8. Invitation
The place I arrived at, following the man in gray, was a large mansion. Befitting one of the city's influential figures, the lavishly decorated interior welcomed us.
I had thought we would meet the influential man right away, but a more troublesome procedure than expected was waiting for us.
"Before meeting Lord Dismas, we will make you presentable."
Led by the servants, I went to the bathhouse. Soaking my body in the steaming water naturally lifted my mood—though that was probably the intended effect, wasn't it?
Before long, two women came and said they would attend to my bath. ......I couldn't refuse, could I?
While receiving the bath service, I learned an unexpected fact. I could control my erection. Guessing it was an additional effect of Incubus Body, I endured as the maids rubbed olive oil over my entire body with their hands.
After finishing the bath, I received white cloth garments and put them on. When I followed the guide, Tia and a middle-aged man dressed in dark red were waiting for me in the dining room. That man was probably "Lord Dismas."
Tia, sitting there in different attire than usual, had another kind of charm. But wasn't a woman's bath supposed to take longer than a man's?
Then again, with the service, my own bath time had also grown longer than usual. It wouldn't be strange if Tia had finished a bit faster.
"First, eat. I'll hear your story after that."
When I arrived, the man declared as much. At that, the servants brought out bread and meat.
"Um, there are people waiting to eat with me."
"Don't worry. I've already sent someone."
He had already figured out that I was an outlander? And he was making a point of showing me he knew. Just the sort of person I'd imagined.
The meal was excellent. Even with an unwanted person at the table, the food was beyond what I had expected from the inn—not merely edible, but meat and bread seasoned with various spices that could hold their own against modern cuisine. So, the rich in this city ate things like this, then?
"It pleases me to see you eating so well. These are foods that not just anyone in the City of Light can taste."
Apparently even ordinary rich people couldn't eat them. He seemed to have prepared special food to humble us, but I was a modern person. I had already tasted plenty of stimulating food drenched in MSG and sugar.
Tia, on the other hand, looked like she was tasting heavenly cuisine. Dismas's objective was half achieved, it seemed.
When the pleasant meal ended, Dismas asked,
"Who are you people?"
"Don't you already know?"
"Ah, you're an outsider, so you might not know. This is something like an official procedure."
The man asked smoothly, even though he already knew I was an outlander.
"I'm Seo Do-hyeon."
"I'm Tia."
"Pleased to meet you. Do-hyeon, Tia. I'm a busy man, so I'll speak bluntly."
I felt Tia tense at those words.
"Tia. I'm here to inform you of a debt you owe me."
"A debt?"
Tia looked puzzled at that.
"Indeed. To become an adventurer, you received various investments from me. Did you not obtain your class, borrow equipment, and eat and sleep in lodgings I established?"
He was simply collecting the price for that, Dismas declared.
"B-but I've never heard of such a debt being demanded from anyone else who became an adventurer."
"That's because they became adventurers under my patronage. Unlike you, who jumped into adventurer work on your own."
In short, it was retaliation for not buying a letter of recommendation.
When the man gestured to the servants, they held out a paper with detailed figures to Tia. Judging by her flustered reaction, it was an amount she couldn't handle.
I should step in before Tia made some reckless declaration.
"I understand why you brought this up."
"Hm? This is a matter unrelated to you. Do you intend to interfere?"
"She's my party member. It's not unrelated."
"Fine. Then explain. I'm merely talking about repaying a debt—why do you think I brought this up?"
I gathered my thoughts and began to speak.
"According to Tia, her activities were already under your management."
"So, even after she revealed everything, you still take her side? Youth."
Dismas clicked his tongue.
"While she was active, she must have paid you a certain amount in tribute."
"Well, I receive so much in patronage that I wouldn't know."
"And the problem is that you no longer have any means to control Tia."
Everyone else working under Dismas was bound in shackles. Those currently active were under his influence, and even those who became adventurers couldn't defy him as long as they had his recommendation.
But Tia had become an adventurer without his letter of recommendation. If Tia reported that Dismas was behind the illegal acts she had committed, Dismas would be left completely exposed to attack.
When I pointed this out, Dismas smiled amiably and said,
"No means to control her? Is she not still dreaming of being an adventurer?"
"As long as she's with me, it's a dream you can't control."
Of course, if Tia's crimes came to light, it would hinder her adventurer activities, but only because no other party would take her in. There was no problem with me taking Tia along on adventurer work.
The restraints that had bound both sides until then—Tia alone had unilaterally slipped free of them.
Dismas felt the need to shackle Tia again, and that was the debt he was now demanding of her.
"You don't want to collect the debt. You want a reliable shackle to bind Tia."
At this rate, even if Tia paid off the entire debt, he would just push forward the next method.
"Hmm, that was an interesting story. Young man."
Dismas took a sip of wine and continued.
"But tell me—if what you say is true, what will you do?"
He meant it literally. I had analyzed the situation, but there was nothing I could do. Beat Dismas to pieces? If he was a retired adventurer, he was at least level 3. Considering he was an influential figure in the city, he would be higher than that.
Not only that, there were numerous servants. No matter what Perks I had, I couldn't defeat Dismas and all his underlings alone. Not yet.
Even if I won, what could I change? I'd be lucky not to be marked by the entire city.
Therefore, there was no need to estimate the odds of combat. Because there was no need to fight.
What I could do was simply—
"I'll give you some advice."
Dismas smiled at that.
"Advice? Useful advice is always welcome."
If it was unnecessary advice, his smile seemed to say, I could look forward to what would happen.
"If what you want is a shackle to place on Tia, it's unnecessary."
"Why?"
"Because her shackle is already here."
I pointed at myself with my thumb. Dismas's idea of how Tia might retaliate rested on one premise: that I would keep partying with her.
I myself was the shackle binding Tia's future.
"Young man, do you know what you're saying?"
Dismas had a line he wouldn't cross. There was no way he hadn't thought of what I had thought of. The line of not laying hands on "ordinary people."
That was why he had pressured Tia in such a roundabout way.
Then let me declare it. That there was a much easier shackle right here.
"Of course."
In other words, if Tia acted recklessly, he had permission to threaten my life.
Because a person can throw away their own life, but they cannot throw away the life of another person connected to them.
What? Why not just kill me and be done with it, without needing such permission?
In this world, Speak with Dead—a spell that allows conversation with the dead—actually exists. The Western man I first met at the shrine had warned me not to commit murder carelessly and explained it.
In a world where the dead do not stay silent, killing carelessly is actually a bad move. That was probably why Dismas kept such a line.
"What will you do if that woman betrays you?"
"Big Sis Tia, are you going to betray me?"
"There's no way I would!"
"See?"
"Heh, youth."
Of course, I wasn't certain Tia wouldn't betray me. She was someone in my hands, but I'd only known her for a few days—how could I be certain? I was just arranging things so that even if she betrayed me, I would lose nothing.
Right now, I probably looked like a young fool blinded by a woman.
In truth, I was here for the sole reason that I wanted to monopolize Tia.
But if Tia ever betrayed both me and Dismas, would eliminating me really be the most efficient choice for Dismas?
Would there be a better option than using me as a hunting dog to chase down the woman who betrayed him? If Tia actually betrayed him, he would have ample reason to pursue her.
In other words, by pretending to stake my life, I had steered things so that no matter what happened, my interests would align with Dismas's.
"What is she to you, that you would go this far?"
Several answers hovered on the tip of my tongue.
The person I'd had my first time with.
Sexual partner.
My possession.
But the words I actually spoke were—
"A party member. An important one."
Tia as a person, not a tool.
"Is that so."
Dismas sank into thought for a moment and tapped the table twice.
As the conversation flowed to this point, the light returned to Tia's eyes. She was under the illusion that everything would work out because I had sacrificed myself for her.
As if. The real part was just beginning. The conversation so far was only bait. What remained was whether the other side would bite.
"One thing, young man. You've missed something."
"What's that?"
"An example."
He asked.
Those who crumble when crisis comes are amateurs.
Those who overcome crisis when it comes are intermediates.
Those who create profit when crisis comes are experts.
I answered carefully, as if I had just thought of it. So that it would look like improvisation, not something intended.
"You don't need one."
"Hm? You'd better speak a bit more carefully."
"First, there are almost no people like me who know everything about Tia and accept her."
"Do-hyeon......"
Tia blushed at those words.
"That's true."
But even such a small possibility must not exist, Dismas added.
"Exceptions always break the rules."
"Even if she runs off with someone she falls for, their weakness remains in your hands."
"Didn't I say exceptions are the problem?"
"No. I'm talking about the state where those people's weaknesses are already held in your hands."
"Hm, go on."
"If such people increase, you can exert influence over adventurer parties."
Of course, it wasn't a method that would work multiple times. I added that and continued.
"By releasing people whose weaknesses you hold into adventurer parties,"
"you gain insurance that can be used once."
Tia's eyes widened at my words. Why? Did you think I was just a nice guy? Sorry, but think back to our first meeting. I can't be that good a person.
"Insurance."
"Isn't an agent who doesn't even realize they're an agent the best trap of all?"
A person who truly fell in love, truly ran away, and truly contributed to the party. Such a person could be made to move just once. I emphasized the value that could come from that.
"Giving value to runaways—not a bad idea. But exceptional cases like yours still don't help me, do they?"
"That is hope."
"Hm?"
"Because a real example exists, people come to hold hope. No matter how minuscule the number of cases, people are drawn to it."
"You mean use it as bait?"
"Yes."
Dismas sank into thought at those words and tapped the table lightly. After a moment of calculation, he spoke to me.
"You're an interesting young man. Would you consider receiving my patronage?"
Yes. It had to come to that.
Hope has value only when it shines brightly. People cannot dream of the future through dirty, stained hope.
That was why Tia and I needed to become perfect. More precisely, we needed to appear that way to others.
If I had proposed it from the start, he would have been suspicious. But if it was an answer to a question he himself raised? If it looked like something hastily produced after being caught off guard in an unexpected situation?
If it wasn't a prepared scheme, there were two possibilities. A lucky fool, or a businessman who could package his own profit in an instant.
Either way, he would delude himself into thinking he had me in the palm of his hand. And so, without drawing suspicion, I could extract support from him.
Tia's eyes went round at Dismas's offer, and she signaled me to accept it right away. Right. There was nothing to lose by accepting.
So, naturally, here I answered like this.
"No."