I Level Up With In-app Purchases

EP.81 A Man Being Tempted (2)

I became aware of the gravity of the situation thanks to Fran’s unexpected significant contribution.

“Mister, I have something to tell you.”

After our somewhat awkward reunion, Fran frequently dropped by my general store.

When asked if she had come for a specific reason, she wouldn’t answer but would bring me food, saying she saw something delicious and bought it.

“What did you buy this time?”

I said this thinking she would have bought food as usual.

It seemed that after being drafted into the military and converting a bunch of soldiers, the finances of her church had improved considerably.

Think about it.

Every single soldier she saved is a nobleman.

What if they made donations for Fran?

‘No wonder their finances improved.’

While I was thinking this indifferently, Fran dropped a bombshell.

“Someone is targeting you, Mister.”

“What?”

Targeting me?

It was hard to believe at first.

How would anyone even know me to target me?

I don’t have any bad blood from my mercenary days.

‘Because those bastards are all dead already.’

To begin with, I wasn’t the type to form deep connections with people.

“It seems they deliberately sent a woman to seduce you, Mister.”

“A woman?”

What woman do I have?

“Who did they send? I don’t know any particular woman.”

If they sent a woman, shouldn’t I at least know about a woman I’m involved with?

But I don’t have any woman I’m particularly involved with.

The SSR girls I summoned obviously don’t count, right?

And the idea of sending a woman to target a general store owner seemed ridiculous and laughable no matter how I looked at it.

“Besides, what would they gain by sending a woman to a general store owner? Are they after this old shop?”

“I don’t think that’s it. I’m not sure of the reason, but it’s certain they’re targeting you, Mister. Do you remember the woman we ran into last time?”

“Woman? Ah, that strange woman.”

I couldn’t call her a prostitute in front of the kid, so I referred to her vaguely.

“I heard it from her.”

You heard it from that woman?

“You talked with that woman? Without me around?”

How is that possible?

No matter how I thought about it, there was no reason for Fran to be involved with that kind of woman.

“Actually, I went to see her.”

“Why would you go there?”

“Well, in our church, we knew the sisters were making poor choices, and I’ve helped guide them back to the right path before, haven’t I?”

“Don’t tell me you went there to preach?”

I might call her Fran these days, which might make her seem normal, but we must never let our guard down.

She’s a fanatic girl who goes around preaching.

I didn’t know she’d go that far to do it, but as expected of Crazy Fran.

Old habits die hard, and it seems she got fixated on that woman and visited her workplace.

“I should go wherever I’m needed.”

“So the woman who tried to seduce me must have been her.”

Fran must have heard about me during the process of preaching to that woman.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Who ordered it?”

“She says she doesn’t know either. Apparently, she just received the request through intermediaries. She says even if she tried to find out, she wouldn’t be able to contact the person who actually made the request.”

“To begin with, that woman probably doesn’t want to take a big risk for my sake.”

It was unsettling to know that someone was targeting me, but it seemed impossible to uncover their identity right away.

However, just knowing that someone was targeting me was a significant achievement.

It was information I got for free while doing nothing.

‘Who could it be?’

After retiring as a mercenary, I came here leaving as few traces as possible.

Since I hadn’t been actively engaging in outside activities, it was impossible for any potential grudges to have found me already.

“Well, thanks for letting me know. It’s good to know I need to be cautious. Don’t get involved any deeper and just do your own thing.”

Criminals tend to return to the scene of the crime.

If they’re targeting me, it means they’ll eventually approach my vicinity.

They tried to send that woman to me, but since things didn’t go as planned, wouldn’t they try to approach in a different way?

‘No need to rush. If I wait quietly, they’ll roll into my territory on their own.’

Fran seemed puzzled by my calmer-than-expected reaction.

“Aren’t you surprised? I was quite shocked when I heard this. And if I can be of any help, I’m willing to assist in any way.”

“I don’t know where this grudge came from, but when you live as a mercenary, you experience all sorts of things. This level is nothing special.”

Getting scared at this level and receiving help from Fran would be an unsightly act.

I’d have no defense if someone called me a coward.

Moreover, is their tactic merely to test the waters with a woman?

It’s truly not even worth laughing about.

‘If that woman were an assassin, it might be quite thrilling…’

The woman’s arms, which I glimpsed, were not at all trained.

If she had been an assassin in disguise, there’s no way I wouldn’t have noticed.

I was tempted by the seduction because I knew she was a pure prostitute.

‘What worries me is….’

Looking at the current situation, things could be completely different from the past.

The guys I clashed with in the past were mercenaries of a similar level to me.

That’s why I could handle them with my own abilities.

But if this grudge originated here, the situation changes.

‘Because the opponent could be a noble. If it’s a noble, I’m really screwed.’

Who on earth could it be?

No matter how much I racked my brain, I couldn’t think of anyone.

I’ve been so busy drawing SSRs and raising the kids, when would I have had time to make enemies?

“Are you sure you don’t need my help?”

“Yes, I don’t need it.”

“If you need it later, please let me know anytime.”

Fran seemed to still have lingering concerns and kept trying to appeal his abilities.

“Let’s first find out who’s targeting me and then we’ll talk.”

“Will you be able to find out?”

“If they hired that woman but didn’t get results, wouldn’t they want to try again?”

So, I’m just going to wait and see.

I planned to keep my ears perked up and suspect anyone who looked suspicious, since I didn’t know who it was.

Though it was a difficult task to find a suspicious person in my narrow circle of relationships.

⁂ ⁂ ⁂

“….”

“Kyahaha! Isn’t this really ugly?”

“Yeah. Kikikik!”

I knew these kids would burst into laughter at the sight of a rolling stone, but I didn’t expect Haeshi and Nairel to be giggling like this even in my general store.

It wasn’t unusual for them to come to our store on weekends when they were bored.

However, I was currently in a situation where I had to view everything with suspicion.

Haeshi and Nairel, who had formed a connection with me despite not being summoned as SSRs, were among those I needed to observe carefully.

‘These kids seem to have no thoughts at all…’

Then is it their parents?

Are they unhappy that a commoner like me is getting friendly with these little brats?

‘That could be it.’

But if that were the case, couldn’t they just come to me and tell me to stay away from the kids?

It didn’t make sense that they would try to separate me by sending a woman.

‘Who on earth could it be?’

There’s no way I could sleep peacefully knowing that someone was targeting me.

These days, my nerves were as sharp as when I was doing mercenary work.

“Mister, what’s wrong with your eyes?”

Perhaps sensing that atmosphere, Haeshi looked at me with wide eyes and asked.

I was momentarily flustered and blinked, unable to answer.

Nairel pointed out Haeshi’s words instead of me.

“Haeshi, you shouldn’t speak so bluntly when pointing something out. We learned that in etiquette class.”

“That’s for situations where we need to be polite. Do we need to be formal with the mister?”

“Uh…?”

“Think about it. We’re comfortable with each other just like you and I are close. It’s the same with the mister.”

Nairel was swayed by Haeshi’s clever words.

Thinking it made sense, Nairel nodded at the absurd statement.

These little brats…?

“Am I close with you guys?”

“Gasp!”

“Then we’re not close?”

It seems they thought we were really close.

“Wow, I’m totally shocked. You even gave us presents. And we’re still not close?”

“Does giving presents make everyone close?”

“Of course!”

“So if a stranger gives you a present, you become best friends from that moment?”

“Tch… that was mean.”

Haeshi’s lips protruded like a carp’s.

Nairel had become genuinely serious, with wrinkles forming between his brows.

Such a young kid already getting wrinkles.

Teasing these little ones was quite fun, and I wanted to keep at it, but I decided to comfort them, fearing they might cry if I teased too much.

“I’m joking. We are close. So don’t start crying.”

It’s such a hassle to comfort kids.

“Do you really mean that?”

Haeshi looks at me with a suspicious gaze, arms crossed.

“I’m telling you it’s true. Have you been fooled your whole life? If I didn’t like you, I wouldn’t have let you come into the store and play in the first place.”

“Hmm, that’s true. You gave us tasty things every time we came, right?”

“Eeng… you scared me.”

Nairel finally relaxed her serious brow and smiled broadly while whining.

Such a serious little one, I tell you.

“So why were your eyes like that, mister?”

“Did you guys tell your parents about me?”

Haeshi rolls his eyes at my question.

“Mister, you still don’t trust us? We promised! We agreed never to tell anyone where the items from your store came from.”

“Both Haeshi and I are keeping our promise. No one knows.”

Haeshi and Nairel declare confidently.

Judging by their attitude, with chins raised high, it didn’t seem like they were lying.

‘It really seems like they haven’t told anyone. Then should I remove their parents from the list of suspects?’

When I assumed their parents were the culprits, the situation seemed so implausible that I didn’t think it was very likely.

“Alright, it seems you’re keeping your promise well. That’s admirable. Should I give you some candy?”

“Do you have something to eat? Please give us some! We’re hungry!”

“Can you make us those egg sandwiches you made last time?”

“…I can make them, but you know this isn’t a restaurant, right?”

“Hehehe.”

“Wow! It’s going to be delicious!! Yay!!”

“…..”

Unable to resist the hungry little ones’ pleading, I reluctantly went upstairs to bring them something to eat.

Leaving the kids eating heartily, I racked my brain to find other suspects.

‘If we exclude the SSRs, the only connection I’ve made is probably… Sasha. But Sasha is completely out of the question.’

Why would Sasha send a woman to me in the first place?

Sasha’s family is also supported by her, so there’s no reason for her to upset me by meddling unnecessarily.

“Ah, I really don’t know.”

Munch munch –

“What don’t you know?”

“…It’s nothing. Focus on eating. Look, he’s stealing all the food. Is he a squirrel? Why is he storing food in his cheeks while eating?”

“Aah! Haeshi!! That’s mine!!”

“Mmfmfmfmfm!!”

As I listened to the kids’ noisy squabbling like background music, I held my throbbing head in my hands.