The man kept smiling. The smile on his face could have made him seem more gullible, but there was a dangerous feel to it instead. He had the same orange hair that I did and was smiling, but I could make out his silver eyes. He looked a bit young to be a proxy leader of such a group merchant guild. He looked more like a boy than a man. I thought he looked one or two years older than me.
But anyway, he was uselessly pretty, in that kind of pure, delicate way. I was awed that someone was this good looking and wasn't a main character in a novel as I looked at him.
Seeing as how he had opened the door as soon as I had lowered my hood, did he think that I would be surprised when my face was revealed?
As he came closer, I could see a small tattoo in the shape of a crescent moon, the symbol of the Lunaasha guild, on the nape of his neck. I could feel a thin layer of magic on the tattoo, which made me think it was some kind of mark. Wait, a crescent moon tattoo on their neck? It sounded familiar, as if I had read it before.
When I nodded slightly at his greeting, the orange haired man dragged a chair and sat in front of me. He introduced himself.
"Hello, I'm Yvnes Lunaasha. I'm very happy that you agreed to meet with me today."
His voice and tone made him sound trustworthy, which made his presence stand out. He sounded like a snaky person. He felt like he would work as a merchant.
I thought, 'Oh, okay' before being surprised by his name.
"...Yvnes?"
"Haha. Yes, that's me."
When I muttered his name in shock, he responded right away.
This person was Yvnes?
Yvnes was one of the main characters of the novel. In the novel, he was just called the guild leader's son, so I didn't even know that he was the leader proxy. Moreover, whenever I checked the Lunaasha merchant guild records, the proxy's information was wiped clean so I didn't even know his name before he told me.
I thought it was weird that he was so handsome for someone who wasn't a main character, but to think that he really was one of the main characters. I slowly began to understand how he could be as handsome as Cory and Hylli.
Anyway, to suddenly meet one of the male main character candidates like this. I was thinking about his personality in the novel to get more hints when he began to speak.
"Anyway, to know that the famous Shunivalen was such a beautiful nunim*. I'm shocked. Oh! If it isn't rude, may I call you nunim? I think I'll be seeing you more often."
Yvnes smiled a pretty, cunning smile as he asked. That sight was so beautiful that if I was anybody else, I would've nodded and followed through any request that he asked for. But for me, I was too used to seeing Hylli's or Cory's pretty face to be affected.
To call me nunim like that, I was younger than him in real life. I rejected his request, then thought back to the novel. But I couldn't seem to recall any of the parts where he came out in the book. Finally, I gave up thinking and decided to focus on the present.
"What is the request?"
When I tried to focus on the subject, Yvnes looked at me with his silver eyes with a cold gaze. But that was just an instant. He smiled his pretty, flower-like smile again.
"Nunim, I like how you get straight to the subject."
He was the kind of person who would call me by that name even when I had asked him not to.
Yvnes didn't tell me what the request was right away. Instead, he took out a clear file that had a single sheet of high quality paper. It was a contract.
Yvnes took out a contract. He continued to stare at me with those dangerous-looking silver eyes, as if he was looking through me. It felt like every action of mine was being analyzed. I returned the contract he gave me without even looking.
"You're brave, Mr. Yvnes. To demand a contract on our first meeting. I only came because it was supposed to be a simple request."
At my words, Yves stood up and walked up to me with casual steps.
"Nunim, are you rejecting this right away without even reading the contents?"
He dragged his chair over and sat closer to me. Then, he turned my way and rested his chin on his hands.
Yves looked at me with a relaxed smile. It was a slightly irritated smile. His eyes seemed warm, but it was blaring danger signals constantly at me.
"Don't be like that; just give it a read."
He brushed my hair behind my ear as he said that. It was the first time that someone other than family had gotten close to me like this, but it was more chilling than sweet. I became slightly scared and touched the goosebumps that had formed on my arms.
For an instant, I felt like I was being pulled in by him. I had to agree that he had a sultry air to him that was frighteningly strong. He was sitting on the edge of boyhood and adulthood, so I felt like he had a stranger air to him. It wouldn't have been weird if I got fooled with my eyes open.
Yvnes, who had asked me to read the contract, had wiped off his smile. His formerly curved eyes were staring at me. I observed his expression and face.
Without his eye smile, I could see his eyes more clearly. He looked like he wasn't smiling even when he was smiling, but without the smile he looked extremely cold. It wasn't just an external chill like the feeling I got from Cory, but just coldness. A chill that came from his personality itself. Cold.
I couldn't go against his look, as if he was begging me to read it, so I held up the contract to read.
On the head of the document was a crescent moon to symbolize the guild. I looked down from the sign that I could feel magic from and read the contents of the contract.
"..."
I read the contract, then put it down for a moment. I rubbed my eyes and held up the contract again.
"...….?"
I did some eye exercises for a moment, then re-examined the contract. But even after multiple readings, the contents remained the same.
"Do the contents not suit your liking?"
When I kept reading and rereading the contract, Yves asked as he smiled.
"...no. On the contrary, it's too good...….."
The contract was written kind of like this. First, if I decided to take the contract, they would give me 1,000 gold, and whenever I moved they would give me 100 gold minimum per request, and I would receive more payment if I performed well. With this much money, I would be able to take care of my family's debt and earn more than that.
There was a clause that mentioned that I would be punished if I sold information about the guild, but that was obvious so I skimmed ahead. If it wasn't an urgent request, I could schedule my daily activities as I liked.
Most of the contract clauses were written to make it better for me. It kind of bothered me that I would be associated with the guild immediately after signing, though.
Thinking of, the guild was known for treating their employees well, right? But I kept doubting this because of Yvnes.
I shouldn't judge a person based on their appearances, but I couldn't help it with Yves. It wasn't just an appearance thing with Yves. What was more of a problem was the dangerous air that he exuded that he couldn't hide. Moreover, it didn't help that he was one of the main male characters in an adult novel.
Yves smiled and spoke when he saw me hesitate.
"To hear that the conditions are good, that's a relief. Then will you be signing?"
"No."
'Shushu, don't make a hasty decision because of cash.'
When signing a contract, it's important to think deeply and take time to think. My original goal was to accept a request, not sign a contract.
I needed to check the conditions again and again, then look for any issues that might pop up after signing, then I needed to have some sort of assurance that there would be no issues before I signed.
"I'm sorry, but this proposal seems so sudden. I would like to accept, but I am currently associated somewhere else and cannot leave."
Speaking of, I remembered that I was currently attending the academy. When vacation ended, I would have to go back….. At this point, signing a contract would be impossible. Moreover, I had no wish to just live my life fulfilling requests.
I wasn't going to be a freelancer when I grew up. I wanted to be a civil servant.
"Then, will you be refusing?"
"Yes, sadly. If you will not be requesting single cases, I will be leaving first."
I said that I wouldn't be signing, but there wasn't a single hint of surprise on Yves' face. It felt like he had already known that I would refuse. I felt uncomfortable, so I stood up. Yves called me when I tried to leave.
"Nunim."
I glared at him when he continued to call me that.
"Please stop calling me that. This is a public place, and I find it uncomfortable."
I tried to open the door by pushing it open. But the door only opened slightly and closed again.
Tak.
Someone behind me closed the door as I tried to open it. I could see an arm in front of my face. My heart began to race. There was a person who was caging me in, right behind me. When I turned around, Yvnes was staring at me with a frightening look on his face.
To be completely exact, he had no emotions on his face. The polite expression he had as he tried to persuade me to sign was gone. The only expression that remained was a blank one, as if he only saw me as merchandise.
Then, he put his face near my face.
"It was my affection as a fan that made me call you that name. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."
I could tell he didn't really mean anything he said. I couldn't control the frown on my face.
Yves spoke again, but his voice grew even more quieter. He was so close that his lips were almost touching my ear.
"That's weird. I'd heard that you were weak towards anybody younger than you so I thought you would like it."
My hand clenched into a fist.
"Is it not working because I'm actually older than you?"
I wanted to get away from his arm, but my body stiffed up and I couldn't. Knowing his personality, he had probably blocked any way for me to escape.
I secretly took out the magic device I used to check for other items and looked at the screen. The hazy screen mentioned a 'magic suppression device' with an explanation.
"Is that right Shuraina?"
"...….."
He said with a sweet voice, fake smile back on his face.
With a crumbling sound, the magic device I held in my hand broke. The hair stick that Yves was using to pull his hair back had been stabbed through the device.
"From the start, did you know everything?"
I gripped the broken device in my hand as I asked, voice low.
"Who knows?"
I suddenly remembered that I had bought the resentment of many companies before all of this.
The most profitable jobs were the ones where I had to collect a company's information, so there was a time when I had only looked for jobs like those to work on.
I tried to remember if I had stolen information about the Lunaasha guild, but there was no job where I had to do just that.
It was such a big group that I had feared any sort of retaliation like this. So I had only followed the requests of smaller, less informed groups. Like ones that couldn't find me.
Also, I was constantly erasing records of my work for my safety. I always dressed up when I went out as Shunivalen, and I followed through with requests while ensuring that my rules were kept. But to know that my identity was found out like this.
The most urgent thing for me to do was to get out of this situation. To gain some distance from Yves, who was currently right next to me, I threw a strong kick his way.
T/N: Nunim is a respectful way of saying nuna. It's specifically for much older people and holds a more respectful tone to it. It's not really used in casual settings.