NOVEL NEXT 18.
18.
After finishing his sunbathing, Jinhyeon headed towards the shopping district a little distance away. He chose a suitable clothing store and went inside. Buying clothes wasn’t easy; it was only after being rejected twice that he was able to buy the clothes he wanted at the third store.
The reason for rejection wasn’t money. The previous stores had looked him up and down and chased him out. It was understandable since the clothes he was wearing were something a slave or commoner would wear.
Because of this, at the third store, he quoted a large amount from the start. The store owner frowned but provided the clothes anyway.
“You’re not an escaped slave, are you?”
“No, I’m not.”
“Then do you have papers?”
“I’m about to get them made.”
Jinhyeon answered obediently. Originally, freed slaves had to go to a government-run institution, pay a set amount, and receive a new identity. Or revive their previously erased identity.
“I see. Many people want to change their clothes first before going. But you seem to have quite a bit of money? If you wanted cheaper clothes, you could have gone to the market area.”
Apparently, the market area is cheaper than the shopping district, which mostly deals in custom-made items. He heard that second-hand clothes are also quite available there, so one could get clothes cheaply, but coming here meant he was carrying quite a bit of money.
“It’s fortunate though. I happen to have some pre-made clothes. Usually, it’s custom-made, but I keep a few ready for when people need them urgently.”
Jinhyeon handed over the money and bought the clothes. After changing, he slicked back his hair with wax borrowed from the store. After finishing his grooming, he no longer looked like a slave.
The clothing store owner gaped at him.
“Were you actually of noble birth?”
Ignoring the owner’s dazed muttering, Jinhyeon stood in front of the mirror. He knew his face was quite handsome. With his appearance that easily gained others’ favor and now wearing decent clothes, he really looked like some kind of nobleman.
‘But I need to build up my body more.’
A larger build and more muscle would be advantageous in fights. There was no reason not to hone his talent for fighting.
‘A more relaxed expression would be better.’
Jinhyeon recalled his former self. His modern self who lived peacefully and smoothly. After changing his expression too, he looked like a completely different person.
“Please come again!”
When he left, even the clothing store owner used honorifics with Jinhyeon. Not just because of the money, but because his appearance was no longer something to be looked down upon.
Jinhyeon leisurely walked through the shopping district. Different gazes were directed at him compared to when he entered the clothing store. These gazes didn’t leave Jinhyeon until he completely left the shopping district.
‘Let’s see.’
After walking for quite a while, the scenery started to change. People’s attire changed and the streets narrowed. There were a few shops in between, but they were all small and run-down.
Unlike the shopping district, none had full glass windows, and most used wooden stalls. After looking around for a while, he stopped in front of a nearby general store.
He looked at the items on the stall with apparent interest. Although they were all crude items, they might be interesting to a young master who didn’t know the ways of the world.
Just like the role Jinhyeon was currently playing.
“How much is this?”
When he asked about a roughly carved wooden doll, the store owner answered obsequiously.
“Two silver coins for one, three silver coins for two.”
Jinhyeon nodded as if satisfied. Trying to get silver coins for such things, it seems his disguise is working well.
It looks like it could be bought with a few copper coins. However, the words that came out of Jinhyeon’s mouth were completely different from his inner thoughts.
“Give me three rabbits.”
The owner put a white rabbit, a gray rabbit, and a black rabbit in a basket. Meanwhile, Jinhyeon turned his attention elsewhere.
“What about that?”
It was a strangely shaped totem. He didn’t know what it was used for, and it was as roughly made as the wooden dolls.
“That’s ten silver coins. It’s an item that makes you have good dreams if you put it by your pillow.”
There’s no way such an item would be here. The owner told lies every time he opened his mouth, but Jinhyeon didn’t mind and bought a lot of useless trinkets.
“But I have no hands to carry the items.”
When he spoke as if troubled, the owner quickly offered a solution.
“Shall we deliver them for you?”
“Can you send them to the mansion at the end of Grass Street in two days?”
The owner rolled his eyes.
“Grass Street, do you mean where the noblemen’s mansions are gathered?”
When he answered yes, the other’s face turned pale.
“I’ve never delivered there before.”
“So you can’t do it?”
“B-but I will do it. I must do it.”
Considering the amount Jinhyeon had spent on items, he couldn’t refuse.
“Good, then in two days. The Lucid seal will be on the door.”
The owner nodded with a frightened face.
“Leave it to me.”
In this way, Jinhyeon swept through the nearby stores. Not satisfied with just that, he even threw silver coins to the young beggars huddled in corners.
He even gave a gold coin to one who looked particularly pitiful. Soon, several children started following behind Jinhyeon.
Some were hoping they might get money, and some seemed to have other purposes. And what Jinhyeon wanted were the children with other purposes.
“Sir, noble sir.”
One of the children jumped out in front and called to Jinhyeon. When he turned around as if annoyed, the child prostrated before him.
“P-please help. My younger sibling is sick. If my sibling dies, I’ll be alone. Please help.”
The small shoulders were trembling. The face wasn’t visible, hidden by dirty, matted hair, but it seemed to be crying.
Jinhyeon quietly looked down at the child for a while, then bent down.
“I’ll help you.”
“Really?”
The child raised the corners of their mouth with a tear-stained face. Jinhyeon calmly dropped a gold coin into the child’s hand.
“Use this to call a doctor.”
“But the doctor won’t come because it’s dirty.”
“Hire someone with the money.”
“No, they’ll just steal the money!”
That’s not wrong. A gold coin suddenly appearing to a child with nothing would only bring misfortune.
“Please help.”
The child spoke again, dropping tears.
“I need to bring my sibling out.”
It’s about time to go along with it. As Jinhyeon subtly moved as the child said, the child led the way down a dirty, narrow alley. On the way, several people glanced at them, but they didn’t cling to them like outside.
People had expressions like they wanted to rush in right away, but they didn’t move. Jinhyeon read fear in their appearance.
After walking for quite a while, a place appeared where dozens of half-collapsed shacks were gathered.
“My sibling is over there. El! I’m back!”
The child shouted and quickly entered the nearest shack. At the same time, people rushed out of other shacks. They looked a bit better off than the people seen on the way here.
They were wearing proper clothes, though worn, and had weapons in their hands. Swords, axes, pickaxes, maces. It was a mishmash, but one thing was the same.
The hostility directed at Jinhyeon.
As the rough-looking men surrounded Jinhyeon, only then did the child who had been hiding in the shack poke out their face. When their eyes met, the child stuck out their tongue. Jinhyeon already knew, but the child was bait to lure outsiders here.
“Not bad.”
Jinhyeon said this and smiled languidly. It wasn’t without some amateurish aspects, but it was an act that could easily fool someone who didn’t know the world.
It was good enough to be a child actor.
“So where’s your sibling?”
At Jinhyeon’s question, the child replied gruffly.
“I don’t have a sibling.”
At the child’s answer, the men laughed out loud.
“This is why those raised gently are like this! They don’t even think someone might deceive them!”
“Well, they grew up in a place where everything they say is listened to!”
“Oh my, but what to do? There’s no one here to do everything for you?”
The men looked at Jinhyeon with greedy expressions. How many people have died being deceived like this? It seemed like it would be at least a two-digit number.
The atmosphere they gave off seemed too familiar.
“Well, I’m used to doing things alone too.”
His parents loved Jinhyeon, but they loved work just as much. So he spent quite a lot of time alone, and that time increased as he grew up. Thanks to that, Jinhyeon learned to do most things by himself.
This current situation probably has nothing to do with that.
Jinhyeon clenched and unclenched his fist. It’s time to move now.
The child was peeking out from the shack, watching outside.
‘I was lucky.’
When the child was a baby, their parents passed away and they were left with relatives. The ill-tempered relative used the child as a worker in their bar.
They worked the child like an ox and beat them if they couldn’t do the job properly. For meals, they threw a potato that was about to go bad. The child would put it in their bosom and gnaw on it all day.
Painful days continued, but they didn’t want to die. Desperately enduring in hopes of being happy someday. And such days came to an end when they turned 10 years old.
There were three fairly large forces in the back alleys, and the relative angered one of them. In the end, the shop was destroyed and the relative was killed. They tried to kill the child too, but the child desperately clung on.
“I’ll do anything! I can do it!”
Whether it was because they liked that desperate appearance, the leader of the group that had attacked at the time took in the child. That’s how the child entered a new group.
At first, they went around begging. When they played the role of a beggar quite well, next they learned pickpocketing skills. When they did that well too, they started being sent on errands.
“This one’s useful?”
When the leader made that judgment, the child’s meal rations increased. They learned various skills and how to act, and used that to lure in unsuspecting people to kill or sell as slaves.