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“Good grief. I’m in the middle of a telepathic conversation with Lord Dalf. Shut up for a minute— M-, my deepest apologies. I was talking to— n-, no, my Lord, this isn’t something you need to concern— Eh?! You said you’d decide it yourself if it concerns you? …Yes, no, no, you’re most correct, my Lord. The thing is, the idiot, ah, err, Lady Tilea wishes to talk to Lady Edim— EEK!! M-, my deepest apologies! I shall relay her message right away!”

Oh, Jayjay is coming this way with a bloodthirsty look on his face.

“Jayjay, hurry—”
“H-, hurry and tell me what you want!”
“E-, eeh?”
“Tell me the message you want to tell Lady Edim. Lord Dalf would relay the message to Lady Edim. Do not keep them waiting!”
“Oh, I see.”
“L-, Lord Dalf is furious because of you. Aah, what a disaster. I never heard him so furious… this is the end of me.”

Jayjay looks deeply regretful, and his expression is one of anguish.

“No, no, you deserved it. That’s why I told you to pay respect to me, the Evil God…”
“You’re really getting carried away, aren’t you? Why in the world would Lord Dalf or Lady Edim swear allegiance to such a fool?”
“Well, I don’t think you would understand the friendship and bond between us, Jay. Anyway, my message to Edim.”
“Oh, yes. That. Say it, and say it quickly. Lord Dalf and Lady Edim are waiting for you to say something.”
“Then tell Edim this: If Orty is in the Underground Empire, bring him and his money to the Eville District. I need it ASAP!”
“U-, understood.”

Jayjay must have felt Dalf’s scolding. He is talking to Dalf telepathically at a much faster pace than before.

Hah, he must be being scolded right now. This Jayjay, he’s fervently bowing his head like that, how refreshing to look at.

Hmm?! Jayjay stopped his telepathic conversation and turned his head to me.

“Oy, according to Lady Edim, Ortidiot is not in the underground empire.”
“Is that so? That’s a problem. …wait, Ortidiot?”
“Yeah, Ortidiot. He’s stupid and dumb and always annoys Lady Edim, so I heard. He and you make a good team.”

Wha?! Don’t put me together with Orty! I’m not that stupid—wait, now’s not the time. Without Orty, I can’t get the funding.

What do I do?

Maybe, we can borrow his family’s money juust a little bit…

No, no. We’d be thieves if we did that. It’s a crime. Orty and I are friends. I can’t just borrow money from my friend’s house without permission.

I am trying to get Orty to buy a slave at auction this time. But that is only on the premise that he agrees to it. If Orty says he won’t pay for it, it’s a no-go from the start.

But you know, Orty is kind after all, and I’m sure he’ll give me permission in a heartbeat. He will be outraged by the girl’s crisis. If she can be hired as a maid by Orty’s wealthy family, the girl can be saved.

But, without Orty, I can’t save her. While I was in distress, Jayjay interrupted my thoughts.

“Oy, Lady Edim has a word for you. He said that a kin, Cass, is in the vicinity of Ortidiot. Lady Edim is on her way here as well.”

Jayjay reported to me.

Th-, thank God. We can do something, then.

And so, a few minutes have passed.

“I have come upon your call, Lady Tilea.”
“I’m sorry I called you suddenly.”

Edim arrived in a matter of minutes.

Th-, that’s a vampire for you. While indeed we’re in the same royal capital, the distance from the store to the Eville District is quite long. It takes no ordinary legs to get here in just a few minutes.

On the other hand…

“Haz, haz, huff, huff, La-, Lady Ti-, Tilea, you, ‘ve, summon…hack, hack”
“Wh-, what’s wrong, Orty? You’re breathing too hard. Are you hyperventilating?”
“Hah, hah, hah, forgive my, unsightly… haa, haah, I-, I ran as fast, from Canoda, so I, haah”
“I, see…”

Do you know how many kilometers away Canoda is from here? You said it only took you a few minutes of running?! You think you’re a yasai-jin¹ or what?!

This is why people with 8th-grade syndromes are…

Damn you Orty, where have you really been? Well, seeing Orty was running to get to me, He must have been nearby.

Don’t tell me… has he been in the Eville district this whole time?

When I asked Gil before, he said that Orty made a repeated trip to the Eville District for inspection. Meaning that it won’t be weird for him to be here. Meaning that I summoned him while he was doing his business. That was bad of me.

By the way, Orty must have been running as fast as he could. He’s breathing so hard, he looks like his eyes are about to pop out. Orty, you did your best.

This Cass guy is not so clever either. If he was near Orty, he should have carried him. Well, maybe he judged that Orty was too close to be carried, since they’d be in the Eville District together.

Anyway, the members were all here.

Now it was time to go to the auction house…

“Gobah!”

Suddenly, Orty’s piercing scream stopped us in our tracks.

“O-, Orty, what’s wrong?”
“M-, my leg, the flesh, my magic went berserk…”
“I see, be careful then—wait, don’t get a torn muscle just because you ran!”

When I looked, Orty’s legs spasmed crazily.

Yeah, he definitely tore a muscle.

Well, I criticized him, but that’s what happens when a guy who doesn’t get enough exercise on a daily basis runs as fast as he can. It’s my fault for forcing him to do it.

“Orty, I am thinking of going to the auction house now, do you think you can make it? If you want, you can go back and rest with Kikka and the others.”
“Hah, hah, no-, hah, no, problem. Take me, with you, please.”

Orty says so, but… is he really okay? Isn’t his torn muscle really bad? It’s twitching like a fish out of water.

But it’s Orty who funds it. Without Orty, things would be bad. After all, the girl is going to be a maid hired by Orty’s family. I can’t decide that on my behalf.

“Lady Tilea, I suggest leaving Lord Ortissio behind. Seeing his legs, he will only slow us down.”
“Haa, haa, E-, Edim you, b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲, you, you want to monopolize, the credit… Haah, haah, I won’t let, you. La-, Lady Tilea. Puh, Please. Bring-, bring me with…haah, haah.”

With amazing tenacity, Orty shouted.

Yeah, I can’t bear to leave him behind if he pleaded that hard.

“All right, I’ll bring you. Then, Edim, can you give Orty a piggyback ride?”
“EH?! We’re bringing him? And me, carrying…”
“You don’t want to? I can do it—”
“No, no, no, please don’t trouble yourself, Lady Tilea. I’ll carry him, I will! I shall carry this Ortidiot, err, Lord Ortissio wherever we go.”

After that, with Edim carrying Orty, we went to the auction hall.

1. Mab: play on Saiya-Jin.