The noble didn't mind this once again as he continued, "You can say that I'm interested in the things that you are planning on doing and I'm someone that likes to make investments. So I'll give you the men that you want."
This time, I couldn't help being surprised when I heard this.
After narrowing my eyes to look at this man in front of me for a bit, I asked, "What do you have to gain from this?"
The noble revealed a smile when he finally heard me speak. He wasn't offended at all that I questioned him like this and instead, he said with the same smile, "I have my own matters and you can be sure that I will profit from this. So what do you say? Will you accept my offer?"
I didn't say a thing as I kept looking at this man with narrowed eyes.
I looked him up and down, as if I was trying to figure out exactly what he was playing at.
But no matter how I looked at him, I couldn't see through him.
The smile on his face, the calm way that he sat there, it was as if he had been specially trained on his poker face and he didn't give any signs at all.
I just couldn't understand what his intentions were.
After a pause, I asked, "Is there anything that you want from this? Do you want money or do you want some kind of favour?"
The noble gave an appreciative nod after hearing this before saying, "I want nothing at all. Like I said, this is an investment since what you are doing most likely aligns with my interest. Since that's the case, your success will yield plenty of benefits for me."
I couldn't help revealing a confused look once again.
He said that what I was doing aligned with his interests…then did that mean that he had some connection to Haley, her father, and her husband?
Could it be that he was also interested in Haley?
No, that shouldn't be the case since it would be easy for him to do what he had done and approach Haley. With her current situation, if a noble were to offer to help her with the store, then that would be a dream come true.
Her father and husband wouldn't be able to do anything against them, especially since this noble had the backing of the count.
So it shouldn't be for Haley or the store.
Then it was most likely related to the husband or the father.
I looked at the noble again with narrowed eyes before asking, "Do you plan on hurting anyone?"
That was my bottom line.
I didn't know what this person was planning, but if they were planning on hurting the people involved, then I didn't want to get involved in them. After all, Haley being hurt was the last thing that I wanted and it would be bad if her father was hurt as well.
As for the husband…I couldn't care less.
The noble looked right at me before saying in a serious voice, "I don't plan on hurting anyone, but if they plan on fighting me, then I have no choice but to defend myself."
I just looked into his eyes as he said this.
After confirming that he was indeed serious about this, I gave a nod in response.
This was the best that I would get out of this person and I was fine with it.
I knew that it was impossible to completely get them to give up violence, but if they did what they could to prevent casualties, that was good enough.
The main thing was that I didn't have any other options at this point.
So I said with a nod, "I'll accept these men from you."
The noble revealed a smile once again as he said with a nod, "Good choice."
With a snap of his finger, one of the doors to this room opened and a person dressed up in normal clothing walked out. He came over to where we were sitting and he gave a bow to the noble before giving a bow to me.
The noble said, "This is Shaka. He is the leader of the team that I'm handing to you and he will command this team for you. If you need anything, you can just ask Shaka."
I looked at the one that he called Shaka.
This person…had a very ordinary face. All of his facial features were very normal and very forgettable, it was a face that one would completely forget if it was in a crowd. But there was one feature of his face that was prominent.
It was a scar that was on his right brow.
After looking at him for a bit, I reached my hand out to him and said, "It's a pleasure working with you."
Shaka reached his hand out to grab my hand as well before saying, "It's a pleasure."
I turned back to the noble who was just sitting there with a relaxed smile on his face.
Seeing that I was looking at him, the noble asked, "Is there anything else that you need?"
I couldn't help being surprised when I heard this.
Normally, they would say something to signify that this was the end of the meeting. However, this time, the noble in front of me acted like I should understand that this was the end and that I should show myself out.
But before I left, I asked, "Is it worth it going against the count like this?"
The noble was surprised to hear this before saying with a smile, "I have no idea what you're talking about. However, what he doesn't know doesn't hurt him, right?"
I knitted my brows when I heard this, but then I gave a nod and stood up to leave.
That last question confirmed it…this noble was acting without the knowledge of the count.
If the count were to learn about this, it was hard to imagine what would happen.
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