Chapter 3
For several days after the disturbance at dawn, everything remained tense. Fortunately, no assassin broke into the shop during the night again.
Thanks to that, I was finally able to relax a little and focus fully on learning the work at the store.
I memorized all the prices, learned how to manage inventory, and as for cleanliness—there was nothing more to say.
‘Now I just need customers….’
The problem was that not a single customer came to this shop.
‘At this rate, won’t my salary get cut for poor performance?’
And to make things worse, when we should have been holding strategy meetings, the boss was out every single day and only returned late at dawn.
‘In a situation like this, where on earth are you going, boss?!’
Tap, tap…
In the immaculately organized and silent office, the rhythmic sound of a pen tapping against the desk echoed steadily.
The man Ariel had been so desperately looking for—Simon—was staring at a stack of documents.
“Hmm…”
The file he set down contained detailed information about Ariel April.
Ariel April.
As Simon repeated her name to himself, he recalled their first meeting.
It had been the day he returned from his first failed mission.
Whether it had been a trivial mistake or arrogance, even he did not know.
By the time he staggered into his hideout after a frantic escape, he had already lost too much blood.
That was when Ariel April appeared before him.
At first, he thought she had come to confirm his death. Later, he assumed she was a spy who had infiltrated with some hidden purpose.
So Simon kept Ariel close under the pretense of offering her a job and tested her.
He deliberately left the shop, created a tense atmosphere, and observed her reactions.
But her responses repeatedly defied his expectations.
She spent eight full hours cleaning, and despite being so frightened, the weapon she picked up was nothing more than a broom…
“Not even a knife, but a broom. I suppose I’ll have to watch her a bit longer.”
Still, Simon could not easily dismiss his suspicions about Ariel.
The fact that she had appeared at the exact moment his life was in danger, opening a locked door, was far too coincidental to ignore.
‘I definitely locked it.’
Not only with a simple lock—he had sealed the entrance with a magic scroll.
Could an ordinary person casually break through that and walk in?
Impossible.
There was clearly something about her.
‘But I can’t figure out what that something is….’
Simon ran his eyes over the personal records written in the file.
The first page detailed her family background.
‘Her life hasn’t been easy either.’
A father who left, abandoning his sick wife. An aunt who, after the mother’s death, cut ties with the siblings, saying she could not help children who carried “that man’s blood,” and only gave Ariel a letter of introduction before turning her away…
‘No wonder she became obsessed with money.’
Clicking his tongue, Simon flipped to the next page.
This one recorded her time working as a maid at Count Russell’s estate, where she had been introduced by her aunt.
He skimmed through various minor and major incidents until his tapping hand suddenly stopped.
His expression grew serious as he focused on a particular section.
It was the record of when she had been accused of theft.
According to a fellow maid who worked with Ariel April, she frequently attempted to steal valuables belonging to their mistress, Delia Russell.
Ariel April claimed she had merely picked up an earring that had fallen and was trying to return it to the jewelry box.
However, the jewelry box was personally managed by Delia Russell and could not be opened without a key.
Delia Russell regarded the incident as evidence of Ariel April’s habitual thievery…
That was not all.
There were also records of Ariel being caught entering and leaving areas that other maids had already cleaned and locked, which led to rumors that she was secretly meeting knights.
The common factor in all these incidents was this:
“Ariel said it had been open from the beginning, yet it had been locked.”
‘There’s no doubt. She must have used magic.’
Simon returned to the first page and examined the records of her childhood.
But nowhere did it mention that she had received a goddess’s blessing or possessed magical ability.
Which meant—
“She used it unconsciously, without even knowing?”
Simon muttered in surprise and let out a hollow laugh.
Even to himself, it sounded absurd.
But if his assumption was correct, then he had found an uncut gem.
‘At the very least, that’s far more convincing than her being some incompetent spy.’
Having organized his thoughts, Simon stood up without hesitation.
It was time to test the possibility.
Jingle—
“Welcome!”
At the sound of the door opening, I sprang to my feet, only to immediately sit back down with a disappointed expression.
The person who entered was not a customer, but my boss.
“Ah… it’s you, boss.”
“That reaction hurts a little.”
“I thought you were our first customer of the day.”
I answered gloomily, then suddenly straightened up and insisted,
“Boss! We really need advertising. Flyers or something—first we have to let people know this shop exists!”
“Miss April is certainly enthusiastic about her work.”
“Of course. Otherwise I’d be shameless taking this kind of salary—I mean, doing your best at work is the bare minimum.”
I quickly swallowed my true thoughts and said whatever came to mind.
It was probably better to keep my worries about my salary a secret.
Simon stared at me for a moment as I smiled awkwardly, then pulled a small box from inside his coat and held it out to me.
It was a small velvet box, the kind that could hold a ring or earrings.
“What’s this?”
“A gift for our new employee.”
“What? Really?”
It was the first time in my life that someone had given me jewelry as a gift.
“Are you sure this is okay? Our shop’s financial situation is…”
“It’s fine. Open it. I need to see if you like it.”
Well… if he insists, it must be fine, right?
‘I’m so glad I got this job. Best employee benefits ever!’
Reassured by his words, I grinned and opened the jewelry box.
Click.
With a crisp sound, a necklace inside revealed itself.
A small gemstone, cut into the shape of a water droplet, was set into the pendant.
‘A gem? I-it’s fake, right?’
The moment my eyes met the sparkling stone, I froze in alarm.
For an employee benefit gift, I had expected something plain. But a gemstone?
“B-boss, this is…”
But when I looked up, Simon’s expression was even more serious than mine.
‘What? Did he give me the wrong box? Was this meant for someone else?’
We stared at each other in mutual confusion.
“Ha… haha…”
It was Simon who broke the silence with a hollow laugh.
“…So it was real after all,” he muttered to himself.
I already knew my boss was strange, but this was starting to get scary.
‘My boss has lost his mind….’
I subtly stepped back, trying to put distance between us, but Simon suddenly turned to me and asked,
“Miss April. Do you know what you just opened?”
“Huh?”
Well, obviously a box with a necklace. You told me to open it, you lunatic.
“Um… a box with a necklace?”
“On the surface, yes.”
Simon smiled faintly.
“It’s sealed with a powerful binding spell. Even most dispelling scrolls can’t break it.”
“…?”
A binding spell? A dispelling scroll? What was he talking about?
I blinked at him blankly.
“What are you saying? Are you implying I used magic?”
The age at which magic manifests varies slightly from person to person, but it usually appears in childhood.
I had once gone to a temple with my mother to have my magical aptitude tested.
They found nothing.
I still remembered my mother telling me she was happy I was healthy, even if I couldn’t use magic.
So to someone who had lived her entire life as an ordinary person, Simon’s words were absurd and bewildering.
“Yes. Magic.”
He nodded firmly.
“That’s right.”
And then, without hesitation, he said,
“I’ll be blunt. Would you like to do another kind of job with me? One that makes a lot of money?”
