“Wh-Why?”
“Major Simanto is genuine trash, after all. There is a fear he might use violence. At that time, you need someone who can protect you.”
“Miss Leifa is Master’s bodyguard, isn’t she? I wonder if she’ll accept……”
“It’s easy. Someone like her.”
“Th-The evaluation is just terrible.”
Yan prepared her luggage while sighing. Eventually, Leifa came in, and the preparations for moving were finally complete.
“……For what it’s worth, thank you for everything until now.”
The pink-haired girl bowed deeply. Despite everything, the orphanage had prospered. It was incredibly difficult, but thanks to Hazen, it couldn’t be denied that she had learned a lot.
“I have my doubts about Major Simanto as an employer, but well, try to do well.”
“Master…… He is a thousand times better than you, you know.”
“Haha.”
“It’s not a joke.”
After nailing the point home to the oblivious young man, Yan left the room. Then, together with Leifa, who was carrying the luggage, she moved to the new room.
“But, Miss Leifa, you sure serve that Master well.”
“Haha……”
“Why is he so terrible? I just can’t keep up with a personality that doesn’t treat people like people.”
“Well, he shows no mercy when he gets angry.”
Leifa gave a bitter smile.
“Angry? That person who looks like a cold-blooded zombie with mostly no blood running through him?”
“Especially toward Major Simanto. And, the man named Hazen-Heim does not say unreasonable things to good people. Generally, he only corners the villains.”
“……”
She probably wanted to say that Major Simanto was a villain. But, villain or not, he seemed far better than Hazen.
“Well, it seems he cherishes Yan quite a lot. It’s certain that he isn’t honest about it, though.”
“L-Lies.”
The pink-haired girl wore a surprised expression and looked toward Leifa.
“It’s not a lie. I thought it showed in his attitude and words, but you couldn’t tell?”
“N-Not at all.”
Neither in his attitude nor his words could such a manner be felt at all. However, that way of looking at the positive side was somehow very like her.
Yan entered the room and immediately began the work of asset organization.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT gadgetizedpanda.net
The next day, Major Simanto came to the room. His body seemed to have completely recovered.
“How is it? Is it comfortable to live in? It’s several grades up from that abominable man’s room, isn’t it? Do you like it?”
“Th-Thank you very much.”
Major Simanto turned a fawning face toward her. Apparently, he had taken quite a liking to her. However, when he saw Leifa, his expression changed completely.
“Why is that man’s bodyguard here?”
“She brought my luggage. Also, although a ceasefire agreement has been signed, I poached her to come along as a deterrent against them.”
“……Suspicious. Isn’t she that man’s spy?”
“She seemed thoroughly fed up with Master’s personality, you know?”
It was a stretch, she thought, but Major Simanto nodded as if convinced.
“Kukuku…… Well, since he’s such low-life trash, it’s no wonder. I suppose I’ll hire her since it can’t be helped.”
“I’m refusing that; the one hiring her is me.”
“Hmph. Well, whatever. By the way, is the asset organization finished?”
“……Yes. Tentatively.”
Leifa’s existence didn’t seem to bother him that much. And, although who the employer is is quite an important part, he completely ignored it. As expected, he really seems incompetent at his job.
“If you sign this document with the Houhitsu (Law Quill), Master…… no, Lieutenant Hazen will receive 10 large gold coins.”
The Houhitsu is a type of magic tool, a special brush used during contracts. Formal monetization comes later, but by signing, based on Imperial Law, assets can be seized.
“I see, understood. I just have to write on this, correct?”
“……I will warn you, if you are going to stop, now is the time. 10 large gold coins was truly an amount barely reached by assessing 99.9% of your property. The moment you sign, you will be penniless.”
“Hmph…… Such things are nothing compared to the treatment of a Lieutenant Colonel. Originally, it was money saved for bribes to superiors.”
“……”
Don’t say such shameful things so proudly, this person, Yan thought.
“I originally have no material desires. It is not an exaggeration to say that my status as a military man is my everything. That is how much I have bet on this job.”
“……”
Major Simanto smiled with an expression intoxicated by himself. Yan, harboring guilt in her heart, nodded with a full-faced smile.
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