Marriage With A Suspiciously Demure Husband - Chapter 5

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 5

I’d thrown in my resignation and returned home to rest for several days. Now I ventured outside, wandering through the bustling streets.
During my time at home, I’d wracked my brain for ideas and come up with a few potential business ventures—but nothing that felt quite right.
So I decided to scout in person.
I’d left early without eating breakfast, so I stopped at a bakery near my house and bought a brown bread for one copper.
Then I wandered the streets with it in one hand, chewing thoughtfully.
In Elcard’s busy district, you couldn’t find bare dirt no matter which alley you took.
Broad, massive stones paved the roads, so my shoes wouldn’t get ruined.
They said this was the wealthiest nation on the continent—and it rang true.
Lost in such thoughts, how long had I been walking?
Suddenly, I stopped before a building. My eye caught on an arched sign hanging from a large three-story structure with many windows.
“Mercenary… Guild?”
“Excuse me, could you move aside?”
“Oh, I’m so sorry.”
“No need to apologize. Thank you!”
A rough-looking man had spoken to me as I stood gazing up at the sign.
I quickly stepped back, and the man—weapons slung across his back—nodded at me politely and headed into the Mercenary Guild.
As he opened and closed the door, a cacophony leaked out.
Inside, it looked packed with people.
“Wait—the Mercenary Guild.”
That’s not something I’d considered before.
Though this body belonged to Hazel Love, I had her memories and knew how to use her abilities to some degree.
That meant I could handle demon beast hunts and all manner of assignments—though I’d need to be careful not to overexert myself.
Unable to resist my curiosity, I pushed open the same door the man had entered and stepped inside.
The moment I crossed the threshold, a wave of boisterous noise crashed over me.
Looking around, I saw people of all kinds filling the tables and chairs—men and women alike, dressed lightly and each carrying a weapon.
There was an old man with white hair and a beard, and others who looked quite young.
The streets outside had been quiet, yet it seemed everyone who should have been out there had gathered here instead.
I moved to a corner to take in the atmosphere.
Observing quietly, I noticed that the person at the round desk in the center appeared to be an employee.
The people gathered here seemed to exchange things or initiate conversations through that person.
When they got what they wanted, they’d fill out paperwork and leave with a bright expression.
I hesitated before approaching the desk.
“For new mercenary registration, go to the right. To accept contracts, go to the left. For payment upon task completion, come to me. I can also offer general consultation.”
The woman dispensed these words mechanically, like a bank teller, then smiled warmly at me.
She’d mentioned general consultation was available, after all.
I waited for a lull, then asked her various questions.
How contracts worked once you registered as a mercenary.
Various questions about the Mercenary Guild itself.
Since neither the original Hazel Love nor the protagonists had much contact with the Mercenary Guild, I had no choice but to ask.
After several questions, I heard information that made my ears perk up.
“The… the commission rate is how much?”
“It varies by rank, but we charge a base commission of twenty percent. If you register as an exclusive mercenary, we add a five percent contract fee on top. You should look around—other mercenary guilds charge twenty-five to thirty percent—and make an informed decision.”
My mouth fell open.
I’d thought getting five percent would be good, but the commission was twenty percent? And some places took thirty?
So if I took on a one-hundred-gold contract, I’d pay the mercenary eighty gold and pocket twenty gold myself?
Sitting at that elegant desk, no less.
And sipping black tea as gracefully as this woman.
If I registered myself as a mercenary with my background in Illusion Magic and service in the Imperial Knight Order, I could also take on solo assignments.
Which meant I’d pocket the entire contract fee myself.
The guild receptionist even mentioned I could start at the highest rank—S Rank—right from the beginning.
That meant I could accept S Rank tasks immediately.
“…That’s not bad at all?”
Why settle for a meager knight’s salary while working overtime, when I could go out into the field whenever my body felt restless and otherwise just collect contract commissions?
She’d said mercenary numbers had been surging as demon beast sightings increased each year, so adding one more guild shouldn’t cause problems.
Since there were fewer than ten guilds in the entire Empire, getting one established before the market flooded seemed like a smart move.
“Then first, I need to raise the capital.”
I headed straight for the bank.

* * *

“…Damn it.”
I shuffled out of the bank, my spirits dragging.
Hazel Love had assured me she’d been saving diligently.
And that she lived quite frugally, besides.
“Why is there only this much in the account?”
I lifted the small, precious Money Pouch. The sum was so meager I could hold it in one palm.
True, if I ate nothing but bread and lived simply, I wouldn’t starve for several years on what was inside.
But she was a senior knight! She’d received a bonus for ranking first at entry! And after all those late nights she claimed to work — so why wasn’t there enough to start a Mercenary Guild?
They’d said you needed at least one million Gold just to establish a tiny office.
Three million Gold if you wanted to found a decently respectable Mercenary Guild.
Five million Gold minimum if you took the easier route and bought a franchise from one of the major guilds, complete with their initial roster.
The last option was supposed to recoup five million Gold if I endured for a single year.
But the total in Hazel Love’s Money Pouch came to just over four hundred thousand Gold.
Since I’d left the Knight Order, the bank wouldn’t grant me an unsecured loan, so the only money I could scrape together was four hundred thousand Gold.
It was nowhere near enough to establish a Mercenary Guild.
And even if I did manage to found one, I’d need to pay Guild Association fees amounting to ten Gold annually for the first year, plus living expenses until the guild started generating real income.
Where had it all gone? There was no accounting for it.
“…This won’t do.”
It was pathetically insufficient.
Ah, so my dream of becoming a guild master evaporates into thin air.
With this money I could open a small flower shop or bakery, except I had a black thumb — everything died the moment I touched it — and I couldn’t even attempt bread dough. I’d failed at making pancakes before.
“A Mercenary Guild would’ve been perfect.”
If only someone would lend me a million Gold…
I briefly considered asking my former superior and male lead, Jed Teri Elkium, but immediately dismissed the thought.
If he laughed at me with that face of his, I’d genuinely feel so humiliated I might just throw myself into the nearest river.
And asking my colleague Dilan Banker, who’d tried to stop me before I submitted my resignation, would be equally ridiculous.
“Sigh.”
I walked into some nondescript restaurant, ordered the cheapest item on the menu and a drink, and sat down.
I slouched in my chair with the Money Pouch in front of me, drumming my fingers on the table.
Money, money, money — I needed money.
I should’ve taken out a loan from the Imperial Palace employee fund before I quit. The interest rate on Knight Order loans wasn’t even that bad.
Why hadn’t I thought of that?
In less than a minute, a glass of iced drink and a steaming bowl of soup appeared on the table.
“They even gave ice.”
I was upset enough to welcome any small comfort. I drained the drink in one go, then picked up a spoon.
Even though I’d ordered the cheapest dish, the bowl was brimming with chunks of meat. Every stir of the spoon brought up a handful of cabbage and meat.
It felt as though the owner had mistaken the price and given me the wrong order.
“Maybe I should look into something other than a Mercenary Guild. Or just do mercenary work half-heartedly for a while.”
Better that than to dodge one trap only to fall into a worse one.
At least I had a house; without it, I’d be nothing more than a hopelessly adrift human being.
I was chewing the overboiled, mushy meat while surveying my surroundings when two men in dark clothes entered the restaurant.
It wasn’t just me who noticed — the moment they walked in, the bustling restaurant fell noticeably quiet.
What was it about them? Their faces weren’t particularly menacing, yet they radiated a palpable sense of danger.
And of all places, they had to sit at the table right next to mine.
I spooned up soup while casting sideways glances at them.
People who gave off this kind of presence were bound to be significant characters in the original story.
“I’m tired — haven’t slept in days,” the man seated on the right said in a rough, deep voice, swiping his large hand across his face.
On his forearm, I caught sight of what looked like a tattoo.
Looking closer, the design — not quite a serpent, not quite a dragon — coiled around his wrist in a spiral pattern.
“Ah, that’s…”
I murmured without thinking, and our eyes met.
I hastily looked away and stirred the innocent soup more intently.
When I cast another sidelong glance a moment later, the two were deep in conversation again.
“Once we close the deal, leave it under the name Tony at the Purple Tavern — tell them to pick it up Sunday night.”
“A piece the size of a fingernail for three million Gold? I should’ve siphoned off more while I had the chance.”
“Quiet. If we’re caught, we’re dead men.”
If my memory serves, those are definitely the flunkies of the villain Kaylorus Hadid.
But wait—the Purple Tavern? Three million Gold?
The Purple Tavern was one of their operational bases and the largest tavern in the capital.
It was also the place where the protagonists in the original work first properly confronted the villain Kaylorus Hadid.
Then……?
At the same time, fragments of the original story began to surface in my mind.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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