I Refused to Be the Chosen Hero

Chapter 8: The First Debt

The emergency light in the corner of the convenience store flickered twice before stabilizing just as the sound of spell fire and a woman's screams cut through the mist outside.

Fabian, who was updating monster coordinates on the wall map, raised his head. Marcus was already standing with a potion in hand. "That's close. Very close."

The glass doors rattled. The shadow of a body slammed against the glass from the outside. Fabian unchained the door just wide enough for an adult to fit through. A black-haired woman with her hair tied neatly, wearing a military coat torn at the shoulder, collapsed inside. Blood flowed from a wound on her right arm. Behind her, two dark shapes resembling mist hounds were still in pursuit.

"Close it!" the woman ordered in a raspy yet firm voice. "Now!"

Marcus pulled her inside. Fabian locked the chain and stacked extra metal baskets against the door. The sound of scratching on the glass lasted for a few seconds, then faded as the mana battery installed at the threshold emitted a weak repellent pulse.

The woman sat on the floor, her breathing shallow. She stared at Fabian with sharp eyes despite her pale face. "You're Fabian Hart. The owner of The Ledger. I'm Captain Elise Varrow, former Kingdom officer, now emergency military coordinator for the Bloomsbury sector. I'm here to recruit you."

Fabian looked at the wound on her arm. "Recruit me later. That wound is deep. A healing potion is 200 pounds. Or you can let the infection do the talking first."

Elise gritted her teeth. "I don't carry that much cash in the field. I came with orders, not a wallet."

"Orders don't seal wounds," Fabian replied. He pulled a potion bottle from a box. "The Ledger accepts debt for emergency cases at 20 percent interest per day. Plus a rescue f*e since we opened the door in the middle of an attack. The provisional total comes to 350 pounds. Sign the ledger, or I'll let you back outside."

Marcus was already wiping the blood from Elise's arm with a clean cloth. "Capta— miss, this potion works fast. But rules are strict here."

Elise stared at the bottle in Fabian's hand, then at the door that was still vibrating faintly. "You saved me just to put me in debt?"

"I saved you because the numbers say you can still pay later," Fabian said. "If you die on my doorstep, I lose a prospective customer and military sector data. Drink it."

Elise snatched the bottle and downed its contents in three gulps. The wound on her arm slowly knit together, leaving a red mark behind. She stood up with stiff movements, her coat still torn. "I'm still here on a mission. Your intelligence stat is 98.7. The System itself flagged it. The emergency military needs someone like you for planning, not for selling tea and maps."

Fabian had already opened the Ledger notebook to a fresh page. "Name: Elise Varrow. Debt: 350 pounds. Interest rate: 20 percent per day. Collateral: officer status and access to military information upon default within 72 hours. Sign."

Elise glared at the pen extended toward her. "This is an insult. I'm an officer. I came to offer a position, not to ask for a high-interest charity."

"You came with a wound and monsters right behind you," Fabian answered flatly. "A position doesn't stop claws. Sign or get out. Choose."

A few seconds passed. The sound of the mist outside was still audible. Elise finally grabbed the pen and scribbled her signature with a rough motion. "I will pay. But I won't forget how you treated me."

"Good to note down," Fabian said while closing the notebook. "Now, if you still want to recruit me, talk. I'll listen while I count the remaining inventory."

Elise took a deep breath, attempting to regain her military composure. "This mist isn't just a natural disaster. There's a pattern. Pillars of light, dungeons, monsters. The emergency military is forming a planning unit. We need someone who can read data the way you do on that map. Join us. Gain official protection, rations, and authority."

Fabian pointed to the wall map. "Official protection didn't stop the four groups that died yesterday on routes your command declared safe. Your rations are smaller than The Ledger's current stock. Authority doesn't power a generator. I decline."

"You're declining because you want to remain a hoarder?" Elise stepped closer. "The people out there need coordination, not sky-high prices!"

"The people out there need accurate numbers," Fabian replied. "The Ledger sells those numbers. Your military sells uncalculated hope. The difference shows up in the body count."

Marcus, who had been quiet all this time, finally spoke up. "Captain, I'm sorry. But ever since The Ledger was founded, the routes we sell have had a higher survival rate than official announcements. I logged them myself."

Elise looked at Marcus, then back at Fabian. "You're making people dependent on an underground shop. That's dangerous."

"Dependence on accurate data is safer than dependence on speeches," Fabian said. He handed over a copy of the latest route map. "This is free as a sample. Compare it to your military map. If The Ledger's numbers are worse, I'll consider your offer. If they're better, you start paying off your debt with information on your sector."

Elise took the paper with a tense expression. Her eyes scanned the coordinates and percentages quickly. Her face hardened. "This... is more detailed than our scout reports."

"Because your scouts don't sell data to survivors who just came close to dying," Fabian replied. "They only report up the chain of command. I buy reports from people betting their lives. That's the difference."

Elise fell silent for a long moment. The wound on her arm had closed completely. She folded the map. "I still don't agree with your methods. But... I can't refute this level of efficiency. I'll pay my debt. And I will return with military data as part of the payment."

"Accepted," Fabian said. "Marcus, log it: Elise Varrow, priority debtor status. Limited access to non-critical Ledger data upon first installment."

Elise stared at the ledger as if she wanted to tear it apart. "You really do record everything like a wartime accountant."

"I keep records because numbers don't forget," Fabian replied. "And people in debt tend to become diligent sources of data. Welcome to The Ledger's system, Captain."

Elise turned toward the door. "I'm leaving. The monsters outside have moved on. But this isn't over, Hart. I'll be back. Either to pay my debt or to draft you into the proper unit."

"Feel free," Fabian said. "Prices remain firm. Interest keeps running."

Marcus unchained the door. Elise walked out without looking back. Her steps were still stiff, her torn coat fluttering in the mist. After locking the door, Marcus sat down and let out a long breath. "She's dangerous. A former officer. She could bring an entire unit here."

"She's also intelligent," Fabian replied while writing Elise's name in the corner of the map. "And now she's in debt. An intelligent debtor usually chooses to pay in the most efficient manner available. We'll see whether she prefers the sword or the pen."

He closed the Ledger notebook gently. On the first debt page, Elise Varrow's name was neatly inscribed alongside the figure of 350 pounds and the interest that had already begun to accrue. The seed had been planted. Outside, the mist welcomed back a former officer who had been outmaneuvered by numbers that day. Inside, The Ledger had acquired its first debtor of rank.