Got One

The vendor was still mulling over how he should approach his next course of action. He was already contemplating taking on a loan so that he could secure the present and worry about the problems later on. When Gwen offered him to be her cook, he smiled slightly as she reminded him of his son. The innocence and naivety in this cruel world were what he wanted to keep despite the difficulties.

"Kid, keep that smile. Thanks, I know what I need to do now." The vendor slowly rose up and started packing his stall.

"Huh, wait, why are you packing? I'm serious, I'm Gwe-"

Felix immediately came from behind Gwen and covered her mouth, he angrily whispered, "Gwen, what are you doing?! We don't need to let the whole world know about your visit! Imagine what kind of forces would be willing to sacrifice everything to capture you?"

After Felix thought about it for a little while, he calmed down and properly asked her, "What are you trying to do?" Gwen seemed to be extremely childish and single-minded but he knew that she was the furthest thing away from it, she seemed to have been only acting this entire time but at the same time, there was genuine curiosity behind her actions.

Gwen mischievously smiled and used her thumb to point at the vendor, "Since you're my fiancé, I think you should know. In the future, I want to rule the world! And for that, I need my own people, I just so happened to want this man to be a part of it. So, hurry up and show him the gold No. 12 gave you."

Felix was taken aback, "Ruling the world… what a goal. Also, stop dodging the question, what spell did you just cast?"

"Oops. Busted." Gwen looked to the side, trying to avoid eye contact.

"It's not like you're trying to hide it at all! If you want me to help you out, then you have to tell me what you're doing."

"Is that what you want?" Gwen meekly asked.

"Yes."

"Well, as per the contract, I'll oblige. I used a spell from a Tier 9 Grimoire called, Human Limit Surveyor. As the name suggests, it lets me know others' talents. Now will you help me?"

Felix felt a headache coming on as he had to ask, "When did you learn this spell?"

Gwen tried to recall but everything was somewhat of a blur as the routine of practicing, modifying, and testing spells were interwoven into each other. "Around… 2 years ago?"

Felix sighed, having learned this spell meant that Gwen had always been thinking about her goal for a long time now. 'The 3rd child's obsessed with family pride, the 4th child's obsessed with equality while the 5th child's obsessed with world domination. What an eccentric family but I can't really blame her. The Aria family as a whole is too unique, in more ways than one.'

"Gwen… were you thinking of finding talented people to recruit? Why not take the guards in the Aria Estate? I guarantee you that their talents are the cream of the crop."

"Oh, I did. They just weren't up to the bar I set up. Believe me, if I saw even a single person that was even slightly close then I would've started with them, but I haven't seen anyone. Maybe that one kid back then that challenged Sister Rachel reached the standard but he left right after so I couldn't properly test him."

"Wait… what bar?" Felix finally found something wrong with Gwen's words. Although she was testing them, to not find a single person that satisfied even despite being skilled meant that there was one other metric she was testing.

"It's kind of hard to explain. I guess strength to potential to age ratio? Like the fastest growth in the shortest amount of time. If anything, that's the closest thing I can say to what I'm trying to find."

"Gwen… that's what talent is." Felix had a deadpan expression on his face as he said this.

Gwen waved her hands in denial, "No, no, no, that's not what I'm trying to find out. It's… ugh, it's so hard to explain. Whatever, just know that he's the first person who met my standards. Are you going to whip out the gold or am I going to have to?"

"Can you even do this?"

"I mean… who's going to stop me?" Gwen's signature mischievous smile shone once more, and Felix couldn't say anything else.

"Alright fine."

Gwen and Felix stopped huddling up and came to see that the vendor just finished packing up. Gwen tilted her head signaling to Felix what he should do. Felix gave in and came up to the vendor.

"Sir, what's your name?"

The vendor's steel gaze seemed to have turned a little soft as he thought for a while and said it, not thinking that it mattered too much, "My name's Murell Pial,"

"Well… my 'sister' wanted to ask since she felt bad, how much was the medicine?"

The vendor gave Felix a warm smile, "Don't worry about it, I can handle it. Just go on and head back home. Your parents must be getting worried for you."

Gwen crossed her arms and mouthed, "Just say it."

'If you wanted to hire him so badly then why didn't you do it?!'

Although Felix screamed that inside, Gwen somehow managed to get what he was thinking and continued to mouth her words, "You wanted to help."

'Alright, she got me there.'

Felix faced Murell once more, "Sir Murell, my sister feels really bad about it and wants to make it up to you."

"That's… if you really want to know I'm twenty silver coins short. I know it's a pretty big amount so you kids don't need to worry about it."

"I think-"

"Oh, for the love of!" Gwen couldn't take Felix's roundabout way of asking anymore and went to his side, took out a pouch filled with golden coins, and shoved the pouch into Murell's chest.

"Murell, if you agree to be my cook, you'll have this much as a signing bonus."

"Wait, where did you-" Murell saw the yellow shimmering glint of the coins in the pouch in his hands and had his eyes visibly widen. He had never seen this amount of money in his life before.

"The salary's much… much higher than that. So, what do you say? You in or what?" Gwen's brash tone and lack of respect made her seem like a brat but for some reason, Murell didn't hate her for that.

Felix facepalmed as all his subtly was thrown out of the window, "Gwen, you went off a bit too much there."

"Well, we need to go to your home soon, right? This just makes it faster. So, Murell, your answer? I only ask once so make up your mind."

Murell's eyes were locked on the immense wealth within the pouch that was in his hands, "I appreciate the offer… but can I ask what I have to do first?"

"Cook for me… and sometimes go and explore for 'new ingredients'. It's something you can definitely handle, you don't need to fight but you might have to. You can either bring your child or leave him, I don't really care. Your final answer?"

Murell felt as if his understanding of the world was thrown aside but he felt a sort of calling within him bubbling up, "I'll do it." He felt as if he made the correct decision.

"Should've done this earlier. Let's go, Felix, I'm feeling famished."

"That's… fine, you win this time. Questionable methods but I guess as long as it works?"

The duo left Murell with the pouch of money without so much as trying to set up a date later on. He was utterly confused and tried to find them but as they entered the crowd, they seemingly blended in and disappeared. If not for the pouch filled with genuine golden coins, he would've thought that he hallucinated the entire incident.

"I guess they have their own methods. First things first, to save my son…. Thank you, kid." Murell's raspy voice had a hint of warmness to it, a tone that he had only reserved for his family.

After a brief moment, Murell realized something drastic, "Felix? Don't tell me..."