kscans

Chapter 107 - A Greedy and Cheap Woman

Since Yoshino-san was coming over, we tidied up the living room a bit, and just as the clock struck eight, the doorbell rang. When I looked at the monitor, I saw it was Yoshino-san, so Kaede-chan went to greet her. A moment later, Yoshino-san, dressed in a suit, entered the living room.

Yoshino-san had her hair tied up in a bun. She was wearing a suit, but the skirt seemed a little short. What's more, the neckline was a bit loose…

"Yoshino-san… you look like an insurance agent trying to use seduction…"

"This is my battle attire!"

What exactly is she battling for? Money? Well, I guess it's money…

"Um, well, please, have a seat."

Though I was exasperated, I gestured to the table. After Yoshino-san sat down, Kaede-chan and I sat across from her.

"Well now, sorry for coming so late. There's a certain member of parliament who seems ready to storm the gates if I take too long."

Someone like Shindo-sensei, maybe?

"Speaking of which, what happened with Shindo-sensei?"

"He lost the power struggle. Almost everyone in his faction left him. It's over for him. He'll probably be forced to resign over corruption charges soon enough."

Oh dear.

"Hmm, so threatening to close the Gate really worked?"

"It did. He lost all his allies because of it. Well, he's an old-school politician, so I think it was only a matter of time, but the direct cause was picking a fight with the witch."

Well, it's not my fault, so I don't care.

"Are there others who seem ready to storm the gates?"

"There are… which is why you, or rather, Eleanor, shouldn't go to the headquarters. The Ikebukuro Guild is fine since Satsuki-neesan is turning them away at the door."

"The fact that she can turn away members of the Diet is amazing."

Is she fearless or something?

"The Guild doesn't belong to Japan, you see. It can ignore anything the Japanese government says. The headquarters, on the other hand, is a Japanese government agency."

I learned a long time ago that the Guild is an organization that doesn't belong to any single country. I didn't really get it back then. I still don't.

"Being a department head must be tough…"

"Oh, it is. So please, try to lighten his load a little. The man has his flaws, forcing people to drink and engaging in power harassment, but he's fundamentally a serious person who cares about adventurers."

What a mixed review… I like drinking parties, so I don't mind being forced to drink, but I hate power-harassing bosses. It even makes me feel murderous… Whoops, that's dangerous.

I grabbed Kaede-chan's hand to calm my nerves.

"What are you doing?"

Yoshino-san asked, seeing me suddenly grab Kaede-chan's hand.

"You shouldn't mention things like power harassment or black companies to Senpai. The poor thing…"

Kaede-chan gently stroked the hand she was holding.

"Somehow, I'm sorry… Shall we proceed with the contract…"

Yoshino-san apologized with a conflicted expression, then took out some documents and a pen and placed them on the table. Then, she placed her hand over the papers, obscuring them from view.

"Hm?"

"Don't mind me. Now, just sign your name here. Oh, and make sure you write Eleanor Ocean."

I reached out and tried to grab Yoshino-san's arm to move it away from where it was covering the top part of the documents.

"Hey, hey, that's sexual harassment."

Yoshino-san glared at me with an upward glance. What's more, she was leaning forward slightly, revealing a flash of white skin at her chest.

"Yoshino-san…"

"That's just awful…"

This woman is fully intending to deceive us.

"It's fine. It's not like you'll be at a disadvantage."

"Then let us see it."

"Let's not and say we did."

As Yoshino-san said that, she leaned even further forward, covering the documents with both hands. As she leaned down, something on the table seemed to deform softly.

"This woman fights dirty…"

"Now I understand what Satsuki-san meant when she called Yoshino-san a cheap woman."

Is that what they say about her? Well, she certainly is cheap.

"I'm not cheap. I'm very chaste."

"That's a good thing, but you're almost thirty, you know."

"So are you!"

Yoshino-san shot up straight and glared at me. But in that instant, Kaede-chan snatched the documents.

"Ah…"

Yoshino-san let out a dumbfounded sound.

"Hmm, I see."

Kaede-chan read through the papers.

"Is something wrong?"

I asked Kaede-chan, who seemed to have understood something after looking at the documents.

"It's just as I expected."

Kaede-chan said, placing the papers on the table and pointing to a certain item.

Written there was the purchase price for the Level 2 Healing Potions. 3.7 million yen.

"Wasn't it 3.5 million?"

I checked with Kaede-chan.

"That's what I remember, too. I'm sure Yoshino-san said 3.5 million."

Right. Well, I know the reason why.

"Yoshino-san…"

I looked at Yoshino-san with exasperation.

"Now, now, calm down. Kaede, could you leave us for a moment?"

Yoshino-san looked at Kaede-chan with a serious expression, but it was painfully obvious she just wanted to get us alone to try her seduction tactics… Anyone could see it.

"Seriously, this woman is so cheap… And she's an A-rank, of all things."

"How awful."

"Tch… Alright, fine! I was planning on skimming about 200,000 yen! Got a problem with that!? You two said 3.5 million was fine! The rest is the fruit of my labor!"

She just brazenly admitted it.

"I don't care if you do what you want, but your methods are the worst. You're lucky I'm a reasonable person."

She was probably planning to embezzle 20 million yen, 200,000 times 100, but her method was just so petty and awful.

"You're lucky I was here, right?"

Thanks to Yoshino-san, Kaede-chan is giving me the cold shoulder…

"I just wanted to make back the 42.5 million yen I paid you, that's all."

What a terrible excuse.

"Just do whatever you want… This is fine, so give me the money."

I wrote Eleanor Ocean on the document and handed it to Yoshino-san. At that, Yoshino-san's face lit up.

She's a greedy and cheap woman, but I do think she's cute.