The pops didn't do anything. He threw his face away, silently giving approval to do as I pleased to his daughter, Marny.
People had different ways to survive. Maybe being punished for one's fault was the way of this place. And the old man made a decision to let me punish this girl.
"There was once a person who tried to use me like what you did," I spoke in a calm voice, but it escaped my mouth in a low tone that sounded straight from hell. "Did you know what happened to her?"
"N-No… I-I don't know." Marny shook her head fast, answering me with a stuttering voice. "I-I don't know." She repeated.
"Hmm, you don't know," I mumbled in a troubling tone. It was loud enough for her to hear.
At that moment, Marny raised her pale face and answered in a hurry, "S-She was killed three times!"
"Nope. I am not that barbaric." I answered with a soft smile, pulling back my bloodlust. In this case, her opinion wasn't important anymore, and I turned to the old man.
He noticed my gaze and gritted his teeth, "Do as you please with her. She broke our code." He said, feeling disappointed.
"Alright." I nodded at him after getting his permission. The old man did nothing wrong and even scolded Marny earlier, so I let him go.
But she was a different story.
"I want my refund," I told her, ensuring she looked at me and listened quietly. When I saw her nodding her head, I continued, "Multiply it by ten from the initial price."
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"T-That's crazy! I have no amount of money!" She shouted loudly at me, spewing bullshit.
"I don't believe you. You lied to me once; I don't have reassurance that you won't lie to me again." I answered coldly.
Her expression fell. She understood the most that trust was obtained through hard work. Once she betrayed that trust, there was no way to regain it anymore.
Also, there was no way an informant had no such amount of money. Even if they didn't have that much, they could earn a lot just by selling information.
And this was my aim. Even though she lied before, I had many ways to make her tell me honestly. But I wouldn't mention it to her. There was a better person to ask for information from.
"P-Pops…" Marny muttered, turning to the old man with a pleading gaze.
"No matter how much you looked at me, you broke an informant code. Take your punishment and move on." The pops spoke coldly at Marny and turned around, walking inside after leaving some words to me, "Please don't break her."
"That depends on Cecil," I answered the pops as he disappeared into the hallway. Then I turned to Marny once more, "So, can you give me the refund?"
"G-Give me time. Please, I really have no such amount of money with me!" Marny pleaded with tears, and snot filled her face, making her look really ugly. "A month! I-I swear I will give you a refund in a month! R-Right now, I only have 11 thousand Golds, nothing more than that!"
I stayed silent. That was a large amount of money, more than I thought.
Initially, I thought she only had 5 thousand Golds I gave her earlier and some extra money, totaling 8 thousand at most.
Cecil approached me, standing on my side while still holding her club. She looked at me impatiently, waiting for my permission to beat this girl out of anger.
I looked back at her. She didn't need to rush; I would definitely allow it. But for now, I planned to secure an informant and make myself look better without making me look like a pushover.
"A month, huh?" I muttered, holding my chin in thought.
Hope filled Marny's face as she smiled, "Y-Yes."
I exhaled a sigh. This… she gave up easier than I previously thought. Was she truly an informant? I wanted to make her feel bad before I 'forgave' her and allowed her to just return the initial amount, then left it to Cecil.
I didn't need to beat around the bush if this was the case.
"Fine, let's settle this with twice the amount. Return 10 thousand Golds to me, and I will forget what you did to me. I will give you a day." I turned around and left, "I leave the rest to you, Cecil."
"Yeah." Cecil nodded, looking down at Marny. "Now, it's my turn. Arthur might have forgiven you, but I certainly have not." She raised her club above her head with both hands, grinning dangerously.
Marny, looking at what the minotaur girl did, raised her hand.
"W-Wait, Ceci–"
Baam!!!
A loud explosion rang behind me. Wood splinters flew everywhere, passing my body, and got embedded in the wooden wall. Red blood splashed, painting some of the area red.
Putting on my hood, I pushed the door open and waited for my lover to come out. A few seconds later, she appeared with blood in her club and body.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"I am satisfied." She smiled beautifully, her teeth showing.
"Did you kill her?" I asked curiously as I used <Purification> to clean her, erasing the trace of blood in her body.
"No," She shook her head in denial, "But I crushed her body and left her dying. Pops will probably return with an HP potion and cure her."
"I see. Well, I am glad he didn't get involved in it."
"Yeah. Honestly, I owed pops something. If he had said to forgive her, I might probably not have hit Marny. But he was also furious about his daughter fooling me and you, so… Well, she deserved it. I still can't understand why she trapped us, but I felt great after hitting her."
"And I get double my money back," I added with a smile. "Because our matters here are settled, and it's not even evening yet. Do you want to do something fun, Cecil?"
"Hmm? Is it that kind of fun?" She asked teasingly. Her lips curled into a playful smile as she leaned toward me.
"If that's what you want," I replied back in a playful tone. "But I am thinking of a simple date, maybe looking at clothes and eating plates of seafood together. Having fun like that is nice but becomes boring if we do it too much."
"You're right." She nodded in agreement, moving away from me. "I know a good seafood restaurant around here. It's a bit expensive, but money isn't a problem, right?" She grinned slyly, glancing back at the tavern behind us.
"I will believe in your recommendation, Miss Pirate."
"Oh, believe me. This will be the greatest seafood you ever tasted."
Both of us began to walk away from the tavern, holding hands. The next plan didn't need to be hurried. I could just wait a while, and maybe I could take my time to visit this Viscount Steelwill territory.
I would put my trust in that primordial Succubus. I hoped she could convince the Queen to announce when she would take the throne. Her intention was already known through her speech a few days ago.
What was left was her coronation. I was slightly impatient, which led to my mistake earlier. But that wouldn't happen anymore.
'Please contact me sooner, Queen Eve.'