Chapter. Invoice

“Those bastards are still running their shop?”

“Even though they’ve been dirtying the shop with all kinds of filth for over ten days now, they don’t look like they care at all.”

“Ha!”

“If anything, it seems like their cleaning skills have improved. They’re ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) getting faster at clearing it away.”

“Stupid idiots!”

Dorald, the owner of Dorald Dessert Shop Owner, clicked their tongue over and over.

“How the hell did you handle the job?!”

“The work was handled perfectly. It’s just that they’re incredibly impressive, aren’t they? Looks like they only hired very diligent people as employees.”

“Shut up!”

When Dorald first heard the news that a new café was opening on this street, they snorted.

Countless shops had thrown down the gauntlet at them up to now, but none of them lasted even a few months before closing down.

Because no one could match the taste of their desserts.

The newly opened shop hadn’t seemed any different.

The interior was unusual, so they’d felt a flicker of doubt, but even after several days, they didn’t see a single customer, so they sneered and mocked them to their heart’s content.

“But then.”

Not long after, things changed. Customers started increasing at the new shop little by little.

Starting with some bizarre menu called shaved ice parfait, unfamiliar desserts no one had ever seen before caught people’s eyes, and before long, the place started bringing in more sales than Dorald’s shop.

“To put out something that ridiculous and call it dessert!”

Of course, at first they didn’t think much of it. They brushed it off lightly, thinking people were only reacting because it was new, and that it would pass quickly.

But then—what the hell? The longer time passed, the hotter the reaction got, and Dorald couldn’t just sit there.

“What the hell is so good about that garbage?!”

“The taste is honestly pret—”

“Whose side are you on?!”

Dorald also had an employee buy it so they could taste it. Honestly, just like that bastard said, it wasn’t that bad.

The shaved ice parfait and macarons aside, they were simply very skilled at making desserts in general.

They’d heard the shop manager there made the desserts personally, and Dorald thought it might be worth bringing them over.

But they were rejected immediately. No matter how many times Dorald went back and tried to entice them by offering higher pay, it was useless.

“Damn it!”

Dorald even tried making macarons to copy them. If some rootless woman could make them, there was no way Dorald—who had the best skills—couldn’t.

But.......

Failure, failure, failure!

It wasn’t as easy as they’d thought. After countless trials and errors, they managed to make something that looked roughly similar, but it wasn’t that taste.

So they changed methods. They would drive them out of this street!

“And yet what is this?!”

Even that wasn’t going according to plan. When they first ordered the thugs to interfere with business, they’d thought it would wrap up easily.

They’d heard in passing that the café’s owner was a young lady of the Ducal House of Sorpel, but it didn’t seem like it would be a problem.

Because the Duke of Sorpel didn’t seem to have any interest in the café business at all. And they’d heard the owner, Camilla Sorpel, had also left the empire for business.

They thought now was the perfect time.

“Who the hell is that bastard?!”

But then things got tangled. It seemed like it was going fine for a few days, and then some bastard suddenly appeared and crushed the thugs.

After that day, no one wanted to take Dorald’s requests.

They said they’d die if they ran into that bastard again, and even offering more money didn’t help.

In the end, Dorald changed methods, but this also wasn’t working for shit.

“Isn’t there a better way?”

They had to drive those bastards out of this street as fast as possi—!

WHACK!

“Huhk!”

“Hiiik!”

That was when it happened. The window shattered with a loud racket, and something flew in and lodged into the wall. An arrow.

Dorald and the employee screamed and threw themselves flat on the floor without even thinking about who moved first.

“W-what is that?!”

Worried another arrow might fly in, the two of them kept their heads down and trembled for a long time.

They couldn’t even think to call someone else for help. They were sure someone had come to kill them.

“D-did it end?”

But when no follow-up attack came no matter how long they waited, Dorald—holding their breath—slowly raised their body again.

“...A note?”

Then Dorald noticed a piece of paper tied to the arrow stuck in the wall, and carefully pulled out the arrow and unfolded the paper.

<Invoice>

“What is this?”

On the paper labeled Invoice, countless numbers were listed without end.

Total business loss: 976 gold 69 silver

Day 1: 66 gold 30 silver

Day 2: 57 gold 20 silver

Day 3: 49 gold 82 silver

⁝

Total cleaning cost: 85 gold 40 silver

*Please be advised this was calculated using the minimum hourly wage.

“Th-this...!”

Even the cost of the detergent used for cleaning was written down meticulously.

Dorald’s body shook violently.

It was a tremble with a completely different meaning than before. Because Dorald could guess who had sent this note.

“Those bastards!”

Dorald tore the paper to shreds. How dare they send something like this to me!

“Cleaning cost? Compensation?”

It wasn’t even funny.

“Crazy. You think I’m going to pay this—”

CRASH! WHACK!

“Hiiik!”

At that moment, the window shattered loudly again, and another arrow flew in and lodged into the wall.

Dorald collapsed to the floor, trembling all over. The momentum they’d had while yelling vanished in an instant, like a lie.

“A-again, what is it now?”

This arrow also had a note hanging from it.

Hesitating step by step, Dorald carefully unfolded the paper again.

<D-Day 15>

“...15?”

What does this mean now? What, fifteen days from now?

It felt like it meant something, but Dorald tore that note to shreds as well.

But a few days later, they learned exactly what that date meant.

CLANG! WHACK!

“Hiiik!”

<Invoice>

Total business loss: 1,021 gold 39 silver

⁝

CRASH! WHACK!

“Huhk!”

<D-Day 14>

From that day on, two arrows started flying in every single day without fail.

One carried the invoice, and one was an arrow that announced the date.

And as the number on the date decreased, the location of the arrow kept changing too. Toward Dorald—toward their heart.

WHACK!

“AAAAAGH!”

<D-Day 3>

“Huhk... huhhkk!”

With three days left, an arrow flew in, barely grazing right beside their heart, and Dorald panted.

Hiding didn’t help. Running away didn’t help.

They reported it to the Guard Corps, but they couldn’t get any help. They said they couldn’t identify the culprit.

With two arrows that kept finding them no matter where they were, Dorald had to tremble in fear all day long.

“M-money... I have to get the money......!”

In the end, they had no choice but to bolt for the bank in utter panic.

*****

“Really? You already made friends?”

「Well, it just kind of happened. They kept following me around saying they wanted to be close.」

“That’s good.”

「They’re even saying they’re going to come hang out at my place.」

PFFFT!

Camilla barely managed to hold back the laughter that was about to burst out. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

“Yeah? That sounds really nice.”

「It’s not nice at all. They begged to come, so I just allowed it.」

Despite what he was saying, Dive’s voice coming through the communication orb was very bright.

The kid who had transferred into the Academy a few days ago was telling Camilla this and that about the new friend he’d made.

He was trying hard to sound indifferent, like it was no big deal, but she could easily feel the joy and pride packed into his voice.

“Next time, introduce your friend to me too.”

「Uh.......」

“Why?”

At the request to introduce his friend, Dive hesitated for some reason.

“You don’t want to show your friend to me?”

「It’s just.......」

Huh. Seriously? You don’t want to show them to me?

No, why?

Am I embarrassing? That’s kind of a shock.......

Just as she was about to feel a little hurt at the unexpected reaction—

「I don’t want to show you to other guys.......」

“What?”

「Because you’re my Sis.......」

At the voice that came out like a mutter, a faint smile hung on Camilla’s lips.

“You’re not hurt anywhere, right?”

「No! What about you, Sis? You didn’t catch a cold again like last time, did you?」

“Yeah, I’m doing fine.”

「That’s a relief. Don’t get sick, Si— Huh? Father?」

Huh? Father?

「When did you get here?」

「Just now.」

A moment later, a familiar voice came from inside the orb. Duke Kais Escra.

「What brings you here?」

「Mm... aren’t you hungry?」

「Pardon?」

「Should I have them bring you some snacks?」

「Ah, no.」

What the hell? What’s gotten into him?

Since when did he take care of things like that? Did his personality change in the meantime?

Dive also sounded extremely flustered by the unexpected situation.

「It looks like you were in the middle of a call.」

「Yes, it’s Camilla Sis.」

「All right.」

「Father?」

After that, it didn’t seem like the duke had any intention of leaving the room, so Dive called to him again in a puzzled voice.

「Do you have something else to say.......」

「It’s not urgent, so finish your call.」

「What? Ah, yes.」

It seemed like he probably had something important to say to Dive separately.

Camilla, who had no idea she’d completely misunderstood, greeted Dive calmly.

“Dive, it sounds like you’re busy, so let’s talk again next time.”

「Yes, Sis! I’ll contact you aga—」

「No!」

「......?」

「No, I mean... my business isn’t urgent, so it’s fine if you keep talking—」

What is he talking about?

Leaving behind his voice that sounded oddly reluctant, Camilla quickly set the communication orb down.

“That’s a relief.”

In any case, she felt reassured that Dive seemed to be doing well even after she left. Suggesting the Academy really did seem like the right choice.

TAP TAP.

“Hm?”

At the sound from the window, Camilla looked up, and her eyes widened. Someone was standing by the window and waving a hand.

“Jainer?”

It was Jainer, the Master of Khan.

After taking her to the Fable Empire that day, he had disappeared out of nowhere—only to show up again now.

“I’m here to collect the remaining payment.”

He climbed in through the window and smiled brightly. Camilla stared at him, a little dazed.

What kind of man smiles that prettily?

It wasn’t the look he always had in the Gracia Empire. Under the faint moonlight, the atmosphere of his cheerful smile looked almost bewitching.

Is that the true face of Khan, the one called the master of darkness?

She’d thought it was a cringeworthy title, but now that she was seeing it, it felt like a word that fit far too well.

But wait a second.......

“Remaining payment? What remaining payment?”

“The remaining payment for this request.”

His lips curved into an even prettier smile.