Chapter 32 : That actually happened in real life

I’m sorry, my intuition.
You were right.
Please forgive me for not believing in you.
Lena looked down at her chest and muttered inwardly.
Indeed, this body was high-performance, high-intelligence, incomparable to the malfunctioning status window.
If the intuition said so, then it was so.
If the result was bad, it was simply due to her lack of faith.
And rightly so—hadn’t she met people, a merchant caravan, right after crossing the knoll?
And their destination was supposedly Carvalon Castle.
The very place Celine had aimed for.
Intuition, as always, had guided the ignorant little lamb only to the correct answer.

“We were lucky. To happen upon the path the caravan was taking.”
Celine seemed to consider it good fortune.
Lena didn’t butt in to say it wasn’t luck but inevitability.
Knowing the truth alone was enough.
Because that’s cool…
Coolness is completed by not boasting frivolously.
This was precisely why the “hiding power level” trope was a steady seller.
Truth, even if hidden, eventually reveals itself.
The reaction when the truth is later known—kkhh.
While Lena inwardly pictured a future where Celine would tremble and be astonished, outwardly she asked innocently:

“What’s this, Elder?”

“Wool.”

“Wool!”
The fur was fluffy, the texture soft, warm, and nice.
The tanning was done properly.
Lena knew how to tan hides too.
However, since it was just for her own use, she did it roughly.
In contrast, the caravan’s wool was a product meant to be sold to others.
As it had to be flawless, it could be called a culmination of labor and technical skill.

“Then what’s this?”

“That is…”
Lena chatted amiably with Morutun at the back of the wagon.
Morutun welcomed the party, belying the initial misunderstanding of them as monsters.
To be precise, he was like that only toward Lena.
He doted on Lena as if she were the daughter of a neighborhood friend.
She had definitely been grimy and looked like a beggar, but after washing her face, her impression changed completely.
If dolled up, one could believe she was the cherished daughter of some noble family.
Right next to her was even a knight clad in armor.
The conclusion drawn from this:
She’s the illegitimate child of a noble family!
Illegitimate children were treated as the family’s shame and usually had little power, but noble blood itself was precious.
For Morutun, leading a small caravan, this was a valuable connection.
Added to that, her lively, unpretentious personality and good sociability made her easy to talk to.
Her reactions to obvious things were lively, as if she had been raised quite sheltered, making the dreary journey, filled only with men, less boring.

Aside from such ulterior motives, having more people in the group was advantageous.
Because he could receive payment for taking in unrelated individuals.
Since the trade was break-even anyway, he had to take even such small additional income.
Not that he would just let anyone join the trade journey.
He only allowed companionship to those whose identities were confirmed and judged unlikely to harm the journey.
Lena and Celine met these criteria.
Even if a girl like Lena caused trouble, she could be subdued by the caravan members without needing the mercenaries; a knight was unlikely to cause harm and might even help.

“But could you perhaps send that fearsome wolf away?”
There were no complaints about Lena and Celine joining.
The wolf accompanying them, Badugi, was the problem.
The wolf was larger than a horse.
When it yawned, opening its mouth wide, its sharp fangs flashed, making legs tremble.
Even the caravan workers seemed reluctant to go near it, a vacant circle forming around the creature.

“It’s not a wolf, it’s a dog. Besides, we’re not indoors—what’s wrong with bringing a pet along? I trained him well; he doesn’t bite people. Right?”
The wolf nodded.
The timing was as if it understood human speech.
Okay, I get that it’s well-trained.
But still.

“Setting aside the pet part, how is that a dog…”
Nobles are beings who want for nothing in the world.
Their peculiar tastes were both amusement to alleviate boredom and points of pride to show off to others.
So, keeping that giant beast as a pet was okay.
Some people even raised tigers or lions.
A wolf wasn’t particularly strange.
But how could one call that a dog?
The size itself was different.

“Huh? Are you discriminating now? Large dogs aren’t dogs? They’re beasts? Don’t walk them where there are many people? What if someone gets hurt?”

“Aish, my ears hurt. Stop, stop. Alright, alright. You can bring him, just watch him carefully so he doesn’t bite anyone.”

“Thank you, Elder.”
Upon his reluctant permission, Lena giggled and bowed her head deeply in thanks.
Aside from her unconcealable mischievousness, she was a very polite child.
Illegitimate children usually have terrible manners, but she’s quite unique.
Indeed, Lena’s gestures lacked the trained dignity or elegance of a noble family.
Then it must be her nature.
An illegitimate child with a knight attached.
Did the family, seeing her potential, provide some backing?
But then wandering near the Great Forest is suspicious.
I don’t know; digging into nobles’ affairs isn’t good anyway.
Morutun shook his head to clear the stray thoughts and protested the baseless slander that had been bothering him.

“I told you, I’m not an Elder.”

“Just because your spirit is young doesn’t mean your body is. Just like Badugi is a dog even if you insist he’s a wolf, you’re an Elder, not an Oppa or Ahjussi.” (TL Note: Oppa – older brother/male friend for females; Ahjussi – middle-aged man)

“I’m not that old! I’m a newlywed with a nursing baby!”
Lena was startled by the unexpected news.

“Oh, you married late?”

“I did marry late, but even if I had married at my age, my child would be about half your age.”

“Heok!”
Which means—

“How hard must you have lived for your face to age so much?”
Lena looked at Morutun with pity.
So he wasn’t old, just looked old for his age.
He had a “no-an” face. (TL Note: “No-an” means looking older than one’s actual age)
It wasn’t implausible.
There were many like that in the military.
Officers in their late 30s could look like they were in their 50s.

“Still, thanks to that, I started a caravan.”
Instead of the misunderstanding of being an “Elder,” he now received looks of pity.
Morutun, far from being dejected, puffed out his chest.
Starting a caravan from scratch at his age was his pride.
Even if it was on the verge of bankruptcy.
After bankruptcy, I’ll degenerate from a self-made caravan leader to a penniless man who even looks terribly old for his age.
Morutun erased such a miserable future from his mind.
He was working hard to prevent that from happening.
If he could just succeed in this trade journey, he could at least catch his breath.

Fortunately, the journey had been smooth so far.
No trace of monsters, no bandits notorious for occupying chokepoints, and he gained an amusing conversation partner.
The only thing that bothered him was—

“Hey! When are we setting up camp?”

“There’s still time before sunset. We need to keep moving diligently.”

“Can’t we just set up camp now and rest?”

“That requires the caravan leader’s permission…”

“Agh, damn it. Why is this trade journey so long? My legs are killing me.”
It was the insolent behavior of the cheaply hired mercenaries.

“Should’ve brought a woman along. Bored to death.”

“There’s a woman right there. Though looks like the caravan leader is having all the fun by himself.”

“That b*tch is really cunning too. Sticking close and wagging her tail.”

“If we keep our ears open at night, won’t we get some fun? Who knows if they’re f*cking at night too.”
The lewd remarks poured out, directed not only at Lena but also at their employer, Morutun.
Their giggling faces and gleaming eyes were steeped in vile lust.

Morutun glanced furtively at Lena and said, “Don’t mind them. It’s just the nonsense of low-life bottom feeders. They talk like that, but they won’t lay a hand on you directly.”

“What are those things?”

“They’re mercenaries hired to protect the journey. As I said, my pockets aren’t deep, so I had no choice but to hire whatever dregs I could find. I’m regretting it too. Next time, no matter how hard things are, I’ll hire verified ones.”

“Hmm.”
Lena met their eyes.
As their gazes met, the mercenaries laughed, saying, “Ooh, look at that attitude.”
…They’re being really annoying.
Lena asked, “Do we really have to go with them? Let’s just abandon them.”

“I understand how you feel, but if we fire them, we’ll be exposed to threats defenselessly. They’re low quality, but mercenaries are mercenaries. It’s thanks to them that we’re traveling with peace of mind.”

“We can protect you.”

“Your escort knight? Well, being a knight, her skills are undoubtedly good, but it would be difficult for her alone to protect our entire caravan in an emergency. Above all, I have no money. Setting aside the penalty fee for firing those guys, I can’t afford the contract fee for your knight.”

“We’ll do it for free. Since we’re getting a comfortable ride to our destination thanks to you anyway, we can just consider it a pastime.”

“I’m not confident with just one person.”
It’s not one, but two.
Including Badugi, it was three.
She was confident they could protect the caravan much more meticulously and carefully than those thugs.
But what could she do if he himself didn’t want it?
The one managing this journey was the caravan leader, Morutun.
Lena was ultimately an outsider.
That’s why she was leaving the mercenaries alone, even though her temper dictated beating them up already.
Celine seemed to feel the same way, suppressing her dissatisfaction and seemingly sharpening her sword only inwardly.

“Alright, eat this and cheer up.”

“What’s this?”

“It’s a snack my wife packed. I was saving it, but I’ll share specially. My wife says women’s moods lift quickly when they eat something tasty.”

“Wow! Medieval snack!”

“It’s called pemmican. If made poorly, it smells awful, but my wife is quite skilled.”
Lena chewed on a piece of pemmican, withdrawing the attention she had been pouring onto the mercenaries.
[Survival Instinct (Lv. Max) is activated!]
The feeling isn’t good, but whatever.
Would mercenaries hired under contract really turn their swords against us?

“Freeze! If you move even a finger from now on, this b*tch dies!”
Such a thing actually happened.