Slap!

Trying not to panic at such a situation, Ursa decided to put her trust on Dalerus about this firmly sensitive matter. Trusting the man's qualities is inevitable and today finding more reasons to trust this man became the highlight.

But she still has to make something very clear. "I do not want problems slowing down my progress Dalerus, I trust you to deal with this. Whatever has to be done, do it."

"Even if it means giving out a little extra coin?" Asked Dalerus hoping to get that bonus, to shut the merchant's mouth. It would be the easiest way out of this evolving mess.

"Even if you have to send him down the river." Ursa weighed in that option while toying with that special knife on her hand, which still has a little bit of blood on it.

"Aha I see how it is." Dalerus replied feeling tad nervous, understanding the weight of this situation.

He admires this lady's ambition and adores her dark side.

But killing for gold?

Not his sort of thing, the only way Dalerus the brave would actually kill, is if a loved one was threatened or hurt by anyone.

Something else however has been puzzling his mind greatly, especially now since distractions grew dim granting an ability to focus. When Dalerus saw this supposedly rich lady working here in this poor small shop with a pervert around, he felt dumbfounded.

Ursa claimed to be a stupid rich woman with a lot of gold to spend, so this doesn't exactly match her previously described financial position. If this lady was dumb rich, 6 Bodyguards would be in the same room right now, keeping the lady safe.

What better way to find out, than to ask? "Don't get me wrong but... this day got me thinking twice about your identity and or power."

What if she can't provide all of the gold? But yet again she did provide the first payment which isn't a bit less than 75 gold coins [Differently described as 750 silver or 7,500 bronze] which makes processing this information, a whole lot more confusing.

"Oh is that so?" The lady questions while leaning forward with a strict heavy expression

Which made Dalerus lean back a tad bit, almost even falling down since the chair is short and doesn't have back support.

He doesn't exactly know what to expect right now, death maybe? The lady is holding an intensively sharp knife after all.

"Well, yes." He calmly spoke while loosening the collar around his neck, trying to point out another fact. "First you bring me 75 gold and now I walk into a rag slapping your ass, I have a lot of questions!"

Understanding the man's point of view, the tough lady finally broke eye contact for a bit and glared to the left, giving his words more thought than usual.

"It doesn't make sense but I'm rich, I have coins to give." She repeated while wiggling a small leather bag carrying around 50 gold coins.

"I will throw in a little bonus if you choose to look the other way." Leaning closer to her own hand after which of course means that their faces are now closer towards each other. With a low tone trying to show gratitude. "I wouldn't be able to handle today's situation if you weren't around."

With bonus coins feeling heavenly but not at all his main goal, and having a closer glance at the freckles above her cheeks felt like paradise too, even though the lady approached this closely just to buy Dalerus' silence, other concerns got his soul puzzled.

Grabbing the surface of her hand and pushing the coins away, Dalerus couldn't help thinking. "Wow, I still have my hand."

And after not hesitating any longer to make one point clear. "I see you as a valuable person so please don't try to buy my loyalty, you have it without a coin more. I'm worried about your safety."

The words coming out of Dalerus' mouth are astonishing, Ursa certainly never heard them from anyone before.

"So happy that I didn't cut off his hand." She thought as a strange feeling struck her chest, thankfully it isn't from a knife.

The ray of his concern struck so hard that the lady was forced to drop pride, for a while. "Look, it's very complicated. I can't tell you much about it or I could be risking the whole project and even both of our lives."

The 5 men who spread the rumours know just a little bit more about this topic than Dalerus but they are just told to spread rumors and don't care about her identity and origin, they don't know about Ursa's employer either. Their knowledge is very similar to Dalerus' and their main motive is gold, Hawk city can crumble into dust for all they care.

Seeing that this project is way more than he bargained for, concern for this lady still stands strong. "You don't have to tell me but now I won't sleep well, you are targeted by perverts."

"I can handle myself." The fine woman tried to yell, but still replied with a short breathed tone showing an assuring face and actually putting an effort to convince Dalerus, her tone too delicate for a change.

It's rather adorable to see, almost looks like they're sharing burdens. Egoism was shunned away this time, the lady just wanting to assure Dalerus, her face showed it all.

"I know you can but a pervert's mind has no stopping. What if they catch you off guard, asleep or even charge with several men? If costumers saw you as a poor woman working for a small salary, you are done for." Dalerus weighed in while bashing the surface of his palm with two fingers, counting facts. Trying to convince her about the highly possible danger.

Swallowing pride which felt like swallowing daggers, doing it because of feeling his strong concern.

It would be inhumane to mix up ego at such a topic, so she started using common reason. "You do have a point, the shop owner talked about coins a lot before making a move."

"See!" Dalerus slightly yelled when feeling sure that his point was proven, but what was more shocking, is her tone and agreement. This is possibly the first time she revealed this different side to him.

Revealing more of what's bothering him, Dalerus cites. "I can't go to Salmon river city if I know that you are at constant risk, we need to do something about it."

Although feeling something strange in her heart, feeling good emotion. The lady still stuck to her motive, pushing those feelings away and found the guts to ask. "Are you tapping out of the project for m..."

"I don't want to." He interrupted just before Ursa was about to finish the sentence. "But if you are about to face possible rape, I'm willing to throw my pay away to make sure you are safe!"

Slap!!

A strong hit was heard across the shop but thankfully, no one hit anyone's behind.

Ursa just slapped the man across the face, hard. 4 Finger marks were stuck on his face.

Although very confused of such a reaction, that slap was nothing compared to the kick in the heart he received after seeing that pervert touching her, this is minor.

"Thank you!" She murmured under a low tone, avoiding eye contact and her face becoming over exaggeratedly red.

After her harsh reaction, Dalerus started understanding what's going on.

"She isn't good with these kind of emotions." Dalerus thought, finding the lady insanely adorable.

"Oh, you are shy now aye?" He let out a warmly felt smile while glancing upon Ursa's face, the lady still avoiding to make eye contact.

Her face became so red that you could fry a salmon over it.

"Shut up." Ursa replied swiftly and grabbed two of his fingers, started twisting them until Dalerus here stopped teasing. It worked well.

Taking safety into consideration now, she started thinking while still wrestling his fingers. "Safety is a problem we should think about because if I'm not here physically or mentally, the project will fail."

"Wow she is still putting the project first." Dalerus thought, admiring her ambition while trying everything to remove his fingers from the lady's death grip.