“Young Master Litte, do you think I’m too soft-hearted?” Mudrick said, looking at Litte with a smile.
“My brothers here have followed me through life and death for years. We’ve seen it all,” Mudrick continued.
“I treat them well, paying them the best salaries and mission bonuses in the Imperial Capital. From the day they joined, they knew they might die someday.”
“You think you can threaten me with them?”
“Yes, perhaps I can’t,” Litte conceded with a nod.
She then gave the orange-haired girl a look. The girl nodded, charged forward, and thrust her sword toward Mudrick.
Seeing this, Mudrick drew his own sword and engaged the beastkin girl in combat.
—
Time rewinds to the previous day.
Saint Roland City, inside a coffee shop.
“Sister Celineina.” Litte greeted Celineina, who sat across from her, with a friendly smile.
“Young Master Litte, what brings you here today?” Celineina looked at Litte, asking with some confusion.
She had been busy with business in Saint Roland City these past few days. Litte, somehow getting hold of her whereabouts, had actively sought her out.
Celineina looked at Litte opposite her, feeling somewhat emotional.
The last time she saw Litte, he was still that timid little brother who always followed Orson, hesitant to trouble others. She hadn’t expected Litte to have grown to the point where he could meet people alone with such politeness and composure.
After all, their relationship wasn’t particularly close. The only connection between them was Orson.
“No need to be so formal, just call me Litte, Sister Celineina.” Litte smiled.
“Alright, Litte.” Celineina returned a relaxed smile.
“So, what did you need from me this time?”
“Um...” Litte hesitated, looking a bit bashful, then looked up at Celineina.
“Sister Celineina, didn’t Orson say I could come to you if I had any financial problems?”
“Ah, Orson did mention that.” Celineina nodded. “What is it? Have you already spent the three thousand gold coins I gave you last time?”
Hearing Litte’s words, Celineina understood why Litte had sought her out.
To put it simply, he was out of money and needed more.
This thought changed Celineina’s perception of Litte again.
Is this what they call ‘easy to go from frugal to extravagant’?
Celineina knew full well that Litte had grown up in the countryside.
She hadn’t expected that after just a few months in the Duke’s household, money would mean so little to him.
Three thousand gold coins was a substantial amount, even as living expenses for a young noble. Living at the Imperial Academy, unless one had bad habits, it was impossible to spend that much money.
Could it be that this Litte was a natural spendthrift?
Thinking this, Celineina began to regret her earlier decision to bet on Litte.
She continued, asking with some concern, “Litte, did you go to a casino or a bar? Or perhaps... those kinds of places? Otherwise, how could you have spent the money so quickly?”
“No!” Litte blushed and shook her head. “I didn’t go to those places! I still have a lot of the money you gave me left, Sister Celineina. It’s just... I have an urgent matter recently that requires a large sum of money...”
“I see... well, I understand.” Celineina nodded, indicating she understood. “Then, can Litte tell me what the matter is, and how much money you need?”
“Um...” Litte paused for a moment, then told Celineina. “Alright, I’ll tell you, Sister Celineina, but you mustn’t tell anyone else, okay?”
“Of course, I’ll definitely keep little Litte’s secret.” Seeing Litte’s mischievous look, Celineina felt an unexpected surge of maternal affection and readily agreed.
“To put it simply, someone has been targeting me recently. They seem to want to harm me.”
Hearing this, Celineina’s expression turned to surprise.
“But I heard the security at the Imperial Academy is very good.”
“Yes, but I happen to have something to do recently and can’t stay at the Imperial Academy, so I’m a bit worried...”
“Then can’t Orson accompany you?”
“Um, Orson also has his own things to take care of, so I plan to hire a bodyguard to protect me for a while.” Litte said, holding up one finger.
“Ten thousand gold coins?” Celineina asked doubtfully.
Ten thousand gold coins could indeed hire a very capable bodyguard in Saint Roland City.
Her trading company had been earning quite a lot recently, all thanks to Orson. Thinking that helping Litte was equivalent to helping Orson, Celineina was about to agree without hesitation.
“No, one hundred thousand.”
Litte’s next words stunned Celineina.
“One hundred thousand gold coins!?” Celineina stared at Litte, dumbfounded.
One hundred thousand gold coins? Good heavens, was Litte planning to hire a Tier 8 master to protect himself?
One hundred thousand gold coins wasn’t an excessively large sum, but it wasn’t small either.
For a farmer living in the countryside, let alone one hundred thousand gold coins, even ten gold coins would be an amount they couldn’t imagine earning in a lifetime.
Although the total value of agricultural products produced by a farmer definitely exceeded ten gold coins, after taxes, the wealth they could keep was very little.
For a city dweller, ten gold coins would represent a considerable amount of savings.
And one hundred thousand gold coins, in a more remote city of the Empire, could even buy you a small town, allowing you to live as the town mayor.
But on the other hand, it wasn’t that significant either.
After all, Louis, the president of the Silver Moon Trading Company, had previously traded with Muhammad, the president of the Ali Trading Company. To obtain the secret of the commercial courier, the Silver Moon Trading Company had spent a full three million gold coins.
And a city, unless extremely remote and poor, collected far more than this amount annually from agriculture and commerce taxes. The reason cities didn’t seem as wealthy as merchants was simply because they had to invest heavily in maintaining various facilities, institutions, and organizations.
But regardless, for Litte, this amount was indeed a bit excessive.
“Litte, do you understand what one hundred thousand gold coins means?” Celineina asked, her tone carrying a hint of seriousness.
It wasn’t that she couldn’t come up with one hundred thousand. Right now, even if asked for a million gold coins, Celineina could manage it.
Of course, gathering a million gold coins would inevitably have a significant impact on the operations of the Silver Moon Trading Company’s Antica branch, possibly even forcing its closure.
“I know.” Litte nodded. “But the people trying to harm me this time, they will only spend more than one hundred thousand gold coins. If I don’t spend more, I’m afraid...”
Celineina was utterly shocked by this statement.
“Litte, are you saying someone is spending over one hundred thousand gold coins to harm you? Wait, how do you know that?” Celineina spotted a problem and asked.
“Also, Litte, is there something so important that you absolutely must leave? If not, why can’t you stay in the academy for a few more days? One hundred thousand gold coins is not a small sum, after all...”
“I...” Litte paused, then said, “There’s actually a reason.”
She coughed twice, clearing her throat, then continued, “But the reason I need to go out is temporarily inconvenient to tell you, Sister Celineina. You just need to know that this matter is really important to me.”
“Anyway, Sister Celineina, if you’re unwilling to help me, then really no one else can help me this time. I will remember this one hundred thousand gold coins and repay you in the future.”
“...” Celineina paused, then nodded.
“Alright.” She agreed to Litte’s request. “One hundred thousand gold coins, right? Come with me to get it. With this amount, we can only withdraw paper notes.”
“That’s fine.” Seeing that Celineina didn’t refuse to help despite her suspicions, Litte breathed a sigh of relief, her fondness for Celineina increasing slightly.
Of course, her fondness for Orson increased even more.
After all, if Orson hadn’t helped Celineina, Celineina wouldn’t be helping her now out of consideration for Orson.
After withdrawing the money from the bank, Litte waved goodbye to Celineina and parted ways with her.
“Sister Celineina, see you later~ When the holiday comes, I’ll treat you to a meal in Antica~”
“Okay.” Celineina smiled and nodded, then saw Litte off.
Afterward, she lowered her head, lost in thought for a while, before finally looking up and heading towards the Imperial Academy.