Personal assistant (part 4)

"I'll be right back!"

The waitress declared and rushed to the back of the inn to leave the dishes and returned even before Zorivia, and Medea managed to properly sit down.

The black-haired man and the blond-haired woman placed their orders, and shortly before drinks and food were delivered to them, their coachman joined them after being one with securing the carriage and ordered too.

The inn returned to normal, albeit it was less noisy, with people being mindful of the presence of an important noble lady.

The waitress that was slapped ended up being ignored and left to miserably clean up the broken dishes and scraps of food from the floor after being called to the back and severely scolded by the innkeeper.

The new waitress went above and beyond in her actions to please the important guest and her companions; she then approached the trio that was done with their meal with a brilliant smile.

"Young lady wishes to spend the night here; in that case, I would be honored to lead you, esteemed guests, to your rooms."

She said with her clumsy but eager curtsy.

"My lady, how was the food, in your opinion?"

"...!?"

Medea didn't pay her much attention and instead faced Zorivia, who appeared to didn't expect the question and flinched in surprise.

"I-it was very good. D-delicious even..."

The blond-haired girl fidgetted and stuttered in hesitation, embarrassed that it was a lot better than what she was used to eating at the mansion, as she knew it should not be the case for a noble.

"Understood."

"...?"

Medea didn't bat an eye at her tone and instead bowed his head very seriously, causing Zorivia and the waitress to look at him in confusion.

The next thing that the black-haired man did was rummage through his pocket and...

*tap* *shhhhut*

"!!!"

...place a big silver coin on the table and slide it towards the waitress, who instinctively backed off as if fearing that she would be accused of an attempted robbery just by greedily looking at the money.

"Both you and the cook worked hard. Take the money for the meal and lodging from this and share the rest with them."

"...?"

Medea said while looking back at Zorivia and giving out a quick nod as if confirming the completion of a task – which made the girl blink a few times, completely lost.

"I... I AM ETERNALLY GRATEFUL, YOUNG LADY ZORIVIA!"

The waitress picked up on the meaning of Medea's gestures and instantly bowed her head towards the blond-haired noblewoman so much that she almost slammed her forehead against the table.

"My lady believes that good work should be rewarded. Keep it up, Miss."

Medea nodded approvingly and pushed the coin a bit more, making the waitress grasp it and tremble from excitement.

------

It was already in the middle of the night; a hooded figure was stealthily making its way up the wall of an inn aiming at a certain window.

They firmly frabbed on the windowsill and started pulling themselves up when...

*whap*

"...what the...?!"

Something firmly grabbed their ankle, causing the hooded person to let out a freaked-out gasp.

*THUD*

"GAH...!"

*STAB*

Whoever or whatever got a hold of them pulled them down strongly, and the struggling person was unable to hold onto the windowsill and fell down with a shout that ended up being cut short as their throat was pierced by the blade of a knife that ended up digging into the inside of their skull killing them instantly.

"..."

The serious black-haired man pushed the corpse against the wall and pulled out his knife, letting the body slide down.

Medea then exposed the about-to-be trespasser's face...

It ended up being one of the villagers that were in the inn at the time that same time their group was there.

"...y-you were serious...!"

Mark, who crouched down when Medea pulled down the thief and swung the knife, stood up and said in a trembling voice while backing off from the corpse.

"I will give you one piece of advice. High-risk, high-reward is a real thing, but diving head first into a stupid plan thinking it's so crazy it might actually work is just plain idiocy."

"...huh...?"

Medea said calmly while checking the body for clues and valuables, which made Mark flinch and freeze for a moment.

"You... you are talking about this guy, right? Mister Medea?"

"..."

The young coachman gulped down his saliva and asked, trying to calm down, while Medea clearly said what he wanted to say and started to walk away after propping the body in a way that would be visible to the next person with dumb ideas.

"Mister Medea...?"

Mark called after him, but the black-haired man blending perfectly into the night, didn't react to him at all.

The next day the trio left the inn bright and early after a light breakfast and continued their travel.

This time around, they had to make a couple of stops along the way – surprisingly, though, none of them seemed to be a bathroom break but rather getting more beverages.

Especially young Miss Zorivia seemed, who looked tired with a flushed face, seemed to be especially thirsty.

That evening as they stopped in an inn in a small village where commoners were so scared of nobility that they went silent and prepared the best spot just because they saw a carriage, Zorivia proactively asked for something to drink even before they sat down and emptied the mug without putting it away once before asking for more.

"...poor young Miss, it must be awful being so weak to alcohol and having hangovers like that..."

"...hmm...?"

As Zorivia leaned back into her seat, sipping on a third mug of juice with a blissful expression, Mark leaned towards Medea and whispered conspicuously, making the black-haired man rasp his brow.

"I mean... she had two glasses of wine yesterday, and she's like that for the whole day... I mean no disrespect; it's actually shocking how pure she is – not that the alcohol is bad or anything!"

Mark straightened his back and explained himself while taking a sip from his own mug while Medea, who asked for boiling water, was still stirring up the herbs he added to his mug in order to create a concoction with a rather strong medicine-like smell.