Though he’d been secluded for a long time, he still wasn’t a fool.
Though he was now an ignorant person who couldn’t even remember a single simple magic formula, he had once been a very capable mage and had undertaken many things together with his master.
Things like going down to the settlement, selling mushrooms to earn money, and buying necessary items with that money were easier than eating cold porridge for him.
“Igrit, I’ll be back.”
Elijah, who greeted Igrit softly—just a head sitting alone, still not connected to the stuffed body—finally left the cabin.
* * *
He definitely left before sunrise, but by the time he came down below the mountain, the sun was at its zenith.
Elijah was completely exhausted. Still, it was fortunate that he’d built up his stamina little by little over the past few months playing with Rose. Otherwise, he would have collapsed before even coming halfway down the mountain.
Passing among people, Elijah was a bit surprised at himself for being more composed than expected. Inside, it still felt like dozens of bees had taken up residence and kept fluttering, but that trembling didn’t show on the outside.
At this rate, it seemed he could sell the mushrooms smoothly and return home quickly, so Elijah became just a little bit confident.
The market was a bit different from what Elijah remembered. In the past, people in similar situations to Elijah would sit anywhere along the roadside selling greens and crafts, but now large stalls were set up on both sides, so there wasn’t really anywhere suitable to set up.
‘Do I have to pay rent for those?’
I don’t have that kind of money either… Elijah diligently rolled his eyes beneath the hood, trying to grasp the situation of how the market operated. Everywhere, without a single empty stall, all the merchants were attracting customers while displaying neatly arranged goods at their respective positions.
“Hey, you there.”
From adult leather shoes to baby winter gear. The street stalls and stands were full of all kinds of clean, pretty things. They were new items that couldn’t be seen in Elijah’s cabin, where everything was covered in fingerprints.
“Hey, when someone calls you, you should answer. What are you doing here?”
Someone tapped the shoulder of Elijah, who was distracted looking at the displayed products on the stall while holding the basket with mushrooms in his arms.
“What, why are you so startled?”
“…”
Elijah saw the large middle-aged man filling his vision and tried hard to feign composure. The fists of the man with crossed arms were the size of Elijah’s head. He was like a giant from legends.
“What did you bring today?”
Did this guy have a huge cave in his stomach? His voice was as fierce as his terrifying build.
“Wh-what do you mean?”
Elijah took a step back. The man, who bent down toward him, checked the face under the hood.
“Ah, I saw wrong. I thought you were the guy who always comes.”
“…”
“But what’s inside that? If it’s herbs you dug up from the mountain, you can’t do business here…”
“It’s not herbs, it’s mushrooms.”
Before the man could finish speaking, an impatient answer burst out. Elijah, who had no occasions to meet people, naturally wasn’t accustomed to conversation. Igrit had pointed this out too. To listen to people until the end.
“Mushrooms? What kind of mushrooms?”
Elijah slightly lifted the old cloth covering the basket.
“Where should I go to sell mushrooms?”
The man, who confirmed the contents inside, raised his eyebrows and carefully examined Elijah’s face again. Faced with the man suddenly staring at his face with fierce eyes, Elijah tried not to show his confusion and hugged the basket tighter.
“Perfect timing. I buy up all the herbs around here.”
“…”
What did that mean? Did the man mean he would buy all these mushrooms? But why?
“You can’t do business here without a permit. Come here. Don’t stand there trembling.”
The man waved his lid-like hand as if telling him to follow.
“You must not know well since it’s your first time today. Everything dug up from the mountain, you can sell to me. I’m a licensed herbalist, so I buy what you sell and add extra money to sell to other people.”
“…”
While following behind the man, Elijah slowly mulled over his words. So, to summarize the man’s words, since he couldn’t do business here, the man would buy these mushrooms instead and sell them to people at a higher price.
“There’s nothing left over. It all goes to the stall rent. Don’t worry, I’ll give you a generous price.”
The more the man added, the more complicated his head became. He didn’t understand what he was saying, but anyway, wasn’t it good that he would buy the mushrooms? Whether he added extra money to sell to others or not… According to the man’s words anyway, Elijah was in a position where he couldn’t do business here without a permit.
The man, who entered the stall with a wide awning draped over it, gestured toward Elijah. Elijah looked around the shop where herbs commonly seen in the mountains were displayed by type, then turned back toward the man.
“How much will you buy them for?”
“First, put that down here.”
“…”
“Ah, I need to see the goods to know how much to offer, right?”
Elijah, who couldn’t let down his guard and hesitated, eventually put the basket down on the table. The man picked up a mushroom from inside and examined it carefully like before.
“…Where did you get this?”
Where did he get it? He picked it in front of the house. But Elijah didn’t commit the reckless act of putting the thoughts in his head straight out of his mouth.
“I picked it in the mountains.”
“Where in the mountains?”
“…”
“Do you even know what this is that you picked it?”
“I just always…”
Elijah trailed off seeing the man’s fierce eyes. Though he’d committed no crime, they were eyes that looked like they would arrest him immediately.
“Always?”
“…I always saw it but I don’t really know.”
It felt like his heart would burst out. Why? Is it a poisonous mushroom? Was it something he shouldn’t bring to the market? When I ate it, nothing happened…
Elijah, who clenched his fists thinking to run away if necessary, waited for the man’s answer. The man, as if pondering something, carefully examined the mushroom once more, then glanced at Elijah.
“How much should I offer?”
Just when he thought he should run away after all, the man asked in a low voice.
“How much can you offer?”
“…”
The man drew out the pause for a long time again, then spread two fingers.
“Two per mushroom.”
Elijah was shocked. Two riyu per mushroom? There were a total of twenty mushrooms in the basket. That’s 40 riyu in total. 10 riyu equals 1 krone, and in other words, if he sold all the mushrooms, he could receive a whopping 4 krone.
Wasn’t that quite a good price? Even considering inflation, this was a value far exceeding Elijah’s expected level.
“All together it’s 4 krone, will you still buy them?”
At Elijah’s question, the man was surprised instead this time.
“4 krone?”
He asked back several times as if he couldn’t believe it.
“You said 4 krone…?”
Was it too expensive after all? Should he discount it a bit? Suddenly using his unused brain made his head ache. Elijah, unfamiliar with bargaining, planned to just discount as the man asked him to. But…
“Let’s do this.”
The man said.
“I’ll be more generous and give you 5 krone. Instead, you’ll always deal only with me from now on. Okay? Don’t tell other guys.”
Elijah’s eyes widened as if they’d pop out. Is this man crazy? Does he gain anything from giving so much? Giving 5 krone…?
“N-no take-backs.”
This time too, the man’s eyes grew even bigger instead. He nodded, twitching the corners of his mouth as if holding back laughter. His hands were busy taking money out of the money pouch on the shelf.
“Hey, you struck it rich today.”
It really was striking it rich. These mushrooms that were all over in front of the house were this expensive. If he’d known, he would have brought more.
‘But it’s a bit… strange.’
Then suddenly, a question arose in Elijah’s mind. Why was that man being so generous to him, a complete stranger?
Master said there’s no such thing as a free lunch in the world. But the man was adding a whole 1 krone just like that. Elijah somehow became a bit uneasy.
“What’s the name of this mushroom?”
“Hm? You don’t really need to know that far, you just need to know that I give the best price.”
“…”
The man held out 5 krone. Five flat coins glinted in the huge palm. When Master was alive, this much money was enough for the two of them to eat for a month with leftovers.
But why won’t he tell me what this mushroom is?
As Elijah reached out his hand to receive the money, the man closed his fist and withdrew the money.
“Wait. I need to count them. Is it twenty?”
He poured the mushrooms from the basket onto the table. The round yellowish-brown mushrooms that poured out tumbled down to the floor with thuds.
Elijah, who unconsciously bent down to pick them up, suddenly slipped one mushroom into his sleeve without the man knowing. The man, who was picking up the mushrooms one by one and throwing them back into the basket, said:
“It’s not twenty, it’s exactly nineteen.”
Elijah, who tightly gripped his sleeve, swallowed dry saliva.
“Eh, I’m in a good mood. I’ll count it as twenty.”
The man laughed heartily and carelessly patted Elijah’s crown. Because of that, Elijah’s hood slipped off a bit, so he pulled it down deeper again.
“We’re going to see each other often anyway, so I should be this generous. Right?”
The man grinned looking at him like that. Having put 5 krone in Elijah’s hand, he saw Elijah off with satisfaction.
“Take care, friend. Come again? Ah, what’s your name? You absolutely can’t tell other guys about this. Got it? Don’t go around getting foolishly scammed somewhere.”
Elijah walked quickly without looking back even once until he escaped the man’s sight. Whatever the intention, what he’d done was clearly theft.
