162nd
new business
162 ? New Business #2
Square- square-.
The hands of the receptionist who was writing down the words suddenly stopped. Then, as if the strength had left her hands, she dropped the pen and rolled it on the table.
“… Mr. Hassan, last time. When was the last time you measured it…? It’s been about two months since I signed up, so that was the last time…?”
Daphne wipes the sweat from her forehead with trembling hands.
“Hey, something doesn’t seem right. Can you try measuring again? Try poking a different finger.”
Daphne’s reaction was different from what I expected, and I also furrowed my brows.
“… What, exactly, is the problem?”
“It’s impossible for the numbers to change this much in just one or two months. At this rate of growth, it’s probably about the same as the old Hippolyte…”
Leveling up at a similar level to Hippolyte? It was truly incredible. So I did as Daphne suggested and dipped my fingers into the pen tip.
Square, square-.
But the result remains the same.
“The grace item has also been changed to the words ‘shining hands’… Honestly, I think this is beyond my authority to define.”
Daphne acted as if she was trying to be sparing with her words. All the while, her eyes remained fixed on my fluctuating numbers, never letting up.
“Mr. Hassan, by any chance, I’m just asking. Do any of your family members have a royal lineage or something like that? Or are you the son of a famous tribal chieftain from the Samaritan Desert…?”
“Not as far as I know.”
“Are you sure you have both a mother and a father? Ever since I was little, I’ve known that I have an odd number of parents… .”
“Are your parents odd?”
For a moment, the back of my head felt cold as if I had heard a swear word. My parents asked me if I was an odd number. Who in the world would have thought they would use such old-fashioned swear words?
Of course, Daphne didn’t seem to mean it that way. Still, hearing it in person made her feel very strange.
“I’m sure you’re both doing well. It’s been a while since I last saw you.”
“What are the chances that they are not my biological father or mother?”
“No, what exactly are you trying to ask?”
“There’s nothing we can do about it since it’s a set manual. Mr. Hassan, I wonder if you’re a demigod like Ms. Hippolyte.”
“Demigod? Me?”
“yes.”
“Phehehe-.”
At that moment, a kind of inexplicable laughter burst out from the bottom of my stomach. Have I ever heard something this funny in recent times?
“Hassan, breathe and laugh.”
I laughed for a while until Luna patted me on the back to calm me down.
“That will never happen, so you don’t have to consider it.”
“hmm-.”
Daphne frowned with a very serious expression on her face at my answer.
“As expected, there are many things that are beyond my authority to judge. Mr. Hassan, how about going to Delphi?”
“Are you talking about Delphi?”
Delphi is a city name I’ve heard of before. It’s a city that worships the god of light. It’s said to be famous as a tourist attraction because it has a really large temple of the sun.
The priestess Cassandra, who once stood watch with me, also came from there. She once asked me to come visit her in Delphi.
“Why Delphi all of a sudden?”
“Many people go to Delphi to receive oracles in order to realize their divinity. The Order of Light also does that kind of work.”
“aha.”
I don’t know what you mean, but are you doing something like genetic testing through trust? Of course, since I’m a native Korean, I don’t necessarily need to do that kind of testing.
but-.
“Luna, what are you doing?”
“Shh, you have to be quiet. I’m holding a squirrel here. If you make any noise, it’ll fly away. There are squirrels in a place like this… Shh… 20 coppers…”
Luna, crouching on the tent floor, catching insects, seemed to need some guidance. Luna was definitely Nox’s biological daughter.
Of course, I don’t know if I can decide that on my own.
Why is Nox trying to hide Luna’s identity?
Of course, there are so many different types of families in the world, so I think there must be family circumstances that I don’t know about.
I shouldn’t break it or ruin it by having someone train me on the side.
But if she’s the daughter of God, she’d be treated quite preciously in this world, so why is she just hanging out there?
I was a bit curious as to why. There’s still a lot I don’t know about Luna.
I was a little nervous because I didn’t know anything about Luna and I thought that it might be an uncertain point that could harm my relationship with her.
“See you next time, Daphne!”
Anyway, the guild work that I stopped by after a long time has been roughly finished.
“If you’re going to Delphi, please let me know. The guild will cover the expenses!”
Delphi.
Luna and I are extremely busy right now, so I don’t know when that will be, but it wouldn’t be a bad idea to go there for sightseeing sometime.
* * *
A long-awaited holiday.
I had quite a bit of work to do during this free time.
For example, I haven’t even received the reward money for the request to bring black spring water or something to the Temple of Venus.
So I went to the Temple of Venus to enjoy something like a lazy afternoon date with Luna. However, I had to leave after hearing that the Saintess of Venus was out of the office today due to a schedule.
Sval, isn’t this stealing the thank-you money?
I feel worried for no reason.
This is why you need to be careful about contracts that are made without going through a guild.
I can’t help but wonder if the saintess who is the head of the Venus Temple would be stealing adventurers’ money… .
But surprisingly, people in high positions do not fear the law or heaven and abuse their power. It was the same all over the world, so it goes without saying in this uncivilized world.
“Hassan, look at this! It’s a blue rose!”
Anyway, while I was bubbling with excitement over how to receive the gift, I felt a little better when I saw Luna running around the colorful garden.
A garden filled with all sorts of flowers, butterflies, and bees. A fountain filled with white swans splashing water, creating a refreshing spray that even creates a gentle rainbow.
Luna, who was rejoicing in the bright sunlight, was quite pretty and cute. To exaggerate a little, she looked like a fairy or a young goddess.
Well, well.
But I was a little worried about what Luna had been eating and mumbling about since earlier. So I decided to ask her.
“Luna, what have you been eating since a while ago?”
“rose!”
“… I see. Are you hungry?”
“… Yeah! How did you know?”
Luna smiled somewhat embarrassedly as she ate the rose petals.
“While we’re on the subject, what should we go eat?”
“okay!”
I was supposed to have lunch with Luna, but Luna said she was too busy to eat lunch and moved the jar. I was short-sighted, taking Luna here and there.
People who have been in a relationship say they do better, but as a single mother, I had no talent at planning things like date courses. What the hell, you fucking idiot Hassan.
Still, it was fortunate that Luna wasn’t a sharp-tongued person.
“Let’s stop by home first! I have something to show Hassan!”
So I was thinking of going to an inn with Luna, or maybe a fancy restaurant street. Luna was hoping to stop by a cabin.
Do you have something to show me?
I head towards Luna’s cabin with a slightly expectant heart, wondering what it might be.
Then I saw that Luna’s cabin had expanded slightly to the side. It felt like long wooden planks had been clumsily attached to forcibly expand the space.
“What is that?”
“It’s a bathroom. I spent all morning making it! It was so hard.”
Luna patted her shoulder and arm as if she was really tired.
Since I was well aware of Luna’s clumsy skills, I could clearly imagine how much trouble she had to take to expand that one to two-pyeong space.
“Luna, did you make this yourself?”
“No, Paranoia. I was watching from the side.”
“I see. I thought you had a hard time.”
I thought back to the days when Paranoy and Luna would make potions on the first floor. He was almost like a part-timer at a workshop. Who would have thought they would do such an expansion project now?
I thought she was a stupid nymph, but she’s surprisingly talented. I decided to give Paranoy a half star rating in my mind.
More than that, I wonder if they are paying them well and using them well. Well, I guess Luna and Paranoy are taking care of that.
Anyway, this is the bathroom.
“Come in and see!”
The bathroom was accessible through the first floor. It was big enough for two people. From the outside, it looked roughly made.
Surprisingly, the floor was well-installed, from the drain to the tiles.
“You didn’t bring the water pipes? Didn’t you say you needed a lot of money and documents?”
“I was able to get it for a cheaper price than usual! How is it? Awesome! I guess the price went down because the Thieves Guild was disbanded!”
I was wondering what the disbandment of the Thieves’ Guild had to do with the reduction in the price of water pipes. Then I remembered that the Thieves’ Guild Hydra had been taking over the underground water facilities in the central area and making a profit.
Because the sewage system itself wasn’t managed, the entire Sodomora smelled like a dirty sewer. Now that those guys are gone, I think the city will become a little cleaner.
“If you turn this here, cold water will come out! Hassan, you’ve never seen anything like this? He saw this and called it a faucet!”
Creak, creak.
A faucet that turns with a rusty sound. Soon, water starts to flow down from something like an iron pipe installed at the top.
Slurp slurp-.
It was amazing to think that in this world, we, who are not even rich, would have our own bathrooms.
Anyway, I was very happy that Luna’s house had a bathroom.
Because cleanliness and hygiene are among the most important things to live in this uncivilized world.
I feel like my quality of life is improving because I no longer have to bother going to a bathhouse that is far away.
And, maybe, we could do some soft and sassy things like living together and washing together.
Just imagining it makes Juji bigger.
Luna seems really happy right now, so if I treat her to something nice for dinner tonight and set the mood, maybe we can do something a bit like being naughty?
I feel so happy, like I’m full even though I haven’t had dinner yet.
* * *
Inn nymph wings.
It is bustling with customers these days. The noise increases in the evening when the inns and bars start operating in earnest.
When I reunited with Elfriede here a while ago, I was so surprised I thought I fainted.
After rumors spread that the adventurer Baek Eun-Rose of Calcata had fled before the Thieves’ Guild, the party also disappeared from Sodomora and there was no more opportunity to meet them.
They retreated to avoid suffering losses, but since image is important to adventurers, they will probably try to stay hidden for the time being until the story dies down.
Or you could disband the adventurer team.
Diving and dismantling.
Just as idol groups cover up incidents with those two methods, most of the adventurers in this strange world also solve their problems by going through those two methods.
But whatever it was, it had nothing to do with me.
“Have you chosen everything?”
I asked Luna kindly, who was looking at the menu and thinking for a long time. I was surprised because it sounded more cringey than I had imagined, even though it was my own voice.
Luckily, Luna didn’t seem to care.
“Can I really choose them all?”
“Okay, pick anything. I’ll buy it for you today.”
“Huh… Hassan, did something good happen today?”
“No, nothing in particular.”
“Hassan, you don’t have any money.”
“They will come in later.”
First of all, I am an adventurer who has defeated the Thieves Guild Hydra, so I have won the battle against the Silver Rose. Wouldn’t I receive a pretty good reward from the Count of Sodomora?
I wonder how much money I’ll get.
Maybe it will cover the cost of Hippolyte’s Auror training.
So Luna and I ordered and tasted all the dishes on the menu one by one. Even if we ordered everything, it would only cost about 2 silver for two people, so it was more than enough to fill our stomachs with cost-effectiveness.
“I just swung the reinforced Silence Totem, and all the thieves ran away! Hassan should have seen it too!”
Luna’s face turned red as she felt very happy with the delicious free food and alcohol. Unlike usual, she definitely looked drunk today.
Since you look so happy, I wonder if you can go home, wash up, and touch Luna’s chest.
Soft chest.
The thought that Luna, who would feel better if I did it well, might lick it with her mouth really made the blood rush to my lower body.
Anyway, the atmosphere and the intoxication gradually ripened. The noise of people talking and the singing of drunkards became more and more noticeable and natural.
Suddenly.
Someone shouted as they opened the door to the store and entered.
“Baron Fleur will be arriving at this inn soon! Everyone, be respectful…!”
baron?
If you’re a baron, aren’t you a nobleman?
This is not a street where the rich live, and it is located in a remote area of the western slums. It is strange that a nobleman would be visiting here out of the blue.
All the guests were dumbfounded and stared blankly at each other’s faces.
Thud, thud, thud, thud-.
Soon, armed soldiers filled the inn. Judging from the fact that they were not wearing any yellow flags or insignia of Sodomora, they seemed to be private soldiers hired at their own expense.
“Put your weapon away-!”
“Put those sharp things away!”
“Hey, what’s that sharp thing in your pocket!”
“It’s mine.”
“Oh, I see.”
They looked around and acted quite forcefully, as if they were trying to secure the safety and space of their surroundings.
It was a very infuriating thing for the drunkards who were happily enjoying their drinks and snacks. But when they saw their large numbers and the flashy spearheads in their armor, their anger naturally subsided.
Swish.
Soon, a long red carpet is laid on the floor. A man appears, stepping on it with a thud.
The man is wearing an all-black outfit and a wide-brimmed hat, like those worn by Mexicans.
A black outfit that covers all your flesh on this hot day? Is it a grim reaper? Just looking at it makes me feel hot.
The innkeeper frowned as if wondering what was going on.
“P-P, it’s Baroness Fleur!”
A man with a black veil hanging over his hat and covering his face speaks.
“If you make a promise, shouldn’t you keep it? The main office’s patience has reached its limit today.”
“That, that’s me… .”
The innkeeper, who was moving around hurriedly, finally met my gaze, who was drinking in the corner.
Looking at those urgent eyes, I remembered that I had promised to meet this nobleman named ‘Baroness Fleur’. I had forgotten because I was so busy. Who would have thought that he would come in person like this?
Man, says Baron Fleur.
“Please call that famous healer. My daughter’s illness needs to be treated immediately.”
[Work Review]
Why is there a pseudo-title attached to it… I’ll show you something… The reason for the title that comes out after 160 episodes… It’s my fault…!!!
But I don’t know when I wrote 160 episodes already…!!! I started writing on May 5th and it’s already the 162nd episode on July 14th…!!!!
I’m so grateful to all the readers who have followed me for such a long time… Thanks to you, I’m having so much fun writing…!!!
I don’t know about anything else, but I’ll go all the way to the end without fail…!!!
