Translated by Appleot
Edited by Appleot
Chapter 17
In the Duke’s estate (4)
‘Isn’t it right to follow along?’
I am now walking alone on a dark street.
It is not a gloomy and secluded place, but an alley filled with pubs and the like. There are also people playing all over the place, the noisy atmosphere reminded me of Hongdae night streets.
However, the purpose of moving alone was to serve as bait for security checks. I shuddered, wondering if a huge man with a weapon passing by would quarrel with me.
“Do I look that easy to mess with though…?”
Serpence, who was having dinner together with me at an ordinary restaurant, suddenly said.
Do you think I’ll be able to check public safety more properly today than usual? And what followed is the present situation.
He will hide and watch me from afar, he gave me a 1 million As bill as pocket money, telling me to just act as usual. ‘As’ is the monetary unit of the Holy Lumen Empire, and 1 As = 1 won.
There is no money you can’t spend if you put your mind to it. But for an ordinary person like me, it was an excessive amount of money for one night.
‘By the way, this isn’t change, is it?’
It’s a one-page bill. Giving it to me, Serpence said he would collect all the remaining money after the night was over. So it would be good to use it well or something. It is clear that he did this on purpose while having change so that I could become a good spending person.
‘Now that this has happened, why don’t I go into any bar and ring the golden bell once?’
I thought about it for a while, but the amount was insufficient for that. Well, it was given very vaguely. I don’t need anything right now. Would it be good to buy some souvenirs to win favor with the Duke’s family? I went to an accessories stand, picked out about 20 items, and handed out 1 million As.
“50,000 As is the price customer. Do you have any change?”
“No, the person in the business can only sell less than 950,000 As? Huh,really! How can a person not have 950,000 As?”
At my clever words, the merchant smiled with a contorted smile. I wondered if there was any truth to what I said, but it looked like he has a lot of money, so he was patient while dealing with me.
“Then why don’t you get more if possible, and roughly choose the things you might need?”
At the next words, the merchant smiled brightly as if he had never been in a bad mood. I sweeped up a lot of the items and placed them in my hand along with 800,000 Ar. The first 20 ornaments I picked up were 50,000 Ar in total, so I’m talking about 2-3 thousand Ar per decoration. There weren’t that many left, right?
‘This isn’t me being a pushover?!’
It was a great rip-off, but the money will disappear after tonight anyway. Just thinking that I did a good job, I went to the shop selling crafts next door. This time, there was change, there was no need to sweep everything. Instead, the merchant charged an excessive amount of money while pretending it’s a normal amount to pay.
‘Are you watching, Serpence? The rip-off spirit shown by the merchants of your estate.’
Occasionally, I went around getting snacks. I mainly got the spicy things that I had to skip before because of Serpence. As I thought of Serpence, I wondered if there might be something to buy for him as well.
‘He wouldn’t have a use for cheap stuff like this, right?’
After getting paid later, I’ll have to order a whipped cream cake from a famous store. How much would it cost?
Occasionally, I could see guards appearing and grabbing someone, but nothing happened to me. There were no quarrels or pickpockets.
‘I think it would’ve been okay if he hadn’t used me for the bait strategy, right?’
The city’s security was firmly guarded by the guards, so it’s mostly safe to say. Even now, people in guard uniforms can be seen gathering again. Would it be fun to go sightseeing?
“Ah!”
Is it because of the sudden change of direction?
A woman’s scream echoed as I felt a dull feeling in my temporarily purchased backpack due to the heavy luggage. I quickly turned around and saw a woman who looked to be in her early twenties, knocked over, she fell.
“Are you okay?”
I approached and held out my hand to her, but she did not even pretend to see me. She just rummaged through her own bag and then she pulled out something like a broken bottle that made her start crying.
“God! Do you how much does this cost!”
Maybe it’s finally here! Now I’m gonna be able to fulfill my role faithfully. Nice to meet you, swindler!
“Is there any problem?”
“Wow, what’s the problem? Do you know how expensive this is? How good it is, the scrolls are all wet!”
Peeking inside her bag, I saw wads of paper covered in powder and liquid spilled from the broken glass bottle.
‘Is that all scrolling?’
Who in the world would carry such expensive scrolls like that? No matter how cheap it was, it would be over 500,000 Ar. And with magic reagents in glass bottles? There is a degree of carelessness. The people around me also wondered what was going on at the first commotion, and then shook their heads at the sound of scrolls.
“Is this your first time for today? I know you want to have a big drink…”
“It’s not a scam! It’s not a scam…!”
The woman said sadly, shedding tears like chicken poop. Her blue eyes, wet with tears, looked very sad. It’s not as good as Serpence, but it’s a great performance that anyone can really misunderstand, but…
“You’ve chosen the wrong opponent.”
Serpense would have contained much richer emotions, not just sadness. A little more gloomy, pathetic, with a heartbreaking expression. He must have ripped open his opponent’s heart, by crying sadly with a sad expression on his face.
‘Yes, her score is eliminated. It’s not even worth a price tag.’
As I looked down at her with her cold eyes, Serpence appeared. He was really watching.
“No, don’t touch it!”
When Serpence pulled out an ordinary scroll that she was pretending to be a magic scroll from inside the bag, the woman shouted sharply.
I think she’s caught up on all the fake act and still thinks we’re gonna get fooled? She grabbed her bag and blocked the way, but one of her scrolls was already in Serpence’s hands.
“Come on, Zion! Come on, let’s find out about that woman’s fraud!”
Serpence, who held the scroll and looked at it, turned to me and said.
“This is real.”
“···Yes?”
Translated by Appleot
Edited by Appleot
Chapter 17.2:
What did I just hear? Really? All those wads of paper are real scrolls?
“It was also made quite well. I guess it was ruined by the penetration of a reagent mixed with magical power…”
“Oh, can you recognize?! I made it!”
“Yes, but I’m not a magic expert. First, I can look at the layout of the magic circle and the vocabulary of the sentences used…”
Producer. I didn’t expect it to go that way…?
What about the spells given to serpence and the scroll makers who he thought were scammers, and what materials they used?
We were talking about something, but nothing came into my ears. The only thoughts floating around in my head.
‘How much does it cost to pay for all that?’
… just thinking.
How much is Zion’s salary? He’s a duke’s aide, but it’s a lot of work to make these, isn’t it?
“Why are you walking around with all these things, is it okay if I ask?”
“I was on my way to the castle of the lord to apply for an investment, but…, but it was all ruined…”
The woman wept bitterly. That was really crying.
Somehow, it seemed that there was too much sincerity, and it seems that I used Serpence as the standard.
‘She went to apply for an investment to the lord, by the way ….’
If it’s the lord of this land, he’s Serpence, right?
“Calm down for now, why don’t we change places and talk?”
Serpence lifted her up, and carefully poured her divine power. She looked slightly surprised.
“Oh, you’re not a wizard…? Are you really not an expert?”
Serpence replied to her question with a smile without saying a word. At the same time, the inn where she was staying was a pub near here, and it was decided we’ll continue the story on the first floor of that place.
“First, let me introduce myself, my name is Solertia Reseratus.”
Now that she has just become independent from her teacher, it appears that she has gone to the lord’s castle to receive an investment to open her own shop. She feared that they might ask to check the scrolls she made in advance and how they were being made, so she grabbed a lot of reagents and went to visit them fully prepared.
But what came back was that she needed to follow the established procedures.
“I mean, I didn’t hear that there was a procedure! Even Master said that if with my skills, I would be welcomed if I just went looking…”
“That’s rarely the case.”
“…After all, I shouldn’t have believes in the words of a nobleman who ate mostly and crawled in the shop!”
At Serpence’s denial, Solertia burst into anger.
Even after submitting her application for investment, she needed to do a process to verify her identity or something. Because of that, it takes a few days for the documents to reach Serpence, but he doesn’t stay very long in the Prasidus Territory.
If she missed this opportunity, she had to wait a full month or go to the capital to go through the procedure again and wait.
However, blinded by her desire to open her own shop as soon as she could one day, Solertia made her choice.
“According to the rumors, I heard that Duke Prasidus was kind enough to be arrogant…”
He’s confident in his skills, and he’s… No, he’s the Duke of Prasidus, famous for his generosity. Thinking that he would not meet her if things got long, she said she was gonna pound on the castle gate.
“It was all a lie…! I’ve heard that he’s staying at the castle this week! I’ve also seen the duke’s carriage go in! It’s a ridiculous excuse for them to say that he’s away, right?”
Solertia slammed the table with her fists, showing her anger. I glanced at the ‘luxurious’ Duke Prasidus. His mouth, which was not covered by his hood, maintained a gentle smile without the slightest trembling.
“If Mr. Zion could come with me and tell them how wonderful these scrolls are… Oh, they wouldn’t believe it! Who would accept an investment application after seeing a broken scroll! It would be great if the Duke could read scrolls like Zion-san!”
She ‘banged’ her head on the table.
Judging by what Solertia said, I guess. It seems that it’s not common for a person who is not a wizard to interpret the magic circles drawn on the scroll.
‘Hell, Serpence, why did he learn such a thing?’
After becoming the master of the Holy Sword, did he plan to do it all by himself without a friend…?
“Ummm… If it’s okay with you, can I see the other things?”
“Yes, it’s fine. We’ll have to throw it all away anyway… Oh, don’t tear it apart! It might explode.”
“I’ll be careful.”
In a world where magic comes out of paper, it’s kind of like exploding paper. Still, I was curious about how the scroll came about. I went to Serpence who was holding the scroll, and glanced over his shoulder to peek at the contents. Even if I search through Zion’s memory, the magic characters that cannot be interpreted are written in tiny sizes, and there are many unrecognizable circles and lines.
“I don’t think you’re able to draw something like this on the spot!? It seems like it will take a while?”
“There are some simple ones. Or I can stay for a few days and make them…”
Solertia answered my question in a confused voice. Then, for some reason, she, who had been lying on the table with her cheek, suddenly raised her head and looked at me.
Maybe it was because she banged her head on the table earlier? There was a slight scratch on her forehead, and the area around it was also dyed red. How hard did she hit it?
“What are you going to do now? Take responsibility!”
“What should I do now? Take responsibility!”
Solertia demanded responsibility from me, and I passed it on to Serpence. He turned his head, ‘What’s with all these guys?’ and I stared at him for a moment with longing eyes.
“Uh-huh…. I can’t help it, so I’ll take responsibility.”
“Yes?! You will Zion?”
At Serpence’s words, Solertia looked at him with eyes full of questions, ‘How?’ and ‘Why are you?’
“However, I want you to prove that you are the one who made these scrolls. If that is possible, I will reward you and introduce you to a suitable sponsor. There is nothing other than that.”
“Really…?”
Serpence lightly placed his fingertips on Solertia’s forehead, who was making a blank expression as if in disbelief. He healed the scratch on her forehead and had a benevolent smile.
“Yes, really.”
Translated by Appleot
Edited by Appleot
Chapter 17
In the Duke’s estate (4)
‘Isn’t it right to follow along?’
I am now walking alone on a dark street.
It is not a gloomy and secluded place, but an alley filled with pubs and the like. There are also people playing all over the place, the noisy atmosphere reminded me of Hongdae night streets.
However, the purpose of moving alone was to serve as bait for security checks. I shuddered, wondering if a huge man with a weapon passing by would quarrel with me.
“Do I look that easy to mess with though…?”
Serpence, who was having dinner together with me at an ordinary restaurant, suddenly said.
Do you think I’ll be able to check public safety more properly today than usual? And what followed is the present situation.
He will hide and watch me from afar, he gave me a 1 million As bill as pocket money, telling me to just act as usual. ‘As’ is the monetary unit of the Holy Lumen Empire, and 1 As = 1 won.
There is no money you can’t spend if you put your mind to it. But for an ordinary person like me, it was an excessive amount of money for one night.
‘By the way, this isn’t change, is it?’
It’s a one-page bill. Giving it to me, Serpence said he would collect all the remaining money after the night was over. So it would be good to use it well or something. It is clear that he did this on purpose while having change so that I could become a good spending person.
‘Now that this has happened, why don’t I go into any bar and ring the golden bell once?’
I thought about it for a while, but the amount was insufficient for that. Well, it was given very vaguely. I don’t need anything right now. Would it be good to buy some souvenirs to win favor with the Duke’s family? I went to an accessories stand, picked out about 20 items, and handed out 1 million As.
“50,000 As is the price customer. Do you have any change?”
“No, the person in the business can only sell less than 950,000 As? Huh,really! How can a person not have 950,000 As?”
At my clever words, the merchant smiled with a contorted smile. I wondered if there was any truth to what I said, but it looked like he has a lot of money, so he was patient while dealing with me.
“Then why don’t you get more if possible, and roughly choose the things you might need?”
At the next words, the merchant smiled brightly as if he had never been in a bad mood. I sweeped up a lot of the items and placed them in my hand along with 800,000 Ar. The first 20 ornaments I picked up were 50,000 Ar in total, so I’m talking about 2-3 thousand Ar per decoration. There weren’t that many left, right?
‘This isn’t me being a pushover?!’
It was a great rip-off, but the money will disappear after tonight anyway. Just thinking that I did a good job, I went to the shop selling crafts next door. This time, there was change, there was no need to sweep everything. Instead, the merchant charged an excessive amount of money while pretending it’s a normal amount to pay.
‘Are you watching, Serpence? The rip-off spirit shown by the merchants of your estate.’
Occasionally, I went around getting snacks. I mainly got the spicy things that I had to skip before because of Serpence. As I thought of Serpence, I wondered if there might be something to buy for him as well.
‘He wouldn’t have a use for cheap stuff like this, right?’
After getting paid later, I’ll have to order a whipped cream cake from a famous store. How much would it cost?
Occasionally, I could see guards appearing and grabbing someone, but nothing happened to me. There were no quarrels or pickpockets.
‘I think it would’ve been okay if he hadn’t used me for the bait strategy, right?’
The city’s security was firmly guarded by the guards, so it’s mostly safe to say. Even now, people in guard uniforms can be seen gathering again. Would it be fun to go sightseeing?
“Ah!”
Is it because of the sudden change of direction?
A woman’s scream echoed as I felt a dull feeling in my temporarily purchased backpack due to the heavy luggage. I quickly turned around and saw a woman who looked to be in her early twenties, knocked over, she fell.
“Are you okay?”
I approached and held out my hand to her, but she did not even pretend to see me. She just rummaged through her own bag and then she pulled out something like a broken bottle that made her start crying.
“God! Do you how much does this cost!”
Maybe it’s finally here! Now I’m gonna be able to fulfill my role faithfully. Nice to meet you, swindler!
“Is there any problem?”
“Wow, what’s the problem? Do you know how expensive this is? How good it is, the scrolls are all wet!”
Peeking inside her bag, I saw wads of paper covered in powder and liquid spilled from the broken glass bottle.
‘Is that all scrolling?’
Who in the world would carry such expensive scrolls like that? No matter how cheap it was, it would be over 500,000 Ar. And with magic reagents in glass bottles? There is a degree of carelessness. The people around me also wondered what was going on at the first commotion, and then shook their heads at the sound of scrolls.
“Is this your first time for today? I know you want to have a big drink…”
“It’s not a scam! It’s not a scam…!”
The woman said sadly, shedding tears like chicken poop. Her blue eyes, wet with tears, looked very sad. It’s not as good as Serpence, but it’s a great performance that anyone can really misunderstand, but…
“You’ve chosen the wrong opponent.”
Serpense would have contained much richer emotions, not just sadness. A little more gloomy, pathetic, with a heartbreaking expression. He must have ripped open his opponent’s heart, by crying sadly with a sad expression on his face.
‘Yes, her score is eliminated. It’s not even worth a price tag.’
As I looked down at her with her cold eyes, Serpence appeared. He was really watching.
“No, don’t touch it!”
When Serpence pulled out an ordinary scroll that she was pretending to be a magic scroll from inside the bag, the woman shouted sharply.
I think she’s caught up on all the fake act and still thinks we’re gonna get fooled? She grabbed her bag and blocked the way, but one of her scrolls was already in Serpence’s hands.
“Come on, Zion! Come on, let’s find out about that woman’s fraud!”
Serpence, who held the scroll and looked at it, turned to me and said.
“This is real.”
“···Yes?”
Translated by Appleot
Edited by Appleot
Chapter 17.2:
What did I just hear? Really? All those wads of paper are real scrolls?
“It was also made quite well. I guess it was ruined by the penetration of a reagent mixed with magical power…”
“Oh, can you recognize?! I made it!”
“Yes, but I’m not a magic expert. First, I can look at the layout of the magic circle and the vocabulary of the sentences used…”
Producer. I didn’t expect it to go that way…?
What about the spells given to serpence and the scroll makers who he thought were scammers, and what materials they used?
We were talking about something, but nothing came into my ears. The only thoughts floating around in my head.
‘How much does it cost to pay for all that?’
… just thinking.
How much is Zion’s salary? He’s a duke’s aide, but it’s a lot of work to make these, isn’t it?
“Why are you walking around with all these things, is it okay if I ask?”
“I was on my way to the castle of the lord to apply for an investment, but…, but it was all ruined…”
The woman wept bitterly. That was really crying.
Somehow, it seemed that there was too much sincerity, and it seems that I used Serpence as the standard.
‘She went to apply for an investment to the lord, by the way ….’
If it’s the lord of this land, he’s Serpence, right?
“Calm down for now, why don’t we change places and talk?”
Serpence lifted her up, and carefully poured her divine power. She looked slightly surprised.
“Oh, you’re not a wizard…? Are you really not an expert?”
Serpence replied to her question with a smile without saying a word. At the same time, the inn where she was staying was a pub near here, and it was decided we’ll continue the story on the first floor of that place.
“First, let me introduce myself, my name is Solertia Reseratus.”
Now that she has just become independent from her teacher, it appears that she has gone to the lord’s castle to receive an investment to open her own shop. She feared that they might ask to check the scrolls she made in advance and how they were being made, so she grabbed a lot of reagents and went to visit them fully prepared.
But what came back was that she needed to follow the established procedures.
“I mean, I didn’t hear that there was a procedure! Even Master said that if with my skills, I would be welcomed if I just went looking…”
“That’s rarely the case.”
“…After all, I shouldn’t have believes in the words of a nobleman who ate mostly and crawled in the shop!”
At Serpence’s denial, Solertia burst into anger.
Even after submitting her application for investment, she needed to do a process to verify her identity or something. Because of that, it takes a few days for the documents to reach Serpence, but he doesn’t stay very long in the Prasidus Territory.
If she missed this opportunity, she had to wait a full month or go to the capital to go through the procedure again and wait.
However, blinded by her desire to open her own shop as soon as she could one day, Solertia made her choice.
“According to the rumors, I heard that Duke Prasidus was kind enough to be arrogant…”
He’s confident in his skills, and he’s… No, he’s the Duke of Prasidus, famous for his generosity. Thinking that he would not meet her if things got long, she said she was gonna pound on the castle gate.
“It was all a lie…! I’ve heard that he’s staying at the castle this week! I’ve also seen the duke’s carriage go in! It’s a ridiculous excuse for them to say that he’s away, right?”
Solertia slammed the table with her fists, showing her anger. I glanced at the ‘luxurious’ Duke Prasidus. His mouth, which was not covered by his hood, maintained a gentle smile without the slightest trembling.
“If Mr. Zion could come with me and tell them how wonderful these scrolls are… Oh, they wouldn’t believe it! Who would accept an investment application after seeing a broken scroll! It would be great if the Duke could read scrolls like Zion-san!”
She ‘banged’ her head on the table.
Judging by what Solertia said, I guess. It seems that it’s not common for a person who is not a wizard to interpret the magic circles drawn on the scroll.
‘Hell, Serpence, why did he learn such a thing?’
After becoming the master of the Holy Sword, did he plan to do it all by himself without a friend…?
“Ummm… If it’s okay with you, can I see the other things?”
“Yes, it’s fine. We’ll have to throw it all away anyway… Oh, don’t tear it apart! It might explode.”
“I’ll be careful.”
In a world where magic comes out of paper, it’s kind of like exploding paper. Still, I was curious about how the scroll came about. I went to Serpence who was holding the scroll, and glanced over his shoulder to peek at the contents. Even if I search through Zion’s memory, the magic characters that cannot be interpreted are written in tiny sizes, and there are many unrecognizable circles and lines.
“I don’t think you’re able to draw something like this on the spot!? It seems like it will take a while?”
“There are some simple ones. Or I can stay for a few days and make them…”
Solertia answered my question in a confused voice. Then, for some reason, she, who had been lying on the table with her cheek, suddenly raised her head and looked at me.
Maybe it was because she banged her head on the table earlier? There was a slight scratch on her forehead, and the area around it was also dyed red. How hard did she hit it?
“What are you going to do now? Take responsibility!”
“What should I do now? Take responsibility!”
Solertia demanded responsibility from me, and I passed it on to Serpence. He turned his head, ‘What’s with all these guys?’ and I stared at him for a moment with longing eyes.
“Uh-huh…. I can’t help it, so I’ll take responsibility.”
“Yes?! You will Zion?”
At Serpence’s words, Solertia looked at him with eyes full of questions, ‘How?’ and ‘Why are you?’
“However, I want you to prove that you are the one who made these scrolls. If that is possible, I will reward you and introduce you to a suitable sponsor. There is nothing other than that.”
“Really…?”
Serpence lightly placed his fingertips on Solertia’s forehead, who was making a blank expression as if in disbelief. He healed the scratch on her forehead and had a benevolent smile.
“Yes, really.”
