Duke, Please Repent!

In the Duke’s estate (4)

 ‘Isn’t it right to follow along?’

 I am now walking alone on a dark street.

 It is not a gloomy and secluded place, but an alley filled with pubs and the like. There are also people playing all over the place, the noisy atmosphere reminded me of Hongdae night streets.

 However, the purpose of moving alone was to serve as bait for security checks. I shuddered, wondering if a huge man with a weapon passing by would quarrel with me.

 “Do I look that easy to mess with though…?”

 Serpence, who was having dinner together with me at an ordinary restaurant, suddenly said.

 Do you think I’ll be able to check public safety more properly today than usual? And what followed is the present situation.

 He will hide and watch me from afar, he gave me a 1 million As bill as pocket money, telling me to just act as usual. ‘As’ is the monetary unit of the Holy Lumen Empire, and 1 As = 1 won.

 There is no money you can’t spend if you put your mind to it. But for an ordinary person like me, it was an excessive amount of money for one night.

 ‘By the way, this isn’t change, is it?’

 It’s a one-page bill. Giving it to me, Serpence said he would collect all the remaining money after the night was over. So it would be good to use it well or something. It is clear that he did this on purpose while having change so that I could become a good spending person.

 ‘Now that this has happened, why don’t I go into any bar and ring the golden bell once?’

 I thought about it for a while, but the amount was insufficient for that. Well, it was given very vaguely. I don’t need anything right now. Would it be good to buy some souvenirs to win favor with the Duke’s family? I went to an accessories stand, picked out about 20 items, and handed out 1 million As.

 “50,000 As is the price customer. Do you have any change?”

 “No, the person in the business can only sell less than 950,000 As? Huh,really! How can a person not have 950,000 As?”

 At my clever words, the merchant smiled with a contorted smile. I wondered if there was any truth to what I said, but it looked like he has a lot of money, so he was patient while dealing with me.

 “Then why don’t you get more if possible, and roughly choose the things you might need?”

 At the next words, the merchant smiled brightly as if he had never been in a bad mood. I sweeped up a lot of the items and placed them in my hand along with 800,000 Ar. The first 20 ornaments I picked up were 50,000 Ar in total, so I’m talking about 2-3 thousand Ar per decoration. There weren’t that many left, right?

 ‘This isn’t me being a pushover?!’

 It was a great rip-off, but the money will disappear after tonight anyway. Just thinking that I did a good job, I went to the shop selling crafts next door. This time, there was change, there was no need to sweep everything. Instead, the merchant charged an excessive amount of money while pretending it’s a normal amount to pay.

 ‘Are you watching, Serpence? The rip-off spirit shown by the merchants of your estate.’

 Occasionally, I went around getting snacks. I mainly got the spicy things that I had to skip before because of Serpence. As I thought of Serpence, I wondered if there might be something to buy for him as well.

 ‘He wouldn’t have a use for cheap stuff like this, right?’

 After getting paid later, I’ll have to order a whipped cream cake from a famous store. How much would it cost?

 Occasionally, I could see guards appearing and grabbing someone, but nothing happened to me. There were no quarrels or pickpockets.

 ‘I think it would’ve been okay if he hadn’t used me for the bait strategy, right?’

 The city’s security was firmly guarded by the guards, so it’s mostly safe to say. Even now, people in guard uniforms can be seen gathering again. Would it be fun to go sightseeing?

 “Ah!”

 Is it because of the sudden change of direction?

 A woman’s scream echoed as I felt a dull feeling in my temporarily purchased backpack due to the heavy luggage. I quickly turned around and saw a woman who looked to be in her early twenties, knocked over, she fell.

 “Are you okay?”

 I approached and held out my hand to her, but she did not even pretend to see me. She just rummaged through her own bag and then she pulled out something like a broken bottle that made her start crying.

 “God! Do you how much does this cost!”

 Maybe it’s finally here! Now I’m gonna be able to fulfill my role faithfully. Nice to meet you, swindler!

 “Is there any problem?”

 “Wow, what’s the problem? Do you know how expensive this is? How good it is, the scrolls are all wet!”

 Peeking inside her bag, I saw wads of paper covered in powder and liquid spilled from the broken glass bottle.

 ‘Is that all scrolling?’

 Who in the world would carry such expensive scrolls like that? No matter how cheap it was, it would be over 500,000 Ar. And with magic reagents in glass bottles? There is a degree of carelessness. The people around me also wondered what was going on at the first commotion, and then shook their heads at the sound of scrolls.

 “Is this your first time for today? I know you want to have a big drink…”

 “It’s not a scam! It’s not a scam…!”

 The woman said sadly, shedding tears like chicken poop. Her blue eyes, wet with tears, looked very sad. It’s not as good as Serpence, but it’s a great performance that anyone can really misunderstand, but…

 “You’ve chosen the wrong opponent.”

 Serpense would have contained much richer emotions, not just sadness. A little more gloomy, pathetic, with a heartbreaking expression. He must have ripped open his opponent’s heart, by crying sadly with a sad expression on his face.

 ‘Yes, her score is eliminated. It’s not even worth a price tag.’

 As I looked down at her with her cold eyes, Serpence appeared. He was really watching.

 “No, don’t touch it!”

 When Serpence pulled out an ordinary scroll that she was pretending to be a magic scroll from inside the bag, the woman shouted sharply.

 I think she’s caught up on all the fake act and still thinks we’re gonna get fooled? She grabbed her bag and blocked the way, but one of her scrolls was already in Serpence’s hands.

 “Come on, Zion! Come on, let’s find out about that woman’s fraud!”

 Serpence, who held the scroll and looked at it, turned to me and said.

 “This is real.”

 “···Yes?”