First Job

Walking down the aisle of some corridor, I waited for a few minutes. A day passed and at the moment, I was in the institute once more.

The problem is… the letter didn't indicate where's the meeting place which I could only facepalm inwardly.

The reason why I chose this aisle is that people wouldn't much go here or stay to talk with their friends, because it was different from other places where it is attractive to people.

And if my guess is right, Freya's 'trusted' subordinates are now spying on me, surveying my movements. Though, I was on the point of taking a wrong guess since a few minutes had already passed.

Did they not see me entering? I deliberately clearly show off by walking weirdly upon entering the school premises. Of course, not too weird to make it look like I was some insane person.

'Yeah, this is Freya's fault. She should've put where to meet at the institute…'

Shaking my head in defeat, I decided to move outside the aisle and when I was about to do, someone tapped me on the shoulders, making me flinch but not greatly surprised.

My reaction is probably because I've encountered many surprises lately and tapping my shoulder in some dark alleyway is not enough to put it on my top ten list of surprises.

"Ma'am Freya wishes to meet you. Please go to the art room. She is currently a few rooms away from here. That's all,"

At that moment, the shadow disappeared through thin air and I proceed my way towards the nearest room as the person said.

Soon enough, I get inside and meet Freya sitting at a chair with a cheerful expression.

"Good afternoon, Ma'am. The package you delivered is very important for an inexperienced Ruiner like me. I very much appreciated it. "

"Good afternoon too, Noelle. I'm glad you like it." Freya spoke with a smile, "Please have a seat. We're going to discuss some matters,"

Nodding my head, we seated down and we get right onto the topic. First, we discussed some conditions and they were very simple, like the ones in the letter yesterday. There's a slight difference though which is that I shouldn't speak about this matter with the other Ruiners from The Justice except her, her friends, and her and their trusted subordinates.

I don't have to worry if they were trusted subordinates since every time they would assign a mission, they will give me a heads up on who should tell my report or not.

After a while, the same contract I'd seen in the interrogation room resurfaced in my front once more and we signed the conditions we'd talked about, adding a few tweaks here and there, and finally, the contract is finished.

"There, we're done. Is there more anything you'd like to add?"

Nodding my head, I answered, "It's not related to this thing but I would like to make a request. Is there a way for you to have me meet and talk with the second prince, Robyn Gervasil? It's better if it's private. Oh, if it's hard and not allowed, you can forget that I asked.

"And if you can but you'll need resources or material things, maybe I could pay? Kuhum, I hope this didn't sound rude."

Tilting her head slightly to the side, a look of suspiciousness appeared on her face before removing it, even though doubt still lingered on her gaze.

'It's hard, isn't it?'

"Can I ask the reason why you are asking private audience with the second prince Robyn? The answer you will tell will depend on my response to your request,"

Her actions are completely understandable on her side. It's right for her to be suspicious right after I was involved with a devil case. Even though most of the doubts are cleared doesn't mean all of it is removed.

I would do the same if I was her.

Letting out a short breath, already preparing some sort of answer to her question, I replied, "I would like to make some proposal to the second prince Robyn. It involves the matter of making or acquiring a naval base,"

Slightly taken aback, Freya muttered, "Too direct… I thought you would go in circles again,"

"I… really didn't mean to do that on our first meeting,"

"I know," Nodding her head, Freya retorted, "I could arrange this. Though, it would take half a day. The best optimal day you could meet him is probably tomorrow at the high noble's gathering. Yeah, I think that's what they call it,"

'High noble's gathering, huh. It still didn't change…'

Standing up from my seat, I slightly bow and gave my gratitude, "Thank you for doing this. I will not disappoint you,"

"Haha, it's not like we're not getting something from here." Freya said with a smile and picked something under the desk, slid it over the table towards me, "Here's your very first mission. I need you to watch this family at the gathering since we knew you will be attending. It's already given,"

Grabbing the envelope, what revealed inside is documents pertaining to the family I needed to observe at the gathering as she said.

'Oh, they also have pictures? I wonder if this world had already those kinds of technologies or maybe it's a power of a Ruiner… And the information they have on them is very detailed… They only said to observe them but what comes after that? Are they testing me? No, probably not. They wouldn't give me something just because they were unsure whether I'm trusted or not…

'Lorance Family. The father, Christopher, is a nobleman and the owner of a small bank named Lorance Bank. The mother, Cristina, comes from a high noble family and is quite more powerful than the others. Currently married for twenty years… They lived in the borough, two stories high…

'They have three children. All are currently studying at the Ford Institute and… oh? One is very familiar… Alivia Lorance. The one I met yesterday at the library. Oh, the top ten of her class? A very 'noble-like' lady too… Heh, I shouldn't trust much to the description…They must have got a reason as to why Freya is asking me to keep an eye on them.

'Ruiner status: unknown… Piece Type: unknown… People backing them: The Garod Family: the family of Cristina… Importance: Not very much. Eh? Not very much? If they saw this, I wonder if they'll have to slap someone as this is some sort of undegrading a family…'

After taking a brief moment of skimming the documents, I shifted my attention to Freya and asked, "Is there more you'd like to add?"

"Well, there's nothing more. You could tell me your observation when you see fit. As you know, the event will be held for three days. You should have a lot of time."

"I'll take note of that,"

Standing up from her place, Freya moved her hands forward and said, "Pleasure working with you. I hope for better cooperation in the future,"

'Hah, you finally get what you are trying to say in the letter?' Smiling faintly, I answered, "Hope not to disappoint,"

…

"Here's the fee,"

"Thank you, young man,"

Leaving the carriage after paying the driver, I headed to my room while greeting Klein along the way. I washed for a moment, planning on just reading for the whole day while studying the people I would be observing.

The moment I did so, I lay down on my bed and began managing my time. Half of it is for reading the information regarding Ruiners while the other half is for rumors, ideas, and details of the Lorance family.

Those hours quickly passed and finally, the day of the high noble gathering had come.

…

Long white sleeves and a navy black suit to top it off. Black polished shoes and neatly ironed black pants. Maintaining my hair as it is, I looked at myself in the mirror and can't help but praise myself for how handsome I was.

'I'm so handsome~'

Of course, if I started comparing it to the likes of Isaac, Verl, and even Robyn, the second prince, I'm probably not be on the same list as them.

"Young master, Duke Verl is asking for us to go down,"

Hearing Klein speak right outside the door after a knock, I immediately walked outside and followed him downstairs. What was revealed below was Verl, Lori, and Drake wearing much brighter and more mature clothes than I.

Isaac was on the side, wearing the same clothes he was wearing. He didn't even smell bad like it was being washed automatically whether he was wearing it or not.

"Let's go,"

With Verl's cue, everyone moved out of the manor and rode two carriages. One is for me and Isaac while the other is for Verl, Klein, and the other two.

It's morning once again. Everyone here knew the ride toward the event would take a few hours since there are a lot of people going in there right now.

"I'm going to sleep for a moment,"

Saying that to Isaac, I moved to the side, lay myself down on the seat, and used my arms to cover my eyes.

Isaac didn't say anything and as if the time fleeted so fast, he woke me up and it was suddenly afternoon.

"We're here,"

'As if not a minute had just passed…'

Musing that thought inwardly, I glanced at the window outside and what dawned on my vision is a gigantic castle with guards asking for a pass which Verl had, who has his carriage on the front.

Letting out a yawn, our carriage was parked on one of those carriages that had an absurd design, and much effort was put into the details of its capacity.

The carriage stopped and both me and Isaac got out.

But before Isaac could even take another step, I observed him and mentioned, "Hey, Isaac, you've been awfully quiet. I wonder what happened?"