26th
The Nemean Cat
026 ?
A slum in the western part of Sodomora.
The client who appointed me is said to be there. But I have not even been in this city for a week, so there is no way I could be friends with him.
Also, I don’t have a unique presence that would warrant a nomination, so no matter how much I think about it, I can’t figure out who gave me the job.
“Wow, there aren’t many guys who receive requests from Iron Tier. Hassan, you really are an amazing guy!”
However, unlike me who was just flustered, Luna was excited as if she was touched.
I was the one who received the request, but it was funny how I became so confident.
“So who are you? It doesn’t say who you are? What do you do?”
“It just says the location.”
The parchment received from Daphne only contained the address of the client and a signature regarding the distribution of the amount, but nothing more detailed than that.
If they are unfriendly, they are unfriendly to the extent that it is unfriendly, but complaining that this society without a proper system is like that is not helpful.
I didn’t know what the request was, and I didn’t even know who it was for. But the reason I went down this unfamiliar path was because of the numbers written on the parchment.
『Basic salary of 2 silver, can be increased later depending on working hours.』
2 silver.
Two silver coins!
I don’t know what it is, but it’s a request that will give me 2 silver as a basic salary. I can’t turn down this opportunity.
Because 2 silver is 200 copper, which is a lot of money.
For me, who had just bought the protective gear for 5 silver, the mere fact that I would have money to live on for the time being was an exciting thing, and my heart was pounding.
“B-By the way, Hassan… . Uh, we’re a regular party. There’s something I didn’t tell you… .”
Luna walks next to me, hesitating very much.
Every time he would babble like this, he would come up with something quite shocking, so I couldn’t help but feel a little nervous. What the hell is he going to say now?
“why.”
“It’s important… Don’t get angry, don’t misunderstand, and listen. From now on, I’m going to talk business-like, without any ulterior motives.”
“What are you trying to say that makes your tongue so slurred? It’s okay, just tell me.”
“… I don’t think I’ve had time to talk about our profit distribution-.”
“ah.”
Now that I think about it, I hadn’t thought about the money issues that would arise from the party at all. I thought it was natural to divide it by n, like a request given by the guild.
“Me, 40% is enough for me… .”
“40%?”
As I was vaguely thinking that we should split it 5-5, Luna’s crawling voice was somewhat surprising and unbelievable.
“40%? Are you sure?”
“Then, 30%… .”
No, why is it getting smaller there?
“I think it would be a bit difficult for my country to get below 30%….”
It was a very cowardly sight. The way she was fidgeting to keep an eye on me made me think back to the time when I was a slave under Elfriede.
If it were the wicked witch Elfriede, she would have whipped me mercilessly in such a situation, but as an educated person in the 21st century, I had no desire to become the kind of person who is like an uneducated elf.
“Okay, call. 30%.”
“Really? Shh! You’re really promising 30%!”
“I can give you a little more depending on how you do it.”
“What, what? Can you give me more…? T-T You’re lying! Who would have thought that!”
No, shit, even if you let go of your good intentions, you’re still suspected. It’s a little unfair, but that’s just how the world is.
Most of the kids who do free good deeds have suspicious ulterior motives, so you should be suspicious of them.
In this world where we have to eat tasteless dinners every day, people are so cruel that it’s rare to see people serving others or showing favor without reason.
“S, I swear on the River Styx, Hassan!”
“what?”
What the hell, am I supposed to experience that hellish lower abdomen pain again? I felt a chill run down the back of my neck as the title of shit-sitter Hassan, which I had run away from, seemed to be approaching me with great strides.
“That, that’s a bit… Is it really necessary to swear on Styx?”
“Well… If you call the laws of the gods in vain, you will be punished by heaven. But, Hassan, if you change your words or something… ”
“That won’t happen. We’re a regular party now. We need to trust each other.”
In fact, it seems like a sham and uncomfortable to talk about trust like this without even writing a single contract. In this situation, I am the one who can be called A.
Luna has no choice but to do whatever I say.
Of course, that doesn’t mean I wanted to bully him or steal his money.
I just didn’t want to make promises. Since I have to keep my promises, I don’t make promises very often and tend to deal with them vaguely like this.
Anyway, it seemed like the party distribution issue had been settled for now.
Luna continued to grumble and make strange sound effects like “Hmm-” and “Ah-” as if something was off, but she never opened her mouth to speak any further.
I had almost arrived at the place where the client was and was circling around the area.
“Hey, do you like me…?”
“What?”
I was so taken aback by the unexpected question that I couldn’t stop the questions from spilling out of my mouth.
I had a feeling that he would make a very angry expression at that moment, so I pretended not to be flustered, controlled my expression and mind, and asked again.
“what?”
“I just thought you might like me… If not, you wouldn’t be this nice to me.”
“Huh.”
This was the first time I’d been asked a question like this since elementary school, so my mind started to overheat as I didn’t know what to say.
Did you accept the human kindness I showed you as rational? I couldn’t have imagined that the story would go that way, so I’m still flustered.
What should I say? While I was pondering for such a short moment, Luna added a few more words.
“Ha, Hassan, but I may not be able to answer your heart… .”
What the fuck, I didn’t even confess and I got rejected? 0 confessions and 1 rejection. I feel like I’ve been humiliated by my KDA being mixed up with weird numbers.
“I, I have sworn a vow of chastity to Mother Nox of the Night. That’s why I cannot date or have a relationship with a man…”
“ah-.”
I had heard of the vow of chastity several times.
To seek grace and favor from the gods, or to express gratitude to those who have already received grace, they swear to live a pure life.
Of course, I had only heard about it, but this was my first time seeing it in person.
“So you swore chastity to Knox?”
“Uh, yeah… If you touch me, you’ll be punished by Lord Knox. Probably…”
Luna answers somewhat uncertainly.
Based on what happened last night, I think this Luna might be the daughter of some strange being called Knox. A mother who controls her daughter’s chastity, or something like that.
It’s a little understandable that a girl from such a remote corner of the world, dressed so casually, hasn’t been kidnapped or sold.
Actually, my parents were strict enough to even set a curfew for my younger sister. In any world, they raise their daughters with great care, even if they give up their sons.
Shit, now that I think about it, my father, who fed me all sorts of weird things, raised my younger sister with the utmost care. He was a fool for his daughter and a genius for his son, I guess.
“Anyway, I think you’re misunderstanding something. Let’s talk about this calmly later when we have more time. We’ve all arrived.”
Just having someone to talk to makes the long distance seem shorter. Before I knew it, I had arrived at the place of request, and my eyebrows furrowed at the feeling of that familiar distance.
Squeak, squeak.
A wooden sign swaying in the wind. Painted on it was a picture of a strange potion, either a flask or a glass bottle. And I know this place.
“Come on in, buddy-.”
The woman who emerged from the rusty door of the store creaked open, her hair blazing red beneath a cone-shaped hat and her breasts like enormous watermelons.
Anyone who sees that sight once will never forget it.
“I was waiting because I didn’t know when you would come-. Come inside-.”
***
“Sit anywhere-. I’ll bring you a cup of tea, no, two, so just wait-.”
The witch Nemea disappeared into a corner where there was a lot of clutter and dust.
The loud clicking sound seemed to indicate that she was preparing tea, just as she had said with her own lips.
However, there was a long chair covered with leather that I couldn’t tell what kind of animal it was. I sat there with my back against it, feeling somewhat uneasy and a little nervous, so I couldn’t hide my excitement and just blinked.
“Ha, Hassan. Look at that… .”
Luna, who had been shivering beside me without saying a word since facing the witch, like a meerkat frozen in front of a lion.
Only when the witch disappeared did I start to look around busily.
“…it’s full of snakes.”
Luna’s gaze was directed to a glass container that was relatively transparent and neatly made for an object of this world.
I couldn’t help but frown at the sight of snakes immersed in a solution that I couldn’t tell was alcohol or some other special chemical liquid.
That’s because I remembered the snake wine that had filled every corner of my house since I was little.
“Wow, it’s a snake. It’s a three-headed snake! It’s so hard to get one!”
Luna looked closely at the glass bottle, her eyes shining like a niece breaking into her uncle’s room on a holiday, so close that her breath touched it.
Shh …
“Hey, you’re alive!”
At that moment, Luna screamed in joy as the strange snake inside the glass bottle began to writhe. I spoke quietly, thinking that if things continued this way, the guy might get into trouble.
“Hey, sit still!”
“But, this is the first time I’ve seen anything this great. Who is that woman? Is she really your friend?”
“I don’t know. Anyway, come here and sit down. Right now…!”
“Uh, yeah… .”
As Luna sat down next to me, seemingly intimidated by it, her light buttocks pressed firmly against the chair, the witch holding the wide tray appeared again from the corner with perfect timing.
“I’ve waited a long time for you-. This is my masterpiece-. Drink one by one-.”
The witch took out a wooden cup from the tray and handed it to Luna. Inside each cup was a very suspicious liquid that was bubbling like boiling lava.
Bubbling.
What kind of fluorescent color is that? It looks like it would be bad for your health if you drank it, so even I can’t easily put it in my mouth.
No matter how you look at it, it’s not an ordinary car. I haven’t lived in this world so carelessly that I would drink the food given to me by a witch without any suspicion.
“Wow, this is delicious. What is this? It just pops in my mouth!”
Luna, who had already finished her share, shouted brightly. Damn, you fearless brat. Seriously, how have you managed to survive until now?
“You don’t drink Hassan? Then can I drink it?”
“Okay, you drink it all.”
“Oh, wow! This is so good!”
“The kid seems to like it-. It’s my latest invention-. I managed to neutralize some Hydra blood with a friend’s help-. I added pepper and other ingredients to it to make a drink-.”
“Hey, Hydra’s blood? Is there really such a thing…?”
Luna had just downed two shots without a care, and only started to cry when she realized what had gone into them. The witch chuckled at that.
“Don’t worry-. I’ve corrupted the divinity to a level that’s harmless to the human body-. And what’s more, you have cute pink hair-. It’s not a color you see around here-. Where did you come from-? Can I draw some blood-?”
“Hee, hic!”
Luna trembled in fear, like a small animal with its fur standing on end. Then she hid her face behind my shoulder, like no other animal on the food chain.
“Just kidding-. When I see a cute kid, I want to tease him-. He’s really a cute kid-.”
“Ah-, anyway. I heard you asked me to do a designation.”
I brought up the main topic to change the mood, to the witch Nemea who was flicking her tongue at Luna. It was extremely painful to continue sitting in this strange otherworldly health center.
“Yeah, buddy-. I’ve only been in this city for a short time, so I don’t know many people-. I thought I could trust my friends-.”
“So what am I supposed to do? There’s only an amount written on this piece of paper.”
“What-. It’s not that difficult, so don’t be nervous-. There’s something I want you to find-. The cat I raised-. The white one disappeared-.”
“Are you asking me to help you find that white cat?”
“Yeah, it’s good that you understand quickly, buddy-. The other day when my friend was groping and touching my body-. I think he ran away when I left the door open that day-. He tries to run away if I take my eyes off him for even a little bit-.”
“What is Hassan touching?”
“He hates starving more than anything-. I wonder how much he’s suffering right now-. But I have a rough idea of where he is-. He likes dark, damp places-. There’s only one place he can go-.”
“No, what did Hassan touch? I wonder what that means….”
“Well, I guess that’s a little early for a kid to talk about it.”
[Work Review] The weekend is over ㅠㅠ.. This week was a turbulent week for me, where I burned through about 25 episodes in one week. And so I received the honor of being ranked 2nd on Tobe ㅠㅠ..
Of course, this is the promotional effect of Luna’s signature, including the 6-shot.
Michuri, a newbie writer in her first year at Noble, knows very well that the bubble is created by a combination of various factors, such as an increase in pre-exposure due to first exposure, etc. It will fall down soon, so fasten your seatbelt tightly so that your butt hurts less. Hehe.
I would like to thank everyone who has followed me since my previous works, as well as those who have found me for the first time through this work.
I can’t promise that it’ll be a ton of fun, but I can confidently promise that I’ll work hard to make a full-length novel without any hiccups!
In that sense, I would like to ask for recommendations and comments, hehehe
