*Knock Knock*
Two knocks caught out attention, causing the two sulking girls and my amused self to turn to the doorway.
"Um… hello. Is it alright for me to come in?"
I blinked, staring at the navy blue-haired girl standing at the door timidly.
'Ah, a new customer? Already?'
"Yeah, come in. We're open."
The girl entered the room hearing my response and beelined to us.
"Um, Olivia, could you…. you know, do what we talked about?"
Olivia who had been sitting idly, staring at the new arrival jerked at that and nodded.
"Ah, yes. Ian, this is Miss Carla. We met when I was promoting our café. She wanted my help to introduce herself to you."
'Carla? Was there a character with that name?'
"And what sort of help is that?"
I asked, turning to look at the girl in question with a poker face.
The girl awkwardly smiled, trying her best not to fidget at everyone's pointed gaze.
"Um, right."
She finally took a deep breath and walked a few steps before she went down and kneeled in front of me.
"Greetings Viscount Alpenwind, my name is Carla Fou Wayne. I'm from the regular class. I've come here to beg for your assistance. Please… save my family from the vile pirates who have been harassing and terrorizing our lands."
There was an ensuing silence as the others grasped the said request. I could see Angelica frowning, seemingly in thought. Whereas Olivia simply looked on in concern, probably taken in by this girl's words, and due to her innate pure and helping nature she must have wanted to help the girl and her family.
There was just one small teeny tiny problem with this request, however.
Although, that's not what I first thought of.
'Wayne? Interesting.'
My head imagined a funny rendition of a certain bat-themed superhero announcing himself in his deep, gruff voice.
'I'm BATMAN!'
'Heh.'
I held back a chuckle and a smile at the memory and instead focused on the girl's request.
"Why come ask for my help? This is clearly a task for the Royal Forces. Aren't they supposed to provide help and support in such cases?"
The girl didn't respond for a little while, then she bowed her head in apparent gloom.
"I… yes. That's usually the case. But our Baronet family is one of the poorer ones and we aren't given any VIP treatment that a normal Noble, even a simple Baron family might get. If we ask for the Royal Force's help, they'll take a long time, likely from a few weeks to months, to 'process' the request and send a minimal force as help. But by that point, we and our people will have suffered great losses. And we can't be certain they'll be fully able to resolve the matter.
I know I'm asking for a lot without offering anything in return, but I plead to your kindheartedness that you help us, my lord. If you, who is an accomplished Adventurer of S-rank, help solve this problem, I can be certain the Pirates will be subjugated with ease."
To be honest, her reasoning sounded sensible. She had a realistic view of the matter and was choosing to put her eggs in the best possible basket, even if she had to beg me.
It definitely worked on Olivia and even Angelica seemed to be considering her words.
I, on the other hand, was wondering.
'Should I help this girl?'
She had formally asked for my help and was both polite and subservient. Plus, she had an interesting surname.
I know. That's probably the dumbest reason to help someone but eh, I had the strength and leeway to be quirky like that.
'Hm, I don't—Wait, isn't Sky Pirate Subjugation one of the main story events? But that happened much later. Is this a different one, then? Regardless, it does sound like an easy way to earn some World Points. And if in the process I end up helping this girl and her family… oh well.'
"Alright, I'll deal with those pirates. But I want something in return."
The girl's blossoming smile at my acceptance halted and turned into a nervous look.
"Y-Yes? Um, it's fair. Please, ask away. We don't have much to give you, my Lord, but we'll try our best."
The girl was a really pitiful sight at the moment, seemingly stuck in between a rock and a hard place. Fortunately for her, I wasn't going to ask anything from her or her family anyway.
"I want the first claim on all the treasures and loot the pirates might possess. That'll include their Ships, Weapons, and Armors. If I fancy something, I'll take it. Got it?"
Because that's what being an Adventurer means. This was a standard Adventurer contract, more or less. If an Adventurer has to deal with monsters or pirates, they get to have first claim on any loot they find for themselves. That is, unless it's a property of the Royal family itself in which case they'll be rewarded monetary benefits instead of the items. In any other case, the item belongs to the Adventurer and they can use or sell it, as they wish. Yet again, this kingdom's rules regarding Adventurers were baffling. But since it was in my favor, I had no qualms against it.
Besides, it was a long shot but I was pretty sure one of these Sky Pirate groups had one of the Saint items among their treasures. I could sell that to the Church to gain money, fame, and likely a ton of WPs.
Or maybe, just maybe, I could help that Marie girl by offering her a carrot. I did still want to maybe make up for scaring the ever-living shit out of her. That girl still walked on egg-shells around me.
Not that I cared much for her goals, but I also didn't want to deal with her constant fear of me. Plus, a part of me tried to find some comradery among fellow transmigrators/reincarnators, though she kind of stepped on it the first time. Hm, maybe I could strike a beneficial deal with her if she ever became a Queen or whatever… nah. She didn't have anything I wanted, to be honest.
'I mean, I did say I'll make it up to her. And this is probably something she's aiming for given her whole replacing Olivia as the protagonist act. I don't really care for the items and Olivia doesn't seem interested in becoming a Saint or whatever anyway.'
Her dreams were much more humbler, actually. She talked about it once or twice in our idle conversations. She was more than happy with her current life with us as her friends. Utterly adorable and precious, that girl.
'But it'd be so dumb to just hand over such an important item to someone else without asking for anything in return. Yeah, this is a really, really dumb idea.'
Of course, all that was assuming I even found said item. I didn't have to think hard about it right now.
The girl didn't even hesitate before nodding.
"Yes. That's very much aggregable, my lord."
"Drop the 'my lord'."
"I-Yes, Sir."
"Not 'Sir' either. Just call me by my name. We're in the same age group."
I didn't fancy titles like Sir or Lord, anyway. Too old-fashioned for my taste.
I was, however, interested in the idea of being called Master by a Maid or lover… preferably in the bedroom during certain… rigorous exercises… Ahem.
Anyway, that solved that matter.
"Understood, um, Viscount Alpenwind."
I sighed, deadpanning at the girl's stiffness.
"Fine, then. I guess that means we'll have to plan when to leave, then."
'Probably the sooner the better, she'll say.'
"Ah, yes. In that case, there will be a Holiday gap once the Festival ends in 3 days. If it's not too big of a hassle, we could leave then."
I wasn't expecting her to delay the matter by days. Wasn't her family and estate terrorized by pirated right now.
"In three days?"
I quirked an eyebrow in intrigue.
"You'll leave the Pirate issue as it is for 3 whole days? What if they did something in that time?"
"Ah, yes. That's true. But the Pirates have been camping on the borders of our estate and haven't moved yet and our scoutes say they'll only make their move in a few days. So, we have time. I thank you for your consideration, Viscount Alpenwind. But we can afford a few days."
"Hmm."
That was… suspicious? The fuck were those pirates doing? From my experience and learning about the topic, Sky Pirates were a spontaneous bunch. They came in weapons blazing, looted and terrorized everyone and then made their hasty escape ASAP before the Royal Forces could come and catch them.
I thought for a while about the oddity, then shrugged.
'Oh well. If she's saying it's not a problem, then I don't care either.'
The girl thanked me once again before politely leaving.
Once Carla left, Olivia came to me and smiled radiantly.
"Ian, thank you for helping her. The poor girl must have been really distraught. I can't imagine what it's like to face the pirates. I've heard they're terrible. I'm sure the people of that region will appreciate your help."
I smiled in response, my hand moving automatically to pat the adorable girl.
"Yeah, don't worry about it. I can handle some pirates."
'Heck, I can probably nuke them from here right now. Eris has the ICBMs and other stuff in her arsenal. But that'll be too efficient and I won't be earning as much World Points as I could from the whole ordeal if I actually participate.'
Olivia blushed at my action but didn't move to stop me, so I didn't. I kept patting her smooth blonde hair.
'Though…'
Later when nobody was paying attention, I once again contacted Eris for a small reconnaissance job.
I realised I was making her do a lot of such chores today. At least she didn't mind doing it. Quite the opposite, she seemed to enjoy the small missions.
Maybe she was bored with all the construction and testing work in Utopia and wanted some action. She was a warship AI, after all.
***
-Carla-
Carla walked towards the regular class's dorms, her head held low and expression downcast.
'I guess… that's done. I didn't expect to have to answer those questions. The Viscount is much smarter than people give him credit for. Both brains and brawn, along with an outstanding track-record and great future scope. He's going places… unlike something like me.'
She sighed, defeated.
She wasn't happy at all to have lied to him but circumstances had forced her to do her Mistress' bidding.
The thought that she was possibly sending people to their death gnawed at her soul, each thought of their death sending shivers down her spine, but the alternative was the death of herself and her family members. She knew enough to not take her Mistress's words as a faux threat. She'd seen people disappear and never turn back and nobody asked for their whereabouts, staying quiet and forgetting of their existence entirely.
Now that thought chilled her very soul. She didn't want to die. She didn't want to just disappear.
If that meant she had to do her Mistress's grim bidding, then it couldn't be helped.
She didn't have anyone she could rely upon and save her from her mistress's wrath if she failed.
Her footsteps hastened as she made her way to her dorm.
'I also have to go to Brad Fou Field and ask for his help.'
Not only was she sending the infamous S-ranked Adventurer to his likely demise, but she was also trying to drag in one of the members of the Prince's entourage, all for her Mistress' cruel games.
If she was found out, she'd lose her life at the very least, she knew.
But the alternative was the same. Either way, her life was on the line. However, failing would mean harm coming to her family as well.
So, she gritted her teeth and made her way towards her dorm room, hoping to calm her nerves down a bit before making the next trip.
She felt so dead inside on her way back. She didn't have enough will remaining to go and have another talk.
'What a pathetic wretch I am.'