“Gyaaah…!”
“Aaah, my arm… my leg…!”
The gangsters, now bloodied and sprawled across the ground, groaned in agony.
Standing alone amidst the chaos, Yuri let out a deep sigh and aggressively wiped her fists with a handkerchief.
“…My nails got stained with blood again.”
This was bad.
She had been so focused on the fight that she hadn’t noticed her nails getting dyed with blood.
And it would take forever to get the stains out.
“…Maybe I should just pull them out.”
After all, even if she pulled out her nails, the wounds would heal in no time.
But while flesh regenerated, nails didn’t. She’d have to wait for them to grow back.
Come to think of it, it almost looked pretty, like she had dyed them with balsam…
After a brief moment of contemplation, Yuri decided to spare her nails.
“You… you damn monster of a woman…”
“Well, why did you resort to violence against my client?”
“That bastard ran off after swindling us out of our money…!”
“Regardless, violence is bad.”
“He scammed us out of 500 million Lark and ran away…!”
“…That is quite a bit.”
Wow.
So he had the money to hire bodyguards but not to pay back his debt?
Even Yuri found the client to be a morally questionable individual.
But a job was a job.
Debt collection was for collectors. Her job was to protect the client, and that’s exactly what she was doing.
“So, how do you want to handle today’s incident? Would you like to take this to court, or would you prefer to settle it here?”
“A settlement… how…?”
“Just pretend this never happened. No criminal charges, no compensation. We’re blacklisting this client anyway, so once our contract ends, we won’t care what happens to him.”
“…Fine.”
With that, the negotiation reached a dramatic conclusion.
Yuri shook hands with the gangsters, who were still covered in blood.
Hiring bodyguards with borrowed money, only to use them against the people who came to collect?
A client she would never, ever deal with again.
It was only right that he ended up on the blacklist.
“…Hey, could you at least call a healer?”
“Would you rather get treated by me instead? My fee is a bit high, but it’s much faster and far more effective than a regular healer.”
“You’d actually do that? What if we recover and attack you again?”
“Then I’ll just beat you down again and charge you for another treatment.”
“…Alright, go ahead.”
“Sure. That’ll be 500,000 Larks per person.”
Yuri placed her healing-imbued hand on the heads of the fallen gangsters, giving each of them a firm whack.
In an instant, their wounds disappeared, and they were fully recovered.
Only after paying Yuri’s fee one by one did they finally shuffle away, dejected and powerless.
“Ooooh… So this is why Senior Yuri’s sales are overwhelmingly high…”
The rookie bodyguard, who had been observing quietly, quickly pulled out a notebook and began jotting things down.
Even enemies attacking her clients were nothing more than walking money bags in her eyes.
An unimaginable way to collect payments.
Wait.
But isn’t this something only Senior Yuri can pull off?
There was no point in taking notes…
Realizing this belatedly, the rookie quietly put the notebook away.
“Rookie. Listen up. I’m clocking out now.”
“Huh? What? I think I misheard you?”
“There was an intense battle just now, right? And in the midst of it, I suffered numerous injuries. Most notably, I damaged my knuckles dozens of times, and my elbows and knees took multiple heavy blows.”
“…Yes.”
An intense battle?
Was she referring to that one-sided beatdown?
Injuries?
Weren’t those self-inflicted from throwing so many punches?
The rookie wanted to point all this out but decided it was best to keep his mouth shut and just listen.
“So, since I need treatment, I’ll be heading out early. In my place, you’ll be billing the client for my medical expenses. We did agree in the contract that any injuries sustained would require additional compensation.”
“But… aren’t you perfectly fine?”
“That’s because I healed myself. My healing ability is a service that costs money, so naturally, I should be compensated for using it.”
“Ah…”
If she had used her healing ability on someone else, she would have earned money.
Since she used it on herself, it was only fair that she charged for it.
And since it wasn’t a breach of contract, Yuri had nothing to feel guilty about.
Aslan Vermont made money this way too.
It might have looked like a scam, but it was an elaborate strategy that left no loopholes, ensuring all responsibilities were deflected.
She had learned a lot from working under him at Vermont Security and staying at the Vermont Estate—this was just one of the lessons.
“…Here’s the invoice. Thirty-six fractures in total, which brings the total fee to—”
Leaving the rookie to handle the final details, Yuri walked off with a carefree heart.
Thinking about today’s earnings, she couldn’t help but grin.
She had saved up a considerable amount ever since she started working at Vermont Security.
At this rate, she’d have enough to pay off her tuition for the remaining semesters.
Then, maybe Mr. Black’s sponsorship should go to someone else in need instead?
She had subtly brought it up, but Mr. Black had no intention of sponsoring anyone other than her.
Even after she pointed out that she wasn’t struggling financially anymore, his response had been—
– I did not decide to sponsor you because you were poor or pitiful. I chose to support you simply because I personally like you, Yuri. Therefore, I have never once regretted my sponsorship, nor do I intend to withdraw it.
“Ugh…”
Recalling the reply once again, Yuri’s face flushed bright red.
For someone like Mr. Black, who had never sponsored anyone before, to go out of his way to support a particular child just because he took a liking to them…
Didn’t that mean there was at least a slight possibility that he saw her as a woman?
Excitement surged through her heart at the thought, making it race uncontrollably.
‘I want to see Mr. Black soon…’
But at the same time, a suffocating frustration welled up inside her, quickly drowning her in agony.
She wanted to meet him as soon as possible.
She wanted to tell him how she felt in person.
So why… why did he insist on not meeting her until she graduated?
Could it be that Mr. Black’s true identity was actually someone she utterly despised?
And was he keeping it a secret, afraid that if he revealed himself and offered his support, she would reject it outright?
Was he slowly building up their bond, increasing her favorability bit by bit before finally revealing the truth?
And yet, doubts lingered.
‘His friend keeps flirting with me…’
Did Mr. Black know?
Did he know that his so-called friend, Aslan Vermont, was blatantly showing interest in her?
Of course, at first, Aslan had approached her with the ridiculous ambition of taking the Countess position, aiming to rescue Charlotte and Julia from the clutches of a supposedly evil noble.
But that foolish idea had long since been discarded.
He had given up on making her a countess, yet his affection for her remained unchanged.
And now, it was becoming a serious problem.
Unlike before, she now knew that Aslan Vermont was, in fact, a decent person.
Sure, he had a rather intimidating appearance, but she understood why Charlotte and Julia were so drawn to him—he really was an impressive man.
But that was exactly why it made no sense for him to be interested in her.
He has Charlotte and Julia, so why is he looking at me?
Is he just naturally flirtatious?
A true gentleman like Mr. Black would never act like that…
The more she thought about it, the more her frustration boiled over.
‘I really hate this…’
She considered outright rejecting every single act of kindness Aslan showed her, but that would mean cutting ties completely.
And if she wanted to see Charlotte and Julia, she would inevitably have to go through Aslan.
That wasn’t an option.
The only real solution was to confess her feelings to Mr. Black, so that Aslan would finally back off.
But the problem was that she still had three more years before she could meet Mr. Black in person.
For three whole years, she would have to endure Aslan Vermont’s constant displays of affection.
For three years, she would feel like she was betraying Charlotte and Julia.
That was unbearable…
Yuri found herself on the verge of tears.
If only he’d just confess to me already.
If Aslan Vermont would simply confess outright, she could reject him properly.
But with him just subtly being nice all the time, she couldn’t outright push him away without looking like she was overreacting.
And if he brushed it off by saying he was only being kind because he liked children, not because he saw her as a woman, what could she even say in response?
Just as she let out a deep sigh, overwhelmed by the uncertainty of the future—
Someone stepped in front of her, casting a large shadow over her.
Startled, Yuri swallowed hard.
“Saint!”
“…Huh?”
Before her stood a group of priests, all clad in ceremonial robes.
And then, in perfect unison, they bowed deeply toward her. Yuri was utterly bewildered.
What in the world… is happening right now?
