Opening for Business
“Welcome. How may I help you?”
I fired off the customer-service line on pure reflex as I looked at the visitor.
Wait. Hold on. What the hell was that greasy greeting that just came out of my mouth?
This was a lifelong humiliation-tier line.
I was supposed to be the silver-haired witch who felt like the strongest being in the setting.
Next time I had to perfectly memorize something cool and chuuni like, “Have you come to weigh the weight of your despair, little one?”
Calm down.
Harden the expression again. Drop the voice low…
The sales pitch had been trash, but she was still the first customer.
The shadow barely managing to stay upright against the doorframe spoke.
“I heard that if I come here… you will lend me the power to take revenge.”
Trembling violently, she began to drag her feet toward me one step at a time.
With every step, vivid red stamps of blood pressed into the marble floor.
Along with the damp night air, the thick stench of blood was flooding into the shop—strong enough to instantly smother the violet fragrance that had filled the place.
The expensive silk dress wrapping her body was torn in places, and she was using a longsword as a cane just to keep her weight upright.
Wait. Where have I seen her before?
That black-haired young lady with the purple eyes…?
At the same time, the silly-feather antenna on Kkamagi’s head—perched on my shoulder—began thrashing wildly.
A moment later I realized who she was.
Beatrice Conti.
The sole survivor of the Conti family.
The tragic young lady who, until mere moments ago, had been ground into dust on the galleries for having no talent and running away without being able to do a thing.
Right now her eyes were completely overturned by vengeance and despair.
She had even maxed out her pitiful mana circuits into a rampage; body and mind were both wrecked.
If left alone, she would not survive the night. The Bell family’s hunting dogs would catch her and she would meet a miserable bad ending.
Wasn’t this exactly the kind of person I had been looking for—the most desperate, the one with the least to lose, the absolute best potential VIP premium customer?
I set the teacup I had been holding down on the table.
Then I slowly lifted my gaze and fixed it on her.
“Welcome, valued customer. I have been waiting for you.”
This time the sales line was sincere.
I curled the corner of my crimson lips in what I hoped looked seductive and let a thin thread of mana slip into my voice, making the entire space thrum with a low resonance to cultivate a peculiar sense of dread.
“This is the ‘Skill Rental Shop,’ where miracles are traded with oneself as collateral. What business brings a person of your standing all the way to this humble place?”
Beatrice Conti swallowed dryly as she stared at the silver-haired witch before her.
“Welcome, valued customer. I have been waiting for you.”
At that greeting Beatrice thought her heart had stopped.
A calm welcome, as though the witch had known for a long time that she would come.
…She knew I would come?
Immediately afterward the witch smiled, and the air inside the shop changed.
A thick violet fragrance—unbelievable for the middle of a sewer slum—tightened around her throat together with that silence.
Beatrice intuited it.
This being was not human.
A true witch who savored human despair like a sweet dessert and read a customer’s fate before they even reached the door.
If it was this person, she might be able to give it.
The thing Beatrice wanted.
“…I want power.”
Beatrice tightened her grip on the sword and took one more step toward me.
I pulled the teacup from my lips and gave a short laugh.
“You want power? Don’t tell me! Has the Conti young lady who ran away doing nothing while her house burned come all the way to this witch because she wants revenge on the Bell family trash?”
Beatrice’s shoulders flinched visibly; then she snapped her head up and glared at me.
Purple eyes set in a face smeared with mud and blood blazed toward me.
“…You know who I am.”
“It would be stranger if I didn’t. Right now the galleries outside have live betting pools open on what kind of bad ending the Conti young lady will meet once the Bell family’s hunting dogs catch her.”
Beatrice bit her lower lip hard enough to draw blood.
“Give me the power to cut off every last head of those Bell family bastards. I’ll offer even my soul…!”
“Oh my, something like your soul would just take up storage space and be completely useless, little one.”
I could see the knuckles of Beatrice’s sword hand go white as she clenched.
She clearly wanted to swing the blade at me this very second, but she knew as well as I did that her current strength was past zero and into the negatives.
“Then what do you want? Spit it out already! If I can just kill every last one of them…! I’ll offer anything you desire. So please…!”
With desperation that strong, the growth value that would come back to me as the shop’s compensation was going to be deliciously sweet, wasn’t it?
Good.
Time to start the real sales pitch.
“Truly? You’ll offer anything?”
Beatrice looked up at me with eyes brimming with tears, then nodded as if she had reached a decision.
I propped my chin on one hand and lightly snapped my fingers in the empty air.
A single contract sheet that flashed blood-red fluttered down and settled softly onto the table.
With the other hand I gave a casual flick.
This time an S-class skill-book hologram, vomiting crimson mist and radiating overwhelming pressure, descended.
Description:
Converts pure hatred and murderous intent into mana, allowing the user to form and launch destructive sword qi with nothing more than a thought.
Usable even with shattered mana circuits or while in a complete mental breakdown.
A deep crimson aura erupted from the skill book and blanketed the interior of the shop.
Beatrice’s purple eyes shook violently as she confirmed that overwhelming force.
“Th-this is… a cheat key that can be used even without mana circuits…?”
“That’s right. With this alone you’ll be able to take easy revenge on those beastly bastards. In exchange, what I’ll take from you is—”
I leaned my upper body forward slightly, looking at Beatrice, and smiled as though it were nothing at all.
Her purple eyes trembled faintly.
“Something a little more practical, shall we say? Something where the two of us can both win-win.”
I tapped the contract with a fingertip.
“When you grow stronger with this power, a portion of that growth will automatically become mine.”
“…A portion of my growth?”
“Swordsmanship, mana, rank elevation—whatever. A portion of the achievements you win through blood and sweat will be attributed to me.”
Beatrice’s pupils widened.
I smiled sweetly and took a sip of tea.
“Of course not all of it. If I took everything, customers would stop coming. Business has to last a long time, you know.”
In truth the extraction ratio was set by the system; I couldn’t touch it either.
Well, there was no need to kindly explain that right now.
“And one more thing.”
I pointed at the final clause of the contract.
“One day a week.”
“…?”
“For that one day, you are mine.”
“What?”
In that instant Beatrice’s body locked up, and those purple eyes shook as though an earthquake had hit them.
Huh? Why is she reacting like that? Does she think it’s too expensive?
No, one day a week is an absolute steal, right?
Is this deal about to fall through?
Maybe I should have said one day in ten…
“Th-that means…”
Beatrice’s pure-white nape was flushing red.
“During the rental period… I… become your…”
“…?”
“…possession…”
“…What?”
Hey, no, it’s not that, it’s not that at all!
Why are you interpreting it that way?
It means clean the shop, do laundry, and go grocery shopping!
I just hate annoying chores; I’m not a pervert, okay?
Regardless of my inner scream, Beatrice kept talking.
“On that day, if you call, I must come.”
“No, that’s not—”
“I must obey whatever you order.”
“W-wait a second! Listen to me!”
“I must not run away.”
“It’s not that, you little brat!”
But my shouts were completely buried under her monologue.
And why is her face getting even redder?
Is this kid an even more severe menhera than I thought?
“Wh-why…?”
That was the question I wanted to ask.
Why are you saying this kind of thing to me right now?
This won’t do.
I have to draw a clear line even at this late stage!
But at that very moment—
Beatrice suddenly began to shed thick tears that rolled down her cheeks.
“Why would you… demand only that much from a failure like me…?”
The conversation had already gone completely off the rails.
I decided to just listen to whatever she was saying.
“I couldn’t protect my family… I have no talent at all…”
“….”
“To someone who ran away thinking even surviving was a sin…”
Plip—
Beatrice’s tears fell onto the contract.
“Not my soul, not my body, not my life… you only want a portion of my achievements and some of my time?”
With a trembling hand she covered her mouth, then collapsed onto her knees right in front of me.
“Thank you.”
“…Huh?”
“I will absolutely repay this.”
“…Uh, yeah. You should pay back what you borrow.”
Even while crying she smiled radiantly.
“I will become your sword and repay this grace.”
…I only needed someone to handle grocery runs, shop cleaning, and trash sorting.
Sigh. Fine. Do whatever you want.
That was the exact moment.
Ding—!
S-class Skill: 『Murderous Aura』 is hereby rented to the debtor.
Responding to the debtor’s desperation.
Output amplified by 327%.
A portion of the debtor’s growth will be attributed to the shopkeeper.
Wheeeeeeng—!
The blood-red skill book exhaled crimson mist and slowly melted into Beatrice’s chest.
At the same time a sharp crack! rang out; her sword rose into the air and began spewing dark-red murderous aura like a storm.
That sword—wasn’t it supposed to be the Conti family heirloom?
It certainly lived up to the name of a famous blade.
Beatrice watched the spectacle with a face that seemed to have forgotten how to breathe and murmured,
“…Ahh! I can take revenge now.”
She stretched her hand into the air and seized her sword.
Her entire body shone red together with the blade; her eyes were filled with madness and reverence.
“I’ll go cut off the heads of the Bell family’s hunting dogs right this instant!”
With her eyes completely flipped, Beatrice spun around, dark-red murderous aura storming around her, looking ready to smash straight through the door.
Hey, hey, wait a second! Stop right there, you crazy little brat!
You can’t leave yet!!
Something important is still missing!