154 – What did you just say
A jewelry store in the Imperial capital.
– Sarak.
In the empty shop, only the sound of flipping newspapers echoed quietly.
“Nothing interesting these days.”
The man, the owner of the place, was sitting at the counter reading the newspaper to pass the time, but he didn’t seem to like it.
Just a few days ago, there was a lot of buzz about a missing person for a platinum coin and a new porter for the hero’s party.
“Eh, tsk.”
It was a time when I thought that the 50 coopers I paid for the newspaper was not worth it because there was no fun in the yard where there was no business.
“How much is this?”
“Huh?”
When I raised my head at the sudden youthful voice, I saw a bracelet lying on top of the counter, and through it I could see the top of my head that had barely crossed the counter.
I reached out and looked down to see an invisible little boy of less than 10 years old looking up at me.
The man’s eyes scanned the behavior of the kid who asked the question.
Clean but worn-out clothes.
It was the kind of clothes that had been worn many times.
The man who read the shabby appearance asked in a questionable tone.
“Kid. Do you have any money?”
“Yes there is. Here.”
The kid took several coins from her pocket and showed them to the man.
A single silver coin shimmers among the dirty fairy tales.
The man said as if he was annoyed at the amount that was less than 2 silver.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t buy that.”
Most of them were fake, but a few of the jewels in the bracelet were real, so I couldn’t even afford to have them.
The moment he turned around to return the bracelet with a disappointed expression.
“Wait.”
The man stopped the kid.
“Leave it here.”
When I pointed to her bracelet and asked, the little boy replied curiously.
“To put it back where it was originally…”
“How do you know you’re going to steal it? You’re from an orphanage, right?”
“….”
“It’s true that you can’t speak.”
The man got up and went over to his little boy, then started searching his pockets.
Of course, the kid didn’t steal anything, so all he could get out of his pocket was dust, but the man just went back to the counter with the bracelet without an apology.
“….”
In the end, the little boy’s expression was dark as he walked out of the store empty-handed without buying anything.
Of course. The experience of being accused of being a thief just because he was a child would be pleasant.
“What should I do…”
The kid’s name is Tommy.
I was a child left in an orphanage two years after Durandal became a hero.
Since she grew up watching her hero, Durandal, she naturally admired her, and her admiration became clearer over time.
It was the fresh first love of childhood that everyone should have at least once.
“I want to give you a present before my sister leaves…
Tommy opened his hand and looked at his own.
1 Silver 73 Cooper.
In his small hand was the pocket money he had collected.
It was an orphanage where the warrior came from, but the students’ pocket circumstances were not much different from those of other orphanages.
Very little pocket money, inherited clothes. That was all.
Of course, the emperor expressed his stance that he would actively support the orphanage, but the director rejected the emperor’s proposal like a knife, and also requested that the warrior be kept secret from the orphanage.
The reason was that if they received that money, it would be like selling Durandal to make a good deal of money, and that the children might be targeted for an unknown crime.
For ransom, or if Durandal didn’t live up to his expectations as a warrior, he feared retaliation against the children.
The Emperor persuaded him that he would block that part as well, but he emphasized that an orphanage is a place where children can hope and learn how to live, and should not be forced into their hands. Rather, he said that if they accepted such benefits, more parents would abandon their children in orphanages.
In the end, the emperor had no choice but to be satisfied with providing support such as building maintenance, education, and food.
After going through so many stores, Tommy was able to just buy one of his hair ties.
“I wanted to give you something better as a gift…”
It was a time when I sighed inappropriately for my age.
-Look at that person. Are you here to confess?
Tommy overhears the muttering of people around him.
When I looked up, I saw a man wearing a hat passing by in the distance.
Keep an eye on it.
My eyes automatically went to the object the man was holding.
A bouquet reminiscent of a field of orange flowers.
From noble mtl dot com
Even to my young self, the flower seemed to go well with the hero.
Tommy began to take a closer look at the man with the bouquet.
He is a man who seems to be somewhat easygoing.
A kind adult who would just scold and pass by even if he did something rude.
Suddenly, the hair tie in his hand felt so shabby.
“….”
The world despised and doubted the orphanage children. To the point where there is a saying not to bring valuables into an orphanage.
The cases of rummaging through pockets without hesitation just happened to be commonplace.
‘I don’t believe you anyway, but wouldn’t it be less unfair to steal and curse?’
-Gulp.
Obsessed with bad thoughts, Tommy ran towards the man.
Just before colliding, the man twisted his body at high speed, but he chased it to the end and crashed into it.
I flinched at the man’s knowing eyes for a moment, but the man immediately put down the bouquet and spoke to me.
“Are you okay?”
“My knees…”
Unbeknownst to me, the lie came out on its own, and I saw the man’s gaze directed at her knee.
‘If you find out that it’s a lie, you’ll look at it strangely… !’
-Wheek!
In a hurry, I kicked at the man.
He was surprised that he had been dodged at such close range, but Tommy didn’t miss the moment and ran away with the bouquet.
-Thump, thump, thump.
My heart skipped a beat at the first theft.
I repeated that the director told me not to do that, but it was okay because I did it for my sister, not for anyone else.
It was the second rationalization in my 10-year-old life.
‘This should be enough… ?’
After running for a while, I looked back and thought it would be okay.
– Tak Tak Tak!
From behind, the old man was chasing after me with a terrifying expression. And very quickly.
I was surprised by that appearance and ran as hard as I could, but soon I started to run out of breath.
The moment he thought he would be caught at this rate, he found a road beside him and turned and jumped in without thinking about where it would lead.
The time when I was relieved that it would be okay here.
-f*ck!
It wasn’t long before I bumped into someone and fell.
“What are you?”
When I looked up, I saw stern-looking men looking down at me.
“What is this? A bouquet?”
“Doesn’t this look a bit expensive?”
The men who found the bouquet in their hands started to surround themselves with grins.
It was only then that Tommy realized what kind of place he had stepped into.
-The back alley is dangerous, so don’t even go there.
The back alley, the place the director had warned against.
Flinch.
At the same time, he felt pain in his knee.
By the time he lowered his head, blood was leaking from his knees.
‘If you do bad things, you will be punished….’
I regretted it belatedly, but there was no time to repent.
“Kid, don’t you hate being sick? If you don’t like it, show the hyungs everything you have.”
Because the squatting bully was smirking and making eye contact.
“Hey, here…”
With trembling hands, he held out a coin.
One silver coin left over from buying his hair tie. It was all Tommy had.
“Damn, do you think I’m kidding? There’s no way I can buy such expensive-looking flowers and only have these!”
“Heeep!”
Tommy couldn’t help but recoil when he shouted at him with abusive language.
“I can’t do it. Look around.”
Then a hair tie came out of his pocket.
“That, that can’t work!”
It was a gift to his sister, not his own, so Tommy clung to the man and asked for it back, but that didn’t matter to them.
“I’m sure he told me to give everything he had. Does this mean he’s looking at us as f*cks?”
At the man’s words, the other bullies all nodded their heads.
“I’ve been doing it, but now I’m being ignored by this kid.”
-Sereung.
The sight of a man pulling a dirty dagger out of his pocket made Tommy back in terror.
“Where are you going?
I regretted everything.
He said none of this would have happened if he hadn’t stolen the bouquet.
– Took.
Even that attempt didn’t go far and the wall hit my back.
The time when I couldn’t get farther away and only looked at what was gradually approaching.
“Excuse me.”
A voice I had heard somewhere resounded in the alleyway.
***
What is he doing over there?
When I entered the back alley, I saw a little boy who was suffering surrounded by bullies.
With this, you must have learned that if you touch other people’s things, you will get into trouble. Be careful not to get caught next time.
While I was watching with the intention of getting it out after a bit of hard work, I saw one of the bullies pulling out a knife.
No, no matter how much, it’s not a knife for a kid.
I spoke to them at a sight that made me uncomfortable just by looking at it.
“Hey there.”
The bullies look back when I call them.
“What are you again?”
Their eyes ran all over me.
With eyes as if measuring estimates.
“The kid over there has some business to do. Can you hand it over?”
“You’ll see all the strange ones. Can’t you see this?”
Yangachi showed me the knife he had been aiming at the kid and started bobbing.
If you don’t like it, you say you don’t like it. A guy who can speak sat down with some kind of body language.
“You’re quick-tempered. I’m not just asking for it.”
Sure.
As they took something out of their pockets, the bullies’ eyes widened.
“Hey, that’s platinum…”
“I’ve never seen platinum…”
What?
At that, I turned my head and looked at my hand.
Oh, I got it wrong.
Originally, I was going to throw a gold coin, but I accidentally took out a platinum coin.
It hurts to spend a lot of money for such a cheeky kid. Can’t help it
“I’ll give you this, so would you trade it for the kid over there?”
I couldn’t take it anymore, so I pushed on.
“That’s good.”
Compared to selling a kid with no money or parents, it was a huge profit, so the bullies readily agreed to the deal.
“To buy and eat such a mean kid for platinum coins. I like it.”
The man who took the money from me muttered as he passed the kid over, and the kid’s face became contemplative after hearing those words.
This bastard. Who are you calling gay?
If I had been alone, I would have pulled out my tongue, but I was about to turn around, saying that I was lucky to be in front of a child.
“Where are you going in such a hurry?”
The bullies are standing blocking the direction they came in before they knew it.
“…What are you trying to do now?”
Then the bully with the sword opened his mouth with a fishy laugh.
“Don’t stare at me so fiercely. If we want to, we can catch a lot of bastards like that. How about having a regular deal with us? Of course, the price is the same as before.”
“….”
I was dumbfounded and had nothing to say.
If the opponent was a guy whose head was spinning when he was carrying a platinum coin, he would have just accepted it and backed down, but seeing that he was greedy to the end, it seems he doesn’t have that level of intelligence.
‘Hammer?’
In the past, if it were me, I would have been an opponent, but I looked relatively weak after seeing monsters and thieves recently. I don’t feel like I’m going to lose even if I fight.
‘If you’re that smart, you wouldn’t be able to live long if it weren’t for me anyway. Even if I die here at my hands, wouldn’t it be a natural death?’
No matter what.
I shook my head and brushed off my wild thoughts.
If something goes wrong, they try to solve it with violence. Going out with the warrior party, it seems I got stained without even realizing it.
These days, I often think that I have become a local. If you go back to where you were in this state, you should get some psychological treatment.
He opened his mouth, repeating that he was an intellectual living in the 21st century.
“Can you afford it?”
In a street fight like this, Gao eats half of it.
Because most of the people at school who said they didn’t have mothers and fathers got over it.
At the serious warning, the bullies all laughed. The man closest to him began to condescend.
“hahahaha! This guy is hitting the target. Hey bro, I think you want to grab some gao before you eat the bastard, but then you can go after it. You know?”
A man came right in front of me and touched my cheek.
– Pudeuk.
In front of the child. It’s not good for the mood, so let’s be patient.
I bit my lip and endured it.
Judging my silence as frightening, the bully patted his cheek nonstop and teased him.
“How futile must the person who raised such an offspring be? He pretended to be strong for no reason and ended up falling behind.”
Flinch.
“Well, if I had been properly educated, I wouldn’t have stood in front of us in the first place… aaa!”
The man who had been mouthing him excitedly suddenly let out a scream of pain.
“Ah, the future is good…! I can’t see my eyes!!”
“….”
No one dared to open their mouths except for a man who lost his eyesight and was screaming at the sudden situation.
It was a shocking sight to see his colleague, who had just laughed with him, dripping blood from his eye sockets.
-Poof.
As he brushed his hand lightly, something caught on the tip of his finger rolled across the filthy ground.
Its identity was a human eyeball with a hole in the middle covered with dust.
-Swimsuk.
I opened my mouth by rubbing my fingers, which were mixed with clear liquid and black water, on my pants.
“What did you just say?”
Padlips are fine. I don’t even know Amy and Abby’s face, so what?
“What regrets? A proper education?”
But only one thing. There was one problem that could never be overlooked.
“It’s like a f*ck.”
In the past and now, insulting the teachers couldn’t be tolerated.