episode_0008

Ray sits on the edge of a shopping street alley and carefully watches the people passing by. He carefully observes the clothes, gestures, and speech of the men in this world, whose appearances are all so youthful that it is difficult to tell their ages. This is because he feels that he may be having a more serious problem than he thought.

Even if the concept of chastity in this world was the opposite of what he knew, even if he was just strolling around the docks alone, the fact that he ‘looked easy’ enough to immediately propose a blatant deal was problematic. For example, the fact that he seemed like a person of the opposite sex who didn’t necessarily need formal displays of affection simply meant that he had no manners, and if you looked into it a little more, it meant that he was somehow out of line with the rules of the game that both men and women in this society had agreed upon.

Of course, it was only natural that Ray, who had spent his childhood in the countryside, had not acquired the manners and customs that were common in the city. However, if he did not know what he had to protect as a man who would have to protect himself in the future, he would have been in trouble.

Puu …

A fairly loud trumpet sound suddenly rang out from the sea. Yes, that’s exactly what it was. Not only the man with his spouse next to him, but also the laborers in plain clothes all reflexively flinched and turned their bodies as soon as the loud sound was heard. Only then did they turn their heads toward the sound to see what was going on. Thinking back on a few minutes ago, Ray had definitely turned his entire body to face the sailors when they spoke to him. Thinking about it that way, it seems that the dark-skinned man also consciously avoided directly facing his conversation partner when he got emotional and argued.

Ray stared at the people for a long time, trying to remember their size, though he wasn’t sure what the meaning of this behavior was, or if it was just the reason they looked easy on him.

‘It would be nice if there was something like the textbook that my dad showed me.’

Ray got up from his seat, a bright idea flashing through his head.

” Excuse me, where can I find a book on this street? ”

I walk down the street and talk to a man who is putting things out of a store. Of course, I just turn my head to the side. He also glances at Ray out of the corner of his eye and points in the direction with his chin.

” Over there, there’s a bookstore at the end of an alley where the sea breeze doesn’t blow. ”

Ray tilted his head at the bookstore, which literally translated into the language of this world would be a pool store. However, when he actually went there, he saw a store that seemed to sell books properly. Each book had a price tag attached, and the books were wrapped with thick strings, so he couldn’t see the contents. He thought they would untie the strings after he paid. Of course, Ray, who had not a single penny and had only brought enough food for two meals and a spare pair of shoes, had no way to buy and read books.

Ray, who was walking slowly again, headed towards the place where the merchant’s cart was. There were quite a few people gathered and formed a market street. He could hear a commotion, and the scene was busier and more chaotic than the early morning. As he moved around the crowd with his small body, he realized that there was a familiar sound of shouting mixed in with the commotion.

” Wait, over there! Don’t take it away, wait! ”

” No, just ignore what this woman says and move on. ”

The merchant in the red vest, who was shouting and swearing at people carrying wooden crates on their shoulders, and the man with his arms crossed giving opposing instructions were the same men I had encountered on the street earlier.

” Does that make sense? You bought all that stuff before it even got off the ship? You can walk on water, right? ”

” I don’t know how many times I have to tell you. The ship can’t stay in port for long, so the owner of the ship sold the ownership of the cargo at auction as of yesterday. Isn’t it common sense to gather information when doing business? ”

” Ugh… ”

” Or maybe too much of the nutrients needed to run a business went here? ”

A man is hitting the chest of a woman wearing a red vest. Ray is quite flustered by the sight. However, no one who had gathered to watch the fight showed any particular reaction.

” Is this how you do dirty business? Ugh… Ugh… ”

The merchant, gritting his teeth, unable to contain his anger, grabs the man’s shoulder and pushes him with his weight. The dark-skinned man tries to take a step back and falls over. The onlookers boo at him. The women around him try to push the merchant back and forth or pull him to distance themselves from the man, and help him up when he falls.

” …Did you just knock me over? ”

” Ah… no, that’s… ”

A merchant waves his hands with an expression that seems to have realized his mistake for a moment, and a man glares at the merchant with an expression of disbelief as if he has been severely insulted. Ray takes advantage of the confusion of people milling about and approaches the merchant’s cart with a face full of questions.

” What’s happening while I’m away? ”

Ray asked in a whisper, pulling on the merchant’s shirt slightly.

” You were that… Was this person in the group earlier? ”

The man who was shaking the dirt off his clothes saw Ray and asked the merchant while pointing a finger at him.

” Oh, the nanny was kidnapped. ”

The surrounding women once again jeer at the merchant with laughter at this remark made with a look of contempt, and the woman who heard this jumped up.

” This guy followed me without permission!!! What does he think of me as? ”

‘Nanny? ‘

Ray thought it was a word that had a 1:1 correspondence with the word he knew, but he wondered if it had some kind of insulting meaning that he didn’t know about.

” Hmm… This guy is right. I just got a ride in the cart. ”

” What should I order you for the price of a cart? ”

The man asks.

” Stop, stop!!! My morning business is strangely going well…! ”

A merchant grabs Ray by the scruff of his neck, lifts him up, places him on a cart, and then roughly gestures for pedestrians to get out of the way before running away. His intense red hair, almost the same color as the vest he is wearing, is soaked with cold sweat.

There were a mountain of things I wanted to ask Ray, but I decided to stay still, thinking that if I messed with the sulking merchant, he might just lift me up onto the cart and throw me into the sea.

Even when he put the cart in the warehouse behind the building that looked like an inn and locked it with a padlock, and even when he was spoon-feeding the soup he had ordered, he remained absolutely still as if a mouse had died next to the merchant who was mumbling something with a serious expression on his face, and when he was licking his lips next to the empty soup bowl, their eyes met and Ray froze in place without moving an inch, like a mouse before a cat.

The merchant orders another bowl of soup, pays the bill, and then mutters again as he stomps up the stairs. Ray stays and eats the freshly prepared, hot soup.

” … something good will happen next time. ”

Ray, who had been standing in the doorway, barely opened his mouth to the merchant who had been lying face down on the bed in the room he had reserved for him and had not spoken a word.

” Sister, you’re just as confident in the value of your own stuff as you are in stuff from across the ocean, right? ”

” …… ”

As the long summer sun began to set, Ray could feel his anxiety rising again as he recalled the day he had to get his boss’s approval, who had a look of bereavement on his face after receiving notice of his retirement.

And then, the merchant suddenly got up, unbuttoned a couple of his shirt buttons from the top down, gave a breather to the lumps of fat that were pointed out as the main culprits of nutrient theft, opened the door, and went out.

” I need to drink something today. ”

And he muttered as he spoke.

As I follow her down the stairs to the lower level of the inn, I see a group of people gathered in the same restaurant where I had soup earlier, drinking. Ray takes a seat at the narrow counter where only one vendor remains, and stands there.

” Hey! Instead of blocking the road, can you help me out? ”

Before Ray could say anything to the merchant, a man with seven or eight glasses full of alcohol in his arms shouted at him.

” I’ll pay you a full day’s wages until the alcohol ends!! ”

A man who appears to be the innkeeper, judging by the way he speaks, makes a suggestion as he passes Ray, who is backing away from the wall, and runs towards the table by the window.

charge per day?

He immediately recalls the bookstore he had visited earlier today. And just as he was thinking that it was unlikely that the petty merchant would ever pay for his travel expenses while he was going to Fraua, Ray suddenly noticed an apron hanging from his body and two hands full of alcohol and food.

I can’t even remember how many years it’s been since I last worked at a meat restaurant, but I do whatever I’m called to do, running around the restaurant like a madman, moving food and drinks.

When people seem to have left a little, he asks me to pour the leftover food into the bucket in the backyard and come back, and to rinse the glasses in water and wipe them with a dishcloth. Even in the midst of experiencing the first extreme busyness in my life, I sometimes catch a glimpse of the merchant sipping alcohol at the counter with a gloomy face.

” Is there an empty room? Make something for me, I’m starving. ”

A familiar dark-skinned man opened the inn door and sat down at a corner table, led by two tall, drunken women. Ray took a deep breath and before he could turn to look at the merchant, he heard a glass being roughly set down at the counter.

Kwaang

And naturally, the few guests, the new group of men, the innkeeper, and Ray’s gaze turn in that direction. However, the dark-skinned man, who seems to have deliberately ignored them, speaks to Ray, who is observing them.

” Do you work here? ”

” Oh… just tonight. I was just helping you out a little. ”

” …You’re not in the same room as that girl, are you? ”

He asks the merchant, whose face is as red as his hair, while swearing at him. Ray hesitates to answer for about three seconds with an embarrassed look on his face, and silence flows through the store for the same amount of time.

” Oh my god, ”

” It’s expensive to rent two rooms!! ”

Before the man, who shrugs his shoulders with a look of “well, then”, can finish speaking, the merchant interrupts with a loud voice.

” A stupid woman like me has no business sense, so I’m scared to even stay overnight, okay? ”

He shouts, pounding his chest with his own hands. Ray looks in that direction in surprise, then fixes his gaze on the mass of nutrients bobbing up and down.

” You say you have a lot of money, but are you staying here on purpose to trample on my pride? ”

After saying that, he tilts his head back, lifts his glass, and takes a sip.

” Of course I’m not going to sleep here tonight. My employees who were supposed to move the luggage were drunk and sleeping on the floor, so I came to put it away. ”

A man laughing and responding to a woman who is yelling.

” Hehehe, I understand, sis. If you’re stingy with your bed, you’re not a woman. No matter how hard the bed is, if you hug a pretty child and breastfeed… ”

” A more comfortable bed than my house, hahahaha ”

Two drunken women who came in together were clapping and making a scene, as if they found something so funny. The man sitting right next to them and the innkeeper grimaced slightly, but it seemed like they could hear the women sitting at the other table laughing.

” I… want to…? Yes? ”

Ray, who had been staring at what was just mentioned, suddenly looks startled and bewildered as he looks at the people inside the inn one by one.

” What, you’re saying she wasn’t really a prostitute? ”

When Ray made a face that said he really didn’t know anything, the dark-skinned man who had been resting his chin on his hand burst into laughter and asked. Ray nodded. Well, it wasn’t like he really didn’t know anything, but it was obvious that it would be better to answer like that.

Then, everyone stopped laughing and started glaring at the merchant.

” I… I didn’t know either. I swear. ”

The merchant, who had become confused, raised both hands in protest.

” So you brought me here because you thought I was a prostitute? ”

When Ray, who was feeling somewhat bewildered as he listened, asked, the poor red-haired woman, who was completely at a loss, let out a long sigh that felt like the ground was collapsing, filled with resentment, anger, and lamentation about how today, which was supposed to be a lively day, had turned out like this.