The news of Aunt Agne being imprisoned made me relieved, yet it left a strange heaviness behind.
“They ordered her to compensate us, but you know how it is, right? She got divorced. She probably doesn’t even have enough to live on. There’s no way she has anything left to give us, Antonian.”
The moment her affair with Director Arnold was exposed, Aunt Agne was cast out. Since the fault lay entirely with her, she was divorced without receiving a single coin in alimony.
“Then...”
“Yeah. We’re not getting anything.”
Forget a settlement, even the court-ordered compensation was as good as gone. Since Agne failed to comply with the ruling, her sentence would only grow longer.
In the end, it all comes down to money.
Ceres’s gaze drifted to the debt notice. Antonian’s voice sank when he saw it.
“...So we really have to sell the shop?”
They only managed to put out the urgent fire by reclaiming the money that was squeezed out for Julia’s treatment, but nothing was truly resolved. The debt was still piled high like a mountain, and Antonian knew it.
But—
“I don’t think selling the shop will be enough to cover all the debt.”
Ceres gave her answer in silence.
The shop was in the heart of the capital... wasn’t it? With a location like that, it would fetch a decent price, but it still wouldn’t be enough to clear everything.
“For now...”
Ceres immediately stood up from her seat.
“Where is the shop again?”
***
“Two stews here.”
“I’ll have a large size.”
“Me too!”
At the very heart of the capital lay Delasi First Street, where luxurious shops stretched in dazzling rows and became a feast for the eyes. There was even a saying that if you wanted to keep up with the Empire’s latest trends, this was the place to visit.
Amid the bustling street, one shop stood out for all the wrong reasons. A small and shabby building wedged between pristine and high-end stores, drawing the constant disapproval of neighboring owners. It was a stew shop.
<Where Your Steps Come to Rest>
The name on the sign was almost poetic. However—
“F*ck, my stomach’s killing me...”
“I told you to stop drinking like a lunatic, idiot!”
“Oi, that’s mine! Get lost, you son-of-a b*tch!”
“Oh yeah? You’ve barely grown up and you’re already cutting the line? Keep that up and see where it gets you, motherf*cker!”
Inside, nothing but rough voices filled the air. Swearing was constant, and small scuffles broke out every now and then. Most of the customers here were mercenaries.
“Ahh, this is exactly it!”
“I drank like hell yesterday just for this.”
The shop sold only one thing, meat and vegetable stew. From early morning, people flooded in just to eat this food.
Some came to cure their hangovers from the night before, while others rushed in to fill empty stomachs. A single bowl of warm stew was enough to draw them in.
Most were regulars, some for five years while others for over twenty without missing a day. The stew shop was always loud and crowded with mercenaries returning again and again for that same comforting taste.
“Hey, where’s my stew?”
“Y-Yes, right away!”
Amid the rough shouting that filled the air, a man in his late twenties was busily moving while trembling. He was Mark, the cook and the only employee of this shop.
Crash!
“F*ck! What did you just say?!”
“Are you scared now? Did I say anything wrong?”
Mark had just stepped out of the kitchen carrying food when the fight broke out again, just like always. The color drained from his face.
It’s starting!
Rather than getting used to the constant fights, his fear only grew worse with each passing day.
“Oi! Damn it! Who got blood in my stew?! Was it you?!”
“Did you get hit in the head or what? Why are you picking a fight with someone innocent, you b*stard?!”
What started between two people quickly spread. The entire restaurant turned into chaos in an instant.
Tremble, tremble.
Unable to do anything, Mark crouched in a corner, waiting for it to end. Fortunately, since they were regulars, they at least paid for whatever they broke before leaving.
Sob.
With things like this happening every day, he couldn’t keep any staff. Running the place alone was impossible, but...
“S-sorry! I can’t do this anymore.”
“I quit! Those people are terrifying!”
“I-I can’t keep working here!”
Most couldn’t last half a day, let alone a full one. In the end, he had been running this place alone for years.
Lord Galen...
Mark wiped his tears as he thought of the former Baron Drow. He was a good man who had handed him a warm bowl of stew for free, when he had collapsed outside after starving for over a week.
It was also Baron Galen Drow who had taught him everything about running the shop.
Knowing he had nowhere to go, the baron gave him a room and paid him far better than anywhere else. To repay that kindness, even after the baron and his wife died in an accident, Mark didn’t leave and continued to hold this place together.
Miss Julia is still sick.
The news of the family’s decline after Lord Galen’s death was also one of the reasons he stayed. He wanted to do whatever he could for the young ladies and the young master.
But...
Crash!
“You b*stard!”
“Oi! Grab him!”
...With things like this happening every single day, he didn’t know how much longer he could endure it.
As swords clashed and furniture went flying, Mark shrank even more. Was it just his imagination, or was the fight dragging on longer than usual today?
“What a mess.”
“....?”
Just then, as Mark struggled to calm his trembling body and waited for the fight to end, a young woman’s voice reached his ears. It was a voice he had never heard before in a place packed with rough mercenaries.
“Who...?”
After slowly raising his head, Mark found a young woman standing beside him, her arms crossed as she calmly observed the scene. He had no idea when she had gotten there.
“Huh?”
As he studied her face in uncertainty, Mark’s eyes slowly widened.
“M-Miss Ceres?”
He only saw her once, yet there was no way he could forget that face! Her platinum-blonde hair still gleamed, and her violet eyes drew attention without effort.
Nevertheless, the reason he didn’t recognize her immediately was because her entire presence had changed.
Something’s different...
Long ago, Ceres had entered this shop clutching her parents’ hands. A timid child who constantly watched her surroundings.
She was so fragile that even the smallest sound made her flinch, her eyes always on the verge of tears. Even those rough mercenaries instinctively held themselves back around her.
But now?
“Hey.”
“Y-Yes?”
At her call, Mark sprung to his feet.
“Hand that over.”
“Sorry?”
Still in a daze, Mark followed her gesture and realized she was pointing at the tray in his hands.
He was puzzled. Why the tray all of a sudden? Is she planning to serve food in the middle of this?
“Miss Ceres, you should step back for now—!”
Before he could finish, Ceres snatched the tray, weighed it briefly in her hands, then hurled it with all her strength.
“W-wait—!”
Contrary to Mark’s expectation that it would fall short, the tray cut through the air and struck the back of a mercenary’s head in the middle of the fight.
THWACK!
“Ghk—!”
It must have hit a vital spot because the mercenary dropped instantly. He collapsed with foam in his mouth without reacting.
“—!”
The other mercenary, suddenly without an opponent, froze. Silence spread through the shop.
Stunned, everyone turned at once toward the direction the tray had come from. When they saw Ceres standing there calmly with her arms crossed, their expressions twisted with confusion.
Who is she?
Despite their stares, Ceres showed no change in expression and held out her hand toward Mark.