"We can't give the location of the castle to anyone."
"If we don't hire you, I'll take you wherever you need to go, so you don't have to worry."
Shun nodded, bewildered by the way Craig spoke; it was as if Shun's rejection had already been decided. With Craig holding his right arm and Gin holding his left, Shun walked for a few more minutes before he was placed in what he assumed was a carriage.
Just as Shun was about to get nauseous from the rocking of the carriage on the roughly paved road, a far cry from the smooth asphalt roads he was accustomed to, the carriage finally came to a stop, and he was brought into a building.
Once the blindfold was removed, Shun was left reeling under the assault of the bright lights in the room, blinking several times to adjust. The first thing he saw was Craig, who was lighting the fireplace. Even though it was only early autumn, it was still very cold that night. Shun was relieved by the warmth that the fire brought.
His first impression of the room that it was a European inspired living room with an atelier that had been divided into two. The walls were a warm, chocolate wood, and the fireplaces was built with fine, well-aged red bricks. There were several sofas and couches made of cloth, facing in various directions, and in the middle, there was a large wooden table. On the table there was a lamp that appeared to be in the shape of an animal, a spread out map, a round instrument that looked like a compass, and a large, screw-like object that Shun had no clue the purpose of was.
The wall to the left from the doorway where Shun was standing, was filled with ceiling-high bookshelves. The shelves were packed with books with red and green leather covers that were titled with gold and silver foil, and several wooden stepladders were left leaning against them.
He tilted his head slightly at the scene he couldn't remember. The atmosphere was similar, but Shun felt like the room was smaller than in the stills from the game.
"Sit down," Craig motioned toward the sofa nearest to Shun.
Shun wasn't afraid to sit down, and Craig sat down in a chair that sat across the low table from him. Craig's gaze bored through Shun. Shun looked around the room involuntarily for help, but he couldn't see if Gin had gone to the back room to drop off the bag from before.
Shun knew that Craig wasn't a bad person, and because Craig was about to interview him, it was only natural for Craig to level him with such a harsh gaze. However, it was a bit difficult for him to endure without a buffer.
Shun had to admit, he hadn't been able to complete Craig's route. So he didn't actually know that much about him.
Craig Thurwolf was the head of Dawn Fog, a Bondsman's Guild1, that specialized in hunting down criminals with bounties on them. In addition to bounty hunting, Dawn Fog was renowned in the area for its prowess, also providing bodyguards and participating in demon subjugation.
Although providing escort and bounty hunting was legal with a license, demon subjugation was carefully overseen and controlled by the Church. In other words, Dawn Fog was illegally providing these services, and as Shun had mentioned before, Craig was a "dangerous" and "risky" criminal.
Despite this, the amount of residents making requests to Dawn Fog was endless because the Church's fees were unaffordable. Although he was considered a bandit, Craig was also the first prince of the Wolf Country, which bordered the northern part of the Butterfly Country, that was believed to be dead.
His background setting was very good.
However, it was a shame that the foreshadowing of this was done too poorly and Shun realized it all at the very beginning of Craig's route that Craig was the prince of the neighboring country and that the happy ending was where Craig returned to his country and succeeded the throne, making the heroine his queen.
Additionally, Shun knew his theory was correct when he found a spoiler of it. Although there are some naysayers that claim reading spoilers is bad, Shun had to be excused for this crime.
Shun had made a complete fool of himself trying to capture this target. He was half convinced that his affection meter was broken. He could never get it to move past zero. Craig's expressions never changed at all, regardless of the dialogue options he chose, and Craig never showed up to a single one of the events to increase his affection.
There weren't even prizes related to him in the gacha2. His route was so difficult that Shun was practically tearing his hair out, reading the instructions over and over just to make sure Craig was really a capture target or if it was just a bug that he was appearing on the selection screen.
"Do you expect me to believe that you're looking for a job with such nice clothes? Have you lost your mind?"
Shun, who was trying to remember every detail he could of the game, was immediately brought back to reality.
Craig, who wasn't being too intimidating or friendly toward Shun, now had a brow so furrowed that it looked like it might crack at any moment. In the dark, the quality of Shun's clothing hadn't been very obvious, but now, in the bright room, it was a detail that was impossible to miss. Those amber eyes had begun to pressure him.
"Oh, no. Uh..."
"The same is true for this candy. Only the upper-class aristocrats can get this transparent film. Moreover, there are so many other things that could be used to wrap this candy that are cheaper and just as sanitary."
Craig held up one of the pieces of candy that was in Shun's bag earlier.
Under the glow of the fireplace and the shimmering magic, meteorite lamps, the transparent film conveyed the red color of the candy inside in an abominably vivid manner. Shun hadn't known that detail about the candy wrappers at all since it had never appeared in the game. However, he couldn't say that.
Shun made up his mind and opened his mouth to respond.
"It's as you say. My parents are rich, but I also have twenty, older brothers, and to be honest, I don't see much hope for me in the future there. I want to be able to earn enough to support myself."
A poorly thought out lie would probably be counterproductive to him. Even if he told Craig some sob-story that a little, devil girl would say every man was sure to fall for, Craig was a man whose affection could drop twenty points without a single expression on his face.
Shun couldn't just come out and say he was the twenty-first prince, but everything he had said was still the truth. Besides, he was sure that Craig would be happy with the heroine as soon as she appeared.
Surely Shun would be better off if he had a job as a back-up plan than just sitting back and hoping he would be able to live off of his parents and elder brothers for the rest of his life.
"Twenty? That sounds like the royal family," Craig said, astonished by Shun's lustful parents.
For a moment Shun was terrified that he'd been found out, but Craig didn't notice Shun's inner turmoil because Gin had brought out three mugs filled with a dark, fragrant liquid that seemed like coffee and snacks for them. Gin set them down in front of them on the coffee table and took his own mug, turning to take a seat a short distance away so he could get a better view of the conversation. He seemed amused by how the interview was unfolding.
" While I understand your situation, why would you choose to work for me? You look like you'd be better suited for a legitimate career."
Craig easily pointed out Shun's gentle appearance that seemed to have never taken a single step off of the beaten path. He seemed to have realized that Shun hadn't lied, reducing his thorniness towards Shun, but Shun was already feeling nervous again. Shun's brain was spinning as fast as it had been in the finals of the National Elementary School Flash Memorization Competition. He was trying to avoid lying, but he had to come up with a convincing reason without mentioning that he was from another world or the game.
"Well, I can't tell you the exact details, but I found out through something like getting my fortune read that if I was to stay by your side and help you, then you'd have a happy life."
Although he had stretched the truth into a fluffier version, Craig remained silent while considering his answer. It may have been smart for him to mention imply it was divined by a fortune teller. After all, in this world, divination, which was an aspect of magic, was actively practiced among the commoners, and sorcerers, who specialized in it, that were called fortune tellers were widely respected and believed.
"Was it also because of this divination that you knew who I was?"
"Well, yes! I was looking for you with the knowledge of your true appearance and information that you often appear in the black market," Shun chose his words carefully as he spoke them to avoid making anymore mistakes.
Craig nodded along as Shun made his point. There weren't many people who would assume he was the man from the wanted poster's caricature that looked like a plump log with a disgusting, snake-like face. If there was someone like that, they were either a highly trained bounty hunter or one of his relatives. It was understood that when Shun had inadvertently called him by his real name that was why he'd almost been killed.
"Other than that?"
"Eh?"
"What else do you know about me?" His beautiful, golden eyes pierced straight through Shun.
Even though there was still a table between them, Shun had a feeling that if he said anything bad he would be killed instantly. It left him with a certain sense of awe. Maybe Craig was asking if this prediction had also revealed his origins.
However, Shun panicked, and his big mouth opened on impulse.
"I'm scared of your face!"
"...what?" After several seconds of silence, Craig uttered a clumsy response.
Gin was looking down, and his shoulders were shaking. Knowing what he had just said, Shun was feeling a bit restless. He had to follow this up with something.
"Oh, what's scary is not the face! ...it's the eyes; it's just the eyes! Wait, no, it's also your bad attitude, but your face is really handsome! I mean, you're the most handsome man I've ever met, or maybe it's just my type, huh? It must be hard to deal with all the girls that flock to you because of your appearance..."
As Shun began to calm down, his words trailed off. Wait, wasn't this just a job interview? Shun suddenly realized and forced himself to add, "Yes, that's it!"
Craig had a hand on his forehead and was looking down at the floor. Although Shun couldn't see it, he could only imagine how many veins had appeared on Craig's forehead.
Gin, who was not able to bear it any longer, burst into laughter, holding his belly.
"Yes, this guy is rotten at getting close to others. I'm sure the other members would accuse him of being cold and making them cry. It's surprisingly difficult to handle him."
When Craig raised his right index finger, several sugar cubes sprang out of the saucer on the table and hit the Gin's forehead. Craig turned back to Shun, who was staring at Gin, who was shouting, "Ah! It hurts! It hurts!"
For a moment his eyes met Shun's, but he soon turned away. Shun caught the slight blush in the corner of his eyes.
"Oh... that's enough about me," Craig, who was in a state of agony, breathed and drank the liquid that Shun had no choice but to call coffee.
Shun was relieved that Craig was now less suspicious of him. He followed Craig's lead, picking up his own cup and learning that it smelled good.
The sweet, savory taste spread through his mouth. It was similar to coffee but also had a slightly different flavor to it. There was a subtly sweet and rich taste that was addictive.
Shun was pretty sure the suspicion that he was an assassin had been annihilated, but when he started to set the cup down, he was met with another intense stare.
Shun hurriedly returned the cup to the table.
"I'll give you credit for having the guts to still seek employment after being threatened by me with a sword. So, what can you do?"
Gin, with a red mark on his forehead, leaned forward and stared at Craig intently. Shun was also feeling excited. This meant that he might get hired, depending on how he answered Craig.
However, he had run into another problem. He hadn't prepared an answer for this question.
Maybe it was the skill that only Shun had - being inconspicuous and unassuming - would be a good answer. No, he doesn't want to be hired as a spy, so he'll have to think of something else.
"You're here to sell something, aren't you?"
The furrow between Craig's eyebrows was back again. His forehead was going to break some day.
"Are you a sorcerer?" Craig asked, glancing at Shun's slender and weak looking figure. Shun was well aware he didn't look very strong, however, it was still difficult for him to sit there and be judged for that by another man.
"No, I'm afraid I can't help you."
It was possible that that could have been his saving grace, but Shun decided to honestly deny it. The twenty-first prince's only defining characteristics were "sickly", "weak", and "beautiful". Though he was a magician.
However in this world, almost everyone has magical abilities, but only a few people could use their magic to attack or provide enough healing to help in a fight. Additionally, almost all of these people belong to the Royal Knights or the Church, which had a huge following that spanned the entire country.
Craig's magical strengths were in the fire element, and Gin seemed to be able to use a few magic tricks to make nets to catch magical beasts. There was a bit of a shortage of magicians in Dawn Fog, since there wasn't any others mentioned in the game. Craig was clearly disappointed by his response, perhaps because he had gotten some expectations from Shun's reasons for asking to work for him.
Shun was in trouble. If things continued like this, they were going to take him back.
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1. Bondsman's Guild - A bounty hunting guild
2. "Gacha games are video games that implement the gacha (capsule-toy vending machine) mechanic. This is somewhat similar to loot boxes, inducing players to spend in-game currency to receive a random virtual item." -wikipedia (Note: I just pulled this off wiki cause I'm not good at explaining stuff (:3」∠) )
TL Note: I had to break this chapter into parts because it was so long (over 8000 characters). The other half will probably out tomorrow.