Chapter 16
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: The Money You Swindled From Me
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At that moment, in the blacksmith shop in the city center.
Ding-a-ling!
With a clear chime, the door swung open.
A girl in a black robe and a man with a fearsome expression stepped inside, prompting Heison to leap to his feet.
“Oh, you’re here!”
Heison hurriedly retreated into the back of the forge.
And pulled something out from there.
It was a golden rose, so beautiful it stood out even in the dim forge.
“Must be because there were so many gold coins? I managed to make a full five rose flowers out of them.”
The roses were intricately crafted.
Down to the delicate leaves in between.
It truly looked like a perfect masterpiece.
Naturally, Chloe’s face lit up at the sight.
“It’s really beautiful. Thank you.”
“Um… so, about the commission fee…?”
As Heison asked cautiously, Chloe went “Ah!” and pulled a pouch from her waist, handing it over.
Clink.
The clear jingle brightened Heison’s expression.
He eagerly opened the pouch and grinned ear to ear at the massive pile of gold coins inside.
“Thank you then. Take care.”
Meanwhile, Chloe clutched the golden roses to her chest and skipped out of the forge excitedly.
Returning to the monastery, Chloe sought out Tail first thing.
And there he was, emerging from Cecilia’s tent in the distance.
Normally, that sight would have made her blood boil, but not today.
‘He’ll love this.’
Chloe bolted straight toward Tail.
“She’s going to fall! Watch out!”
Allen shouted from behind.
“I won’t fall! Don’t worr—!”
Before she could finish, Chloe’s foot caught on a tree root, and her body lurched wildly.
“Huh?”
Instinctively, she clutched the rose tight.
She had to protect this golden rose, even if she got hurt.
And just as she squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for impact with the ground.
Poof.
A soft yet firm embrace enveloped her.
‘This isn’t the ground.’
Chloe cautiously opened her eyes.
And what she saw was.
‘Clothes?’
Monk’s robes.
She tilted her head up slightly.
“You okay?”
Tail smiled down at her, holding her so close that their lips nearly brushed if she leaned in.
“Th-that!”
Chloe’s face flushed crimson in an instant as she gave him a light push and stood up.
“Lady Chloe! Are you hurt!?”
Allen rushed over to check on her, and at the same time, her neck turned red as she grabbed Tail’s arm.
“Tail.”
In the midst of the chaos, Chloe held out the golden rose to him.
“A gift. For you, Tail.”
With dust smeared on her face, she smiled brightly like a pure flower bud.
“I prepared it for you.”
For you alone.
Thinking only of you.
Remembering only you.
Swallowing the rest, Chloe offered the golden rose, and Tail took it with a surprised look.
Then, with a shy expression, she continued.
“This… was made with 100 gold coins.”
She was about to add, so praise me, when.
Tail’s expression turned grim.
“…Made with how many?”
At the same time, his face hardened as he examined the golden rose.
Tail took a deep breath in, then let it out.
No matter how deeply he breathed, he couldn’t calm down.
“So. As a gift for me. You used 100 gold coins. To make five flowers?”
His voice trembled faintly.
Sensing something serious, Chloe blinked and replied.
“Huh? Uh… why? Is there a problem?”
Tail forcibly swallowed a sigh.
‘Problems are overflowing right now.’
And understandably so.
‘With 100 gold coins! You should be able to make at least ten golden roses! What’s this, only five?’
No matter how he looked at it, the only explanation was that the blacksmith had pocketed some in the middle.
He must have figured she was a naive noble unfamiliar with the world.
‘How dare he. How dare he steal money that could have been mine!’
Tail’s eyes blazed with fury.
“Lady Chloe. Where’s the forge that made this?”
“In the city…”
“Do you know the location?”
Chloe nodded at Tail’s question.
“Yeah. I’ve been there twice.”
Tail grabbed her hand with a stern expression and pulled her along.
“Then let’s go.”
As she followed, Chloe’s eyes widened.
“Huh? Where to?”
“Obviously.”
Tail’s face burned with anger like never before.
“To get our money back.”
Tail headed straight to the forge with Allen and Chloe.
Bam!
Kicking the door open, a man dozing at the desk jolted awake unsteadily.
“Who… oh, miss.”
The man, Heison, startled and approached her.
“I gave you the item earlier… what brings you back?”
His expression was exceedingly bright as he spoke.
Before Chloe could respond, Heison continued.
“Perhaps… you have another commission?”
Reading the greed in his face, Tail let out a scoff.
The blatant sneer made Heison’s expression stiffen slightly.
“…And who’s this?”
“None of your business.”
Tail handed the golden rose to Heison with a beaming smile.
But even through the smile, his eyes pierced Heison intensely.
“Are you the blacksmith of this forge?”
Heison scanned Tail up and down in his monk’s robes, realizing he was a commoner.
A young punk using polite speech, but his crude expression and demeanor irked him.
Still, with the obvious nobles Chloe and Allen there, he couldn’t show his displeasure.
He plastered on a commercial smile and replied.
“Yes. Is there something wrong with this golden rose?”
As he grinned ingratiatingly, Tail chuckled again.
A faint crack appeared on Heison’s face.
“Oh. Something wrong with the golden rose?”
Tail’s expression hardened in an instant.
“Are you asking because you don’t know?”
At that moment, Tail boldly extended his hand.
Heison blinked dumbly at the hand, then gently placed his own atop it.
“No. Who’s asking for a handshake, you punk.”
Whack.
With a contemptuous look, Tail slapped Heison’s hand away.
“Why would I want your hand? Hand it over.”
Wiping his hand on his clothes, Tail growled fiercely.
“Give me my money back.”
Through gritted teeth in a low voice, he snapped.
“The money you swindled from me.”
Tail’s words had a massive impact.
Heison raised his voice, demanding what that meant.
He pounded his chest, claiming innocence.
“Sorry, but I’ve never swindled anyone! How righteously I’ve lived!”
“I don’t know how you’ve lived.”
Tail crossed his arms and glared.
“She said 100 gold coins went into these golden roses. Right? You must’ve counted them.”
“Y-yes?”
“You didn’t count while making them? Each rose requires a fixed amount, so you definitely counted.”
“Well…”
Heison couldn’t answer easily.
Admitting 100 here would expose that he’d only used half in the roses.
Then, glancing at the refined-looking Chloe, he made up his mind.
‘Yeah. She’s just a clueless noble anyway.’
Whether it was 100 or 50 gold coins in the roses, how would she know?
He just had to deny it.
Decision made, Heison nodded vigorously.
“Yes, yes. Exactly 100.”
“But to my eyes, it looks like only about 50 went into these golden roses.”
You could fool others’ eyes, but not his, the money hawk.
It was certain.
‘This bastard pocketed it.’
But Heison jumped at Tail’s words.
“What nonsense! Are you saying I stole some in the middle?”
Oh. Didn’t expect him to say it himself.
Yet Heison proved tougher than expected.
He launched into a long speech about his integrity and how he valued trust with customers.
“These roses required intricate work, and even the unseen parts were delicately crafted, consuming a lot of gold.”
No. Intricate work doesn’t eat half the gold?
And how much unseen area could there be to justify that?
It was nonsense from start to finish.
A new claim might seem odd at first, but repeating it in different words makes it feel true.
‘That’s brainwashing.’
And it worked best on people like.
Tail glanced at Chloe.
Her slightly parted lips showed she was already half-convinced.
‘As expected.’
She kept peeking at Tail, unsure what to do.
But she couldn’t bring herself to suggest rethinking Tail’s claim.
‘Gotta cut this off here.’
If he let it continue, she’d fall for it completely.
“So, you claim you made it with 100 gold coins, and I say 50?”
Tail’s lip curled upward slyly.