Episode 10
Yurion kept talking to Rania, who stared at the paper like it didn’t make sense.
“First — Café Rosemary has officially become Night’s Eye Branch No. 8 this morning. And of course, you’re the branch manager. You’ll be awkward at first, but I’ll help you, so don’t worry.”
“…”
“And when a new branch opens, guild members tend to drop by a lot, so you’ll have plenty of customers for a while. They look scary, but they’re not bad people — you’ll get used to them.”
Scams like this worked best when the other person was out of it and couldn’t resist — and Rania was drunk, upset, and stubborn, so this was Yurion’s chance to explain everything quickly. Rania could barely think straight; she just felt angry and sad that something like this had happened to someone normal and decent like her. Even if she couldn’t get asylum, she thought leaving the empire might be best.
Yurion, reading her face, calmly started going through the contract line by line.
“Okay, let’s go over the contract. As I said, this is a copy. Your fingerprint is so clear that the terms can’t be changed.”
Translation: even if there’s a nasty clause, shut up and accept it.
Rania wasn’t dumb — she understood the hidden meaning. Yurion continued.
“Guild members get a base salary and a performance bonus at the end of every month. You can collect it from the bank or in cash — whatever’s easier. As branch manager, your base pay is double a regular member’s, and the Master is giving special bonuses.”
Enoch, who usually lived by “If you don’t work, don’t eat,” was offering surprisingly generous terms. But Rania wasn’t greedy. Sure, more money meant more fancy bottles, but she didn’t want to squander her life away. Still, the offer sounded tempting.
“By the way, the performance bonuses aren’t money — they’re booze. You can pick anything from the guild warehouse. Here’s a list of bottles we organized to make it easy for you.” Yurion added.
Rania immediately brightened — everyone expected that. She loved rare drinks that she usually couldn’t taste. Still, she forced her hand down and tried to sound nonchalant. “I’ll look it over later,” she said.
“Fine. If something you want isn’t on the list, say the word and we’ll get it. I’m also a certified cook, so I can prepare any snacks you want — from common people’s dishes to noble feasts, even foods fit for the Emperor. I’ll get ingredients from the guild warehouse; you just tell me what you want.”
Money in exchange for booze and free snacks — that hit Rania’s weak spot. She even wondered, half-joking, whether being an evil guild underling for a while wouldn’t be a bad experience. (She wasn’t serious about committing crimes, of course.)
Trying to be practical, she asked, “So what exactly does a branch manager do?”
“Usually, you take orders, assign guild members, and report back. But I think you’d prefer not to be involved directly, so I’ll handle those tasks. You don’t have to do much.”
“So I’m just lending my name, basically. But if something goes wrong and I have to take responsibility, will I be on the hook?”
That unexpected, sensible question made Yurion blink. He hadn’t expected her to think about liability.
“Excuse me — I didn’t expect you to worry about who’s responsible,” he said politely.
Rania bristled a little at the tone, but Yurion kept thinking. Normally, the boss would be blamed if things went wrong, but Enoch had openly shown he liked Rania, which meant she’d get special treatment. In short, a few small mistakes wouldn’t cost her life unless Enoch ordered it. How to explain that without scaring her?
He chose his words carefully. “It’s very unlikely anything like that will happen. If it does, don’t worry — our policy is the Master forgives if someone pleads with a cute voice. So just be adorable when you ask.”
Of course, that was a lie. If anyone begged cutely, Enoch might actually be the sort to snap their neck. But based on how Enoch had reacted to Rania already, Yurion guessed Enoch would be amused, not murderous — and Yurion didn’t mind that.
Yurion had become her assistant because he’d impressed Enoch the night before with his quick thinking. He planned to play both sides: work hard when Enoch was in a foul mood, reward himself when Enoch was pleased, and use Rania’s naive, wobbling personality to secure his position.
Rania, soothed by shiny perks and gentle words, started to accept things. She still thought, “Are evil guilds really this… peaceful?” and tilted her head, but she swallowed her distrust bit by bit.
She had more questions. “I heard guilds fight each other. If our café becomes a branch, won’t that be dangerous?”
“Sometimes rival guilds make a fuss to cause trouble,” Yurion admitted. “But don’t worry — you’ll be safe in your building. And even if the Crown ever comes sniffing around, it’s nothing to fear. You’ve run this café for years; you joined the guild by chance. You haven’t done anything illegal.”
That was another half-truth. There would be tax pressure and other headaches, but Yurion didn’t need to mention anything Rania might worry about. Branch No. 8’s job would mainly be information-gathering and surveillance — relatively safe work. Yurion gave just enough carrot and barely any stick, and Rania’s defenses slowly melted.
