I Became the Moon Goddess' Apostle in a Dark Fantasy

Chapter 64: A Smile Too Warm

"But then, it was time for me to pay." Mr. Ola was getting angrier, "The season was quite peaceful, hence the business was pretty dry."

"Hence, when he came to me asking for the money back," The dwarf reminisced, "I didn’t have enough to pay."

’And he harassed you endlessly?’ Raven made a guess about his story.

"My entire workshop vanished overnight, and there was nothing left."

Pfft!

Cough! Cough!

Raven suddenly exhaled loudly and started coughing crazily.

What the fuck!

That took a turn.

The whole workshop?

Raven was barely holding back his laugh, and when he looked up, he noticed Mr. Ola glaring him down.

The glare was only making it harder to hold his laughter back.

"So, Mr. Marlowe," The dwarf started talking again, "Give me one reason why I should help you out here."

’Not going to lie, if I were in your position, I would not do it for me either.’ Raven put his head down, hiding his twitching corner of the mouth.

But still, he needed that shoulder plate.

So, he racked his brain, looking for an answer.

"Because I am not the same person as my father, Mr. Ola," And he landed with the most generic answer he could find.

"I was mostly raised by my mother and my eldest sister," His voice was firm, as he shared his experience, "And my father only ever loved money over everything, to the point where he..."

He paused over his words, his eyes dimming down, ’Cheated on Dorothy.’

He couldn’t utter these words in front of an outsider.

Some unpleasant memories came pouring into his mind, and he frowned.

His mood turned pensive, and his expressions did too.

Seeing that, the dwarf felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity.

That expression.

Sigh!

"Alrght kid," He said, turning around, "Come back in 3 days, I will have your stuff ready."

Hmm?

"And, the contract?" He asked, confusedly.

"Don’t need it," He said, a grin forming over his face, "After all, if you run away, I will make sure to squeeze it out of your father."

Raven chuckled as he nodded, fetching his Identity Papers back.

"Good luck with dealing against a Marlowe."

...

It was currently evening, and the day was cooling down.

In the same coffeehouse that Raven had visited earlier, two different people were sitting at their place.

A purple-haired, beautiful lady, and a tall, brown-haired, handsome guy.

The atmosphere between them seemed pleasant, as they were chattering and sipping coffee with each other.

Their eye contact was soft, and people around glanced a few times in their direction.

"Do you really think we would get bonuses in our very first month, Janet?" The brown-haired man asked, scratching his chin.

"Mhmm!" Janet nodded, her eyes jolly as ever, "We nearly died during this mission, after all."

"And we killed a high-level accursed," Pevon added promptly.

"Yeah, that too." She nodded. "Although, thinking about it, maybe you all would earn more bonuses than I."

Her eyes were down. "I was basically a sitting duck after using my meager spells."

"Meager?" Pevon barked back, "That was so extremely crucial in that fight, Janet."

"Don’t beat your achievements down like that."

"But, you, Carroll, and Raven did most of the heavy work," She retorted, "And Raven and Zuri did most of the brainwork there."

"I was just petrified by all those scenes."

"You know, Janet," Pevon was still as coolheaded as ever, "We were barely dodging that creature over there."

"If not for your stuns and debuff, we wouldn’t even stand a chance. Not a single attack would have landed."

"But-"

"And it was because of your stun that Raven was able to deliver the final blow." Pevon delivered the final blow to her negativity train.

"..."

"I see," She nodded once.

Then, a serene expression replaced her anxious one.

"Thank you, Pevon," She smiled towards him, "I think I needed that."

Fwish!

Pevon immediately looked up, as blood rose to his face.

It confused Janet.

"Why is that any time I smile, you look away, Pevon?" She asked, fearing the worst.

Maybe he hated her smile and could not bother to look at it.

"Nothing," He replied, looking back after collecting himself, "It’s just a tick of mine."

"Your face is red, though," She asked.

And in the most deadpan voice, Pevon replied, "It’s a bit hot in here."

Hehe!

They both looked at the source of this little giggle.

It was a young waitress, in her late 20s, who paused in front of them, looking at them with interest.

"Ah, don’t mind me," She quickly replied, "Please continue."

Ahem!

Pevon cleared his throat, beyond embarrassed about this situation.

He had noticed her presence approaching when Janet had smiled, but he assumed she would pass away quickly.

She didn’t.

But at least she didn’t hear anything before that.

"It’s crazy how Raven’s name was mentioned in almost every sentence just now." Immediately changing the topic, he said, dismissing the waitress.

"Now that you say it, it is indeed impressive," Janet replied, her expression reflecting her words.

"I thought he was just a spoiled rich person who had achieved this rank through his connection to her eminence, Cardinal Eve Marlowe." She thought back to their first few interactions.

"Ah, don’t take it the wrong way," She quickly realized that she was talking about Raven like this in front of his best friend, "I didn’t mean it that way. I did understand that he was a wonderful person since our first meeting as well."

"I just did not expect him to be that competent."

"Don’t worry, I know." Pevon’s collected works calmed her down again, "And I had way worse first impressions of him."

"But something changed a few months ago." He remembered that incident.

"Changed what?" Janet asked.

But Pevon shook his head, "Nothing, but just know, whatever it was, it changed everything about him."

"Oh, I am sorry for asking," She apologized instantly.

"Don’t sweat it," He replied, "It’s just not my place to talk about that."

Mhmm!

"Anyways, tell me more about that cat you stumbled upon a few days ago." Pevon changed the topic, and Janet moved on, too.

Their conversation continued from here and went on for a while.

"Bye-bye, Pevon, it was a wonderful evening I had," Janet said, climbing up to her horse.

"Me too," Pevon waved. "It was wonderful indeed."

"See you again."

"I would love to. Bye-bye."