Leonard stared at her, dumbfounded. His lips parted as if he wanted to ask the question again. However, one look at her smug smile told him she wasn't going to say any more word.
"Tch." He clicked his tongue and scratched the back of his neck in frustration.
"Fine, keep your secrets then."
Anika chuckled softly as she clasped her hands behind her back.
"One day, I'll tell you about it."
Leonard stared at her for a second longer. He squinted his eyes, getting suspicious. But then, he just let her do what she wanted.
"Alright then…" he sighed. "Anyway, we have one more thing to do."
"Huh? One more thing?" Anika looked at him. Curiosity laced her eyes. "What is it?"
He rubbed his temples and sighed. "We've got the place now. But that's just step one. We're not opening anything with just the two of us. We also need workers."
"Workers? You mean… people who'll work under you?" Anika's eyes widened, a spark of interest flashing in them.
"Exactly. A few spots around here should have the people I need." Leonard gave a stiff nod.
"You already know them?" Anika's curiosity deepened.
"Nope," Leonard only grinned. "But I already have an idea who it will be."
There were so many questions on Anika's head as Leonard answered that. However, as she saw the playful grin on his lips and the interest in his eyes, she thought that he was just becoming crazy and overly confident for a moment.
"So, what are we waiting for?" Anika just shook her head and decided to go with him. "Let's go find them!"
The two of them stepped out of the street after. The sun was starting to lower now, casting a warm glow over the market stalls lined on both sides of the road.
Even if it was starting to get late, the vendors still shouted at the top of their lungs to get the attention of customers.
"So where are we going?" Anika raised a brow as they walked.
"To look for food stalls," Leonard muttered.
"Oh? We're going to eat?" Anika's eyes brightened almost instantly.
However, Leonard shook his head. He playfully wiggled his brows and winked at her.
"We'll do that later. But now, we need to find a girl."
"What girl?" Anika stopped in her tracks, her brow furrowing as her lips pressed into a thin line. Her eyes narrowed slightly, an offended look flashing across her face.
"Wait—no, no. Not like that." Leonard immediately waved his hands in front of her.
"Then what do you mean by a girl?" Her tone was sharp, like she was ready to smack him if he said the wrong word next.
"Our first employee…" Leonard cleared his throat and straightened up. "Alright?"
Anika blinked. For a moment, she just stared at him, then finally let out a long sigh of relief.
"You almost made it sound like something else..." she pouted and made a small, pitiful face.
Leonard chuckled and scratched his cheek.
"Relax. I'm not that kind of guy."
"Mmhm…" she muttered, clearly not convinced, but she nodded anyway. "Fine. Our first employee, then."
With that, the two of them continued to move along the street. They stopped by a few food stalls, each packed with hungry customers. Leonard would glance around the workers, squinting at their faces, studying their movements… then suddenly shake his head and walk away without a word.
They did for a whole hour. Anika would just follow him like a lost puppy. However, the more stalls they visited, the weirder it got for her.
"Okay, seriously. What are we looking for, Leonard? You're acting like you know exactly what you're doing, but then you leave like you don't."
Leonard glanced over his shoulder, his grin returning.
"Just trust me on this one, alright? I trusted you earlier, didn't I?"
That made Anika pause. Her lips pressed together, and she let out a quiet breath.
"Fine… you've got a point."
She stopped asking after that.
The two of them walked in silence, walking through the crowd of vendors and food stall. They went through every street.
After one more hour, Leonard realized that it would be impossible to search every street in the outskirts. That would take them a whole month at this rate.
'Damn it… searching every stall like this is gonna take forever.' He cursed inwardly, his eyes flicking from one corner to the next. 'This is too broad. I need something more specific.'
His hand clenched into a fist at his side.
'System,' he called out in his head. 'Can you give me an area for the three candidates? Searching from what you gave will be too general.'
A familiar chime echoed faintly in his mind.
[Let me think, Host.]
Leonard almost tripped on his own feet when the system replied.
'Think? What do you mean think?' his brow twitched, his voice rising in his head. 'Aren't you supposed to already know these things? That's literally your job!'
[Processing information sometimes requires time, Host.]
Leonard rubbed his face with both hands, groaning.
"Unbelievable…" he muttered under his breath, earning a curious glance from Anika, who tilted her head at him. He quickly waved her off, pretending nothing was wrong.
'Hey! I paid 50 silvers for your help! Helping me with this should already be part of your assistance, right?'
There was a pause, then—
[Hmm... You have a point, Host.]
Leonard stopped mid-step, blinking.
"Wait, really? That worked?"
[Calculating… Adjusting parameters…]
Then, a flash of light appeared across his vision. Numbers and faint glowing arcs appeared like a map burned into his mind. Three faint signals blinked; each one was pulsing softly in different directions.
[New temporary tool unlocked!]
[Candidate Radius Tracker: This will display the approximate distance of potential allies from your current position.]
Leonard's jaw fell to the ground.
"You've gotta be kidding me… I could've had this the whole time?!"
His eyes focused on the nearest signal. It was glowing brighter than the others.
[Candidate 1 detected.]
[Distance: 500 meters.]
Leonard's lips curled into a grin. His heart skipped, excitement surging through him.
"Perfect," he whispered, his fist clenching in determination.
Anika blinked at him, confused by his sudden shift in mood.
"What's with you now? You look like you just struck gold."
Leonard smirked, straightening his back.
"Something like that. Come on. I think I just found our guy."
"What guy?" Anika looked at him in confusion.
Leonard just smiled at her.
"You'll know soon."