Chapter 112 – Along the Alley.
The old man was a shoemaker. If it’s just that he’s been in this place for a long time, that’s what’s special about him. Her wife, who had promised to grow old with him, left before she knew it, and her daughter, a child, got married, and from that moment on, she never came to visit. The only place left for him is an old, corner, one-room store. The customers who come to him are fixed, or a few faces he knows from time to time. It was such a store that the only good thing was that it was old.
The shops that seemed like they would quarrel with each other with a shoe store next to him changed over the years and changed their owners several times. But he was still there. It was one night. As he tidied up his shop and polished his shoes so that they would not be damaged, as was his habit, in a small room where he could barely walk, his hands caught my eye. His hands are full of dry calluses, the smell of leather and the smell of shoe polish from holding his shoes for a long time.
He put down the rag he had been cleaning his shoes with and read and checked it several times, but couldn’t bear to throw it away and looked back at the letter he had tucked away in the corner. He read the letter quietly and looked up at the ceiling. The lamp where the candle was placed flickered, talking about the limit, but he did not feel the need to change the candle. A rope descended from the ceiling, leaving room for a circle. Could that place bring him some peace?
Even more than letters, the money pushed into the corner didn’t hold him back that much. Then he thrust his head into the gap left by the rope. Smart, unless someone knocked on the door. While he was still looking at the rope, someone knocked on the door again. He removed his head and approached the door from which the sound came.
“Who are you tonight?”
He opened the door and looked outside, but no one was there.
“Oh, hello!”
He thought there was no one. If he hadn’t heard the voice of a young child from below that he couldn’t look at. He stared blankly at the child. The first thing that caught my eye was her hair as red as the sunset. He has such unique hair that he has never seen before, and purple eyes that sparkle like amethyst. A girl he hadn’t seen in a long time was standing in front of the store.
“What’s happen?”
“Well, I want to buy shoes…”
What a great thing that was, the child held the small pouch tightly in his hand and was nervous. He looked at the child for a moment. He seemed to know why he had never seen this girl before, seeing the child who would make many men cry when he grew up. Even if I just leave it alone, all sorts of miscellaneous things will get messed up. Even if the timing wasn’t good right now, it wasn’t too good. He looked around for a moment. On the street covered with a dark night, only the light leaking from the house could be seen from time to time, and no one was visible, but it was something I didn’t know.
“Come in.”
“Excuse me.”
The child cautiously entered the store.
“Wow. Are these all things you use to make shoes?”
“Okay.”
The frightened child glared at the leather scraps piled up in the store. It was just a piece of leather that was nothing special.
“Did you come to buy your shoes?”
“It’s not like that. I want to give it to my dad.”
“Okay, how big is your father’s foot?”
At his words, the child hesitantly showed the size of his father’s foot, guessing it. Judging by the size of her feet, she appears to be a dwarf. Indeed, the child could not be considered a dwarf. He seemed to understand why the child was hesitant to speak, but he didn’t say anything and opened his mouth as he remembered something while preparing to make shoes as the child requested.
“Do you have any money?”
“Oh, here!”
What the child held out was the small pouch he had cherished until now. He opened the pouch and looked inside to find a few iron coins and fairy tales mixed in. Even if you count carefully, it is only 12 iron coins, so it is invisible. When I looked at the girl again, I saw a worried expression on my face.
“Are you missing something?”
It was definitely not worth it. No matter how cheap the shoes were, they had to cost 30 iron coins.
“No, this is enough.”
But why? That you said that He accepted money that was less than half price and started making shoes.
“Can you come tomorrow? I think it will be finished by then.”
“Then please!”
He stared blankly as the child greeted them and made their way through the night. The candles were lit and the day lengthened. The next day he opened the door. In the morning, I fill my stomach with simple soup and bread at the restaurant I always visit, wait for the occasional customers, and repeat the simple task of polishing well-made shoes. Still, it was fine if I had to polish my shoes like I do now. If it wasn’t even that, it was all about taking a nap waiting for the guest to wake him up.
When he suddenly woke up, the sun had already set and night had come and a store had closed. He sat shabby on a lonely street with few people walking by. He began to bring in the things he had brought out to close the door. It would have been the end of his day’s work. If it wasn’t for that child’s voice.
“Grandpa. Are your shoes finished?”
She was the girl who came last night. He gave the finished shoes to the child like that. Thinking it was all right for the last customer, he wrapped up the shop and stood at the rope. But for some reason, my footsteps did not fall. He hesitated holding onto the rope for a while before coming down. The candle was still burning. Because there was no one to say anything even if it was postponed for a day. Business did not go well that day either. The number of people who occasionally came to shine shoes was only a small amount of money to pay for.
The day was over and there were no more orders left. When he stood in front of the ropes. Suddenly, the sound came again. When he opened the door, the child who had bought the shoes yesterday was standing there looking at him with a sullen face.
“Did Grandpa lie? I heard from Dad that shoes cost more than that.”
The child complains that he was deceived and will definitely pay back. He begged me to tell him the original price. However, he kept his mouth shut because he had no intention of taking more money than that, but since then, the child came to him every day to ask for the exact price, and chattered by his side. The rope fell from the ceiling before I knew it.
“It seems like it was just yesterday. All of a sudden, the years have passed.”
The old man smiled softly as if he had discovered Medea’s mother in her appearance.
“My mother is here…”
Medea looked at the old man and her shoe store as if it were strange that her mother’s traces were left in this place, which she had never visited because she thought it was just an old place. Usher listened to his story and looked at the map.
“Then, is this your mother’s mark for her remembrance?”
“Is it like that?”
Usher seemed to be able to understand her mother, who left such a secret map where she left precious memories. Medea looked at her map Usher was holding with her complicated face. Seeing them, the old man’s eyes also turned to the map. He seemed to have found the blue mark too.
“I think I know where it is.”
“Really!?”
“Yeah, I can’t help but know.”
At the old man’s words, she acted as if she wanted to teach her right away, but he stopped Medea.
“Could you give me a minute?”
“Yes?”
“It’s because I have something to ask of you.”
It wasn’t much that the old man asked of her.
“You want to make my own shoes? But that’s it.”
“Can’t you?”
Medea hesitated with an uncomfortable expression, but she saw the old man’s earnest look. Then, as if thinking about it, she asked the old man.
“Belka’s shoes. You said you matched them here, right?”
“Yeah, I remembered that hair because it reminded me of Alexandra.”
He looked at the girl for a moment and then nodded her head.
“Then please make Lyuda’s shoes the same design as Belka’s shoes.”
“Eh, mine too?”
“It’s okay, right? I’ll pay for it.”
The old man gladly accepted her offer, but Medea and Lyudmila measured their feet only after he agreed to charge 12 iron coins for each pair of shoes from him, who refused to take any money.
“Oh, this is so itchy.”
Lyudmila, who first measured her feet by placing them on her leather board, trembled as if the old man’s rough hand brushed her feet, unfamiliar and itchy. Usher watched it and remembered that she had received 12 coins even when she bought Belka’s shoes.
“Grandpa. Here it is. Originally, a pair of shoes cost 30 coins.”
If it was just because the girl and Mediah’s mother looked alike, it was right to pay the price. But the old man refused the money he offered.
“The shoes fit 12 iron. Because I decided that.”
“Still.”
In the end, the old man didn’t even pretend to look at Usher’s iron coin. The old man, who measured Lyudmila’s foot and then Medea’s foot, could tell them where the map pointed.
“A magic bookstore?”
“If you’re sure the map was left by Alexandra.”
“A magic bookstore. Is there business there?”
“If my dad wants to sell it, he says he can’t afford it, and he’ll burn it right away.”
“Is it a place that sells like a children’s book?”
When they heard that, they doubted whether it was true, but there was no way they could guess.
“How can I get there?”
“It’s nothing special. If you go around that alley, it will come out naturally.”
The old man watched quietly as the children enjoyed themselves, checking to see if the alley he pointed to was on the map. When he first saw Alexandra, she was about that age. Before he knew it, the image of her child and their friends chatting in his shop was in front of him.
“Then see you next time!”
“…Come when the shoes are finished.”
The old man soon decided on his destination and looked at his hands as he watched the children bid farewell. Even while the surroundings change, at least one of them kept this position, but it is said that there is no business over the years, and his hands look like stones because of calluses. He thought he would be able to keep this position forever, but contrary to his mind, his body was old and it was difficult to even move properly. Still, he worked hard and moved.
He forcibly straightened his bent waist, picking and choosing leather. Alexandra couldn’t use bad materials to make shoes for her child and her friend. How many times have you overturned a shelf full of scraps of leather? No matter how much he looked, the leather he wanted was not enough. He clicks his tongue and looks for money to buy the leather he wants, but he only has 19 iron coins. He needed at least 16 more iron coins to get the leather he wanted from the tanner.
You could use only a portion of leather to fill the gap, but tanners will always stick to large leather. He had no choice but to bargain, so he hurriedly prepared himself. And when he tried to move the leather plates that measured children’s feet in order to keep the shop door closed. He could see the iron coins on the plate. Exactly 18 iron coins. He seemed to know who had left this iron coin.
“Is that the child?”
When the old man heard the story, he recalled the image of the boy who held out the iron coin to him, and accepted the iron coin with a bitter smile. He had nothing to say now that he was able to get the hide.
“Is this the right way?”
Usher and the girls were standing in front of the alley the old man pointed out, looking into the alley suspiciously. Mediah kept alternating between the map and the alley as if to make sure this was the right place.
“That’s where your grandfather taught you.”
The path he taught me was clear here. The only problem was that this alley was in a very corner place. Even though it was a bright morning with the sun shining down near noon, the inside of the alley was dark and shady, and it seemed like there was a musty smell.
“I really can’t believe that my mother wandered around in a place like this. It would be dangerous to go in even a little bit.”
“But you can’t not go in. Even on the map, the mark points to this inside.”
“That’s true.”
After hesitating for a while, they had no choice but to enter the alleyway. As expected, it was Usher who took the lead.
