Just Do What You're Good At

Jed flicked a sidelong glance at Ferda's words.

The "disloyal servant" he mentioned could only mean the little girl who had been trailing after him. Living by his wits alone, Jed could at least tell where killing intent was aimed.

No matter how I look at it, that murderous aura isn't pointed at me—it's aimed straight at that kid…

It was no illusion. That was exactly the case.

Ruri was thoroughly irritated by the fact that Ferda had lost the money. Compared to Baldrova's entire fortune it wasn't a vast sum, but neither was it pocket change an individual could casually throw around. And in Halim of all places. It was not the sort of money one frittered away in a gambling den. Ferda had simply scattered it as he pleased.

Jed, knowing none of that background, could only feel confused.

"…Fine."

The dagger in Jed's hand spun once and vanished into his back pocket.

"Let's talk first. What exactly do you want to say?"

"This is a poor place for a sensitive conversation. Let's go somewhere quiet."

"Follow me."

Jed led them to his room. He was staying in the most expensive suite of the casino's hotel. In contrast to the lavish surroundings, what he produced was a cheap bottle of rum.

"My favorite. Not sure if it'll suit a noble young master's palate, but care to try?"

Ferda shook his head.

"I don't drink."

"A mage who doesn't drink?"

"I don't drink precisely because I am a mage."

"A mage who doesn't enjoy liquor? You're a rare breed."

For mages who spent their days lost in thought and concentration, women and alcohol were the usual escapes. Of the two, drink was cheaper, so more than a few mages spent their time glued to a bottle. Ferda, however, had always had to keep running forward; abstinence had simply become habit.

"So… how did you learn that name?"

"I came across it while gathering information."

"And the source of that information?"

Of course it had come from Jed's own mouth. Saying so would only invite disbelief, so Ferda decided to dodge.

"There's no point in telling you now. What matters is that I know."

"If you were just trying to feel me out like this, maybe I should've killed you even if it meant getting stabbed."

"I'm not feeling you out. I know about you. You bleed poor women dry, bleed nobles dry, scraping money together bit by bit so you can worm your way into high society—isn't that right?"

"…"

"To find your little sister Emilia, you need connections in the upper crust, after all."

Jed, a master of the poker face, stared back expressionlessly. But his hands were restless. Every word Ferda spoke carried absolute certainty rather than guesswork, and that certainty struck precisely at Jed's true motives.

"Impressive. Doesn't look like you're using magic, yet you're reading my mind…"

"It isn't difficult. There was a time I thought much the same as you."

It was the fantasy Ferda had indulged when he was cast out of his family: to become greater than House Rosnova and set them beneath his heel. Naïve young Ferda had sworn he would force them to acknowledge their wrongs that way.

In the end I failed.

The Magic Society had refused him for being a Red Circle holder. Jed had been blackballed for the stain of being a widowed marchioness's plaything.

"I'll build that foundation for you."

"A green noble brat like you?"

Green young nobles. Even those whose talent drew public attention were quickly toppled and branded traitors; that was the bottom of the aristocratic world. The weaker the connections and the younger the age, the harder it became. Freshly of age like Ferda, a man was as fragile as a candle in the wind. But Ferda was no ordinary mage. For one thing, he was the consort of a grand duke.

"I should reintroduce myself. My name is Ferda Valdrova."

"Valdrova… that's the Red Dragon's name."

Jed snorted.

"I know enough about the noble world to understand that means you're finished. Who in their right mind would get engaged to the Red Dragon?"

"That madman would be me."

"…Seriously?"

Ferda's expression never shifted once. Jed scratched his head, looking sheepish.

"Damn. If it was that big a piece of news it should've reached my ears ages ago… Being stuck in a casino messes with your sense of time."

He tossed out the excuse and changed the subject.

"Anyway, if you're Baldrova's husband… even if they call you a kept man, you'd still wield insane power, right?"

"Yes. Enough power to get you into the very high society you're risking so much to enter."

Jed, who had been hanging his head, lifted his eyes just enough to look at Ferda.

"What do I have to do?"

Ferda held out his hand to Ruri. Just as he had with Burnel, he passed the appointment letter over.

"With that talent of yours, you will become my attendant and carry out missions under me."

"What kind of missions?"

"Everything from odd jobs to major affairs. I won't assign anything beyond your ability, though."

Jed chewed on the words for a moment before asking,

"…So a gofer, basically."

"An attendant."

"That's a gofer."

"Then choose. Will you be the gofer who can reach high society, or the fool treated like a nouveau-riche laughingstock who never makes it?"

"…"

The way he put it was unpleasant, but Ferda wasn't wrong. Become a gigolo mocked as new money, or a hard-working gofer who at least had standing. Jed ran the calculations in his head.

"If I refuse… will you turn me in?"

Ferda tilted his head.

"What would I gain by reporting you?"

"You're a mage. I'm of the Red-Eyed Tribe. And the Red-Eyed Tribe isn't supposed to exist anymore. Looks like you'd come out ahead."

Those born with the bloodline could possess the unique ability to unravel magic. Predator and prey were as clearly divided as cat and mouse.

"No matter how I look at it, I gain nothing."

"I heard the mages threw a three-day festival when our bloodline was wiped out. Not you?"

"A foolish question. Fearing the Red-Eyed Tribe because magic doesn't work on them is no different from a child crying under the covers because he's scared of ghosts. That alone disqualifies you as a mage."

It was an arrogantly absolute answer. Yet Jed felt no irritation at it.

Weird guy.

Someone so young usually leaned on status or overestimated his own potential. Ferda gave off none of that.

Looks like a green brat who just came of age…

Yet he carried himself like a high noble whose position was already solid.

Maybe he really can give me what I want…

Enough that even Jed, who trusted no one easily, felt a flicker of doubt.

"Ha, damn it."

Jed raked his fingers through his hair.

"Is this what signing a contract with the devil feels like? Creepy and tempting at the same time—it's pissing me off."

He rolled the silence around in his mouth and tapped the appointment letter with a finger.

"All right. I'll do it, my lord. But I have conditions. Fair enough?"

"Speak. I'll write them down now."

Ferda drew the pen from his breast pocket. Jed held up two fingers.

"First: pay me a sum commensurate with each mission. Whatever else, I need money for my own work."

"Of course. You'll be compensated."

"Second: the moment I feel you're ditching me or just using me, I walk without hesitation. That okay?"

"That's fine. I have no intention of deceiving or exploiting you. Is that all?"

"Yeah. For now."

In truth Jed had wanted to add one more clause—that he would only do this until he found his sister.

That could just become a shackle that wastes time.

So he stopped at two conditions.

"While we're at it, let's add one more."

Ferda took the pen and wrote another line in the blank space of the appointment letter.

"Our contract lasts until you find your sister."

Jed's head snapped up in surprise.

"…You're all right with that?"

"Once you've found her, it's over. After that the choice is yours."

The tone and terms were clean to a fault. Jed was left speechless by the complete lack of greed. The man had even set a time limit Jed had deliberately left unmentioned.

What the hell is this guy?

Jed's curiosity about Ferda only grew. The unflappable composure that made it feel as though everything, no matter how chaotic, still rested in the palm of his hand. The virtues only true nobles tempered by a lifetime of storms could possess.

Knowing about Emilia is unsettling…

Yet at the same time he was the only person who knew and could actually help. Whatever his abilities, his station was reliable enough. For now Jed had no choice but to trust him.

"All right. Understood. No—I understand, sir."

As an employee now, he switched to respectful speech. Every condition was settled.

Ferda's reason for setting the limit was simple.

Forcing him to stay would do no good.

He desperately needed Jed's skills as an attendant, but he had no desire to chain the man like a slave. And even if he tried, he would never succeed. Jed was a master thief who had escaped infamous prisons more than once.

Besides… finding her doesn't mean everything ends.

Watching Jed tuck the appointment letter into his pocket, Ferda spoke.

"Then I'll assign your first mission immediately."

"Already, sir?"

"I'd like to commission one job with the money you took."

"Wasn't that money I won fair and square?"

"Originally it was the fee I meant to pay you for the job. If you'd folded I would never have told you what I just did. Counting it as a commission is better for both of us."

"Well, a free first job doesn't sound bad. So what am I supposed to do?"

"Something extremely simple for you."

Ferda pointed to one of the names Ruri was carrying.

— Echidna Philiaz

"Just do what you're good at."

Once their business was finished, Ferda's carriage left Halim and rolled briskly onward. Unlike the trip with Burnel, Jed now rode with them.

"I guess this is what you get when the grand duke's consort owns the carriage—it's ridiculously comfortable. Spacious inside, and even when the road's rough the cabin barely jolts."

"…"

"Plus a pretty little maid."

Jed smoothly changed the subject with a smile. He casually rested a hand near where she sat and leaned in—pure playboy instinct.

"We never introduced ourselves, did we? Care to tell this gentleman who the lovely maid might be?"

"I'll explain kindly."

To the question of her identity, Ruri answered with Dragon Fear.

"Hhk—!"

Jed, who had been sidling closer, recoiled and clutched his chest. Even as a Red-Eyed Tribesman he was still human, and humans feared dragons.

"Hah… Th-this is… a d-dragon?"

"A Dragon Spawn. Exclusive attendant to Grand Duke Baldrova."

"I never heard of Dragon Spawn projecting Dragon Fear… and she doesn't even have horns or a tail."

"Which means she's an exceptionally powerful Dragon Spawn."

"I figured half-elf or halfling at best…"

Jed suddenly remembered the moment he had threatened Ferda with the dagger. If he had actually swung it then, there wouldn't have been anything left of him. He flapped his shirt to dry the cold sweat. Ruri shot him a look of pure contempt and sat demurely once more.

"Don't worry. Even when she's that vicious, hand her something to eat and she calms right down."

"Who are you calling calm?"

Hearing Ruri's protest, Ferda nodded.

"True—you're less calm and more of a little dog."

"Excuse me? Insulting me again?"

"It's a compliment. There's a breed called the Chihuahua—small yet fierce. Reminds me of you."

"Would you please just ask me to hit you once?"

"I'd rather not. I dislike pain."

Ferda needled her without pause while Ruri's mood soured by the second. A normal person struck full-force by that Dragon Fear would already be unable to breathe. Ferda remained perfectly serene; only Jed, trapped between them, finally spoke up.

"I'll just go hang out with the coachman. Call me if you need me."

A comfortable seat was nice, but peace of mind was better.

In search of Echidna Philiaz, Ferda entered a deep forest. Eventually the road grew too narrow for the carriage.

"Can't go any farther, sir. Path's too tight."

"Then we walk."

"It's a fair distance, but not steep—think of it as a stroll."

Left with no choice, Ferda dismounted and set off with Ruri and Jed behind him. The two following treated it like a light walk; Ferda was already sweating bullets.

"You really ought to work on your stamina, sir."

"Believe it or not… this is my maximum."

"A little more effort and you could build it up, couldn't you?"

"I once belonged to a knightly house. That's how I ended up the grand duke's fiancé."

"Ah… right."

Jed scratched his cheek awkwardly.

"Want me to carry you?"

"I'll pass."

Though struggling, Ferda forced his legs onward by sheer will, unwilling to slow the group. At last a solitary house appeared in the heart of the deep woods.

"There it is."

"Looks every bit the witch's hut—the yin energy is ridiculous."

"And it's also where you're about to go."

"I know. Ahem…!!"

Jed rolled his shoulders, preparing for the mission.

"Hoo… first job is seducing a witch. Feels like sticking my head into a tiger's mouth."

"No need to be so tense. That face of yours is all it takes."

"Sounds like you're saying without the face I'm just a corpse."

Ferda studied Jed's features for a moment before answering.

"Without that face you might well become a corpse."

"Ha, still underestimating me? Fine. Watch this."

Jed smoothed his hair back with both hands, striking a pose. Playboy mode fully engaged, he strode toward the witch's house.

"Echidna Philiaz. What kind of woman is she?"

Once Jed was out of earshot, Ruri asked.

"A witch."

"I know she's a witch. They're the ones who form sisterhoods through sorcery and become one, aren't they? That's why witches take the surname Philiaz."

"Yes, you know well. Have a candy."

"Do you think I'm a child?"

Even as she grumbled, Ruri accepted the candy and rolled it around her mouth.

"What I mean is, why bother bringing a witch here at all?"

Recruiting a witch was dangerous business—especially anyone tied to the Philiaz name. Only women of magical talent who also possessed a Red Circle could become witches. The Red Circle was forged from violent emotion, and most women who awakened it did so through resentment toward a husband and obsession with a child. In other words, witches as a group were largely people who harbored extreme hatred and loathing for men.

"That's why witches are impossible to reason with and completely self-centered, they say."

"That's true enough."

"If she's been branded a heretic even among those gloomy creatures, is she another Burnel-level problem?"

Burnel, was it…

"Closer to my fiancée than to Burnel, I'd say."

"Comparing some witch to my master? Mind your tongue."

"I only meant they're similar in spirit."

Ruri glared and growled. No matter how he looked at her, the dog comparison refused to leave his mind.

"No need to worry. The very reason Echidna was branded a heretic by the Philiaz is what makes her recruitable."

"Because of that?"

Before the question could fully land, Jed emerged from the witch's house. Barely three minutes had passed since he went inside. Looking thoroughly awkward, he scratched his head as he returned.

"Uh…"

Special note regarding Echidna Philiaz:

"The second she saw me she said she'd do anything, no matter what. Is that… normal?"

A severe case of being completely smitten.