Late at night, Kobeni's small rental apartment felt quiet.
It wasn't big, but at least it didn't suffocate her like her family home back in Kanagawa.
She glanced at the clock. Almost midnight.
"Yori, it's late," Kobeni said, looking at her younger brother. "You just got discharged, so stop messing around and go to sleep."
"Eh?" Yori blinked in confusion.
"Sis, what happened to that? Didn't you say you were taking me to meet my brother-in-law?"
Kobeni forced a dry laugh.
"That... was just to fool them. You don't actually have a brother-in-law."
"...Huh?"
Yori stared at her. With how confident she sounded earlier, and the way she was blushing, he had actually believed it.
"Then... the twenty million yen you mentioned..."
Kobeni took a slow breath.
"Don't worry about that. I'll handle it."
She paused, then changed the topic.
"If you don't want to go to university, have you thought about what you'll do instead? I can't support you forever."
Yori lowered his head, voice barely audible.
"I... I want to write novels..."
Kobeni blinked, surprised.
"Oh. Then write."
She crossed her arms, thinking for a moment.
"People always end up doing things they're not used to. I used to be scared of corpses, but now I work in a funeral home like it's nothing."
...
The next day.
At the Rest Pavilion, Cael happened to be around.
During a break, Kobeni asked to speak with him privately, her expression serious.
Cael immediately felt something was off.
He knew this situation too well. Back before he got dragged into this world, whenever an employee asked for a private talk like this, it usually meant one thing.
They were quitting.
And Kobeni had only been working for about half a month.
Looking at her tense expression, Cael's thoughts spiraled.
Was she planning to run?
She had been doing great. She adapted quickly, and her presence hadn't messed up the shop's luck either.
Everything was going smoothly.
So why quit now?
As they walked, Cael kept thinking until he finally blamed one person.
Quanxi.
That damn woman.
Reze had been telling him Kobeni was scared of Quanxi and her group.
Yeah, that had to be it.
The contract with that side was already done anyway. If Quanxi kept being a problem, he'd just kick all five of them out.
No hesitation.
Thump.
Cael shut the office door behind them.
He pulled out a chair for her.
"Sit down, Kobeni."
"Mm..."
She sat stiffly.
Cael took his seat, poured her a cup of tea, then spoke first with a faint smile.
"You came to see me, so I'll just ask straight. Is this about Quanxi and her group?"
"Don't worry," he added casually. "Our cooperation's already over. If they keep causing trouble, I'll throw them out."
Kobeni looked startled.
"No, no, it's not that..."
She lowered her head, gripping her clothes tightly.
"It's... personal. I need your help..."
Cael relaxed a little.
Good.
At least she wasn't quitting.
"Go on," he said.
Kobeni kept taking deep breaths, trying to steady herself. Her face turned red before she even spoke.
Twenty million yen wasn't a small amount, even if Cael was rich.
But she had no other choice.
"I..." she hesitated, then forced the words out.
"I want to request... a one-year salary advance."
Cael paused.
That caught him off guard.
He took a sip of tea before speaking.
"Your yearly salary is about twenty million yen, right?"
"Y-Yes!" Kobeni nodded rapidly.
"Exactly twenty million! I know this is unreasonable, but I really need it! I won't run away, I swear!"
Cael studied her.
Twenty million yen meant nothing to him at this point.
But that wasn't the issue.
"Kobeni," he said, narrowing his eyes slightly. "Are you in debt?"
"No!"
"Then what is it?"
She hesitated.
"My... my family needs it..."
Cael frowned.
"Someone sick?"
Kobeni shook her head again.
"My brother is getting married. The bride's family wants twenty million yen as a betrothal gift..."
"...What?"
Cael nearly choked on his tea.
"Your brother's getting married, so you have to pay?" he said, staring at her like this was the dumbest thing he'd heard all week.
"What kind of bullshit is that?"
Kobeni couldn't answer.
Her emotions broke all at once, and she started crying.
Cael sighed, grabbed a handkerchief, and handed it to her.
"Alright, don't panic. Tell me everything."
A good boss doesn't ignore this kind of mess. If your employee shows up like this, there's no way they're working properly.
Sniffling, Kobeni explained everything.
Her family. The pressure. The demands.
All of it.
By the end, Cael felt a headache coming on.
This wasn't a family.
This was a group of parasites.
"That's fucked," he muttered.
He looked at Kobeni.
She had clearly gotten used to this treatment.
If it were him, he would've cut them off a long time ago.
Yeah, this couldn't continue.
But just giving her money wouldn't fix anything.
Those people would keep coming back for more.
If you want to deal with wolves, you don't feed them.
You make them afraid.
"Kobeni," Cael said, leaning forward slightly. "Answer me honestly."
"S-sure..."
"Do you want to keep living like this?"
She froze.
"Being controlled by them, unable to decide anything for yourself. Is that how you want to live?"
Kobeni's pupils trembled under his gaze.
"Of course not... but..." she hesitated, then said nervously,
"You're not planning to kill them, right? That's... too much..."
Cael stared at her for a second, then snorted.
"What do you take me for, some villain?"
He cracked his knuckles.
"I'm just going to teach them a lesson."
Killing wasn't the goal.
Fixing the problem was.
"Here's what we'll do," he continued.
"Tonight, go to your parents' place. Call your mom, your dad, and your brother. Make sure all of them are home."
He smirked slightly.
"If they want that twenty million yen, they better show up."
Kobeni blinked.
"Since you already made up that story," Cael added, his tone casual,
"I might as well play along."
"As your 'boyfriend,' it's only fair I meet your family."
Kobeni's face instantly turned red.
"...Okay."