Chapter 9: Re-encountering the Girl

  "Shirnis?" Raymon recognized the arrow as one of the Elf tribe's signature projectiles.

  "I said how did I hear a commotion here, it turned out that someone was assassinated." At this time, the elf holding a bow and arrow appeared in front of the broken floor-to-ceiling window.

  "Meow, young master, are you alright?" The cat girl's head poked out from behind the spirit.

  "Who goes there!" The sudden appearance of a stranger caused the guards to tense up and raise their weapons.

  "Don't get it wrong, this is our Lovell Chamber of Commerce people." Javier said hastily.

  Udine hastily said: "Don't be rude, they just saved me."

  At this time, the nobles also noticed that the assassin was shot and killed by an arrow, and they all burst into applause.

  "So this is the Lowell Chamber of Commerce." "What a brave and noble act indeed."

  Quickly walking up to Javier, Udina said gratefully: "Just now if it weren't for your subordinate, I'm afraid I would have already lost my life. Here, please accept my most sincere thanks."

  "It's nothing, Your Highness, please don't worry about it. We're honored to be of assistance." Tonight was a great night for the Lovell Chamber of Commerce, and Javert's face was already flushed with pride despite his humble words.

  "Who are these brave people? Bring them in quickly." Udina said, turning around.

  Under his invitation, Hillnis and Bastet entered the banquet hall through the shattered window. When they saw the handsome elf and the lovely cat girl, almost all the nobles let out a sigh of admiration.

  Javier nodded at Raymond, who then introduced: "This sprite is Hillnis, and this cat-person is my attendant, Bast."

  "Thank you for saving me, I will never forget it." Udina said gratefully to Hillnis. Although Hillnis was just a commoner, Udina's thanks were extremely sincere, and for someone of his status, it was truly rare, no wonder many people supported him as king.

  Just then, a guard suddenly said: "Hey, what are you doing?"

  Everyone looked in the direction where the guard pointed, and saw that beside the broken floor-to-ceiling window, a tall man with disheveled hair and a goatee was squatting next to a noblewoman who had fainted.

  He had one hand on the noblewoman's back and the other grasping the gemstone necklace around her neck, panting heavily. At that moment, being shouted at by the guards, the man lifted his head, his eyes filled with a terrified expression.

  "Look, there's another one here, hurry up and catch him." Amidst the shouting, a group of guards immediately rushed over, their gleaming long swords pointing at the man.

  "Wait, I'm also a member of the Lovell Chamber of Commerce." Seeing that he was about to be misunderstood, the man hastily said: "A... actually, I saw this woman faint and no one noticed, so I wanted to wake her up."

  This guy is Haruto.

  "Good heavens, how could I have forgotten this guy?" Raymond slapped his forehead in a mixture of laughter and tears.

  "What are you saving people for? You're clearly taking advantage of the situation." a guard said disbelievingly.

  "Wait, you've got it all wrong." Harlot said hastily: "It's because the necklace was tangled around her neck, I wanted to help her untie it so she could breathe smoothly."

  Guard: ……

  Harlot: ……

  "Nonsense! Take him away!"

  "Boss, save me!" Harlot had no choice but to seek help from Raymond.

  "Wait a minute." Just then, a clear voice rang out: "The gods are above, I indeed saw this person trying to save that woman, so he is indeed innocent."

  Everyone turned their heads to look, and the one speaking was none other than Archbishop Leliana.

  With her guarantee, the guards had no choice but to put away their weapons. Raymond couldn't help but feel strange, why did she suddenly speak up for Harlot? He was very clear about this guy, if he said that he wasn't thinking of taking the necklace just now, then he must have been thinking of taking the necklace.

  Obviously, others had the same question, and many were whispering to each other, unable to understand why the bishop of the esteemed Church of Sidonis would help someone like Harlot.

  At this time, Leliana walked up to Raymond and bowed her head softly, saying: "Thank you for saving me twice just now, may I know your name?"

  Upon hearing Liriana's words, the crowd erupted into another wave of envious sighs. Tonight, the Lovell Merchant Guild truly outdid themselves; even the Archbishop of Sidonis owed them a favor.

  At this time, no one noticed that Lorran's face turned a few shades uglier on the side.

  Lemon was taken aback. It turned out that she was returning the favor of his rescue earlier. However, as a divine staff member, isn't it a problem to tell such an obvious lie...

  He scratched his head: "Ah, no need to be polite, I'm called Raymond."

  Whispering the name softly to herself twice, Ririana makes the blessing gesture of the Sidonius Church: "I remember, may God bless you forever."

  "Your Highness, I was not vigilant enough, and that's how these assassins got in." Just then, Duke Charles rushed up and knelt before Prince Udine: "Fortunately they didn't succeed; if you have any mishap, I...I..." He was already choked with sobs.

  "Your Excellency, please don't blame yourself," Udina said soothingly. "These assassins must have been planning this for a long time to be able to infiltrate like this; it's not your fault."

  "Yes, yes." At this time, Renard unexpectedly spoke up: "Rather than blaming oneself, it's better to quickly find out who is behind the scenes manipulating things."

  As he spoke, he seemed to remember something: "Ah, right, that assassin before he died, seemed to have shouted something, did anyone hear it?"

  A nobleman spoke hastily: "It seems like Princess Sofia's longevity... Ah!"

  The companion beside him hastily pulled him, and the man came to his senses, frightened to the point of pale face.

  "Ah..." Renard nodded in satisfaction and said no more.

  As soon as these words came out, the atmosphere on the scene immediately solidified, and everyone knew what that slogan meant. Could it be that these assassins were with her...

  For a moment, everyone looked at each other in silence, but no one dared to speak up.

  "Hmph, that's just the assassin's nonsense, how can we believe it." At this time, Lorain hummed and said. The Republic of Ravit is supporting Princess Sofia, naturally does not want her to become a suspect.

  Udine's face also looked a bit unsightly, and he forced himself to say: "We will investigate this matter carefully. Tonight's banquet has shocked everyone, please allow me to apologize."

  The banquet has reached this point and it's almost time to end, so the guests bid farewell one after another.

  Tonight's biggest harvest was naturally the Lovell Chamber of Commerce, not only did they make a name for themselves, but also made connections with various dignitaries, and even sold a huge favor to Prince Udina and Bishop Leliana. To the point where when leaving, Javier's face was beaming with joy.

  "Haha, Lord Raymond, thank you so much." Javert was smiling all the way back to the inn: "I'm really glad I asked you to come with me this time, you're truly a lucky person."

  "It can't be that exaggerated..." Raymond couldn't help but say as Javier became more and more excited.

  "Isn't that right?" Javier smiled and said, "From yesterday to now, it's been one good thing after another. Even if we encountered the misunderstanding this morning or the assassination at the dinner party, in the end, we were able to turn danger into safety. So on this point, I am absolutely convinced."

  "Hmph, relying on luck is just a luxury of the weak and incompetent." Freddy snorted.

  "He also said: 'It's like we're saying that we've come this far just by luck, so what about the hard battles before?'"

  Javier shook his head: "It's not that simple. Our lord of Lowell has said before, luck is also a part of strength. Throughout history, so many people with astonishing talent, why did only a small portion leave their names behind? Most people are just like those mediocre ones, silently disappearing in the long river of history."

  "Suppose you have great talent and are skilled in both literature and martial arts, but at your first battle, you get shot dead by the enemy's random arrow. Doesn't that make everything meaningless?"

  "That's just bad luck, I suppose?" Hillnis muttered.

  Javier said, "That's right, some people are lucky and some people are unlucky. Why should the lucky ones consider it a burden? It's like having an intelligent mind or a healthy body, they're all gifts from birth. No one is inferior because of their intelligence, right?"

  "Hmm..." Upon hearing this, Freddy nodded thoughtfully.

  "Of course, just having good luck is ultimately difficult to achieve anything. After all, everything still depends on one's ability. However, I think Lord Raymond has both."

  Javier's evaluation was so high that Raymond himself felt a bit embarrassed. He smiled wryly and said, "I didn't think I was that good..."

  Yes, if I really had both, why would I be forced to leave my mother and hometown, drifting to this strange continent...

  At this time, Basute suddenly said: "Others don't think so, Young Master's luck is obviously very bad."

  As she spoke, she counted on her fingers: "Kavi led the trouble, encountered sea thieves when crossing the sea, and was beaten by many people in Haidington... where did he have good luck."

  "Uh..." Remon and Freddie both looked back on their experiences from Mojie to Haidington with a look of unbearable memories.

  The cat girl propped up her chin and said, "However, maybe the young master is that kind of person who has good luck for a while and then bad luck for a while. Wow, isn't that very tiring?"

  The cat woman said something interesting, Javier couldn't help but laugh loudly: "Hahaha, maybe Lord Raymond just hasn't had his chance yet."

  "Hey, speaking of luck, don't you think I'm the one who's really lucky tonight?" Harlot suddenly chuckled.

  "What?" Several people looked at him in confusion.

  "Didn't you guys notice? At that time, I was saving... no, rescuing that woman, but ended up being framed. Who knew that the girl in white would bail me out, and yet I didn't even know her." Harlot said with a smirk: "It's obvious she has a crush on me, after all, handsome guys are more popular."

  Apparently, it seems that Haruhi is the only one who still doesn't get what's going on.

  "Meow, really?" The cat girl's eyes widened.

  No, two...

  "Oh no, I forgot to ask her name." Harlot suddenly said regretfully: "I don't even know where she lives."

  Hillnis showed a sympathetic expression, he stepped forward and grasped Harlot's shoulder, saying nothing, just shaking his head.

  "What's wrong?"

  "No, I just think that sometimes being silly is also a kind of happiness. Look at Bastet, how happy she is."

  "Meow?"

  At this time, everyone walked out of the hotel and saw a group of people gathered at the door from afar, making a lot of noise and didn't know what happened.

  "What's going on?" Raymond and others exchanged a curious glance and hurried over.

  "What's happened?" Raymond asked, grabbing a waiter at the inn.

  Recognizing them, the waiter hastily said: "We caught a thief in the kitchen."

  "Thief?"

  At this time, a little girl's voice came from the crowd: "Let me go, I'm just hungry and want to eat something."

  "A thief is a thief, even if what they steal is food." Someone shouted loudly: "Pay back the money quickly!"

  "I don't have money, I'll give you things, but you don't want them." The girl said again.

  "Who wants those weird things of yours."

  "What's this bucket thing?" Then came the sound of knocking.

  "Don't kick my butt!"

  He felt that the voice was familiar, Raymond squeezed into the crowd and saw a disheveled blonde little girl being held by a chef-like man, who was struggling to kick and bite.

  At her feet, a strange object like a rolling barrel was lying.

  She was the strange little girl Raymond had seen outside the Broussard estate that morning. He hadn't expected to see her again, especially not as a food thief.

  "This bag of hers isn't bad, let's see if there's anything inside that can be used as collateral." At this point, someone pointed at the girl's shoulder bag with a huge magic array drawn on it.

  The little girl hastily said: "Ah, that package cannot be opened."

  The chef didn't listen to him, and reached out to touch the buckle of her sling bag. The girl struggled in the chef's hands: "Don't move my bag, or I'll call my dad!"

  Lei Meng's heart skipped a beat, and he shouted: "Halt!"

  The chef stopped in his tracks, furrowed his brow and looked at him: "Who are you?"

  "What else did she steal besides food?" Raymond asked, pointing at the girl.

  The chef shook his head: "That's not it." He added, "However, those are all our restaurant's signature dishes, and they're not cheap at all."

  "How much?" Raymond asked bluntly.

  The chef's eyes rolled around and he stretched out three fingers: "30 gold coins."

  The onlookers all burst into loud laughter.

  This inn may be the best in all of Olath, but how much can a girl eat? Thirty gold coins is just highway robbery.

  "Wow, you're so black-hearted!" Someone immediately expressed dissatisfaction.

  "The chef said with a smile: 'Anyway, the thief was caught by me, and how to deal with her is my freedom. Originally I planned to send her to the city defense team, but since this gentleman wants to be a good person, I'll give him an opportunity.'"

  As he spoke, he looked at Raymond with a slanting glance: "How about it, sir? Want to back out?"

  "What's going on?" Javier and others squeezed in:

  "Can I borrow 30 gold coins from you?" Raymond asked Javier. Since this trip, all the expenses were borne by Javier, and Raymond only brought a little money with him for emergency use, and also bought crystals in Farak City to give to Bastet.

  After listening to Raymond's situation, Javier said bluntly: "This little money is nothing, Mr. Raymond, please never mention borrowing again in the future."

  He gave an order, and one of his attendants handed the cook 30 gold coins. The cook took them and immediately pushed the girl away: "This is more like it. Alright, I won't pursue this further."

  As he was taking the money and about to leave, Javier suddenly said: "Wait a minute."

  "What's wrong?" Thinking he was going to renege, the chef cautiously put his hand holding the money behind his back.

  "Manager, where is the manager of this inn?" Javier turned his head and shouted, ignoring him.

  In an instant, the hotel manager squeezed through the crowd and, seeing that it was Javier, the super-rich guest who had booked half of the hotel, hastily nodded and bowed: "It's you, Mr. Javier, what can I do for you?"

  Javier smiled slightly and pointed at the bewildered chef: "I want to complain about this chef."

  "Huh?" The chef was taken aback.

  The hotel manager hastily asked: "Is there anything wrong?"

  Javier said: "After eating the dish he made at noon, my stomach is very uncomfortable. From now on, I don't want to eat anything he makes in this inn again."

  "The..." The inn manager looked embarrassed.

  Javier said calmly: "In that case, I'd better consider changing hotels."

  Javier has taken over half of the hotel and is spending lavishly, now he's the big shot of the whole hotel. The manager can't wait to cater to him. Hearing such a threat, who would still hesitate?

  "You're fired." The manager waved his hand directly at the chef.

  "What!?" Javier's head was so big that the chef was immediately stunned.

  Knowing he had provoked someone he shouldn't have, the chef could only admit defeat and walked away with a dejected face.

  "Wait." Javier stopped him again.

  "That money should be compensation for the loss of the inn, shouldn't it? It doesn't seem right that you took it for yourself."

  The chef's face turned white, he didn't expect that for these 30 gold coins he would lose his job and in the end not even get a penny.

  The self-proclaimed unlucky chef had no choice but to hand over the money to the manager, only to be stopped by Javier just as he was about to leave.

  The chef almost cried out: "You... is there anything else you'd like to order?"

  Javier smiled slightly: "I'll give you a piece of advice. Greed is human nature, and there's nothing wrong with it, but it's best not to be so blatant about it."

  As he spoke, he tossed a small pouch of coins to the chef: "Actually, your craftsmanship is quite good. Here are 10 gold coins as compensation from me. Then go back and think carefully about what I just said."

  Javier's seasoned palm and carrot trick completely bewildered the chef. After a brief daze, he picked up his money bag, bowed deeply to Javier, and left.