Sister, Don’t Marry That Guy – Chapter 83

Chapter 83

“Should I go after them?”

I was startled by the voice that came from right next to me as I was looking at their retreating figures.

When I turned, Haden’s face was close.

“Uh, uh?”

“You almost got hurt. Should I grab them?”

Haden’s face, as he offered to catch someone much bigger than himself, was incredibly innocent.

Like a puppy ready to run out at any moment if told, “Fetch!”

……I think I understand why the female characters in the books were drawn to him.

A person who purely helps in a moment of crisis without expecting anything in return.

And even now, his eyes were full of nothing but kind favor.

“No, it’s okay. Thank you for helping.”

I lightly tapped the boy’s hand on my shoulder, where Haden was still holding me.

I slipped out of Haden’s grasp and shook my clothes.

“By the way, did we have a magician in our merchant guild?”

At Haden’s small question, I paused for a moment, going “Ah.”

He must be referring to the time I said we had a magician to prove something to the troublesome customers.

“No, we don’t.”

I smiled and whispered softly.

“I was pretending we did. I’m good at lying.”

“……Really?”

At his innocent gaze, I laughed even louder this time.

“No. That was a lie too. Actually, we do have a magician. I’m telling you because you helped me, but it’s a secret, okay?”

“Yes, I understand. I’ll keep it a secret, on the honor of the teacher who taught me swordsmanship!”

“……Why are you putting your teacher’s honor on the line?”

It’s a bit strange. But I didn’t argue further and just shrugged.

‘A magician, yes, there is. It’s just me.’

Then, as I was about to put my hood back on, I heard Haden’s voice.

“Are you putting your cloak back on?”

“Huh?”

“No, I was wondering why you’re covering up your pretty brown hair.”

I was momentarily speechless at his innocent question.

As I looked at Haden with an unintentionally bewildered expression, his clear eyes curved as if he didn’t know anything.

“It sparkles in the sunlight. It’s pretty.”

Like a big, large dog.

‘……What is he, he’s been a complete natural since he was young.’

He only picks out the words that girls like, but he’s not aware of it.

Yeah, that’s an unaware face.

“Do you like brown?”

“No, I like red better than brown.”

I put on my hood, vaguely listening.

Currently, my hair and face are all disguised with magic, but I still prefer to wear a cloak just in case.

‘Red, huh.’

Come to think of it, there was a female character with red hair among the female characters the protagonist meets later.

That character was unusually involved with the protagonist a lot. Was it a preference after all?

When I turned my head, Haden smiled and spoke again.

“And I like gold more than red!”

“Oh my, Aiteman-ssi! You’ve been through a lot! How can there be someone like that!”

Haden’s voice was drowned out by someone suddenly shouting.

What did he say he liked?

“What? Ah, no, it’s nothing. Let’s go back for now.”

I gestured with my head towards the ledger Haden was holding. It meant to hand it over and go back quickly.

I need to talk to Auntie soon. And I need to meet Calidupen too.

“Ah, thank you so much for helping!”

The shop owner, Aiteman-ssi, smiled at us.

Of course, now that this situation had passed, it wasn’t a completely bright smile. Still, his expression was full of relief.

“Phew, I really survived. Rumors are fatal to a restaurant like ours……”

“No, the Psyche Merchant Guild can help with investigations at any time, so please let us know if you need anything. Our guild is innocent.”

“Ah, of course, it seems that way. And, well, those customers didn’t look like regulars, no matter how I look at them.”

That must be it. It would have looked strange to this shop owner ajusshi who has been running a restaurant for a long time.

“Please be sure to let the head of the merchant guild know.”

“Yes, I will.”

We handed him the ledger and turned away. A small fire was bubbling inside me.

……How dare they tamper with the drink I made?

I was planning to find out right away and not let it go.

* * *

In a dark alleyway, on a path where people rarely passed, three people were standing.

It was the three customers who had bumped into Leia and Haden a little while ago.

Among them, the man with the large build was huffing as he looked at the group.

“Why did you stop me? I could have blown that little brat away in one hit!”

“What do you mean, ‘blow away’? Didn’t you see how many people were gathering around?”

The man’s name was Joseph. He was just a mediocre thug who operated in this 3rd District.

Until one day, someone approached him and offered him a job to cause subtle yet blatant chaos in the 1st District.

It was a job that offered too much money to refuse, even though it was a trivial task.

“If you hit a kid in a place with so many people, we’d be the bad guys!”

“Doria is right. It’s different from the job we were asked to do.”

An old man who had been silent until now interjected.

The woman named Doria was a gambling scammer hired from the 4th District, and this old man was the person sent by the place that hired them.

“This operation failed due to an unforeseen event, but let’s go to the next store. You still have a lot of work to do. You know that, right? Change your hair and disguise.”

“Yeah, Joseph, calm down and change your clothes.”

“……D*mn it!”

Joseph clicked his tongue and glared at the old man for a moment.

The old man’s identity was a merchant guild employee, and also an employee sent by Loadon.

The Loadon Merchant Guild was a fairly well-known guild in this area.

They must be trying to keep the rapidly growing Psyche Merchant Guild in check, but they didn’t know how to use dirty tricks systematically.

Whatever the circumstances, he had received the contract money and would go to do the job again.

To receive the remaining down payment.

“Hey, you said you’re from Loadon, right? You guys better pay up properly.”

“Of course. Just do your job properly.”

Doria, the only woman in the group, watched the two men’s argument for a moment and then turned her head.

“Next time, Joseph and I will go out alone. Got it?”

“Ah, I memorized it. Stop nagging, you’re like a bothersome old man.”

Joseph still hadn’t realized the old man’s ‘true identity,’ but Doria, who made her living by scamming, had roughly figured out the old man’s identity.

To be precise, that even this Loadon Merchant Guild was doing this under someone else’s orders.

‘I must have seen someone else from another merchant guild. And the Kadin Merchant Guild?’

Two days ago, Doria had come out for a smoke and had seen the head of the Loadon Merchant Guild standing with someone.

Since it had been raining, the ground was wet and muffled the sound of footsteps, so she was able to overhear their voices.

“Is it enough to just interfere with that Psyche Merchant Guild?”

“Yes, then our Kadin will give you the monopoly on wine. If you accept, I’ll send you the contract separately.”

Kadin was a large guild, one of the five great merchant guilds in the capital.

Why such a place would incite Loadon to harass a small guild like Psyche was a mystery.

Doria, who had finished her recollection, shrugged.

‘Well, I just have to do as I’m told.’

And they didn’t know that a small snowman was watching them.

Nor did they know that all their conversations were being made known to someone.

* * *

“Loadon, you say?”

I narrowed my eyes, replaying the memory Ice had shown me.

‘Ice, you said they went to the next store after that, right?’

『Affirmative!』

I stroked my chin.

‘I expected it, but they’re an organized bunch.’

When I looked up, Aunt and Calidupen were sitting there with serious expressions.

As soon as I returned to the mansion, I had contacted Aunt and made a place in the library.

“Aunt, do you know Loadon?”

“Of course, I do. They’re a merchant guild in the same district as us. They’re the biggest one there.”

They were not comparable to the five great merchant guilds that represented the capital, but they were said to be a fairly large mid-sized merchant guild.

“They must be trying to keep us in check since we started growing rapidly, but I didn’t know they could use such dirty tricks systematically.”

“Is this kind of thing common?”

“It’s not unheard of. But it doesn’t happen much. After all, if their tails get caught, it’s not good for them either. Anyway, if it becomes known that a merchant guild that should be showing trust on the outside is acting like a thug, that’s not good.”

“Hmm……”

I carefully replayed the scene that Ice had shown me.

Actually, this kind of thing wasn’t that uncommon in the world I was in.

If a startup does well, a larger company will often interfere.

‘In these cases, the intention is actually to swallow the startup whole in the long run.’

Even in small local commercial districts, these kinds of childish interferences were commonplace.

When money is involved, that’s how it is. All sorts of things happen.

“First, we need to stop the rumors from spreading. Calidupen, go find out about Loadon right away. And find out who’s behind them.”

“Behind them as well?”

I glanced at Aunt.

“Aunt, isn’t there a possibility that Father will interfere again?”

“……..”

Aunt’s expression hardened. Soon, she chuckled. It was a furious smile.

“Yes, why wouldn’t there be?”

Okay, then we can move forward assuming that Father might be involved behind the scenes.

I gestured to Calidupen, and he nodded. At the same time, Rife, who was standing behind Calidupen, bowed her head.

“I’ll go find out right away, Young Lady!”

“Yes. Find out as quickly as possible. Gather as much as you can.”

“Yes!”

I turned my head again.

‘If they have power, we need to catch them early.’

I’ve identified the problem.

“Aunt, as you well know, we need to catch this as quickly as possible.”

“Yes.”

And sometimes, a crisis can become an opportunity.

“Let’s change the method. Since things have come to this, let’s change our promotion method.”

I rubbed my hands together.

The stores that had traded with us had subtly asked about the ingredients and recipe for cola, but all the employees remained silent. This was because they didn’t know either.

“From now on, when you sell cola, say it’s a magical item.”

I slammed my hand on the table. Then I smiled brightly.

“Then, they’ll stop talking about bugs.”