Chapter 68 – Migratory Birds in Summer.
“This is a deal about how much people buy.”
The next day, the news of the arrival of the company had spread far and wide, and Usher could see people crowded in the morning. Yesterday, I think I had at least a chance to step on it, but today, I don’t think I’ll be able to get out if I get stuck in the middle. Still, today was the day to go pick up the shoes he had paid in advance for yesterday, so Usher made his way through the crowd, taking care not to let go of Belka’s hand, and finally arrived at the store where he had ordered the shoes.
“Grandpa, we’re here!”
The old man was sitting in the same spot he had seen when they visited yesterday. The unique smell of tanned leather, the faint smell of oil, and the scent of a small tank shop where you can feel the passage of time draw on the old past. Did you hear his voice? The old man stopped wiping something with the rag in his hand and looked up at them. The old man seemed to be looking at them with his dim eyes, and then he put aside the rag he was holding in his old hand.
Then, what I saw were black leather shoes with a whitish sheen. Usher marveled at the look of the new shoes, which were hard to believe were made in an old tankan shop. The surface was less shiny and looked flat, but the shoes, which looked as small as the girl’s feet, looked better on them. The somewhat boring feeling was solved by the small ribbon decoration on top of it.
“Try it on.”
After looking around for a while, at the old man’s words, Usher urged the girl. She was more excited about him even though she was obviously wearing the shoes.
“Belka! Hurry up!”
“Okay. Don’t push me too hard.”
In the end, Belka approached at his urging, took off the wooden shoes she was wearing, and put on the shoes the old man handed her to her. Unlike wooden shoes, where her feet are visible, Usher asked in case her feet were trapped.
“Aren’t you uncomfortable?”
“It’s so fluffy.”
The girl, slightly startled, put on her shoes and moved her steps slightly, looking down at her feet with her shoes on as if in wonder. As if her shoes seemed to please her too, Usher proudly held out the other six iron coins to the old man.
“Here you go.”
“Six iron battles…, The weight is certain.”
Watching the old man weighing an iron coin with the scale he had taken out yesterday and confirming that the weight was not different, he thought that if he ever had another chance to buy shoes, he would buy them here. It was my first time buying leather shoes, so I didn’t know if this place was well made, but I liked this small tankan shop, the old man who guards it, and the shoes he made.
“Goodbye then.”
The old man said nothing, only nodded his head. And he’s on his way back to the top. Belka was still walking, looking down at her new leather shoes. It was good to look in front of her when she was walking, but Usher wanted to watch that kind of girl more to stop her. If she ever tripped or bumped into her, he would catch her. How long have you been staring at the girl like that? As if belatedly noticing his gaze, Belka trembled.
“Me, Usher?”
“Why?”
As I looked at it as if I didn’t know anything, the girl lowered her head. Her basset laugh flowed out of her, somehow because I felt like I could tell what condition she was in without looking directly at her face behind her mask.
“…Thank you.”
It was a very low, muffled voice, but he managed to make out what he was saying, even in the crowd. Usher just smiled and took her steps back to the top. It wasn’t that I didn’t have a desire to explore more of this area, which I hadn’t been to yesterday, but today, when the auction was held, it was more crowded and crowded, so something could happen. He thought it was meddling, but Usher didn’t feel bad when he heard it.
That’s because his voice was full of concern for them. Except for Belka, he’d never heard anything like it, so that might be it. Because he didn’t care about Usher that much unless he was a girl. He had just reached the top with light steps.
“Sasha?”
Someone grabbed Belka’s hand as if grabbing it. Widely! When Usher looked up in surprise, someone in a robe was holding her hand on the other side. Belka said coldly to him.
“I am not Sasha.”
“…Yes, it is. But…”
When her man, wearing a robe, did not let go of Belka’s words, people’s eyes began to gather here, wondering what was going on with her.
“Yes.”
Then, as if the girl was burdened, she shrank her body. It was to the point where he could no longer ignore his actions, and Usher was about to intervene, but someone intervened first.
“Do you have any business with the children of our upper ranks?”
It was none other than Donnar. Usher was relieved by the appearance of a trustworthy adult who appeared at the right time and pulled her girl’s hand away from the man’s. For a moment the man’s gaze shifted to him and then to Donnar.
“I’m sorry. I mistook you for a person.”
Surprisingly, the man readily apologized.
“Ah, yes, then we’re done.”
I waited thinking that Donnar might say something, but he quickly accepted the man’s apology and led Usher and Belka. Feeling bewildered, Usher glanced back as he was being led by Donnar. The man in the robe was looking at them, to be exact, at the girl as they walked away without walking anywhere. It wasn’t long before that figure was buried in the crowd and disappeared. Donnar was silent until he led them back to the top.
“Huuu, aren’t you really chasing after me?”
Donnar let them go with a sigh as if he had only survived after arriving at the top.
“Eh! Why are you hitting me?!”
Then, as he lightly fed chestnuts to Usher’s head, he shouted in remorse. He didn’t even force it so it didn’t hurt, but let’s just reflexively yell.
“Hey man, be careful. If you’re careless, it’s not only you who will be harmed, but Belka as well, so it’s even more dangerous.”
“What do you mean?”
Usher, unable to understand what he was saying, asked, and Donnar touched his forehead in pain.
“It was fortunate that the other person was polite, but if I did something wrong, it could have been a big deal.”
What kind of politeness is that when you hold the hand of a person passing by on the street and say something strange? Noticing that Usher didn’t understand, Donnar sighed.
“Ghmm, it’s ambiguous to say anything right now, but if you see someone wearing a robe on the street, don’t deal with them or run into them and avoid them.”
“Why is that?”
“Anyway, they’re people who don’t do anything good when they get involved. If you want to avoid them, avoid them.”
His displeasure was evident, and Usher couldn’t say anything.
“Tsk, just in case, I thought some people would come in person. I need to warn others, too. Guys, you’d better get back to the wagon quickly before the auction starts.”
“Yes? But.”
“Sif goes to your wagon first and is waiting for you, so hurry up!”
At Donar’s unusually impatient words, Usher had no choice but to return to the carriage with Belka. They were greeted by Sif, who had been waiting inside the arriving carriage. If it was her, Usher asked if she wanted to know why Donnar was doing that.
“I don’t know about that, but Donard wouldn’t do it for no reason.”
Sif also says that Donnar and the others have told him not to come out of the carriage today. After all, they were meant to stay in the wagon all day.
“I’ve confirmed that the report is true, but it’s a pity that I didn’t get to see it in person.”
But, saying it can’t be helped, the man wearing a robe shook his head. Even if it wasn’t his intention, he was the one who committed the rudeness in the first place. He couldn’t force himself to take off his mask. He could do it if he wanted to, but he didn’t want to be hated first. But even so, there is still a feeling of regret. It was because the redness of a woman and a girl buried in his memory was very similar.
Even though he hadn’t seen his face in person, he thought it was his fault that he was shaken like this just because it was the same color that still remained vividly in his memory. If he hadn’t been a little more restrained, he would have unmasked the girl. Still, maybe we can meet one more time? Thinking of doing it, he headed to the place where the auction was being held and ran into her man wearing a similar robe, but the two passed without exchanging words.
“A knight from Paciphenia.”
Knighthood, Paciphenia. The distance was far, far, rugged and rugged, and the number of times I had interacted with it was on one hand, but the name couldn’t help but be famous. How can you not know a country that can stand up to dragons with the Holy Land? Especially famous are the knights of that country. Although it is not an official name, the reason Pacifenia is called the Knight Country is because there are so many outstanding knights. If it’s a knight who can defeat dragons, there’s no problem dealing with other monsters.
Didn’t they actually catch crayfish, which were said to be comparable to dragons in terms of danger under the clouds, and sell the shells at auction as trophies? I don’t know in detail why such knights left their homeland and came here as members of the Merchant, but it seemed like good news.
“A summer guest…”
In the end, he smiled bitterly at the thought of being a native of this place. He couldn’t shake the blush that kept popping up.
The auction, which was worried about whether it would go well, turned out to be a colorless success. There may have been precious things in other countries, but it was the shells of crayfish that gathered the biggest topic. Watching the crayfish’s head carried away on the cart, Donnar talked to Shalby.
“Hey, how much did you sell just the head for?”
The price of crayfish shells soared in an instant, perhaps because of their notoriety and rarity. I knew it was worth it, but even though I sold each part separately considering the broken part, each one was sold at a high price. The most expensive item sold was the head part that had just been auctioned off.
“If 1370 iron coins, how many months will our salary be paid?”
“It’s only about 7 years’ worth?”
“Oh my God, even if we killed dozens of dragons, that price didn’t come out…”
No matter how much you think about it, the price they earned from selling one crayfish was far more than the price they received for the time they had to spend in their homeland catching dozens of dragons for a month.
“We had a job that made a living out of patriotism in the first place. What about money?”
She was Shalby talking as if she was scolding him, but she was, in fact, full of bitterness in her voice. He must be like that, no matter how patriotic he was, it was a job that he had to live on, but it was harder for those who lived as knights to know how the by-products of the dragons they had toiled and defeated were used. I just pretended not to see even though I knew and pretended not to see, I just closed my eyes. They have endured under the name of patriotism, even if it is more than necessary labor or life-threatening work.
The problem was that I realized too late that it was stupid because I was busy just dealing with dragons. By then they had become idiots whose duty was to do them favors everywhere. Although the situation was worse than when dealing with the dragon, the price of crayfish by-products, which were not really tougher than the dragon, made the knights of the same background collapse.
“Don’t regret thinking about the past, think positively. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a lot of funds to settle down positively?”
Donard comforted his teammates, who seemed to be depressed for no reason. It was no more difficult than catching a dragon, but he was lucky that no one was harmed by the crayfish. Because the irreversible almost happened. It is foolish to regret the past, the homeland that has already left. From now on, they had better think of living in Lantua. The sale of the crayfish’s head finally settled the money they had earned.
“Um, if this happens, I’ll feel more sorry for the kids.”
Donnar thought of Usher and Belka as he looked at the price he had earned from selling crayfish.
“Yes why?”
“I sold crayfish by part, but the price of one crayfish is huge, right?”
The crayfish by-products accounted for about 30 percent of what they earned. Although the kids said they didn’t really need it. As he pondered, Odur said.
“Then, take care of the kids too, because the settlement funds were better than I thought.”
“…Is that okay?”
“Actually, thanks to the kids, I caught it.”
“Right, then you didn’t want to give it to the kids? Oh my God, donnar, you were greedy for money too, right?”
“Hey! Someone else is seriously thinking about it, so what?”
When Donard asked worriedly about the agreement, which was cooler than expected, he rushed at the teasing of his comrades returning, and his comrades ran away as if they had been waiting. In the end, Donnar grabbed his colleagues and tossed and turned and sat on the floor.
“But don’t tell those people about it.”
“Oh, yes.”
At Shalby’s advice, Donnar nodded shyly. The people Shalby was talking about were people who, although they didn’t do anything as big as Pan, they were so-called stampede because they forced others or caused a nuisance. Because of this, there were times when it almost became a big deal, so after Mr. Ermis firmly set an example, he was on the quiet side. I’d give them exactly the same amount of settlement money per capita. If they insisted that there were too few of them, it would become a nuisance.
“Because they don’t know why they left Pacifenia.”
“I wonder if there is a fantasy about another country. If that’s enough, I’d rather live there.”
Git shook his head. Even though I had already asked them several times before departure that life in the upper ranks would be difficult, the pressure they exerted on the way up was unbearable. There was Ermis’s mediation, so I was consistent in ignoring it as much as possible, but it was a relationship that would end after paying the settlement money. It was time for them to settle their accounts and talk about this and that. Someone wearing a robe approached them.
“The auction is over, but do you have something else to look at?”
In response, Donard exchanged glances with his colleagues and asked the representative. It was a look that could only be called suspicious, but few would have the guts or stupidity to treat it with disrespect. First of all, the material of the robe is different. It was safe to say that this type of robe was used by high-ranking people when they went out on inspections. Everyone knows that everywhere, but pretending not to know is an unwritten rule. If there is someone who touches you because you don’t know, it’s a nuisance to that person and a nuisance to those in high places.
For that reason, the so-called nobles wear robes made of expensive fabrics that are difficult to deal with even though they are hidden.
“Did the auction really just end with that?”
Hearing his voice, it was the same man who had grabbed the girl’s wrist earlier. Donard answered, feeling frustrated.
“Yes, there are no more items left to sell.”
There are still wagons, Hildisbini, and unused armor, but those are things to be handled carefully. Even if the wagon could be dismantled and sold by blacksmiths, it was especially difficult to dispose of the Hildis Beanie and unused armor. Hildisbiny is very picky and it is difficult to find a new owner because they are as good as they have been tamed, and in the case of unused armor, it feels like propaganda that the blacksmiths who came with them are as good as they are.
Since the appearance of the armor they use is no different, if the wrongly sold armor is used in the wrong place, they could be punished for wearing the same armor by mistake. But the next words that came out of his mouth were enough to make Donnar nervous.
“I’m sure a horse came in with me, I remember.”
As I said, it was only the second day they entered Lantua. No matter how fast the rumor was, it was obviously strange that information about the horse was obtained in the meantime. Besides, since the horse belonged to the children, it is still hidden in the carriage so that it cannot be seen. But what this man knew was that he was a person of a higher rank than he thought.
“Sorry, but it’s not for sale.”
It doesn’t make sense, at least not if it wasn’t for the gray dwarf’s superior who screened them for entry. If so, the man in front of them would be a person with the power to allow them to enter Lantua. And that means at least a lord, and he’s at most a king. As far as he knew, Lantua was a federation country. It was because Lantua was a gigantic country that was completed by consulting with those in power who possessed territory and those who were no different from the kings of this region in preparation for the monsters that invaded.
“It’s strange. Then what did you bring it to?”
Then he seemed to be puzzled by their size and how they managed to get through despite their dubious numbers. Could it be that he let them through thinking he was going to sell the horse? Then the reason for passing them wasn’t very convincing. The horse was a very rare animal, and no matter how famous, it was hard to find because there were no people. Feeling the cold sweat running down my back, I somehow continued.
“It’s because it’s a horse with a separate owner.”
“Master? Master.”
Seeing the man’s troubles made Donard even more anxious. And sure enough?
“Could you meet the owner? I’d like to talk to you in person.”
‘I knew it!’
He screamed inwardly. He tried to make an excuse somehow.
“But… That’s it.”
“Why? Are you in trouble?”
Donard couldn’t help it, since there was no excuse whatsoever.
“Turn it off, it’s frustrating.”
Usher’s breath seemed to be choking at this situation where he couldn’t get out of the carriage no matter how much he waited. When the carriage was moving, I often fell asleep because of motion sickness, so the time went by quickly. Now that I wasn’t moving, I felt bored and the air was stuffy. If it hadn’t been for Belka, I would have been impatient and went out alone.
“If you’re bored, how about reading a book?”
“That’s kind of…”
At Sif’s invitation, Usher slurred her words. He didn’t like to read books very much. Then, if he asked what a magic book was, he wanted to say that it was because it was a magic book. He only read the book because it was about magic, but in the first place, books were hard to find and annoying to read. If it was a book about how to use magic, I could read it several times. In the end, what he chose was to lie on the girl’s lap as a pillow.
“Belka, wake me up when I say it’s okay for me to come out.”
“Huh.”
The girl nodded her head. She was relieved by her answer without hesitation, and just as she was about to fall asleep, she suddenly heard footsteps. Perhaps because of the sudden silence outside, the sound of footsteps heard even in the carriage, mixed with metal, sounded like Donnar or one of the coachmen. Besides that, there is one other footstep sound. She wondered if the auction was over, so she stopped trying to fall asleep and looked out her window, but she didn’t have to. Because at that moment the carriage door opened.
“Donar?”
There was Donar in front of the door, but Sif let out a puzzled voice when he saw another person standing. Next to him, a man in the same robe as the one holding the girl’s hand was looking at them. To be precise, it was as if she was inside the carriage and was looking at Belka, who was not wearing a mask.
