The tea tasted like it had a whole lemon squeezed into it. I apologized quickly after realizing my rudeness.
“Sorry, it was just too sour…”
“Looks like this tea won’t do. That’s the fourth one now.”
“Hmm.”
“Let’s find a different tea.”
I watched, baffled, as Karl nodded. The fact that his own cup contained perfectly fine coffee made it even more absurd.
Karl silently watched me. Before he could again ask about my request, I quickly spoke up.
“I would like you to deliver something to my family.”
“Delivery? What is it?”
‘Eliya, here I am fulfilling the request you begged me for.’
“A catalog from Matilda Boutique.”
Silence enveloped the room. Even I thought it was a ridiculous request. Who hires a guild for delivering a boutique catalog? But as before, I planned to brazenly push through.
I smiled slyly, anticipating Karl’s objection, but instead, he slowly spoke.
“Matilda Boutique’s catalog price?”
“I believe it’s free…”
As he gave me a dubious look, I feigned innocence. Karl chuckled lightly and nodded.
“Our client seems to have more money than I thought, requesting such trivial delivery from a guild.”
“I can’t trust the post. Fashion is all about timing, and what if it gets lost? My sister is terribly stubborn. Just thinking about her fussing gives me a headache.”
“Hmm.”
Karl, who had been studying me intently, slightly lifted the corner of his mouth.
“Fine. I’ll accept the request. Matilda Boutique’s catalog, right?”
“Yes.”
As Karl nodded, Machi, as if he had been waiting for this, brought some paperwork and placed it on the table.
“Here’s the contract.”
Despite thinking it absurd to have a contract for just catalog delivery, I obediently picked up the document. I was relieved that they were playing along with such a ridiculous excuse.
But my relief turned to shock when I saw an absurd number of zeros in the amount column.
“A hundred gold?!”
Was this some kind of joke? Even after rechecking several times, the result was the same. With wide eyes, I looked up at Karl, who tilted his head as if to ask if there was a problem. Then, with a delayed realization, he said,
“The amount written there is the initial fee, and the contract fee is 10% of that, which is ten gold. You need to pay that right away.”
“And upon successful completion of the request, you’ll need to pay an additional 50% of the initial fee as a success fee.”
Are these guys swindlers?
I stared incredulously at the two men confidently discussing collecting a total of 160 gold for a mere catalog delivery. I was so astounded that I was momentarily speechless.
“…Why is the fee so expensive?”
Regaining my composure, I asked, and Karl shrugged nonchalantly.
“Our guild is a bit on the expensive side.”
“We’re known for impeccably successful completions. We’ve never failed a task,” Machi added, with Karl nodding in agreement.
“Even so, this doesn’t seem like a task worth such an amount…”
“You seem to know our guild well enough to understand how to request our services. So I’d think you wouldn’t be surprised by the fee.”
“…”
“You’re not saying now that you don’t intend to go through with the request, right? Unless this was all just a joke to you.”
Karl smiled slyly.
My Step-brother Is Obsessed With Me (Female-dominant)
A gentle female protagonist vs pitiful in the early stage, and a sick male protagonist in the later stage
Cheng Songer transmigrated into the body of a vicious cannon fodder female supporting character with the same name as her in a female-dominant novel.
In the original story, the cannon fodder female supporting character was inhumane, committing domestic violence, gambling excessively, being lustful, and even wanting to sell her stepbrother to a brothel for money.
As luck would have it, she just happened to transmigrate at this time.
Seeing Cheng Qingzhi biting his lip, enduring the tears in his eyes, looking pitiful, her heart softened.
She stuffed the money back into the Madam’s hand and reached out to him.
“Brother, come home with me.”
