"Huff... Huff... I'm mad!" Lux's chest heaved as she tried to catch her breath, brushing off the mud splattered across her clothes.
Her face was puffed up, brimming with fury.
The streets of Nary Town weren't particularly well-maintained; they were still dirt roads. And with the recent rain, the road was littered with filthy puddles.
A splash from a wagon's wheels had turned her once-white clothes into a murky gray. And it was absolutely deliberate.
But thankfully, her rationality held strong. Gritting her teeth, she restrained herself.
"Fine, I'll hold back for now. One day, I'll find whoever was in that wagon!"
After the wagon passed, the marketplace was left in chaos. Everyone was busy cleaning up their stalls. Nearby vendors stole a few glances at the disheveled her, their gazes full of hesitation.
"So it was…"
"Shh!"
They quickly averted their eyes, their earlier curiosity vanishing. The sound from inside the wagon, yes, they had heard it too.
So it was a fraud, huh? No wonder she'd been haggling endlessly with them... After that ordeal, Lux's enthusiasm was completely gone.
Her mind was fixated on the image of that wagon. A nearby cloth vendor looked up and sighed. "Taht wagon had three stars on it. You'd best forget it."
Lux turned around, puzzled. "Three stars? Does that mean something?"
Was it some kind of luxury brand for wagons?
The vendor patiently explained, "That signifies a high-level mage. The people inside are guests invited by the mayor."
As he gathered up his scattered fabrics, his tone carried both warning and advice.
"Any mage, even an ordinary one, is not someone we can afford to provoke."
To him, pretending to be a mage to survive wasn't disgraceful. But being exposed by a real mage? That was really bad!
Mages were inherently noble, and nothing offended them more than impostors. In his opinion, she'd best stay indoors for now. Who knew what could happen otherwise?
"Guests, huh?" NeverShowOff's interest was piqued. He immediately typed out a translation.
"What are they doing in Nary Town?"
"What else? Dealing with the tide."
The vendor let out a bitter laugh. He glanced around before pulling the three players into a corner, lowering his voice.
"Ever since four months ago, the northern forest has been restless, showing signs of a mana tide. Two prominent figures sent by the royal capital to handle it met with an accident on the way and perished on the Frostwind Plains. The mayor had no choice but to seek help elsewhere, hoping to survive the tide this winter…"
"The Mage Guild, the Ironstone City Council, even mercenary guilds across the river, he's reached out to all of them! To secure their assistance, the mayor has ceded nearly all the town's resources and authority to these visiting mages!"
Lux's grim expression softened a bit. "The people in that wagon might be jerks, but your mayor seems like a good official."
The vendor's smile was strained. "It's not as noble as it seems. The cost of hosting these mages? Of course, it's deducted from us!"
"But even so, it's better than dying…"
He had no wealthy relatives in other cities and was stuck in Nary Town. Whatever harsh taxes or levies came his way, he had no choice but to endure.
NeverShowOff hummed thoughtfully and handed over two coins.
"Thanks for the information. Consider this your fee."
The vendor was taken aback, accepting them gratefully.
"May the pure Spring Goddess bless you!"
He added a little extra information out of gratitude for their earlier attitude. Had Lux dodged the mud, his cloth stall would have borne the brunt instead!
He never expected to earn anything from it.
After a moment, he resumed his business, and the market returned to its bustling atmosphere.
Lux had lost all interest in browsing.
The three players took a quieter route, heading toward their mission destination while discussing what they had just learned.
Garble mulled over the vendor's expression. "The mayor of Nary Town isn't simple…"
"You think he's not as selfless as he seems?" Lux asked thoughtfully.
"Definitely not. Yesterday by the city walls, there's no way we wouldn't have noticed all those bodies." NeverShowOff joined in.
From piles of bleached bones to corpses that still twitched faintly, they had seen it all. The town was clearly losing people daily.
A small town with an estimated population of three to four thousand, constant deaths were no small matter.
Garble shook his head. "No, I'm curious, how did the mayor recruit so many mages? Judging by the vendor and the wagon's behavior, mages are highly esteemed in this world. But recently, there's been an unusual number of high-level mages coming here. What could a mere border-town mayor possibly offer to attract them? Hundreds of tons of blue soup?"
"From what other vendors told me, the mayor was originally exiled here from the royal capital. It's not surprising that he has some valuable resources and connections."
The other two turned to Lux in unison, who instinctively took a step back, hugging herself.
"What are you two looking at? Your stares are creepy!"
NeverShowOff scrutinized her: "This is the first time I've noticed you have quite the knack for gathering information."
"Only just realizing it now?" Lux placed her hands on her hips. "I told you before, I'm great at this kind of thing!"
The isolation of the starter village had stifled her talents.
"I thought you were genuinely shopping earlier. Turns out you were collecting intel?" Garble asked as he glanced at her.
"A bit of both…" Lux faltered, but quickly regained her composure. "Besides, I was checking out the town's economy. Who knows, maybe we'll set up a stall here someday. I noticed earlier, selling food here is super profitable, especially cheap, filling items."
Potatoes, for instance... cheap, filling, and easy to trade. Perfect for business! She was about to elaborate when the two suddenly stopped.
"What is this…" She glanced at the fabric-filled shop in front of them. "Are we shopping for clothes?"
"We're all getting changed, especially you," NeverShowOff explained.
Lux looked down at her filthy outfit and felt her anger flare up again. She shook her head firmly and took a step back. "No need. We've wasted enough time already. Let's just head to the mission."
Garble turned his head. "You sure? You've seen the state of the streets. The sewage is definitely… unique. Horse urine, human urine, maybe even some diseases…"
!!!
Lux, who had been storming ahead, froze mid-step. Then, without hesitation, she turned around and marched into the shop, grinding her teeth.
"Fine, maybe a change of clothes isn't such a bad idea!"
Argh, these NPCs! When she returned, she was definitely going to spend money summoning someone to beat them up!
---Child's POV---
From the end of a dim alley, angry shouts echoed.
"Hit this ###! Beat him to a ###!"
"Stealing at such a young age! How are you any better than the ### outside?"
"We ought to let the town militia toss him out!"
Three men with scars were mercilessly punching and kicking someone on the ground. I watched from the corner of the wall as they cursed in words that the game interface couldn't even translate.
"Hey!" I called out, jumping down from my hiding spot.
The three burly men, deeply engrossed in their beating, clearly hadn't expected anyone to show up. They stopped immediately, warily eyeing me in my white robes.
A brown-haired man in a short jacket stepped forward, seething with anger. "Where did this ### come from? Mind your own business, or I'll beat you too!"
"I overheard your shouting. The kid just stole half-broken shitty bread. Isn't beating him to death a bit much?" I asked, thinking about that bread, the kind that could double as a brick. Even as a last resort, I would've chosen questionable bean juice over that for breakfast.
Taking out a 1-Sol coin, I spoke in the Aeltia Common Tongue, "Consider this my good deed of the day. I'll pay for him."
The burly man's eyes widened in rage as he roared, "You nosy bastard! You're asking for it!"
Before the last word was out, his fist, as big as a sandbag, was already flying toward my ear. In the next second, I activated my stealth skill.
When I reappeared, I was behind him, striking his lower back with the flat side of my wide blade.
The man cried out in pain and collapsed.
Seeing this, the other two froze in fear. They glanced between their fallen comrade and me, standing there with my green dagger.
"Is… is he a wizard?" one of them stammered.
I smiled faintly but said nothing. Then I vanished again into stealth.
The men screamed and immediately abandoned their fallen companion, scrambling for the alley's exit in a panic.
"Run! He's a wizard!" One of them tripped and fell, crawling on all fours as though his life depended on it, cursing his parents for not giving him extra legs.
The injured man on the ground shouted after them. "What about me, you damn fuckers?!"
Clutching his back, he struggled to his feet, staggering after them.
Ten seconds later, my stealth effect ended and I reappeared, staring at the fleeing figures.
"Am I really that intimidating?" I muttered to myself. I'd always been the one getting chased and beaten by random creatures. Today was the first time I'd made others flee in terror.
Looking at my calloused hands, I wondered aloud, "Could moving bricks for two days have actually made me stronger?"
Whatever. What mattered was that the mission was accomplished.
I stored my blade in my game inventory and approached the curled-up figure on the ground.
The victim was a boy of about eleven or twelve, so skinny his ribs were visible. He clutched half a piece of black bread to his chest, his dark eyes watching me warily.
The bread, stained with blood and dust, remained tightly held in his hands. Even as I drew closer, the boy only hugged it more tightly, showing no hint of relief at being rescued.
"The facial expressions in this game are really realistic."
Unbothered by his distrust, I picked up the 1-Sol coin that had fallen during the scuffle and tossed it at his feet.
"Hey, kid. I need a guide."
One Sol could buy three pieces of black bread.
He hesitated only briefly before picking up the coin, his hoarse voice responding, "Okay."
"What's your name?"
"I'm Gaeman."
"...What? Oh? Oh! That's a unique name."
After hearing his name, I didn't immediately take him out. It seemed he was a well-known pickpocket in the area. Just showing his face attracted unwanted attention.
So, I brought him back to the nearby inn for a bath. The innkeeper gave me a look but said nothing. After all, I had paid, and I could bring back anyone I wanted.
His clothes, little better than rags, were clearly unwearable. Luckily, I had packed extra outfits. Setting the clothes on a shelf next to the steaming bath, I called out,
"Your clothes are on your right. Step on something if you can't reach them."
It took three full basins of hot water to get the boy clean, almost as much as I had spent hiring him as a guide. Watching the steam rise, I muttered,
"Uh… did I lose money on this deal?"
Then, shaking my head, I thought, Just consider it a charitable act. I can't let a kid die in front of me.
After a while, the noise stopped, but Gaeman didn't come out. Raising my voice, I asked,
"Are you done yet?"
Still no response. Could he have drowned in the tub?
Finally, Gaeman's raspy voice called out, "I… I don't know how to wear this."
"You don't know how to wear clothes?"
I glanced at my sanity meter, still at a full 100. Confident I could handle anything, I walked in.
I'd prepared the newbie player set for him: an old-style shirt and a simple white skirt.
The moment I entered, I saw him staring blankly at the four holes in the shirt.
"This is easy. I'll teach you!"
I grabbed the shirt and slipped it onto Gaeman, followed by the skirt. But as I bent down to help, my pupils shrank in shock.
What… WHAT?!
One set of organs was male. Two sets would be ambiguous. But what do you call zero sets?!
A shrill game notification rang out in sync with my realization.
[Warning: Due to your inappropriate actions, SAN value decreased by 1!]
[Warning: Due to your inappropriate actions, SAN value decreased by 1!]
[Warning: Due to your inappropriate actions, SAN value decreased by 5!]
Mouth agape, I leapt up and barked, "Finish dressing yourself! We'll talk later!"
I bolted out as though my pants were on fire.
When Gaeman finally emerged, fully dressed, I was still dazed, my expression practically screaming, I've seen things…
Even the loss of SAN points down to 90 didn't bother me as much.
Meanwhile, Gaeman seemed utterly unfazed, taking the initiative to ask, "What kind of guide do you need?"
I faltered. "You… uh…"
Looking at the cleaned-up Gaeman, I realized the boy wasn't bad-looking. In fact, he was beautiful, with an androgynous charm that belied his age. Not cute, beautiful.
His hair wasn't pure black either. In the sunlight, it gleamed a lavender-blue, like a hint of lilac.
No wonder he had disguised himself as a dirt-covered urchin. No wonder he'd been abandoned and left to wander the town…
Carefully, I said, "It's okay. This isn't your fault."
After all, who could choose the body or gender they were born into?
Gaeman, however, remained calm, his pale face stoic.
"I know. I only stole one piece of bread. Samadi and his gang tried to kill me because they wanted me to take the fall for stealing thirty pieces."
"Wait, there's more to this?!"
I clenched my fists.
"So that's why they wanted to kill you… no, wait, that's not what I was talking about."
I slapped my forehead in frustration.
Gaeman, on the other hand, seemed unconcerned. "I know. You just want an obedient guide."