I stood outside the emporium, pacing around.
"Hey, uhh… can I go in?"
The guards ignored me.
"Is Varson free?"
No response.
I had been waiting here since early morning just to meet him, and the bastard hadn't even bothered to show his face. Instead, I'd been dumped in the waiting room for hours, watching nobles and merchants go in and out like they owned the place.
I sighed, resting my head in my hands. What a pain…
Then—
"What are you doing?"
A familiar voice.
I looked up.
Varson stood there, gazing down at me.
"Ah, hey…"
"I suppose you're here for your reward?"
"Of course."
"Follow me."
He turned and walked away without another word. I stood up, stretching, before following after him.
"…Why didn't you send a servant?" I asked.
He didn't respond.
We reached his office. The door shut behind me as he took his seat, gesturing for me to sit across from him. I did.
"Alright. Let's start."
He slid a paper toward me.
"Here's your reward. Collect it from the bank—I've already signed it. Don't worry about the details, I've sent some of my people to make sure you get your money."
I picked up the paper, scanning it. Seems legit.
"Now, onto the real discussion."
I looked up.
His expression had shifted slightly—just enough for me to notice the tension behind his usual business-like demeanor.
"I'll sponsor your Taskhand or whatever it is," he said.
I blinked. "What?"
"You heard me."
I had expected many things—but this? Not one of them.
"Seeing your performance, I've thought about it. Sponsoring you with a share of the benefits would work in my favor too," Varson continued. "To put it simply—I'm looking to make extra money."
Wow. Look at him, being totally blunt about it.
"But from what I've seen," he went on, "you guys are busy all the time. You're handling around forty to fifty tasks daily, while guilds have it much easier since the work is spread out."
I nodded. "That's how it is."
"So, why not start a service like the guilds?"
"…What?"
Varson leaned back in his chair.
"Instead of doing everything yourselves, just start assigning tasks to other people. Set up a request board, have people come in, pick a job, complete it, and report back. You take a cut of their earnings, keep some for yourself, and send some to me as your sponsor. Or, if you prefer, you can just send a percentage of everything monthly instead."
…This guy really did think about money all the time.
"Yeah, yeah, we'll look into it," I muttered. "But the problem is—how do we even get people to sign up?"
Varson smiled. "Oh, I've already taken care of that."
He pulled out another stack of papers, sliding them across the table.
"There's already a line of people ready to join you. Go ahead—take these to your leader."
I glanced through the papers before nodding. "Sure."
"Good boy."
I paused. Slowly, I looked back at him.
"…What?"
He waved me off. "I said go."
I narrowed my eyes before turning on my heel and leaving.
He called me a good boy.
The fuck?
By the time I got back to the Taskhand, the scent of breakfast filled the air.
The moment I stepped inside, a familiar voice greeted me.
"Welcome back," Monday said with a smile.
I smiled back. "Hey. Breakfast ready?"
"Yep. Just in time."
I pulled up a chair, dropping the papers onto the table.
"Oh, by the way, where's Wanora?" I asked.
"Hm? She's sleeping. She and Sinus were out last night, remember?"
"Oh, right. How'd their auction task go?"
He shrugged. "No idea. Let's just ask when they wake up."
Monday nodded.
At that moment, Gars walked in, stretching. "Morning. You two are up early, huh?"
"Yeah," Monday responded, heading back into the kitchen.
Gars plopped down, scratching his stomach as he spotted the papers on the table. He grabbed them, scanning through.
"Oh? Varson is sponsoring us?"
"Yep."
His lazy demeanor shifted slightly as he read more carefully.
"Yeah, this ain't bad," he muttered. "The percentage he's asking for is fair. And he's providing the startup money and equipment too… not bad at all. What do you think?"
I took another look. It really wasn't a bad deal.
Before I could respond, someone banged on the door.
"Heide! Gars! Hey, man, what's up?!"
We both turned as Platin strolled in, all grins and energy.
"Platin, what's up?" Gars stood up.
Platin was an old friend—he dropped by often, sometimes joining us for dinner. His wife was a damn good cook, the one who'd taught Monday most of his recipes. He usually came over a few times a week.
He walked in and sat with us, leaning forward.
"Hey, did you hear? The auction house in the noble district got blown."
"...Blown?" I repeated.
"Not literally, but there was an attack. No idea what caused it, but there's gonna be an investigation soon. Some illegal items were found too. Crazy, right?"
Gars and I froze.
Slowly—very slowly—we turned to Monday.
Monday, who looked pale as a ghost.
"A-Auction h-house?" he stammered. "By M-Madam Elora Veyne?"
"Yeah, that one!" Platin nodded. "I forgot the name, but that's it. You heard about it too?"
Monday gave a stiff, awkward smile. "Y-Yeah, th-that's right."
Then, without missing a beat—
"Hey, Platin, we're kinda busy. Can we see you later?"
"Hm? Oh, yeah, sure. Gotta head to work anyway." He stood up, waving as he left. "See ya!"
The moment the door shut, I turned to Monday.
"...What the fuck did those two do?"
"Like I know," Gars muttered. "...You think the authorities will show up here?"
"Haha, of course not," I scoffed. "Why the hell would they—"
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.
We froze.
At the door stood a man in uniform.
"Hello," he said, voice polite but firm. "We're from the Menyurl Local Department. We'd like to question an individual named Sinus. Can we have him?"
Yep.
We were fucked.
Sinus was taken away after we woke him up.
He only sighed, rolling out of bed like it was another inconvenience, throwing on a coat before following the officers.
"Don't worry," he muttered as he left.
But like hell I wouldn't worry.
We filled in Wanora when she finally woke up. She explained what had happened at the auction house, though I could tell she was leaving parts out. Best not to pry.
Once things calmed down, I sighed, pulling out Varson's papers.
"Oh, yeah—what about this?" I handed them over.
Wanora took them, flipping through as she casually took a bite of pie.
"Why not?" she mumbled.
"It seems good enough to you too, right?"
"Yeah," Wanora said, stuffing more pie into her mouth. "If they're ready, I'll just go discuss some terms with him in the evening. Then we can start by tomorrow."
And just like that, the business was up and running in a day.
An extra building was added to our house—space for people to take and submit tasks. It was a simple system: no guild cards, no registration. Just grab a task, complete it, submit proof, and get paid.
That's how life should have been.
I thought I was set. Passive income. Wanora would still pay us, so technically, I didn't even have to work.
But, sadly, reality existed.
If a task had a high payout, we still had to take it ourselves. And sure enough, one of those showed up.
"A noble thinks he's going crazy?" I asked.
"Yep," Wanora replied. "Said he'd pay a lot if we can stop the whispers. Claims he hasn't gotten a wink of sleep."
"I see… can't someone else go?"
"Monday is going, but he needs someone with him. You know how nervous he gets."
"Send Gars?"
"He's out. Picking up a cat—another task came in."
"Then send Sinus?"
"Busy too."
Sinus had come back the same day he was taken by the authorities. Turned out they weren't even suspicious of him—just asked him to describe some bidders from the auction house. He simply said he didn't know anything since he had been working outside. Smart move.
I didn't ask for details. Didn't want to.
"...Fine, I'll go."
Wanora smiled. "Alright. Monday is probably done packing. Go with him."
"Packing?" I frowned.
"Yeah. It's a long trip. You'll take some time to get there."
"Oh… I see."
I walked inside, sinking into the couch.
A little while later, Monday emerged, beaming.
"I packed it all!"
"My stuff too?"
"Yeah. Wanora said you're coming with me."
"...Before asking me?"
Monday blinked. "I did tell her to ask you. She said she would… so, did you agree?"
I sighed, standing up. "Yeah, yeah. Let's go."
The two of us stepped outside. A carriage was already waiting.
Of course, transportation was arranged.
We climbed in, and soon, the wheels started rolling.
Monday stared out the window, watching the streets pass by.
"Unbelievable, isn't it?" he murmured.
"Hm?"
"I mean, how far we've come. I never thought we'd be able to enjoy life like this."
Enjoy?
Well, I suppose to him, it was enjoyable.
For me, though…
I keep forgetting—I'm inside a visual novel.
Still don't know what to do.
I don't remember the exact details of most events, but I do know that there will be a war. A small one—caused by the temples—where the protagonist has to take sides.
I guess I'll have to prepare for it.
Or maybe… I'll just stop it before it even happens.
If things go right.