Chapter 253 – 253. The Core of the Past (1)
Packing all her necessary belongings and carrying her rucksack, Erin made sure she hadn’t missed anything. Lastly, she looked around herself to check herself once more.
She nodded her head, confirming that she had both her sacks, including the rapier she used to use and the rapier that Eunhyeon couldn’t pull out as a gift.
“Good. Let’s go.”
Through the gate installed inside the house, he transferred to the inside of the duchy and moved to the place where there was a procession of many wagons waiting in front of the castle gate for the departure.
In front of the procession, many adventurers who accepted an urgent request for an expedition were chatting with each other ahead of their departure.
That number was less than half of the total number of adventurers who had gathered as an adventurer’s guild in the first convocation order.
There are almost no newcomers and adventurers of the same rank, and most of the adventurers who participated here are either trying to make a big deal with 10 gold coins, or are full of baseless confidence that they can survive if they are themselves, she said. It was felt by Erin through her skin.
“… There are many unusual people.”
But besides that, he also knew that there were formidable adventurers, each of whom radiated extraordinary spirit and dignity.
Excluding Erin, who lacked experience and achieved silver rank in one year, most of them were adventurers with a certain level of reputation who had accumulated experience and achievements by crossing many lines.
“That lady is here too.”
Even among adventurers of the upper world with her skills and discernment, Erin was the object of her attention.
Some of them also had a history of participating in an expedition to subdue undead synthesis monsters organized by a necromancer, with Riod as the spearhead in the past.
Of course, since he knew of the existence of Eun-hyeon, who had played an active part in the subjugation, it was only natural that Eun-hyeon became interested in the dukedom, which he had entered as his son-in-law through her marriage.
Naturally, she is also interested in Erin, who is rumored to be Eun-hyeon’s disciple.
‘I wish I could stop staring…’
While she unintentionally grabs the attention of those around her, she’s gotten used to getting a lot of attention, but it’s true that that doesn’t make her feel very good.
She tried to feign her composure, but Erin searched for her face, not hers, as she paced the carriages.
‘Gerard… You can’t see it.’
Perhaps Gerard, known as a hero, may have already set off a day early in the family wagon prepared by Alex.
Alex invited Erin to accompany Armitas’ soldiers to the expedition, but Erin refused.
She hurriedly packed her things, asked Emilia to take care of Lily and her nursery school children, etc. There were many things she had to prepare before leaving.
‘I guess I should have moved a bit quicker…’
When she finished all her preparations last night, the duke’s family had already departed.
After letting out a small sigh of regret, Erin reluctantly climbed into the wagon her adventurers were riding.
“I’m leaving!”
As soon as the voice of her coachman, who loudly shouted her departure signal, died down, her carriage moved.
Many adventurers rode in her swaying wagon, but there were no adventurers familiar with herself or her.
Erin, who has always been solo, didn’t party or make big connections with others, so there weren’t that many adventurers she shared her full name with.
“…”
It was only natural that other adventurers would focus on Erin, as she was one of the youngest members of the carriage.
The soon-to-be-adulting girl was catching the attention of many male adventurers with her mature female body and beautiful appearance.
Erin held her two rapiers in her arms, and as her arms tightened, she involuntarily raised her guard.
“Today we will camp here!”
The distance from the Armitas Territory to the Mograf Territory was reached by riding a wagon for about three days.
From the moment the sun went down and it got dark, we had no choice but to stop driving because we could not secure proper visibility.
Erin got off her wagon just as she was and set up her one-person tent from her backpack to prepare for her camp.
“Miss.”
“… Yes?”
She turned her head to the sound of a man’s voice calling her.
The first impression that came into Erin’s field of vision somehow immediately reminded her of the evaluation, “He looks sleazy.” She spoke to Erin with a friendly smile.
“My lady, I have a question for you.”
“Yes? Ah… Yes.”
Erin let her guard down a little, since the adventurer who spoke to her did not show any intention or emotion to harm her, including her malice, from the look or expression.
If I dare to express the impression I felt from the adventurer in words, it is closer to seeing Erin with feelings like ‘subservience’ rather than her malice.
“Could the young lady really be the disciple of that ‘Sueun’?”
Erin, who finished preparing for her camp and moved her steps to receive the food rations from the adventurers belonging to the guild, twitched her eyebrows at the word ‘mercury’ mentioned by the male adventurer.
“… What about it?”
“Hmm? Do you think I said something that might offend the lady?”
Seeing Erin’s uncomfortable expression on her face, the male adventurer asked in a slight embarrassment.
The male adventurer’s guess was correct.
Erin didn’t really like the nickname ‘mercury snake’ given to Eun-hyeon in Pernin.
Starting with the evaluation that she is like the West, a pillar of prestige that prevails parasitically on Illyana’s reputation and ability, by putting forward the fact that she is a witch’s lover, and coaxing people with words. It is a disgraceful ‘tinnitus’ for.
He is an even greater man who has helped me grow and lead me until now, but I feel like many people look down on Eun-hyeon and ignore him, so whenever I hear the name ‘Su-eun’, I feel bad.
“No. … No. Uncle’s name is… ?”
“Call me Jess.”
But that doesn’t mean you can’t just be angry.
By the time he knew that the male adventurer who introduced himself as Jis in front of him was not ignoring or looking down on Eun-hyeon by calling him by his disgraceful nickname.
Now, there was no one who ignored or looked down on the ability of Eun-hyeon, who had married the Black Witch and Princess Armitas.
In addition, Eun-hyeon, perhaps because she didn’t pay any attention to it, after nearly two years passed, it reached a point where it became more fixed.
Erin let out a sigh of relief as she only realized that she was overreacting.
“Why are you curious about that?”
“Ah… That’s what… Haha…”
Seeing Jiss face contemplating whether or not to reveal this with a shy smile, he read Erin’s feelings and peered into her heart.
‘… Shame?’
It might be the right thing to bring out his embarrassing experience, but on his troubled face, he didn’t feel any dark intentions trying to play tricks on himself or Eun-hyeon.
“That’s right. I have something to apologize to the lady’s teacher, the nobleman…”
“An apology?”
“Yeah, yes! By any chance, after this urgent request expedition is over, Su-eun, could you introduce me to that nobleman?”
“…”
Erin stared at Jiss with a look on her face, wondering what this was all about.
The story is that an adventurer who said he did something wrong to Eun-hyeon asked for a place to properly apologize to Eun-hyeon.
Curious about what the hell he had done, Erin asked Jiss.
“What did you do wrong to my master?”
Erin used a respectful tone, calling Eunhyeon her teacher in public without him.
“Ah… Perhaps the nobleman is like a ‘potion swindler’ to the lady… Haven’t you ever had a similar story like that?”
“Portion… Fraud… ?”
At Jis’ words, she tilted her head slightly and narrowed her brows.
While explaining the small basics of being an adventurer, she slowly recalled what Eunhyeon had said.
-There’s no adventurer better than a rookie adventurer. Because I don’t know anything about the world. There is almost no common sense as an adventurer about whether something is right or not, what actions are right or wrong, and it’s easy to cheat because you don’t know what’s right.
Eun-hyeon’s advice is to doubt the favors of others who are approaching you until you gain proper experience and learn common sense and the system of the industry properly.
– Typically, it’s easy to fall for things like ‘fraud’. Be careful.
-Fraud?
– For example, shall we take ‘potion fraud’ as an example? For an adventurer, the existence of a potion is also a rope that can create an emergency situation such as a one-shot reversal or a knight’s recovery even in a desperate situation. Usually, the effect of a potion is to restore a part of the mana that has been exhausted, or to improve the aggravation of the wound you have suffered, but this alone can save adventurers many lives.
-Huh. I know that.
-But let’s say there is a potion with an amazing effect that can refill all of your mana that has run out and restore the limbs that were severed. The value of this potion is so great that it costs 10 gold coins to buy it. But if I want to sell this potion to you for 2 gold coins. What would Erin do?
– Of course you should buy it. You mean they sell it 80% cheaper, right?
-Pooh-hip… !
“…”
Erin’s eyebrows twitched as she recalled the embarrassing memory of her unable to hold back her laughter as Illyana, who was listening to her without hesitation, burst out laughing.
– Wrong.
-Uh? Why?
-How can you prove the effect of this potion? Who guarantees the value? Erinn, have you ever seen someone selling a potion with this effect at the market or adventurer’s guild?
-… No?
-Yes. The guy trying to sell you potions just explained it in words. The value of the potion is not guaranteed by anyone, and unless you cut off your own limbs and use it yourself, it’s impossible to even check the potion’s efficacy. There is no means to prove that the potion is really genuine and has such value.
-…
In other words, it instills the perception that ‘this item is amazing!’ And shows the intention of ‘I will sell it only to you at a particularly low price.’ It induces the thought that ‘it is worth buying this item unconditionally!’. In fact, there are vicious adventurers who try to cheat new adventurers by selling cheap potions that cost only a few copper coins, let alone silver coins, for gold coins.
-… Who’s an idiot who gets caught up in that so easily?
Even so, the fact that Erin, who had never experienced fraud, did not notice the fraudulent profiteering of hundreds of times over the cost of only a few copper coins.
-You just told me you were buying this potion. For 2 gold coins.
-That’s because you said you were selling it to me! I believe in you! Ouch!
Her Erin protested with her wrathful expression as she looked at Eunhyun slapping her beet on her own forehead.
-It hurts!
– Well, the assumptions I just said were certainly extreme, but this is an area that depends on the skill of the individual who dominates the surroundings or the splendid rhetoric of the scammer. Do you know what a really scary scam is?
-What?
-I’m really afraid of scammers who don’t even realize they’re being scammed. At the end, when you realize, “Oh, I got hit,” You’ll end up in a situation where there’s no way to do anything, so be careful.
Even after that, Erin worked as an adventurer for over a year, and she hadn’t been scammed once.
Eun-hyeon’s warnings had some influence, but it was impossible for Erin, who had the ability to read other people’s emotions, to cheat her.
After finishing her flashback, Erin opened her mouth with a confused expression.
“I was just told to beware of scammers…”
“Yeah, that’s right… ? Haha…”
“By the way, why do you ask about the ‘potion swindler’? No way… ?”
Haha… I-I’m the one who tried to scam the guy…”
“… By the way.”
What the hell is the man who tried to scam Eun-hyeon to himself?
Erin’s eyes narrowed as she glared fiercely at her trickster adventurer.
“That, that’s because I wanted to apologize!”
In the past ‘Undead Chimera Subjugation Expedition’, the swindler adventurer, who tried to cheat by selling a potion called ‘nutritional tonic’ to Eun-hyeon at an expensive price, only later realized his identity and was stunned. It was a request.
Later, when she heard from another adventurer that the target she was trying to scam was a ‘witch’s subordinate’, she knew only that her heart sank.
Afterwards, whenever she hears about him from the adventurer’s guild, she goes occasionally. I do this because my anxiety is amplified and I want to apologize for my mistakes and feel at ease.
“…”
“Ji, I really stopped buying potions! Since I live faithfully, Su-eun, I only have one chance to apologize to that nobleman…”
Erin let out a small sigh when she saw the swindler adventurer look desperate.
‘What if… ?’
I didn’t even think that Eun-hyeon had fallen for such a low-level scam, and if she had retaliated for almost being scammed, she would have done it right away. Was likely to be thought of as
Then, when Eun-hyeon returns home, is it okay if I introduce this ex-con-adventurer to Eun-hyeon, who is already very busy?
‘Ah, I really hate this worry…’
When you’re so worried
“Hurry up, bring it!”
“Sorry, sorry… !”
“Tsk! It slows me down!”
“Villad. If you treat it so harshly from the first day, there’s no way that slave will be able to keep up with the rest of the schedule.”
Sounds of servility, irritation, and vulgar laughter mixed with ridicule.
“Uh… ?”
Each of those sounds struck Erin in her ear, reminding her of past memories.
“Shit! My father told me to put it on to help with power, but it’s a completely useless bitch!”
Receiving soup from her rations, Erin, returning to her own tent, paused in that irritated tone, tone of voice, and atmosphere, recalling memories of her past that she did not want to recall.
“Huh?”
She must have felt Erin’s gaze on her, who was looking at them. The man who had been spitting out her irritation turned her head to look in the direction she felt her gaze, and in the midst of the crowd, he saw her Erin exactly. Found the appearance of
“No way?”
Erin slowly looked at the man she was checking again.
She frowned when she confirmed that she wasn’t wearing the uniform she often encountered at school, but rather armor with the seal of the dazzling kingdom on it.
“… You’ve become an article. Eventually.”
Haha! Haha!”
The male knight, who noticed her Erin figure, got up from her seat and slowly moved her steps toward her Erin.
“Who is this!?”
Making a playful gesture to draw the attention of those around her, the male knight raised her arms, exaggerating the action.
“Aren’t you a commoner expelled from Aether?”
Erin’s fists were clenched and her power went into the act of ‘Villa de Orba’, who tried to rape her in her past, provoking herself with her vicious sneer.
