Chapter 889: She Wants In Too

Well... Being faced with her pressuring me like this... I didn’t really have a choice and just signed the contract she gave me which basically made me the new owner of Kaito Business Holdings.

The moment I finished signing it, the screen disappeared and Vieretha clapped her hands together, a look of... Bliss? Appearing on her face.

Why the heck is she looking so blissful like she just orgasmed or something?

Wait... I didn’t actually fall into some kind of trap did I?

I even made her wait there while I read through the entire contract you know? Like I read through every single page of the contract, you know? I even tried to find words that might have been written in such a way that it could be interpreted differently to trap me but there were none of that!

She then tapped on her personal terminal again and another screen popped up in front of me.

"And here too, please~" She shivered.

Eh? What’s this? Don’t tell me this is the trap?

I looked at the screen.

Letter of employment... Official employment of Vieretha Iceborne as personal assistant... Managing all personal needs... Available at all times... Will use her full capabilities to assist...

Eh?

I mean... I expected her to give me something like this since she did suggest that I hire her as a manager for the company after I get it... But aren’t the terms given here a little too beneficial for me?

Like here, at the bottom where it lists out the benefits... It just says that the salary is ’being provided with food’.

I know she really liked my food and I guess she might seek out more of it to eat more as compensation for her services... But the fact that she didn’t even specify here that I have to be the one that makes it... Or even what kind of food she’s being fed with... That’s either a really big oversight or this was done on purpose for some reason.

I’ve looked through it and reread it several times despite it only being a single page long and found no traps around it. If I were to just take this at face value, this was an incredibly beneficial business arrangement for me and there was no reason for me not to sign it.

Which was why I was hesitating on signing it.

I raised an eyebrow at her, "Are you... Sure about this?"

Vieretha actually managed to calm down a little before nodding seriously, "Of course I am."

I narrowed my eyes at her but she just smiled at me without saying anything else.

Instead of signing it like she asked, I narrowed my eyes at her.

"What are you trying to do here?" I asked.

She tilted her head, "What do you mean?"

"You’re clearly after something here... I want to know what it is."

A small smile appeared on her face and she looked at me with half lidded eyes, "What would you do if I said... The thing that I’m after is you?"

I took a few steps back, the water around me splashing around from my sudden movement as I lowered myself into a combat stance.

She blinked at me before giving me a wry smile, "My, my... Tera... You really are just the most interesting person I’ve ever come across. I really wish I had met you sooner."

What is she talking about? She’s really trying to kidnap me isn’t she? Even though she brought me to this secluded area... I think I should be able to scream loud enough to attract some attention.

And even if she set up some kind of thing that stops people from hearing my screams here... I should be able to run away with Renata’s help as well...

I would like to avoid killing her if I could help it since her death would mean her entire family coming after me... But if I don’t kill her, she might still chase after me and make trouble for me...

What do I do here...

She covered her mouth and let out a giggle, "Ufufufu~ Fine then, let me put it this way, Tera. I am interested in your cooking~"

I raised an eyebrow, "If that’s the case, why didn’t you put that right here and specify you want my cooking instead of just being fed?"

"Ara? I would say I wouldn’t mind being fed your cooking everyday but I understand that the act itself is already a pretty big luxury so I wouldn’t ask you to keep doing it for me. But I would like it if I am able to taste it occasionally, you know? After all, I don’t think you feed your crew everyday personally either, do you?"

Leaving aside the fact that I do feed my girls daily...

I frowned, "Wait... The way you’re saying it..."

"Mmm~ Was I not clear enough? In that case, let me say it more clearly. Pleased to meet you, Captain~"

Ah... She’s trying to sign herself up on my crew...

"Wait, why? Seriously? You’re going to give up your current position to be on my crew? Just know that I’m not going to let you bring your company, your family or even your bodyguards on board, you know? And I’m not giving you the Captain’s position either."

"Oh, I’m well aware of that, Tera~ I’ve already prepared myself for that after all~"

Eh? That was part of the preparation that she was talking about? Really?

I looked back at her Dragonling bodyguards whom I had just realised were standing at the entrance to this part of the casino to make sure no one else came in. And they were clearly at a distance where they could not eavesdrop on us but were still close enough to rush to her aid if she needed them.

I looked back at her, "Are you really sure you want to join a Mercenary Company like this?"

"Ara? I’m not just joining any Mercenary Company am I? I’m specifically joining yours~"

"It feels like you’re losing more than you gain by doing that though... I don’t understand why you would even want this..."

Her tail swished behind her, "Oh, believe me... It’s actually more of the opposite."

Her gaze then drifted over to where her bodyguards were for a moment before she looked back at me.

"Trust me when I say that I can’t wait to leave this position of mine to the new one if you would have me?"

Ah... I think I know what’s going on now...

She’s probably just like Mara who probably wants to be free of her family or something but unlike Mara, she’s probably not able to do anything as drastic as leaving her home on her own either because she didn’t dare to... Or that her security was too tight for her to run away without any help at all.

That’s why she’s probably playing the part of making some kind of business deal or something and acting all coy and ’mysterious’ so that no one would suspect that this was exactly what she was doing.

Well... If she puts it this way, I guess I can help her out. After all, it’s still true that I have no idea how to manage a company that’s on a galactic scale. The best I had ever done before I came here was just manage a division of an international company, not a company that has stretched beyond the scope of a single world.

That’s also not to mention the fact that I basically ’stole’ this company away from Yuki as well who had wanted to take over that company from the start... Now she has me as her competition and I doubt she would be happy to learn about that...

If I could use Vieretha as a shield for that, then Yuki shouldn’t be as pissed I guess?

Although I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to make an enemy out of her family, but I would assume that her family wouldn’t just outright kill us for taking their daughter who willingly came along with us... Especially since she didn’t leave them under bad circumstances.

Well... I already have a daughter of a Noble Family who is already trying to hunt her down anyway... So what’s the problem with just adding one more to the mix?

In fact, I would think that Mara’s family was even worse since they were a Psionic Noble Family who could probably crush Vieretha’s family easily if they wanted to.

In that case, screw it... I’m already in this deep anyway so whatever happens, happens.

I went ahead and signed at the bottom of the screen, officially accepting her as, according to the contract, my ’personal assistant’.

Vieretha stared at the screen for a moment, as though not believing that I actually signed it.

Then her lips curled up into a full face smile as she dismissed the screen to look at me.

"Fufufu~ Now... I suppose I should assume my new role right now, Tera? Shall we go and play?"

...

Why does it feel like I fell right into her trap?