novelraw Chapter 13 : Meat Delivery (3)
Chapter 13 : Meat Delivery (3)
Chapter 13 - Meat Delivery (3)
Was Flaco trying to kill me from the beginning?
I don't think so.
The first punch aimed at my abdomen wasn't that sharp,
And this was the Flaco who had persistently asked about Bert.
'He probably intended to kidnap me first to find out Bert's whereabouts.'
But my resistance was unexpectedly strong,
and he got swept up in his emotions and tried to kill me.
I don't know for sure, but his relationship with Bert may have been deeper than I imagined.
'Then again, they were buddies who went to the red-light district together.'
I, too, aimed for his life during the fight.
But this was a thoroughly rational judgment.
Since my opponent was trying to kill me, it was nothing more and nothing less than a struggle for survival.
And the current life-threatening crisis has ended.
Now, it's time to judge how to make things better, like a modern person.
First, I'll start with an analysis of the opponent.
'A hostile bastard who asks about Bert's whereabouts and suspects me. But a bastard who can't be killed because he's indispensable to the maintenance of the town.'
If that's the case, there are two options.
Threats, or appeasement.
Between these two, which would be better.
Of course, I've already decided on the answer.
WHAAAM!
“Wake up, you bastard.”
THWACK!
“I said, wake up.”
“……”
He has to wake up for me to do anything, but Flaco doesn't stir.
“He's not dead, is he?”
“Probably not? But what's the big idea, just wailing on him like that? Heh heh.”
Only then did I realize that my fists had moved first.
Hmm, I might have acted a little like a medieval person.
“To explain, in the world I lived in, there's something called the 'good cop, bad cop strategy'. Hmm. In this world's terms, I guess you'd call it 'good guard, bad guard'.”
Threats and appeasement. Both are good diplomatic tactics, but they're most effective when both are used at the same time.
“Heh heh. I roughly get what you're saying. But, are you saying you're the bad guard and I'm the good guard?”
“……That was the idea when I hit him. Hmm.”
Jeros's brain spins so fast for a medieval person that it's a problem.
“I suppose it would be better to switch.”
“Heh heh. I think so too.”
A pity.
Still, you landed a few good hits. Just be happy with that.
……
Flaco opened his eyes.
Bloody saliva was dribbling from his mouth and he also saw the face of the man he least wanted to run into in this town.
“Je, Jeee……ro, Jeroooosss.”
His tongue was twisted and he couldn't even pronounce the name properly.
“You son of a…… bitch.”
Flaco glared at Jeros as if to kill him, tears streaming down his face.
But Jeros just snickered as if he found it amusing and said.
“Looks like you're still okay. Heh heh.”
As soon as Jeros's words ended, excruciating pain once again dominated his entire bod—
“Kkeuheu-eueu-eup!!”
What? Excruciating pain?
The words 'excruciating pain' weren't enough.
The feeling of all his internal organs twisting.
Starting with tears, snot, and saliva, every fluid erupted from his entire body.
His vision turned black and the thought that he might die soon dominated his brain.
Before long,
'Save me. Save…… no. Just kill me. Please, just kill me.'
Just as he was having these thoughts, the pain stopped.
“Huuuuk! Heueuk!”
He gasped for breath.
His vision, blurred by tears, slowly returned.
Only then did he see someone else besides Jeros.
“That's enough, Jeros! Mister Flaco will die at this rate. If that happens, I won't be able to face Mister Bert when he returns!”
“A bastard like this deserves to die! How dare he try to kill someone in front of a guard?”
Ian was slightly taken aback by Jeros's clumsy acting, but,
“Kkeureul-reul-peul, Keuheo-eok!!”
He thought it wouldn't matter, given the mana torture from Jeros that immediately followed.
'When he's in that much pain, can he even think straight?’
Jeros was just placing his hand on Flaco's lower abdomen and applying pressure,
But Flaco was writhing in agony. To the point where it felt like he would die if he wasn't careful.
Then, when Jeros paused the torture for a moment,
“Oh my, Mister Flaco. Are you alright? You should have just believed me. Jeros! Please, that's enough!”
Ian repeated this passionate performance several times.
“Mister Flaco, get a grip!”
“Mister Flaco……!!”
Before he knew it, Flaco was begging the good cop, Ian.
“O-Outsider. Please, please save me! U-Uh?”
Flaco became genuinely terrified.
Even though he was the only hunter in this town with an unrivaled position,
It seemed that psycho named Jeros would stop at nothing to kill him.
“I-I was wrong about everything. So please, stop that bastard. Keuheueuk.”
His pupils, completely dilated, his hands and feet shaking more violently than an aspen tree.
At this, Ian gave a look to Jeros as if to say 'that's enough'.
“Ahem. Jeros. That's really enough now. What crime has Mister Flaco committed? In a way, his actions were only natural for a close friend of Mister Bert.”
“In that case! I shall stop now!”
Ian decided to never let Jeros act again and spoke.
“Mister Flaco. It's okay now. I've persuaded Jeros.”
“Keuheuk. Thank, th-thank you. Keuheo-eoeoeo.”
Flaco shed sorrowful tears with his eyes rolled back, and Ian patted such a Flaco on the back and said.
“My action of briefly drawing my knife on you, Mister Flaco, I deeply repent it. Furthermore, I have decided to forget the mistake you made towards me. Because that would be for the sake of Mister Bert, who has left on a journey.”
“Of coouurse!! I-I was sorry too. I didn't know you, you thought of Bert so much, outsider.”
“Of course, of course. Anyway, because I believe that Mister Bert will definitely return, I plan to run this shop diligently. Because that is for the sake of Mister Bert, who is your close friend and my master. I hope you understand my intentions.”
Flaco's mind began to get jumbled up.
Hadn't he, as a hunter, completely trusted his intuition until now?
But looking at the situation now, it seemed something was wrong.
'Was my intuition wrong?'
An outsider who shows loyalty to Bert and sincerity towards the shop.
He even risked danger for his sake and begged Jeros to spare him.
'Was I mistaken? Is this why Bert didn't kill the outsider?!'
While the thought that he had misunderstood the outsider occurred to him, one last remaining suspicion also arose.
'But why did Bert entrust the shop to Jeros and not me?'
But he couldn't bring himself to say this out loud.
Because that crazy bastard Jeros was watching him with his eyes wide open.
Just then,
“I”
Ian's voice, full of resolve.
“Am prepared to give even my life for this shop. So please, believe me.”
It struck a chord in Flaco's heart.
“!!”
Finally, Flaco's intuition admitted it.
That Ian's feelings for this shop were sincere.
He even seemed more sincere than Bert.
'I was wrong.'
Now that it had come to this, he began to understand the reason why Bert had entrusted the shop to Jeros.
Jeros, one of the strongest people in this town.
Wasn't it a calculation that Jeros, a guard, would be better than himself, who often left the town to hunt?
Flaco, having reached this conclusion, bowed his head deeply.
“I'm sorry, Ian. I misunderstood.”
“……It's nothing. It's alright.”
Ian's expression was truly calm, but his inner thoughts were different.
'Fucking great!'
Flaco, who always had 'for a mere outsider' on his lips, had called him by his name, 'Ian'.
It was clear he had been completely won over.
The good cop, bad cop strategy was a success, and Ian decided to finally say the words he had been holding back until now.
“So, about that, Mister Flaco.”
Ian's expression was more grimly determined than ever.
“Would it be alright to request a fresh meat delivery next time?”
Jeros, watching this Ian, was thoroughly amused.
By the fact that Ian was a crazy bastard, no less so than himself.
……
At dawn, I woke up as if by habit.
I got out of bed and applied some crushed herbs to my temple.
On the spot where Flaco's arrow had grazed me last night.
“Ssss.”
It stings.
But this, too, is a delight.
Because it's a sensation I wouldn't have been able to taste if the arrow had lodged itself between my eyebrows.
Looking in the mirror, it was a torn wound that looked like it needed stitches, but the medicine must be effective because the wound wasn't opening any further.
Well, a scar will probably remain, though.
'Should I say I've shed some of my outsider-ness?'
Among the people I've seen since crossing over to this world, there wasn't a single one without a scar on their body.
No, a scar is a blessing.
Because there were plenty of cases of people missing limbs.
'Seeing things like that, I'm just glad I survived with my body intact.'
Flaco was the one who had most strongly suspected Bert's disappearance.
I was almost killed by him but survived, and I even succeeded in making him my ally.
At this point, you could say the biggest risk factor has been eliminated.
However,
Even so.
'Today, I still have to do today's work.'
I can't stop the work of running the shop and earning money.
The joy of money slowly accumulating, even if not quickly, was incomparable as money is directly linked to survivability.
I put on my coat and headed to the kitchen.
I lit the fire and was about to start preparing the ingredients,
“Dammit.”
The kitchen knife with its completely chipped blade caught my eye.
Thinking about it again, I can't believe I fought a life-or-death battle with something like that.
Should I get a new knife?
One kitchen knife for the kitchen—
'And one sword for combat.'
If I write it down in the ledger as a shop operating expense, there shouldn't be a problem.
Since last time, it didn't seem like Jeros checked it that carefully anyway.
Still, it was fortunate that I had sharpened the backup kitchen knife at the blacksmith's beforehand.
That's right, the one Bert suddenly pulled out.
I grabbed the backup kitchen knife and began preparing the ingredients.
I finely chopped the pumpkin and onions, put them in the pot for pumpkin soup,
And poked holes in the military-supply rock bread, transforming it into Fondue Bread.
The kitchen, with the sweet smell wafting through it.
“Hoo.”
Only after preparing an amount incomparable to before the demonstration could I take a breath,
And around that time, I could hear the chatter of customers waiting outside for the 'open run'.
Honestly, I still can't believe it.
That I've achieved my dream of becoming the owner of a popular restaurant in this world.
“Welcome!”
I opened the shop door. Customers are coming in.
Every single one of them is a soldier, but what does it matter.
The situation has changed distinctly from before the martial arts demonstration.
“Two Fondue Breads over here, and one pumpkin soup! Quick!”
“I was here first! One Fondue Bread, one potato stew!”
“Yes, yes! Coming!”
The 'Fairy's Leg' where only flies used to buzz around is no more.
There is only a popular restaurant where you can get great taste and buffs at a reasonable price.
“Enjoy your meal!”
My timing was lucky.
Because it coincided with learning mana from Jeros on the day of the demonstration.
If I had been this busy before learning mana, my body wouldn't have been able to take it.
I was able to endure by strengthening my body with mana while working, and this also served as subtle mana training.
'Thanks to that, I was able to save my life from Flaco yesterday.'
Around the time the soldiers finish their dawn meal and leave for training, I can take a break.
After cleaning the dishes and sending off the last of the dawn customers, when the proper morning comes, it's time to close the shop and go to the general store.
Because I have to restock the ingredients I've run out of.
Creeak. Clank.
When I stepped outside the shop, as expected, large snowflakes were fluttering down.
It's a cold that can't even be compared to a Korean winter, but,
Still, having lived through one Dark Period, this level of cold feels bearable.
'Yes. Compared to the Dark Period.'
Back then I really almost froze to death, and I actually saw corpses that had frozen to death on the roadside.
“Ah……”
On my way to the general store, a gasp escaped my lips without me realizing.
Because in the middle of a road piled high with snow, two adults were beating a small child.
THWACK!
The beating was different from what you see in movies or in the modern world.
One punch, one kick.
In that one punch, that one kick, there is not a shred of mercy.
The shock was great, but the beating was not very long.
It ended less than 30 seconds after I saw it and at that moment—
“?!”
My eyes met with one of the adult thugs who had beaten the child.
He didn't have a particularly striking impression, but surprisingly, I remembered who he was.
'The bastard I saw at the martial arts demonstration's gambling den.'
He was the thug who was near the tent entrance.
He had glared at me as if to kill me until the moment I took my money and left, so there was no way I couldn't remember.
He saw me, his eyes twitched, and he spoke.
“Outsider? You, why are you still alive?”
“……?”
What is that supposed to mean?
Don't tell me,
'Does he know what happened with Flaco last night?'
The moment goosebumps crawled up my back, the little kid sprawled on the ground spat out a mouthful of blood.
“Cough!”
Only then did the little kid's face come into view.
Brown hair, a cute face.
It was that kid dealer I had seen at the martial arts demonstration.