Chapter 4 : Everything-Merchant(Fix)

August pointed at my necklace and said, “Leave your necklace with me.”

“August, that’s an heirloom…!”

“You shut up, cripple.”

Smart, if you can call it that, and calculating to a disgusting degree.

I thought he was just a thug because I hadn’t been close to him until now, but this guy is definitely different from the start.

“…Don’t lose it.”

When I surprisingly handed over the necklace without resistance, August grinned and snatched it away.

“Good. Now go!”

As we walked down the narrow alleyway to the general store, Gillian spoke.

“Are you okay? It’s your parents’ keepsake.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Keepsake? What do I care? They were the ones who abandoned me as soon as I was born. They don’t deserve to be called parents.

“…”

A black cross-shaped necklace.

I don’t know what it’s made of, but it hasn’t been scratched at all despite being worn for 7 years.

I can get the necklace back after selling the pipe and returning, but the option of running away with Gillian is completely ruined.

When we arrived at a secluded spot in the back alley, a shabby building with ‘General Store’ written in Armonian appeared.

“Will we be able to get a fair price, Saya…?”

Gillian looked a little worried.

No problem. My mind is that of an adult.

Negotiations at this kind of medieval general store are basically all about guts. It’s best to demand a hefty amount from the start to set the minimum high.

“20 gold. I can’t give you any more.”

“That’s ridiculous!”

The general store owner demanded an absurd price. A piece of hard bread and water cost 2 gold. Lodging costs 5 gold. It’s an amount that will only allow two people to survive for about two days.

“You’re ripping us off! At least half…”

“Shut up. It’s annoying enough to have two little boys chattering. If you’re not going to sell, get out!”

This is impossible. Not a single word got through. Is this the Middle Ages…?

I deliberately used informal language and called out the price, thinking that they might look down on me because I’m a kid, but it seems to have had the opposite effect.

“Saya. Come here for a second.”

Gillian pulled my sleeve. I was led by Gillian back outside the building.

“I think, for that old man, Saya’s method is only making him angry.”

…I’m starting to feel that way too.

“Do you have any good ideas?”

“If the stick doesn’t work, use the carrot.”

Carrot?

“Where are we going to get a carrot?”

“You’re the carrot, Saya.”

…Huh?

It’s humiliating.

Is this appearance, this state, really okay?

“..Wow. I honestly wouldn’t recognize you, Saya.”

“No, no matter how you look at it, this is a bit much.”

“No man in the world hates cute things! It will definitely work!”

A little while ago, Gillian untied two shoelaces and tied my hair up. I never thought I’d be wearing hair ties for the first time in my life here.

“I think it would be better to take off your pants.”

“What..?”

Is he crazy?

“Are you crazy? Why the pants!?”

“The current outfit is too plain. I think you need something more intense. The bottom of your top is long, so even if you take off your pants, it will look natural like a skirt.”

“Hmm…”

“If you can’t do it, should I help you?”

“I’ll do it myself! I’ll do it myself…!”

Damn it. How did I end up in this situation?

“I’ll turn around. Call me when you’re done…”

I checked Gillian, who was turning around, and slowly took off my pants. When did I become a guy who cares about a boy’s gaze..?

It’s frustrating and embarrassing, but Gillian isn’t the type to come up with a baseless plan, so I decided to trust him.

“..You, if you fail, be prepared to get hit.”

“Haha…”

…Phew.

I took a deep breath and stood in front of the store door. Calm down, according to Gillian’s plan…

‘Clink-‘

“Welcome. Bill’s General Stor…”

“…”

A silence of ten-odd seconds followed. In the end, I spoke first.

“Um.. I’m sorry for being rude earlier.”

“..Oh…. Ooooooh…..”

“..?”

A tremendous vibration began to be transmitted through the building wall. The source of the vibration seems to be this old man in front of me.

“..I… to such a delicate girl…”

I’m anxious.

“What harsh words have I saidㅡ!!!”

When he couldn’t hold it in any longer and slammed the wall, all kinds of junk on the display stand fell vertically to the floor.

‘He’s crazy.’

The old man, who was cold as if he had eaten dozens of hard pumpkins a little while ago, is now unable to control his tears and is spewing them out.

“Uncle Bill is sorry… Little miss, what can I do for you?”

Flinch. I instinctively took a step back due to the threat, but my reason barely held me back.

“I want to sell things.”

“Okay! How much do you want~?”

I was genuinely creeped out. When I thought, I need to get out of here quickly, Gillian called me softly.

‘Saya..! 50! 50!’

I held onto my fading mental state and said to the general store owner.

“Would 50 be possible..?”

“Hmmm.. It’s difficult.. If I give you 50, we won’t have anything left..”

Please don’t drag out your words. Because I want to kill you.

There’s nothing I can do. It’s time to use the last method Gillian told me about.

I really, really, really don’t want to do it, but this is all to survive.

Phew.

“…Saya..”

“..?”

I approached the general store owner and took the cutest pose possible.

“Saya.. really needs 50 gold.. okay?!”

His eyes waver.

“No… Still, 50 gold is too much..”

This time. I even crossed my arms.

“Okay?!”

“……..”

…

Clink.

The bell on the door rattled.

“Thank you! Come visit Bill’s General Store again!”

I came out with a heavy gold pouch full in one hand.

“Ooh..! Saya, you did it!”

I hit Gillian.

“W, why are you hitting me when we succeeded?”

As a man, I felt like something was over, so I hit Gillian for no reason.

It’s a truly, truly, truly undesirable experience.

“Thinking about it again makes me angry.”

Whack. I hit Gillian one more time.

“Ow! The result was good, okay!?”

“Ha…”

Anyway, it’s true that I got 50 gold thanks to Gillian’s plan.

Let’s leave it at that, and let’s get ready to go back to August. I put my pants back on, untied the hair ties, and gave them back to Gillian.

“…”

“What?”

“No, nothing.”

I feel like he’s been glancing at me since a while ago while walking. Did I get something on my face?

When we got out of the alley, fortunately, August was visible.

“Saya. There’s someone else?”

“Huh?”

Next to August was a kind-looking old woman.

“Hey! You guys are late!”

There was something going on.

Let’s start with the gold distribution.

“Here. Here’s the promised gold. The pipe came out to 50 gold, so exactly..”

“Put it away. Put it away.”

He stopped my hand that was taking out the gold.

“We’ll do that later, first say hello. This is Grandma Maria.”

“Are these your friends? You’re all so pretty.”

Who is this person? She was an old woman with white hair who looked at least 70 years old.

“Who is this..?”

“She approached me while you guys were at the general store. She runs an inn.”

An inn? I was calculating the cost of a hotel in my head.

“At the inn, they charge 5 gold per person, but Grandma Maria will do it for 2 gold. How about it, she’s a good person, right?”

‘2 gold..?’

Even if we stay for three days, it’s only 6 gold.

“Saya. Is it okay to follow her..?”

Gillian whispered softly in my ear.

“Are you all hungry? I’ve made stew at home.”

“Let’s follow her quickly. I’m so hungry I’m going crazy.”

She runs an inn? For 2 gold?

What a ridiculous thing to say.

In this place where there’s nothing to eat even if you dig the ground, why would you run such a charity business?

“Gillian. Pack your bags. We’re not going there.”

I picked up the luggage and handed it to Gillian.

August looks at us with a dissatisfied look.

“Here’s your share of 20 gold. I added 5 more gold, so you have no complaints, right?”

“…”

And one thing I forgot.

“You have to give me the necklace.”

He clicked his tongue and gave me the necklace back.

With this, my relationship with this guy is over.

“Let’s go, Gillian.”

“O, okay.”

Turning my back on the strangely entangled gaze, I headed to the inn with Gillian.

“One room.”

The rough-looking middle-aged inn owner looked at us alternately and threw the key.

“Go up and to the right.”

When I went up to the room and locked the door, I felt relieved.

“Haa… Finally.”

A thug-like brat, an old woman who tried to do human trafficking that anyone could see, and I can’t live in this world with peace of mind.

“..Um, Saya.”

“Huh?”

Gillian, who was unpacking, spoke hesitantly.

“Actually, while coming to the inn, I kept feeling someone behind us.. I thought I should tell Saya.”

“…”

I think it’s a bit excessive to speculate based on just a feeling, but it’s not bad to be prepared.

If what Gillian heard is true, they won’t easily give up on easy prey like us.

“Was there no other inn here?”

“Yes, it’s such a small town that it seems like there’s only this one.”

I thought about sleeping outside, but it’s more crazy for two kids to sleep outside in this chilly weather.

Even if I knew about the tailing, it’s more likely to survive if I lock the door.

“Wait a minute.”

I went back down to the counter, paid, and got another room next door.

“..What did you do?”

“I divided the rooms. I’ll pretend one is for camouflage, and we’ll sleep in separate rooms.”

“Do we have to go that far..?”

“Didn’t you see the door? It’ll open easily if you just hit it with a club.”

I told the owner that I would only put luggage in one room.

He looked puzzled, but there was no one who would refuse if I gave him more money.

“If we sleep separately and there’s a suspicious sign, we can move to the other room because the window is close.”

If necessary, we can jump even if we get hurt a little.

“..I’m hungry, so I need to eat something now.”

I don’t have any extra money because I got two rooms, but I still have to eat.

The cheapest food at the inn was cabbage soup.

So much water was added that the cabbage could hardly be tasted.

As I ate the cabbage soup, I relaxed a little.

“..Saya, what should we do to live?”

It’s a pretty profound story for a child.

“..First of all, we have to survive.”

Struggling to survive is the only rebellion we can make against this absurd world.

That night, as I said, Gillian and I decided to sleep in separate rooms.

I couldn’t sleep properly because I was on edge, but I eventually gave in to the drowsiness that came from walking all day.

…

I woke up to a sweet smell.

It was a familiar smell, a smell I liked in the world before my past life.

So what was this..?

‘Vanilla..’

It’s vanilla scent.

‘Was there vanilla in this world..?’

I vaguely remembered.

Yes. There was an herb that smelled like vanilla.

‘Ypnos.’

When I was in middle school, I didn’t just create the world. I named each and every human, creature, monster, and even plant.

‘What was the meaning?’

Most of the proper nouns in the Armonia world view were taken from Greek.

Without going far, the word ‘Armonia’ is also a Greek word meaning ‘harmony’.

“….!”

I got up and immediately covered my nose.

I remembered.

The meaning of Ypnos in Greek is ‘sleep’.

As the name suggests, it was an herb used to put the target to sleep.

Such an herb, who would use it in an inn like this..?

I quickly opened the window and stood on the railing, knocking on the window of Gillian’s room.

“…Crazy..!”

Unlike my room, where only a faint smell remained, his room was filled with hazy smoke.

When I opened the window, cold air flowed in and the smoke quickly escaped.

“Gillian, Gillian..!”

I shook him in a small voice, but he didn’t even budge.

From outside Gillian’s room door, I heard the voices of men I had never heard before.

“He must be asleep by now?”

“Well, it was expensive, so it should work.”

Thump.

I heard the sound of something being hit.

Without thinking deeply, I knew that it was an attempt to open the locked door.

Since the inn owner is not involved, it means that it’s already an implicit agreement.

They really do anything for money.

I put Gillian on my back and looked out the window.

“….”

About 2 stories high. If I were alone, I could escape even if I hurt my leg a little.

But it was different now that Gillian was unconscious.

If I leave him, I can live.

…

..I shook my head to get rid of that thought.

Even if I die, I have to die as a human.

I covered my nose and gathered the bed sheets and curtains as much as I could and tied them together.

I tied it to the sharp part of the window frame and lowered the temporary rope.

“…Phew.”

After taking a deep breath, I stepped down the outer wall of the building one step at a time with Gillian on my back.

‘Damn it, my arms are going to rip…!”

I was prepared, but it’s a weight beyond imagination.

Holding the rope with one hand and preventing Gillian from falling is something that a child’s body can’t handle.

I bit the rope with my teeth and carefully took one step at a time.

Did I get halfway down? In the end, I slipped on the rope and fell.

“Ugh…!”

I fell from a fairly high place, and I sprained my leg badly because I tried to prevent Gillian’s head from hitting.

Without time to be in pain, I fixed him on my back and walked hard away from the inn, limping.

As long as I didn’t abandon Gillian, I will survive in this dirty place.

My muscles are all torn, and my arms and legs are all loose. In the middle, I had no choice but to drag Gillian in the form of crawling.

If I go over this hill and hide in the nearby forest, I can somehow avoid being seen.

One more step…

“…Huh..?”

What I faced beyond the hill were the shadows of two familiar people.

“I told you. She’s a smart girl.”

“It was a good thing we waited by the window as you said.”

It was August and the old woman from earlier.

“August, you ..”

The old woman swung a club and hit me in the back of the head.

I tried to say something more, but my consciousness became blurry and my focus shook.

“It would have been nice if you had followed me obediently. Sweetie..”

Seeing Maria’s creepy, benevolent smile, I lost consciousness.