How to Redeem a Trashy Side Villain

Chapter 75: 20/80

"How's the taste?"

"It's excellent," I answered. "Probably the best Som Tum I've ever had."

"Hahaha. It's a special recipe I inherited from my grandmother and one that I plan on giving to my daughter when I retire."

"You have a daughter? But you look so young."

"What a flirt," she chuckled. "Yeah, my daughter... she attends the academy."

There was no need to say the academy's name because it didn't have one. Just the academy was more than enough for people in this city to understand what she was referring to.

"She does? What a coincidence. So do I," I said as my face lit up with surprise.

"Really? Then perhaps do you know who my daughter is?" she asked.

"What's her name?" I inquired.

"She's... speaking of my daughter, there she is," said the owner as she turned her head towards the stairs.

The restaurant was not only a restaurant but the second floor was the home where the mother-daughter duo lived and slept in.

"Sarakit, come over here," she gestured with her hand.

"What is it?" said Sarakit who was in her pajamas and was stretching her arms while yawning.

It was so late in the day and it looked like she had just awakened.

"Do you recognize my daughter?" asked the owner to which I shook my head.

Sarakit greeted a few customers whose names she knew and when she made it over to my table, she rubbed her eyes. She looked at me with disbelief on her face. She rubbed her eyes again.

"I'm seeing things," she uttered with a monotone voice, rubbing her eyes again.

"Sarakit, you're being rude," said the owner who smacked her firmly on the back.

"Mommy, am I dreaming?" she asked as she reached towards me and pinched me in the cheek.

Her mother smacked her on the back of the head. "Sarakit! What are you doing!?"

"Ow," Sarakit groaned, rubbing her head. "I'm not dreaming?"

"No, you dummy. Stop being rude to the customer."

"Hi," I said. "Nice to meet you."

Sarakit stared at me then she turned back to her mother and asked monotonously, "Mommy, did you find a look-a-like to prank me?"

"What's a prank?" asked her mother who was confused by her daughter's reaction. "And no, this isn't a look-a-like."

"Mommy, why is he here then?"

"Why can't he be here? Is a hero not allowed to eat?" she asked.

"Hero? What are you talking about?"

"Did you not hear about what he did?" asked the owner with a smug look on her face, clearly boastful about the fact that she knew something that her daughter didn't.

"No," responded Sarakit, shaking her head. "Bell, what did you do?"

"He defeated a bad guy. It's all over the news," the owner answered for me. She made it sound simple but that was essentially it.

"Really. Congrats," said Sarakit, giving me a few unenthusiastic claps.

"Wait, if you're not freaking out about what he did then why are you acting so strange?" asked the owner who was confused by her daughter's unordinary reaction.

"Mommy, do you not know who this dude is? And I'm not talking about... whatever he did on the news."

The two of them were an odd pair and they were speaking amongst each other almost as if I wasn't right there listening and watching the entire conversation taking place.

"No," said the owner, shaking her head. "Why?"

"Mommy, this right here is Bell Agnus of the Agnus family."

"...Okay?"

"Mommy... really? That's your reaction. He's an Agnus. A - G - N - U - S. Agnus."

"Sarakit, it's good you know how to spell but... am I supposed to... like... freak out or something?" asked the owner who was confused about what her daughter was trying to convey.

I understood why Sarakit was behaving like this. Who in the world doesn't know about the Agnus family?

"Mommy," she sighed, "this boy here has enough wealth to buy a million of our restaurants without even batting an eye."

"...What?"

"He could kill a thousand people if he wanted to and all the police would do is give him a little slap on the wrist for punishment."

"...What?" said the owner a little louder than before.

"If you think what he did on the news was impressive then I have news for you Mommy. This dude defeated a demon, by himself," said Sarakit with the same monotonous voice.

"...What!?" screamed the owner who looked at me with eyes so big that they popped out of their sockets and were directly in front of my face.

The other customers had all been listening in our conversation because who wouldn't and now, all of them had the same expression on their faces as the owner.

A few of them looked like they were planning on robbing me once I left the restaurant but I really wanted to see them try.

"Yeah, now do you understand why I'm confused he's at our restaurant in the middle of nowhere?"

The owner couldn't even speak. She just slowly nodded her head.

Sarakit turned to me and asked bluntly, "Bell Agnus, what business do you have here in my precious home?"

With a gentle smile, I responded, "Nothing major. I just came here to deal with a certain rascal. A blue one."

That was when I saw the first change in her expression. Her eyes twitched and her heartbeat picked up a little speed but she tried to keep it cool and eased her body.

"Good luck," said Sarakit, giving me a head bow before turning around to leave.

I stopped her from walking any further by saying, "This rascal is in danger. Someone is determined to get revenge... even if it means killing them but the luck of the universe, I overheard the plan and came here to prevent it from happening."

The owner who didn't understand what the context of the conversation was, placed her hand on my shoulder and said, "You're such a good kid helping out those in danger. Do you want to marry my daughter?"

It was just a joke, or maybe not because the owner's eyes told me that she meant what she said.

I laughed and said, "Thank you but I'm engaged."

"Bummer."

Sarakit turned around and asked me, "How do you plan on helping this rascal?"

"I don't know. Perhaps sponsor them with enough money so that they no longer have to commit crimes and provide them with the facility and tools to experiment and make whatever they want to make?"

I could see her gulping at the offer I just made her.

She turned to her mother and said, "Mommy, can I talk to Bell alone for a second? I want to see if I can help him find this person he's searching for."

The owner was confused about what in the world we were talking about but not for a second in her mind did she have doubt that it was about her daughter.

I guess as a mother, you wouldn't expect your daughter to have committed something worthy of inciting a plot for revenge.

"Sure," said the owner. "Would you two like me to bring you some drinks while you talk about this... rascal?"

"No."

"Thank you for the offer though ma'am.."

The two of us walked up the stairs in silence and she went to the end of the hallway and opened the door.

It was a rusty door that creaked.

"Welcome to my room," said Sarakit.

"Where do you make the drugs?" I asked, starting off with a heavy-hitting question right away.

"...I have a rented space a few miles away from here."

I took a seat on the floor because there was nothing in the room other than a mattress on the floor, a shelf of books, and a school uniform that was hung on a rack.

She sat down on the mattress and stared off into the wall.

It was clear that she was uncomfortable by the fact that her secret was known by someone but she couldn't cause a commotion because she was in a shared space with her mother.

"Have you told anyone?" she asked.

"Nope."

"Will you... tell my mother?"

"Depending on your response to my offer," I said with a little cheeky grin on my face.

"What's your offer?"

"As I said, I'll sponsor you, and provide you with the best facility and tools that money can buy. I'll give you a store in the most sought-after part of the city where you can sell whatever potions and creations you make," I repeated my words from earlier.

"...There's no such thing as a free meal. What do you want in return?" she asked, clearly wary of me.

"First and foremost, I'll need you to cease all drug operations. You understand that not only have you been poisoning your own city but have also been putting yourself and your mother at risk?"

"...I had no choice. You wouldn't understand because you've never had to worry about money a day in your life but... I need to get my mother out of this hellhole and the only way out is through the academy. And that isn't exactly free."

She claimed I never struggled financially a day in my life but that was only because she knew one side of my life.

"There are better ways. Aren't you talented at potion-making? Why don't you just focus on that?" I asked.

"Because no one wants to buy a potion made by someone who they don't know. And if they do know who I am, they'd be even less motivated to buy it."

"Why don't you join the program at school that allows you to intern at an alchemy lab? You can make a name for yourself there," I said.

"Because I don't have the time," she said. "My mother needs to take a certain drug every day to keep her memories from deteriorating. I not only have to pay for the academy's tuition but I also have to make enough money every day to afford the ingredients needed to make the drug she needs."

This was information about her that I wasn't aware of.

The novel never mentions her mother's illness.

"Do you understand why I had to do what I had to do now?" she asked. I could see in her eyes that she was defeated and had given herself up to the rotten fate she was forced into.

She knew what she was doing to others with the drugs she made but she couldn't stop.

She couldn't stop for herself but most importantly, she couldn't stop for her mother.

"Then that should make your decision easier. Just let me sponsor you. My conditions for it will be simple. As I said before, quit the drugs."

"That's a piece of cake to do if I don't have to worry about money," she responded.

"Next, I want you to give me a percentage of whatever revenue you make."

"Makes sense. What's the split?" she asked.

"I'm already super rich. I don't really want to rob a fellow student," I smiled. "Just twenty percent."

"You'll let me keep twenty percent?" she asked with a sparkle in her eyes.

"No, I'll keep twenty percent. You can have the rest," I corrected her.

I don't know why she assumed I was going to fleece her with such a terrible contract. Perhaps that's how bad her financial situation was that she was excited about getting to keep twenty percent of the money she makes.

"Are you pranking me?" she asked.

"Why would I be pranking you? Do I look like the kind of person to joke around like this?" I asked.

"...No."

"My final condition is also simple. Just every once in a while, I'll come to you with a request for a specific kind of potion I need you to make. Do you think that'll be possible?" I asked.

"That's easy," she nodded her head.

"So do we have a deal?" I asked, pulling a piece of paper out of my pocket.

She quickly read over the contract and it listed the same conditions as before with a few additional details that just clarified some miscellaneous aspects of the deal.

Worried that I was going to change my mind, she ran to her backpack and pulled out a pen.

Quickly, she signed on every spot she needed to sign then she ran downstairs and came back with her mother's signature as well.

"What did you tell her?" I asked.

"I just told her I needed her signature for a field trip."

"And she believed that?" I asked as I began signing where I needed to sign. Sarakit needed her parent's permission while I didn't because I was considered nobility in a sense.

Nobles can basically do whatever they want when it comes to business without having to ask their parents for permission as soon as they turn ten.

"Great," I said, rolling the paper up and tucking it into my pocket. "Do you have a bank account?"

"...Yes."

"Can I get the details?"

"Sure."

Once I received it, I went onto my phone and transferred enough money into her account to not only last her all the remaining semesters and the academy but also enough to keep the restaurant open for the next hundred years.

"...What!?" Sarakit shrieked, breaking away from that monotonous voice for the first time since I met her.

"See you tomorrow. I'll have everything ready for you including the store."

Before she could regain her sanity, I left the room.