The cunning NPC and the return of the gang leader (part 7)

"Well, the thing is, he isn't trusted at all."

"As if I'd believe you, Theodore says the opposite, and I sure as hell prefer to believe him than a moron like you!"

Medea breathed out and pointed out, but that only resulted in Oliver slamming his fist against the table and raising his voice.

"That settles it. Like you said, an errand boy is an errand boy, so you will stay in this stinking town, and the other kid will get a chance to show off. If he does well, he will be a part of our gang. Get out of my sight."

The gang leader laughed mockingly as he found joy in berating and doing the opposite of what the disguised boy was saying.

"..."

Since he was sent off, Medea didn't waste any time and walked towards the door.

The guards with thuggish-looking faces reached out their hands and put them on the door handles, staring tensely at the serious-faced boy.

"HA! Even those two want to beat you up! Don't hold him back. I can't stand him – but I don't care what you will do later!"

"..."

Seeing the behavior of his thugs, Oliver laughed before waving his hand dismissively – at the same time, Medea closed his eyes and discreetly shook his head from side to side without even opening his mouth.

The two guards opened the door then, and the boy left the meeting room.

----------

Four days later, Medea was sitting in the kitchen of Gerard's house, casually drinking tea and observing the dark alley outside the window.

"Medea..."

"I'm listening. I'm not always going to guess what you want to say."

The copper-haired man entered the kitchen and spoke up in a worried voice, to which the black-haired boy shrugged his shoulders and took a sip without looking back at him.

"But I can tell you for certain that I don't intend to get to the warehouses east of Corwnhorn farm to be the first to steal the experimental magic pellet, embarrass little Tee, and prevent Oliver from taking the pellet and demand even more money from Ava."

Medea added, taking a deep breath and enjoying the aroma of the hot beverage.

"Boss, Adam and Steve sent in new information. You are correct about Oliver's plans, but someone from the capital contacted him earlier this afternoon and gave him a lot of gold."

"...go on..."

Gerard breathed out and declared tense, making Medea put down his teacup and turn to him with a serious expression.

"The money was a forward payment for kidnapping someone who is supposed to stop by in the Crownhorn farm on their way back from the capital in two days and..."

"..."

The copper-haired man began to explain and hesitated only because he saw a dangerous shadow on Medea's face.

|He already figured it out...!|

Gerard tensed up but hurriedly pulled himself together.

"The target is the girl you have been keeping your eye on, Zorivia Rotteloss. The one ordering it wasn't named, but it alluded that it was someone very influential. And... Ah...!"

"... don't mind me, continue..."

He said, and then his eyes widened as a knife suddenly popped up in Medea's hand, but the black-haired boy merely encouraged him while gazing at the sharp blade.

"And... the original plan changed – Thomas's group will be in charge of raiding the warehouses while the rest will run a distraction in Crownhorn so Theodore could kidnap young lady Rotteloss. Oliver even gave him enough money to buy a paralysis pellet!"

Gerard immediately complied with the request and finished his report with urgency.

"Alright – I got one question then – what did Tee have to say to that turn of events?"

"...!"

Medea hid the knife back in his sleeve and asked indifferently, acting so calm that he startled Gerard.

"He... I mean, Adam said that Theodore agreed, saying that kidnapping a daughter of an earl seems like a much better inauguration ceremony than stealing something small like magic pellets..."

The copper-haired man moved his hands as if he was trying to protect his vitals from a sudden strike and answered, keenly watching the black-haired boy's hands.

"Well then, no excuses."

"Boss...?!"

Medea nodded and stood up, causing Gerard to be on his tiptoes, ready to start fleeing if the situation demanded it.

"Good job on passing me the information – it did change my mind about a lot of things. And stop acting as if I'm going to stab you. Do you think that Oliver's idiocy is contagious?"

"...whew..."

The boy nodded again, this time to the copper-haired man, passing him in the door, to which the man breathed out in relief.

"Boss, you're going to Corwnhorn, right? What should I say to Oliver if he asks about you?"

As the black-haired boy was going toward the back entrance, Gerard called after him.

"Tell him that I am an errand boy, so I am running an errand."

Medea declared with a serious expression and left the house as he stood.

--------

Zorivia sighed heavily, looking through the window of the carriage. She has been traveling back from the capital, where she passively watched as her father came up with more and more ideas to prevent the royal family from breaking off the engagement of the royal prince with his only daughter.

Yes. The blond-haired girl with sapphire eyes had been engaged with his highness Noah Allworths since two years ago.

It didn't matter much as the current Zorivia being a reincarnated person, had no wish to get entangled with something as dangerous as the world of ruthless politics and just tried her best to help others on her own.

If only she could stop her habit of apologizing for anything and everything when anyone seemed even remotely angry at her, things could be different...

...but alas... instead of getting rid of one bad habit, Zorivia developed another one – something that often got people actually angry at her despite her best intentions...

Considering that the prince wanted to break the engagement, one could think that Zorivia would get what she wanted – but no. Nothing of the sort happened.