Chapter 91

Chapter 91: The Man’s Anger

“If this is all you have, you can’t even afford a single time! Penniless peasants need to get out of my shop!”

With a furious voice, he was driven out of the store .

He frantically tried to walk back in, but the door was firmly shut, without any sign of opening again .

“… . Shit!”

He started cursing in anger .

Although it was daytime, this small street was quite dark… . No, the avenue was actually brightly lit by sunlight . But the passerby’s eyes were lifeless, expelling a depressing, glum atmosphere .

In the past, this area was a commonplace for people who weren’t wealthy, but also weren’t dirt-poor .

It was a pleasant convenience full of laughter- even though that was a bit of an exaggeration, at least the people weren’t as spiritless as they were right now .

When did it become like this? It dropped like a rock from a cliff, tumbling down, down, down .

Since when did he start seeing such shadows and darkness?

This kingdom, is slowly rotting .

With the decrease of wages, the tax rate hadn’t changed a bit .

The average goods consumption of families will fall, resulting in lower budgets for guilds . Unable to sell off their inventory, businesses will produce less stock . This chain of reactions will echo in an unstoppable wave .

Even though economic relief and damage control for citizens have become common, they were no more than facades by the upper-class .

If they really wished to help the lower and middle classes with good heart, they should give us jobs, and money . Although everyone needed food and sustenance, if we kept relying on their short-term solutions, what will happen when they stopped providing relief? Furthermore, people need more than just food .

So foolish, the man laughed bitterly .

Even if one were to not work, there will be people that provide food, isn’t this not a bad idea… .

With such easy lives, this kingdom is so considerate of its people .

But I believe… . This is no different from being kept as livestock by the people above, and I can’t just accept that .

Has nobody realized the unstable situation? Or is everyone just pretending they’re blind?

It’s rotting slowly .

No matter what, people will ultimately become fed-up with the higher-up’s decisions and actions .

The people are always the ones that pay the price for upper-class’ mistakes .

To put simply, I don’t have any money . Without money, I can’t buy medicine . With these circumstances, no matter how much food I receive, it wouldn’t help at all .

“You, over there . ”

A voice sounded abruptly nearby .

I looked in the direction of its owner . A cloaked figure stood in my way .

Although I couldn’t see her face clearly through the hood, I could determine that the person was a woman .

“Yes, you . ”

What does this finely-dressed woman want to do with him?

“Your name is… . ”

The name that she spoke was indeed mine . Why does she know my name?

“Is that right?”

“… . Yes, it is . What do you want with me?”

“Hm, well, do you feel remorseful?”

“… . Ha?”

“Everything you had was taken away, and you’re even driven to this pitiful state… . No, not everything . What you should protect, still remains by your side . ”

His mind quickly cooled, and he immediately made distance between them .

“It should be fine if I’m not this cautious, right? It’s just a woman, after all . ”

“To not be fooled by appearances… . I understand that fact so clearly that it’s become annoying . Unfortunately, I don’t trust anyone anymore . Especially people like you, who pop out of nowhere . ”

“Indeed . If you haven’t learned your lesson after being betrayed, then you’re really an idiot . ”

His face soured from the woman’s words .

“Although I don’t know how or where you found that out, I’m not interested in what you want . ”

“But I need something from you . ”

“Then find someone else . ”

I turned my back towards her . Although I’ll be angrier passing that closed shop door one more time, it’s better than speaking with this woman . ”

“Alright, I’ll cut the crap . Do you not want to reclaim everything you lost?”

“… . Not interested . ”

“Really? I believe that if you do, your brother might be in a better situation than he is in right now . ”

With that sentence, he stopped in his tracks .

“… . What do you want from me?”

“Everything . Your name… . Existence, and all that rests behind . ”

“Do you want me to wag my tail and beg like a dog?”

“I don’t need pets . What I want you to do is become my hand and foot, and work for me . ”

“Ha… . What specifically are you asking me to do?”

“I’m not planning for you to do anything weird, you know . I just want to help you take back what you lost . It’s shameless work that will help you get back to your previous position, and nothing more . ”

“How could I just believe something like that? Such innocent ordeals don’t exist . ”

“… . That man is standing in my way, too . ”

Compared to the sweet, soft tone she spoke with before, her voice sounded icily crystalline .

“He flies around, like a gnat . He sticks his hands in the path of my conglomerate, and that buzzing sound has been around my ears nonstop . It really can rub people in the wrong way . So, I too wish for that man to get out of our sights . ”

With a whoosh, she peeled away her cloak . Her long, silver hair glittered under the sunlight .

He had never seen such a beautiful lady before .

“… . My name, is Iris . I’m the head of the Azuta Conglomerate . ”

Listening to her words, the questions in my head grew bigger and bigger .

Say, isn’t the Azuta Conglomerate one of the biggest businesses in the Royal City?

And the head of that group… Is a young woman?

“No matter if you believe me or not, the gears have already started to turn . Even without you, it won’t affect things that much… . But, if you would work under me, it’ll really make things easier . I don’t want to increase my workload . ”

With those words, she smiled bitterly . That harmless grin almost made my heart stop .

But, it wasn’t finished yet .

“So, this is an exchange . You will… . Properly use my name, and my power . I will also use your name, and your power… . How do you want to do this? For me, I’m perfectly fine with running with my tail between my legs . ”

With my response, she smiled in a different fashion than before .

Her expression seemed to say: If you run away now, then you’ve lost… . Do you want to be defeated like this? Indeed, my indignant emotions sparked to life in my heart .

“… . I, will not do any work that I disagree with . ”

“Then, that’s enough . We have a deal… . Come with me . ”