Along the way, Lant’s rambling only grew worse.
Liyami really couldn’t take it anymore; just as she was thinking about whether she should just take off Lant’s head for a moment, the carriage gradually came to a stop.
It seemed they had arrived at their destination.
After getting off the carriage, Lant took off the blindfold from Liyami’s face.
Liyami finally regained her sight…well, she had actually been able to see all along.
But compared to the blindfold, Liyami was more relieved not to have to listen to Lant’s ridiculous bragging anymore.
In the end, he even boasted about having helped the hero!
If he had really helped the hero, Liyami could have already become the Demon King.
They entered the mansion, and Liyami immediately noticed that the guards here were as tight as the intelligence had said.
There were four guards right at the gate, and many more hidden in the shadows.
Most importantly, unlike Lant, these guards were all alert and well-trained.
Most of them were stronger than Lant, and a few were much stronger.
It seemed Lant was the odd one out here; she really didn’t understand why Furnace Hook had chosen someone like him as a bodyguard.
Next to the mansion was a place resembling a warehouse.
According to Lant, that was the guards’ dormitory and resting area.
It looked like she would be living there as well, so she planned to take the opportunity to investigate it properly.
The mansion wasn’t very large—three floors plus a basement in total.
Lant first led Liyami to the study on the second floor.
Upon entering, Liyami saw someone was already there.
He was about 1.7 meters tall, around forty years old, and wore an eyepatch over his left eye.
He looked less like a merchant and more like a battle-hardened veteran.
This man was none other than “Furnace Hook.”
Liyami recognized him at once but didn’t rush to act.
She planned to get familiar with the place first and wait for the right moment to make her move.
After bringing Liyami in, Lant left.
The study was left with only Liyami and Furnace Hook inside.
Liyami quickly slipped into character, approaching Furnace Hook with a sweet smile.
“Hehe, are you the real boss that Lant mentioned? May I ask what you need me for? Also, about my payment…”
Furnace Hook raised his hand, signaling her to stay where she was without coming closer.
“Lilis, right? I heard you’re level thirty? Good. I need someone like you as a bodyguard. For the next few months, I want you to guard me closely. Don’t worry about payment—consider these ten gold coins as a deposit. After that, you’ll get thirty gold coins every month. How’s that?”
Liyami raised an eyebrow.
Furnace Hook was surprisingly generous, not only offering a new bodyguard thirty gold coins a month but also giving ten gold coins upfront as a deposit.
To put it in perspective, ten gold coins were what an ordinary person would make in a whole year.
The Kingdom’s currency was divided into gold, silver, and copper coins: 1 gold = 100 silver = 10,000 copper.
A typical level 30 bodyguard should only get about twenty gold coins a month, depending on the job’s danger level.
If the job was riskier, the pay would increase accordingly.
Finished.
Liyami made her expression even happier, took the gold coins from the table, and continued smiling sweetly.
“As expected of the boss, so generous with money. May I ask how you’d like me to address you?”
“Everyone calls me ‘Furnace Hook.’ Just call me boss. I’m a merchant, mainly dealing in the trade of Beastmen slaves.”
Heh, calling himself a merchant was just a polite way to say slave trader.
Although Liyami thought this, she still smiled sweetly and replied, “Alright, boss~”
Just as Liyami was about to leave after finalizing the deal, Furnace Hook raised his hand to stop her.
It seemed he wasn’t done speaking.
“Don’t rush off. I haven’t finished yet. You don’t have to live in the dorm with the other men. You can stay right here in this mansion. There’s a guest room on the second floor.”
Hearing this, Liyami was momentarily stunned.
Then, still playing her part, she asked, “Boss~ What do you mean by that~?”
“Hehe, I mean if you think the money’s not enough, you can do other things for me to earn more. What kind of things? You know what I mean.”
Furnace Hook chuckled lightly, and the face that once looked like a retired soldier immediately twisted into something lecherous and ugly.
Liyami couldn’t help but feel speechless.
Now she suspected she might have overestimated her assassination target.
But in any case, this was still a good opportunity.
She didn’t immediately respond to Furnace Hook’s other ‘earning’ suggestions, nor did she reject them outright.
She just told him to wait a few days—she was about to have her period, so it wasn’t convenient.
Seeing that Lilis couldn’t do that for now, Furnace Hook was a bit disappointed.
But it was fine; Lilis had already agreed, so she just needed to wait a few days.
With the business settled, Furnace Hook let Liyami leave first.
After Liyami left, Furnace Hook looked around at the books arranged purely for show—ones he had never really read—and sighed.
He never thought he would have reached this position.
Back during the Human-Demon War, he was just an ordinary conscript.
Who would have guessed he’d end up having such a strange encounter and now be a merchant dealing in Beastmen slaves?
During the battles with the Demon Race, Beastmen were savage and bloodthirsty, working alongside demons to massacre all of Furnace Hook’s relatives, neighbors, and friends.
That’s why he chose to become a Beastmen slave trader later—not just for the money, but as an act of revenge!
He hated those filthy Beastmen with a burning hatred, wishing they were all dead!
Of course, things weren’t so bad now.
He could exact his revenge and make a fortune at the same time.
It was the life he had always dreamed of!
Thinking of this, Furnace Hook recalled how he got his nickname.
The name came from himself.
When he was a child, he loved pretending to be a strong, righteous adventurer wielding a furnace hook.
Over time, the other kids in the village started calling him “Furnace Hook.”
“Ah, here comes Furnace Hook again, always playing adventurer while I’m stuck being a demon.”
After that, his village was destroyed by Beastmen.
He was the only survivor, but lost his left eye in the process.
He let this name spread as a reminder not to forget the painful past and to strengthen his resolve for revenge against the Beastmen!
Back to the present, Furnace Hook had fulfilled his dream.
He looked around contentedly—everything here was brought to him by trading Beastmen slaves.
At that moment, his brow furrowed as he touched the eyepatch on his left eye.
Since earlier, he had felt a strange sensation inside the eyepatch, as if something was being activated.
Of course, he knew what was inside the eyepatch—an item obtained from that fateful encounter.
But it confused him, because this had never happened before.