“Honey, what are you thinking about?”
It was early evening, after he had closed up shop for the day.
Collie’s wife, Megan, brought out warm soup and called to her husband, who was lost in thought.
“That customer who came by earlier today?”
“Mm…”
“You said you decided to sign the contract?”
“Yes, I did. But the more I think about it, the more I wonder if it was the right thing.”
“What are you worried about?”
Collie lifted his spoon, recalling Cassia’s face.
The young noblewoman was only eighteen, yet after just a brief conversation he could tell she was well-educated. She was a woman who had seen and heard much from a wealthy tycoon family that tightly controlled the South’s purse strings.
However, the worrying part was whether she truly understood the trade market in the North and this capital as well. Just look at how she had set aside all the famous guilds and decided to contract with his guild, which was embarrassing even to call a guild.
He had urged her several times to reconsider, but she was firm.
In the end, he added a clause allowing Cassia to terminate the contract at any time and stamped his thumbprint on the contract, but his heart felt uneasy.
Things had gotten significantly bigger. Cassia had boldly declared she would make Collie’s guild the most famous one in the capital, planning to take not only wealth but also the connections to noble families that dealt exclusively with top-tier guilds.
The cornerstone of that plan was…
『First of all, to become a major guild, you’ll need basic capital. We’ll have to make some money. And to do that, we’re going to empty the pockets of the big guilds in the capital.』
“Seriously, does that even make sense?”
Megan tilted her head as she watched Collie mutter to himself.
『It’s no exaggeration to say the weather right now is practically spring. People are calling it the blessing of the gods and saying winters will be shorter from now on.』
Everyone in the capital was indeed saying that spring was already here so winter must be long gone. Not only Collie, but also those the noblewoman had brought with her agreed. But then, what was she thinking?
『Since the weather is so warm, the price of animal furs for warmth or wood for heating will likely be very cheap. Since people think spring is coming without any more cold days, you’ll be able to buy them for a bargain. I’ll provide the initial capital, so buy up all the heating products in the capital under your guild’s name.』
“Hah?”
In other words, the noblewoman’s strategy was, ‘Buy heating products now while they are cheap in preparation for the price going up when the weather gets cold.’ But…
“It really sounds ridiculous…”
She wasn’t a god who could foresee the future. How could she be so certain the cold would come back?
Everyone present had worn the same incredulous expression but the noblewoman hadn’t cared. She expected the weather to turn cold so naturally that it almost made the listeners nod along, thinking it sounded plausible. Collie was the same.
He understood the intention behind strengthening the partner guild distributing her wigs but…
『Even if you refuse, I will find a new guild. A guild that trades equally without looking down on its partner, and one that will faithfully fulfill my contract conditions. And I will propose the exact same method to that guild. I know you keep refusing out of pity because you think I am naïve but understand one thing. I will not bend on this.』
In the end, he promised to do as she asked and returned, but Collie’s heart remained heavy.
There wasn’t really much downside for Collie. Even if prices were rock bottom now, buying up nearly all heating products in the capital would require a substantial lump sum, but she said she would provide that too. She told him to use the profit from reselling them later entirely as guild funds. Collie couldn’t understand what on earth the noblewoman was thinking.
However, the reason he eventually nodded and agreed to partner with her was partly because he surrendered to her unyielding attitude, but also because he felt a strange trust in her eyes.
How should he put it? Even though she clearly shouldn’t know the circumstances of this field well, for some reason, he had a premonition that things would proceed smoothly just as she wanted and hoped?
“Haa… I really don’t know.”
Collie shook his head slightly, talking to himself. So many things had happened in just one day.
It felt like he was dreaming.
* * *
While Cassia and her group were busy moving around trying to sign the wig distribution contract, Zester and the mercenaries were busy enjoying the festival. To be exact, everyone except Zester. Zester was being dragged around by his adjutant Gregory, wearing an indifferent expression no matter what they did.
He didn’t even glance at the beer-chugging contest, finding it utterly foolish, and the street food of the capital, which he used to buy and eat often with his comrades during his mercenary days, somehow tasted particularly bad today.
After taking a few bites of a seasoned roasted pEaglet’s hind leg, Zester handed it to Gregory, telling him to eat it; his expression looked exactly like a soldier who had lost his country.
Gregory, who had been secretly gauging Zester’s mood amidst the noisy mercenaries, approached him and nudged his arm.
“Why are you acting so unlike yourself, my lord? Since we came out to play, you should enjoy it.”
“I am enjoying it.”
“Wow… it’s so easy to believe that when you say it with that face.”
“I’m tired. I think it would be better for me to head back first.”
“Is it because of the Madam? Are you in a bad mood because she couldn’t come out to play together?”
Zester was about to retort, ‘Am I a child?’ but he held his breath once and then exhaled.
“Something like that.”
“Oh wow, is this really the Leader I used to know? How did you survive when the Madam wasn’t around?”
“I wonder that myself.”
“Still, at least try to enjoy yourself a bit. It’s what the Madam wanted.”
“What?”
“I wasn’t supposed to say anything, but I’m telling you because you won’t stop thinking about the Madam. She asked us to do this. She said since you are in the capital for the first time in a while, it’ll probably bring back memories of your mercenary days, so we should make sure you have fun. She even said you could drink until your nose falls off.”
Zester looked dumbfounded as Gregory spoke with a shrug.
So, she had deliberately asked Gregory out of consideration for him, since it had been a while since he visited the capital? No wonder it was strange how she disappeared like the wind with Ashram as her escort, as if they had planned it beforehand, and how Gregory stopped him from following.
‘Does she think I came to the capital excited to hang out with these guys?!’
Zester was speechless. How could she not understand the heart of a husband who wanted to spend time with his wife? Cassia was clearly a woman who seemed smart, yet had no sense for these things.
‘She doesn’t know how I feel at all!’
Hurt by Cassia’s excessive consideration, Zester took a heavy deep breath to compose himself.
Back in his younger mercenary days, he would have lost track of time enjoying himself while roaming around with his comrades. But now, wasn’t he someone who regretted being separated from his pretty wife even for a moment?
It wasn’t as if he hadn’t expressed it, so why?
Deciding that he should just return to the inn and wait for Cassia, Zester sharply turned his body—
and then, all of a sudden, something familiar caught his eye amid the crowded streets bustling with the festival.
Two knights wearing black uniforms and gold cloaks. They were wearing imposing steel helmets topped with black plumes neatly in place and they were moving somewhere with a distinctly covert and urgent air.
Their attire was the symbol of the Vatican. The sword of Pope Victor X, who serves Orobas, the main god of the Simone Empire’s state religion. The Knight Order of Orobas.
He had heard that the imperial family and the Vatican had joined forces to devise a large-scale expulsion plan targeting followers of the pagan ‘Remiel Faith’. That was why so many Orobas knights were on the move, in numbers comparable to the knight orders deployed by the imperial family to maintain security during the national holiday.
In other words, it was not a strange sight at all. Aside from Zester, not a single person paid any attention to the two Orobas knights in Vatican uniforms.
And yet, the reason Zester was curious about where they were headed was because he had a vague sense that he knew whom they were chasing.
“Huh?! Captain! Captain! Where are you going?”
Zester moved without a second thought.
Gregory shouted at the top of his lungs as Zester abruptly pushed through the crowd and disappeared, but he couldn’t manage to force his way through the dense mass of people to follow.
The place where the two Orobas knights suddenly vanished was a narrow alley located near the end of Froebel Street. It was such an inconspicuous alley, wedged between a shabby apothecary and an empty building, that Zester might have passed it by without noticing. It was fortunate that he had cast a casual glance that way.
‘Just as I thought.’
Inside the quiet alley where not a speck of light entered since night had fallen, were the two Orobas knights. One of them was carrying a struggling child on his shoulder, and the other, who had been keeping watch as if preparing to leave the alley, was startled when he saw Zester enter.
Presumably, everything they were doing was an compulsory and legal act in accordance with the Vatican’s will. Whether it was forcibly apprehending a young child like this, or using physical violence against someone certain to be a pagan.
But for some reason, their faces looked quite flustered. As if they had met someone they shouldn’t have, or been caught doing something that shouldn’t be discovered.
Before Zester could slowly open his mouth, the boy dangling from one knight’s shoulder screamed out loud.
“U-Uncle!”
‘Uncle?!’
Zester, taken aback, forgot to speak and his mouth gaped open. The two knights exchanged glances with even more troubled expressions. Soon, one of the knights who had been posturing to leave the alley smiled awkwardly and spoke.
“We are swords of His Holiness, Pope Victor X and instruments of almighty Orobas. As this is a period of expelling pagan believers, inspections are strict. If we have committed any rudeness, please understand.”
“Ah..”
Zester could not understand why they immediately apologized and set the boy down. There had to be some reason they had chased him, believing the boy to be a pagan and yet, the moment someone presumed to be his guardian appeared, they tucked their tails and tried to leave.
The knights’ awkward smiles as they exited the alley were suspicious. Far too suspicious. From being flustered by his appearance to exchanging glances with each other.
‘What in the world was that?’
Zester stared after the two knights as they vanished like the wind, as if afraid of being caught. Then he turned his gaze to the boy who still remained in the alley.
The boy with short, light purple hair cut sharply at his chin line as if tailored, was brushing off his clothes that had been crumpled when the knight grabbed him. Outwardly, he looked about eight or nine years old. Similar in age to Ruberno’s young heir, Allen.
Zester stared down blankly at the boy, and the boy, after finishing tidying his appearance, looked up at him intently as well.
“Thank you for helping me. If it weren’t for you, Uncle, I would have been in big trouble. I just came out to enjoy the festival, but those knights tried to take me away out of nowhere…”
“Really?”
“Yes, really. These days, they’re in the middle of catching pagans and all that, so they just grab anyone…”
“No, I’m asking if it’s really true that you came out just to enjoy the festival.”
“…What?”
The boy was a remarkable beauty, with a pale face and violet-colored eyes. Watching him tilt his head with that innocent-looking expression, Zester thought that there probably wasn’t anyone who wouldn’t fall for it.
“You, haven’t you been following me since this afternoon? Don’t tell me you thought I wouldn’t notice.”
Zester spoke as he looked down at the boy with indifferent eyes.
For a moment, the boy put on a ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about’ expression. But eventually, seeing Zester’s face which showed that he clearly wouldn’t be fooled, the boy finally let out a small smile.
- 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