## Chapter 330 – Brawler Bastards
I told Claudie and Winia that I was looking for work, then headed out early in the morning to meet Lina. I was worried she might not show, but thankfully, I found her squatting near the shop.
“You’re on time.”
She looked a little less grimy, so I figured she must have stayed somewhere decent last night. Her hair was clean, so maybe she went to a place with a communal shower?
Her clothes were still dirty, though.
“Ah, Oppa. Ah, hello?”
“Yeah, hello to you too. Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
There was no reason to waste time, so I immediately entered the slum with Lina. From today on, my job was just walking around all day.
But, wouldn’t you know it, the thugs who usually littered the streets were almost nowhere to be seen. They usually bothered me for no reason, but now that I was looking for them, they were nowhere to be found.
Well, it’s only the second day. I didn’t expect to find them right away.
Let’s try to be patient and look.
Finding lost items always takes effort. However… as if I was getting impatient, anger started to build up inside me.
Even as I was doing this, the bastards who stole my money were probably living the high life with it.
In other words, they were using the money that Eliza and I worked our asses off to earn without any guilt.
Thinking about that made it impossible to bear.
ㅡTremble, tremble.
“KIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKㅡ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
“Oppa?!”
So I ended up screaming out in a fit of rage.
People who earn money honestly save it. But criminal bastards don’t put in any effort and just steal money, so they just squander it.
The quality of happiness is different.
It’s more fun to spend it all at once than to save it. I could never accept that.
The fact that criminals live happier lives than people who work honestly.
That’s why prisons full of criminals have surprisingly high happiness indexes. I read in a research paper that it’s because everyone there is a criminal. That’s probably why the recidivism rate is so high.
That kind of messed up world.
ㅡI’ll kill them all.
“W-Why are you suddenly doing that…! Oppa, you’re scaring me!”
“Haa. Screaming made me feel a little better.”
Letting out all the pent-up emotions made me feel a little better. Lina was a little scared, but it couldn’t be helped for the sake of the great task.
As we walked around the winding slum, looking left and right, it was already lunchtime. I hadn’t found anything. I just wasted time.
Still, you have to eat while doing anything.
“Damn, I’m so hungry. Lina, let’s go eat.”
“Yes!”
When I told Lina, her face brightened up like a sunflower and she answered loudly. There’s nothing better than eating, after all.
“Are you that happy?”
“Yes… I’m really grateful too.”
It seemed that Lina’s value of happiness was only a few coppers. What a pitiful kid. I decided to ask Lina’s opinion, as if I was telling a teacher that I was going to buy a fruit of love.
“Ah, damn, what should we eat? Hey Lina. What do you want to eat?”
“Huh? Are you asking me?”
“Yeah. Let’s eat what you want today.”
“Really! I can really choose!”
“Yeah.”
Lina, who was getting excited, started to worry, fidgeting. Was there something she wanted to eat? Of course, if she asked me to buy something expensive, I might shout, “Be quiet!”
“Then, then what should I get… Ah, Oppa. It’s definitely not expensive. There’s a shop I saw a long time ago… Can we go there?”
“Sure.”
“Yes!”
I followed Lina’s guidance out of the slum, as she burst with joy. I wondered what she wanted to eat, but the place Lina led me to was a bakery with a pretty good smell.
“Do you want to eat bread?”
“Yes… It’s a bakery I saw a long time ago… I never went inside because I didn’t have any money…”
“What happened to the money you pickpocketed?”
“I had to pay all but the minimum amount as tribute. The quota was so high that I couldn’t use it freely.”
“I see.”
She’s a girl with a lot of sad stories if you get to know her. Of course, that doesn’t justify her crimes. Punishment is necessary for crimes.
“Okay, then go in and pick what you want to eat.”
“Thank you, Oppa!!”
I immediately went into the bakery.
An employee greeted us, and Lina looked around with a look of pure joy, looking at the bread.
This is almost like a Paris Baguette.
It’s a bakery that would make kids’ eyes pop out.
“The smell… the smell is so good… Oppa.”
“It is.”
Simple bread for meals is sold for 1 copper for a large one, but bread with a special flavor costs more than 1 copper for a small one. In other words, the tastier the bread, the worse the value for money.
Lina picked out one of those small breads.
“Is this… okay?”
A small 1 copper bread.
I doubt she can fill her stomach with that.
Since she has the manners of a child receiving something, I think I can buy her one more.
There are always some rude bastards who only pick out expensive things when you offer to buy them something, but I was really glad that Lina wasn’t one of those thugs.
“Is that enough?”
“Ah…”
“Pick one more, you brat.”
“Yes…!”
So I bought Lina two breads, and I bought a large baguette. The expense was 3 coppers. Lina seemed to feel a great sense of happiness just from that.
“I’ll enjoy it, Oppa!”
“Eat slowly.”
I went outside and sat on a bench with Lina and had a meal.
The girl, who looked at the bread with eyes like she was looking at a jewel, took a small bite of the corner of the bread to taste it.
Instantly, her face was stained with happiness.
A special kind of happiness that can only be obtained because of poverty… It’s contradictory.
“S-Sweet…”
Lina almost devoured the bread. I broke off about 30% of the baguette I was holding and gave it to her to eat more.
Because she ate so well, the meal didn’t last very long.
“Thank you so much, Oppa!”
“Then let’s go back to work.”
“Yes!”
I acted like that with Lina and searched for the culprit. There were no special results that day. I parted ways with her again at night, gave her her daily wage, and then returned to the inn.
I told Claudie and Winia that there weren’t any good jobs and had sex as usual before lying down in bed.
For now, 1 silver.
I want to solve the problem before spending 1 silver on business expenses. Lina’s daily wage and food costs alone will cost 6 coppers a day.
“What are you thinking about, Darkie?”
“Huh? No, just thinking.”
“Are you thinking about another woman?”
“There’s no way.”
“Really?”
“I only think about your boobs.”
Winia, who had been filled with my seed all day, poked my cheek and asked. Lina is a girl, not a woman. So I wasn’t thinking about a woman.
“Katt… Come to think of it, how’s it going with Karin?”
Claudie, who had been receiving my seed for a long time, asked about Karin. I haven’t been seeing her much lately, but there’s no problem in our relationship.
“It’s the same, well… she said she’ll have a baby for me.”
“Hehe. That’s good. That’s all that matters.”
I’ll have to tell them about Lisha later.
When Karin was mentioned, Winia said.
“I really want to put a leash on Darkie’s dick. Since it’s on his dick, should I call it a dick leash?”
“No way.”
That’s too terrible of a story.
“Oh my, Winia. You shouldn’t think such bad thoughts?”
“Yes, yes. Darkie needs to spread more seeds, yes. I just want to, but I don’t actually plan to do it, Sister.”
“Are you still not happy with Karin?”
“To be honest, I can’t help but be… well, I don’t see her much.”
“Since we’re sharing Katt anyway, wouldn’t it be nice to get along? Like me.”
“It’s a little different with you, Sister.”
The two of them started talking about me.
I suddenly hugged Winia.
“It can’t be helped, Winia. But I still think your boobs are the best.”
“Sigh…”
When I massaged her breasts, she soon made a pleasant noise and became docile.
“This Darkie bastard… the number of women is increasing, but I can’t hate it. How many more will there be? Huh? Are you going to have a hundred later? I’m going crazy.”
“A hundred? Claudie?”
“Yeah. Sounds good. Katt. Should we make a hundred?”
“Let’s stop with the shocking stories, Sister. Let’s go to sleep now.”
Anyway, I had to work with Lina tomorrow, so I fell asleep like that.
ㅡThose days passed by.
The first day. And the second and third days passed quickly, and when I came to my senses, the search operation was already in its seventh day.
I felt like I could go in and out of the slum’s complicated and twisted streets like my own home.
Working with Lina felt almost like a daily routine.
“It’s already been a week.”
“Y-Yeah… I’m sorry, Oppa. I thought I’d be able to find him quickly.”
“Finding people isn’t easy. I’m not blaming you, so let’s go to work now.”
“Yes. I’ll definitely find him today.”
“Does it easily happen just because you decide to?”
I explored the slum with Lina again today. Will I be able to find him? As always, the slum dwellers looked at us as if we were strange, and the thugs seemed to be wondering whether to pick a fight or not.
Still, there are some thugs today.
I have a good feeling about this.
That’s when I was walking around, looking left and right.
ㅡHalt.
Lina stopped.
“Oppa…”
“Did you find him?”
“Yes.”
Lina pointed to the other side with her finger. There was a skinny guy with a pretty fierce impression, who was also shirtless.
By my standards, he looked like a skinny runt, but compared to other slum dwellers, he had some muscles and several scars on his body.
He looked like a paragon of thugs.
He looked like a murderous robber.
ㅡTremble, tremble.
“That bastard… is that the bastard who stole my money?”
“Yes. That’s the person… right there.”
I wanted to burst out in anger right away, but I barely suppressed it. I need solid evidence. I don’t mind suppressing it a little until I get it.
“I’ll go first.”
“Okay, that’s a good idea. I’ll watch from here for a while.”
“Then.”
Lina approached the guy with a very nervous look. I hid in the shadows of the alley and watched.
ㅡGulp.
Indeed… is that guy the one who stole my money?
Lina may have lied to me.
So I need confirmation that he’s the culprit.
“Huh?”
The guy found Lina approaching. His swaggering expression instantly twisted like some kind of vicious demon.
I knew he was a demon, not a human.
Hiding in the human world… but you can’t fool my eyes.
ㅡTsk.
“You bitch… I haven’t seen you for a while… Were you avoiding me? You little shit?”
He spat on the ground and stood in front of Lina.
“N-No, that’s not it… I was actually looking for…”
“You barbarian, are you talking back to me? Did you get comfortable because I haven’t seen you for a few days?”
“T-That’s…”
ㅡThwack!
The guy suddenly threw a clumsy kick.
“Kyaa!”
Lina, who was hit by it, screamed and fell backwards. Seeing him beat people up, it seemed like that guy was the main culprit who extorted money.
That son of a bitch.
He hit my sister…?
But it’s not enough yet.
I suppressed my anger and decided to watch a little more.
“Kyaa? You bitch, kyaa?”
“I-I’m sorry… Please don’t hit me anymore…”
“Okay. I won’t hit you. If you had filled your quota. So how much money do you have now?”
“…”
“Why can’t you answer? Don’t tell me you don’t have any money? Wow. I’ve been waiting for days, but you didn’t fill your quota? Really? That’s a problem. Why are you making things difficult for me?”
“That’s… well… this is all the money I have now…”
Lina rummaged through her clothes and took something out. It was probably the money I gave her. When Lina held it out, the guy kicked her again.
ㅡThwack!
“Kugh!”
The copper coins I gave her fell to the ground.
Instantly, the slum dwellers rushed in like demons from hell to pick up the money, but they all scattered at the man’s shout.
“Pennies, who the fuck can use that?! You little bitch, I gave you a little break and you stabbed me in the back? Okay. I’ll sell you to the brothel as you wish!”
ㅡThwack!
“Ugh…!”
Another kick followed.
I jumped out.
