She’d hidden her Reward Medal inside her wallet, but then she’d used that entire wallet to pay off a gambling debt, allowing the medal to slip away. She’d chased after the person she’d paid, but the wallet had already been stolen from them.
Not one to give up, she tracked the thief for two years while working at Draim's Nest. Eventually, she discovered the bandit gang the thief belonged to, but by then, they had already found the Reward Medal and sold it to a merchant.
So, she ordered the bandits to reclaim the medal from the merchant. That bandit gang was the same group that had launched their reckless attack outside the auction venue.
"Is that a fair summary?"
I extracted the key points from the explanation Gucci had given me and sought confirmation.
"Yes. And this bound maid is the foolish Prada who hid her Reward Medal in her wallet and then ordered a bandit gang to recover it. I brought her here intending to kill her myself. She's all yours."
Gucci was saying some pretty terrifying things. He seemed absolutely livid.
I didn't feel quite so strongly about it, though. Regarding the Reward Medals, it wasn't as if I'd forbidden anyone from letting them out of their possession. Whether one chose to display them or give them away was their own business. I’d only gone as far as to ask people to stop using them as gambling chips.
In this instance, she hadn't exactly used it as a chip; it was more like an accident. Therefore, I didn't have much desire to punish Prada personally, but Gucci clearly wanted her to pay. If I simply said it wasn't a problem, I wondered what would happen. Would Gucci just take it upon himself to punish her privately?
That would be fine in theory, but Prada had been looking at me with pleading eyes for a while now. I decided to clarify things with Gucci.
"What exactly is Prada's crime?"
"She utilized a bandit gang and caused this entire incident."
That was a fair point. Relying on bandits might have been the quickest way to get the medal back from the merchant, but the fact that she’d employed criminals was a problem. Still, according to what I’d heard from the Security Team Unit Captain during dinner, this particular gang wasn't the type to kill and rob; they mostly extorted "tolls." Even their desperate move outside the auction venue was born from the realization that they couldn't possibly negotiate for the item with money given the final bid price.
I looked around the table for help, but no one was willing to offer any. On the contrary, everyone averted their eyes. They clearly wanted no part of this. To be honest, neither did I.
But I had no choice.
"I’ll sentence Prada to labor. She’ll work until she earns a set amount."
"Are you certain that is sufficient punishment?" Gucci asked.
I told him it would be fine.
"Is that acceptable to you, Prada?"
At my question, Prada nodded her head vigorously.
Wait.
"Ah, my apologies. I had silenced her with magic," Gucci said.
He snapped his fingers, and the magic apparently dissipated. Prada immediately began gushing with words of gratitude. I had to make sure she didn't try to sneak a request for a Reward Medal into her thank-you speech. I suspected that this side of her personality was exactly why Gucci was being so hard on her.
Now, I’d said I’d sentence her to labor, but what should I have her do? Even as a punishment, it would be inefficient to force her into a role she was ill-suited for. I asked Gucci if she had any particular talents.
"What Prada is good at... Hmmm."
He looked deeply troubled. He actually asked me for three days to think about it. Was she really that hopeless? The longer Gucci agonized over the question, the more Prada began to tear up.
"I have it! She can do paperwork!" Gucci finally exclaimed, as if he’d found a needle in a haystack.
He explained that she could handle record-keeping and information editing. In fact, he claimed she was actually quite skilled at it. He apologized, noting that because there was very little paperwork at Draim's Nest, she’d had no opportunity to shine, so the thought hadn't occurred to him immediately.
With Gucci's endorsement as the catalyst, the dinner guests began their recruitment pitches.
"How about the Royal Castle for her place of work? I shall offer three silver coins a month," the Demon King began.
"Village Five will match the three silver coins and promise breakfast and dinner at the dining hall," Yoko added.
"The Goroun Company can provide meals and an inn. Three silver coins and fifty large copper coins a month," Michael-san chimed in.
"Five silver coins. But she’ll have to pay for her own food and lodging," Tiselle joined in.
The offers were staying within the realm of common sense. I noticed Frau looked like she wanted to join the bidding as well. It was true that we were always short on people who could handle paperwork.
The pitches grew heated, but Gucci eventually called a halt to the bidding.
"Erm, due to certain ancient contracts, there are some issues with her working directly within the Demon Kingdom..."
He couldn't go into the details of the contract, but in his judgment, Village Five was the limit of where she could legally be employed. This turned the situation into a head-to-head battle between Yoko and Frau.
"Three silver coins. Only dinner is provided."
"Two silver coins and fifty large copper coins. No meals."
Unlike the previous round, the numbers were steadily dropping. Prada looked at me with a bewildered expression, clearly wondering why the "wages" were going down. I didn't quite get it either.
Lu leaned in to explain. "Since there are no more competitors for her actual labor, they're treating it as punishment. They aren't going to put a high price on a sentence."
I see.
"Prada, I think you should decide which offer to take quickly."
In the end, it was decided that Prada would work in Village Five for one silver coin a month. Her room and board would be provided, and she would serve as Yoko's subordinate. For the time being, she would be working behind the scenes.
"By the way, Village Head, how much does Prada need to earn before she is released?" Gucci asked.
"Since the Reward Medal was the cause of all this, let's have her earn the value of one medal," I replied.
That meant one thousand silver coins.
At one silver coin a month, she would earn twelve per year. That meant... eighty-three years and some change.
When I did the math, I felt a bit bad for her. I’d have to consider raising her wages at some point. Of course, that would depend entirely on her job performance.
I sipped my post-meal drink while pondering the future.
The Ancient Devil Prada. Also known as the Devil Who Collects Artworks.
It is remarkably easy to strip her of her art collection. One only needs to challenge her to a gamble. She loves to gamble, but she is notoriously, pathetically weak at it.
However, one should not lightly claim an artwork just because they have won. If you take one of her treasures, she will use every means at her disposal to reclaim it. She is extremely dangerous when provoked.
So, what should one do? Regrettably, it is best to give up on the art. What you should take from her is not a painting or a statue, but the knowledge she possesses.
After winning a gamble, if you ask for knowledge instead of an artwork, she will provide it gladly. Because she possesses an exhaustive understanding of financial matters, there are some who call her the Gold Coin Devil—or so the rumors go.
—From the Great Devil Encyclopedia—