novelraw Chapter 3 : Writing Was the Easiest
Chapter 3 : Writing Was the Easiest
Chapter 3: Writing Was the Easiest
Marcus was receiving money from a begging child in an alley a little away from the market.
Seeing that, Robin grew anxious that Marcus might recognize him.
Whether Jeremy sensed Robin’s feelings or not, he walked as usual.
“Stop right there. Haven’t seen you for a while—where did you go, Robin.”
“Our excellent customer brought a friend? Hehehe.”
“…….”
Marcus’s group blocked the road in a posture that looked rough to anyone. Jeremy, like Robin, had a small frame, so he was surrounded in an instant.
“Move.”
“Look at this brat. Robin, your friend’s a bit cheeky, huh?”
“We’re busy, so move, ugly mister.”
Smack!
Jorge, the ugliest among the group, slapped Jeremy’s cheek with his large hand.
“Mister? How do I look like a mister to you.”
Jeremy’s cheek swelled red, but the light in his eyes did not die.
“Look at this brat’s eyes. You want me to hit you?”
A fist flew toward Jeremy.
Just as Robin bit down hard on his lips and tried to step in, people appeared from behind.
“Stop.”
A man selling fruit grabbed Jorge’s arm.
Marcus’s group had frames that didn’t fall short even compared to grown men, but they were nothing compared to the fruit seller.
“Let go of this! Do you know who we are? We’re going to join the ‘Red Daggers’ next year!”
“But you’re not in it now. What do you think the ‘Red Daggers’ would say if they heard about this situation. You think they’d want friction with us because of some brats who haven’t even joined yet?”
At the fruit seller’s blunt question, Jorge shut his mouth.
“If you ask me, rather than runts who aren’t even worth calling third-rate, this little kid from Burt’s General Store seems more valuable.”
As the merchants approached, Marcus’s group looked small.
Pressed the other way around, Marcus trembled with clenched fists but had no choice but to back down.
“You’re lucky, Robin. See you next time.”
“…….”
Marcus’s group, who had ruled with violence, disappeared while barely suppressing their frustration.
Robin stared blankly at them as they left, then examined Jeremy’s face.
“Jeremy, are you okay? Because of me for nothing…….”
“I’m fine. Thanks for helping, Jacob, Carlton, Gilliam, Jess.”
“For wannabe gangsters like that to run wild—what a world.”
Jacob the fruit seller took out two apples from his pocket and tossed them.
Jeremy caught his naturally, and Robin caught his in surprise, both bowing their heads.
“Be careful. The favor you did for me last time, let’s call it even with this.”
“It wasn’t even something to call a favor. I’ll enjoy the apples.”
“Thank you for saving us!”
The merchants returned to their respective shops.
Robin looked back on what had just happened.
“Jeremy, you expected the merchants to step in, didn’t you?”
“When buying things from the general store, I told them the right market rate. If you earn goodwill, it helps like this.”
Jeremy had a frame similar to his own, but he had stepped up confidently without being intimidated by Marcus’s group.
To Robin, who had learned helplessness in the face of violence, this was a shock.
He had made someone stronger than himself back down without fighting. Robin’s eyes sparkled.
“What you just did—teach me that too.”
“What? How to make the market folks help?”
“Yeah!”
Seeing Robin earnestly ask to be taught, Jeremy’s lips curled up.
“If you follow me around, you’ll naturally learn it. Let’s finish the errands first.”
“Okay. Ah, could you also teach me writing?”
“Writing?”
“I want to be smart like you.”
Jeremy let out a twitching laugh at the sudden compliment.
“You’ve got talent.”
Robin’s expression was one of not understanding what he meant.
Even with his cheek swollen, Jeremy laughed.
The two small children bustled around the market for Burt’s errands.
---
Three days after running errands with Jeremy, Robin memorized who the merchants dealing with Burt were.
Not a small number of merchants traded with Burt.
Seeing Robin remember all the faces in such a short time, Jeremy was impressed.
“Robin, now I’ll teach you writing. Let’s go outside.”
“You’re finally teaching me? I’m excited!”
After business hours, Jeremy took Robin to the sandy ground behind the building.
He broke off a twig from a tree and began writing letters on the ground one by one.
It was the method poor commoners used to learn letters.
Buying paper and pens cost quite a bit.
“I’ll tell you how to pronounce the letters, follow after me.”
As Jeremy pointed to dozens of letters and read them, Robin followed well.
After teaching once from start to finish and trying to repeat it, Robin stopped him.
“Jeremy, no need to repeat. I know it now.”
“Already? No way.”
“I mean it.”
Robin pointed to the letters one by one with the twig and pronounced them accurately.
Jeremy stared at Robin with eyes full of astonishment at how he had learned the letters after being taught only once.
‘It took me days to learn letters.’
“Then I’ll teach you simple words and sentences. Follow after me.”
When he wrote words like apple, book, person, sky on the ground, Robin read them clearly and wrote them after him.
He showed no hesitation in writing words, so when Jeremy even asked him to compose short phrases, he showed no difficulty at all.
After one hour, Robin was able to read and write freely.
“Haha… Robin, are you a genius?”
“A genius? It’s because you taught me well.”
Robin grinned after writing ‘Jeremy is amazing’ on the ground.
Jeremy was inwardly shocked at the frighteningly fast learning speed.
In an era with high illiteracy, learning letters after being taught only a few times showed Robin was different from ordinary people.
It was like gaining a weapon and a useful tool necessary for life.
Robin seemed to have found fun in writing and reading, repeatedly writing and erasing letters on the ground.
“It’s already this late.”
Having discovered the joy of learning, Robin hadn’t noticed the time pass.
When he came to his senses, the sun had dipped and darkness was falling.
“Since you’ve learned writing, I’ll teach you math next.”
“Math means how to handle numbers, right?”
“It's simple arithmetic. You know some of it already, but I’ll teach you things that are useful in real life.”
“Okay! Thanks, Jeremy.”
Jeremy smiled as he watched Robin rejoice.
“Um… Jeremy, we’re friends, right?”
Jeremy stared at Robin, who suddenly asked something out of the blue.
“The truth is, I’ve never had a friend in my life. I wondered if this is what being friends is……”
Jeremy suddenly thought about that question as well.
He had never had friends his age either.
“Of course! We’re friends, Robin.”
At Jeremy’s answer, Robin quietly smiled.
The two boys, slowly learning what friendship was, chatted as they returned to the general store.
---
Burt, the owner of Burt’s General Store, had been troubled since morning.
His gaze kept drifting to the letter placed on the counter.
“Damn old geezer.”
Burt set the letter on top of a stack of documents, got ready to go out, then shouted.
“Jeremy! Robin!”
After some bustling sounds from inside, the two kids ran out.
“I’ll be stepping outside for a bit. I’ll lock the door, so don’t go anywhere and behave.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Where are you going, Mr. Burt?”
Burt looked at Robin, his eyebrows lifting.
“To Timmy Orphanage. You coming with me, Robin?”
“No! I’ll watch the store. Have a good trip, Mr. Burt.”
Burt glared at Robin with displeasure, then slammed the door and left.
Ever since Robin had come to the general store, this was the first time Burt had left the shop.
Worry crept up on him.
‘Why is he going to Timmy Orphanage?’
“It’s a rare break during work hours. Let’s go inside and take a nap, Robin.”
Compared to Jeremy, who yawned and spoke carefreely, negative thoughts flooded Robin’s mind.
Seeing Robin’s face grow gloomy, Jeremy poked his side.
“Don’t worry so much. What you’re thinking won’t happen.”
“You know what I’m thinking?”
“Isn’t it obvious? That you might have to go back to the orphanage. That you might get sold as a slave or something.”
“How did you know?”
‘Does Jeremy read minds too?’
“You show everything on your face, Robin. The boss can’t just do whatever he wants with us.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“…Just. It’s a thing.”
Even at Jeremy’s reassurance, Robin couldn’t relax.
Trying to suppress his anxiety, his eyes landed on the paper resting on the counter.
Robin quickly reached out, read it fast, and thrust it toward Jeremy.
“What’s this.”
“Read it.”
As Jeremy slowly read it, his eyes grew wider and wider.
“The director is asking Mr. Burt for store credit. How long has it been since he sold me, and he’s already doing this again.”
“It’s well known that Director Timmy is a thug. Impressive he’s using a promissory note from years ago as leverage. But what’s this?”
Robin pursed his lips and looked at the window.
Jeremy, having worked with Robin long enough, recognized what that meant.
‘That’s Robin’s habit when he has something on his mind. What could it be?’
Deep in thought, Jeremy suddenly let out a small cry of realization and lifted his head.
“You’re not suggesting we steal from Director Timmy, are you?”
“Ahem, rather than steal… I was thinking we could quietly slip something out.”
“That *is* stealing! Robin, I didn’t think you were like this—you’re a scary kid.”
Years ago, Director Timmy had lent Burt money and received a promissory note.
The merchant group Burt had promised to trade with had failed to arrive on the expected date, and Burt, tied up with other trade schedules, urgently needed funds.
He put out the fire with the money Timmy lent him and paid back both the principal and interest.
But for some unknown reason, Timmy used the promissory note as leverage to demand credit from Burt.
‘Director Timmy used to rule the back alleys of Stonegos. He still has some pull.’
Before Jeremy could say no, Robin jumped ahead.
“Jeremy, think carefully. Teaching me made you enjoy studying too, didn’t it? Don’t you need paper and pens?”
“It’s not that I need them… but they’d be nice to have.”
“I need them. And I want a wooden sword too. This is our chance—a chance to get what we want.”
Robin was usually quiet, but now he was different.
The boy was changing little by little to obtain what he wanted.
“Mr. Burt won’t hand money to kids like us. He’s satisfied with giving us chores. But what if we solve the boss’s problem for him?”
“You think he’ll give us general store goods?”
“Exactly. How long are you planning to stay at the store? We need to go out into a bigger world.”
It felt odd somehow, but Jeremy nodded.
Robin’s suggestion aligned perfectly with how Jeremy had earned goodwill from the market merchants.
If you give someone what they want, you receive something in return. Even if you don’t receive something material, you can leave behind a debt of gratitude.
“If we choose a time when everyone’s asleep, it’ll be possible.”
At Robin’s words, Jeremy’s resolve swayed.
Jeremy wanted to know more as well.
The idea of gaining knowledge and going out into a wider world was something he had dreamed of even before meeting Robin.
“Alright, Robin. Let’s rob Director Timmy.”
“Great. I’ll tell you everything I know.”
“Hehe, this is the historic moment when the great adventure of Jeremy and Robin begins.”
Jeremy listened closely to Robin’s words.
Having spent his whole life at Timmy Orphanage, there was nothing Robin didn’t know about how it operated.
When the children woke up, how they spent their day, and when they went to sleep. A long yet short explanation followed.
The two boys’ plan took shape little by little.