The Spider That Collects Gold Coins
I stepped out of the room, and the first words out of Beatrice’s mouth were, “Just stay with me for one day.”
I nodded without hesitation. Of the week I’d promised her, six days had already passed. Even though she hadn’t asked for it, as her magic tutor I was confident I could spare one extra day to teach her plenty of things.
“So, what do you want to learn in the next—”
“Quiet.”
I’d asked with that exact mindset in mind, but she didn’t want an answer from me.
“Don’t say anything. Just go along with what I want.”
She simply grabbed my hand and led me out of the merchant guild. It had nothing to do with the education I’d been hired for. Still, I followed Beatrice’s lead without a word. The usual playful expression on her face had been replaced by one that looked like she’d made up her mind about something rare.
“Welcome.”
The first place she dragged me to while still holding my hand was a clothing boutique. Not a single customer was inside the clearly high-end shop. Considering the street was famous enough that even imperial nobles frequented it, that was strange.
That curiosity was immediately answered by the employee’s next words.
As requested, this boutique is exclusively yours for the next two hours.
“……What?”
Beatrice had rented out the entire boutique. I couldn’t tell exactly how much that cost, but judging by the price tags on the casually displayed garments, it was clearly an eye-watering sum. I made a puzzled face, but—
“Try this one, and this too. Oh, this would look good as well.”
Beatrice paid my expression no mind and began picking out clothes from the racks. Once she chose carefully, the waiting staff would whisk me away and dress me in them. Somehow, every outfit was perfectly sized for me. I felt like nothing more than a mannequin being draped in fabric.
“Um, what exactly is—”
“I told you to go along with what I want, didn’t I? This is a request from your client.”
I tried to speak up to understand the situation, but Beatrice wouldn’t even allow that. In the blink of an eye, I must have tried on and taken off more than a dozen outfits. Choosing and changing alone took nearly two hours.
“You look so much better dressed like this.”
Beatrice smiled with satisfaction as she looked at me in the clothes she’d chosen. My own gaze, however, was fixed on the price tags. Some of these were the kind nobles bought specifically for balls—garments worth a small fortune. A few were so expensive that even most nobles couldn’t touch them.
What on earth is she planning to make me do that she’d go this far…?
“Please change into that outfit. We’ll send the rest to the guild.”
Whether I was thinking that or not, Beatrice cheerfully handed money to the boutique owner. Since she’d bought more than just one or two pieces, the owner looked equally delighted.
“Shall we move on to the next place?”
There were plenty of things I wanted to say, but I kept my mouth shut. I’d promised to go along with her, so she’d explain eventually. With that thought, I followed behind Beatrice.
**
“Should we watch this?”
The next place Beatrice took me was a large tent where one of the empire’s most famous circus troupes was performing. It was so well-known that even someone like me, who had zero interest in such things, recognized the name. Yet when we stepped inside, the seats were completely empty.
Still holding my hand, Beatrice chose a seat in the middle of the general admission area—awkwardly far from the stage—rather than the VIP section. Even with the tent empty, the circus members were busily preparing for the show. If today weren’t a performance day, they wouldn’t need to hustle like this. It seemed she had rented out the entire performance by spending a hefty sum again.
Then why spend so much just to sit in a place like this?
I felt puzzled, but I still didn’t ask. Once inside the tent, Beatrice said nothing either and simply stared straight ahead. And so the show began.
Clowns balancing vertically stacked plates on their hands while riding giant balls, trained animals leaping through rings of fire, and acrobats crossing what looked like an impossibly high tower on a thread so thin it was barely visible. They were the classic images people associated with circuses, but the sense of danger created by the costumed clowns made it clear why they were so popular.
Even though their lives were clearly at risk, they performed their feats using only perfectly trained bodies without a single drop of mana. Then they’d naturally slip up and make the audience burst into laughter.
At their antics, both Beatrice and I ended up laughing out loud. But her laughter carried an inexplicable hesitation mixed in.
“Ah, that was really fun.”
After spending another enjoyable two hours thanks to the performance, Beatrice stepped out of the tent with a bright smile.
“Things like that really are worth paying to see.”
“……”
“Don’t you think so?”
At her question, I quietly nodded. Setting aside the slight discomfort of hearing a merchant say something like that, the sun had already begun to set. Beyond the tent, I could see the sun sinking toward the horizon. The yellowish glow was the sun’s last desperate struggle to hold on to the day.
While she quietly watched that struggle, Beatrice suddenly spoke.
“I really can’t give up after all.”
“Can’t give up? What do you—”
“This is the last item on the schedule. Come with me.”
Just like when we first met, she grabbed my hand and headed somewhere. The only difference was the destination. Unlike the boutique or circus—places for hobbies—this was a place where the sun never rose. Beatrice stepped into a dark back alley.
Last schedule.
She walked without hesitation, as if she had something specific in mind in this alley, and soon stopped in front of one spot. It was a shabby wooden door. A voice slipped out from between the rotting wood and moss—wood so decayed I was surprised it hadn’t completely fallen apart.
“Is the plan solid?”
“Of course. You checked the goods yourself before taking them, didn’t you?”
“That’s true.”
Two male voices. Since I’d never heard them before, I couldn’t immediately identify who they were. But the words that followed at least told me what kind of people they were.
“The demonic energy subtly hidden in the gold coins Beatrice that bitch commissioned has probably spread throughout her entire body by now.”
“It took longer than expected.”
“We had to dilute it so faintly that it wouldn’t be caught by a superhuman’s eyes. That would’ve been impossible without an object nearby.”
“Well, regardless, the important thing is that she’s been corrupted by demonic energy. Now I can take over that damn woman’s merchant group.”
From the content of the voices, one seemed to be a demon contractor. The other appeared to be the head of a rival merchant group to Beatrice. In the past, it wasn’t uncommon for guild masters to borrow demonic power to kill their rivals, so incidents like this happened from time to time. If I hadn’t made her throw away the gold coins by invoking imperial law, she probably would have been completely corrupted without even realizing it. That rival guild master would have reported her corruption to the empire, ruined her business, and swallowed up all the remaining assets. The demon contractor likely planned to obtain gold coins and other special goods through him.
For the first time today, I understood why she had brought me here. Just like before, she wanted me to deal with the demon contractor she’d found. This was a contractor skilled enough to fool both her eyes and mine with such precise demonic energy. He was probably at least on the level of a six-ring mage or a comparable warrior. At that level, even if Beatrice was a manipulation mage, defeating him would be difficult.
“I’ll go in first.”
So I moved to dispose of the two pieces of trash as she wished, but—
Tap.
Beatrice stopped me from entering. Then she said,
“I asked you to go along with me for today, didn’t I?”
“…Yes. So I’m about to deal with those pieces of trash—”
“This is my last request.”
Beatrice’s fingers moved. The wooden door that looked like it would collapse at any moment shattered, and its fragments flew toward the trash inside the room.
Boom—!
“Who’s there!”
The demon contractor shouted as he blocked the flying wooden shards with demonic energy alongside the mage. I wanted to throw my fist immediately, but Beatrice stopped me with her small palm and stepped forward at the same time. Realizing who she was, the trash’s eyes widened.
“The Spider That Collects Gold Coins? Why are you here…”
“A witch, huh.”
The guild master still hadn’t grasped the situation, while the demon contractor had already figured it out and began emitting black demonic energy. The demonic energy leaking from the contractor’s body was in no way equal to hers. Just as I had predicted, he was at least six-ring. Beatrice must have sensed it too. Nevertheless, she spoke my final request of the day.
“No matter what happens, don’t interfere.”
The eyes of Beatrice as she said those words looked like she had resolved herself to something.