I Kidnapped the Hero’s Women

Chapter 45 - Coupons (1)

"Mister looks really tired..."

"He must be exhausted from preparing to host Her Majesty the Empress in just one day."

Aslan sat dazed in his office.

He wasn\'t working or sleeping, just staring blankly with his eyes open.

Julia and Charlotte peeked through a crack in the door, whispering as they watched him.

"The rest of the household looked super busy too."

They had been frantic with preparing for the banquet, gardening, and doing a thorough cleaning.

All the employees were so busy they couldn\'t even pay attention to Charlotte and Julia, whom they usually doted on, so it was no wonder Aslan was so worn out.

Normally, he hardly moved, but for one day he had been tirelessly running around.

"He barely ate anything..."

"He must be so tired he lost his appetite. When that happens, he should eat something sweet and sour like fruit."

"Huh. Julia, you’re worried about Mister."

"Wh-what!? Me? Worried? About him? No way!"

Charlotte grinned, sensing an opportunity, while Julia fumed.

Nonsense.

Why would I worry about him?

I can barely worry about myself when I need to gather ten billion Larks to be free.

"Aren’t you the one worried about him?"

"Yes, I am. I don’t want Mister to be sick."

"…"

Julia fell silent at Charlotte’s straightforward reply.

Really, she was just too kind.

Or maybe it was Stockholm syndrome? Something like that?

Silly girl.

"Well, I’m not worried, but I agree he shouldn’t be sick. If he works, we’ll get more opportunities to make money."

With our shares in the road construction project, Charlotte and I both now get 0.1% of the toll revenue.

Aslan wants to use us to make money.

Ultimately, he seems to want each of us to earn ten billion Larks.

So, it was a problem if Aslan stayed like this.

"Tch. Julia, all you think about is money."

"Of course. Don’t you want to get out of here? Aren’t you worried about Yuri? Yuri must be worrying a lot about us too. We need to get out soon. We can’t stay like this forever."

"If you want to make money, I have an idea!"

"An idea? What kind of idea?"

Charlotte\'s eyes sparkled with confidence, making Julia slightly uneasy.

Whenever Charlotte had that look, it was never a normal idea.

"Hehe. We’ll sell our labor to Mister! We’ll make an offer he can’t refuse!"

"An offer he can’t refuse?"

"I learned from watching Mister do business. The important thing is supply and demand! We need to offer what the other person needs, so they can\'t help but buy it!"

"So, what is it?"

"Heheh!"

Charlotte, hands on her hips, beamed with confidence as she pulled something out of her pocket.

.

.

\'I feel like I\'m aging rapidly.\'

This was strange.

I had gotten plenty of rest and hadn’t done anything particularly strenuous today.

Yet, I felt inexplicably exhausted and couldn’t concentrate on any task.

Was it because I had experienced back-to-back visits from Irene and the Empress?

I hadn\'t done anything physically taxing, but mentally I was utterly drained, making my body feel the same.

I wanted to rest for a while.

But...

"Brother. Here are the blueprints for the training ground. Can we proceed with these?"

"Lord. We’ve completed the first round of interviews for Vermont Security\'s public recruitment. We need a budget for background checks on the candidates."

"Lord! I’m not trying to exaggerate, but I swear by the heavens, the earth, and my late father and grandfather that we need more resources than anticipated. I checked everything myself! If anyone on my team has done wrong, I’ll take full responsibility! Please just supply the materials on this list."

"Mister! Earthy dug up the yard! Should I discipline it?"

"Do something about Charlotte. Earthy comes crying to me every day, begging to be saved."

There was too much to handle.

Far too much.

Why don\'t I have someone to handle all this for me?

Oh, right. I fired them all.

Now, Sylvia was my only loyal aide left.

The most terrifying thing was that I was going to get even busier, not less busy.

For someone accustomed to the conveniences of modern civilization, being a Count here was grueling.

\'My body aches. Aches.\'

Maybe it’s because I’m naturally thin and frail.

A little bit of outdoor activity and stress, and my body was already showing signs of breaking down.

I\'m not exaggerating; if this continues, I might collapse.

Should I take a break?

If I rest, who will do the work?

Just as I sighed deeply, the door creaked open, and Julia and Charlotte entered.

"Stop sighing so much. Negative vibes are contagious…"

"That\'s right. Smiling makes you healthier."

"Ha. Right. Sorry."

[The Evil God \'Kali\' glares.]

Oh.

I realized too late that I had apologized for creating a negative atmosphere in front of an Evil God.

Was she mad? Is she mad?

[The Evil God \'Kali\' demands that our necromancer and dark knight smile in front of him!]

Oh, that’s right.

Kali cherishes these kids as much as I do.

I remembered that belatedly.

But, I was sighing alone.

They walked in on me.

I felt an irrational urge to explain myself.

"Hehe. I won’t just tell you to smile. Forcing a smile when you\'re tired and annoyed only makes things worse."

"At the orphanage, the church people and sponsors would make us smile, and it was really miserable."

"...So, what brings you here?"

Seeing Charlotte and Julia banter made me happy, but...

The problem was that I was extremely busy right now.

Unless it was urgent or important, I needed to postpone it and deal with it later.

Just as I was about to dismiss them, Charlotte spoke up.

"Mister, you look really tired! We came to sell you this!"

"...?"

Thud.

Charlotte placed some pieces of paper on my desk.

Curious, I picked one up to see what it was...

They were crudely handwritten coupons made from colored paper.

"Massage coupons...?"

"If you use this, you can get a massage from me!"

"I\'ll buy it immediately. How much?"

"Ten billion Larks!"

"..."

A moment of silence fell.

Julia smacked her forehead.

Ten billion Larks was way too expensive...

"Ah? Um! Julia is here too! So, twenty billion Larks!"

"That\'s still too expensive."

"Why? This massage coupon is a rare, one-of-a-kind item that only I can offer!"

"I doubt your massage is worth twenty billion Larks. I could call anyone in this mansion and get a massage for free, so why should I pay that much?"

"Oh no! I thought Mister was rich and would spend money freely... I miscalculated, Julia!"

"I told you it wouldn’t work..."

Charlotte\'s massage.

I really want it.

I want to buy it no matter what.

But I kept my expression serious and pretended to focus on paperwork.

Seeing this, Charlotte grew anxious and started to fidget.

Good. Everything is going according to plan.

"I\'ll lower the price!"

"To how much?"

"Five billion Larks! Half off!"

"Hmm."

"T-two billion Larks!"

"For that amount, I could hire a professional masseuse to give me massages for a whole year."

"A hundred thousand...?"

Charlotte whispered in a voice as small as an ant’s crawl.

I ignored her again, pretending to be uninterested, and her lips began to pout.

She seemed to be on the verge of tears.

"That\'s still too expensive."

"B-but... I need to make a lot of money..."

"How about this: When the security company is established, I’ll give you a suitable mission. You can keep the reward."

"Wow! Really!?"

"And next time we go out, I’ll buy you a doll. You’ve been complaining about how only Julia got one. I couldn\'t stand the constant grumbling. I’ll buy ten coupons for that."

"Really!? You promise! I’ll sell them for that! Here you go!"

Charlotte beamed, wrote \'X10\' on the coupon, and handed it to me.

Using Charlotte for the security company was already in the plan, so I essentially got ten massage coupons for free.

Nice. Very nice.

[The Evil God \'Kali\' is eagerly anticipating our dark knight\'s massage.]

I’m looking forward to it too.

Just as I was about to use a massage coupon immediately, I noticed Julia hesitating, wanting to say something.

"...What do you want to sell me?"

"Hmph. My coupon isn\'t as shabby as Charlotte\'s, so you won’t be able to resist. You can’t just haggle it down. ...Mister."

"Shabby?! My massage?"

"Yap!"

As soon as I asked, Julia proudly pulled out a piece of paper.

I looked at it and froze for a moment.

What is this?

"A one-on-one tutoring coupon?"

"It\'s a coupon to receive one hour of personal tutoring on any subject from me! How about it? Don’t you want it? Last time you said my explanations were so easy to understand that you wanted more lessons! Hmph!"

"..."

I have absolutely no desire to buy this.

What should I do?

Seeing Julia’s confident face, I felt very troubled.