How to Live as a Knight After the Ending

Chapter 156: The Ghost of the Rainy Season (1)

Lorraine’s eyes widened at Osian’s sudden question, then she shrugged, as if asking the obvious.

“Is there a reason to make a lot of money? The more the better.”

“Even money has a purpose, it just depends on how you use it.”

“It’s just nice to have a lot of money. It’s a testament to how hard I’ve worked, right? Besides, if I have a lot of money, I can buy whatever I want. I can eat a lot of delicious food, buy pretty clothes, get expensive accessories…….”

“None of that has anything to do with you.”

Lorraine, who had been chattering excitedly, fell silent at Osian’s sharp point.

The corners of Lorraine’s eyes twitched. It was a fleeting moment, but Osian could see it.

“Uh, huh? What do you mean?”

“You always say that, but in reality, have you never bought expensive clothes, goods, or cosmetics? You never indulge in luxury or pleasure, and you always have weapons on your person. You must have made a lot of money, but I’ve never seen you spend it.”

It may seem like he doesn’t care about Lorraine, but that wasn’t the case at all.

Despite how she appears, Lorraine is a fixer who joined Violet Fox right before Osian.

Lorraine herself tried to act like a senior, and even tried to help Osian in many ways.

It’s not like she didn’t want to get a sense of what the youngest newcomer was capable of.

But just as Lorraine was trying to figure out Osian, Osian was trying to figure out Lorraine.

The Lorraine he knew, at least, was a woman who talked the talk, but never lived the luxury.

If she spends money at all, it’s on modifications to her primary firearms or bullets.

Considering it was a necessary expense of her job, Lorraine was rather frugal.

“Heh. I didn’t know that. I didn’t realize you’d been keeping such a close eye on me.”

“I could tell even if I didn’t look closely, but I can’t see why you’re so obsessed with money.”

“I told you, there’s no reason, I just like money.”

Lorraine quickly changed the subject, as if she didn’t want to talk about it anymore.

“Oh, by the way, I have a client today, so I’d better get going. Thanks for the tour of the warehouse, and I’ll stop by later!”

Lorraine finished her sentence before Osian could say anything else and he just watched her go.

The rain was still pouring down from the windows beyond the warehouse.

The rainy season it’s not yet over.

*

-Shoot!

The rain came down hard. It was like a hole in the sky, and the drops were so thick that it was hard to tell.

Back in her quarters, Lorraine frowned at the weather by the window.

“Ugh. No wonder it’s suddenly raining so hard. This is why it’s so hard to go out on a mission.”

The request to Osian wasn’t just a lie to get out of the situation.

Lorraine actually had a job. It was an escort job, a simple one that required her to stand guard for a set amount of time.

“Yuck. That doesn’t feel good.”

The rain had been weaker lately, but now it was coming down harder, just as she was supposed to be fulfilling a request.

She sensed something ominous.

Still, she couldn’t ignore the job she’d already been given, so she prepared herself for it.

She pulled on her boots and slid her pistol into a holster at her waist.

Her long, ivory hair was pulled back into a bun and a hooded poncho was pulled over it.

Over her face, she wore a mask. She made a humming sound, and a modulated voice came out.

“Mmm. Good.”

Few people would recognize Lorraine as a woman in the puffy poncho that hid her hair and obscured her figure.

‘I don’t usually go this far out of my way for a request.’

Today, something felt strange and she couldn’t feel at ease unless she did something like this.

Plus, this client was a pain in the ass.

‘I hate it, but I have to work hard to make money.’

Lorraine looked around her room. It was just the right size for a single person.

There were no trinkets or fancy items in the room, which made it feel rather empty.

It was even worse than Osian’s housing, even though Lorraine must have made a lot of money.

Lorraine had been living here for years.

“Well, then. Let’s go.”

The last thing she packed was her favorite weapon, her sniper rifle.

Lorraine’s sniper rifle was a fairly expensive item, even in Tirna, as she wouldn’t compromise on this even if it meant saving money elsewhere.

With all her weapons in hand, Lorraine made her way to her client’s location.

The rain pounded down on her, but her poncho was waterproof, so she didn’t get wet.

Every breath she took dampened the inside of her mask, but in this weather, it didn’t seem to matter if she took it off.

‘If I finish today, how many days off can I take?’

Lorraine shook her head, though the thought was suddenly tempting.

Normally, she would have given herself a little leeway, but after what she’d seen recently, she didn’t feel like it.

‘If the newest kid on the block is doing this, I’m not going to stand idly by!’

Since arriving at Violet Fox, Osian has solved one big case after another.

Some of them weren’t his original assignments, but he was already a veteran fixer by the time he finished them.

Lorraine felt jealous whenever she saw him, but she was actually quite proud of him. At the same time, she reflected on her own behavior.

If Osian was working so hard, she wondered if she had stretched herself too thin lately.

She needed to finish today’s request successfully, if only to ease her anxiety. This is what she told herself.

When she arrived at the appointment, Lorraine was greeted by the first people to arrive.

They were rough-looking men with black umbrellas on a rainy day.

They saw Lorraine from a distance and reached for their weapons, but then recognized her and moved out of the way.

There were a total of three black vehicles at the location.

The back window of the middle one slid open and a young man in his mid-twenties waved at her.

“Lady Lorraine. You look beautiful today, so please get in, I’ve saved a seat for you.”

Lorraine was glad she had worn her mask.

Otherwise, her distorted face would have been all over the place as she heard the words.

‘That’s what the mask is for.’

The car door opened and the man patted the seat with his hand and motioned for her to sit over here.

Lorraine didn’t want to, but her client had asked her to, so she got in and sat down.

Soon, the others entered the vehicle and the car pulled away.

“Lady Lorraine. Thank you so much for taking my case today.”

The client, Armand Jaycee.

He’s a tycoon, as they say. His father and grandfather were both wealthy, and he was the owner of a fairly prominent business in Tirna.

Even though he has yet to fully inherit the family fortune, Armand manages several businesses.

His good looks and eloquent speech also made him well known in the social circles of high society.

He was the kind of man who received love letters from the opposite sex every day.

A man of his caliber didn’t need Lorraine as his escort.

Lorraine may be a brilliant fixer, but she doesn’t deserve to be treated like this by a man of Armand’s caliber.

So why did Armand choose to have her as his bodyguard, and why did he give her a seat next to him that even his closest aides were not allowed to sit in?

The reason is simple.

“How about, have you thought about my suggestion from earlier?”

Armand asks her softly, his gaze soothing.

His pearly white teeth shone with each smile.

“Lady Lorraine. I truly believe it would be a great waste for someone of your caliber to remain a fixer, and only I, Armand Jaycee, can offer you the position you deserve.”

The tone of Armand’s voice to Lorraine is one of blatant courtship.

This young man, Armand, is now very much in love with the woman named Lorraine Ponk.

Lorraine was uncomfortable with Armand’s gaze, and looked away from the window through her mask.

This was why she hadn’t been sure whether or not to accept today’s request.

If nothing else, listening to the rich man’s ramblings made her skin crawl in more ways than one.

“Lady Lorraine, have you decided, or do I need to give you more time to make it?”

“I thought I told you before.”

Lorraine’s voice, returning to Armand’s words, was cold and sour, quite surprising to anyone who knew her.

“My choice hasn’t changed, so don’t be so stubborn.”

“Lady Lorraine. I’ve said it before, and I always mean it. I don’t find people like you anywhere.”

Armand was sincere; he wasn’t simply falling for Lorraine’s looks and trying to make her his own.

This was why Lorraine was so uncomfortable with him.

It would have been easier for her if he’d approached her with nothing more than carnal desire.

“You can become the mistress of the Jaycee family. Is that so unpleasant?”

Armand’s words were astonishing.

It meant that Armand was serious enough to take Lorraine as his wife.

If the others had overheard, they would have asked Lorraine why she refused his proposal.

Wasn’t it every young lady’s dream to marry a wealthy master?

Given Lorraine’s money-grubbing nature, a better opportunity will never come along in her life.

As it should be, Lorraine’s emotions were unmoved. Behind her mask, she glanced at Armand with a cold gaze and said firmly.

“I’ve told you many times, but I refuse.”

“Why is that? Is it because I’m not good enough for you yet? If so, please tell me. I’ll make it look as good as possible for you.”

Lorraine barely suppressed a sigh at Armand’s plaintive tone.

Who wouldn’t want to be courted by a handsome, wealthy man of the opposite sex?

Lorraine even dreamed of it sometimes.

But

‘For me, it’s a luxury.’

Lorraine didn’t need to say that, so she ended the conversation without responding.

Armand smiled curiously at her, even though she hadn’t needed to say it.

“Hoo-hoo. Saying so does not extinguish my passion. You’ll see, Lady Lorraine. One day I’ll be the right man for you, a very nice man, and I’ll make you an offer you’ll never be able to refuse.”

Another thing that bothered her about this man came to mind.

His head was so full of vain romance, so unbecoming of a man of wealth, and that he wore it so proudly on his sleeve.

Lorraine stared out the window.

She could see Tirna’s figure, drenched in rain and covered in dark gray.

This request is nothing. It was the kind of easy assignment where she’s just supposed to sit next to her client until he reaches his next destination.

The other guards would take care of the rest.

Just as she was thinking that, something caught Lorraine’s eye.

“……Stop!”

Instinct, combined with the experience of crossing multiple lines of fire made Lorraine immediately shout out a threat.

-Poof!

The driver’s head explodes at the same time.

-Bam!

The driver’s head fell and the steering wheel twisted sharply to the side. The car skidded along the sidewalk and slammed into the wall.

The bodyguard car, which had been following closely behind, screeched to a halt.

“What the hell…….”

As Armand panicked at the sudden unfolding of death, Lorraine grabbed him by the hair and yanked him down.

“Watch out, sniper!”

The man in the passenger seat opened the door and got out. Immediately, blood splashed through the windshield.

Lorraine’s eyes darted around but the sound of the shot was muffled by the rain.

If a bullet of that caliber had been used it would have made a loud sound.

‘The gunshot was fired from so far away that the rain drowned out the sound.’

At least 500 meters, she estimated.

‘How did he make such a precise shot in such poor visibility in this weather?’

She was a sniper of considerable skill. No, she’d call herself quite good, almost superhuman.

The problem was, in a typical raid like this, the sniper wasn’t the only one.

‘The sniper’s role is to hold their ankles. For a full-scale raid…….’

Lorraine lowered herself, pressing on Armand’s head.

Two bullets shattered the glass, piercing the spots where her and Armand’s heads had been.

Lorraine quickly drew her pistol from her holster and fired in the direction the bullets came from.

-Bang! Bang!

The shots ricocheted off the shattered glass but Lorraine’s expression was not pleased.

‘I didn’t hit him. He ducked as soon as I fired.’

Lorraine felt like she was fighting an insubstantial ghost.

“Stay here and crouch down, it’s not safe to go out.”

“Yes, yes.”

-Clunk.

Lorraine reached for her sniper rifle and cocked it.

“I don’t know who they are, but they’re not easy, are they?”

Then I’m going full throttle.