Surviving on the Northern Front with Gukbap

Chapter 31 : Grey Fortress (3)

Grey Fortress (3)

"There you are. The guy who asked if I'd sell my body."

Blue flames flared up.

Fwoosh!

"Kuaaaagh!"

The man engulfed in flames rolled on the floor.

Yet, despite his desperate efforts, the fire only burned brighter.

"Kuhaaagh! S-save m—?!"

Before long, the man stopped moving, as if he'd lost consciousness from the pain.

Only then did someone finally grasp the situation and shout.

"That, that bitch!"

Just as everyone tightened their grips on their weapons and prepared to fight—

"Everyone, stand down!!"

A large man restrained them all.

"?"

The thugs turned to look at him.

He was the strongest black man among the mercenaries affiliated with the Gilfin merchant guild.

His face was twisted in a grimace, with sweat beading on his forehead.

"We're not on her level."

The black man felt it instinctively.

They were totally screwed now.

At first glance, he couldn't gauge this woman's skill,

but since she claimed to be a freelancer, he figured at best she might be 4th-rank.

There were only a handful of freelance adventurers above fifth-rank on the continent.

But he'd misjudged.

And the guildmaster had realized this too.

Guildmaster Gilfin swallowed dryly as he thought.

'Damn it. She's a mage.'

He expected she wouldn't be ordinary, but she'd far exceeded his expectations.

A mage capable of silent casting.

She was not someone you could overwhelm with numbers.

He wondered why such a high-circle mage would even bother trading with him,

but at the moment, that wasn't important.

'First, I have to survive.'

Gilfin's mind raced for a way to stay alive.

'Still, she's not indiscriminately slaughtering us, is she?'

That must mean the woman had a specific reason for coming here.

He decided to try sounding her out.

"Haha. Didn't we agree to meet tomorrow morning?"

To this, Plerine replied in her soft voice, expressionless.

"That's what we said, but someone tailing me was really annoying."

Plerine's eyepatch turned toward roxon's head.

Gilfin forced himself to speak in a calm and slow tone.

"One of my subordinates must have acted on his own and caused you trouble. I apologize."

"Is that so? Then, what was everyone doing here, weapons drawn?"

"... We were preparing for a joint training session."

"Training, at this hour?"

"Is there any law against training at night? Everyone's busy during the day, so it turned out this way."

Hearing this, Plerine fell silent for a moment,

"Liar."

and then suddenly broke into a crooked smile.

"Who do you think you're fooling?"

A chill ran through the whole merchant guild.

Cold sweat broke out.

Gilfin, too, felt his hair standing on end.

This was something altogether different from killing intent.

'What is this eerie aura?'

Gilfin had survived countless rough battles to reach his position,

but instinctively, he knew—this was the greatest crisis of his life.

"I—I understand. I won't make any excuses."

In the end, Gilfin dropped to his knees and bowed his head.

"I got greedy. I'm sorry. Please let us live."

He begged.

That was all he could do now.

Following suit, the sound of metal falling onto the floor rang out here and there.

Clatter. Clang.

Everyone fell prostrate.

Some trembled uncontrollably, paralyzed by fear.

All will to fight was completely gone.

"......"

Watching this, Plerine felt a mix of tangled emotions she couldn't quite explain.

She'd felt the same when she killed the guy who had been tailing her.

As she slit his throat with a fire-knife extending from her finger,

she was amazed both at being able to perform such magic,

and at how easily she could kill a person,

and at the same time, she felt an inexplicable sorrow.

It was a familiar sensation—but one she disliked.

Now was the same.

Killing this rabble before her would be effortless.

However,

for some reason, she didn't feel like doing it.

'Why is that?'

What kind of person had she been before losing her memory?

Why did she feel this way now?

"......"

After what felt both a short and a long pause, Plerine finally spoke.

"See you in the morning. Make sure the money's ready."

With that, Plerine disappeared without a trace,

leaving the survivors to stare at each other in confusion.

*

Shake. Shake.

Someone was shaking me.

"Boss. I'm hungry."

I managed to open my eyes. I was on the bed.

"?"

When did I fall asleep? I'm still utterly exhausted.

Sure enough, the candle's barely burned down at all.

I must not have slept for long.

"You promised to feed me, boss. You said you'd always take care of meals."

Is it because she couldn't go to the pub?

I knew this would happen when she went out with no money.

"There's some jerky and rice balls in the backpack. Eat those."

"Rice balls?"

"The white, round ones."

With those words, I drifted off to sleep again.

.

.

.

.

I stretched out with a satisfying yawn.

I felt refreshed as I opened my eyes.

The dawn light greeted me.

'After all, nothing beats a real bed.'

On the floor lay Plerine, fast asleep as if dead.

There was a grain of rice stuck to her mouth.

Looks like she polished off the last rice ball.

'Unbelievable.'

She'd claimed she couldn't miss anything, no matter what happened,

yet here she was, sleeping through everything for the second night in a row.

Is it even possible for a mage to be so oblivious?

I wasn't sure.

Anyway, I figured this was a good time to buy some salt.

[Coarse Salt (150g): 5pt]

I tapped the coarse salt nine times in a row.

A packet of salt, about palm-sized, appeared in midair and spilled out.

Rattle rattle rattle.

What a thrill.

It felt like money was pouring from the sky, not salt.

This was also my first time making a big purchase at the shop window.

'It's no small point expenditure, but I can always make more later.'

Unlike now, when most customers are soldiers, after remodeling, there'll be more civilians.

That means more point earnings, so it's a worthwhile investment.

'Earn more points by investing, convert them into salt, earn more money, reinvest in the shop, and earn even more points!'

The perfect virtuous cycle.

Isn't it beautiful?

Perhaps that's why today's deal felt so important.

Since every other place turned me down,

the Gilfin merchant guild is the only one I can sell salt to.

'We'll be seeing more of their faces.'

We were likely to become business partners.

It was important to maintain a good relationship with Gilfin.

And the best way to do that—

'Save the other party time and money!'

"Wake up, Plerine!"

We had to head to the lower town as soon as possible.

*

I laid out the coarse salts and addressed Gilfin.

"Yesterday, I was a bit greedy. You've already given me a full gold coin in advance, so I should prove my trust as well. I'll only take forty shillings as the balance payment."

My parents taught me:

Always use honorific speech and smile if you want good relations with your business partners.

So, I dropped the archaic form I'd used until yesterday, switched to polite language, and as a finishing touch, I offered a discount.

'So why does he look like that?'

The corp leader who'd once exuded hearty laughter and ease, seemed strange now.

"......"

He merely stared at the salt packets on the table.

'What's with him?'

Why was he clamming up even when I was offering a whopping ten shillings off?

Oh—don't tell me!

'Lowering the price suddenly has made him suspicious?!'

Like the saying in Korea: "Cheap things are faulty",

maybe dropping the price made him doubt the quality?

'It's possible.'

As soon as I thought that—

Ting. With a sound, a coin flew toward me.

I caught it with a snap, then opened my palm.

Ah. It gleamed.

'A gold coin!'

A glittering 1-golden shone brightly.

But this coin couldn't be mine.

I swallowed my regret and said,

"Sorry, but I don't have enough change. If you could pay in shillings, I'd appreciate it."

"That won't be necessary."

Huh?

"Pardon?"

"It's fine. I don't need change. Take it."

My mind went blank.

I'd offered to take just forty shillings instead of fifty,

'And he refuses, giving even more? A whole golden?!'

Did the salt market price skyrocket overnight?

Could that happen in a day?

It seemed unlikely.

I couldn't help but be suspicious inside.

It made sense why Gilfin had stayed silent during the discount negotiation.

"Guildmaster Gilfin, thank you for paying more, but there's really no reason for you to—"

"I've received the goods and paid for them, so please, just leave."

Come to think of it, he seemed a little nervous now.

What, does he have another appointment?

Or maybe he's feeling unwell.

"Are you alright, guildmaster?"

"I—I'm fine. How many times must I say it? Please, just go already."

It kind of felt like he was trying to get rid of me.

It didn't sit well.

'It doesn't feel right to take extra money for nothing.'

Father always said,

"Generosity stops at pork; when it's beef, there's an ulterior motive."

There must be a reason he's paying so much.

'What could it be?'

Then, I noticed beads of sweat running down Gilfin's brow, and his wavering gaze, directed not at me, but behind me.

He must be conscious of Plerine.

I turned and looked at the woman with the eyepatch.

Startled, Plerine shrugged her shoulders.

Watching that, I nearly let out a sigh without thinking.

She really is transparent.

'She definitely did something last night while I was sleeping.'

I didn't know exactly what,

but she must have done something.

That's why the usually strict merchant guild is suddenly paying more.

What did she do, exactly?

'Geez. Can someone really change that much?'

A bead of sweat dripped from the guildmaster's chin.

He tried not to show it, but his nerves were obvious.

This could jeopardize future deals.

'Ah, whatever.'

What's done is done.

Dragging things out wouldn't benefit either of us anyway.

I stood up and said,

"Thank you for the extra payment, but I'll be sure to return it in the next deal—"

"N-next time!?"

Gilfin's voice shot up unexpectedly,

"F-fine, please just leave already. P-please."

His tone had shifted to pleading before I knew it.

He plainly did not want another deal.

"...... Alright, then. Goodbye."

As soon as I left the merchant guild building, I said,

"Plerine."

"Yeah?"

"What did you do last night while I was sleeping?"

The woman with the eyepatch tensed up, startled.

"W-what are you talking about? I—I don't know what you mean."

Yeah, right.

"Okay, just tell me whenever you feel like it."

"I told you, I didn't do anything?"

"Yeah. That's enough."

"......"

What could a high-circle mage have done during the night to scare the guildmaster so much?

It had to be some kind of show of force.

Well, anyway—

'I did earn a total of two goldens now.'

I opened my palm and fiddled with the two gold coins.

They were much thicker and heavier than any copper or shilling.

'I've definitely earned a lot for my effort.'

I'd used to have money flowing in Belkhazium, but even then,

I couldn't have done this at level one.

No matter how hard you worked, there's a limit early on.

But here I was, a mere first-rank, raking in two golden coins.

'Wow. What a windfall.'

If it were Korea, hmm,

it'd feel like winning second place in the lottery.

Not quite enough for a house, but plenty for some luxury.

'Still, luxuries should wait until after finishing my work!'

I dragged Plerine straight to the stonemason guild,

and the same old man from yesterday greeted us.

"You really found the money?"

His gaze was half-doubtful, half-expectant, so I showed him the thick gold coins.

"Just bring the contract."

"Ha! Well, well."

The old man's mouth turned up at the corners.

"If I'd known you'd get the money this fast, I'd have asked for more. Haha."

As I finished signing the contract, the old man said,

"I remember the owner of Fairy's Leg being an eccentric old cheapskate, but this is surprising. Such a massive project, and even sending an adventurer instead of coming himself. Hah. Did he find some great new income source?"

For a moment, I realized my slip.

I'd managed to contract with the stonemason guild pretending to be an adventurer,

but at some point I'd have to explain that I'm the new owner of Fairy's Leg.

'And once we get to Granfen, they'll figure out I'm an outsider too.'

It left a slightly bitter taste, but for now, I changed the subject.

"I'll explain the details later. When do we leave for Granfen?"

"Work's light in winter, so once I gather the materials and workers today... we can leave in the morning."

"Understood. I'll meet you here tomorrow morning. Let's depart together."

"Very good."

I left the stonemason guild, feeling satisfied and refreshed.

All my stress melted away.

'Main Quest Cleared!'

Contrary to my fears, I sold the salt and got the contract with the stonemason guild without a hitch.

Who knew things could go this smoothly?

I'd always thought of myself as unlucky, but hmm.

Maybe I'm luckier than I thought?

'... Idiot, stop letting your guard down.'

I shook off the useless thoughts.

There was still unfinished business.

Even though I'd cleared the main quest,

the side quest wasn't done yet.

"Plerine!"

"Yeah?"

"The pub we missed yesterday – let's go now."

The first side quest was to try the best local food.

"Ooh, yes!"

With all urgent matters taken care of,

isn't it fine to enjoy a hearty, delicious meal?