I looked at him with a perplexed look on my face and continued speaking slowly.
"So you lied to me. It's all a lie that you hate Eric and that you're going to help me just to screw him over."
"I feel like if I don't say that, you won't get help..."
I nodded at his urgent words.
"That's right. If you just said you wanted to help without any particular reason, I wouldn't have received the help."
Daniel seemed relieved by my approval and said with a smile.
"In the end, I think I was fortunate to be able to help."
"Sure. It might have been difficult to escape on my own."
Daniel smiled brightly at the words he said with his eyes downcast, perhaps thinking it was an expression of gratitude toward me.
"But. Right now. I was running away in a hurry because my foot was hit by an ax I trusted."
When I spoke in a low voice, he started rolling his eyes and looking at me as if he sensed something was wrong.
"No matter what the intention was, it feels really dirty to think that I was tricked into doing what you intended."
"Windy."
As I glanced at Daniel and summoned the spirit, the wind spirit flew into the carriage.
He didn't even open the window, but he blinked in confusion as a light breeze blew past his cheek.
"That human..."
I was about to tell him to throw me out of the carriage right away, but I stopped.
It was because his leather coat, which looked luxurious even to my ignorant eyes, caught my eye. All of Isabella's luggage is now entrusted to Eric.
Even if I were to look like Rebecca, it wouldn't be easy to save up my travel expenses.
Even the outfit looked like this, so even if I washed my eyes and looked for it right now, I couldn't find a place where money could come out.
'First, shake it upside down.'
Windy faithfully followed my orders and levitated the man upside down in the air. And he began to rock slowly up and down.
Jinglang. Jinglang.
The thick bag and several gold coins he had in his arms rolled on the floor of the carriage.
As the items he was carrying started pouring out one by one, the man tried to scream,
"Aaaah!"
'Close your mouth and take it off.'
[How far can I take it off?]
Just the coat for now.
I could make money by selling used shirts, but I didn't want to be greedy and see other people's bare skin.
"Eup, eup!"
He turned pale and shouted a warning at the man who was caught in the air.
"You're lucky, Daniel."
"..."
"Having been hit in the back of the head one after another, my pride has been seriously damaged. Still, I received help, so let's take that into account."
At best, it ends with taking what you have. How merciful this is. I gave a final command to Windy.
'Leave this far away."
[Anywhere?]
"If possible, on a high tree branch in a place with few people."
I watched Daniel fly past the open window until he gradually became a small dot, and then I leaned back.
"Ego..."
What should I do from now on?
First, let's clear up this situation.
The first thing I need to know is why my appearance has changed like this.
"The contract must be valid."
I glanced at the back of my hand where the seal was engraved. Maybe it was my mood, but it felt a little darker than before.
"Can I find out why I returned to my original form?"
[It has nothing to do with me.]
You don't know.
Feeling frustrated, I looked down at my calloused hands for a moment.
The hands were so rough that it was hard to believe that they were long, milky-colored, beautiful hands that had been soft and beautiful just a little while ago.
'I feel like I'm having a midsummer night's dream.'
Of course, even if this were all a dream, it would still be a serious nightmare.
***
The coachman who stopped the carriage in front of the mercenary guild was wide-eyed when he realized that Daniel, who had boarded the carriage with me, had disappeared.
I pretended not to notice his curious gaze and paid for the carriage with Daniel's money.
"Thanks for your efforts."
I passed the driver, who was looking inside the carriage with a suspicious look, and entered the mercenary guild.
With the sound of tinkling bells, the dozing receptionist looked up.
"Excuse me."
"Yes, what's going on?"
"I'm looking for someone who visited here. Isn't there a knight named Hugh Blake?"
"..."
The receptionist, who was blinking as if trying to wake up to my words, slowly shook her head.
"Well. I don't know. There are so many visitors. If you are a customer who made a request, there will be a record, but to do so, you must first be able to prove your relationship with the customer. Basically, personal information cannot be disclosed."
"Can I at least know if he is visiting?"
"Uhm..."
The receptionist, who was looking at me as if in trouble, tilted her head and asked.
"Could you at least tell me why you are looking for him?"
The moment I was about to open my mouth, I stopped when she saw a man passing behind me. A familiar man with a dull expression glanced at me and asked the receptionist.
"What's the matter?"
"Ah. I wanted to know the records of visitors who have been here."
I made eye contact with a man who glanced in my direction. Brown hair, low nose. Above all, decidedly stubby fingers.
I looked at him and asked blankly.
"Is this person also a mercenary?"
"I am the deputy guild leader."
The man standing next to the receptionist who answered obediently with a puzzled look added bluntly.
"And I'm sorry, but visitor records are personal information, so I can't give them to you privately."
"Yes."
As I bowed my head with a short answer, I felt his gaze rest on me. I walked out of the mercenary guild at a brisk pace before any serious gaze caught up with me. If my eyes are not mistaken, the man who was said to be the deputy guild leader was the coachman who drove Eric's carriage.
No matter how many requests he receives, there is no way a man who is a vice guild leader would call himself a mere charioteer for a merchant.
'Unless this mercenary guild is deeply connected to Eric.'
That's assuming Eric holds a higher position than him.
Someone grabbed my shoulder as I was getting out with gritted teeth.
When I shook it off and turned around, an unfamiliar man I had never seen before raised his hands with a wide open face as if to reassure me.
"Wow, girl, calm down."
"Who are you?"
"No. I feel bad about going back in vain."
Looking at the mace on his waist, he appears to be a mercenary.
His voice became coy as he glanced me up and down.
"Perhaps I could replace him?"
"That's Okay."
"No. Don't bounce. It looked like you were looking for the person from earlier. Perhaps it will be difficult to find that man?"
My steps, which I was trying to ignore, stopped.
I can't trust the words casually uttered by a man whose tongue is loose as if he is not yet drunk...
"This is a man who was in the guild a while ago. He might have seen something."
He looked up at the smirking face and asked softly.
"Did you see the knight that found this place?"
The man sniffling, nodded his head exaggeratedly.
"Well, I saw it. As for knights, my pride is so strong that I don't often visit mercenary guilds. It's not easy to forget a guy who walks in alone and doesn't know anything and dares to bring up Timona's company."
As I stared at the giggling man and began to look around, a puzzled look appeared on his face.
"Huh? Why?"
"No. I was wondering if you had any company."
"Doesn't exist. It's vacation today, so I'm sure everyone is enjoying it somewhere appropriate. I was thinking of accepting a request as a pass time, but I saw a cute girl like you standing in front of me, so I came here because I thought I had made a fortune."
As if he thought he was attractive, he looked at my wincing eyes and pointed into a dark alley.
"Let's go in there first."
"Yes?"
The corners of his mouth twitched up.
"No, I don't mind taking a room."
I asked again the man who followed me into the dark alley, talking nonsense.
"The Timona Trading Company is a trading company owned by Baron Eric Berker, right?"
"Baron? Right. That little guy got a noble title."
The man took something and a match out of his arms and lit them with trembling hands.
An unknown acrid scent filled the alley.
"It's hard to make a living here without knowing that guy."
"Is his top famous?"
"Is he famous?"
The grinning man took a deep breath of smoke, closed his eyes as if savoring it, and nodded.
"Yes. It's famous. How can he not be famous? It's impossible not to know, especially for people like us who make a living from information."
"I'd like to hear more about that."
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