The boy’s smile was answer enough. At least Zester was glad he hadn’t wasted time pretending otherwise. Narrowing his eyes, he asked,
“Who are you? What business do you have with me?”
“Business… hmm. Well.”
“I need to know what your intentions are in approaching me.”
“I’m just a powerless eight-year-old child, you know? Why are you so guarded?”
The boy shrugged, feigning innocence. But Zester only grew even more wary. From the way he acted, calling him ‘Uncle’ in a crisis, to this cheeky attitude now, it was impossible not to be on guard.
If he were still a mercenary wandering alone, he might have let it slide. But the current Zester was different. He had brought Cassia to the capital, and he wanted to block absolutely anything that even hinted at potential harm to her. How was he to know if there was some suspicious organization trying to approach them using a child as a front?
“Since you’re already wary of me, will you believe any excuse I give? I’m just a common homeless street urchin of the capital. And I’ve been keeping an eye on you since you arrived in the capital, Uncle. Because you look like a noble.”
“What? What does my being a noble have to do with you following me?”
“Ay, don’t be so heartless. After all, I hear the virtue of noble is the generosity to buy a piece of bread for a poor, starving child, or something like that.”
“So you’ve been going around pickpocketing in alleys. Did someone put you up to this?”
“Hmm, think whatever you want. Anyway, nice to meet you. My name is ‘Remiel.’”
The moment the boy smiled brightly and introduced himself, Zester’s mouth fell open, and he nodded as if dumbfounded.
“So you’re not a begging child but a pagan follower.”
Knowing how severe the persecution of pagans were, he should at least have the sense to hide it. Of all things, to name himself after the Remiel faith while the city was aflame with purges.
But if he was a suspected pagan, why did the Orobas knights flee in such a hurry the moment Zester appeared? If Zester had been unlucky, he could have been implicated and interrogated as well.
“Those knights from earlier, they don’t know me. They don’t know my name, or my identity.”
“What? Then why did they try to take you away?”
“Who knows. Maybe when piggy bastards like pretty things they aren’t picky about what type?”
“…What bastards?”
“Ah, anyway, I’m starving. Uncle, could you possibly buy me just one dinner? I won’t forget your grace.”
“Why should I?!”
“Oh-ho…you’re so heartless.”
“No, is this a matter of being heartless or not? Why would I buy a meal for some suspicious kid that’s been following me since afternoon?”
Zester was bewildered. He couldn’t tell if this kid was just incredibly sociable or simply had no common sense. He didn’t know how to deal with this beautiful kid who jumped up and hung onto his arm.
“Let go. I don’t want to make things big by getting needlessly involved with a kid that Orobas Knights suspect of being a pagan.”
Zester coldly shook off Remiel’s hand.
“I told you, they weren’t trying to arrest me for being a pagan!”
“How can I believe that? If you weren’t so suspicious, I might have considered it… But I don’t want to get involved in unnecessary trouble and cause anyone heartache. Let go of me, you brat!”
If he were suddenly accused of being a pagan and subjected to an investigation for no reason, even Cassia, who had been minding her own business, might get dragged into it as well. If his wife found out that after coming all the way to the capital, he ran around and did something stupid, his furious wife might even end up falling ill from the stress.
“Ah, seriously, so cold-hearted. If your kind baroness wife were here, she wouldn’t just ignore a pitiful little child and walk away, would she?!”
“…What?”
At Remiel’s words, Zester, who had been about to shove him away and leave, froze.
The claim that he approached him just because he thought he was a noble was a lie. Seeing that he even mentioned Cassia, it seemed he had already finished investigating who they were.
Sparks flew in Zester’s eyes. He grabbed Remiel by the collar firmly, gritting his teeth and growling in a rather terrifying manner, but the young boy didn’t even blink.
“What are you? You definitely approached me on purpose. How do you know about Cassia? Who’s the bastard that asked you to tail me? Damn it, if you even think about getting anywhere near my wife….”
“Believe it or not, there’s no fancy organization. I’m not a pagan suspect, and I don’t have the power to harm you or the Baroness, Uncle. I told you, I’m just a hungry child.”
Facing the grinning Remiel, Zester’s breathing became rough.
It might be hard to believe, but Zester wasn’t the type to get easily agitated. Even when facing unexpected situations on the battlefield, or when driven into a corner where he thought he might die this time, he never panicked greatly or lost his mental focus.
The only times Zester couldn’t make rational judgments at all were when Cassia was involved. When Cassia was in danger in the Viche territory, when he found out she was taken hostage by the Rakan tribe—countless times his heart had been busy racing wildly. Of course, it was the same now.
“If you’re lying to me…”
His teeth were ground together and his voice was trembling with anger. Despite the terrifying reaction, Remiel just shrugged his shoulders.
This was the capital during a festival so security was everywhere. No matter how fearless someone was, they wouldn’t have the audacity to openly harm someone. Moreover, Ashram was with Cassia. Although he had made Gregory his adjutant considering various conditions, in terms of martial prowess alone, Ashram was the top expert in the ‘Jackals.’ There should really be nothing to worry about.
Even while thinking so, Zester deeply regretted sending away the mercenaries and not following Cassia around. When he was in the capital, he had often seen penniless vagrants threaten powerless noblewomen to extort money. He was anxious that faceless thugs who might have stuck this young boy named Remiel on his tail might be targeting Cassia.
“Sorry, but I’m not kind like the Baroness you speak of. If anything happens to my wife, you will not return home in one piece.”
“Oh, how frightening!”
Zester spoke menacingly and easily hoisted Remiel onto his shoulder. He couldn’t just let the suspicious kid go. Keeping him close was the wisest option.
* * *
After happily concluding the contract with the ‘Crab Merchant Guild’, Cassia and her companions, Clara, James, and Ashram, enjoyed a hearty dinner at a famous restaurant in the capital.
It was an expensive restaurant specializing in multi-course meals, serving dishes like roast beef, scones generously coated with melted butter and sugar, and dessert pies filled with raisins and candied fruit. Knowing Greze’s financial situation, Clara, James, and Ashram worried that their mistress might have gone mad.
Not only did she sign a contract with an unknown merchant guild and order the purchase of heating products out of the blue on this warm day, but she also ate a meal costing 2 gold per person without batting an eye.
Did their Madam plan to live only for today?
Everyone was in a daze, thinking such thoughts, but Cassia was simply beaming. The lively festival atmosphere was nice, and the unique dishes of the capital, which were hard to find elsewhere, suited her taste perfectly. For the first time in a long while, she was truly enjoying life
And so, the Madam of the poor territory shouted, ‘Today is a day to splurge!’ and expressed her gratitude to those who accompanied her all day. She bought Clara and James a pair of trendy shoes each, and for Ashram, whose scabbard was worn, she stopped by a weapon shop to fit him with a new one.
She also bought a cravat pin for Zester, then bought a cute handkerchief that would suit Pia, the innkeeper’s daughter, saying she should at least show a token of appreciation since they would be staying for quite a while. It was truly a time of non-stop spending.
And when they returned to their lodging, the inn, Cassia’s group were puzzled by the commotion at the entrance.
The familiar faces of the mercenaries were all gathered there, each with a look of urgency on their faces. Zester was among them, and a group of three mercenaries, having received some instructions from him, left the inn with hurried steps.
“What’s going on?”
“Who knows?”
Surprised, Cassia hurried her steps, and her gaze met Zester’s in the air.
Zester’s eyes widening in surprise and he ran to Cassia in a single stride and hugged her tightly. It was such a fierce hug that she thought her bones were going to break.
“Ouch! That hurts!”
“Haa, just why, where were you and what were you doing…”
“What, why are you acting like this?!”
Even though she hit his shoulders repeatedly, Zester didn’t show any intention of releasing his hold. Finding his reaction odd, Cassia grabbed Zester’s cheek buried against her shoulder and met his gaze. His frantically darting eyes were filled with worry.
“What is it!”
“You didn’t come for so long… I thought maybe you were taken by bad guys…”
“Hah?! What in the…”
Cassia’s mouth fell open with a dumbfounded expression.
Ashram, who was watching, intervened. Worried the madam might break a bone, he pried his overzealous superior’s arm away and asked.
“Leader, I was with her. What’s all this pointless worry?”
“Exactly. Do you think I brought Ashram along for no reason? I know you’re the most skilled among our mercenaries. And what do you mean we took long? It’s only eight o’clock! I clearly told you I’d come back after dinner.”
“No, there’s a reason. There was a suspicious kid who knew who you and I were, and he was following me.”
“A kid? I have no idea what you’re talking about. Let’s go inside and talk first. So much fuss.”
Cassia smacked Zester’s slumped shoulders reproachfully as he rambled incoherently, then pushed through the mercenaries gathered noisily at the inn entrance and stepped inside.
“My goodness. Don’t tell me you had these tired people out searching for me this evening just because of that? What kind of fuss is this? Go in, wash up, and rest, quickly.”
“Yes, Madam!”
“Thank you for coming back! We almost couldn’t sleep tonight!”
“I mean, my coming back is obvious… Geez, go up quickly, go on.”
Cassia dispersed the mercenaries in embarrassment. Perhaps because Zester had caused such a commotion, the first-floor dining area of the inn, which should still have been bustling, was quiet without a single customer.
Only one boy, seemingly about eight years old, sat alone at a distant table, slurping his soup.
『A suspicious kid who…』
Recalling Zester’s words, Cassia stared intently at the boy, Remiel. Seeing the boy in shabby clothes sitting with a quiet face, Cassia was baffled.
“So, so, so, just because some kid was suspicious, you suddenly thought something bad might have happened to me, so you sent out the mercenaries…”
Cassia whipped around to look at Zester, who had just followed her in. Placing her hand firmly on her hip, she shouted.
“I simply cannot understand your train of thought at all! What is this?”
“No, listen to me, Cassia. I wasn’t this worried when I first brought that kid here. But the problem isn’t that kid…”
“It’s not?”.
“Young people disappearing in the capital has become a common occurrence lately. I heard it from the owner here.”
“Aha, is that so?”
“Yeah, even that…you know the owner’s daughter here.”
“…Pia?”
“Right, they say they haven’t heard from her since this afternoon. How could I not worry about you?”
At Zester’s added words, Cassia’s eyes widened.
- Honey, I’m Going on Strike – Chapter 82 - February 26, 2026
- Honey, I’m Going on Strike – Chapter 81 - February 26, 2026
- Honey, I’m Going on Strike – Chapter 80 - February 26, 2026