There’s Something Special About Her - Chapter 43

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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 43.
“Yes, I did.”
I nodded and answered.
A year ago, that contract had been my first signature under the name Lunelk Aines.
“But why do you need an additional contract? On paper, you’re still just part of the Action Squad, aren’t you?”
“Ah, I see. Now I understand.”
So it was about not leaving behind any documents that could serve as evidence.
Come to think of it, a contract written between “Raven” and Lunelk Aines instead of between parties was almost impossible to imagine.
“Then why do I need a bank account?”
“When I looked into it, there wasn’t a single account under your name anywhere in the Bernheim Empire or its neighboring kingdoms.”
“Ah, that’s because…”
Well, Lunelk Aines was only created about a year ago.
In a situation where I didn’t know when Wickers might come after me, I couldn’t afford to leisurely stroll into a bank and open an account.
Back then, my only priority was to hide myself in Nox as quickly as possible.
“I didn’t really have a need for one.”
“Why not?”
Benesa Karsten asked quickly, genuinely unable to understand.
“Before I came to Nox, I never had enough money in my possession to warrant needing an account. And the salary from the Action Squad was barely worth mentioning—or rather, it’s still slim now.”
“In an environment where food, clothing, and shelter are all provided?”
“Nox is quite generous in that regard.”
I answered contentedly, though I let out a silent laugh inside.
So this wasn’t just a contract-signing meeting after all.
I’d had my doubts ever since the discussion about the bank account first came up.
I couldn’t say exactly what she was trying to learn, but Benesa was conducting an informal interrogation of me right now.
That’s why she’d gone through the records of the Bernheim Empire and surrounding kingdoms to verify whether an account under Lunelk Aines even existed.
There really was no letting my guard down.
“Generous, is it? Enough to set aside a pittance of the Action Squad’s meager salary and donate it to the temple every month?”
Fortunately, Benesa didn’t drag things out and got to the point.
Ah, so that was the problem.
I widened my eyes as if surprised and decided to probe a little deeper to see what she actually knew.
“How did you find out about that?”
“Don’t underestimate the Raven’s abilities. So what’s your answer?”
“Hmm, I just wanted to do some good. If I do good deeds even now, perhaps God might forgive some of the things I had to do to survive on the streets as a child.”
“But why specifically the temple in Altenmore?”
What is this?
She knows even that much?
This time, even I was taken aback.
I’d deliberately avoided donating directly to the Altenmore temple to obscure my trail.
Instead, I’d sent money to the Central Temple in Rautern, the capital, and specified Altenmore temple as the recipient through a designated donation method.
‘Just how far does her reach extend?’
To think she had the information network to dig through the temple’s donor lists.
I was struck anew by the influence of House of Nox.
“Aren’t you from Robenhaven? If you truly wanted to donate, wouldn’t it be more reasonable to do so at their temple?”
“Have you ever been to Altenmore, senior?”
Benesa nodded.
“What did you think of it?”
“The city where cross-border trade is most active—it was flashy and crowded.”
“And there are many begging children too. It’s close enough to Robenhaven that you can reach it in just a few days’ walk as a child.”
At my words, her left eyelid twitched briefly.
She seemed rather surprised, yet that was all the reaction she showed—barely anything at all.
Her composure was impressively—almost unnaturally—controlled.
“My first memory is of an alley in Altenmore. I think I was abandoned there. That’s why I received a lot of help from the temple.”
The truth, when mixed with lies, elevates their credibility.
Everything I’d just said was true.
Altenmore was the city where Wickers had killed my parents and my younger brother.
Since my memories before that day had nearly all vanished, my time hiding in the smelly, damp alleys of Altenmore was practically the closest thing I had to childhood memories.
It was also true that the temple had cared for me when I collapsed from hunger.
But from here on, it was all lies.
“Later, when I’d grown a bit, I moved on to Robenhaven. The security there isn’t as good as Altenmore, but there were far more ways for kids like me to survive.”
“I see.”
Benesa Karsten’s eyelid twitched once more.
Fortunately, she didn’t seem inclined to probe further.
She wasn’t cruel enough to dig into the tragic past of such a young, fresh recruit.
After a moment of silence, she skillfully changed the subject.
“I still haven’t heard your actual reason for never opening a bank account.”
“Ah, right. But honestly, there’s not much of a reason. I donate most of my salary to the temple in Altenmore, and I only keep a few coins as spending money.”
“Still, it’s been over a year since you started receiving a salary. Surely some money has accumulated?”
“That’s true, yes.”
“If you’re not carrying it with you at all times, you’d need somewhere to store it…”
Benesa suddenly stopped mid-sentence, her eyes narrowing.
“Don’t tell me you’ve just been keeping it in a pouch hidden in your closet?”
“That’s exactly what I’m doing.”
“Really… you’re actually storing it in your closet?”
“Well, of course I move the location from time to time. I’m cautious enough for that. Sometimes under the bed, sometimes in a drawer.”
“What about the gold envelope reward His Grace gave you?”
“Of course, I’m hiding that well too.”
Benesa’s eyelid twitched far more violently than before, and she swallowed hard before half-hurling the quill pen toward me. “Sign it. Right now.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I quickly grasped the quill and wrote Lunelk Aines’s name in the blank space.
Unlike Gisela Rot, who flared up easily and burned out just as quickly, I had absolutely no desire to see Benesa Karsten angry.
“Excuse me, senior.”
“You missed a line. Why?”
“Oh, that. Actually, do you usually need this many signatures just to open an account?”
“Of course not.”
She gathered the signed documents in order and let out a small, quiet laugh.
Then, as she arranged them one by one to the side, she explained:
“One account with the Nox bank, where you’ll receive your Action Squad salary. One anonymous vault each with the Imperial Bank and the Free City Merchant Guild. And what you’re about to sign is the paperwork to open a vault with the Lombardi bank on the Western Continent under the name Lunelk Aines.”
“Anonymous vaults and the Western Continent?”
I’d already gleaned what the Nox bank account and the two anonymous vaults were about while signing them.
But I hadn’t had a chance to properly read the remaining document.
The paper quality was subtly different from the previous documents and felt more expensive, and sure enough, the name “Lombardi,” a family from the Western Continent, appeared scattered throughout.
Between the Western Continent and the Eastern Continent lies the vast ocean called Aurelia.
It’s so enormous and the sea routes so perilous that only large merchant vessels owned by trading companies pass through it from time to time.
So why on earth a bank from the distant Western Continent?
Benesa looked at me with a face that said ‘What am I going to do with this little thing?’ before explaining everything step by step.
“Just because there’s no official contract doesn’t mean the Raven receives no support. Since this work is dangerous and demands greater sacrifice, the compensation must be substantial as well.”
“So I’m getting paid twice?”
“Yes. But since it takes time to convert an account into actual cash, we’re opening it in the form of a vault instead.”
“I see. But isn’t the Western Continent too far away to withdraw money from? And it seems I’m opening it under my own name, not anonymously?”
“…It’s an emergency fund.”
Benesa Karsten answered with a slight delay.
“For when the keys to the two anonymous vaults are not in your possession, and you can no longer remain on the Eastern Continent.”
“Ah.”
So that was what it was for.
An organization that even prepared emergency funds for extreme situations.
The more I experience it, the more Nox seems like not such a bad place to work.
“That’s incredibly reassuring!”
As I said this, the quill I’d picked up again felt strangely heavy.
Looking up in confusion, I saw Benesa’s neat fingertip pressing against the tip of the feather.
As if she wanted to stop me from signing.

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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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