“An excellent choice. It’s perfect for the Inn on the Boundary.”
The street vendor handed the magic circle to me with a satisfied expression, gripping it tightly in my hand. Then he bowed at the waist and busily started packing his things. His hands moved so quickly as he rolled up the magic circles that had been neatly spread out on the cloth and stuffed them into his bag—it was as if he was preparing to flee.
“Huh? Where are you going?”
I asked in puzzlement, but he didn’t even respond.
That was the moment.
“Hey, you scammer bastard!”
A thunderous shout erupted from behind, and before my brain could even process the words, the street vendor’s figure vanished along with smoke right before my eyes.
And what remained in that spot was me, standing there blankly.
“Boss?”
Huff, huff—Gilbert, who had run over in one breath, was panting. Where had his forked beard gone—only one side remained, charred black. I was momentarily surprised by his unexpectedly smooth jawline. But then the words that followed jolted me awake.
“Where did that scammer bastard go!”
“What’s with that state… More importantly, a scammer?”
An ominous premonition brushed the back of my neck, and my trembling hand flailed in the air. Gilbert huffed and slammed the item he was holding onto the ground.
“Damn it, I bought it because he said it was an automatic razor, but flames shot up and my beard got completely burned off!”
“…….”
So that’s why only one side remained so pathetically?
It was a ridiculous sight, but instead of lifting the corners of my mouth, my blood ran cold.
Because in my hand, too, was an item bought from that same scammer.
Gilbert stared at me intently as if I was acting strange for being silent. But my body, having already been robbed of 1 Gold, was trembling like an aspen tree.
“Kid? What’s wrong? …Are you crying?”
“…….”
Am I crying? Yeah, my fists are crying.
Fuck, my money……!
“My 1 Goooold—!”
The scream echoed loudly throughout the marketplace.
A nearby auntie baking bread was so startled she dropped her dough, and children burst into tears. The sky was clear and peaceful, but my life alone was currently a hellish pit of fire.
Gilbert, seemingly having grasped the situation at last, hurriedly grabbed my shoulders to calm me down. He led me, supporting me as if I was half out of my mind, and eventually took me to his inn.
Sitting down on a chair with a completely enlightened face, I explained the whole story, and Gilbert clicked his tongue.
“How did a smart kid like you get scammed like that? And what kind of magic circle would be at a street vendor? Even a six-year-old passing by wouldn’t fall for it.”
“…….”
Damn this fantasy world. I thought magic circles were common.
Damnably, this place has no CCTV, no police, and no such thing as refunds. Even the scammer disappears like smoke, so there’s no way to get it back in the first place.
While I was grinding my teeth and swallowing my anger inside, Gilbert crossed his arms and opened his mouth as if mulling it over.
“By the way, 1 Gold? You paid 1 Gold for it?”
“Don’t emphasize it. I’m depressed right now.”
“You had that much money?”
At the persistent stare, I just scratched the back of my neck awkwardly, and Gilbert sat down in front of me and sighed.
“Where did it come from?”
“…….”
What should I say? That a VIP gave it to me? That a handsome Grand Mage threw money at me in exchange for my body?
……No, do I even need to talk about it? Why should I blab about it to this bearded guy?
I glared at him with such childish thoughts. But the moment I realized Gilbert’s face was serious, my chest felt tight.
“…Ugh.”
Eyes mixed with worry and reproach.
Unable to withstand that gaze, I eventually hesitated like a child and carefully brought up the story about Jeffrey, leaving out only the parts about being from another world and such.
Listening to my story, Gilbert narrowed his eyes for a moment, then surprisingly calmly nodded his head. I thought a scolding would pour out immediately, but he was calmer than expected.
“You know that was wrong, right?”
“…I was planning to return it from the beginning anyway.”
As those words slipped out of my mouth, a strange emptiness followed.
Right. I knew.
Even though I’d endured working two, even three part-time jobs until now, I’d never once earned money this way. I’d said like a habit that I wanted to earn money easily, joked that I wanted to be a rich unemployed person, but I’d never once earned money that way.
I’d always earned money my own way, in a way true to myself. Being swayed by big money like this was never the way I’d walked.
Realizing that fact again somehow made me ashamed.
Soon a heavily sunken voice continued.
“Sion, receiving big money… it’s not simply a matter of just giving and receiving money. Even if it’s just a single coin, it ultimately becomes a contract. Even if you’re not conscious of it, the moment you receive that money, you’ve already got one foot in.”
“…A contract?”
“Right. In this business, lives are exchanged for a single coin. If it’s 1 Gold, that says it all. Even mercenary groups don’t casually accept requests with that much money involved. Because eventually you’ll pay a price equivalent to it.”
Gilbert paused for a moment, then soon lowered his gaze with a low sigh.
“Of course, if you’re blinded by money, that doesn’t mean anything. So Sion, are you like that too?”
“…….”
“Is it because you couldn’t refuse? Or did you think, since that person is famous, they surely wouldn’t lie?”
Before I could catch my breath, the last sentence pierced my ears.
“That’s not a reason, Sion.”
The heavy words pressed down on my chest like stones. I just avoided his gaze and bit my lips hard.
I know. I know I was wrong too.
But I’m already entangled, and back then I didn’t know anything so it just passed by vaguely.
But that was ultimately just an excuse.
The fact that I accepted the proposal after being swept up in his pace was ultimately just a nice-sounding excuse. If I wanted to refuse, I could have refused at any time.
And yet I didn’t do so.
A moment’s temptation, a moment’s sweet words clouded my judgment and made me waver in a way unlike myself. As if guessing such a me, Gilbert sighed and slowly patted my shoulder.
“When you’re chased by money, there are times when anyone can’t look back. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. Everyone goes through it.”
“…….”
“Moreover, you’ve only just started earning money. But this period right now is the most important. So from now on, as you do business, keep to your own beliefs.”
I bit my lips, then casually asked. Perhaps it was to change the subject.
“……Do you have beliefs too, boss?”
Gilbert chuckled and answered.
“I do. To live moderately, ordinarily, thinly and long. Not risking my life on dangerous requests like mercenaries, just living as an innkeeper.”
“What do you know about mercenaries?”
“Those kinds of people come and go several times a day.”
“How does someone who knows so much about contracts get scammed?”
When I spoke sarcastically, Gilbert stroked his smooth jawline a few times, then avoided eye contact and changed the subject.
“……More than that, how are you going to make up for the 1 Gold you already spent?”
Changing the subject. But since I was the same, I decided to go along with it.
“I’ve received other things. …Ah, don’t give me that look! I didn’t do anything weird to get it!”
Of course, I did suck on toes. But he was the victim, right?
When I mumbled evasively, Gilbert’s eyes grew menacing. I hurriedly grabbed his remaining beard and said.
“Anyway, boss, you should just shave off the remaining beard.”
Gilbert let out an empty laugh while looking at me, then shook his head. Then, gathering up the broth I’d brought, he ruffled my fluffy hair and headed to the kitchen.
I watched his retreating figure, then muttered as if to myself.
“……Beliefs, huh.”
For me, the most firm belief was money.
If you have money, you can live; if you don’t have money, you die. That simple truth doesn’t change even if the world you live in changes. I’d always believed that and it won’t change in the future either.
Then the problem is one thing.
Where does ‘money’ end, and where does ‘greed’ begin?
And how easily does that boundary crumble?
Lost in such thoughts, I was blankly staring at the table when Gilbert, who returned after a while, hadn’t shaved his beard at all—instead, he’d spread it wider on both sides to fill it in.
“Ah, how disgusting!”
Why can’t you give up on the beard?
Looking at that sight with disgusted eyes, I eventually sighed as if in resignation. Gilbert nonchalantly stroked his beard and snorted.
“People should originally have their own unique characteristics.”
“Why does that have to be a beard?”
Though I grumbled, with Gilbert’s help I carried the gifts I’d received from the owner ahjussis to the Inn on the Boundary.
Looking around the inn, which was now quite respectable, Gilbert asked.
“Kid, is there anything else you need me to look at?”
“No, I’m fine.”
At my answer, Gilbert, who had been nodding, looked for a moment at Happy, who was tied to a pillar in front of the inn before leaving.
“What?”
“Just…… you said you picked him up somewhere?”
At the suspicious look examining Happy, I smiled awkwardly and mumbled.
“…I picked him up in front of the inn when he was dying.”
Does he know he’s a demon beast?
At times like this, he’s surprisingly perceptive, isn’t he? After Gilbert, who had been staring quite intently, left, I sighed and slipped the scammed magic circle under the entrance carpet.
Well, you never know, right? It might activate.
