At this moment, Red’s expression was truly a sight to behold.
He paused for a full minute before finally speaking.
“You’ve got to be joking, right?”
Given Red’s understanding of Letia, he was certain she’d left out some very important details and hadn’t explained herself clearly.
Otherwise, he really couldn’t fathom what kind of mindset Mason had to make such a request.
“Aiya, Red,” Letia instantly switched gears, cupping her soft, pale cheeks in both hands and doing her utmost to look as innocent as possible.
“Look at these honest eyes of mine—so sincere, pure as the sun and moon, heaven and earth can attest! Red, when have I ever lied to you? Think about it, really think about it?”
…Can you even count the number of times you’ve lied to me up to now!?
Red was speechless as he pushed Letia away from in front of him.
“And give me back my jacket too.”
Unfortunately, his latter request was ignored outright.
The girl just kept talking to herself.
“I swear on my character, I’m not lying to you. Mason really did entrust me with this deal with a do-or-die determination.”
“…Just tell me what the deal is.”
Red didn’t dare believe a single word out of Letia’s mouth.
Even if there was some truth, he’d treat it as a lie.
“Sigh, at this point, I can only be honest with you.”
Letia sighed, clasping her hands behind her back like a poet burdened by the woes of the nation.
“He said you’re extremely important to him. In order to get you, he was willing to spend a fortune to hire me, just to have one night with you and exchange it for the Empire’s lasting peace.”
Red reached out and covered Letia’s mouth, massaging his temple with the other hand, trying to calm his overloading brain.
Then he spoke.
“So, he sent you to seduce me?”
“…Ehehe~”
Even after being found out, Letia showed no remorse.
Instead, she stepped back, knocked her own head with a fist, stuck out her tongue, and pretended nothing had happened.
“You little…”
Red clenched his fist, and at this very moment, he really wanted to punch Letia in the head.
This wasn’t leaving something out—she had completely twisted the original meaning!
In the end, Red couldn’t help it.
He grabbed Letia’s troublesome face, and she mumbled incoherently.
“Can’t help it, the money was just too much. That’s a lifetime of never having to worry about food or drink! All I have to do is hit the jackpot with you once—it’s totally worth it, don’t you think?”
“I feel like I’m the one who has to endure here…”
Red didn’t even know how to complain anymore.
Honestly, just as Mason said, if Letia really did pounce on him and push him down, maybe he would feel something and choose to give up on Lit…
No, actually, he never had any improper thoughts about Lit to begin with.
But the general idea was about right.
Rationally speaking, Letia’s personality might be hopeless, but her looks were passable.
Aside from feeling like you’re not interacting with a normal human, everything else was fine.
Just treat her like a pet.
“Hey~ anyway, that’s a huge sum of money!”
Letia’s eyes were already filled with Luen coins.
“Red, can’t you just play along? If we’re both happy, everyone’s happy. That’s what really matters.”
“Get lost!!”
Clearly, Letia was the girl in this scenario, but Red felt like he was the one being violated.
Absolutely inhuman.
“But that’s so, so much money! Aren’t you even a little tempted?”
Letia tried to sway Red with the money, but he just clutched his head in pain.
“If you changed your face, maybe I’d be tempted. With that face of yours, I’d just get a heart attack.”
What a waste of a beautiful girl—if only she hadn’t grown up.
But Letia had her own solution to that.
She didn’t know where she pulled a paper bag from, but she put it right over her head and said,
“My face? That’s easy to fix, isn’t it?”
Red twitched at the corners of his mouth, staring at this weirdo with the paper bag on her head.
Though he didn’t want to admit it…
He did start to have some thoughts.
After all, those white stockings were pretty tempting.
But seeing Red stay silent, showing no reaction, and not being able to see anything with the bag over her head, Letia thought he was still dissatisfied.
So she somehow pulled out an ID Photo of Litt and stuck it on the paper bag.
“How about now? Feeling anything?”
“Does wanting to hit you count?”
Red placed his hand on Letia’s head, pulled off the paper bag, and tossed it aside with a helpless sigh.
“Stop wasting your time. Just tell him straight—I have no interest in the games between nobles. All I want now is to live quietly, with no desire for fame or fortune.”
But even as Red said this, he knew very well that if they really wanted to keep him, he didn’t have many good options.
“But I’m interested…”
Letia looked pitiful.
That was a fortune, enough money to never have to work again!
People can’t just throw away money for the sake of their lives, right?
Unfortunately, Red had made up his mind to leave.
Letia could only sigh and withdraw her plans.
And started thinking of even bolder ideas.
Like sneaking into Red’s bed at night, snapping some photos, and trading them for cash or something.
“All your ideas are written all over your face.”
“Ehehe~”
Letia stuck out her tongue again, looking completely unrepentant.
“But I didn’t expect you to actually be serious about opening your shop, Red.”
“Don’t make it sound like I’m some jobless bum,” Red sighed.
“If anything, it’s you all who’ve been resting so long and still aren’t ready to head back to the dungeon?”
“Given the current situation, it’ll probably be a while longer.”
Letia poured herself a glass of beer, seeming to think of something as she asked Red,
“Let me ask you something, Red.”
“What is it? Why so serious all of a sudden?”
“I was just wondering… if I got into trouble in the dungeon… would you come save me?”
This sudden question caught Red off guard.
He hadn’t expected Letia to ask something like that.
But before he could reply, Letia downed her beer in one gulp and let out a satisfied sigh.
“Ha—! Just kidding! Just kidding!”
Her face instantly returned to that trademark, carefree grin.
“Adventurers are people who live with their heads tied to their belts, life and death is an everyday thing, you know? Gotta take it easy!”
Her tone was light, as if that heavy question had never been asked.
“Besides, if it really came down to a desperate situation, who knows if you’d even make it in time? Like… back on the twenty-third floor, we didn’t… make it in time for you, did we?”
With that, Letia seemed to shake off some invisible burden and set her empty beer glass down with a crisp “clack”.
“I’m heading out. If you change your mind, remember to look for me, okay? You might not need money, but I really do!”
***
In the evening, Red returned home.
He was still lost in thought.
But it wasn’t about whether he should change his mind, nor about what happened on the twenty-third floor.
The first was impossible—after all, a paper bag on the head was a bit too surreal.
As for the second…
Even if Letia hadn’t mentioned it, Red already understood how the four from Dawn’s Edge felt at the time.
What he was really thinking about was Letia’s state back then.
Ever since he’d known her, this was the first time he’d seen Letia with such a heavy expression.
That tone—it was as if… she already knew death was coming, and was saying her last words to him.
Adventurers always enter the dungeon prepared to die, but normally, no one would say such things, right?
Did something happen to her?
Just as Red was pondering, the door to his room opened.
Litt walked in, looking surprised to see Red sitting on the sofa.
“You’re back so early, Red? I haven’t even started dinner yet.”
“I finished things up at the shop and came straight home. The shop’s just downstairs, so I got back earlier.”
Pushing aside his thoughts, Red spoke to Litt.
“You’re home pretty late today, Litt. Is work at the monastery busy?”
“It’s a bit, yeah…”
Litt adjusted her clothes and tied on her apron as she spoke.
“After all, we’re preparing for Open Day, so it’s normal to be a little busy.”
Hearing this, Red finally remembered something, and his face showed an encouraging smile.
“That’s right—since you’re preparing for the Performance Choir, it makes sense. Why don’t I cook dinner tonight?”
As he spoke, Red walked into the kitchen, but when he turned back, he saw Litt standing frozen, as if she’d misheard something.
“Huh?”
Red was momentarily puzzled by her reaction.
“Is it some kind of secret performance? Not convenient to talk about?”
Litt quickly realized she’d lost her composure and hurriedly changed her tone.
“Ah… yeah, that’s right!”
At the same time, her mind raced—had she missed an important notice during her slacking off these past few days?
No, no, impossible…
Thinking this, Litt looked at Red and asked,
“So, Red, where did you hear about this?”
“Uh… Bishop Otto told me. He said you’d be performing on stage, so he wanted me to be sure to go watch. Is there some problem?”
“No, no!”
Litt shook her head quickly, a slight blush on her face.
“It’s just… thinking about you coming to watch… makes me a bit embarrassed, that’s all…”
While Litt smiled in response, she was already cursing Otto to high heaven in her heart.