I Kidnapped the Hero’s Women

"Kyaaack..."
"Ah, my arm... my leg..."

The thugs, drenched in blood, lay sprawled on the ground, moaning in pain.
In the middle of this, Yuria stood firm, exhaling deeply as she wiped her fists with a handkerchief.

"Ugh, there’s blood under my nails again..."

This was bad.
I didn’t even realize blood had gotten under my nails while I was so focused on the fight...
It’s going to take forever to get this blood out.

"Should I just pull them out?"

Even if I pull out the nails, the wounds will heal quickly.
But while flesh regenerates, nails don’t grow back immediately, so I’d have to wait for them to grow again.
On second thought, they look kind of nice, like I’ve dyed them with henna...
Yuria hesitated for a moment before deciding to give up on pulling them out.

"Ahh... What a savage..."
"Then why are you using violence on our client?"
"That bastard ran off with our money..."
"Even so, violence is bad."
"He ran off with 500 million Lark..."
"That’s a bit much."

Wow.
They have enough money to hire bodyguards but can’t pay back their debt?
Even Yuria thought their client was quite the lowlife.
But still, a job is a job.
Debt collection was for the collectors to handle, and my job was to protect my client, and I was just sticking to that.

"So, what should we do today? Should we go to court? Or should we settle here?"
"If we settle... How...?"
"Just pretend nothing happened. No criminal complaints, no protection fees. We’ll also blacklist this client, so once the contract ends, we won’t care what happens after that."
"Fine then..."

After a dramatic negotiation,
Yuria shook hands with the blood-soaked thugs.

They borrowed money, hired bodyguards, and used them to fight off thugs sent for debt collection?
They were a client I’d never deal with again.
It was only natural they’d be put on the blacklist.

"Excuse me, but can you call a doctor...?"
"Would you like to be treated by me instead of a doctor? The fee’s a bit high, but it’s much faster and more effective than a doctor’s treatment."
"Is that alright? What if we attack again after we recover?"
"Then we knock them out again and collect the treatment fee."

Using her healing abilities, Yuria punched each thug in the head one by one.
As a result, the thugs quickly recovered, becoming perfectly fine.
After paying the treatment fees one by one, they sluggishly walked away with weak steps.

"Whoa... Now I get why Senior Yuria’s earnings are so high..."

The trainee bodyguard, who had been silently watching, quickly pulled out his notebook and began to take notes.
So, even the enemy attacking the client was treated like a money pot?
It was an income collection method I’d never imagined.

Oh, but isn’t this something only Senior Yuria can do?
It seemed pointless to take notes now, right?
Realizing this a little too late, the trainee quietly put the notebook back in his pocket.

"Trainee, listen up. I’m leaving for the day."
"Huh? What? I didn’t catch that."
"We just had an intense battle, right? In that battle, I suffered many injuries. My knuckle bones were broken multiple times, and my elbows and knees took several heavy blows."
"Yes..."

An intense battle? Wasn’t this just one-sided beating?
Injuries? Didn’t you hurt yourself while you were beating up the thugs?
Though the trainee wanted to say this, he decided to stay silent and listen until the end.

"Therefore, I’m going home early to recover, and trainee, please charge the client for the treatment fees. We had a contract that treatment fees are separate if injuries occur."
"But you’re already fully healed, aren’t you?"
"I healed myself, so that’s why. My healing abilities are also a service I sell for money, so it’s only natural that a fee applies."
"Ah..."

If I had used my healing powers on someone else, I would have made money.
But since I used it on myself, it only made sense that I would lose that much.
There were no issues with the contract, so Yuria was completely unapologetic.

Aslan Vermont made money this way too.
Though it looked like fraud from the outside, he cleverly covered every possible escape route and avoided responsibility, using skillful methods.
Working as his employee and spending time at the Vermont mansion, I had learned a lot from him, and this was one of those lessons.@@novelbin@@

"This is the billing statement. For the 36 fractures, the total cost is..."

Leaving the final details to the trainee, Yuria was able to leave with a clear conscience.

Thinking about the earnings for today, she couldn’t help but smile.
The money she had earned working at Vermont Security had already built up quite a bit.
At this rate, it would be enough to pay for the rest of her tuition for the semester.

In that case, shouldn’t the sponsorship from the dark man go to a child who actually needs it instead of me?
She subtly brought up the topic, but the dark man firmly stated that he had no intention of sponsoring anyone else, and that he would continue supporting her.

Now that I’m not poor anymore, is there really a need to keep receiving his support? She had asked, and his reply was:

• "I didn’t decide to sponsor you because you’re poor and pitiful. I decided to support you because I personally like you, Yuria. I’ve never regretted this decision, and I have no intention of withdrawing my support."

"Ugh..."

Remembering his response, Yuria’s face turned bright red.

If he started sponsoring me because he particularly liked me, it might mean he sees me as something more than just a charity case...
Could he possibly see me as more than just a child in need?
Her heart raced with excitement as she imagined the possibility.

"I really want to meet the dark man soon..."

At the same time, her chest tightened, and she was suddenly filled with conflicting emotions.
She wanted to meet him as soon as possible.
To meet him in person and tell him how she felt.
But why did the dark man say he wouldn’t meet her until she graduated...?

Could it be that the dark man is actually someone I really, really dislike? That he’s hiding his identity to approach me gradually, building our relationship and raising my affection for him?

"The dark man’s friend keeps hitting on me..."

Does the dark man know that his friend, Aslan Vermont, is clearly showing affection for her...?

At first, her plan was to save Charlotte and Yuria from the evil count and take the position of the countess.
But now, she had long given up on that foolish idea.
Still, Aslan Vermont’s affection for her hadn’t changed, and this had become quite a troubling situation.

Now that she knew Aslan Vermont wasn’t a bad person, despite his rough appearance, and understood why Charlotte and Yuria found him charming,
It was even more confusing why he was interested in her.

Why is he showing interest in me when Charlotte and Yuria are right there?
Is Aslan Vermont really a playboy?
Surely, the dignified dark man would never act like that...
The more she thought about it, the more frustrated she became.

"I really don’t like this..."

She didn’t want to accept even the smallest bit of affection and considered cutting ties with him completely, but if she did that, she’d never see Charlotte and Yuria again.
She figured the only way to handle this was to confess to the dark man and thwart Aslan Vermont’s attempts...
But the problem was, there were still three years before she could meet the dark man.

In the meantime, she had to endure Aslan Vermont’s constant affection.
She felt guilty as if she were betraying Charlotte and Yuria.
It was so painful...
Yuria ended up on the verge of tears.

"I wish he’d just confess to me already..."

If only Aslan Vermont would confess directly, she could reject him politely.
But now, with him just being subtly nice, rejecting him felt like overreacting.
And if she claimed he was just being kind because he liked her as a child, she couldn’t deny that either...

Feeling lost, Yuria sighed deeply.

At that moment, someone blocked her path, and a large shadow loomed over her.
Startled, Yuria swallowed hard.

"Saint!"
"Yes?"

In front of her stood a group of priests in ceremonial attire.
They all kneeled and bowed to Yuria in unison, leaving her utterly confused.
What on earth is happening now...?