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Chapter 8.5 – Beline’s Afternoon
And now.
A young magician with golden eyes and hair left Schirn with his servant and fellow Adventurers.
Beline had her work cut out for her.
First, she had to keep in touch with the neighboring Guild branches and recruit those who had the potential ability to deal with the Demons that were expected to appear, as well as those who specialized in surveying the forest. People would naturally gather if she promised great rewards.
If that happened, she would need to confirm the Adventurers’ abilities and their personalities in a timely fashion. If a big problem were to occur, Kennel’s trust towards her would be ruined once again.
Although she had the patience to create a semblance of a relationship with Kennel, he might run out of patience quickly if she relied on him. After thinking about this, she realized that it was still impossible to predict all the work she still had to do in Schirn. However, she knew she had to gain a monopoly over skilled Adventurers.
In regards to Schirn’s lord, her outlook was comparatively brighter. This didn’t mean that she was going to be directly involved with the work from the Guild, as she originally did not have a direct relationship with them. However, Beline would wholeheartedly welcome people who were honest and wouldn’t be dissatisfied with their personal work and the Guild. When she felt that someone was worthy of working for, she exerted herself for them. It was that type of scenario.
Although Beline was under pressure from her job and was unable to play around, she was currently in the reception room at Ashley’s mansion, late in the afternoon, face-to-face with Kennel, who was drinking tea.
Of course, this didn’t mean that she had come to play. She wanted to confirm the status of the proposal that she had offered him earlier.
“And so–Have you confirmed Ashley-sama’s intentions?”
“Umu. She had two replies. One was that she is the same age as her friend, and that, until now, she hasn’t had any. She was quite happy.”
Kennel looked sad as he narrowed his eyes.
“I think it’s time to retire these old bones.”
“What are you saying so half-heartedly? You have a lot of work piled up, don’t you? You’re playing a very important role so that Ashley-sama can spend her time in peace. There is no mistake; your work supports Ashley-sama from the shadows. A large amount of money will be spent on the town, since the cost of paying Adventurers for their services is increasing. There is also the restructuring and retraining of the guard unit. Also–”
“Ah, I get it. You don’t need to say anything else. It was just an idle complaint.”
Kennel coldly waved his hand, as he interrupted her, but Beline realized that his condition has returned to normal and smiled deeply.
“You don’t need to worry about me. Rather, instead of talking about Ashley-sama, shouldn’t we take Theodore-dono into consideration? How do you view him?”
When Kennel asked for her opinion, Beline tilted her head and placed her hand on her chin.
“Hmm, let’s see. His personality is a bit warped.”
“That…is that fine?”
“It’s probably fine. Speaking of that child, many find it hard to pretend to be an Adventurer and make a living off of it, and I have seen various children go off on business trips. He is warped in a relatively decent way. He has the capability to stand out, but since he is quite apprehensive, I see him as a danger here…at least, I don’t think that he is a bad person or inhuman. Well…it’s a good risk. Why don’t you give him another try?”
Beline saw him as a young boy.
Although she realized that this wasn’t the case…it was partly because Beline didn’t understand him well enough. He was a child gifted with high skill, higher than that of adults who excelled in his field of work. He was an eloquent child with a sharp mind. Although these were also talents, this was the reason she could not understand him.
As for Theodore’s background, from her point of view, it was a mixture of something she could guess and something completely mysterious.
As for what she understood…that young boy drew a line to keep everyone distant from him, so that they wouldn’t get intimate with him. Considering the fact that he was strangely favorable towards Adventurers, regardless of whether or not he yearned to be one like other young boys, was there a good memory involving Adventurers in his past?
Perhaps a part of her could get along with him because he cared about contracts.
There was trust because it was a contract. Even if she were betrayed, she could judge him accordingly, without getting hurt or getting into trouble. He was also like that.
Anyways, the caution he held towards others was high. Her impression of him was that he seemed like a wild wolf that had received many wounds from humans in the past. However, his eyes when he looked at that girl called Grace were gentle, so perhaps he was very open-minded towards people who were related to him and personally engaged with him occasionally. On the other hand, the attitude he had towards enemies of people related to him was severe. The eyes that Theodore had shown when he faced Oslo had made Beline’s blood run cold, even though she was accustomed to those situations.
Trying to imagine a scene where one had to calm down from that state, made Beline furrow her brows.
That was why he was dangerous. A part of her thought that he could do anything he wanted to with that great ability of his, so it was possible that he would behave recklessly until he hit his limits. It was easy to see, since there was no other reason for such a young boy to go to Termuilles.
As for Beline…she didn’t want that young boy to become unhappy. It was fine for him to lower his guard against others a bit more, and it was fine for him to behave like a child.
She thought that he shouldn’t live in such a way.
Although it was good for that servant girl to be with him…she was similar to a relative who the young boy had trusted since the beginning, so no matter what their relationship was, there was no reason for him to lessen his caution towards strangers.
In order to make him relax and take some of the burden off of him, there needed to be someone who could pass through the barrier that he had created…Ashley was the most suitable candidate for this. She was different from Beline and didn’t use any tactics, and Theodore also appeared to be empathetic towards her.
Ashley’s personality was also likeable, and taking the scarcity of her personal connections and her health into consideration…Theodore was likely the right person at the right time and place.
“You really… are a fox girl…”
“Hmm…what was that?”
Beline smiled as Kennel’s shoulders trembled in amazement.
Kennel couldn’t help being astonished that he had fallen for Beline’s tricks.
In other words, even Beline would profit from this.
This was originally related to her job, since the relationship between the Guild and the Lord of Schirn would improve. The Guild’s assessment of her was still high.
Although she had been startled by Theodore, who knew things about environmental improvement and could convince people of his opinions…He was in Termuilles and Beline was at Schirn. Theodore might be dissatisfied, but Beline didn’t care about that.
She was confident that he would never hit Ashley, who didn’t know anything, just because of his displeasure with Beline.
In the first place, Beline had told him that she would welcome it if he got involved with Ashley.
It had been nothing more than a declaration that he would be used if he got involved, and he had surely understood this. Beline had no reason to hesitate in her actions.
Of course, Ashley also had something to gain, while Kennel’s work would make progress. In other words, this method allowed her to kill more than two birds with one stone.
The plan was to use the people surrounding Theodore, and Beline believed that it was fine as long as nobody became unhappy.
Beline would rather enjoy the reaction the young boy would show her the next time they met.
She really is a fox girl. A soul as black as night XD. Though at least her darkness is stemmed from a well of good intentions.