episode_0161

We passed through the red-light district and headed for the black market.

Tailden’s ‘black market,’ which I had only heard about through rumors, was surprisingly just a wide-open field.

Even if it wasn’t a scene where goods were laid out on display like a regular market, I had expected it to be full of merchants hiding their faces and selling strange items.

Far from feeling secretive, it was just an outskirts area where scruffy merchants had set up temporary tents.

We walked across the field, where the smell of animal manure mingled with the scent of smoked meat.

After walking a bit, we saw a line of carts parked in a corner, nestled against a low hill.

Ruyef pointed in that direction.

“Are you thinking of finding a carriage here?”

“Yes.”

Just then, I was also seeing a vision.

Fosao’s back, loitering near the carriage, was there.

That man was waiting for the carriage owner, and soon a merchant emerged from a tent.

[What are you doing in front of my carriage?]

[I, I’m trying to go to Goldburg.]

[Goldburg? How many people?]

[Two, two people, including myself.]

[You’ve already heard the price, right? It’s 7 gold per person.]

Clink.

Fosao immediately pulled out money and gave the merchant 14 gold.

My prediction was correct.

That man had indeed found a carriage to leave Tailden from this black market.

“…Fosao found a carriage here.”

“Did you see a memory?”

“Yes.”

“Then you plan to leave the same way he did?”

“For now, that’s the most reliable method.”

Finding other methods would cost a lot of money and time.

No matter how I thought about it, simply following ‘Fosao’s method’ and tracing his footsteps was the best option.

“But there’s a problem. We don’t have enough money.”

The price the merchant quoted was 7 gold per person. That’s five times the usual toll fee.

It was an exorbitant price, but it was no problem for Fosao. He had already embezzled all of Tia’s money, so he must have readily paid 14 gold.

On the other hand, there were three of us. To all go to Goldburg, we would need 21 gold. With the money currently in our pockets, it would be lucky if even one person could get out.

Ruyef stroked his chin as if he already knew.

“Passing through the gate without identification naturally incurs such a back-channel fee.”

“…”

Should I close my eyes tight and go back to Auntie Lily to ask for a loan? No, I didn’t think she would have that much money either.

In a pinch, I could go alone… but leaving Ruyef and Marie behind was not a plan I had in mind.

It was while I was deep in thought.

“What are you doing in front of my carriage?”

I heard the man’s voice that I had heard in the vision just now. I turned around to see the merchant looking down at us with a displeased expression.

I repeated exactly what Fosao had said.

“We’re trying to go to Goldburg.”

Upon hearing that, the merchant’s expression changed. He stared sharply, as if asking how I knew that fact, then asked in a probing voice.

“How many people?”

“Three.”

“It’s 10 gold per person.”

There was a very large difference from the price I had heard in the memory vision.

Judging by the merchant’s attitude, it felt like he was just quoting an outrageous price to drive us away. Our clothes certainly didn’t make us look like rich people.

But I couldn’t give up after coming this far.

“I heard it was about 7 gold.”

“That was the price during mid-winter. Now, quarantine is strict, so that’s out of the question.”

“Then here, 30 gold.”

I put my hand in my pocket and roughly clutched a few gold coins.

The merchant opened his palm, his eyes full of doubt as if asking if I really had that much money.

Of course, I didn’t have that much money. And I had no intention of giving that much in the first place.

My goal was just to grab this person’s palm once.

Clink.

What fell onto his palm were three gold coins.

I had quoted 30 gold, but only handed over 3 gold, so the merchant’s eyebrows furrowed greatly.

“Are you kidding me? Can’t you count money?”

“The rest will be for medical fees and medicine.”

“…What did you say?”

I pointed with my thumb to the tent behind him.

“Isn’t your son very sick?”

The merchant fell silent. At the same time, he looked at me as if he had just encountered a monster.

It was fear.

He was afraid of me, who had suddenly appeared and spoke as if I knew everything.

“You… who are you?”

“Just a passing doctor. Never mind the details. So, are we making a deal?”

He had no choice.

Tailden’s doctor had gone off to war with the lord, so there was no one here to treat the sick right now.

The merchant, who had been thinking with a stiff expression, gestured to us.

“Follow me.”

Entering the tent, we saw a child lying on the floor, groaning. It was the merchant’s son.

His complexion was dark, and he was sweating a lot. Having seen all the common symptoms of illnesses while treating the village elders, the diagnosis didn’t take long.

“Fortunately, it’s not a serious illness. He drank some spoiled water somewhere.”

“Spoiled water?”

“Spoiled water often contains small parasites. They’ve entered his body.”

I quickly looked for things around that could be used as medicine. Since herbs were common in spring, acquiring medicinal ingredients wasn’t difficult.

I immediately made medicine using a kettle, a knife, and finely ground herbs. With such skillful hands, beyond what a quack could do, the merchant soon dropped his suspicious gaze.

“Here, drink this.”

I held it to the child’s mouth and let the medicine trickle in. Soon, his deeply furrowed expression relaxed completely, and he began to sleep soundly.

“Is it done?”

“I’ve temporarily stunned the parasites in his body. When night comes, he’ll fuss about needing to relieve himself. Check if there are any parasites in his stool then. If there are, he’s fully recovered.”

The merchant’s eyes welled up as he looked at his son’s face.

“To sleep so peacefully… How can this be.”

“So, our agreement?”

“…Alright.”

He nodded.

“Come out to the market when night falls. Once I confirm my son has fully recovered, I’ll bring the carriage there.”

“We’ll be waiting.”

It’s difficult to put a price on saving a life. Even if that merchant had a million gold, he couldn’t bring a dead child back to life.

To cure a son suffering from illness for a mere 27 gold was quite fortunate.

As we left the black market, Ruyef patted my shoulder.

“Well done, Ritsu. You saved a person and got a carriage.”

“…”

Did I do well?

This ‘ability’ inherited from my father was both a curse and a blessing.

In being able to subtly delve into a person’s past and seize their weakness to negotiate, I could always gain the upper hand.

I think I understand why people in the world feared my father. If my father had been a heartless villain, this world would have already become hell.

That’s why my father secluded himself. And he guarded his own world, speaking little.

Fosao, on the other hand, was not like that. That pig lived only to satisfy his own desires. In the end, my father never acknowledged him as his son, even until his death.

So then, me…

How should I use this noble blood of my father?

* * *

Night fell.

We packed our belongings and went out to the market. When even the few people who had been roaming around had disappeared, and soldiers carrying torches began to appear one by one.

Clip-clop. Clip-clop.

From the darkness, the merchant appeared, pulling a large cart. He silently gestured for us to get on.

The merchant’s method for passing through the quarantine station was to turn us into ‘food waste sacks.’ The sacks he brought smelled incredibly foul, and he explained that we just needed to stay inside them until we passed the quarantine station.

I was doubtful, but there was no other choice, so I put my body into a sack. Ruyef and Marie also reluctantly climbed into their own sacks.

Finally, the merchant securely tied the sacks’ openings and covered them with straw. He warned us not to make a sound, even if we were hit by something.

The terrible stench of animal feces made me feel like I would go crazy, but as time passed, it became somewhat tolerable.

“Halt.”

The cart, laden with goods, finally arrived at the quarantine station.

A soldier asked the merchant.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to Goldburg.”

“What’s loaded in the back? You’re not carrying anything strange, are you?”

Suddenly, the soldier pulled back the straw. And I saw a shadow slowly reaching towards us.

The merchant spoke urgently.

“Uh oh. You shouldn’t do that.”

“Why?”

“That, those are sacks for food waste and dung. They’re used as fertilizer in Goldburg, so…”

“Ugh! Damn it!”

Only then, perhaps having caught the smell, the soldier recoiled in horror. And without daring to check, he frantically waved his hand.

“Go on, pass through.”

“Then if you’ll excuse me.”

“Damn it. What I just ate is trying to come back up.”

Clip-clop. Clip-clop.

I heard the sound of passing through the gate, and then we continued to ride for a long time in silence.

After a long time, relying on the rattling cart as it sped along, the carriage finally stopped.

“Alright, you can get out now.”

The merchant untied the sacks we were bound in, one by one.

I never knew night air could be so sweet. If I had stayed in the sack a little longer, I might have suffocated to death.

Ruyef and Marie seemed to feel the same way, their eyes asking if it really had to be like this.

“Do you always smuggle people out this way?”

“It depends on the situation. Today, there were many customers, and I had to leave immediately, so this was simply the easiest to prepare.”

Ruyef spat and grumbled.

“Phew. That’s not something I’d do twice.”

“Everyone says that, but well, what’s easy in this world?”

He said as he returned to the driver’s seat.

“I’ve used various methods in this line of work, but you guys actually have it easier. The last time I smuggled out a pig-like guy, I put him in a coffin and drove for a whole day.”

The carriage began to move again.

The merchant recalled old memories and spoke amusingly.

“I still remember it. It was a stuttering fat man who came with a very pretty young lady. Their relationship was unusually close, so at first, I thought they were father and daughter? Or maybe an uncle and niece. Because the age gap seemed quite large. But to my surprise, listening to them talk, they were practically like a married couple. Isn’t that truly astonishing?”

“…”

“It seemed like an elopement. Yes, those two had to run far away. If I were that girl’s father, I would have immediately smashed that fatty’s head. He was nothing but a thief…”

“Ahem.”

Seeing my face, Ruyef deliberately coughed loudly, cutting him off.

“I’m thirsty, could I borrow some water?”

“Ah, here.”

He took the water skin the merchant handed him and passed it to me.

I silently quenched my thirst.

It was a terribly dark night.