Chapter 30
“Aref, you’re doing it too? How far did you get?”
“Um… I filled up this much.”
Aref shyly showed his salary account book, which he always kept with him.
“Wow! You’re already on your third one? Ugh, I need to catch up fast…!”
Rubens and Aref, both eight years old, quickly bonded as they compared their logs and chatted.
Watching them from nearby, Nivellia smiled. Then Al walked over to her.
“Hi, Nini.”
“Hi!”
Nivellia greeted him with her usual cheer.
“You’re earning your allowance through your salary book too, right?”
“Yup! And I’m investing, too!”
“That’s amazing. Can I take a look at your account book?”
Nivellia gladly handed it over.
As Al flipped through the pages, admiration spread across his face.
“…Wow, you’ve been working really hard.”
He saw records of all sorts of jobs—pulling weeds, carrying dishes, delivering newspapers, hauling bags, polishing shoes, organizing books.
Even helping with laundry and cleaning the bathroom.
Of course, the tasks must’ve been chosen to fit what a four-year-old can handle…
Still, Nivellia had never turned down a task. She always gave her best to whatever was asked of her.
Even as a child, she showed a strong sense of responsibility.
So the salary book teaches more than just the value of work, Al thought.
It also taught commitment—the importance of seeing something through.
He handed the book back with a smile.
“Nini, you’re awesome. Really impressive.”
“Hehe! I know, right? I knowww!
Nivellia spun around in place, flustered by the praise.
Al grinned at her spinning and then noticed Aref, who was watching from a short distance.
He looked awkward, like a puppy who needed to pee but didn’t know how to ask.
But as soon as Nivellia walked over, Aref’s expression instantly relaxed.
Ah…
Al suppressed a sly smile.
“Al, what’s up with you?”
Soles had joined him and asked curiously.
“I’m just happy. I think hanging out with you guys is the most fun I’ve had in a long time.”
“So… we’re friends?”
Nivellia asked, wide-eyed.
“Weren’t you and he supposed to be my subordinates?”
“Pfft—HAHA!”
Al burst out laughing.
Nivellia blinked, confused by his reaction, and Aref subtly stepped behind her protectively.
Still chuckling, Al finally caught his breath.
“If she were here, it would’ve been even more fun.”
“Leticia?”
Soles asked.
Leticia was a noble girl from one of the Deiamor family’s few loyal vassal families. She was currently away, staying at her family’s estate.
“She’s like a little sister to me, yeah. But I meant Rima.”
At the mention of Rima’s name, Aref’s face subtly stiffened.
“She was going to come with us today, but she’s working.
She’s also earning money through the salary book.”
“Rima went with the maids to the plaza today,”
Rubens added, handing a cookie to Nivellia.
She broke it in half and gave one piece to Aref.
“What kind of person is Rima?” she asked.
Before taking a bite, Aref answered quietly:
“…I don’t really know her. We’re not close.”
“These packages should be sent to the Deigladys estate in two days. The rest can go to this address…”
“Could you write it here in the ledger? This address is in the southeast region. Even at the slowest, it should arrive within five days.”
While a maid from the Deigladys estate handled business with the tailor, Rima stood quietly beside her.
With her hair tied in twin tails with white ribbons, she waited politely.
The tailor’s employees looked at her fondly.
“So well-behaved for someone so young.”
“Want a candy?”
“Whoever raised you must be proud. You’re a lovely child.”
Rima accepted the candy with a small bow and said thank you sweetly. When praised, she blushed and swayed shyly.
“Th-thank you!”
After the maid finished her business, the two left the shop together.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.”
“Not at all! I saw lots of cool stuff. It was fun!”
“Thanks for being so patient. Now let’s—”
“Um—excuse me!”
Before the maid could suggest they return, Rima quickly interrupted, her voice earnest.
“Can we look around here a little more? Just for a bit?”
“Hmm?”
The maid looked unsure.
“I’ve never been to a market this big before…”
Rima lowered her head and nervously fidgeted with her fingers in front of her chest. She glanced up briefly, then quickly dropped her gaze again.
The maid, looking at her sympathetically, spoke with a sigh—like she was making a difficult decision.
“Just for a little while, alright?”
Rima nodded eagerly.
“First, take my ha—”
“Then let’s go over there!”
“R-Rima!”
“Hurry!”
“Wait—slow down, not so fas—!”
Before the maid could grab her hand, Rima had already disappeared into the crowd. Flustered, the maid chased after her, but Rima slipped further and further away.
“Rima!”
She could hear the maid calling out from behind, worried and urgent.
“Phew… finally gave her the slip.”
Rima ducked into a nearby alley and pressed herself against the wall.
Then she pulled a hat from inside her clothes and tucked in her pink hair.
“I’ll make her my personal maid later, so just hang in there for now. I’ll ask my father to forgive you.”
Trying to block out the voice calling her name, Rima hurried off toward her destination.
She couldn’t afford to miss this opportunity.
“Who would’ve thought the salary log would come in handy like this…!”
When she first received it, she wanted to burn it right away.
But since her real identity was still a secret, the salary log had become her only excuse to leave the estate—by pretending to help the maids with errands.
“First, I need to get information!”
Rima scanned the nearby shop signs.
“A general store… where’s the general store…?”
In “Is It Okay If the Adopted Daughter Is Loved?”, the information broker who became Rima’s strongest ally operated out of a shop disguised as a general store.
He was a young man in his twenties. He had two younger siblings—both of whom he cherished, even though they weren’t related by blood.
His sister had been sick for a long time, and he had been gathering money and information to find a cure.
“If I introduce someone who can make a cure, he’ll become my ally. And his younger brother… will totally fall for me.”
Rima reviewed her plan in her head and stopped in front of the general store.
“…This doesn’t look like what I imagined.”
She hesitated.
She’d described it in her writing as run-down but with an old-fashioned charm. The store in front of her just looked like a plain, ordinary shop.
Still, she walked in.
“Welcome!”
A plump middle-aged man greeted her with a cheerful smile.
Rima glanced around, then leaned in and whispered,
“Five old wooden canes, please. One made from oak, and the other four with black socks on the ends.”
She confidently recited the passphrase to meet the information broker in person.
“What?”
The man raised one eyebrow.
“What are you saying, kid? Don’t mess around.”
“…Excuse me?”
“Aren’t you running an errand for someone?”
“Uh, no—I mean…”
Flustered, Rima repeated the passphrase.
But the man just stared at her, even more confused and a little annoyed.
Then he waved his arms.
“If you’re here to mess around, get out. Don’t make trouble.”
“N-no! That’s not it!”
Was my passphrase wrong?
But I made it up myself!
Panicking, Rima tried the phrase several more times. Eventually, she even shouted:
“I’m here to see the information broker!”
But in the end, she was kicked out of the store.
“……”
She stood outside in disbelief, staring up at the general store.
But nothing changed.
“W-what’s going on…?”
In denial, Rima shook her head and stepped back—only to bump into something.
“Oh my! Are you alright?”
A woman with light brown hair, streaked with white, looked down at her with gentle green eyes that blinked slowly in concern.
She looked too young to be elderly, but a bit too old to be called middle-aged.
“……”
Rima was frozen in place, unable to say a word.
The woman studied her for a moment, then asked,
“I’m sorry, but I heard you shouting in the store earlier.
Were you trying to find the information broker?”
“Uh, well, I…”
As Rima tried to deny it and make a quick escape— “Then would you come with me?”
The woman gave her a soft smile.
“I work for the information broker, dear.”
Still reeling from the shock at the general store, Rima had no choice but to follow the woman.
She just didn’t want to stay there any longer.
“Who… are you, ma’am?”
Rima had lost so much energy she couldn’t even keep up her usual cutesy tone.
“I’m a janitor for the information broker.”
“A janitor?”
Rima didn’t even try to hide her disappointment.
Now that she looked more closely, the woman’s hair was just a boring shade of brown. No way someone with a special role had hair like that.
“We’re not supposed to bring in outsiders… but you looked so desperate.”
The place the woman took her to… was a shoe shop.
Its worn but charming facade was exactly what Rima had pictured for the general store in her novel.
They went up to the second floor.
A young man was already there. As soon as he saw them, he frowned.
“Cleaner! Who’s this?”
“She said she wanted to meet the head of the information network.”
“And you just brought her here? She’s an outsider!”
The man’s voice rose sharply, clearly angry.
