The Lady Only Deals With the Real Ones - Chapter 68

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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I had been running around so busily that I didn’t even realize I’d skipped meals, but seeing the bread made my stomach growl.

I decided to gratefully eat Alter’s bread.

‘Still, I should leave some for Alter, right?’

Tearing off pieces from the end, I kept watch on the pawnshop Alter had entered.

‘That appraiser has a face I’ve never seen before.’

The appraiser was a man with a goat-like beard.

At least he’s someone who never came to our shop while I was there.

‘Is he a puppet manager hired without knowing anything? Or is he a collaborator with Rosaline and Hugo?’

There was a good chance he was a collaborator.

When Rosaline was selling forgeries, she would have needed an appraiser to falsely certify them as authentic.

‘Then he might be acquainted with Nicholas.’

But bringing Nicholas here would be too risky.

Should I take a photo to show him?

I was wondering if I should go rent a camera magic device when it happened.

Someone tapped my shoulder.

“What are you doing here, Manager?”

Startled, I turned around to see a familiar face smiling at me.

It was none other than Crescens.

Without time to think, I grabbed him and crouched down.

“Shh, shh! Keep it down, I’m spying right now.”

“Spying? On who?”

Crescens looked around and then made an “aha” sound when he saw the new pawnshop.

“Were you doing reconnaissance on a competitor?”

“Strictly speaking, they’re not a competitor. They’re a one-sided plagiarism business. They’re far too lacking to deserve such a fancy word as ‘competitor.’ And.”

“And?”

“Could they even compete? With our shop.”

“Oh, you sound confident?”

“Of course.”

Not bad, huh?

I whispered to Crescens, who was looking at me with that same expression.

“Just keep watch here for a moment, I’ll go to the magic item shop real quick.”

“Magic item shop? Why?”

“To rent a camera. I need to take evidence photos.”

“Hmm, you don’t need to go for that. I have one.”

Crescens made a sulky sound when he saw my eyes widen.

“I’m not showing off, I carry it around because I need it for work.”

“I didn’t say anything, you know?”

“Oh, did I? I got defensive on my own.”

“Anyway, could you take some photos for me, Crescens? Of that building’s exterior and the appraiser working there.”

“Well, that’s not difficult.”

Not difficult?

When I tilted my head, Crescens winked and smiled.

“If I take photos for you, will you make me your first friend, Manager?”

I stared at his smiling eyes and shook my head.

“…Never mind, I’ll go to the shop.”

“Huh?”

“It’s not like that pawnshop will run away just because I go to the magic item shop. See you later, Crescens. Goodbye.”

“No, don’t go! I was wrong! I’ll take them!”

Crescens, who looked ready to grab my pants and cling on, pulled out his camera.

After obediently pressing the shutter a few times, Crescens muttered.

“Making friends is hard.”

“I told you that’s not how you make friends, Crescens.”

“I told you I don’t have friends so I don’t know how to make them, Manager. And didn’t you say you don’t have friends either? So maybe my method could be right?”

“At least it definitely doesn’t work on me. And I do have friends, you know?”

Crescens looked shocked.

“What? Really? When? Who?”

“Mm-hmm, really, secret, secret.”

“Come on. You don’t have any and you’re lying, right? To tease me?”

“What do you take me for?”

“Fine, I’ll play along. Then the second friend spot is mine.”

No, I’m not lying!

I have a wonderful friend named Lina. And she’s a princess, no less!

While I was feeling absurd, the photo came out.

As I looked back and forth between the developed photo and the camera, Crescens grumbled.

“He keeps getting in the way. That dark guy’s shoulders are too broad, so the appraiser’s face isn’t coming out well.”

As Crescens said, the still-blurry photo showed Alter’s profile more prominently.

After failing several more times due to Alter’s shoulders, Crescens finally let out a sigh of relief.

“Finally got it. Here. But that appraiser…”

Crescens’s expression turned cold.

It was just for a moment, but it was a face I’d never seen before. I hesitated.

‘What’s this? Is he someone Crescens knows?’

As I looked at him, Crescens put on his usual smile.

“No, it’s nothing important. Anyway, did the photo come out well?”

“Ah, yes. Thank you, Crescens. Can I take all the other photos too? They might serve as evidence.”

“Sure, whatever. I have no use for them anyway.”

After organizing the photos and putting them in my bag, I thought.

By the way, why does Crescens carry around a camera like this?

Maybe the Cardinal, who’s confined to the temple, wants to see the outside world through photos?

As if reading my expression, Crescens shrugged.

“It’s a tool that erases magical interference from magic devices. There are people who cast spells on stolen sacred objects to hide them, so I use this to find them.”

Crescens smiled while mimicking pressing the shutter.

“Sometimes when you photograph what looks like empty space, a sacred object will appear in the photo with a ‘ta-da.'”

“Wow, that’s amazing. I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

“But the accuracy isn’t that high, I guess the conditions have to be right. They used it well in the Moro Duchy Diocese, but when I use it, it’s a bit inconsistent.”

“You mean it’s a magic device made in the duchy?”

I had heard that Moro Duchy’s magic device technology was superior to the Empire’s.

As I looked at it with curiosity, Crescens grinned.

“Should I take a photo of you with this too, Manager?”

“Wow, really? Then please do!”

Grandfather would be happy if I sent it to him, right?

I struck a pose and smiled brightly at the lens.

However, Crescens, who was looking at me through the viewfinder, didn’t press the shutter for a long time.

‘My mouth corners are going to go numb…’

“Wen are ou gonna take it, Crescens?”

“…”

“Crescens?”

“Ah, sorry. …I was looking for a bit. I’ll take it now.”

Crescens gulped and pressed the shutter.

In the photo that came out, I was fortunately smiling brightly.

‘Thank goodness my trembling mouth corners didn’t show up in the photo.’

I was looking at it with satisfaction when Crescens suddenly snatched the photo away.

When I looked puzzled, he smiled innocently.

“I’ll take this.”

“What?”

“I said I’d take a photo for you, but I never said I’d give you the photo I took. I want to keep this.”

“What are you going to do with my photo?! It came out so well that I wanted to keep it!”

“Yeah, exactly. It came out so well that I want to keep it too.”

Is he saying he’ll use my photo for his portfolio?!

I reached out my hand, but Crescens was faster.

Just as I was about to grab Crescens’s arm as he slipped my photo into an envelope containing some box.

My body was suddenly lifted up.

“…What’s this about now.”

What filled my vision was Alter’s back.

Alter, who had lifted me and hidden me behind his back, spoke fiercely toward Crescens.

Did he think Crescens and I were fighting?

Crescens, who had been pushed aside in the confusion, blinked his eyes.

“Manager, I think we’ve been caught…?”

“Caught?”

At those words, Alter’s brow furrowed sharply.

I waved my hands dismissively and quickly stepped between the two men.

“Caught doing what, Crescens. I asked you to go there.”

“Ah, so this shoulder thug is someone the Manager sent?”

“…Did you just call me a thug?”

Alter asked coldly.

‘No, this isn’t right.’

I felt the need to sort out this increasingly confusing conversation.

First, I turned toward Alter.

“Um, this person here is called Crescens, Alter. He’s my…”

What should I call this guy Crescens?

A thief I know, but he’s reformed now?

There was only one thing I could say.

“He’s an acquaintance.”

“Acquaintance? Disappointing, but well, there’s fun in gradually moving up.”

I gave Crescens, who was spouting nonsense behind me, a warning look and cleared my throat.

“I needed photos for evidence, and Crescens happened to have a camera, so I asked him for help.”

“Meaning he’s someone who appears at exactly the right place at the right time.”

Alter said coldly.

Given his profession, does he still have the temperament to be suspicious first and ask questions later?

“And ‘shoulder thug’ means he has broad shoulders. It’s not that Alter is a thug.”

“No, Manager. I meant it ambiguously.”

After gesturing frantically at Crescens to be quiet, I gave up and turned around.

“This is Alter, Crescens. He’s a Customer who comes to our Shop frequently, so I asked him to do some surveillance.”

I deliberately called Alter a Customer.

‘If word gets out that he’s an Information Guild member, it might make his activities difficult.’

Crescens said in a playful tone.

“Ah. So he’s not the Manager’s first friend then? I thought maybe.”

“Well, that’s not exactly…”

Despite his tone, Crescens stared at Alter.

His gaze seemed somehow searching. Unlike most people who encounter Alter, he showed no sign of being intimidated at all.

Well, you’d need guts to be a thief in the first place.

Sure enough, just as Alter was about to say something while looking at Crescens.

“Maybe we’re closer than friends?”

I winked slightly at Alter and smiled.

It wasn’t a lie.

Although his origins were questionable, at this point, Alter was the person I could trust and rely on for anything.

‘He’s also the first person I told about Grandfather.’

Though I don’t know if Alter would agree.

After looking down at me for a while, Alter sharply turned his head away.

“…Stop saying such strange things.”

“Hey, I’m being serious.”

‘As expected, he doesn’t agree.’

He dislikes it this much?

I chuckled softly at the thought.

“Just listen to the investigation results.”

Because Alter’s ears were somehow red.

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