Chapter 14
“Ptooey, ptooey! I’m dying of thirst.”
Jeong Yushin stood up, spitting a clump of bear fur from his parched mouth.
It was dawn when he looked out the window.
His fatigue had piled up, yet he had to get up at the crack of dawn the very next day.
He felt proud of himself for such hopeless diligence.
A delicious smell wafted up from the first floor.
He put on only a shirt and pants, then came downstairs and sat down.
“Darmong! Please give me some water.”
“You’re awake?”
“Yes. Maybe because I drank last night, but my throat feels scratchy.”
“Last night?”
“Huh?”
“Ska, you slept like a corpse for a day and a half.”
No wonder his body had felt so terribly stiff.
He scratched his head, embarrassed.
Darmong brought him a meal and water.
Clack!
“Eat slowly.”
“Thank you for the meal.”
Black rye bread, sweet pumpkin porridge, and well-grilled sausage made up breakfast.
“Darmong, I have a question.”
“What is it?”
“Why is there no one staying at this inn?”
“...”
Darmong was silent for a moment.
“It’s the off-season.”
“All of a sudden?”
“It’s not sudden. The molting season is almost over.”
When did bears molt, anyway?
He didn’t know. Was it spring?
“So will people start coming in soon?”
“A reasonable number. Enough to make a living.”
“Could customers be staying away because of me?”
“Why?”
“Because I’m a Barbaroi?”
“...I forgot. You are a Barbaroi.”
Barbaroi—lawless deviants who damage the city’s virtues and rules.
When they passed through the streets, married men looked wary, while virtuous maidens covered their faces.
They were incarnations of lust who, when a husband whose wife had been stolen came angrily looking for a Barbaroi, turned even that husband into a female.
‘Honestly, that sounds like an exaggerated rumor.’
But he couldn’t be sure the rumor was false. He had never seen a real Barbaroi.
Darmong folded his arms and let out a deep sigh.
“I’ll think about it.”
“Ah. And I have another question.”
“What is it?”
“What is a spirit teacher?”
“The highest-ranking position in the Spirit Church. There are only a few of them.”
The old man at the relief station.
His own rude tone and behavior.
The memory flashed through his mind, and cold sweat broke out all over him.
“A spirit teacher must have tremendous authority, right?”
“At least in the Eastern Union, it’s a position where no one would object even if someone twisted the neck of a rookie Barbaroi. Why do you ask?”
Damn it.
He should have been more polite.
Jeong Yushin explained about the old man he had met at the relief station.
After the brief story ended, Darmong scratched his chin with one finger.
“Since you’re still alive, I suppose you’re fine. Was he an old man? A white-haired human male?”
“Yes.”
“That must have been Lord Luke. Apologize for your rudeness the next time you see him. He’ll forgive you readily.”
Luke Wiseman.
The head of the priests who served the Wind Spirit God, and one of the members of Labyrinth City’s highest council.
Jeong Yushin felt dizzy after hearing Darmong’s additional explanation.
‘Why would someone like that be working at a relief station?’
He vowed never to go anywhere near a temple serving the Wind Spirit God again.
“So what are you going to do now?”
At Darmong’s question, Jeong Yushin stroked his chin.
“I want to learn more.”
“Be specific.”
“Should I say I want to learn how to use weapons? I want to train my body and make it stronger. I realized that a good eye alone wasn’t enough. Ah! And...”
Jeong Yushin stopped speaking and sank deep into his own thoughts.
There was a lot he could improve.
There were things he regretted, too.
He had reflected on whether he could have done better if he had acted differently.
Kaal’s party was already finished.
Looking at things from a self-critical perspective, with all resentment and painful emotions stripped away...
He could see where he needed to improve.
He organized what he wanted to say in his head.
Jeong Yushin opened his mouth again.
“Where can I learn things like weapon techniques?”
“There’s an official swordsmanship guild approved by Labyrinth City. It costs thirty silver coins a month.”
“Heh heh heh...”
‘I only have five silver coins right now.’
“Then where should I go if I want to learn writing or other knowledge?”
“Do you mean Labyrinth City Academy? It costs ten gold coins a year.”
One hundred silver coins made one gold coin.
The academy would burn through a whopping one thousand silver coins a year, counting only tuition and excluding textbooks.
“Where should I go if I only want to learn how to read and write?”
“I heard the Earth Mother’s temple runs an orphanage.”
“Do they teach writing there? Is there nowhere else?”
“Are you rich?”
“...”
Oh, right.
He had forgotten. The mention of a temple had reminded him.
“Did I ever tell you what kind of Engraving I received?”
“No.”
“Heh heh heh.”
Jeong Yushin smiled meaningfully.
“I’ll show you. Here!”
“You don’t have to show me.”
Darmong muttered indifferently.
“Here!”
Jeong Yushin raised his arm.
Warm-toned, golden mana particles gathered in his palm.
A moment later.
A golden dagger formed above his palm.
“Oh.”
Fwoosh!
The dagger he had created by pouring in all his strength vanished immediately.
“Geh.”
All the strength drained from Jeong Yushin’s body, and he slammed his head into the plate.
“Sacred Weapon. Isn’t that a basic spell for priests, made up of equal parts physical force and the light attribute? Pretty ordinary.”
Darmong patted Jeong Yushin on the shoulder. Comfort like that was rare for him, which made it hurt all the more.
“Uh... well, hang in there. Good days will come eventually.”
“Is the Engraving really that bad?”
“It’s not bad so much as ordinary. Any priest can use it. And be grateful. At least you didn’t get a negative Engraving.”
“Do you remember any negative Engravings?”
“Wait a moment.”
Darmong briefly cupped his chin and stared blankly into the air. Then he suddenly began to chuckle.
“One of my friends got one.”
“What kind?”
“An Engraving that makes you get erect in front of men instead of losing your erection in front of women.”
“...”
“For your information, there’s also an Engraving that makes you want to buy a child something delicious whenever you see one. Be careful.”
That was dangerous.
“What do you do if you end up with an Engraving like that?”
“Erase it. For a fee. The more times you erase one, the more it costs.”
“Heh heh heh.”
So it wasn’t the Great Labyrinth; it was a goddamn luck-based deathtrap.
The legend that all demons had been gathered and sealed there was no lie.
“The Sacred Weapon Engraving is ordinary. Ordinary isn’t bad.”
Darmong would never call it a good Engraving, even on pain of death.
He remembered Mion’s face as she called it a good Engraving with an awkward smile.
‘So it was a well-intentioned lie?’
Jeong Yushin staggered to his feet.
“I’m going to stop by the forge.”
“All right. Hang in there.”
“Yeees.”
He went upstairs, buckled the longsword around his waist, and left the inn. Perhaps because it was morning, people were hurrying through the streets.
He walked briskly and arrived at the forge.
“Boron, I’m back.”
The sound of hammering iron from inside the forge stopped, and a dwarf emerged with a scowl.
“I told you not to come.”
“Please replace this longsword with a shorter one.”
“I told you not to come.”
“The longsword is too long to hold and swing with one hand. To be more specific, when I get close enough for my shield to touch the enemy, my movements become too wide when cutting and thrusting, and the sword doesn’t reach the goblins properly.”
Boron grabbed his own hair.
“Listen to me. I told you not to come. I’m busy! You crazy bastard.”
“Please change it. To a shorter one.”
“No, listen to me—”
“Change it.”
“Gaaah!!”
“I said—”
“Here! Take it and get lost! I told you I’m busy!”
Boron hurried over, then threw him a sword and scabbard.
It was an arming sword, a one-handed, double-edged straight sword primarily used by knights, also called a knightly sword.
‘I don’t know if they call it that here.’
“Here’s the longsword.”
“Just take it! And don’t come back!”
‘I saved some money.’
He slung the longsword over his back and wore the arming sword at his waist.
“Thank you. I’ll come again.”
“Hey.”
Boron glared at him, his expression turning stern.
Just then, the dwarves watching from across the forge burst into loud laughter and chatter.
“Hurr hurr hurr. Serves you right, Boron!”
“That’s what you get for hogging all the commissions and taking them on by yourself. Karma.”
Boron’s face turned bright red.
Jeong Yushin felt slightly unfairly treated. He turned around and protested.
“I’m not an entitled customer, am I?”
A dwarf standing behind him turned serious.
“You’re an entitled customer.”
‘What the fuck?’
“Why am I an entitled customer?”
“You left a perfectly good weapons shop and came all the way here to ask a blacksmith to cut your weapon down. That makes you an entitled customer.”
Come to think of it, the dwarf was right.
Still, it felt a little unfair.
‘The fantasy stories I know have people buying directly from the blacksmith!’
“I came here the first time because someone I knew introduced me. I haven’t even been in this city long, and I apologized for my mistake.”
Silence descended around them for a moment.
The dwarves awkwardly stroked their beards.
“Ahem. So you’re a complete beginner explorer.”
“If you came on an acquaintance’s recommendation, then... Ahem.”
“Boron, you pig. Ahem, ahem.”
Boron’s strength drained away, and he sank down where he stood.
“I didn’t mean it when I told you not to come. But I’m really busy. I haven’t slept properly, and I’ve been hammering iron nonstop for a week. Try to understand.”
“I understand. Then I’ll stop by later with a bottle of liquor.”
“Make it expensive and strong.”
“Yes, sir.”
The dwarves behind him muttered dejectedly.
“It’s ending on such a heartwarming note? Isn’t this wrong?”
“Boron, you pig. You hog all the commissions for yourself.”
Boron suddenly shouted.
“Fine, I’ll share some commissions! You lot are unbelievable.”
“You should’ve offered that sooner. Let’s share the good stuff! Are we strangers?”
Jeong Yushin bowed politely to Boron.
“I’ll see you later.”
“All right.”
The dwarves waved.
“Goodbye! Entitled Barbaroi!”
Jeong Yushin frowned and turned away.
‘I’ll remember the dwarf who called me an entitled Barbaroi.’
After walking briskly, he arrived at his next destination: the Earth Mother’s temple.
The place where Mion was, displaying her figure to the fullest in her tight priestly habit.
“I heard you teach writing at the orphanage here.”
In response to Jeong Yushin’s question, a human woman in a neat priestly habit asked him a question in return.
“Do you have a child you’d like to leave in our care?”
“No.”
Jeong Yushin answered.
Confusion appeared in the priestess’s eyes.
“Did you come to teach children how to read and write? Volunteers are always welcome.”
“No.”
The priestess’s confusion deepened.
“Then did you come to adopt a child who knows how to write?”
“No.”
A brief silence.
The priestess’s face turned deathly pale.
“Su... surely you’re here for ‘bride hunting’?”
“No. I came to learn how to read and write.”
“And to do some ‘female hunting’ while you’re at it?”
Did this woman just say female hunting?
“I really only came to learn to read and write. Barbaroi are people too. Don’t be misled by baseless rumors.”
“W-well, if you say so. For adults, it’s one silver coin a month. Classes begin in the morning. We’ll provide the textbooks here, and lunch is the only meal available.”
He immediately took a silver coin from his pocket and paid.
“Lastly, just in case, I must tell you this. If anything improper happens during class, you will be expelled immediately.”
“Understood. Don’t worry. I’m a good Barbaroi who doesn’t rape.”
The nun’s face went pale. He had meant it as a joke, but apparently it hadn’t worked.
Jeong Yushin stammered as he tried to recover.
“I’m... a Barbaroi who cares about women’s rights. I am. When you get to know me. Yes.”
“Ah. Yes, yes. I see.”
The encounter ended in a cold, awkward atmosphere.
As he watched the priestess hurry away somewhere, he was left with a bitter taste in his mouth.
‘I’m a virgin, yet in this other world I’m being treated like a female hunter. It’s unfair and infuriating.’
Jeong Yushin trudged back to the inn, suppressing his indignation.