Summoned and Unwanted

300 An unexpected gift of sincerity

Vincent brushed Plow’s fur and looked around. The road made of stone tiles was wide enough for two carriages to pass side by side with no problem. The sidewalk on both sides was also spacious and on the other side were a couple of trees and a wooden bench here and there along the lamp poles.

The buildings on the other side ranged between one to two-story-tall. Furthermore, the buildings looked similar to the middle-class district, yet it didn’t look like there were and yards. They looked more like a room-type living area rather than privately owned homes.

However, it didn’t take too long for both Vincent and Kazumi to discover why the buildings weren’t extruding the presence and might of a noble even if they were built not too far away from noble properties.

Vincent and Kazumi saw a few people of different races, mainly possessing the slave curse collar tattoo around their necks and wearing butler or maid outfits. The buildings built more than two dozen meters from any noble’s mansion walls were of people who worked for nobles and had a roof to sleep under.

Both Vincent and Kazumi questioned if the interior was well kept as the outside or if the servants lived in poor conditions since most were slaves who could not complain.

[Hmm... that man on the other side of the road is looking both this way and the hole you made in the wall.]

[He looks suspicious. Let me take a look.]

Curiosity took over Kazumi, and she left Vincent’s body in a hurry. Kazumi circled the man a few times while looking whether the man was an enemy and quickly returned.

[Vincent, call that man over here.]

.....

[He has the Sunrise emblem on his shirt pocket, and I heard him say, “This is going to be an undertaking for the short timeline I was tasked with. Why do nobles like to break stuff?”]

Vincent noticed the man was looking at him again. He waved his hand and loudly asked for the man on the other side to hear him, “Do you need help, friend? Did Marquis Byron Sunrise send you for something?”

The man nodded and crossed the street. He respectfully bowed and greeted, “Greetings. You must be lord Vincent if the nine... eight green-tailed familiar is on your shoulder. My lord Marquis Byron Sunrise requested me to come here and assess the situation for construction.”

“Constitution, you say? Do you mean the wall?” Vincent asked.

Byron had already not only received news of what happened last night from his few sponsored soldiers, but he also took the initiative to strike while the iron is hot and offer his construction services. He couldn’t say no to a business opportunity, it seemed.

“Yes, my lord. I am one of ten construction management and planning leaders of the Sunrise Constitution company. We are referred to as the ten fingers as our lord likes to joke how one can only see where their fingers point. Thus one can only see ten directions a once since the ten fingers are connected to each other.” The man explained, yet he, the person who said this, looked slightly confused.

It seemed the man still questions up to this day about what kind of vision Byron has to say such a thing multiple times, enough to become a strange work motto with a laugh. Neither the man nor his colleagues dared to ask Byron about his vision, yet they found the system to work flawlessly.

“Ahem... I came here to assess the damage and report about the estimate of the funds needed to my lord.”

The man noticed Vincent was acting as if he wasn’t liking what he was hearing, so he decided to use his experience in this line of work to mention the approximate price first, to which Vincent might not have to pay a single dime as his following words informed.

“Marquis Byron Sunrise ordered me not to charge the Lionheart family. It will be on the house, my lord said.” The man repeated with a smirk.

Then he continued while switching his gaze on the mansion, “I heard how the Sunrise and Lionheart families are close, so there isn’t much need to overthink why the charge will be on the house.”

[This sounds fantastic. I suggest visiting Byron today and ask if he can build us a small workshop for Sakura.]

-Great idea. Sakura can do the maintenance around this place and also have a place to practice her skills.-

Vincent raised a friendly smile and said, “About that. We have a small hole in one of the ceilings. Can it perhaps be included?” He shamelessly asked.

“I can include that kind of damage if it’s only one small to the medium-sized hole.” The man replied with a positive answer.

*Cough* “Let’s just say a man fell from it. ” Vincent coughed a few times while saying this.

The man looked at Vincent with a puzzled frown. Then he showed a gaze of concern and asked, “It sounds dangerous. I will find a way to add it to the estimate, don’t worry, Lord Vincent. I hope no one got injured.”

*Cough* “Let’s just say none of my people got hurt, and the robber was the one injured.” Vincent vaguely explained.

“I see, I see...” The man had a gaze of douth, and it was visible in his eyes as well, yet it wasn’t his job, so the man decided to ignore what happened and focus on his reconstruction job.

“Umm, my friend, could you also find a location in the back garden and give us an estimate of a workshop. One where one person can do blacksmithing and woodwork hobby work inside and maybe turn to a small scale full-time job.” Vincent shamelessness asked in his friendliest tone possible to hope for more free stuff.

“You know, nothing huge or massive scale since it will be built in this property. It will be for one person!” Vincent quickly followed to reduce the estimated price, hopefully, if the man couldn’t add the workshop to the on-the-house list.

“Let’s do it like this then.” The man rubbed his chin.

“I will have to talk to the person that will make use of the workshop and see if the cost will not be too high to be included on the list.” The man replied unexpectedly.

“You see, Lord Vincent. My lord Marquis Byron Sunrise wanted to show you his sincerity for helping his best friend. So I think it might be possible to also be on the house if we can receive help from volunteers.” The man mentioned a piece of positive information to tip the scales on the side of free construction.

“No problem about that. We have a couple of able hands to help, hahaha.” Vincent shamelessly boasted and laughed when the possibility of not spending money could be possible.

[You are embarrassing me... you make me look like a cheap stake. Well, even if no one can see me, that is how I feel.]

-Do you think I have money to burn? I bet construction is pricy like Earth. I don’t know if we have enough money to splurge.-

[... fine. You have a point.]

[However, this sounds like it is going to be a huge favor. We should visit... no scratch that. Let’s thank Byron by having Sakura make something and give it to him at your marriage.]

[I presume he will hundred percent be invited to your wedding. I conclude this is how we can return our sincerity.]

-Yes, let’s go with your idea.-

“Ahem... The woman you will need to meet and discuss the workshop with is a bit, how can I say it, different from your expectations. However, she is harmless and gentle. She also considers herself as a petite woman.” Vincent was afraid the man might report to the authorities that a demon without a slave curse was residing in a human city.

“Don’t worry, Lord Vincent. I have met with a variety of people and personalities, and I also met with a few craftswomen in all my time working in this industry.” The man noticed Vincent had a hint of worry in his tone for some reason, so the man decided to reassure Vincent.

Ironically, both men tried to reassure each other about meeting the future owner of the workshop. Sakura’s roughness could make anyone initially scared of her presence to think she was dangerous.

Vincent heard a sound and looked to his side. He noticed Tula and Yula approaching in the distance.

“Could one of you sisters lead this man to the entrance? You only need to shout once or twice, and Lupa should hear you. You can leave this man in the company of the others.” Vincent requested Eliara and Fliara.

“My sister can go then. I am the strongest, so you can leave the gate and the hole to me.” Fliara boasted of being good enough to be alone for a couple of minutes.

[It shouldn’t be too dangerous for now. Plus, we have four strong women to hold the fort. Demolitions expert Ester, slice master Lupa, nature’s revenge Iris, and bone crusher Sakura...]

-Please stop.-

Vincent felt a chill rush down his spine upon hearing how Sakura could crush bones. Would pain mitigation rise enough before his body breaks? Was a question haunting him.

“Please, sir. Follow me.” Eliara politely asked.

The man nodded and started walking but quickly stopped following Eliara when he heard Vincent warn, “Please remember to leave what you see in this mansion. I don’t want to clean the corpses of greedy people who wish to try to steal what’s mine.”