Settlement

“Ah, young miss… perhaps we should stop for today…”

“No way! Seo-hyun can’t even go for a walk with me! Do you have any idea how long I’ve been looking forward to going out together? And now you’re saying we can’t because of some illness? That doesn’t make any sense!”

At Yulia’s words I could only let out a hollow laugh.

Sunlight allergy.

Ever since the doctor had diagnosed me with it, the sheer helplessness of figuring out how to deal with the condition had weighed on me. After I once followed Yulia out into the garden for a stroll and came back with my skin swollen and inflamed, I had developed a deep aversion to going outside at all.

Of course, once the sun set in the evening a limited amount of outdoor time was possible—but even that had become rare lately, thanks to the hacking commissions that kept me occupied.

“Haa… all right.”

“Yay~! Then today you have to play with me until ten o’clock!”

I sat down with a bitter expression.

The thought of Laplace, still waiting for its master to return while gathering every scrap of information from the internet, left me uneasy.

Haa… of all times to fall asleep during lessons…

On the final day of the commission I had gone to bed at four in the morning. In my previous life that sort of schedule had been routine, so I had assumed it would be fine. What I had overlooked was that this body was only five or six years old at best.

In the end, two scant hours of sleep and two weeks of quietly accumulated fatigue had proven too much. I had dozed off during study time with the head maid.

When I woke, I was met by her ice-cold face. I realized far too late that I was thoroughly screwed—by then the damage was already done.

The head maid had barged into my room demanding to know what I had been doing the night before, and I had come within a hair’s breadth of having every illegal act I had committed exposed. Fortunately Laplace had handled the situation with perfect timing, so nothing of the sort occurred.

Because I had spent the past few weeks using the computer for various studies as a cover, I received pitying looks instead of handcuffs. Unfortunately, that did nothing to stop the computer itself from being confiscated.

‘For the next two ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠weeks the computer is confiscated. Children your age need proper rest.’

‘I… I just like studying…’

‘Study is important, but sleep is an essential part of living. You don’t have to keep trying so hard to prove yourself.’

The head maid’s gaze had been so heavy with the affection one might show a beloved daughter that I simply could not win against her.

And so, for the time being, I was barred from using the computer. In exchange, my sleep and rest hours increased dramatically.

The important point was that I suddenly had nothing to do with all that free time—so most of it was naturally spent with Yulia.

But even that ended today.

Today marked exactly two weeks since the hacking commission had concluded.

In other words, it was the day I would get my confiscated computer back.

“Seo-hyun!”

“Y-yes?!”

“You weren’t listening to me at all, were you!”

“N-no? I was listening carefully!”

“Liar! Your eyes were looking completely somewhere else!”

Ah, right.

First I needed to peel off this excessively clingy, childish young miss.

“Y-young miss? Shall I brew you some tea?”

“Tea? You know how to make tea?”

“Yes! I learned from the head maid! I’m fairly confident I can make it well—aren’t you thirsty?”

“U-uhh? Mm… now that you mention it…”

“I’ll have it ready in no time! Just wait right there!”

“Th-then after we drink the tea we’ll play together, right?”

“Y-yes, of course!”

Leaving Yulia staring after me with flustered eyes, I dashed into the kitchen.

Now was the perfect moment to unveil the special tea recipe the head maid had taught me!

“Mmngh~ mnyah… mnyah…”

Leaving Yulia sprawled out cold on the sofa, I rose carefully so as not to wake her.

“Heh… heheheh…!”

Brewing a tea I had never learned in my previous life had been quite the ordeal, but the result was a complete success.

After all, even Yulia had been put to sleep by the effect of chamomile tea—said to knock you out after a single sip!

“Heh-heh, I really, really wanted to play with you, but since the young miss has fallen asleep~ shall we play next time?”

I was wearing an inexplicably wicked expression when my eyes met those of a maid standing nearby, watching me with a flat look. I hastily composed my face.

“Ahem… Unnie~ could you take the young miss to her room?”

“Well, that much is fine… but that look on your face just now…”

“Yes? What about my face?”

“No, it’s… never mind. It’s nothing.”

“By the way, does that mean my duties for today are finished?”

“Well… yours are. I still have night patrol.”

As she spoke she absently touched the pistol hidden in her clothes.

Now that I thought about it, the maids employed in this household were hardly normal either.

What kind of maid anywhere in the world went on night patrol ready to repel intruders?

They said she was from Germany—perhaps their way of thinking was simply different from ours.

“Then I’ll be heading in.”

“Sure. Don’t study too late. Get to bed early.”

The moment our greetings were finished I sprinted up the stairs to my room on the second floor.

When I returned, the computer that had been gone for two weeks was sitting on my desk once more.

“I’ve missed you! Let’s never be parted again!”

I had not realized just how inconvenient the past two weeks without Laplace at my side had been.

Whenever there was knowledge I lacked I had been forced to look it up myself or ask people, and I had no idea whatsoever how the situation had developed after the commission ended.

I even worried that it might already be too late and I would never receive the payment I was owed.

At the time I finished the job I had sensed nothing of the sort from Yekaterina, but one never knew.

The instant I powered on the computer, Laplace’s logo—unseen for so long—rose across the display.

—Long time no see! By the way, how did you manage to block the hacking screen and pull up study materials on your own last time?

—No, no! The way you handled it was perfect. I was just surprised because it was better than I expected.

Laplace had always been evaluated as a hacking AI decades ahead of the technology of its time—so advanced it was hard to believe it had been built then—yet it had never been capable of reading human relationships and responding accordingly.

Its functions had been limited to outstanding computer utilization and a conversation program, nothing more.

—No, forget it. More importantly—Leviathan! Were there any messages from Leviathan?

—Please tell me there weren’t that many?

I asked with a tremor of anxiety, and Laplace answered with perfect honesty.

—Uh, how many exactly?

—Ignore the unregistered ones. Just pull up Laplace’s official messenger.

The moment I checked the messages from Leviathan, the world in front of my eyes went dark.

From her perspective, the person who was supposed to settle the reward the very next day had vanished without a word for two full weeks—of course she would be climbing the walls.

I immediately sent a reply.

Barely two minutes after I sent the message, a reply arrived through the administrator account—Yekaterina herself.

She must have been logged into Leviathan. I had never expected a reply this fast.

After she received my message there was a brief pause before the next reply arrived.

Still, it came within a short time.

The list of rewards she presented was as follows.

The first thought that hit me when I saw the list was: Is she trying to scam me?

One commission.

One single commission, and I had earned two hundred million won.

Even granting that Leviathan paid generously, it was an absurd amount for a lone hacker—an individual—to receive.

Is it because of that?

Most of the hackers Leviathan hired worked in teams.

Even if two hundred million was a large sum, if the team numbered around ten people, each person would walk away with twenty million.

That was still a great deal of money, of course—but when you considered that top-tier hackers only received that kind of pay for critical missions, it was not outrageous.

I simply happened to be pocketing alone what would normally be split among ten to twenty people, which made the figure look enormous. In reality, it was perfectly reasonable compensation.

Rather than dwelling on that, I should start by eliminating the unnecessary options.

I calmed my thoughts and focused solely on determining the most appropriate choice.