Chapter 21
Even though everything was technically true, I just didn’t feel like admitting it and praising him.
Anyway, if Karl entered the alley…
‘Any smart criminals would run away.’
My goal of checking out the alley would be ruined before I even started.
‘So, it wouldn’t hurt to be careful…’
My thoughts stopped as soon as I entered the market street. It was because I ran into someone else I needed to talk to, not just a pickpocket.
“I was actually going to talk to you.”
The skewer shop owner from last time was still tirelessly setting up his stall. He still wasn’t selling as much as the surrounding stalls.
‘Extra points for not giving up and trying again even when things are tough.’
I secretly gave the owner a higher rating and approached him. Then I met his sad, deer-like eyes that envied the customers at other stalls.
“…”
He flinched for a moment and then spoke.
“You’re that…”
“That’s right. I’m the one who…”
“That unlucky customer?”
“…Why would you say that?”
I approached him with a forced smile, but the owner seemed wary after recognizing me.
“Thanks to you, I couldn’t sell anything that day.”
“Honestly, you admit it, right? It wasn’t because of me, was it?”
“What do you mean…”
“Why are you blaming me for selling highly toxic monster meat?”
The owner looked stung for a moment. And before I could say anything more, he spoke with force.
“…I also tried my best, in my own way.”
“Tried your best?”
“I removed the poison sacs and cut off all the contaminated parts!”
He didn’t deny selling monster meat itself. I had expected him to deny it, so that was a surprise.
“And I’m not just doing this for no reason!”
Not only that, the owner pounded his chest as if he felt unfairly treated.
‘He must have a story.’
I casually crossed my arms, willing to listen.
“You might not know, coming from the capital where resources are plentiful, but Saint Portu’s winter is…”
“No, I heard. They say it’s so bad that people dig up roots to eat if they’re desperate.”
“…”
When I repeated what Karl had told me to show I understood, a sigh escaped the owner’s lips.
“…That’s right. Every winter in Saint Portu, dozens, even hundreds, of people starve to death.”
“It doesn’t look that underdeveloped, though.”
I answered, scanning the lively and bustling market street of Saint Portu. On the first day, I had also seen this and thought it was much better than I expected. The owner nodded and replied.
“This market is only like this because it’s in the city center.”
“Hmm.”
“It gets worse the further you go outside the city walls, where you can’t see.”
…So that’s how it was.
While I tried to gauge beyond the seemingly endless market street, the owner continued speaking.
“This monster is the most common monster in Saint Portu. Sometimes so many are caught that there’s no land to bury them.”
“If there’s so much food, it would help with supplies.”
“That’s right. Even if it’s toxic and causes problems, if they develop immunity, they won’t starve to death.”
He spoke with a surprisingly determined look in his eyes. Still, I had a question.
“But if that’s the case, wouldn’t it be better to sell outside the city?”
He said the food shortage was worse outside.
“First, it seems better to convince those people and help them build immunity.”
The owner opened his mouth with a regretful expression at my words.
“You have to take even slightly more purified meat there. People who are malnourished suffer much worse if they get sick.”
“Hmm.”
“You have to gradually, little by little, adapt them by changing the level of toxins.”
That’s a more conscientious reason than I expected!
While I was thinking that, the owner’s eyebrows drooped even more.
“So I’m doing business here, but people on this street aren’t desperate enough to buy monster meat.”
“That’s why it’s not selling.”
The owner nodded.
“Purifying monster toxins costs a lot of money.”
It probably wasn’t just “a lot.” The cost of purification at the temple was an amount commoners couldn’t even dream of. Even as a Holy Knight, I sometimes felt they charged too much. Furthermore…
“And there’s almost no one in Saint Portu who can purify it right now.”
Except for me.
“…It’s a frustrating situation in many ways.”
Hmm, I understood. He wanted people to become immune to monster meat, but to do that, they needed to eat even slightly more purified meat, like getting a vaccine. Purification cost money, but unpurified meat wasn’t selling. He wanted people to become immune to monster meat, but to do that…
It was an endless cycle.
‘He’s struggling between reality and his ideals.’
I looked at the owner’s old leather clothes.
‘He’s probably been so focused on monster meat that he has no other source of income.’
The owner mumbled, grilling skewers with a heavy heart.
“Still, if business goes well here… I could save money and ask for purification, couldn’t I?”
“…”
“By then, I could even expand my shop outside the city walls. I could even give away leftover meat for free…”
Wow. He had a much better plan than I expected.
“That sounds like a good idea.”
“Oh, goodness, me. Why am I telling someone from the capital all this?”
Despite saying that, the owner looked subtly relieved. Having his own business philosophy: extra points.
‘The fact that it’s somewhat righteous is another extra point.’
I thought he was just a petty criminal selling deceptive meat.
‘He seems worth doing business with.’
The conclusion came quickly. I shrugged and continued.
“Although, right now it’s not selling at all.”
“That’s…”
The owner’s relieved face subtly cowered again. I smiled triumphantly and leaned towards him.
“So, I have a suggestion.”
“A suggestion?”
“Do you want to hear it?”
“…”
“You never know. It might help.”
The owner looked at me with unease, but met my gaze. I roughly checked that no one else was listening and then curved my lips into a smile.
“You won’t regret it.”
Meanwhile, in the early morning, inside the Duke’s office.
Jeremy, who had just finished his overnight paperwork, looked up with a dumbfounded expression. Karl, the monster hunter, also known as Duke Kaelen Silence, also finished his paperwork and stretched, getting up. Like a crouching beast loosening its body. He didn’t look tired at all.
Jeremy emphasized again, “You really, just went, and ate a meal?”
“Yes.”
To be precise, I fed her and came back.
“And you even badgered the Duke’s personal physician, who only sees Your Grace, to come?”
Her pretty face, dangling her small wrist, insisting she wouldn’t wear a cast, was both trivial and annoying, but I also wanted to pinch her cheek. Kaelen’s lips curved into a smile, not answering the accusation. Jeremy rolled his eyes in disbelief.
“You didn’t go to kick her out?”
“Why would I?”
“Your Grace. You were the one who said she might be an assassin!”
“Am I the kind of person who can be easily assassinated?”
Despite Jeremy’s whining, Kaelen’s mood was quite good. How good?
“Take this and burn it.”
“…”
“It’s high-quality paper, so it’ll burn well. Not bad for kindling.”
He was so happy that he secretly burned and disposed of the lengthy, complaining letters from neighboring territories, fretting about what if the monsters coming south also crossed into their lands. Jeremy inwardly clicked his tongue.
‘Normally, he would have sent a reply with a supply of monsters.’
That meant Kaelen was in an exceptionally good mood. However, Jeremy’s mood, which usually brightened when his long-serving master was happy, was not good. This was because Kaelen, having finished his work, was changing into lighter clothes without caring that he was in the office. …Clothes that made him look like a mere hunter, not a Duke in his uniform.
Jeremy looked at Kaelen’s exposed muscles as he took off his shirt, his eyes blurred, and he spoke.
“Is that not enough? Are you going to meet her again?”
A somewhat ominous smile appeared on Kaelen’s lips. Before Jeremy could say anything, the words came out.
“Is there a problem with me meeting my wife?”
Smack!
Jeremy instinctively slapped his forehead. Then, rubbing his throbbing forehead from hitting it harder than expected, he exclaimed, “Your Grace! Clark would be wailing if he were here!”
“Why bring up a poor old man who’s laid up with a cold?”
“And whose fault is it that he’s laid up?!”
“That’s because of Elaine, isn’t it?”
“You’re already on a first-name basis with her?”
Jeremy looked dumbfounded. Kaelen just scoffed with a crooked smile.
