Ch#32
"We gotta save them!"
At Tiye's words, Basto furrowed his brow.
Right after Rudy had guided the nearly fainting Marianne to an empty room.
Only Basto, Nordix, Veil, and Tiye remained in the dining hall.
"Save who? You see that out there, kiddo?"
Veil pointed up at the wall.
There was a small window there.
Through the fogged-up glass, pouring rain was visible.
"I ain't never sailed, but one thing I know for sure. Headin' out to sea in weather like this is a death sentence."
"But listen to Tiye first, bro."
Veil shut his mouth.
Tiye counted on her fingers worriedly as she spoke.
"We got no money right now, and we're still a fresh mercenary group that's not super famous yet. But……."
Tiye glanced seriously around the room before whispering to the three.
"The Governor lady is super rich."
Silence fell.
As everyone froze with baffled expressions, Tiye hurriedly continued.
"Tiye saw earlier—the stuff on the Governor lady's wrist is all gold! Earrings gold too! Necklace gold too!"
"……."
"Plus no wrinkles on her face at all! That's 'cause she irons out wrinkles with money. Tiye learned that living in Jongno-gu."
In Tiye's mind rose the neighbors grumbling while watching TV.
‘Yeonseo, how does that lady not age at all!’
‘Aigoo, of course she doesn't age. Bet she gets treatments every day.’
‘Darn right, if I could slap money on my face and smooth out all the wrinkles like that, I'd have no regrets!’
That was when Tiye learned.
That slapping ‘money’ on your face stops aging.
That you can have fewer wrinkles than others and firmer skin.
Just like the Governor lady!
"If we help her out, she might become a Governor lady who owes us big time."
In Korea, she was just an ordinary kindergartener, but now Tiye was a mercenary.
The Unit Leader of the newly formed ‘Agabert’ at that.
Tiye thought being a mercenary was kinda like being a Korean celebrity or idol.
‘Get famous, make tons of money—same deal.’
But the problem was how to get famous,
‘Hey, 101-room bachelor, work goin' well?’
‘……Not really. Fewer investors than I thought.’
‘That agency thing still not sorted?’
‘Still negotiatin', but they keep slippin' weird clauses into the contract. From their side, I'm a pain, sure.’
Singersongwriter or somethin'?
Singersong…… anyway, that 101-room bro had struggled with it too.
Wanting to get famous, but weirdly, to get famous you needed money first.
‘Ain't just money. Those damn school ties, regional ties, blood ties. Sick of it. Tiye, when you grow up, make connections with rich folks and politicians first. You'll thank this bro later.’
Remembering 101-room bro saying that, Tiye continued.
"Let's make connections with the Governor lady!"
"……Connections?"
"Buildin' a network! They said life is all about your network!"
"……."
"We can turn our lives around with a network!"
Actually, she could get money by asking her bone friends to fetch jewels.
But that was stealin' from others' graves, and there were limits.
‘If there's no graves around, can't get any.’
But cozyin' up to rich folks and gettin' investment money had no limits!
"When we go to the Holy Knight headquarters, sayin' we're buds with the Governor lady might get us right in."
No wonder movies and dramas had all those ‘Do you know who I am?!’ lines.
Nordix's mouth fell slightly open hearing this.
There wasn't a single wrong thing in Tiye's words.
His eyes gleamed steadily.
‘Actually, the Governor's late husband was a high-ranking Knight Commander type.’
And that was all?
Marianne's missing two sons had also once been in the Holy Knight Order.
Though they'd quit now.
"You're right, Tiye."
Basto and Veil turned their heads.
Nordix looked at the two and continued gravely.
"The Wavebrill Marquisate is one of the top five great noble houses in the Capital. When the current marquis passes, all that inheritance goes to the Marianne Wavebrill we just met."
A glint of interest flashed in Veil's eyes, which had seemed bored the whole time.
"For real?"
"Indeed. If we help find her sons, she'll be useful in many ways later. Subjugating that Mana Stone that rose in the sea would be even better."
Tiye nodded.
"That's what Tiye's sayin' too!"
"Plus, building a personal connection with Marianne Wavebrill could be handy anywhere. Might even help spread Agabert's name wider……."
But then Basto raised one hand.
"I understand what you're saying. I agree with searching for the Governor's two sons."
"Any other concerns?"
"That Mana Stone outside bothers me."
Nordix's eyes widened.
Basto hesitated before continuing.
"As for subjugating that Mana Stone…… I'm honestly skeptical."
"Same here. Still havin' nightmares about nearly dyin' in Tenebraum Cave last time."
Veil chimed in too.
Veil shuddered as if just thinking of it was horrific.
"Plus, it's not even on land—how do you kill sea monsters? And with that storm ragin' outside, we can even stand straight……."
"Then we won't subjugate that Mana Stone!"
Then Tiye said brightly.
At the unexpected answer, the three looked at Tiye.
"Can't do dangerous stuff! Just quickly save the Governor lady's sons, convince everyone to evacuate the village, done!"
Nordix hummed and rubbed his forehead.
"But the folks with houses and ships here…… will they really evacuate willingly……."
"They die tryin' to protect houses and ships? If you die, you can't take houses or ships anyway!"
"Th-that's true."
"Plus we got the Governor lady, so if we ask her to roar super scary like a tiger, everyone'll run!"
Veil nodded.
He turned to the group as if to confirm and summed up.
"Then we search for the Governor's sons till sunset at latest? Skip the Mana Stone subjugation."
"Good. Once we evacuate the residents, the imperial family will dispatch Holy Knights or something."
Nordix nodded.
"Awesome! Let's go!"
Soon, with Tiye's cheerful shout last, the four left the dining hall.
And so, dozens of minutes later.
"Thank you, truly thank you……."
Marianne repeated standing at the pier.
In short order, her eyes were red and bloodshot.
Surging waves splashed up to the pier, wetting her ankles, but she didn't care about getting soaked.
"If they haven't returned to the Governance Hall, they're definitely still at sea. Shipowners say storms change currents, makin' steering hard."
So the boat with Raoul and Enzo might've been swept to some nearby coast or island.
"Please, please……."
Marianne squeezed her eyes shut, unable to continue.
She worried if sending unrelated people into the rough sea to find her sons was right.
"Don't worry, Governor lady!"
But then that childish voice rang out again.
Looking down, the little girl from before—no, Agabert's Unit Leader—gazed up at her.
"Basto's sailed lots! Ban-Anra Village was a coastal village, and Veil's eyes are good too, sees far stuff all clear!"
As she searched for words to reply, nearby sailors gathered.
"Yeah, Governor. Don't worry. Still time till sunset, we'll do our best to find 'em!"
"Your sons'll be safe!"
Marianne nodded, feeling a bit relieved.
Soon, the boat docked at the pier.
The pre-arranged group boarded first.
Two shipowners from the alliance, five crewmen, Basto, and Veil.
"Unit Leader. See you at the Governance Hall building shortly."
As Basto gave Tiye a brief salute.
"Heyyy—scum. Where you all rushin' off to?"
A large ship docked beside them.
