“What? Fifteen thousand golds in total?”

Back at the mansion, Tie nodded at the stunned Bale.

Then she slipped her hand into a sack, pulled out a handful of gold coins, and held them out to him.

“Give oppa some?”

Bale’s eyes widened.

But soon he waved his hands.

“N, no need. I didn’t really do anything. If I actually do something later — then you can give it to me.”

“What do you mean you didn’t do anything? You adventured with Tie from the gate all the way here.”

“Well, that’s true. But I was clinging to you the whole time. And in Caldenbein Ridge I only caused trouble.”

Tie’s mouth fell open.

‘Bale oppa is still blaming himself!’

Ever since he struck Reginald.

Bale had remained downcast.

Whenever someone mentioned Reginald, he would glance at Tie anxiously and immediately leave.

“Tie kept saying it was okay.......”

But no matter how many times she said everything was fine, Bale never seemed to recover.

There was nothing to be done — Tie slipped the coins back into the sack.

“Our mercenary squad finally has real income now, Astie.”

Nordix smiled gently and patted her head.

“We’ll think later about how to use this money. It’s a huge amount, and we must decide where to store it.......”

“Kyut!”

At that moment, something lightly tapped her knee, and Tie looked down.

Pupu was standing below, pointing his nose upward with wide eyes.

“Kkyuryun—”

“Huh?”

The next moment, an exclamation burst from Enzo’s mouth.

Where Pupu was pointing, a black opening spread wide.

Tie immediately understood what it was.

“Subspace!”

Nordix’s, Bale’s, and Basto’s eyes widened.

Meanwhile, Pupu cheerfully climbed onto a sack of gold, nudged out a single coin with his nose,

then scampered to the subspace and tossed it inside.

“Waa—!”

Tie dashed toward the entrance Pupu had created.

Her eyes shone.

“A subspace vault!”

“Vault?”

The squad members gathered around the opening one by one.

Inside, beyond the not very large entrance,

the single gold coin Pupu had thrown in was glinting on a wooden floor.

“......Kyut! Kkyuryun.”

“If we put it in here, no one can steal it. And we can take it out later when needed.”

Nordix’s face brightened.

“Really? Excellent. Then we won’t need to rent a national treasury vault.”

Normally, when nobles accumulated large amounts of wealth, they converted part of it into currency or pure gold and stored it in the national treasury.

But using the treasury required paying an enormous annual fee, and to simplify procedures, a separate treasurer was needed.

“So it truly is Krazar.......”

Bale muttered from the side.

Basto nodded with a serious expression.

“Yes. I suspected it before, but to see it like this.......”

Krazar, believed to have been destroyed, was alive and well.

And standing beside Tie, known as the King of the Dead, in such a harmless form.

“Is this really okay?”

Bale and Basto exchanged uneasy glances again.

“Enough, enough. That is all in the past.”

Nordix smiled, easing the atmosphere.

He lifted one sack, tied it tightly, and tossed it into the subspace.

“Bring in the rest.”

Basto and Bale began carrying the remaining sacks of gold inside.

As if waiting for this, Pupu widened the entrance.

“Um, can a person go in there?”

Enzo asked, watching.

Tie grinned brightly.

“Yes. People can too.”

“Whoa.......”

“Well then. If you’re finished, it’s time for lunch.”

At that moment, Marshal stepped out from the dining room holding a large ladle.

Sweat was running down his forehead — clearly he had been cooking. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

“To celebrate Agavert’s first income, I baked a meat pie and made homemade sauce.”

“Wow, we’re starving. Thanks.”

Raul stood up with a happy face.

Enzo followed him.

After confirming the subspace had closed, Tie placed Pupu on her shoulder.

“Lucarion! Let’s eat!”

At her call, Lucarion slowly appeared from the second floor.

He was holding a book covered in incomprehensible ancient symbols.

‘What kind of book is that?’

Tie tilted her head, then giggled.

Grabbing Lucarion’s hand tightly, she headed toward the kitchen.

Thinking that having a home—

and a family living in it together—

was nice.

The next day.

The members of Agavert gathered around the fireplace.

The living room on the first floor had become especially cozy — Marshal ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ had laid down a soft carpet.

“Tonight.”

Bale, lying at the edge of the eight-seater sofa, muttered while staring at the ceiling.

“To think I’d live to see the day. Invited by a Holy Knight, and to the house of the Supreme Commander.......”

Raul, sitting on the carpet, nodded.

“That’s right. Even when I was in the Holy Knight Order, that never happened. But after becoming a mercenary — it did.”

“By the way. The Supreme Commander didn’t specify an exact time, did he?”

Tie, hugging her stuffed bear Orb, looked up.

“Mm. He didn’t say the time, only the date — today.”

He had set the meeting for the day when, after their encounter, the second full moon would rise in the sky.

“The first full moon was when we were in the Weapon Pavilion district, and the second is today, that’s what Grandfather Nordix said.”

“Then it’s today. Their intelligence is good, they know we’ve settled here. Maybe they’ll send someone at the proper time?”

At that moment.

Knock, knock, knock—

A clear knocking sounded at the door.

Basto and Bale, leaning against the sofa, straightened.

Marshal, sitting near the stairs, also widened his eyes.

But before anyone from the squad could approach—

“Waa!”

Tie jumped up and ran to the door.

And shouted in a loud, excited voice:

“This is Tie’s house! Who is it?”

After a brief pause, a young and neat voice sounded from behind the door:

“We are from the mansion across the street.”

“Huh?”

The door opened.

Tie’s eyes widened.

Seeing the visitor, her mouth fell open.

‘So pretty.......’

Before her stood a girl about her age with her hair tied into a single ponytail and a slightly haughty expression.

Her violet eyes sparkled like gemstones.

“Are you the ones who moved into this mansion yesterday?”

If this were Hanbit Kindergarten, they would definitely be in the same class.

“Um, well.......”

Because of the girl’s clear and calm speech, so composed it did not sound like a child’s at all, Tie’s eyes trembled.

The girl continued:

“I came to inform you that there is a long-standing tradition on Rosevobel Street. When someone moves in, they should at least visit the neighboring mansions and introduce themselves.”

Oh no.

Was there also a tradition in Father’s homeland of handing out rice cakes when moving?

While Tie stood there confused, the girl crossed her arms.

And for some reason, asked arrogantly:

“Are you the young lady?”

“Uu......?”

“The mistress of this mansion is the young lady?”

Tie unconsciously closed her mouth.

But the girl went on:

“Receiving guests at the entrance is the host’s duty. Since the young lady came out, that means—”

She stared intently at Tie.

“The young lady is the mistress of this mansion, correct?”

Tie blinked.

And thought.

‘Who is this young lady......?’

Isn’t this Tie’s house?

Why does she keep looking for some young lady?

In the end, after hesitating, Tie said uncertainly:

“Um, the mistress here is Tie.”

“What?”

“Not young lady, but Ti-e.”

When Tie pointed at herself with an innocent face, a crease formed between the girl’s brows.