Karina glanced sideways at Mikhail beside her.

He was waiting for her instructions, following the order he had been given before entering here.

‘What should I do with these guys?’

Karina pondered what to command Mikhail.

She wanted to handle this quietly without making a big scene.

“Oh, you have a knight escort with you.”

The man sneered at Mikhail, noticing Karina’s gaze towards him.

“Oh, how scary.”

One of his companions looked Mikhail up and down, then snickered upon seeing nothing at his waist.

“Oh my, what a shame. Our scary knight escort forgot to bring his sword!”

“What will you do if you meet a dangerous person without your sword?”

“Hehehe.”

“Did she come alone trusting just one stupid guard like that?”

“Poor lady.”

The thugs joked among themselves, then showed their true colors.

“Miss, let us protect you instead of that guard. Come with us.”

“Yeah, we’ll treat you better than that guy.”

They approached closer to Karina and Mikhail.

The atmosphere suggested they might kidnap Karina at any moment.

Karina glared at the skinny man and warned:

“Get out of the way.”

“Whew~ She’s got some spunk.”

One of the group whistled and chuckled with an unpleasant smile.

“A feisty personality isn’t bad either. There are plenty of weirdos who like that.”

“The wilder they are, the more fun it is to tame them.”

“At least with that pretty face, she’ll be useful.”

‘These filthy bastards!’

Karina frowned deeply at their vulgar conversation.

“I told you to get out of the way. I was going to let you go nicely, but seeing how much you want to get hit, are you one of those weirdos too?”

“What? This bitch is disrespecting us.”

“We need to teach her the bitter taste of the world to make her behave.”

“She’ll experience plenty of that once she’s sold anyway, no need to suffer in advance.”

At that moment, Mikhail, who had been waiting expressionlessly for Karina’s instructions, raised his head.

He stretched out his hand towards the thugs.

His eyes had sunk coldly, like ice.

Seeing this, Karina suddenly felt chills down her spine.

‘Surely he won’t kill them?’

For some reason, a creeping sensation came over her that Mikhail might kill them all.

“W-wait, stop!”

Karina grabbed Mikhail’s arm to stop him.

“…!”

His shoulder flinched slightly, as if surprised by her touch.

“Have you forgotten what I said earlier?”

“Ah… was I still supposed to stay still?”

Mikhail looked at Karina with a suddenly docile expression.

“But…”

His blood-red eyes swept over the group of thugs.

“Is there any need to leave scum like this alone?”

Mikhail tilted his head as if genuinely curious.

As if asking why they shouldn’t kill dirty vermin.

An icy tension swirled around them.

“…”

As Karina looked at him with anxious eyes, Mikhail whispered in a gentle voice.

Unlike the tense atmosphere, Mikhail’s attitude towards Karina was affectionate.

“Just give the word to take care of them. I’ll handle everything.”

“…”

“Just one word is all it takes, okay?”

Mikhail whispered in a pleading tone close to Karina’s ear.

“Please allow me. Hm?”

But unlike his tone, his voice sounded dangerous, like a predator luring its prey.

“…”

Karina’s lips trembled at the strange sensation.

Just then, an unfamiliar voice was heard from behind.

“That’s enough, isn’t it?”

“…!?”

A woman in a black robe approached them.

Beside her was a large man, also wearing a robe pulled down, like a bodyguard.

Everyone’s attention turned to these newcomers.

Coming to her senses, Karina pulled Mikhail’s hand down.

“…”

Mikhail grinned at Karina as if disappointed, then obediently lowered his hand.

“Huh? What’s this? There’s another woman here?”

The bald man peered under the robed woman’s hood and chuckled.

“This sister’s face is pretty nice too. You two can come along together nicely.”

The fat companion next to the bald man added a comment.

“Our luck is quite good today! To have 2 of them roll in on their own like this.”

“Young and fresh, we could get a good price selling them, eh?”

As they leered at the robed woman, the large man beside her stepped forward.

“Don’t touch her.”

The man’s low voice reverberated menacingly.

“Who the hell are you?”

“Why don’t you mind your own business and go on your way before you get hurt?”

The group of thugs responded with annoyance and an arrogant attitude at the sudden interference.

“This is why mercenaries working as hired guards are problematic. They get cocky relying on their size.”

The bald man arrogantly blocked the large man’s path.

“Acting tough with that bear-like face.”

Wham!

As soon as the bald man finished speaking, a fist flew out.

“Argh!”

The bald man who took the large man’s punch screamed and fell backwards.

The table and chairs behind him crashed down with a loud clatter.

The fallen man was bleeding from his head and nose.

“Try some more if you want.”

The large man pulled back his hood and cracked his knuckles loudly.

“That bastard!”

As one of the thug’s companions cursed and ground his teeth at the sight, another held him back.

“Hey! Stop it. Don’t you know who that is?”

“Who is he?”

“That’s him.”

“Him?”

“The one who sent that crazy maniac Ethan flying with one punch!”

“…!”

At those words, the face of the cursing bald man turned pale.

“W-why are you only telling me this now!”

“Oh no…!”

The group of thugs stumbled to their feet, then scattered and fled, saying they’d remember this.

“Pathetic fellows.”

The large man scoffed as he watched the thugs disperse.

Seeing this, Mikhail said to Karina:

“I could have done that much too. No, I could have done better than that.”

Karina chuckled at his serious gaze that seemed nonchalant.

“I know.”

Mikhail’s expression brightened, apparently pleased with Karina’s response.

Karina turned her head to look at the woman and the large man before her.

‘For those thugs to run away just hearing his name, he must be quite famous…’

“Thank you.”

Karina expressed her gratitude.

“It was nothing.”

They nodded slightly, accepting her thanks.

“However, you should be more careful when coming to places like this. Especially if you’re carrying a lot of gold coins.”

“Ah… right.”

Karina replied sheepishly.

After giving Karina a cautionary word, they returned to the table where they had been sitting.

Karina kept looking at them, lost in thought.

“What’s wrong?”

Mikhail asked as Karina stood still, seemingly rooted to the spot.

Despite Mikhail’s question, Karina still seemed deep in thought.

“No… those two. I feel like I’ve seen them somewhere before.”

Karina stared at the faces of the two people that somehow seemed familiar.

Just then, a staff member came out of the restaurant kitchen with food and placed it in front of them.

As the food arrived, the seated woman took off the robe she was wearing.

The woman had unusual purple hair.

“Ah!”

Karina suddenly exclaimed.

Seeing that hair color, her hazy memories suddenly became clear.

‘They were definitely employees in charge of information at the Dark Trades.’

When Karina had gone to the Dark Trades a few times to get information before obtaining the potion, this woman had dealt with her.

She even remembers that they held quite high positions within the Dark Trades.

‘But why are there only two of them? Are they hiding their identities?’

Karina took a moment to organize her thoughts.

She took a deep breath and approached them.

“Thanks again for helping earlier.”

Karina spoke with a smile.

“We just stepped in because we dislike noisy situations. We already received your thanks earlier, so please don’t worry about it.”

The robed woman replied in a soft voice.

Her tone was polite, but her attitude clearly drew a line.

Karina nervously chewed her lower lip.

She needed to capture the interest of these Dark Trades employees.

Enough for them to accept and acknowledge her as a client.

Or at least gain their goodwill and familiarity so they could meet again.

“I heard there’s a Dark Trades here, do you know anything about it?”

“Well, this is the first I’ve heard of it.”

“I already know everything, so you don’t need to hide it.”

‘Please!’

Karina swallowed dryly with tension.

“…”

A brief silence lingered between them.

“There seems to be some misunderstanding. We know nothing about the Dark Trades you’re referring to, my lady.”

“…”

Karina was at a loss for words.

‘What is this…’

The woman’s expression didn’t seem to indicate she was lying.

After being bewildered for a while, Karina suddenly realized.

‘Ah! Could it be that the Dark Trades hasn’t entered the north yet?’

It was 3 years from now that Karina obtained the potion of wishes.

Even then, the main base of the Dark Trades was in the capital.

If they had grown from the capital and gradually expanded their influence to surrounding areas, it was entirely possible that the Dark Trades hadn’t reached the north yet.

In that case, this tavern wouldn’t be a Dark Trades base, and these people wouldn’t be employees. Their response of knowing nothing made sense.

As that thought occurred to her, everything went dark before her eyes.

‘What should I do now?’

She couldn’t just sit idle until the Dark Trades came to the north, not knowing when that would be.

As Karina pondered, a good idea suddenly came to her.

‘What if I set it up in advance?’

Karina already knew to some extent what would happen in the future.

Even if not the Dark Trades, it seemed feasible to create and operate an information trade.

‘And I’ve met these two people who will be in charge of information at the Dark Trades in the future.’

She thought that the future Dark Trades forces that would eventually employ them would naturally come looking.

‘Alright then.’

A gleam appeared in Karina’s eyes.

“I want to hire you two who saved me.”

“…Hire us?”

The woman and the large man looked at her with puzzled expressions at Karina’s sudden proposal.

“I need capable people who can do what I ask.”

“We’ll have to decline.”

The firm rejection came from the large man sitting next to the woman, instead of the woman herself.

“…Why?”

To Karina’s question, the large man replied with a disgruntled expression.

“Frankly, isn’t it stranger for someone to suddenly offer employment to people they’ve just met in a place like this?”

The man looked at Karina suspiciously with a dubious expression.

“Why should we trust you and agree so easily? Who knows what dirty work you might make us do. Your intentions are highly suspect.”

“…”

Karina was momentarily at a loss for words.

While she could understand the man’s suspicion, it was quite troublesome.

Noticing Karina’s awkward look, Mikhail intervened.

“Your response seems too harsh for an offer made in good faith. If that’s the problem, couldn’t we get to know each other from now on?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

Though it wasn’t exactly pure goodwill, Karina quickly followed Mikhail’s lead.

“You don’t need to worry about money either. I’ll make sure you’re well compensated.”

Hearing those words, the large man stood up abruptly and asked.

“We’ve only just met today, no, just moments ago. Why are you so eager to hire us? That’s even more suspicious.”

Due to the difference in height, Karina had to crane her neck up to see his face.

True to his size, the large man seemed threatening just by standing there.

“Let me be blunt. If you need people who will do anything like dogs without question, look elsewhere.”

Mikhail, his expression hardening at the large man’s words, warned:

“Hey. Watch your mouth.”