Reincarnation
Lawrence carefully tucked the platinum coins Jun had handed him into his coat, then spoke with measured caution.
"Just a word of advice from an old worrywart — you shouldn't talk like that in front of other people. Five platinum coins might not feel like much to you, but to everyone else, they are."
For a commoner, even working themselves to the bone, earning a single platinum coin in a month was nearly impossible. Thanks to the various supernatural powers that filled this world, production far outstripped anything from the Middle Ages of Jun's previous life — but the upper crust of society took just as much for themselves. Had those at the top not at least kept people from starving and paid some attention to welfare, the common folk would have long since taken to the streets belting out Les Misérables.
"I know. I know how blessed I am, too."
Jun looked down at the Stigma etched into the back of his left hand. Because of it, the Church paid him a monthly stipend of one platinum coin — essentially a salary. In return he was obligated to heal patients with the holy art of Heal embedded in the mark, but compared to scrambling through the mountains behind the village for an entire month just to scrape together thirty silver coins, it was unearned income in all but name.
Room and board provided. A respectable salary for barely any work. If it weren't for the prayer hours that ate up most of every day, Jun would have abandoned his merchant ambitions and devoted himself to the Church without a second thought.
Smart kid, as always.
Seeing that Jun understood his own situation perfectly, Lawrence let the concern fade from his eyes. If an ordinary child had said something like that, he would have assumed it was a polished lie to dodge a lecture — but this young yet mature friend of his could be trusted. Whether that maturity came from his psychic core or from the Stigma itself, Lawrence still didn't know. Either way, what did it matter? He was reliable, and he had money. For a merchant looking to make a friend, those two things were more than enough.
Thud.
"Lawrence, these are the herbs I gathered. Would you buy them, if you don't mind?"
His young but mature friend pulled a box from thin air and stacked its contents neatly. Inside were carefully prepared medicinal herbs of every kind.
So that's why he bulk-bought those boxes enchanted with drying and preservation magic last time — for this.
The herbs had clearly been packed right after preparation; every one of them was in excellent condition. Among them were rare specimens that usually hid underground or in the shade, places most people never thought to look. There was no reason not to buy.
Lawrence took gold and silver coins from his purse and set them in Jun's hand. He had paid a touch above market rate, but maintaining a good relationship with this particular friend made the extra cost feel like nothing at all. Truthfully, he would have liked to adopt the boy as his own son —
"I'm sorry, but I'll have to decline."
— except the boy himself had already refused, making that impossible. Word was he had even turned down an adoption offer from one of the Empire's most renowned tycoons, so Lawrence let the idea go cleanly. Well — he would probably float a similar proposal next time anyway.
"Still haven't gotten permission to leave the village?"
"No. Father Leonard just won't allow it."
"Haaah… Having you along would make the caravan so much easier. Maybe I should lean on the council to help persuade him."
The Kupa Trading Company Lawrence belonged to was a direct subsidiary of Lemumni. Whenever they stopped at one of Lemumni's "vassal villages" like Primuni, they collected taxes in place of the official collectors — and that was an endless headache. The grain and goods taken as tax meant that the farther the caravan traveled, the heavier its load grew instead of lighter, and the manpower, supplies, and time spent hauling and guarding it all ballooned accordingly.
That was why Lawrence found the situation so frustrating. If Jun — with his specialty in spatial magic — joined the caravan, they could store all those unsellable, hard-to-keep goods in his subspace and save enormous amounts of labor, material, and time. Yet Leonard simply would not grant permission for him to join. If it had been because of the special purpose the churches in vassal villages served, Lawrence could have understood — but Jun, who aimed to become a merchant, fell outside that concern entirely. No matter how hard he thought, he could not fathom Leonard's reasoning, so he resolved to have a serious talk with the man before leaving Primuni Village. And if even that failed to reveal the priest's true intentions, he would seriously consider leaning on the council.
"Would that even work? Father Leonard seems to have a lot of connections."
"Ah — right, he does."
"He used to be a Ranker, didn't he?"
"Haha. That's a secret. He keeps it quiet because he hates the fuss it causes."
"Got it. In exchange —"
"You want me to tell you about everything that happened on this caravan run?"
Jun's eyes lit up as he nodded. Some might wonder why a mere merchant's stories would make a boy's eyes sparkle like that — it wasn't a hero's tale, after all — but for someone who aspired to become a merchant himself, every detail was advice that would become blood and bone.
"I'd love to say yes… but we'll have to put it off until next time."
Lawrence smiled and pointed somewhere off to the side. Jun turned his head and spotted Leon hanging back at a distance, fidgeting and watching him for cues, while Linda and Heni gently coaxed him that everything would be fine.
Yeah — no way I'm getting a story right now.
"…When are you leaving?"
"Tomorrow morning. Come by the inn around evening. I'll have some good tea ready."
"And snacks?"
"Haha. As it happens, I've already procured some treats our Lady Luck will enjoy. Look forward to it."
"Hmm!"
Jun gave Fortuna — who was nodding with regal self-importance — a look of pure disbelief, then bid Lawrence farewell and headed over to the children.
"Something up?"
Jun asked Leon, who clearly had business with him. But Leon only hemmed and hawed, as if Harry himself had possessed him, and couldn't seem to get the words out.
What is with this kid? Did he actually get possessed while looking for Harry?
"Ugh, seriously! I'll just say it! Oppa Jun, lend us some money."
Unable to stand the awkwardness any longer, Heni thrust out her chest and held out her hand with brazen confidence.
…Did she leave money with me or something? Where does that confidence even come from?
Jun stared at her, dumbfounded. As if the embarrassment belonged to them instead, Leon and Linda both flushed red on Heni's behalf.
"Hey, kitten. Did you leave money with our Juni? Ask more politely!"
Fortuna said exactly what Jun had been thinking. There was a faintly pedantic edge to it, but given her age, that was only natural. He didn't know precisely how old she was, but the first defensive war was recorded as having taken place over a thousand years ago, so someone who had fought in it had to be, at minimum…
Zap!
Jun cut the thought short right there. Fortuna was glaring at him with a look so sharp it was terrifying — as if she had read his mind.
What? How did she know? Does the soul-tether share thoughts as well as feelings?
"Fortuna! I told you not to call me that! And stop talking like my dad and just lend us the money already! Oppa Leon needs to buy a book!"
"Then ask politely! And what's wrong with the way I talk?!"
Heni and Fortuna locked eyes and started snarling at each other. Behind them, Jun could almost swear he saw the silhouettes of an angry kitten and a dairy cow — or was that just his imagination?
He shook his head in resignation and turned to Leon.
"Leon, what book are you trying to buy?"
"Well… there's this novel I really like called The Legend of Zelga. Do you know it? It's on the playroom bookshelf."
Leon blushed as he said it, looking so endearing Jun honestly wanted to pinch his cheeks. Linda, wipe that drool — hurry up.
"Hmm, not really. It's a hero story, though, right? That's mostly what you read."
"Yeah. The Legend of Zelga is my favorite hero story of all."
Leon's eyes began to sparkle. He looked every bit the boy who idolized heroes — and he truly did love them. He loved them so much that when the church kids played hero games, he would earnestly fight the younger children over who got to be the hero.
A pretty boy who idolized heroes… wasn't that basically a hero's childhood origin story?
Fortuna, no matter how I look at it, Leon seems like a hero.
I already told you he's not. The hero is a different kid.
Then what's with how special he is? He doesn't even have a Stigma.
Just in case, Jun had carefully inspected Leon's body every time they bathed together. The result had been some raised eyebrows about his preferences — but at least he had confirmed Leon was not a reincarnator. The boy might have refused a god's offer, but given his looks and strength, that didn't seem likely either. Fortuna only shook her head to the end, insisting she didn't know. Through the soul-tether, a sense of genuine injustice came through, so Jun stopped pressing her.
"So why do you need money? You said it's in the playroom."
"There's a new side story out called Breath of the Labyrinth. I need to buy all three volumes — upper, middle, and lower — and my allowance wasn't nearly enough."
"Yeah? How much for all of them?"
"Twelve silver coins."
That was absurdly expensive for a child's pocket money — though it wasn't a gouged price, either. In this world, weaving and printing technology hadn't advanced far enough for books and paper to be common. Labyrinth-derived techniques were increasing the supply quickly, but they still weren't widespread.
"Jun, please — could you lend it to me? I'll pay you back every time I get my allowance. And I'll do all the errands that get assigned to you. Okay?"
"…Really?"
Jun's expression turned interested. The offer to take over his errands was extremely appealing. He had planned to lend the money anyway, and if Leon himself was volunteering terms like that, there was no reason to refuse.
"No! Father said you shouldn't pass off the work you're supposed to do onto someone else!"
Just as Jun was about to accept Leon's proposal, Linda scolded them both with a deliberately stern look. Leon's face twisted with inner conflict — but Jun stood his ground as if nothing were wrong.
"That's not quite right, Linda-noona."
"…What? Jun! Are you saying Father was wrong?!"
Linda glared at him with fire in both eyes. She followed Leonard like a real father, so hearing that he might have been mistaken clearly rankled her.
"No, that's not what I meant."
"? Then what?"
"I mean his explanation was incomplete. Father's right that people shouldn't pass off the work they're supposed to do. However…"
"However?"
Linda tilted her head. The moment her attention locked onto whatever he was about to say, Jun swiftly dropped the silver coins onto Leon's open palm.
"Jun?"
"I said you can't!"
"No — when it's a fair trade with give-and-take, it's fine. Like when Linda-noona is scared to go to the bathroom at night and uses the snacks she's hidden as bait to get the younger kids to —"
"Waaah! Don't say another word!"
Linda frantically clamped her hands over Jun's mouth. Her face had gone as red as a ripe persimmon.
Heh. A child's honesty is no match for an adult's cunning.
Our Juni is a proper adult, you know.
So you don't like that? If I were still a kid, someone would already be in handcuffs.
No — I like it a whole lot ♡
Of course, even an angel was no match for an adult's cunning.