Nobles put their lives on the line in battle.
Although, Ulgus had no intention of discussing that with a total stranger. It was probably best not to stay and chat for too long. Velrey was watching him too, after all.
“Um, these skewers were delicious. Thank you again, but I’m going to be on my way now.”
“Hang on.” The man grabbed Ulgus’ arm when he tried to stand. He leaned in and whispered something to him. “I have a good offer for you.”
“Wh-What do you mean?”
“Come on, sit down.”
Ulgus sat back down as instructed. He should have turned the man down while he was on a mission, but his words piqued Ulgus’ interest.
“So? What’s this offer?”
“I can get you a job in the royal capital.”
“A…job?”
“That’s right. I work as an intermediary for various lines of work, helping people coming from rural areas like you.”
“Oh, really? I had no idea.”
The man wore very nice clothes, so he was probably doing well for himself, Ulgus thought.
“The biggest advantage is having access to jobs that require a referral letter to be hired.”
“Wow! That’s amazing!”
It was a great thing for people to come from rural areas without having to worry about whether or not they could make a living. Ulgus was touched by how forgiving times had become.
“What sort of jobs are available?”
“For a young man like you with a good manner of speech, I could see you working as a butler for a noble family.”
“Wh-Whoaaa!”
There was no way anyone could work in a noble household without a letter of referral. The more options someone had for work, the more possibilities their future held.
If Ulgus had met this man when he was job hunting, he might not have ever become a knight.
“My cap— I mean, my boss yelled at me every single day, so I thought I wasn’t suited for that line of work,” he confessed.
“Good thing you ended up quitting, huh?”
Not only had Ulgus not actually quit, but that boss in question was now watching him from a distance. Mell was nearby too. It seemed they’d come to meet up with Velrey at some point.
Ulgus trembled in fear. He’d gotten caught up in conversation over a snack during a mission. He knew he was on the verge of another terrible scolding.
“That’ll be one gold coin.”
“Huh?”
“That’s my agent’s fee. Give me a gold coin and I’ll refer you to whatever job you like.”
One gold coin was the starting salary for a knight in the Royal Order of Enoch. It was as much as three months’ pay for someone in the poorer parts of the city.
“How does that sound? You can make three gold coins a month if you work for a noble family. Not so expensive in the grand scheme of things, is it? Just a single gold coin can buy your happiness.”
That was when Ulgus gasped. He finally remembered that the swindler they were looking for offered work referrals in exchange for a gold coin. The man before him was the swindler!
On the inside, he was filled with despair. He’d become the criminal’s target within minutes of stepping off the ship.
The man first spotted Ulgus staring at the meat skewers. That meant he thought he really was a careless country bumpkin and had bumped into him on purpose. He wanted to treat him to meat skewers to get one foot in the door for his scheme.
Ulgus had been completely fooled. He took the meat skewers without thinking and even started discussing his personal life with the man. It took until this very moment for Ulgus to have any idea he was dealing with the swindler.
Maybe Velrey had noticed. That first glance and nod they exchanged could have been a warning to watch out for the man, not permission to eat the skewers like he originally thought.
Ulgus knew exactly what he needed to do. It was time to be deceived.
“Um, can we seal the deal right here?”
“I have an office. What do you say I take you there?”
“I’m sorry for all the trouble.”
“No, don’t be!”
The man patted Ulgus on the shoulder. It still ached a bit from where they’d collided earlier, but he gritted his teeth to bear it.
“My office is this way.”
“Okay!”
Once the man started to lead the way, Ulgus cast glances at Ludtink and Velrey. They both nodded. They were going to tail them from behind.
Later, they linked up with Zara, Garr, and Liselotte. Ulgus felt better knowing the entire Second Expeditionary Squadron was at his back.
The man led Ulgus to a warehouse for rent in town.
“Here we are.”
“Wow, what a big warehouse.”
“Not too shabby, huh?” He opened the door and let Ulgus inside. “It’s more like a place for storage than an actual office.”
The man was right. Inside were stacks of wooden crates sitting all over the place. He was clearly lying about it being an “office” and had simply brought him to a random, unlocked building.
Since there wasn’t anyone else around, the man was probably working alone.
“I have a real office in the royal capital. This is just my temporary place of work.”
“Um, do you have colleagues in the capital?”
“Yes, we’re a small company with only five members in total.”
Ulgus knew better than to press him too hard. It would only draw suspicion, and before that, he needed to exchange money for the promise of work.
“So, may I ask how this goes?”
“It’s simple. Once you’ve paid the fee, you’ll have a job arranged within a few hours. All you need to do is wait here while I prepare your carriage to the royal capital.”
“I see.”
The man’s voice echoed off the walls of the warehouse. The others would probably be able to hear him outside.
The conversation continued.
“So you want the butler job at a nobleman’s house, yes?”
“But do you think I’m qualified?”
“Don’t worry. They won’t yell at you if you mess up like at your last job.”
“Wow… I-I’m so happy…”
Ludtink, his boss, was definitely listening, so Ulgus resisted the urge to cry out with joy.
“All right, then. The butler job, please.” But then he remembered that he didn’t actually have any gold coins on him. “Ah, I’m sorry, but I don’t have a gold coin at the moment…”
“You can give me what you have now and pay the rest later. In exchange, I’ll hold on to your belongings as collateral.”
Ulgus gave the man everything in his wallet, then handed him his knife as collateral. The handle supposedly had a silver inlay. Ludtink had given Ulgus the knife, and though he always thought it was something ordinary, it turned out to be quite valuable.
Ulgus mentally cried out with appreciation for his boss.
“Okay, I’ll be back in two hours. Sorry to ask this, but can you wait here until I return?”
“Of course! Thank you very much.”
The man sauntered out of the warehouse. Ulgus knew one of the members would follow him to his next destination…but then he heard a shriek outside.
Had he been ambushed by a bandit? Ulgus raced out of the warehouse to look.
“Ow! Ow, ow!”
“C’mon now, don’t fight!”
A massive person with bulging muscles was leaning his weight on the man. Ulgus couldn’t contain his own shriek.
“B-Boss!”
“Who’re you callin’ boss? Garr, tie this guy up with Sly!” Ludtink ordered.
Garr sprang into action. He threw Sly at the man, who coiled around his arms and legs.
“Wh-Who are you people?! Some sort of bandits?!”
“Hell no, we’re not!”
Ulgus could hardly believe how quickly they’d arrested him.
“Captain Ludtink, shouldn’t we have arrested him once he was caught in the act?”
“As soon as he came outta the warehouse, he was already mumblin’, ‘What a sitting duck. I’m gonna spend his money on food.’”
That was when the man realized that not only did this group work with Ulgus, but they were, in fact, knights.
“You people are knights?!”
“Yep. Why’d ya call us bandits, huh?”
No one standing behind Ludtink had the nerve to correct him—that the man had called him a bandit, not the rest of them.
“We’re takin’ you back to the royal capital to make you confess everything you’ve done. You better be ready, got it?”
“D-Damn you!”
Ludtink and Garr hauled the man away, and with that, the case was resolved.
Velrey gave Ulgus a pat on the shoulder.
“Good work today, Ulgus.”
“Th-Thank you.”
“I can’t believe you recognized the swindler just like that.”
“Haha… What can I say…? It was my intuition…”
Ulgus would take the truth to his grave—that he’d only gone along with the man because he was excited to eat free meat skewers.
The culprit had been apprehended. No one else would fall victim to his swindling.
The results were what actually mattered—not how they got to that point.
That was how Ulgus felt about it, at least.
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