Chapter 73
Chapter 73
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Leave the Dirty Work to Others (2)
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"I've brought your ordered room service."
A thick smile crept onto my lips.
I stood up and approached the door. I unlatched the bolt—extremely important—that could be locked from the inside, then cracked it open slightly.
"You're here?"
I poked just my head through the gap in the door and whispered.
"Elice."
The woman standing in the hallway jumped in surprise.
"...You knew it was me?"
Holding the cart's handle was none other than Elice.
She was dressed in a hotel staff uniform, fitting her so perfectly that no one would bat an eye if she said she'd always worked there.
"We agreed to meet at this time today. So I figured you'd be here soon."
"You had no intention of coming yourself?"
"Of course not. You already know where I live anyway."
"I figured you'd pull something like this..."
Elice brushed back her hair as if she had a headache. The staff headband atop her head shifted slightly.
"It suits you well."
"Save the jokes. Open the door all the way."
Elice's face hardened in clear distaste.
'Hmm.'
She doesn't like comments on her looks, huh. Even sincere ones get twisted in her mind.
'No need for that, though.'
I shrugged and flung the door wide open.
"Come in."
"Yes, excuse m—?!"
Elice stopped mid-push of the cart, freezing in place. Her eyes darted wildly to my completely open robe.
"Wh-what's with that outfit?"
"What else? It's a robe."
"No, I mean—"
Elice's gaze flitted about, unsure where to look. The tips of her ears had already turned bright red.
'She's more innocent than I thought.'
I chuckled softly and turned away.
"Quit nagging and come in already."
I walked over with heavy steps and plopped down on the sofa.
Elice didn't follow right away, lingering in the hallway for a moment. Her breathing grew longer, as if trying to calm her startled heart.
"Huuuuh."
She probably thought she was being discreet, but she couldn't fool my ears.
'Cute.'
Instead of pointing it out, I leaned back comfortably on the sofa. Fortunately, Elice didn't dawdle any longer and wheeled the cart into the room.
"You brought everything I asked for?"
My question carried two meanings.
The room service I'd requested from the hotel, and the orders I'd passed along through the kid.
"Of course."
Elice caught on quickly.
"First, the room service you ordered."
She lifted a tray from the cart.
Clink.
A wine bottle and glasses, along with some cheese slices, were placed before me.
'Just the kind of spread Diego loved.'
That's why I'd ordered it.
I picked up the wine bottle and said to Elice,
"Sit."
"You mean me?"
"Who else is here besides you?"
Elice hesitated for a moment, then
"Sit. Now."
At my commanding tone, she reluctantly sat across from me.
"Exactly two glasses."
I placed one in front of each of us, then uncorked the wine bottle. Tilting it, a deep red liquid poured out, filling the glasses.
"You can handle your liquor, right?"
"I'm not bad at it."
"You're too modest."
From what I knew, Elice could hold her own quite well. Rumor had it she'd been chugging bottles straight since she was young.
"The breath of heaven."
Elice murmured, staring intently at the wine. She knew everything about the liquors circulating in the capital.
"The pride of this hotel and one of the capital's key tourist draws."
"Yeah. Something you have to try if you visit Magiore."
And just like that, I'd unintentionally ticked off two of the capital's must-try tourist items.
"I don't get why everyone loves these 'breaths' so much."
Melina, downing bottles back in Ovest Territory, suddenly came to mind.
'I wonder if she's finished everything I ordered by now.'
I brushed off the brief thought and picked up my glass.
"Shall we toast before drinking?"
Elice slowly reached out, grasping her glass. She lifted it, letting it swirl once, then offered it to me.
"Does drinking this mean I'm accepting your proposal, Lord Abel?"
"Exactly."
I brought my glass closer to hers as well.
"Once you drink, there's no going back."
"Understood."
Elice clinked her glass against mine without a hint of hesitation.
Cling!
Through the clear wine glasses, her blue eyes—etched with resolute determination—shone back at me.
"Pleasure doing business with you."
"Likewise."
I added with a soft smile,
"Let's make this work from here on out."
The glasses parted, each touching our lips.
"......"
As we each took a sip, Elice's gaze never left me. It was as if hinting at the attitude she'd show me going forward.
'A reliable ally you can't quite trust, and an enemy you don't need to keep in check—or something like that.'
She couldn't fully trust me from the start, of course. For now, she'd cooperate and take her share of the profits.
It was easier to keep dangerous people close and watch them, after all.
'Well, if that's how she wants it.'
I let a sly smile slip as I swallowed the wine.
A quiet moment passed as we sipped in silence, sizing each other up.
Elice's hand gripped her glass, but her foot tapped the floor impatiently, betraying her restlessness.
"You look like you have a lot of questions."
"...Can I be honest?"
"Go ahead."
"I want to crack open your skull and see what's inside."
Telling her to be honest, and she drops a bombshell like that.
"You said that knowing I wouldn't allow it, right?"
"Yes. But I'm really curious. Where did you get that information...?"
"Trade secret."
"What?"
Elice's face crumbled in disbelief.
"Sometimes, ignorance is bliss."
"......"
"You know what they say about curiosity and the cat?"
Elice bit her lip, staring at me.
But the information I had really was a trade secret. Exclusive to me in this world.
"Don't ask again."
So I had to settle for vague phrasing like that.
"Anyway, what about what I asked for?"
Elice was sharp. She picked up on my warning and smoothly changed the subject.
"Naturally, I have it all. Where should I start?"
"Clothes first."
Elice opened the lower compartment of the cart and pulled out a large box.
"Good choice?"
"Of course. Who else would wear it?"
"Right. This covers the payment."
I handed over the prepared pouch of money, and Elice's lips curved upward.
"Ahem, thank you."
Then she pulled a thick stack of papers from the cart's lower shelf. Quite a hefty amount, well-hidden there.
"These are the investigation reports on nobles who own estates in the capital, as requested."
Stacks of documents began piling up on the table with thuds.
"These are the one-year activity logs for the nobles in the territories you mentioned. Please refer to the appendices for detailed expenditure breakdowns."
Another stack rose beside it.
"Finally, the military supply documents you requested. They were tricky to access since they're classified."
The table was now buried under a mountain of papers.
I wasn't surprised. I'd seen this often back in Ovest Territory.
Elice dusted off her hands and muttered softly.
"Asking me to gather this much in one day is a bit much, don't you think?"
"You just organized and brought existing files."
"Some had to be sourced fresh?"
In other words, she wanted recognition for her efforts.
"I was running around all day yesterday, sweating buckets."
"Were you?"
I flashed a grin at Elice, who was pouting.
"Good work, Elice."
Elice stared blankly at my face, momentarily speechless. Like she'd been ambushed from an unexpected angle.
"You can smile like that too, huh."
"What?"
"...Nothing."
Elice cleared her throat awkwardly and changed tack.
"Anyway, shouldn't there be some extra pay for this?"
"I haven't even looked through them yet. What if they don't meet my standards?"
"No way that'd happen. Absolutely not."
Elice replied confidently.
"You'll be satisfied, for sure."
"Quite the confidence."
Not surprising from a woman who'd run a guild for years. Always quick to negotiate shrewdly.
I didn't mind it, deep down.
Knowing your worth and not selling yourself short was a good habit.
But.
"I already gave you investment funds. Wasn't that enough?"
I grabbed a handful of documents, then pointed at Elice's chest with my finger.
"Seems you put them to good use."
If it was negotiation, I wasn't one to back down easily.
"This is..."
Elice flinched as if stabbed, her hand instinctively covering the necklace at her chest protectively.
"Ah, no misunderstanding. I don't have the bad habit of giving and then taking back."
I withdrew my finger and flipped through a page.
"With any conscience, I figured you'd bow and thank me profusely."
"...I have nothing to say."
Elice hesitated, then retracted her words.
"Thank you, Lord Abel."
Her hand over the necklace trembled faintly.
"I'd completely given up on it... Thank you so much."
I glanced at her quivering hand, then returned my eyes to the documents.
"Take good care of it. Don't go flashing it on your chest and lose it."
"Pardon?"
"That thing will come in very handy later."
I flipped another page and added,
"When you achieve what you want."
Elice's eyes widened briefly, then returned to normal. After a moment's thought, she asked,
"Is that part of the trade secrets too?"
"Yep."
"Understood..."
Elice's eyes deepened to a rich blue. She fell silent, lost in thought for a while.
Flip, flip.
Meanwhile, my fingers busily turned the pages. My eyes scanned from top to bottom, quickly absorbing the contents.
"Hmm."
My lips curved into a gentle smile.
The documents Elice had prepared were top-notch, even compared to what I'd seen in Ovest Territory.
'She had reason to be confident.'
They detailed not just appearances and family ties, but even current issues each noble faced.
I especially liked how they'd been organized into tables for readability. The neat handwriting was unmistakably Elice's.
'Goes straight to my head.'
Of course, I didn't memorize them blindly. I combined them with the original story knowledge and info from the casino into a final version in my mind.
"Here. This one."
I flipped a page toward Elice so she could see.
"This marquis. Brown hair, mustache, belly sticking out like a balloon—is that right?"
"Yes, that's him."
"That marquis has a secret mistress. Check out Tessoro Territory."
Elice nodded and pulled a quill from the cart.
That cart really had everything.
"Tessoro Territory. Got it."
Elice added a note to the document I'd handed her.