A few moments later, they had finished the food on their own plates.
During that relaxing time, Reigh started the conversation. "Was that man earlier your brother?" Asked Reigh.
Sylzee nodded softly with her face still covered by the black hood, "Yes." She replied briefly.
"He's my brother."
"I see." Reigh replied.
When they were at the mansion in Geaz city, he had already known about that, even about Sylzee's job.
However, he pretended not to know. He wanted to hear it directly from Sylzee.
Not as Reigh who was carrying out his mission, but as Reigh, the man who loved the woman in front of him.
"What about you? Don't you have any siblings?" Asked Sylzee.
Reigh rested his face on the hand placed on the table, "I'm an only child," Smiling, staring at Sylzee's face that was so beautiful and calming. "Even with her hood on, she's still pretty… Her gentle face shines through…" He muttered in his heart.
Sylzee revealed more of her face, "D-Don't stare at me like that!" She grumbled softly.
Smiling, Reigh replied gently, "Ehhh?"
Suddenly, Guiver chimed in, "Kid, try confirming Fiblio's identity first," Said Guiver, "Whether it's really true or different from the documents given by Cyrn." He added.
Reigh was still looking at Sylzee's shy face, ignoring Guiver's words.
"Hey!" Guiver snapped in annoyance.
It startled him instantly, "Ah, yes yes!" Reigh replied quickly, "Don't just yell suddenly!"
A vein bulged on Guiver's forehead, "When someone talks, listen! Don't get too carried away!" He grumbled angrily.
"Yes, yes!" Reigh replied.
*Ahem. Reigh pretended to cough to break the silence, "Sylzee… Sorry, um…" He said awkwardly, "May I ask you something?"
"Yes?" Sylzee was confused.
Even though it was for the mission, deep down he didn't want to involve Sylzee in his mission. He didn't want to use information from Sylzee for his own benefit.
However, "Have you ever heard the name Fiblio?" He asked hesitantly. "I think he's well-known in this city." He added. He had to carry out his mission no matter what.
"Fiblio?" Sylzee muttered, looking upward, "Do you mean Fiblio, the head of the Courter Ashley trading company?"
Reigh furrowed his brows, "So it's really true… He really became the head of my parents' company…" He muttered in his heart, clenching his fist.
Courter Ashley was a company founded by Reigh Asteion's parents.
After Fiblio had been their assistant for several years, he betrayed Reigh's parents and killed them both. And abandoned Reigh on the streets of the Outer Slums.
After all of that, he made himself the successor as head of the Courter Ashley trading company.
"His last name, if I'm not mistaken… Hm?" Sylzee suddenly stopped talking, trying to think harder, "His last name…" She stared at Reigh, "Asteion, too?"
Leaning her body forward, "You're Reigh Asteion… Then?…"
Reigh smiled widely, "Hahaha… Maybe it's just a coincidence?"
But his fists tightened even more, "Everything Cyrn said was true…"
"He even uses your family name, huh?" Guiver grumbled.
At the first meeting between Cyrn and Guiver who was using Reigh's body, and when Cyrn handed over the documents about Fiblio, that was when Cyrn told everything about what Fiblio had done since he killed Reigh's parents.
About Fiblio replacing his parents' position, using their family name as if he were a blood relative, even tarnishing the company Reigh's parents had worked so hard to build.
When hearing the facts spoken by Cyrn, Reigh decided not to believe any of it. Even when Fiblio used his family name, he completely rejected that fact.
However, if Sylzee said it directly, then it must be true.
Not because he fully trusted Sylzee, but because of Sylzee's background, who always dealt with influential men, which meant the information from her would certainly be accurate.
"But…" Sylzee began muttering in her heart, "I also heard that Reigh's family was betrayed by their own assistant…"
"But people never mentioned the name of the assistant who betrayed Reigh's family…" She continued muttering internally, "Does Reigh really have something to do with that?!"
She stared sharply at Reigh. "Even if he does…" She smiled faintly, closing her eyes briefly, "Well… It's not good to pry into that."
Sylzee smiled stiffly, "I see… Maybe it really is true," Sylzee said half-muttering, trying to agree with Reigh's words that still bothered her.
"Kid," Guiver spoke, "Looks like she already knows your background,"
"But she seems sincere with you." He added.
Reigh agreed, "Yeah, even an idiot would notice how strange my case is."
Guiver responded to Reigh's words, "After this Fiblio business is over," He said softly, "You should leave her a letter, you need to be honest."
As Reigh nodded softly, "This is because YOU were the one who told her your full name!" Guiver suddenly shouted inside his head, "Now it's all getting more complicated!"
"Sorry!" Reigh replied, "Besides, this is our first normal meeting!" His tone sounded genuinely regretful.
Guiver took a long breath.
"Haaa… fine," He muttered softly. He also felt guilty for not being able to prevent the information leak.
Not without reason, why that happened was because the flow of time inside Reigh and the outside world moved 1:1. In short, 1 second inside Reigh was equal to 1 second outside.
It made Guiver feel like he was watching a live stream where he couldn't stop anything no matter how hard he tried to predict what would happen.
On top of that, he couldn't predict what was in Reigh's mind. For him, guessing a smart person was much easier because their steps were surely on the right path.
But with Reigh, his thoughts were unpredictable because he always blurted out whatever crossed his mind.
Reigh and Sylzee continued chatting casually about things that had nothing to do with the mission.
A few moments later, "See you!" Reigh shouted.
The two of them stood in front of the shop's door.
Even though Reigh wanted to talk longer with Sylzee, he chose to continue his task.
"Yes," Sylzee replied, walking in the opposite direction from Reigh. Turning around and waving, "See you later." Sylzee said, smiling.
Reigh returned the wave and smiled, "Bye." He muttered, watching Sylzee's back as she walked away.
Once Sylzee was no longer in sight, Reigh immediately put on a serious expression, "Well…" Turning around, staring blankly ahead, "I'm coming." *Sss… Disappearing.
In a room where Reigh was heading, there was a middle-aged man with brown hair.
*Bang! The man slammed the table hard. "Damn it!" He barked, "Even after 7 years, people still compare me to that bastard Friegh Asteion!"
He was Fiblio, the one currently serving as the head of the Courter Ashley trading company.
The Asteion family was known as honest and competent merchants. Brown hair was the hallmark of the Asteion family. Even if they were born in the Outer Slums, they never engaged in illegal or crime-related business.
But Fiblio ruined that reputation within the 7 years since he took over the head position.
But clearly, the path he took wasn't that easy even though he was already at the top.
Because of his definitely-known track record by other trading companies, it was naturally very difficult for him to form partnerships with them.
To smooth things over, he pretended to be a relative of the Asteion family. He dyed his hair brown since the death of Reigh's parents, with the alibi that the company had been inherited by him.
But all of that didn't go smoothly, because the Outer Slums wasn't a place for beginners. Especially for merchants—they could sniff out anything suspicious.
Even though there were many kinds of crimes in the Outer Slums, business was still business. No one would do business with someone who had a track record of betrayal.
"Even Beltiro is rumored to have been killed!" He shouted angrily.
"What about Selka city? The suppliers still didn't come?" He asked several people.
The people before him replied flatly, "Nothing." Picking their nose, they didn't seem to care.
"Hey, where's our pay?" Asked someone beside him.
"Some of us already died a few weeks ago, you know," He added, "While keeping an eye on that kid."
*Tsk. "Shut up, useless!" Fiblio barked.
The only way for him to survive in the Outer Slums was to hire several mercenaries to keep his operations going.
No matter how many died, no matter what methods were used, no matter how much money was spent, everything was done to keep his business running.
Suddenly, *Knock. Knock. Knock. There were knocks on the door from outside.
"Who is that?!" Fiblio growled, still annoyed.
"Honesty is the foundation of a merchant." Said someone behind the door.
Instantly, Fiblio's eyes widened in fear, "W-Who are you?!" *Gulp. He swallowed hard.
"Commitment brings prosperity." Added the person behind the door.
Fiblio quickly covered his ears, "W-Who are you?!" He said, shaking in fear.
What he heard were the words from the Asteion family motto, known only by the Asteion family themselves or those directly involved.