episode_0029

“What did you say?”

Risir laughed at Pien’s suggestion.

But, with a ‘Huh?’ sound, I fall into a dilemma.

“If you think about it, it might not be so bad?”

“…Yes?”

Pien, who had been watching Risir with a shameless expression as if he had made a lame joke, expressed his embarrassment.

“Really? You want to share a room with me?”

“Let’s save money?”

“…”

It was an ignorance that overwhelmed the shamelessness.

Although it was clearly the answer he was hoping for, Pien’s response was ambiguous.

Meanwhile, Risir’s gaze turned to Rona.

“Then the room… Oh, wait. What about Rona? What do slaves usually do in this situation? Should I just leave her in the stable?”

“…stable?”

Risir watched Rona’s reaction for a few seconds before answering.

“Of course I’m joking.”

“If you’re joking, what was that static just now?”

“I wondered what other slave owners would have done. It was my first time raising a slave.”

“Keep up…? I’m not a dog, what the-”

“What would Rona have done if she had taken the opposite position right away?”

“…If I were the owner, I would have rented out an extra room!”

“Aha. And then you add that fee to the debt and exploit them even more viciously? Carrot and stick? I know what you mean.”

“…I have a feeling I shouldn’t know.”

Ahem.

Pien chimed in, coughing.

“Rona’s words make sense to some extent. A slave and a master sleeping in the same room? That’s ridiculous. ‘According to Rona’s opinion,’ let’s rent another room for Rona separately.”

Pien said that he would only follow Rona’s opinion.

“Huh? Then what happens to our plan to stick together and save on accommodation costs?”

“…”

Pien avoided eye contact with Risir with a shameless expression.

“There’s no choice, Rona. You should sleep in the stable today.”

“…”

Lorna’s expression crumpled.

When Risir spoke, it seemed like a joke, but when this woman spoke, it didn’t seem like a joke.

“Ah. P.N. Don’t be like that. Didn’t Rona work hard too? Honestly, I saw you again? I didn’t know you’d work this hard. Rona deserves to stay in a nice inn like ours.”

Risir absentmindedly patted Rona on the back, saying that she was surprised.

Her sweat-soaked shirt gave Lorna a complex sensation.

“Eek… !”

Rona covers her body with her arms and moves away from Risir.

“Mi, I’m telling you in advance! If you’re expecting me to do something weird, you’d better stop – I, I’m not a woman!”

“Rona. No, Mr. Eron. Who doesn’t know that? And, I’m telling you because I seem to forget it periodically, Rona. Even if you do that, it doesn’t change the fact that you seduced me naked in the middle of the night and got screwed.”

“That’s…!”

“Okay, let’s stop whining and go inside. We’re all tired. Let’s rent a room, wash up, and rest. This room even has a private bathroom? Wow. This is better than the room I used when I lived in the mansion. I’m sorry for being an illegitimate child.”

Risir entered the inn with light steps.

“…”

“…”

Pien and Rona quietly watched his back.

I’m sure it achieved its intended purpose –

What is this indescribable humiliation?

The two women eventually declared their separate rooms.

“Is that so? Well. It was strange. Three men and women sharing a room. Yeah. Do whatever you want. Do whatever you want. The bastard is crazy. The bastard is paying today.”

And I shivered once more at the sight of Risir readily agreeing without any regret.

***

“Wait! Rona! Pien! I changed my mind! Spend the night in the same bed as me!”

I almost shouted that the moment I paid the room fee.

I was somewhat prepared for this inn since it looked luxurious at first glance, but the actual price was far beyond my expectations.

The bastard had already realized the truth of non-possession by working various odd jobs and saving up money for a year to become independent, and he was trying to share that realization with the bastard.

Light on the pockets, heavy on the legs.

Even the payment fee wasn’t the only problem.

After taking a bath, I had dinner with Pierre and Lorna at a nearby restaurant, and the price wasn’t cheap either.

What made me even more upset was the fact that I paid such a high price and yet was not completely satisfied with the quality of the meal.

At this point, it is the second week of independence.

I realized that I had become independent in an unexpected way.

‘Just by breathing, money is deleted…?’

I realized it too late.

Why did illegitimate children risk their lives for their status?

When I was Bendel’s illegitimate child, I lived in a mansion in the center of the city as if it were a given, and enjoyed (limited) everything related to it as if it were a given, so I didn’t know-

So, enjoying city life was in itself a tremendous privilege.

From a certain point of view, it was worth enduring the life of a despised illegitimate child to protect him.

I thought about it for a moment.

How much money would it take to maintain the quality of life I’ve enjoyed here in Bondales?

“Ugh-“

I started to feel extremely dizzy due to lack of cash outside my body.

The results showed that it would take less than a week for an illegitimate child to run out of money they had saved up for a year.

Is it because the income of the illegitimate child is meager, or is it because the cost of living in Bondales, a commercially developed metropolis, is so high?

I think it’s probably both.

At this rate, we would have to go out to the outskirts of the city.

The genre of my life is being demoted from the fantasy world (hope world) to the fantasy world (despair world).

If you ask the innkeeper there where he bathes, he’ll look at you like you’re crazy and ask why you’re asking him that.

If you ask what’s in the soup, he’ll look at you like you’re crazy and ask why you’re asking me that.

If I tell you that my room smells and there are rats and bugs in it, you’ll look at me like I’m crazy and ask why I’m telling you that.

It was not an environment that I, with my modern-day, sophisticated sensibilities, could endure.

Of course, even if I could endure it, I had no intention of living that kind of life.

The purpose of my leaving home is not simply escape.

A better life.

If I had simply been content to escape the contempt of those around me for an illegitimate child, I would not have left the family.

I wanted a better life.

Than the life when she was Bendel’s illegitimate child.

Than the life of the Bendel people who ignored me.

If possible, better than my previous modern life.

Above all, I now had the means to achieve it.

The power of purification and magic.

After finishing my meal and returning to the inn, I sat down on the bed and caught my breath.

Clear your head and get ready to focus.

High-quality meals in a luxury inn with private bathrooms.

Today’s extravagance wasn’t just about celebrating a new start in a new city.

From Hyerne to Bondales.

This is my first long-distance journey in my life.

The journey was much more arduous than I thought.

I’ve tried practicing magic in my spare time, but I can’t concentrate at all.

What a pity that was.

In other words, all of this is to appease that regret.

In a state of complete rest and perfect condition, I summarize the insights and achievements I have gained from this journey.

‘Originally, it would be right to take a deep breath and wake up to do it-‘

Now, I even feel like that is a waste.

That would be the case, since I had to leave this inn tomorrow morning.

‘They say that just breathing costs money?’

The moderate amount of impatience I feel now is just the right stimulus.

“…”

As I organized my thoughts like that, my breathing became sufficiently stable.

I immediately shook off all thoughts.

I concentrate on the magic flowing through my body.

Into the flow. In the feeling of feeling the flow.

What should I call this situation now?

Setting? Anyway, preparations are complete.

‘good.’

The first thing I did was take a coin out of my pocket.

Lucky coin.

I plan to try to reproduce that.

According to Pien’s explanation, it was part of a type of magic called enchantment, which grants certain properties to objects.

-Isn’t this a skill that can only be handled by a third-level person?

At the time of my explanation, Pien was annoyed and asked me to explain.

How on earth did you do that?

I would like to ask.

Me. What on earth did you do?

It was a creation of my subconscious.

The purpose of this re-enactment is to bring the technique from the realm of the unconscious into the realm of consciousness.

Complete acquisition through so-called systematization.

“Ha.”

Suddenly, a laugh escapes my lips. Systematization, huh?

It’s my choice of expression, but it’s truly a sight to behold.

How can there be any system in the act of a novice in magic locking himself in a room and playing with his senses without any guidance or reference from an expert?

If the orthodox wizards knew, wouldn’t they flail their beards and get angry?

That’s not magic!

But what can I do?

There’s no way there’d be a magic teacher or magic book to guide the illegitimate child.

-My disciple~

-I am a book.

“…”

I thought I heard a strange voice for a moment, but I guess it was just my imagination.

I rolled the coin back and forth in my hand for a while.

It was a process of reliving the sensations of being in a carriage.

That extremely systematic action did not disappoint me either.

“I came.”

A sense of flash and discovery.

Don’t miss that feeling.

I didn’t let go of that feeling.

Even if the color of the sky outside the window changes and you feel something running down your nose.

***

Pien was in a bad mood.

-P.N. Shall we go out and have dinner together?

The expectation that this morning would be like last night was betrayed.

I woke up early in the morning and finished dressing up, pretending not to have done anything. Then I lay down on the bed and pretended to be asleep while waiting for Risir, but he never came.

But that’s okay. There was still some corner of me that believed.

‘I’m just returning the favor that the person gave me yesterday.’

A hum that comes out without thinking and a brisk step.

Pien went to Risir’s room to offer him breakfast.

dripping.

There was no answer.

dripping.

This time too, it’s the same.

“Rishir?”

It’s strange. I can definitely feel something inside.

“Are you inside? I’ll go in.”

As Pien entered Risir’s room, an unusual sight unfolded before his eyes.

“Rishir!?”

The lower body of Risir.

Top. Pants. Bed.

It was all soaked in blood.

Pien’s small body jumped and jumped.

She approached Lisir urgently.

“Rishir. Rishir! Are you okay!?”

Risir did not answer. He could not answer.

He was concentrating all his nerves to catch the sensation that seemed to be flashing before his eyes.

“…sigh.”

A sigh of relief escaped from Pien’s mouth as he looked at Risir’s condition with a serious face for a moment.

Then, her expression suddenly became a frown.

“Really. You’re such an unstoppable person.”

She held out her arms toward him, as if she was getting worked up.

The power of Pien gently enveloped Lisir, and his face became noticeably clearer.

After that, Pien stood nearby and quietly observed his condition.

***

How much time has passed since then?

“Huh? Pien?”

Lisir, who had woken up from his concentration, found Pien standing in front of him.

She was looking down at Risir with her arms crossed.

“Did you sleep well?”

She said in a sarcastic tone, her expression cold.

“Is it still a dream? I see an angel.”

“I think I took a deep breath. Judging from the fact that I’m talking nonsense as if I’m breathing. So- Can you explain to me what’s going on?”

“…I originally planned to acquire the enchantment, but a good idea came to me along the way and I ended up pushing myself too hard.”

“Good idea?”

Pien discovered it too late.

There are a lot of coins scattered around Risir.

A ‘huh’ came out of Pien’s mouth as he realized that each and every one of those coins was not an ordinary coin.

***

It was a woman with half her face hideously disfigured.

Senior adventurer Salana.

She woke up to the sunlight streaming in through the window and began her day by frowning.

As if accepting in advance the unpleasantness of the terrible things that would unfold for him today.

The first thing the woman did when she got out of bed was take out a hand mirror.

Then he held a soft cloth in his other hand.

It was Salana’s first routine of the day.

Wipe off the pus that has covered your face during the night.

An expression of mixed resignation and disgust.

“Hoo.”

The woman took a deep breath and looked at her face in the hand mirror.

And just as he was about to bring the cloth to his face-

“…?”

Salana’s hand stopped.

She stayed like that for a while.

A voice was heard outside the door.

-Rishir? Are you inside? I’ll go in.

It wasn’t something Salana had to worry about.