Chapter 15
Chapter 15
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: There's Affection Among Family - 3
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Ellis and the sea turtle carried out my orders promptly.
The bunny girl-clad fake fiancée hauled bricks barefoot with great enthusiasm, while the sea turtle made sure the workers got their breaks right on schedule, just as I'd asked.
And me? I just watched quietly.
Criminals sweating it out, laboring diligently like this.
If Elfriede saw this scene in person, she'd probably puke her guts out.
Ellis, finally on break, wiped away the dirt and sweat with a soft towel as best she could and sidled up to me.
"You look awfully idle."
"What?"
"Nothing."
A brief silence passed. Then Ellis suddenly stared at the wall, so I did the same.
There was a bounty poster stuck to it. I peeled it off and took a look.
"Surprisingly, it's not your face on it. And it's a bounty poster, no less."
"I'm not that bad."
"What?"
"...Nothing."
Anyway, we started examining the bounty poster again.
It was a bit different from the ones I'd seen back in my Shadow days. Upon closer inspection, it looked more like a commission notice than an actual wanted poster.
The targets weren't humans but magical beasts. And the list included skeletons and slimes—nothing too tough.
Of course, "not too tough" was relative to an average guy who could use magic.
"The reward's pretty decent. Slimes and skeletons shouldn't be hard to take down."
"Seems that way. These posters aren't really meant for actual bounties anyway."
"Then what?"
"It's the royals' way of encouraging the unemployed to get off their asses and do something. The jobless get to move around and accomplish stuff, and the royals get rid of the idlers. Win-win."
I thought it over for a moment.
"I looked around the domain, and even the ones not hooked on drugs didn't want to lift a finger."
"Obviously. The spots where slimes and skeletons show up are out on the domain's fringes."
"Exactly."
"Rumor has it some group's monopolizing these posters. They snag all the rewards and kidnap locals for ransom on top of that."
I couldn't help but be impressed. Damn, what kind of idiots would scheme like that?
"Who are these guys?"
"Wonderland, obviously. Has to be."
"Wonderland doesn't touch small-time stuff like that."
"Hmm... Then who?"
We pondered it for a bit.
Neither Blackjack nor Wonderland deals in crimes this petty.
They prefer one big score done right for maximum payoff.
Plus, it's a waste of talent. These are elite criminals assembled for serious work—hunting skeletons and slimes wouldn't balance the books.
Unless Cheshire Cat's involved, maybe?
The Wonderland heavy lurking near Wonderfentanyl domain right now is Cheshire Cat.
Her name's one I still can't forget. Not because of any fondness, of course.
She was the bold one who tried to stab Elfriede in the back.
Zero loyalty to her superiors. Just a greedy type who wanted to pile up her own wealth through crime.
In a way, she was exactly the kind of talent Elfriede wanted—but she couldn't be tamed, so she had to die.
I can still vividly picture her head getting lopped off on the execution block.
I finished reminiscing.
Ellis was half right, half wrong.
Wonderland is moving on this, but it's Cheshire Cat's solo call.
"Cheshire Cat. It's her doing."
"Cheshire Cat?"
"Jobs from up top mean you have to hand over all the profits to them too."
"But you just said monopolizing bounties isn't an order from above."
"Right. It's off-the-books cash."
"Ah, got it. She's pocketing every coin from hogging those posters."
"Exactly. How many of these posters are there?"
"Tons left, I bet. This one's fresh."
Cheshire Cat won't show her face in Wonderfentanyl until she's cornered the whole market. Waiting around would just waste too much time.
Decision made.
Time to go meet her myself.
I headed to see the sea turtle. She was in her temporary room, reviewing blueprints.
The girl pointed at herself with her index finger. I nodded, and she approached.
"How long until the clinic's done?"
"Faster than I thought. Surprising—work hours are short, but progress is quick."
"That's efficiency for you."
"I see."
She didn't quite get it, but she nodded anyway. I added a few more instructions.
"Once the clinic's finished, go around the domain and renovate all the rundown buildings."
The sea turtle tilted her head.
"...Once the clinic's done, don't I get my freedom?"
"Even if I let you go, you're not free anymore. Elfriede will kill you if she finds out."
"Why?!"
"You used your architectural talents for Blackjack or Wonderland? No— for total strangers. You think she'd let that slide? You're a traitor now."
"What... then what do I do?"
The sea turtle pouted openly, looking displeased.
"Run for life, or work with me."
"I'd rather run."
"FYI, running makes you a traitor to me too."
"Ah..."
Her head drooped.
"...Fine, I'll work with you."
"Good. Now go quietly renovate."
"But Wonderfentanyl domain's worse. Some places need to be rebuilt from scratch."
"Then rebuild. We'll supply labor and materials. House the displaced in the clinic—feed them, let them sleep there."
The sea turtle nodded, then slowed, tilting her head slightly.
"Um, Florian."
"Yeah."
"Can I ask one thing?"
"Shoot."
"Are you really just Ellis's fiancé? I've never seen a guy work his fiancée like a day laborer."
"Why not?"
"No... you run her ragged. Is there some ulterior motive? An organization or something?"
She doesn't appreciate my affection in reforming Ellis. Hurtful.
Still, knowing the goal would put her mind at ease as a subordinate. I spoke up.
"Organization's called Elbalom."
"Elbalom? Never heard of it... Anyway, so there is one. What's the purpose?"
"To create a world the total opposite of what Elfriede wants. That's the goal."
She muttered "purpose... purpose..." a few times, then nodded.
"A world without crime? Sounds cool. But that makes us... her arch-enemy. This could get us killed."
"We'll build our forces gradually. Don't worry."
Elfriede hasn't made her big move yet. Plenty of time to grow from here.
The best part of returning to the past is coming back with my memories intact.
I'll recruit the talents who later become key Blackjack or Wonderland execs ahead of time.
That weakens her forces and bolsters mine—perfect.
"You confident you can survive against her?"
"Yep."
The sea turtle sighed deeply.
"...Feels like I've latched onto the most incomprehensible guy."
"Took you long enough. Now get to work, turtle."
"Yes, sir."
The sea turtle toddled off toward the clinic.
She glanced back suddenly, her eyes brighter than before.
"Hey, my name's Tyr. Not sea turtle."
"Got it, turtle."
After my bath, I grabbed Trivi and headed to the domain's outskirts.
"Huff... huff... M-Master... I'm dying... This is too much..."
Oh, and I brought the useless rabbit too. Had zero intention of it at first, but...
-Florian.
-Hey, Florian! How should we do the interior here?
-Florian!
Tyr kept calling me by name, and Ellis kept saying weird stuff... No choice.
Anyway, we got to work diligently on the fringes.
Pop! Pfft! Bang!
Every time a slime or skeleton appeared, I took it down. Ellis gathered the remains and stacked them in the designated spot.
"Masteeer... can we rest a bit..."
I spun the gun barrel.
"Look, a bunny girl skeleton."
"How should I stack the bones? Like a pretty cake?"
Back to hunting.
Bang! Boom! Bang!
Each shot sent bones flying everywhere. Slimes splattered goo.
I was clean, firing from afar, but Ellis was soon soaked in sticky slime.
About two hours later.
Mountains of skeleton bones and slime cores. Ellis gasping, wiping off the gunk with effort.
That's when it happened.
"Hey! Who the hell are you?!"
A pissed-off shout. Finally, a bite.