Aaah what a nostalgic thing.
As soon as the sun shines, I'll have to make some money or the little girl beside me would starve.
It was something I regularly had to worry about, back when I was on my home planet. But although it was nostalgic, it was not comforting.
How do I earn money now?
Insurance doesn't even exist yet. It would be highly beneficial to develop an agency for commoners and nobles. Unfortunately, I have no capital. Thievery is a plausible method, however, that might call for unneeded attention.
I don't have the necessary skills to develop weaponry for the military unlike the generic reincarnation protagonists nor the medicinal knowledge to be a famous doctor.
…What a dilemma...
"Hmm…" As I sat lied down on the bed to cool my mind, I felt two hands clawing my chest. It was a weird feeling but I decided to ignore it. She was just a child; it is most likely her fear of solitude.
"Fuu…" Unfortunately, it was getting harder to turn a blind eye to Mikasa's games as she started blowing on my right ear for some reason. "Oi quit it."
"What are you thinking about?"
"A way to earn money." I answered without giving it a second thought.
Her half-lidded eyes sparkled a little at that. "Is it for me?"
"Huh?"
"Are you trying to earn money to take care of me?"
"Umm…yes." I felt like we aren't on the same page, but answered regardless.
"Then I'm sure you'll figure it out." She closed her eyes and held me tighter. Her soft hands roamed a little on my chest and her legs curled around mine. "Just do what you always did."
"And what did I always do?"
"I can't remember that word clearly…..incrofize?"
"…Improvise?"
"Yeah, that."
"I guess I will then." Saying so, I got up from her embrace and changed to make myself presentable.
"There's still some time until sunrise, you should get some more sleep while you can. I'll be back shortly." I said without turning back.
Taking her silence as a gesture of approval I went up the stairs and carefully opened the hatch and got out after scanning the area for presences nearby.
Deciding to get this over with I teleported to the bar near the slums and opened the doors. The wild laughter, smell of booze and cigarettes wafted from this place along with a tinge of blood. Contrary to what I expected, the place didn't turn deathly quiet after my arrival. The people here gave me a quick glance and shortly went back to their partying.
Well at least they didn't try to cause trouble for me.
Walking straight to the bartender, I placed a few gold coins I had scavenged from the traffickers, on the table. The guy at the table didn't even take a glance at it before taking it with a sweep of his hand.
Yup, bars work the same regardless of the world and time.
A tall man came out after the ringing of a small bell and spoke while crossing his arms. "What service do you require?"
"No idea, apparently I'm just a proxy." I answered faking a little bit of uncertainty.
"You got any message from your boss?" He asked, now with a bit more attention.
Heh…the bait worked.
"Said, he wants to make a deal with the owner, sir." I still kept up the naive child act to make him keep up his guard.
'No way someone with so much money would hire such a cowardly boy, he must be acting.' Something like that is probably going through his mind right now.
'Why is this kid from the slum acting like this…unless he was told to….but why?'
Making him focus on such useless things, I'll let him develop his own story about me and go with the flow.
"Follow me." He turned around and walked up the stairs to lead me to a small dimly lit room.
When the door opened I was greeted with the sight of a busty lady in a blue silk dress, with enough cleavage to make a man drool. The small scar on her collarbone somehow made her more attractive.
"My subordinate tells me you have a message for me." Every gesture of her's seemed to be perfected for seduction. Something uncommon for a person of her stature.
My eyes lost focus for a few seconds before I jolted back with a smile marring my face. If there were one thing I had complete faith in, it would be my senses. The owner of this place would not be anxious in front of a kid, unless some other factors came up.
"The man said I was supposed to talk with the owner. You're not the owner." The tapping of her nails came to a stop at that.
"Oh please don't misunderstand, I have no idea who your boss is, I was just previously informed that the first person to greet me would be a proxy like me. My boss is a thorough person you see."
The haunting silence lingered for a few more seconds stretching to an entire minute of staring between me and the lady until the thin scrawny man broke out to a sign and gestured his men to get out.
"So who is this person you talk about."
𝑻𝒊𝒄𝒌. 𝑻𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝑻𝒊𝒄𝒌.
My perception accelerated enough to make the world around me slow down drastically as I contemplated what to say.
What? You thought I had planned everything?
I'm just winging everything.
"I really don't know. But he was rich. Like…filthy rich." His eyes narrowed at my response and the grip on his armchair tightened.
"Did he have a carriage with a symbol on it?"
Hmm? Is he suspecting my boss to be a noble? "Can't remember, I wasn't paying attention to every little detail."
"…So what does he wish to say to me?"
"A deal…profits would be split by 70/30. 70 for us and 30 for you." He scoffed after hearing that. "Piss off kid."
"Okay." I got up after saying that and walked towards the door. Thankfully he didn't stop me when I reached the door.
Without turning back, I left that place and shook off the three men tailing behind me. I was not disappointed as one would expect me to be. I had no reason to.
The purpose of this trip was never to strike a deal, it was to check this area out and locate the safe box, which would provide me with enough money to start my agency.
Yup.
I'm going to open an insurance agency.