Ch. 7 Imperfect Me
by AfuhfuihgsChapter 7 – Imperfect Me
“You can only have two per person.”
That was what my mother said when she saw me returning with a bag of Schneeballen.
Anneliese looked dissatisfied with the fact that she could only have two, but I didn’t really care.
I liked sweets, but not as much as other girls.
After handing the bag of pastries to a maid, I returned to my room with Isabel.
I changed out of my outdoor clothes into lighter indoor wear and headed to my desk.
I opened a notebook I had taken out of the drawer and sank into thought.
What should I do in this loop?
There were several options.
I could move alongside Angelica, the protagonist of this loop.
I could keep my distance from her and maintain a moderate relationship.
Or I could take an entirely independent route and act as a separate force.
Each option had its pros and cons.
What would be the best approach?
I twirled the fountain pen in my hand, lost in thought.
Achieving additional achievements in this loop would be difficult.
I might get lucky and stumble upon a hint, but that was relying on luck.
So, I needed to gather information.
And to gather information, I needed influence.
Of course, I had the Zwei Krahen card.
But that alone wasn’t enough.
The Krahen were good pawns, but there were limits to the information they could collect.
I had trained some spies to gather information over a wider range, but their numbers were small.
I needed an organization that could quickly gather information on a larger scale.
Expanding the Krahen was an option, but it wasn’t the best solution.
A newspaper company had its limits, and as it grew, the cost of running it would increase.
With more employees, controlling information would become harder, and conducting secret activities would become more difficult.
So, I needed a new organization.
An organization that could gather information and carry out covert activities with ease.
Building one from scratch would take time.
It wasn’t urgent, but there was no reason to take it slow.
Instead of creating one, I could take over an existing organization.
And then mold it to my liking.
As it happened, there was a perfect candidate.
A small gang that had recently settled in Zeitlitz.
They were just a group of foreigners who couldn’t find work and had banded together to commit petty crimes.
Given the good security in Zeitlitz, they couldn’t cause much trouble.
They had turned to crime because they couldn’t find jobs and didn’t want to starve.
I decided to make good use of them.
It would probably be a good deal for them too.
As long as they were paid well, they wouldn’t refuse even illegal or rough work.
Of course, if I went to the capital, there would be more experienced and capable people who had been in the underworld for a long time.
Recruiting them would be easier and more convenient since they already had a foundation.
But it was difficult for me to reach out to the capital right now.
I could make an excuse to visit the capital for sightseeing and stay for a while.
But controlling and managing an organization there would take too much time.
Plus, I needed to stay in Zeitlitz for a few years.
Even if I took over an organization in the capital, managing it would be challenging.
So, it was wiser to build a small organization in Zeitlitz and expand to the capital later.
With my plan decided, it was time to act.
The day after visiting the Krahen, I went out again.
With Isabel and a knight as my escort, I headed to the slums of Zeitlitz.
Though called slums, it wasn’t a place filled with derelict buildings and beggars like in novels.
It was just a street of old, worn-out buildings and poor laborers struggling to make ends meet.
I instructed the coachman to take us deep into the slums, and we arrived at a tavern.
Wilhelm und Bach—a cheap tavern you could find anywhere, but it held a special place in this slum.
It was a gathering spot for the local gangs.
“…”
When I opened the door and entered, the noisy chatter died down as if it had never existed.
The people drinking and playing cards fell silent, watching me cautiously with their mouths shut.
In novels or comics, some fool would have picked a fight, saying this wasn’t a place for nobles.
But everyone here stayed silent, only rolling their eyes nervously.
It wasn’t because they were smarter than the dumb thugs in stories.
In fact, in some past loops, there had been such incidents.
So why were they so quiet now?
It was because of the knight standing behind me.
Of course, I knew they would try to pick a fight.
So, to avoid trouble, I made sure they wouldn’t dare to speak up in the first place.
A towering figure over two meters tall, with large horns symbolizing dragon blood.
No fool would dare to pick a fight after seeing his intense, fiery gaze.
Odilo Franz Rendulic, a knight from Württemberg.
Odilo was originally one of the knights who had come with my mother when she married.
Despite his appearance, he had a fondness for children, though unfortunately, children were scared of him.
With his massive build and intimidating face, it was no wonder most kids were terrified of him.
That’s why he was so happy when I asked him to be my escort.
Odilo was skilled, but his appearance alone was enough to deter anyone from picking a fight.
I walked to the central table in the tavern.
It was conveniently empty.
As I stood in front of the table, Isabel quietly pulled out a chair for me.
The old chair creaked and wobbled under my light 12-year-old frame.
At least it didn’t feel like it would break immediately.
After sitting down, I glanced around the tavern.
The people inside were all watching me nervously, holding their breath.
Some were cautiously reaching for weapons—knives, clubs, and even a few pistols.
The atmosphere was tense, ready to explode at the slightest provocation.
Of course, even if they all attacked, Isabel and Odilo would take care of them in minutes.
But I wasn’t here to start a fight.
I spotted a man crouching in a corner, ready to flee.
He had grayish hair, round ears, and looked like a rat.
(tl: could be reference for konchita singer)
“Konchita.”
“…Y-yes?!”
The middle-aged Retti man, Konchita, answered nervously.
He seemed surprised that I knew his name.
His eyes widened as he looked at me, but when he saw Odilo behind me, he gulped and looked away.
“Could you call Luciano for me?”
“Yes! I’ll go right away!”
At my request, Konchita hurried upstairs.
He was in such a rush that I thought he might trip and fall.
He probably planned to call Luciano down and then escape without coming back.
But I had no intention of letting him go.
“Isabel, make sure the rat doesn’t escape.”
“Yes.”
At my instruction, Isabel left the tavern.
It seemed Konchita had already tried to flee.
He was fast, I’ll give him that.
But soon, someone came down the stairs.
A man with thinning brown hair streaked with gray and a wrinkled face.
His sly, fox-like eyes narrowed as he saw me sitting at the central table.
Luciano Bruska, the old fox of Zeitlitz.
“Come, sit.”
“…You asked to see me?”
At my invitation, Luciano sat across from me.
He cautiously watched me, maintaining a calm demeanor, but I could tell he was uneasy.
He had a good poker face, but I knew his true nature.
The first time I met him, I had been fooled by his act and thought he was a big shot.
But he was just a small-time thug with stiff facial muscles and poor emotional expression.
Still, he was the one leading the gangs in Zeitlitz.
I needed his cooperation for my plans.
“From now on, you’ll work under me. Your men too.”
“Haha… Miss, what are you—”
Luciano tried to ask for an explanation, but I ignored him and placed a pouch on the table.
It was a cheap leather pouch you could find anywhere.
But its contents were anything but ordinary.
Luciano gave me a puzzled look, but I remained silent, gesturing for him to open it.
When he did, his eyes widened.
“This is…?!”
“It’s worth about 2,000 marks if you sell it all.”
The pouch was filled with various uncut gemstones, easy to sell without drawing attention.
Luciano stared at the gems, then glanced at me nervously.
He had probably never seen so much money in his life.
Of course, this wasn’t for him to keep.
His men would all come under my command.
“I can give you more, but greed brings ruin.”
“Yes, yes. Of course…”
Luciano nodded eagerly.
“Do a good job, and I’ll give you more. So don’t try to keep it all for yourself—share it with your men.”
At the promise of more money, Luciano’s eyes lit up.
The gang members, who had been quietly listening, began to murmur excitedly.
“So, what’s your answer?”
“Anything you say, miss!”
He replied as if ready to prostrate himself on the floor.
“I’ll send someone later to tell you what to do.”
With that, I stood up.
Luciano simply nodded, not daring to ask anything.
As I was about to leave, I remembered something and turned back.
The tense atmosphere returned as the gang members watched me nervously.
I looked at them and spoke slowly.
“Oh, and from now on, no more petty crimes. I’ll give you enough money.”
Yes, I had taken over the gang, but I didn’t want to become a criminal.
I needed hands to do dirty work in the shadows—gathering secret information, spying on people, and acquiring hard-to-get items.
Of course, I might ask them to do some dirty work occasionally.
But I didn’t plan to overdo it.
Not out of morality or justice—I hadn’t lived a life virtuous enough to care about such things.
I just didn’t want to draw too much attention.
At least, not for a while.
Outside the tavern, Isabel was holding onto Konchita.
The old rat, bound with thin chains, trembled as he looked at me pitifully.
“Miss! I’m sorry! I won’t run away again! Please forgive me! Please…!”
The old rat rolled on the ground, begging desperately.
What a coward.
I wasn’t even going to kill him—what was he so scared of?
But his cowardice could be a strength.
It meant he knew how to survive by sensing danger.
“Konchita, I’m not angry.”
“Thank you! Thank you, miss!”
Konchita replied happily.
I wasn’t angry.
But that didn’t mean I would tolerate him running away.
“I really hate being inconvenienced. Do you understand?”
Don’t run away and cause me trouble.
Konchita, understanding my meaning, nodded with a pale face.
“Yes! Yes! Of course! I’ll never do it again!”
He nodded desperately.
He was a dirty, insignificant old rat, but he had his uses.
So, I would make good use of him.
I had Isabel bring Konchita along as I got into the carriage.
“Let’s head back to the estate.”
At my command, the coachman cracked his whip.
Vrslop_translator
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