The next morning.
I didn't know why, but Diamond, the young lady of House Brilliant, was dragging me by the arm and showing me around her mansion.
"This is the kitchen you'll be using! If you need any ingredients, feel free to order as much as you want!"
"I see."
It was an impeccably organized kitchen. It was also fully equipped with most cooking tools.
If I made desserts in a place like this, my motivation would surely be revived.
"And this is the bedroom! Yesterday, things weren't fully prepared, so I had you sleep in an ordinary guest room, but from now on, please feel free to use this place as much as you like!"
"I see...?"
It was a truly spacious and luxurious room. The bed sheets alone probably cost more than my monthly salary.
Living in a place like this, each day would surely be comfortable.
"Lastly, let me show you the bathroom! From the bathtub to the toilet, everything is plated with gold!"
"Understood."
I didn't know why they plated even the toilet with gold, but anyway, I understood that it was expensive.
'...That aside.'
I slowly pointed to the rope binding my hands and tried to speak up.
"Can you untie this first?"
I never dreamed I'd have to say this line twice in my life. It was even tighter than when Lavi tied me up.
"Aah, I forgot about that. I can untie you now, right?"
Seeing her cut the rope without resistance, she seemed to be someone I could at least reason with.
"I wanted to know about you, so I investigated you on my own! Your name is Jade, you're 25 years old... and your address is—"
I retract my previous statement. She is not sane.
"Ruri! Bring the contract I mentioned before!"
"Yes, Lady Dia."
At her words, the girl in a maid outfit called Ruri nodded her head.
She was undoubtedly the culprit who had kidnapped me here last night.
Originally, the moment this maid ambushed me, the mana Lavi had planted in me should have automatically surged out, but—
'Please don't move. It will be useless even if you try to escape using mana. I've already set up an interference wave.'
The words she had spat out while subduing me flashed through my mind.
'So it was already being put to practical use?'
Brilliant had already dominated the market in countless fields, and research into mana—the very foundation of this world—seemed to be thriving as well.
They had even recently achieved the feat of creating a wave that blocks human mana. That was probably what she used on me.
I hadn't wanted to personally experience a technology that hadn't even been commercialized yet, but it made sense why Lavi's mana hadn't emerged.
Anyway, now that I knew the enemy's means, resisting recklessly would be premature. I'd probably be caught again right away.
"Um, Dia?"
"I told you to drop the stiff speech! We used to talk casually before, didn't we?"
"Then I'll call you Dia. I'm grateful you brought me here, but there's a lot I want to ask."
Like the reason she kidnapped me. Without knowing that, nothing could begin.
Perhaps reading my intentions, she continued with a small smile.
"The tea and desserts you made! I wanted to eat them again so badly!"
"Tea and desserts?"
Come to think of it, she had been coming to Eclipse less often lately. She used to camp out there for almost four hours at a time.
Perhaps the shop's reservations were fully booked, making it hard for her to come. As the heir of House Brilliant, she must be busy with many things.
'So that's why she's trying to make me exclusive.'
Seeing that she even gave me a bedroom, she was clearly set on making me live here. After all, if she employed me, she could eat desserts whenever she wanted without worrying about reservations.
All I did was serve her some sweet food; she was quite the dramatic one.
"There are plenty of others even if it's not me, right? Chefs who can make desserts."
I presented the obvious question that came to mind.
In my original world, I had been an ordinary nobody, not even a proper patissier. If there were proper chefs, there should be no need to court someone like me.
"...We've already invited them. Famous chefs from around the world."
The maid standing beside her answered my question with a displeased expression.
"Compared to the desserts you made, they were nothing but trash."
"Huh."
That was another surprising fact. Was the dessert culture in this world less developed than I had thought?
"Ah, come to think of it, we haven't negotiated your annual salary yet! And me of all people forgetting something so important!"
"No, that's..."
Thud—!
Ignoring my attempt to stop her, she suddenly shoved a bag of money at me.
"Five billion as a signing bonus. And around one billion a month should be enough, right? If it's not enough, feel free to tell me!"
"......."
It was not an amount an ordinary person like me should receive. It was probably more than a salaryman could earn in a lifetime.
Though it was too much money to refuse, I still couldn't just snatch up this bundle of cash.
I was a proud member of the Silver Order. Betraying the organization on a whim would go against all reason.
"If you investigated my background, you should already know. I'm an employee of a place called the Gaia Foundation."
Naturally bringing up the Silver Order's external corporate name, I revealed my intention to refuse.
Since I had spoken quite directly, I believed she understood well enough. Having heard my words, Dia pondered for a moment—
"...Can't you just quit?"
She shot back with a questioning expression, as if asking what the problem was.
"Because you're living in a dilapidated mansion that's falling apart! There's no way you can be happy with your current life!"
"Yes. Judging by Sir Jade's living conditions, transferring to Brilliant would overwhelmingly provide higher job satisfaction."
There was no reason for me, who was struggling with poverty, to refuse this offer. Diamond already seemed to hold such a firm belief.
"No, what about the cafe? I've already made various contracts, so if I just up and leave—"
"Don't worry about that! I've already finished talking with Academia!"
"Can you finish talking with me first?"
At this rate, I was starting to feel like the bad guy for trying to refuse.
While I was desperately thinking of how to escape this situation.
"Just make tea and desserts for me. That's all you need to do. Please...?"
Diamond looked at me with pleading eyes, and at the same time, the maid urged an answer by presenting the contract.
"...Let me make just one phone call. I have something to tell my superior."
"If possible, please make it a text message. Just in case."
I had no option to refuse.
***
At the same time, Silver Order Headquarters.
Amber and the other executives, having received Jade's text, were in the midst of tracking his whereabouts after he was kidnapped by a noble young lady—
"Haa..."
"Really, he gets into a crisis at the drop of a hat."
Crystal muttered while looking at Amber, who let out a deep sigh.
Whether it was when he saved her younger sibling before, or when he was spotted by security drones and a shootout occurred.
Now he had even been kidnapped by the heir of House Brilliant.
"My friend kidnapped my workplace senior. What kind of expression am I supposed to make?"
"Magical Girl Ruby, and now her... You should choose your friends more carefully."
From the perspective of Citrine, who waged a battle of wills against statistics in the research lab every day, it was an absurd affair.
"This is sudden, but if things have come to this, isn't it possible that Jade himself has some kind of problem?"
"Aah, like 'You were the one who hit on me first'? Still, his face is rather ordinary."
"It hasn't been confirmed yet that the daughter over at Brilliant fell for him. Maybe she took him for a different reason?"
"A different reason...?"
At those words, a certain scene flashed through Amber's memory.
The sight of Diamond devouring the various desserts Jade had made.
"......."
She didn't want to admit that her senior had been kidnapped because of her friend's gluttony. She must not admit it.
[Excuse me! Who's saying such a thing!]
"Uwah, you startled me!"
Amber quickly backed away as if truly frightened by Diamond's voice that suddenly rang out.
However, the source of the voice was a small machine in Lapis's hand.
"Why are you so surprised? I attached a bug to his clothes just in case."
"Eeh..."
One could call her well-prepared, but they were committing crimes in their own way too.
"They're probably trying to steal him away with a huge sum of money. Maybe around ten billion?"
"Wait, wait! At that amount, he'll definitely leave!"
Rather than taking risks in the Silver Order, making desserts for a rich young lady was clearly the better deal.
[I-it's not a kidnapping, I just... I wanted to invite him politely if possible, but I was a little embarrassed!]
"And if that busty girl asks while blushing, it'd be hard to refuse."
"At that size, even walking around must be a chore. Does everything she eat go straight to her chest?"
"Ah, let's stop badmouthing my friend's chest for now."
While silently listening to their conversation, Jade's voice, filled with resolve, was heard.
[No matter how much more money they offer, the answer is the same. I have a cute junior and a boss I'm indebted to. I don't think I can throw away all such relationships.]
"Hoo. I thought he was a frivolous guy at first glance, but I see him in a new light."
"I don't recall being gracious enough to make him refuse a fortune, though."
"...Huu."
Amber tightly hugged the blanket covering her body, lost in the emotion for a moment.
"So? How do you plan to get him back?"
Right after, Citrine, who had been sipping an energy drink, asked Lapis.
If they responded too aggressively, they would make an enemy of a world-class conglomerate, but they couldn't just leave it be either.
The moment they were about to plan an operation to infiltrate the Brilliant mansion.
"Ah. Don't worry. I'll go and bring him back."
It was Amber who returned such an answer with a bright expression.