"Sheele, do you know that man?"
Leone's expression looked terrible.
Her back was facing Noah, and she did not dare turn around.
"Mr. Noah?"
Sheele answered in her usual absentminded way. "I suppose I do know him, but we aren't very close. Or rather, we only met once before."
After hearing Sheele's words, Leone let out a breath of relief.
She lowered her voice and warned, "Then be careful, Sheele. That man is on the Empire's side! He's extremely dangerous."
"Eh?"
Sheele froze after hearing Leone's words.
It was too sudden.
She had long guessed that Noah might be the child of some noble family or something similar, but back then, she had not needed to consider things like position or affiliation.
Recently, however, things had changed.
The things she had been secretly doing were discovered.
Although she was discovered, those people did not arrest her and hand her over to the authorities.
Instead, they invited her to join an organization that had not yet been formally established.
She heard that the people in this organization were all like her, very good at killing.
And their goal was to secretly kill those evil officials and protect the common people.
Leone was one of the people from that organization.
Sheele did not know whether joining the organization was good or bad, but Leone was a good person who was willing to be friends with her, so she agreed to join that organization that had not even been founded yet.
In fact, before the organization had officially been established, she had already become something like a founding member.
As for why she secretly killed people, it was because those people were bad, and she happened to have the ability to do it.
Or rather...
Aside from killing, Sheele felt that she was useless at everything.
Only when it came to killing did she always do it very well.
As though she had been born for that work!
Originally, she had still hesitated over whether doing this was right, but when she saw how happy the people on the streets became after those bad people disappeared, she became certain that this was definitely not a bad thing.
Because everyone became happier.
That was the best proof.
Together with Leone and the companions Leone had mentioned, she would be able to kill more bad people and help more good people.
"But Doctor Noah isn't a bad person."
Sheele refuted Leone's warning.
To Leone, this was something new.
Ever since she had gotten to know this somewhat airheaded girl, Sheele had always been weak-willed and obedient, the kind of person who simply went along with what others said.
After spending some time together, Leone had already confirmed that Sheele belonged to the type without much of an opinion of her own.
Yet now, Sheele was showing an entirely different side.
As her friend, Leone should actually have been happy for her.
But this time was different.
She could feel that the man was hiding something.
He was definitely not as simple as he looked... all right, even judging from appearance alone, he was not simple.
He was quite handsome too.
Leone suddenly realized something.
'Could Sheele have feelings for this guy?'
She wanted to press further, but continuing to act like this would be far too suspicious.
With no other choice, Leone could only let go of Sheele, say they would talk later, and walk toward the door with her head lowered.
Noah watched as Leone brush past him.
Just as she was about to reach the door, he suddenly spoke.
"Wait."
!!!
Leone's footsteps stopped.
Her expression instantly darkened to the extreme, and her gaze turned cold.
Where Noah could not see, her hand had actually transformed into a furry claw, like that of a feline beast.
Killing intent.
Noah looked at the woman standing still and slowly walked up behind her.
The distance between the two of them was extremely close.
Leone wanted to turn around and attack several times, but for some unknown reason, a strange panic kept her from making a move.
Noah leaned slightly forward and gently said beside her ear, "You dropped something."
'Hm?'
Leone frowned and turned her head, only to see a money pouch in Noah's hand.
The moment she saw the pouch, she panicked and immediately snatched it from his hand, hiding it inside her cloak.
'Dropped?'
'No, impossible.'
How could such a heavy pouch fall to the floor without making any sound?
Leone did not even say thank you before leaving in a hurry.
While keeping alert for anyone following behind her, she gritted her teeth.
When she reached an empty alley, she finally could not endure it anymore and punched the wall.
"Damn it."
Anger burned in Leone's eyes, and a cold smile hung on her face.
That guy was provoking her!
He had actually taken the money pouch from her body in the instant they brushed past each other, and she had not noticed at all.
Was he joking?
Since experience in things like cooking and craftsmanship could be obtained, then naturally, Noah had also obtained quite a bit of experience in methods such as "theft."
When repairing equipment like daggers or gloves, he often encountered people who belonged to the "thief" profession.
These people had extremely high-level lockpicking and pickpocketing skills.
After gathering the experience of many "thieves," Noah could now be considered something like a saint of theft.
If pickpocketing also had levels, then he was only one step away from the master level.
Usually, he disdained using such methods. This time, it was only a sudden whim. He had wanted to tease her a little, so he had slipped away her money pouch.
Noah walked directly up to Sheele and stared at her.
Seeing him come so close, Sheele's face immediately flushed red. At the same time, she closed her eyes, both nervous and embarrassed.
Noah removed a scrap of red paper stuck in her hair and reminded her, "Something was caught in your hair. It's gone now."
After a while, Sheele finally reacted a little late.
Then she hurriedly tidied her hair and said softly, "Ah, sorry. Th-thank you."
Noah smiled.
On the surface, he was pretending to help her, but in reality, it was to deepen the level of contact slightly.
Although he had only touched her hair and a tiny area of skin, it was enough.
[Sheele]
・Human
・Female
・Place of origin: Imperial Capital
・Possesses physical ability beyond ordinary people, which increases the difficulty of controlling her body and causes her to make frequent mistakes. She can only move normally when fighting seriously.
・Killer
・Near-sighted. Left eye: 240 / right eye: 280.
・True identity: a mysterious killer active in the Imperial Capital.
・Blood type: AB
・Height: 160 cm
・Measurements: 86-55-88
・Recently invited by members of the Revolutionary Army and became a provisional member of an organization that has not yet officially been founded.
Noah abruptly came back to his senses.
He no longer probed into the girl's deeper secrets.
Speaking of which...
Sheele was actually a killer?
No wonder, when he met her this time, he felt that there was some strange aura clinging to her.
That was probably the unconscious presence of her killer side leaking out.
"Sorry, sorry. I kept you waiting."
Mei hurried down from the second floor, holding two large boxes in her arms.
She placed the boxes steadily on the table, then removed the red cord hanging around her neck.
It turned out that a golden key was tied to the cord.
"You're quite strict about this," Noah remarked.
Mei smiled and said, "After all, the things inside are treasures my father left to the shop. Just kidding... actually, after my father passed away, I had someone estimate the price. In the end, no one was willing to offer anything, but if I sold them cheaply, I feel like my father would come looking for me in the middle of the night."
Eight years had passed and Mei's father had already died.
Judging from her appearance, she seemed to have moved on.
That was exactly what the dead would have hoped for.
Birth, aging, sickness, and death were the natural state of mortals.
The dead did not wish to drag the living down. Instead, they hoped the living would not cling to the past and would turn their eyes toward the future.
"You're basically saying you're planning to overcharge me, and right to my face too," Noah said helplessly.
If they were Eastern paintings, tea leaves, or other things of that nature, they really could not be sold for a high price in the Empire because public recognition was too low.
And these were things that required deep cultural refinement to understand. Because of that, their market price could hardly reflect their actual worth.
"Hehe, I won't. I believe you know good things when you see them."
"A fine horse is often found, but a true judge of horses is not..."
Noah muttered this to himself.
As a result, Mei and Sheele curiously asked him about it.
So he told the two women the story of Bole recognizing a fine horse. Unexpectedly, both of them became quite interested.
It was not surprising.
In this world, in this country, and in this era, the entertainment people could enjoy was far too little.
Ordinary people especially were entirely in a position where they were exploited, making it impossible for them to have their own entertainment.
A story they had never heard before was enough to make them feel curious and excited.
Although using this story to describe the current matter was not actually very fitting.
One described "people," while the other described "objects."
And there were environmental factors involved as well.
Noah had only suddenly thought of it because he had been influenced by the atmosphere.
[Smiling Tea]
・Camellia family
・Variety: green tea
・Quality: high grade
・Weight: 276 g
・Color: 82 / fragrance: 86 / taste: 85 / shape: 83
Mm.
It was indeed good.
Aside from that, the box also contained other things, all of which were quite decent.
"Mm, these things are not bad. I'll buy them all together."
Noah nodded, and with that one sentence, Mei's face instantly lit up.
She said in delight, "That's wonderful."
In truth, these things were not some sky-high luxury.
Especially to the nobles of the Empire, their prices were far from extravagant.
For example, this portion of tea leaves weighed a little over half a jin, and its price was roughly equivalent to two and a half months of income for a guard in the Imperial Capital.
It was expensive, but not outrageously so.
With Remus's family background, she did not need an especially expensive gift. True preciousness was definitely not only used to describe things with high prices.
Mei packaged all the goods.
Noah examined everything he had bought, then casually pulled a gold bar from his pocket.
"I didn't bring money, so I'll pay with this."
To Noah, gold was easier to obtain than money.
Perhaps it was because of the monetary system, but in this world, there were very few situations where large amounts of currency were needed.
When convenient, precious metals or other valuable goods were used for transactions instead.
The gold bar he had taken out now was not easy to convert into ordinary money.
In any case, if one used this much gold to buy slaves, it would be enough to buy at least five strong laborers.
"Eh?"
Looking at the dazzling gold in front of her, Mei seemed almost enchanted, unable to move her gaze away at all.
"G-gold... a gold bar?"
Her face moved closer and closer, her neck stretching forward. Sheele tugged her several times with a red face before she finally came back to her senses.
"Ah, no, that's far too much."
Mei forcibly endured the desire and greed in her heart, turning her gaze away and not daring to look at the dazzling gold.
The moment she forced herself to speak those conscientious words, Mei almost instantly regretted it.
Noah saw her struggle and hesitation and directly tossed the gold in his hand.
The moment Mei saw the gold flying through the air, she immediately reached out to catch it.
The heavy feeling in her hands made her want to cheer out loud.
Was this a joke?
It was really hers?
After tossing out the gold bar, Noah glanced at the pile of goods.
Although he could definitely carry them, walking through the Imperial Capital with so many things would surely attract attention and discussion.
That would be somewhat socially embarrassing.
"Someone will come to pick these up later. If they say they're from the Leiden family, please hand the goods over to them."
Mei nodded repeatedly and suggested, "I understand. Actually, we can provide delivery service!"
Noah shook his head.
"No need. Just wait for someone to pick them up."
"Oh, all right then."
Mei did not ask further.
Seeing that Noah had finished buying things, Sheele, who stood to the side, showed a somewhat anxious expression.
She stepped forward and asked, "Um, are you leaving now, Mr. Noah? I..."
The girl hesitated, unable to continue.
"Yes, Miss Sheele. But I think we'll meet again, and perhaps under very unusual circumstances."
Noah smiled.
Clearly, Sheele was not an ordinary girl.
If she had been an ordinary girl, he might have reminded her not to associate with the Revolutionary Army so easily.
But Sheele was already a resident of the dark world.
From the moment she accepted the fact that she had been born a killer, she could no longer go back.
Sheele tilted her head, looking as though she could not understand.
...
Noah returned to the Leiden household and had the maids prepare several sets of clothes, intending to take them with him to the villa provided by the Minister.
After learning that he would be staying in the suburbs for a while, the maids requested to accompany him, saying that he needed someone to take care of him, but he declined.
The villa the Minister had so "kindly" provided had enough "servants."
Noah did not need to think too hard to know that those people were definitely the Minister's eyes and ears, and their real job was most likely to monitor him.
---------
Read 40 chapters ahead and support me on patreon.
patreon (.)com/Newbietranslator