“The third request.”
Three days later, after Moya had spent three blissful days lazing around, Aide knocked on her door again.
“That was fast.”
Moya lay on the sofa, flipping through a storybook as she casually responded to Aide, who had walked in and taken a seat on the other sofa.
Her slightly fleshy legs rested on a throw pillow, swinging idly back and forth, the pace changing with the plot of the book she was reading.
Thanks to the money, Moya’s hostility toward Aide had decreased significantly.
Even if her lifestyle was undeniably slovenly, she remembered clearly that every milkshake she’d drunk and every meal delivery she’d enjoyed over the past few days came thanks to a certain brave hero’s generous payment.
After all, when they’d signed the contract, Aide had never mentioned giving her a share of the reward for completing the hero’s request.
Her compensation was supposed to be nothing more than credit toward paying off her debt.
But Aide had still given it to her.
Without a second thought, he’d handed over two-thirds of the reward.
Moya leafed absentmindedly through a cliché storybook popular in the capital, her gaze unconsciously drifting toward Aide.
“Because the ‘body swap’ incident hasn’t fully ended yet. I just split the request the king gave me into several smaller tasks and handed them to you.”
Aide didn’t stand on ceremony once he entered.
He picked up the kettle on the table and poured himself some water.
Over the past few days, Aide had found excuses to come by and ask Moya for details about the Cloaked Figure’s arrest, always under the pretense of a “debriefing report.”
Given Aide’s generous payments, Moya hadn’t shown any obvious hostility toward him since that day.
If Aide came asking questions, she let him.
And because of that, Aide had gradually figured out some of Moya’s daily habits.
Carefree.
Extremely carefree.
She was the most laid-back shut-in he had ever met.
Scenes like Moya starting her morning routine right in front of Aide after waking up were a common sight by now.
The door was never locked either.
Moya never seemed to worry about burglars.
And every time Aide visited, he followed protocol and knocked, waiting for her to open it.
At first, Moya would reluctantly come downstairs to let him in.
Later on, she’d just trudge down with a dark expression, practically radiating impatience that screamed, “The door isn’t locked. Why don’t you just let yourself in?”
She didn’t treat herself as a host who needed to welcome a guest, nor did she treat Aide as a guest who needed to be entertained.
Yet Moya had never voiced that impatience to Aide.
Aide knew she was respecting the guest etiquette he insisted on.
So, to return the favor, Aide decided to stop being polite.
Now, every visit, he knocked, let himself in, poured his own tea and water, and acted like a guest no more.
“So you want me to help with the aftermath of the incident as the third request?”
Hearing Aide’s answer, Moya fell silent for a moment, then put down her book and stared straight at him.
“You could have easily bundled all of this into one request and used it to squeeze me dry. But instead, you’re telling me you split that hero request into two parts for my debt repayment—and now you’re splitting off yet another piece as a third separate task.”
At that moment, the laziness vanished from Moya’s eyes.
Her blue irises were as still as a lake’s surface, reflecting Aide’s expression as he found himself pinned by that focused gaze.
“Looks like you, Mr. Exposed Loan Shark Hero, don’t really care all that much about my five work requests.”
“What’s going on?”
This was the first time in reality that Aide had seen the perpetually lazy slacker Moya wear such a calm, steady look in her eyes.
He had to admit, it was a little startling when someone you thought you knew suddenly showed a completely different side.
“…What do you think?”
The living room fell into a dead silence.
Controlling his expression to avoid showing any cracks, Aide asked slowly, deflecting the question.
This was indeed his oversight.
As Moya had pointed out, Aide never really intended to hold her debt over her head.
So naturally, he hadn’t paid much attention to the five request opportunities that debt had bought him.
That casual attitude had finally become a chink in his armor that couldn’t be hidden by lies.
If Moya decided to press further, he probably couldn’t just brush it off.
Aide felt a knot of nervousness tightening in his chest.
This slip-up might force him to confess his intentions.
But at the same time, he didn’t want to reveal his true feelings so quickly.
He wasn’t sure how the girl across from him would take it.
Or rather, he was afraid to find out.
“Fine, forget it. I can’t be bothered to think about it.”
Just as Aide was bracing himself to parry Moya’s verbal thrust, her eyes suddenly softened back into their usual lazy, carefree expression.
She picked up her cliché storybook and continued reading.
In the moment Aide froze in surprise, she even let out a few laughs at the book’s predictable plot.
Just like that, she let it go?
In that instant, Aide truly realized how far he still had to go in understanding her thoughts.
Right now, he couldn’t even tell whether that act of letting it slide was a deliberate probe or a casual remark.
On the other side, Moya continued focusing on her book, paying no attention to Aide’s reaction.
Moya wasn’t stupid.
She could see the inconsistencies in Aide’s behavior—like asking if he could see her while she was sleepwalking, or now, this whole “third request” business.
But it didn’t matter.
Moya couldn’t be bothered to dwell on such things.
Thinking about it didn’t guarantee she’d be right, so why bother?
Better to save that energy for reading her book.
When the time came, she’d just cross that bridge when she got to it.
“Then I’ll take that as your agreement. The ‘body swap’ incident led by the Cloaked Figure has temporarily wound down, but quite a few people are still refusing to agree to swap back in front of the crystal ball. The royal family is worried that dragging things out might cause further complications, so they hope we can help.”
“Help how? Help persuade them to agree to swap back?”
Hearing Aide’s request, Moya put her book down again and rolled her eyes at him.
“Let me ask you something. How exactly am I supposed to do that? Play mediator and let everyone take their anger out on me? Beg each one of them personally, saying, ‘Please, I’m begging you, just switch your bodies back’?”
“It’s not that bad.”
Aide took a sip of the black tea he’d brewed himself, his tone tinged with helplessness.
“The royal family doesn’t necessarily need us to produce results. The king is quite reasonable.”
When he said “reasonable,” Aide paused briefly.
Although the king was being reasonable only because of Aide’s identity, not out of any merciful nature on the part of the capital’s ruler.
“We just need to make an effort. There’s no need to go as far as you’re suggesting. And I happen to have a lead.”
“What?”
“The Fake Lord of the Sierf family—the one we met during our investigation the other day—has refused to accept the counsel from the capital. He’s asking specifically to see us.”“The third request.”
Three days later, after Moya had spent three blissful days lazing around, Aide knocked on her door again.
“That was fast.”
Moya lay on the sofa, flipping through a storybook as she casually responded to Aide, who had walked in and taken a seat on the other sofa.
Her slightly fleshy legs rested on a throw pillow, swinging idly back and forth, the pace changing with the plot of the book she was reading.
Thanks to the money, Moya’s hostility toward Aide had decreased significantly.
Even if her lifestyle was undeniably slovenly, she remembered clearly that every milkshake she’d drunk and every meal delivery she’d enjoyed over the past few days came thanks to a certain brave hero’s generous payment.
After all, when they’d signed the contract, Aide had never mentioned giving her a share of the reward for completing the hero’s request.
Her compensation was supposed to be nothing more than credit toward paying off her debt.
But Aide had still given it to her.
Without a second thought, he’d handed over two-thirds of the reward.
Moya leafed absentmindedly through a cliché storybook popular in the capital, her gaze unconsciously drifting toward Aide.
“Because the ‘body swap’ incident hasn’t fully ended yet. I just split the request the king gave me into several smaller tasks and handed them to you.”
Aide didn’t stand on ceremony once he entered.
He picked up the kettle on the table and poured himself some water.
Over the past few days, Aide had found excuses to come by and ask Moya for details about the Cloaked Figure’s arrest, always under the pretense of a “debriefing report.”
Given Aide’s generous payments, Moya hadn’t shown any obvious hostility toward him since that day.
If Aide came asking questions, she let him.
And because of that, Aide had gradually figured out some of Moya’s daily habits.
Carefree.
Extremely carefree.
She was the most laid-back shut-in he had ever met.
Scenes like Moya starting her morning routine right in front of Aide after waking up were a common sight by now.
The door was never locked either.
Moya never seemed to worry about burglars.
And every time Aide visited, he followed protocol and knocked, waiting for her to open it.
At first, Moya would reluctantly come downstairs to let him in.
Later on, she’d just trudge down with a dark expression, practically radiating impatience that screamed, “The door isn’t locked. Why don’t you just let yourself in?”
She didn’t treat herself as a host who needed to welcome a guest, nor did she treat Aide as a guest who needed to be entertained.
Yet Moya had never voiced that impatience to Aide.
Aide knew she was respecting the guest etiquette he insisted on.
So, to return the favor, Aide decided to stop being polite.
Now, every visit, he knocked, let himself in, poured his own tea and water, and acted like a guest no more.
“So you want me to help with the aftermath of the incident as the third request?”
Hearing Aide’s answer, Moya fell silent for a moment, then put down her book and stared straight at him.
“You could have easily bundled all of this into one request and used it to squeeze me dry. But instead, you’re telling me you split that hero request into two parts for my debt repayment—and now you’re splitting off yet another piece as a third separate task.”
At that moment, the laziness vanished from Moya’s eyes.
Her blue irises were as still as a lake’s surface, reflecting Aide’s expression as he found himself pinned by that focused gaze.
“Looks like you, Mr. Exposed Loan Shark Hero, don’t really care all that much about my five work requests.”
“What’s going on?”
This was the first time in reality that Aide had seen the perpetually lazy slacker Moya wear such a calm, steady look in her eyes.
He had to admit, it was a little startling when someone you thought you knew suddenly showed a completely different side.
“…What do you think?”
The living room fell into a dead silence.
Controlling his expression to avoid showing any cracks, Aide asked slowly, deflecting the question.
This was indeed his oversight.
As Moya had pointed out, Aide never really intended to hold her debt over her head.
So naturally, he hadn’t paid much attention to the five request opportunities that debt had bought him.
That casual attitude had finally become a chink in his armor that couldn’t be hidden by lies.
If Moya decided to press further, he probably couldn’t just brush it off.
Aide felt a knot of nervousness tightening in his chest.
This slip-up might force him to confess his intentions.
But at the same time, he didn’t want to reveal his true feelings so quickly.
He wasn’t sure how the girl across from him would take it.
Or rather, he was afraid to find out.
“Fine, forget it. I can’t be bothered to think about it.”
Just as Aide was bracing himself to parry Moya’s verbal thrust, her eyes suddenly softened back into their usual lazy, carefree expression.
She picked up her cliché storybook and continued reading.
In the moment Aide froze in surprise, she even let out a few laughs at the book’s predictable plot.
Just like that, she let it go?
In that instant, Aide truly realized how far he still had to go in understanding her thoughts.
Right now, he couldn’t even tell whether that act of letting it slide was a deliberate probe or a casual remark.
On the other side, Moya continued focusing on her book, paying no attention to Aide’s reaction.
Moya wasn’t stupid.
She could see the inconsistencies in Aide’s behavior—like asking if he could see her while she was sleepwalking, or now, this whole “third request” business.
But it didn’t matter.
Moya couldn’t be bothered to dwell on such things.
Thinking about it didn’t guarantee she’d be right, so why bother?
Better to save that energy for reading her book.
When the time came, she’d just cross that bridge when she got to it.
“Then I’ll take that as your agreement. The ‘body swap’ incident led by the Cloaked Figure has temporarily wound down, but quite a few people are still refusing to agree to swap back in front of the crystal ball. The royal family is worried that dragging things out might cause further complications, so they hope we can help.”
“Help how? Help persuade them to agree to swap back?”
Hearing Aide’s request, Moya put her book down again and rolled her eyes at him.
“Let me ask you something. How exactly am I supposed to do that? Play mediator and let everyone take their anger out on me? Beg each one of them personally, saying, ‘Please, I’m begging you, just switch your bodies back’?”
“It’s not that bad.”
Aide took a sip of the black tea he’d brewed himself, his tone tinged with helplessness.
“The royal family doesn’t necessarily need us to produce results. The king is quite reasonable.”
When he said “reasonable,” Aide paused briefly.
Although the king was being reasonable only because of Aide’s identity, not out of any merciful nature on the part of the capital’s ruler.
“We just need to make an effort. There’s no need to go as far as you’re suggesting. And I happen to have a lead.”
“What?”
“The Fake Lord of the Sierf family—the one we met during our investigation the other day—has refused to accept the counsel from the capital. He’s asking specifically to see us.”