It’s More Fun Because of That.

6.

The midday sun beat down on the general compartment.

Countless gazes converged on Lancel.

Unlike the private rooms for nobles, where one could lie down alone, the general compartment was so crowded there wasn’t even room to set foot.

‘She’s here somewhere. Marigold is.’

Lancel pushed his way through the people staring at him with puzzled expressions.

“Hey, there’s no room, who’s pushing!”

“Agh! Who is it! Who stepped on me!”

“Hey, you! Don’t even think about swiping anything! Don’t touch my luggage!”

“What nonsense! When, when did I touch it?”

“You little punk!”

Shouts and fistfights erupted in the wake of Lancel’s passage.

After searching the chaotic first general compartment, Lancel immediately moved on to the next.

Second, third, fourth… after repeating this a total of eight times, he quickly reached the last compartment of the train.

‘I guess she saved as much money as possible.’

A luggage compartment without a single window.

The cheapest seat.

The loud clatter of the wheels, the musty smell of mold, the humidity from sweat and breath, and even the somewhat repulsive smell of alcohol.

Lancel walked in, wondering if she really was here.

“You damn bitch, where are you trying to pick a fight!”

Just then.

A loud voice came from afar.

“I told you to clean my shoes, when did I ever say I’d pay you! You’re a funny little kid.”

“You said you would! One copper coin!”

“Got any proof?”

“Everyone else heard you!”

“Hey, did you guys really hear me?”

“You said you’d pay, you old geezer. Are you really trying to cheat a kid out of one copper coin?”

“What? Are you guys ganging up on me now…”

“Did you hear him? Give it to me now!”

“No way, you little beggar!”

With a smack, a small shadow fell to the floor as she was slapped across the cheek.

“You rude brat! I’d clean shoes myself if it was one copper coin for cleaning shoes like that! And they didn’t even get that clean.”

Lancel confirmed the appearance of the girl who had collapsed.

A small body, golden hair tied tightly, and shabby clothes beneath a worn cape.

Moisture glistened in her emerald eyes, but she never let it spill.

Instead, she grabbed her reddened cheek and threw a punch.

Perhaps he hadn’t expected her to retaliate, the drunken old man had to take the attack to his groin head-on.

“Guh…!”

“Ouch.”

No doubt about it.

“Money! Give it to me!”

Those features.

She was grimy and hard to recognize at first glance, but she gradually emerged from his memory.

“You little flea, you, you’re gonna get it, now.”

“Uh, uh oh!”

“That crazy old man is…”

Horrified voices spread like a wave.

From the chest of the drunkard, whose neck was flushed with pain and anger, a gleaming object flashed.

The girl’s face froze.

“Why? Do you think this body, who survived 20 years in a brothel, would mind seeing blood, you damn bitch!”

Just before he swung the knife.

Someone grabbed his arm. It was Lancel.

“Who the hell are you!”

The blade swung back and tore a long gash in Lancel’s sleeve.

“Yeah. This is why I keep wasting 10 years over and over again.”

“What… guh!”

He lightly twisted the man’s chin with his palm. The drunkard’s body collapsed limply.

With his other hand, he had already snatched the pouch from the drunkard’s chest.

Lancel took out a wad of money from it.

“Silver coins!”

He didn’t look like he had anything, but he had quite a bit.

Lancel handed it all to the fifteen-year-old girl in front of him.

“Just because something is right doesn’t mean it’s always good. Sometimes you have to let it go, even if it’s dirty. Here, take it.”

“Th-thank you…”

After glancing around for a moment, the girl took out only one copper coin from the pile of coins.

Lancel, staring blankly at the coins left on his palm, returned them to the drunkard’s pouch.

“What’s your name?”

He asked, looking her straight in the eye.

The loud sound of the train wheels erupted. Light streamed in through the cracks in the split wooden walls, quickly sweeping over the two of them.

Breaking the brief silence that seemed to have stopped time, the girl’s lips slowly opened.

“Mary.”

Marigold.

Lancel had met Marigold.

7.

Lancel talked with Marigold for a while at that spot. It wasn’t anything particularly important.

“Mary. Where’s your hometown?”

“Huh? My hometown is…”

“Where exactly are you from? Why did you get on the train? Is there anyone with you besides you?”

It felt a bit like a background check.

Feeling suspicious, Marigold’s face showed a hint of wariness.

Lancel cleared his throat softly. He seemed to have gotten ahead of himself, asking so many questions before even properly greeting her.

“I asked because it’s strange to see someone so young traveling alone.”

“…I’m not that young. I’m fifteen this year.”

Even in this world, fifteen was still young. Moreover, Marigold was a bit shorter than her peers, so she looked even younger.

It was the influence of the game system, where physical growth was determined by how much nutrition one received.

“Follow me.”

“Yes?”

“You need a job, right?”

Marigold’s eyes widened.

“H-how did you know that?”

“You’re even cleaning the boots of drunks, so wouldn’t anyone notice you need job.”

“Ah.”

Marigold nodded in understanding, looking embarrassed.

Hurriedly following Lancel, who was walking ahead, she quickly threw out a question.

“No, still, even if I need a job, I don’t do just anything. I don’t do just any job.”

Doubt about whether she could trust and follow this person was raging inside her.

“We’re on the same page. I don’t have the guts to make a random kid do just anything either. So stop talking nonsense and just follow me.”

“I’m not a kid, I’m fifteen… ugh!”

Marigold followed, squeezing through the crowded people with all her might.

By the time they reached the second general compartment, she was almost exhausted.

“Ugh, where are we even going?”

“Almost there.”

They arrived at the first compartment of the general section. Marigold leaned against the wall, catching her breath.

“Hah, hah, I didn’t think we’d actually come all the way here…”

“What are you doing? We still have to go further.”

“Yes?”

“Follow me.”

Marigold, who was about to follow with a dazed expression, suddenly grabbed Lancel’s sleeve.

“Wait, wait a minute, not there! That’s the compartment for nobles!”

“Is it?”

“It is! Now that I see it, this mister is a bit…”

“A bit, what?”

Lancel chuckled.

He reached for the door leading to the noble compartment.

“Eek!”

Marigold, who knew very well what it meant for a commoner to open the door to the noble compartment on a train, couldn’t hide her shock.

It was an act that wouldn’t even earn her sympathy if she were immediately killed by a guard’s thrown knife. This was because there were occasionally those who sneaked in with the aim of robbery or assassination.

“Who dares…”

Through the crack in the opened door, the guard’s fierce gaze flew in.

Marigold’s face turned pale. She hurriedly tried to pull Lancel’s waist, hoping there might be a chance for leniency if they ran away now.

That’s what she thought.

“Sir Lancel.”

Until she saw the guard’s menacing gaze soften in an instant.

“Please refrain from entering the general compartment, Sir Lancel. If something were to happen, it would be our fault.”

“Then you should have followed me.”

“If we leave this place, our heads will really roll, what are you talking about?”

“I’ll be careful next time.”

Marigold looked back and forth between the guard and Lancel with a blank expression.

“Sir Lancel, what’s that kid attached to you?”

“I picked her up.”

“Excuse me?”

The guard simply shrugged at Lancel’s answer.

Lancel approached the room right next to the bedroom. It was the space where one of the maids who had come with him was staying.

He knocked on the door, and the maid quickly tidied her clothes and appeared.

“Is there anything you need, young master?”

“Have her give this kid some work to do for a while. You can use her as much as you want until we arrive at the Imperial Capital.”

The maid didn’t ask anything else. She nodded lightly and took Marigold’s hand.

“Mary. From today, I’ll give you five copper coins every day, so help me with my work. If you’re useless, I’ll throw you away right away, so keep that in mind.”

Of course, she had no intention of throwing her away. Rather, she wanted to keep her here.

But Marigold nodded with a dazed expression, as if the wind was whistling in her ears. From her perspective, who had been begging for a living by cleaning boots in the last compartment, this opportunity felt like a sudden stroke of good luck.

The maid smiled and stroked Marigold’s hair.

“That’s great. Five copper coins is generous. You can get six silver coins by the time we arrive.”

==========

—Imperial Calendar 816, June 21. Weather: Sunny.

—Special Event Occurred! ‘Temporary Maid Employment!’ Starting today, a profit of 5 copper coins will be generated!

※The grace of the nobility has descended! Meals will be provided free of charge while working as a train maid. Save on food expenses from today!

==========

‘I haven’t even said I’d give her food yet.’

Of course, he was planning to provide it, but he felt a bit strange seeing the game system making such a fuss on its own.

Food ingredients are basically provided to the servants on the train, so I guess that’s it?

‘What would happen if I said I wouldn’t give it?’

Lancel hesitated for a moment, then decided to keep his mouth shut. He just didn’t feel like it.

8.

That night.

Lying in bed, Lancel felt like he couldn’t fall asleep.

The image of Marigold, whom he had finally met after 30 years, kept swirling in his head.

A kid who had lived as a noble until the age of 10, then suddenly became a commoner, or perhaps something even lower, and ended up here.

‘Is Marigold really the one who will pull me out of this regression?’

The answer is unknown.

All that was certain was that there were no other candidates besides her.

The identity of this endless regression that he had been experiencing for over 100, nearly 200 years, wasn’t it a phenomenon that occurred from Marigold ‘restarting’ the game?

If so, it was a simple matter.

Just prevent her from restarting the game.

‘The problem is, how do I do that?’

Should he tell her directly? No, in the first place, is Marigold even able to decide for herself?

‘I don’t know.’

He lay there with complicated thoughts for a long time.

The door to Lancel’s bedroom quietly began to open. He could feel a small shadow sneaking in through the gap.

Even who it was.

‘Marigold?’

The fallen young lady, Marigold.

She was sneaking into Lancel’s bedroom.

“Why do you keep stopping me? That nagging, geez. I can handle it myself.”

Talking to something invisible.