Following my question, Mimosa started explaining the order of events.

    Her story started around a decade ago.

    Mimosa''s elder sister fell in love at first sight with Count Serdos who had come to inspect Solcoast at that time. Her sister was their tour guide and well, the spark of their love was the illegitimate child that was born between them.

    The Count, however, already had a legal wife of noble origin and a second de facto wife so he couldn''t bring her to his estate and pass her the child support.

    Well, while they might not have been accepted, her sister and her nephew, Daniel-kun, were not in the least bit bothered. Her maternal home was already blessed with wealth to some extent as the owner of the Serene Wind Co., and it just so happened that all the kids at that time happened to be girls so the birth of a boy was warmly welcomed.

    Daniel-kun was raised and pampered by everyone--- especially by his doting mother, along with the predecessor of the Serene Wind, and its manservant. Having been raised in a port town with the dockyard being his playground, he aspired to be a sailor in the future and grew up as a little rascal.

    On the other hand, his aunt, Mimosa, would often tell him about how he wouldn''t be able to make it as a successful sailor if he didn''t take his studies seriously. So while pampered, he was also a young man who knew the value of hard work.

    But as they say, fate is a fickle mistress. Daniel-kun''s talent far eclipsed others. He would always stand out among his peers in the regional elementary school by a long shot and his talent in magic also blossomed. In short, he apparently could qualify for the ''Royal Academy'' as well.

    The Count, who hadn''t seen Daniel-kun except when he was born, flipped his stance when the possibility was all but confirmed. How could he not? The result might be embellished by half a point but his talent was unmistakable. It wouldn''t have been impossible to even adopt a person with such talent, let alone someone with his own blood.

    His talent was truly staggering, at least compared to the legitimate lineage of the Count family. Despite being an influential noble, reality was harsh to them as they could never produce a talent that could enter the Royal Academy.

    ''It''s the order of the lord'', there was just that phrase given as a reason before the Count''s men took Daniel-kun, whom he had never approved of until then, along with his mother without regard for anyone''s feelings. The Count made Mimosa''s sister his third de facto wife while Daniel-kun gained the title of a legitimate child.

    Everything from there was a simple story. Count Serdos gathered the best private tutors within his capability who thoroughly trained Daniel-kun from the age of 10 and three years later, he achieved the glorified title of Royal Academy student.

    So this birthday party was also a celebration of his achievement. However, the only ones invited to the party so far were the Marquis and other influential nobles. Mimosa might be his aunt but it was impossible for her to visit as a commoner.

    Meanwhile, the Count was seemingly intent on snuffing out any rumors about Daniel-kun being raised as a commoner and hence forbade him from meeting anyone he was related to until then.U?pTodated novels on osa intended to somehow get the chance to meet Daniel-kun, compliment him for his hard work, and congratulate him for the glory he had grasped with his own hands.

    The Count had arranged a competition for the main dish of the party and she wanted to somehow win it and get the ticket to enter the estate. Apparently, the Count wanted to take this chance to showcase their specialty, the seafood, to the bigwigs attending the party.

    However, she just couldn''t join the competition with the strict background check at play. In that case, the only option left was to sneak in as a staff member of the winning party.

    To begin with, she originally wanted to bring Ginkgo under her command either way, but unlike before, where she had wanted to take her sweet time showing her ''qualities'' and get the boss to acknowledge her, she could no longer take it easy.

    Honestly, I wanted to see if I could seduce you and get you to do the work for cheap. Well, admittedly, it was the rumors about you that made my heart skip a beat, so I thought ''I wouldn''t mind going along with that idea''.

    Anyway, your reward would be Ginkgo''s prepared ''Ruby of the Sea'' Deareise. Daniel is a huge fan of this magical fish, which he gets from the Count''s navy once a year.

    Its taste is so heavenly you wouldn''t be able to eat normal fish ever again."

    ...''Ruby of the Sea''?

    You know what? Considered me sold. I didn''t care about the money but I definitely wanted to try that.

    I nodded without a second thought, but the boss apparently had something else to say.

    "......Hold your high horses for a moment. Do you want to fish out a Deareise from that Corrinda Strait with a private ship? Are you sane!? It''s the area infested with swarms of sea falcons!"

    "I know the absurdity of my plan. However, even if I have to pay a fortune, I just want Ren to take on this request. Now that he''s in the Royal Academy, the path of our life would probably never cross again. This is our final gift to him from us, Serene Wind, before his journey to another height. I won''t be stingy on this matter. Alright, tell me what''s your price. 50,000 rea or maybe 100,000 rea?"

    The boss was dumbfounded when he heard Mimosa casually bringing up an absurd amount to the table of negotiation.

    Still, hot damn, 100,000 rea...?

    I rummaged through my memory and shook my head while recalling some details from the Canardial Monster Encyclopedia. First of all, I''m sure I would lose my sense of money if I took this job.

    "I presume you want me to protect the ship from the sea falcons, right? Honestly, it''s an easy matter for me to handle, but I''m on vacation. No amount of money is enough to make me break my bones when I''m planning to take it easy."

    Sea Falcon builds their nests on the steep cliffs running alongside the coast and are the natural enemies of sailors. They often destroy the ship''s sails in their charge attacks which pushes sailors into a perilous state.

    Mimosa and Gatx opened their mouths to say something but ultimately swallowed their words with vexed expressions.

    "But I guess I can''t deny it outright when you bring the boss''s culinary skill to the table. Now I really want to try the ''Ruby of the Sea'' prepared by him. I expect the ship to pay for my arrows."

    Mimosa was flabbergasted for a moment before breaking into a teary smile.

    "Ahaha! Are you sure you are that ''Mad Hound''?! You truly are too... sweet for your own good. But since you don''t want the money, alright, I forfeit my body. Do whatever you want."

    Mimosa clobbered on once again under the influence of alcohol, having stopped dispelling her intoxication midway, and opened the top two buttons of her shirt.

    "L-L-L-Like hell I would!"