Elijah’s heart pounded—he who had committed a major crime for the first time in his life. The single mushroom inside his sleeve couldn’t prick his conscience more.
However, he shouldn’t have just trusted the man’s words and hastily made the deal. Selling mushrooms he didn’t even know what they were…
Master had done the same. When going to the market, he never stopped at just one place, and even for shops selling the same goods, he’d go around to several and compare prices.
What if it was worth more than the price the man offered? What if he’d sold it for an absurdly cheap price? Since he couldn’t do anything about the mushrooms he’d already sold, he should at least check the market price and live honestly from next time.
His hurried steps gradually slowed and stopped.
…Did he really have to check?
Elijah looked at the 5 krone in his hand. This was already enough, so did he really need to know the market price of the mushrooms? It’s not like he’d continue doing business here, he just needed to buy what he needed…
With this much, no matter how expensive things were, it seemed he could buy the items Rose needed.
“Handsome young man, are you looking at clothes? Who are you giving them to?”
Elijah’s gaze, which had stopped as if drawn, landed on the children’s winter cloak hanging on the stall. White fur was lined along the edges of the bright red cloak. It was a cute cloak that seemed like it would suit Rose well.
“Ah, this is for babies. Are you giving it to a younger sibling? You must have quite an age gap. There are other colors here too, look.”
The merchant showed him a yellow cloak and a black cloak.
“How old is your sibling? How tall?”
“The red one…”
“Hm?”
“How much is that red cloak?”
“Ah, the first one you see is always the prettiest, right? This is 30 krone. But since you’re handsome, I’ll take off 3 krone for you.”
“…30 krone?”
It really was one surprising thing after another. Elijah doubted his ears. 30 krone for one cloak? When on earth had prices risen this much in the world? He couldn’t even properly buy one outfit for Rose by selling a few mushrooms.
“…I’ll come back next time.”
Dejected, Elijah left the stall with regret. The merchant called from behind, saying he’d discount more, asking how much money he had, but it was really such a pitiful amount that there was no room for bargaining.
How many more times would he have to come down to sell mushrooms to get Rose even one outfit? Just thinking about it already made fatigue wash over him.
Having lost motivation, Elijah wandered the market with a helpless heart.
There was no choice. Next time he’d pick more mushrooms and come back down.
“Gillie! Long time no see! You’ve grown a lot taller since I last saw you?”
At that moment, someone pulled Elijah’s cloak hem and greeted him familiarly. Elijah, already exhausted from being jostled by the crowd while walking the streets, barely turned his head to look at the other person.
“Oh my, I’m sorry. Goodness, I saw only the clothes and thought you were a shepherd I know.”
It was a woman who looked about the age to have a child like Rose. Come to think of it, the man who bought the mushrooms earlier had said something similar when he first saw him.
“Oh my, looking at you like this, you’re completely different from Gillie.”
Thinking there must be someone who came to the market often in similar attire to himself, Elijah looked down at the woman’s stall.
“Handsome young man, are you looking for something? Even though I have fewer varieties than Mr. Adam’s shop over there, the quality is better.”
Mr. Adam’s herbs are old and moldy… The woman bent toward Elijah and whispered softly. Elijah, who had been quietly looking down at the stall divided into compartments filled with all kinds of medicinal materials, took out the mushroom from his sleeve.
“…Could you possibly tell me how much would be appropriate to sell this for?”
“…”
The woman’s eyes widened as much as they could possibly open. Her jaw dropped open as if it would dislocate.
“Am I seeing things…? Can I look at that for a moment?”
The woman carefully reached for the mushroom, asking permission. Elijah adjusted the hem of his long cloak and handed the mushroom over the stall.
“Where did this come from?”
The woman, examining the mushroom with disbelieving eyes, asked. Elijah didn’t answer this time. If he said he dug it up in the mountains, she’d ask where, and a string of other questions would obviously follow. When Elijah remained silent, the woman didn’t press further and said:
“For something this precious, don’t go to the market, go to a bigger city. There probably won’t be anyone here willing to pay proper value for this mushroom.”
But her words were strange. The woman returned the mushroom to Elijah. As if handling a jewel that shouldn’t get even the slightest scratch.
“…If I go to the city, can I sell this mushroom?”
“Probably. You could also try finding a somewhat renowned forager.”
“Even roughly… how much would be considered getting proper value?”
The woman pondered for a long time as if she’d heard a difficult question. The woman, who had been lost in thought without moving while staring intently at the mushroom in Elijah’s hand, soon came to a conclusion.
“About 2 marc?”
“Marc.”
It was an unfamiliar word he’d never heard in his life. Had a new currency unit been created in the meantime?
“…What is that?”
“Pardon?”
The woman furrowed her brow as if not understanding Elijah’s question, then examined his face for a long time. Then she took out a few coins from her pocket and showed them. Elijah looked unfamiliarly at the golden coin that was slightly larger than the others.
“Um… you know that 10 riyu is 1 krone, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then what about 100 krone?”
“…”
When he didn’t readily answer and remained silent, the woman held up the golden coin.
“100 krone is 1 marc.”
It took a few seconds for Elijah to fully understand those words in his head.
“…”
It felt like his heart dropped to his feet with a thud. Elijah swayed, feeling a dizzying sensation as if all the blood drained from his body.
“Hup, hey. Are you alright?”
The woman quickly went around the stall and supported Elijah. Uncomfortable with the stranger grabbing his arm, Elijah pushed the hand away.
“…Thank you for telling me.”
“Are you really alright? Would you like to rest for a moment? Shall I give you a cup of warm tea?”
It was kindness offered without any ulterior motive, but there was no way such things could enter Elijah’s ears right now.
* * *
Elijah was really completely exhausted. The sun, low in the sky, shot bright direct sunlight onto his face full of worries.
After passing the merchant who had first taught him the currency unit ‘marc,’ he met a couple more herb merchants after that.
None of them properly stated a price. Someone unnecessarily drew out the pause, avoiding an answer. Elijah, who had already experienced this once, now quickly recognized that particular scheming look in their eyes.
When Elijah proposed a price first, only then did they all uniformly say there wouldn’t be anyone here to buy those mushrooms at proper value and advised him to go to a bigger city.
What should he do… To hand over mushrooms to some scammer—mushrooms where selling just one would be enough to buy three outfits for Rose with money left over—it was really a foolish mistake.
Though he was frustrated and wronged, it was too scary to go find that giant-like man again now.
Let’s just go home today… And next time, absolutely never sell mushrooms hastily to just anyone.
It was truly utterly futile. If only he’d kept his wits about him a bit more.
Elijah, who took out 5 krone from the inner pocket of his cloak, let out a sigh.
“…”
He might not have minded if he hadn’t known. But now that he knew, it was too unjust to just leave like this. The red cloak he couldn’t buy because it was too expensive also lingered in his mind.
…He had to get the mushrooms back.
And he should go to the woman who first told him the price of the mushrooms and taught him the new currency unit, and ask if she’d be willing to buy them for 50 krone each.
Even receiving that much value was more than enough for Elijah. Selling the mushrooms at proper value wasn’t important to him in the first place. He’d never had the presumptuous desire to make a lot of money from the start, and honestly, units like 100 krone or 1 marc didn’t really register how much value they represented.
He just needed to earn enough money to buy necessary items. That’s all he needed to do, and yet…
Elijah crouched down at the edge of the roadside and stared blankly at passersby. The world was still too complicated and dangerous. People were too fast, cold-hearted, and wicked.
No matter how he thought about it, 5 krone was too much.
He stood up with a resolute expression. He would return the 5 krone to that wicked scammer and get his mushrooms back too. No matter how shameless a person was, one shouldn’t do such a thing as severely ripping others off like this.
Elijah moved his steps, trying hard to calm his pounding heart. The mushrooms could just be picked again, but if he went home without even confronting the man about this, he felt he’d be wronged for a long time.
Above all, the fear that if he missed today, he’d have to come down to the settlement again someday made him move.
Standing in front of the man’s shop, Elijah clenched his fists and comforted himself. If he endured the brief fear, he could earn a lot of money, and with just that money, he wouldn’t have to come down to the settlement anymore.
Forcibly gathering courage from the very bottom, he entered the man’s shop.
“Hey. Are you in there?”
It was the loudest voice he could produce in his entire life. The man, who had been organizing something inside, came out with his huge body thudding. As soon as he saw Elijah, he furrowed his brow.
“What? Why are you here again? Do you have more to sell?”
Perhaps already sensing something was off from the fact that Elijah had returned, there was no welcoming look on his face at all.
