The bounty on the Bowel Hunter would more than cover what Gojo owed Felt. Plenty left over, too.
Reinhard nodded politely to Old Man Rom and stepped inside carrying an elegantly wrapped box, a faint look of apology on his face.
"I'm sorry."
"The bounty is still being verified. It may take a while longer."
Gojo, who'd been practically vibrating with enthusiasm a moment ago, deflated on the spot. He slumped over the table like a man who'd lost the will to live.
"And this is why I hate bureaucracy."
"Reinhard, how'd you even find us? We just moved here."
Subaru wasn't nearly as bothered. One copper coin or ten Holy Gold Coins, it made no difference to him. He didn't have either.
Hard to scare a man who owned nothing.
"It took some asking around, but I managed." Reinhard settled by the table with an easy smile.
"We don't exactly have tea to offer you," Felt said flatly, gesturing to a chair.
She knew Reinhard was decent enough. He hadn't given them trouble last time. But a lifetime of surviving as a thief had left her with a deep, instinctive wariness toward anyone on the side of the law.
"Please don't worry about it." He set the box on the table. "I brought some sweets. I hope you'll enjoy them..."
"Enjoy them? Absolutely we will."
Gojo snapped upright as if someone had flipped a switch. He snatched the box, popped it open, and the sight of rows of delicate little cakes earned Reinhard an immediate thumbs-up.
"Feel free to visit anytime. And if you happen to bring sweets every time, even better."
Reinhard chuckled. "My family's butler made them. If you like them, you're welcome to come by the estate."
"Count on it."
Gojo divvied the cakes out to everyone, then bit into his own and tilted his head with open curiosity. "So if the bounty isn't ready, you must have another reason for coming today."
"I do."
"There's something I need to tell you. And I'll be bringing your answer back with me."
His tone shifted, steady and deliberate, before he delivered news none of them had expected.
"Lady Emilia's patron, Margrave Roswaal, heard about the incident with the Bowel Hunter. He's deeply grateful to all of you. He believes the Bowel Hunter's true target may have been Lady Emilia herself, and that without your intervention, she could have been in serious danger. He'd like to invite you to his manor to express his thanks in person..."
"Reinhard."
Before Reinhard could finish, Gojo materialized at his side like a gust of wind, one arm slung around the knight's shoulders, eyes blazing with interest.
"When you say a nobleman wants to thank us... that's not just words, right? Some money would be perfectly reasonable, wouldn't it?"
"That... wouldn't be unreasonable, no."
Reinhard considered it for a moment and shook his head.
"And this Margrave, who also happens to be the kingdom's strongest mage, probably isn't short on funds?"
"He isn't."
Reinhard answered with disarming honesty.
"The Roswaal family has been a house of mages for generations. They also have deep ties to Costuul, one of the kingdom's five great cities, famous as an industrial center for magical tools. They're among the wealthier noble families."
"So a few hundred Holy Gold Coins as thanks for saving someone's life... that shouldn't be a problem?"
A few hundred Holy Gold Coins?
Felt's breathing grew heavy. She leaned forward without realizing it, her small frame tilting toward Reinhard as if pulled by gravity, unwilling to miss a single word.
Subaru, who by now understood exactly what that kind of money could buy, found his attention locked in place too.
Reinhard looked almost helpless in the face of Gojo's shameless transparency, but he answered all the same. "That should be fine."
"Perfect!"
Gojo polished off his cake in two bites and turned to Felt.
"I think our little business venture can wait."
"I was bracing for another one of your weird ideas, but for once we're actually on the same page."
Business venture? A business venture could happen anytime.
Missing out on a loaded nobleman who practically wanted to throw money at them? That was the kind of opportunity that didn't come around twice.
Whatever Gojo earned, she earned. And this time, she was not letting those twenty Holy Gold Coins slip through her fingers.
"You're both just... taking this at face value?" Subaru looked between the two of them, ready to throw cold water on the celebration. "What if it's a trap? What if he's luring us out there to cause trouble?"
"Are you stupid?"
"If he wanted to cause us trouble, he'd just send people to the slums. Why go through all that effort?"
Felt had spent a good stretch of time genuinely afraid after learning who Emilia was, and that fear had forced her to think through every possible scenario. The conclusion was simple: if someone that powerful wanted to hurt them, they wouldn't bother with invitations.
"Besides, Reinhard's the one delivering the message. If anything happened to us..." Gojo's grin widened. "I'm sure Reinhard wouldn't just stand by. He'd get to the bottom of it and make sure justice was done. Am I wrong?"
The moral guilt trip landed with surgical precision, pinning Reinhard in place before he could so much as flinch.
Through their handful of encounters, Gojo had noticed something. In this era, the knights weren't just skilled fighters. Their moral standards, their principles, their sense of duty outstripped everyone around them by a wide margin. If he had to put it in terms anyone from his world would understand, they were textbook lawful good. Integrity as a baseline, not an aspiration.
And the man sitting in front of him was the finest among them.
Reinhard's name carried weight even in the slums. Everyone knew it. Everyone agreed: he was good in the truest, most absolute sense of the word. If you weren't doing anything wrong, you had nothing to fear from him.
"I will." Reinhard sighed at Gojo's utterly transparent maneuvering, but nodded with full sincerity. "You have my word."
"Then there's nothing to worry about."
Gojo leaned back, tone light and carefree. "Think of it as winning the lottery. We take a trip, enjoy the scenery, eat some good food, and by the end of it, we've got a fortune in hand..."
Two sentences. That was all it took for Gojo to paint Subaru a picture he couldn't resist.
"Oh, one more thing, Reinhard."
"When do we leave?!"