~Chapter 19~
It was only after Kardem’s footsteps had long faded away that Kaelos set down his documents.
“You’re just like His Grace the Duke now.”
Wasn’t that the very person he had sworn never to resemble?
All his life, staring at that back, he had thought only one thing: I will never become like him.
“…Am I doing the same things as he did?”
His golden irises flickered faintly with a weary sigh before his eyelids finally sank shut.
“Shiphon, are you making fun of me?”
“I said I wasn’t.”
“Then why’d you bring me to this idiot! I thought maybe there was some big way to make money by helping, but…!”
About a week had passed since they’d returned from the temple when Shiphon finally carried out his order.
Normally, it would have happened right away. But that day, the demonic beast Ros had collapsed unconscious—likely because he’d been processing the information that damned god had dumped on him.
Meanwhile, she herself had spent the time studying the language further.
Now, barely hours after Ros had come to, this scene was unfolding.
Esther sat quietly on a worn chair, watching the chaos.
I don’t even want to help someone so hopeless.
But she had no choice. She needed to help in order to recover her mana.
With a sigh, she gathered the tiny speck of mana in her eyes—only to startle, eyes widening.
Usually, after long concentration, she could feel just a drop or two.
This time, it was far more substantial.
It felt like at least half a glass of water.
So my mana’s increased a little.
The only good deed she’d done recently was visiting her father in the temple and telling him about his illness.
Was that a test run?
If her attempt had been accepted as “help,” then it made sense her mana had grown.
[!]
As she gathered mana in her eyes, an exclamation mark appeared before her—an orange one.
[To avoid the worst outcome:
Rosaline the maid’s father was recently swindled, leaving him with a debt of ten million myrons!
Her only younger brother began gambling to repay it, only to fall into the tricks of thugs hired by the con men, losing everything.
Now debt collectors raid their home daily. Her father, injured resisting them, has badly hurt his leg. Her mother collapsed from the shock, and they may be evicted next week.
Rosaline tried hiring other thugs to resolve the matter, but the swindlers are backed by the famous information guild “Hatart,” so no one dares intervene.
Rosaline is under extreme mental strain and is even considering stealing from the Egbert family vault.
But if she does, she will certainly die.
If they fail to repay in time and are evicted, she and her mother will be sold at a high price to an old pervert, while her father and brother will be sold as war slaves to the civil war–torn Kingdom of Rost.]
Swindled? That’s pathetic.
And with thugs and an information guild involved, it clearly smelled of intent.
Did they make an enemy somewhere?
Sighing, Esther considered the situation.
There were two solutions.
First, pay off the debt.
Second, deal with the swindlers.
But the problem with the first was clear: how could she be sure they wouldn’t just repeat it?
“…I doubt it.”
“What?”
Shiphon and Rosaline, mid-argument, turned to look at her.
I know types like that.
Once they bite, they don’t let go until the victim’s destroyed.
If this was rooted in a grudge, money alone wouldn’t solve it.
So there was only one path.
We’ll have to deal with the swindlers.
Best to go to the guild and meet the leader. She could either strike a deal by helping them with some troublesome matter, or pay them off to back down.
“I can fix this. You need money, right? Got swindled, didn’t you? And your brother gambled too, huh?”
Tsk tsk. The more you speak, the worse it sounds.
“W-what did you just say?”
Rosaline gasped.
“Hey, you! Did you tell her everything?! Did you investigate me? How do you even know about the gambling?!”
Her voice rose, cheeks flushed as she looked ready to lunge at Shiphon.
“You think I’d waste time investigating you? Please. If not for the young miss, I wouldn’t have come near you. Always whispering, bullying, lying your way into promotions—what’s so good about that?”
Shiphon sneered, arms crossed.
Rosaline clenched her fists.
“I—I never bullied anyone. Do you have proof?”
“Still as cowardly as ever.”
Shiphon turned his head away, done with her.
“I’ll help. But if it works, you’ll apologize to Shiphon. Understood?”
“…Help? You, the dim-witted girl who was abandoned by everyone, barely able to speak? How?”
Rosaline’s tirade faltered when Esther fixed her with a steady gaze.
Her shoulders trembled as she fell silent.
Esther spoke, as if on cue.
“Somehow. And mind your words.”
Her golden eyes bore down on Rosaline.
Rosaline dropped her gaze involuntarily.
What is this pressure…?
That so-called idiot?
The one who always mumbled “uuu…” and trembled at the slightest thing?
Impossible.
Surely she couldn’t fear such a small child.
Yet her body shook like a leaf.
As if recalling an ancient instinct carved into human bones.
Her freckled cheeks trembled.
“If you ignore me again, there’ll be no help. You and your mother will be sold. Your father and brother will become slaves.”
Good deeds were one thing. Insolence was another.
“A-are you threatening me?! Even if you don’t—there are other ways…!”
“Oh? If you steal, I’ll tell Grandpa~”
Esther’s words made Rosaline flinch.
“Wh-who said anything about stealing?!”
“You know, right?”
Esther asked again, slowly.
Rosaline’s lips quivered. Her whole body shook as tears welled.
Snitching—every child’s favorite trick.
Running to the powerful, innocently tattling everything they’d seen.
“Just do your job.”
With that, Esther decided her next destination: the information guild.
She waved her hand. Shiphon promptly hustled Rosaline out.
“Kyuu-kyuu!”
At her call, the squirrel on the windowsill—basking in the sun and flicking its tail—sprang up and answered.
“Kyuuut?”
“Now tell me. What were the god’s conditions? How much have I gathered?”
“Ah, wait a kyuuut!”
Ros crunched a nut, swallowed, then used mana.
A parchment appeared before her.
Esther (Half-demon)
Age: 5
Current Status: Abnormal
▶ Basic Imperial (age 3–4): Knows only Ancient Tongue, no Imperial language.
▶ Seal (Curse): All powers of the Demon King Agreas are sealed.
▶ Regression (Intermittent Curse): Children must act like children and obey. At times, body is uncontrollable.
[Grace Progress: 2.5%]
[Area Scan: OFF]
[Information Search: OFF]
Conditions for Grace: Must meet all conditions below.
Reach 100% Grace Progress. (Incomplete)
Fulfill the contract made with the current contractor. (Incomplete)
Grace Progress: Increases when someone feels gratitude for Esther’s help.
Area Scan: Detects people nearby who need help.
Information Search: Can retrieve any information ever recorded in books anywhere in the world. Unique ability of Uroboros, the demon beast serving Agreas.
Colors indicate importance, from white → yellow → orange → red → black. Darker means higher urgency and faster Grace gain.
Esther blinked at the parchment.
Grace Progress: 2.5%?!
This had to be a joke.
After all that trouble, only 2.5%?
And the decimal point—what the hell!
Her tiny body trembled with fury.
