“The Grand General spread that rumor?!”

Manut asked in surprise.

“Yes.”

At Hades’ firm answer, Manut was so shocked that he couldn’t speak for a while.

The Grand General’s eccentric behavior was nothing new, but it was strangely severe when it came to Latifa, the Imperial woman.

“I’m sure the wise Grand General has his intentions, but I cannot fathom what they might be.”

“How dare you try to understand Ignite’s intentions.”

Hades laughed, crossing his arms. On his wrist, several thin gold bracelets jingled, indicating that he was an Ignite.

Ignite. It meant ‘noble flame’ and was the most honorable title one could receive in the Grand Bazaar.

The reason why no one could stop Hades Caleb from doing as he pleased was not only because he was the Grand General from the Caleb family, but also because he had received the title of Ignite directly from the Sultan.

“Did you find out about the other ability you mentioned she might have last time?”

“Yes. It’s still closer to a hunch than a guess. But if my hypothesis is correct, it would explain all the strange things that have happened so far.”

“What kind of hypothesis?”

“I can’t give away information I worked hard to obtain for free.”

“I just hope there won’t be any major incidents. I’m getting an ulcer again because of the Grand General.”

Hades glanced at the scroll placed beside him and smiled faintly. That scroll was a list of horses that Latifa had borrowed from the soldiers.

“It’s impressive how she picked just those horses. As if someone had told her.”

Hades muttered quietly, just loud enough for himself to hear.

**

Two days before the desert people were to leave. It was a leisurely afternoon after a busy morning had passed.

Latifa looked satisfactorily at the neatly organized supplies. She felt great satisfaction that the work had gone smoothly thanks to her interpreting skills.

“It’s almost all done now!”

“Good work. You missed meal times, so at least eat this. Where did you say you were seeking asylum?”

A merchant who spoke the Imperial language handed Latifa a piece of bread and asked.

“The Principality of Roan. I’m planning to open a shop there.”

“Hmm. A shop… I see. If you happen to set up a place, let me know. It would be convenient to have you come help when dealing with the desert people. I’ll pay you well for your labor.”

The merchant wrote something on a piece of parchment and handed it to her before leaving. It had the merchant’s name and shop address written on it.

“This is…”

“Oh, you received a job offer. Not bad.”

“Eek!”

Latifa let out a strange sound, startled by Hades’ voice suddenly coming from behind. Taking advantage of her surprise, Hades snatched the piece of parchment she was holding.

“The Imperial language looks strange too.”

“Give it back!”

“Don’t you not need it anyway? You’ll be leaving here soon.”

“The Principality of Roan isn’t that far from here. It’s only about half a day’s journey, so I can easily come and go.”

At Latifa’s words, Hades made a subtle expression and returned the piece of parchment.

“It’s a very long distance from the Grand Bazaar. It takes one and a half months to travel.”

“That has nothing to do with me.”

“I think it does.”

“It doesn’t.”

“Think carefully. Is it really unrelated?”

From what Latifa had learned over the past few days of work, Hades rarely brought up unnecessary topics.

Once he started working, he really only talked about work and rarely engaged in small talk.

‘Ah, he did ask about my leg injury a few times though.’

For someone like that to suddenly approach and linger on this topic was a bit strange. Feeling somewhat puzzled, Latifa finally asked directly.

“What are you getting at?”

“From what I can see, you don’t seem to have read the contract properly.”

“The contract?”

“Yes. The contract we wrote that time.”

Hades took out the contract he and Latifa had written previously from his bosom and handed it to her.

‘What exactly is his intention?’

With an odd feeling, Latifa quickly scanned the contract from beginning to end. But she couldn’t see anything unusual.

‘It clearly states that if I do interpretation work until departure for the desert, I, Latifa Glacies, am promised to receive 15 gold ingots.’

No matter how many times she read it, there didn’t seem to be any problem.

But feeling something was off due to Hades’ somewhat smug expression, Latifa read the contract terms carefully again.

And she finally discovered a part that seemed strange.

‘Place of wage payment, Caleb private property… Caleb private property? Where is that?’

Suddenly feeling ominous, Latifa asked urgently.

“Wait! Where is the Caleb private property?!”

Hades said nonchalantly.

“Where I was born and raised.”

“Could it be the Grand Bazaar… the desert?!”

“Yes.”

At Hades’ firm reply, everything went dark before Latifa’s eyes. Her head felt numb and no thoughts came to mind.

She had to go to the desert to receive the gold ingots?

It felt like her chest, which had been swelling with thoughts of living in the Three Kingdoms just moments ago, had burst with a dull sensation.

“I clearly stated it in the contract. That I would pay you 15 gold ingots at the Caleb private property. The one who signed it was Latifa Glacies, you.”

“This can’t be! How can there be such an absurd thing?!”

“Absurd? It’s a legitimate contract, isn’t it?”

“How, how am I supposed to go there?! Are, are you a swindler?!”

At the word ‘swindler’, one of Hades’ eyebrows furrowed slightly.

“That’s harsh. Calling me a swindler. Isn’t it rather you who’s the swindler for thinking you’d receive such an amount here?”

“What?!”

“15 gold ingots is an extremely large sum. I’m not carrying around gold nuggets all the time, so how could I pay you 15 gold ingots? Isn’t it obvious that you’d have to come along to get them?”

“That, that’s…!”

“With 15 gold ingots, you could buy a huge mansion here and still have some left over. Why do you think I’d give such a large amount for just a few days of interpretation? Of course, it includes transportation costs and compensation for crossing the desert.”

“Ah…!”

This is fraud. To think the first contract I ever made would be fraud.

This must be a dream. This is a bad dream.

‘Wake up, please wake up from this dream!’

It’s a dream. No wonder. I thought things were going too well lately!

But no matter how many times she pulled at her hair, she didn’t wake up from the dream, and there was no way the words clearly written on the contract would change on their own.

‘This is not a dream!’

After being pale for a long time, Latifa finally denied reality. She couldn’t easily accept the fact that she had been defrauded.

“You changed the contract, didn’t you?! This can’t be! My contract… I’ll check mine too!”

One for Hades, one for Latifa, two copies of the contract were written with the same content for each to keep.

Barely remembering this as she was about to feel dizzy, Latifa quickly gathered her wits.

It was clear that this vile desert man had changed the contract and was committing fraud because he didn’t want to give her the gold ingots.

She glared fiercely at Hades with his relaxed expression for a moment, then quickly turned around and ran to where Brenda was.

**

As soon as Latifa rushed into the temporary tent, Brenda greeted her brightly.

“Lati! I heard the desert people are leaving the day after tomorrow, did you receive the gold ingots today?!”

“Brenda, just a moment! Just a second…!”

Latifa frantically searched every corner of the tent for the contract she had written with Hades a few days ago.

“I put it somewhere safe!”

With her mind blank, even her hands weren’t following her thoughts well.

If there are no gold ingots, how should I live? Do I really have to go to the desert? How will I survive in the desert? I heard the desert is crawling with poisonous scorpions and has fierce sandstorms. I’ll surely die if I go to the desert.

‘But without the gold ingots, I can’t live properly…!’

With a sense of vague despair, tears welled up in her blue eyes and her vision began to blur.

She had worked for Hades, who had trampled the Empire, turning a blind eye because he said he would provide funds to establish a foundation, but now all of that was in vain!

-Flutter.

At that moment, a piece of paper fluttered between the blankets.

“The contract!”

Quickly grabbing it, Latifa wiped her tears and rapidly scanned the contents. Clinging to a sliver of hope that Hades had meanly altered the contract.

‘Place of wage payment, place of wage payment…’

But the price of ignorance was harsh.

-Place of wage payment, Caleb private property.

“This can’t be happening!”

As an enormous cry burst out, Brenda hurriedly approached.

“What? What’s wrong?! What’s written on this paper that’s making you like this?”

Latifa’s lips couldn’t easily part to face Brenda, who knew nothing. That everything had become a bubble. That the 15 gold ingots were now gone.

“Brenda… We’re ruined.”

“Huh?”

“We can’t get the gold ingots…!”

“Wh-what?! What are you saying?!”

“I wrote the contract wrong. The contract… Sob.”

“Con-contract? Explain so I can understand! Why can’t we get the gold ingots?”

“Waaah!”

Overcome by sudden sorrow, Latifa burst into tears and hugged Brenda.

“We’ve been scammed…! That man says I have to follow him to the desert to get the gold ingots!”

“What…?”

Brenda stood dumbfounded with a blank expression. Seeing that expression, one side of her chest began to tear. Brenda must have had high hopes for a new beginning too, and it felt like she had shattered that dream.

She felt pathetic for having rejoiced at being a useful person while doing interpretation work for the past few days.

The tears wouldn’t stop due to guilt and sorrow.

“I’m sorry! Brenda, I’m sorry. I ruined everything because I’m incompetent. Sob! I’m sorry…”

Latifa hugged her neck and cried loudly, apologizing for a long time.

**

When Latifa appeared after a while, her eyelids were red and swollen. She had cried so much in such a short time that she had a severe headache and her voice was so hoarse that she could barely speak properly.

“Hiccup. Miss, what happened to your face?!”

The desert soldiers who had become familiar with her face through work were startled to see Latifa’s face and asked about her well-being.

Strangely, lately it felt like the desert soldiers were treating her overly kindly.

“I cried.”

“Are, are you okay?”

The words ‘I’m not okay’ rose to the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed them and answered bravely.

If there was anything she had learned after the Empire fell, it was that pretending to be okay even when you’re not gives you a little strength. Because just crying and falling into despair doesn’t solve anything.

“I’m okay. Is this all that’s left of the remaining items?”

“Yeah… Did you cry because of the Grand General?”

“…”

Yeah, your great Grand General scammed me!

It must feel so good to tease a naive girl from a defeated country in the desert language too!

She wanted to shout this at the top of her lungs, but she held it in and quietly kept her mouth shut.

Seeing her pitiful expression, the desert soldiers took out things like dried fruits from their pockets and held them out to her, telling her to cheer up.

“Ah, thank you! You don’t have to give me things like this!”

“Eat it. We know how much of an ordeal it is to work under Grand General Hades.”

“Yeah. He’s a bit eccentric and very picky. Ah! And when we leave, we’ll have to ride horses for a long time, so please take good care of me.”

“Me too, me too! My back hasn’t been good lately, so I absolutely can’t fall off the horse.”

“Horses…?”

Suddenly, the surrounding soldiers gathered around and added a word each, asking her to take good care of them.

‘Why are they asking me to take care of them when they’re riding horses?’

Latifa tilted her head at the soldiers’ words, which seemed strange somewhere. Then suddenly, the soldiers who had gathered like a swarm of bees began to scatter to their own places in an instant.

Even without looking back, she could tell who had come from the chilling feeling down her spine.

Hades Caleb Ignite. That vile and mean man was the only one it could be.

Deliberately not looking at him and just bowing her head, his large shadow fell over her.

Latifa took a small deep breath, choosing her words to say to Hades.

‘He won’t give me the gold ingots unless I go to the desert…’

After crying for a long time, there was only one conclusion that came to her calmed mind.

“Seeing that you’ve come out to help with work again, it seems you made a quick judgment. The desert isn’t such a bad place. The Imperials have misunderstood the desert on their ow-”

Cutting off Hades’ words, Latifa said calmly.

“I’m not going to the desert.”