Chapter 65
Chapter 65
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: Timi, Milli, and Elaine (2)
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“There are plenty of beds, so let’s all sleep separately. I can’t sleep if someone’s next to me.”
“What?”
The look on Timi’s face was one of pure bewilderment.
“If you say so, then I suppose we have no choice.”
Milli’s tone was regretful, but her expression seemed strangely relieved.
“Hyeon-ung, I can’t. I can’t sleep unless I have a doll to hug and someone to pat me.”
Sigh, Elaine really is a princess.
“How big is the doll?”
“About the size of Geumyong…”
“Really? I’ll give you Geumyong. You can hug him to sleep.”
“Kyuing?”
“Oh? Is that really okay?”
“I’m sure Geumyong will like it, too.”
As Elaine held Geumyong, he immediately snuggled into her chest.
That lucky little rascal.
****
The weight on my stomach woke me up.
I thought it was Geumyong and Nix, but a pair of smooth legs were pressing down on me.
We had definitely agreed to sleep separately, but last night, a sudden thunderstorm had rolled in with heavy rain.
Starting with Elaine, one by one, they had all crawled into my bed as if on cue.
Of course, we only slept together and nothing else happened, but they were all terrible sleepers.
I carefully moved the legs off me and sat up.
“Kyuing!”
“Ppoyo! Ppoyo!”
Geumyong and Nix were already up, playing a game of tag.
Nix was much faster, so it looked like he was letting Geumyong win.
“Alright, stop playing and come eat.”
“Kyuing!”
“Ppoyo!”
At the mention of food, the two of them scurried over. I fed them gold and mana, respectively.
I went into the bathroom to wash my face and was lathering up with soap when the door opened.
“Oh? You weren’t showering.”
It was Timi, her voice tinged with a slight disappointment.
“I showered yesterday, so I was just going to wash my face and hair. Why?”
“I was going to offer to scrub your back if you were.”
She said it with a sultry lilt in her voice, and I could see why Rina had warned me to be wary.
Of course, I didn’t find her actions unpleasant.
It meant that she liked me.
When I came out, Milli was also awake.
“Good morning, Milli.”
“Ah, yes. Good morning.”
After greeting me, Milli went straight into the bathroom. Our princess, however, was still traveling through dreamland.
“Should I wake her?”
“No, let her sleep a little longer. We can wake her when breakfast arrives.”
She looked like an angel sleeping so peacefully, but Elaine was the one who had given me the most trouble last night.
She had clung to my arm all night as a substitute for her doll, which was a bit disconcerting.
“Timi, you’re having breakfast too, right?”
“Yes.”
“Could you order the soup I had yesterday? It was delicious.”
“You didn’t like the ramen?”
“The first one I tried was okay, except for the red broth. Oh, and is there any way to get more cola? Or maybe some cider…”
“Cola!”
Elaine’s eyes shot open.
“Is there cola?”
She seemed to have gotten completely hooked on it. I’d have to stop by Brother Tae-soo’s guild later to buy some.
We ordered and ate breakfast, then went down to the first floor.
I felt even more eyes on us than yesterday.
It made sense, since they had all changed into the clothes they’d bought.
They were already beautiful, but the new, well-fitting clothes made them stand out even more.
“Hyeon-ung, where are we going today?”
“I’m not sure. Is there anywhere you want to go?”
We had taken care of most of the urgent matters yesterday, visiting the Magic Tower and trading at the general store.
All that was left was to receive the video recording crystal and the letter from the lord, which he had agreed to send to Kabisa.
As for preparing for the Labyrinth, there wasn't much to do.
“Anywhere is fine, as long as I’m with you. In fact, we don’t even have to go out.”
“I feel the same way.”
“Me too…”
How could they all say such sweet things?
“Then let’s explore a bit more today.”
Leaving Kabisa, our first destination was the lake park to the north.
It was built alongside a reservoir, and I’d visited it once before when I was wandering around Kramis alone.
It was a bit of a distance from Kabisa, but the scenery was beautiful, and there were a few good restaurants nearby.
“There’s so much water!”
“It’s like the sea.”
“The sea?”
Elaine tilted her head, apparently not knowing what the sea was.
“You don’t know what the sea is?”
The 44th floor was a sea terrain… Ah, that’s right, Elaine wasn’t there then.
“What is it?”
“It’s a place with even more water and more fish than here.”
“That sounds amazing!”
“There’s a similar place in the Labyrinth, so I’ll take you there sometime.”
A short trip wouldn’t be difficult.
It was quite large, and by the time we walked around it once, an hour had passed in a flash.
“Um, Hyeon-ung, I enjoy sightseeing, but are we going to keep walking?”
Timi pouted.
“Are you tired? We did walk quite a bit.”
Elaine seemed fine, but Milli, though she didn’t say anything, also looked a little tired.
I had forgotten that they had lost their strength.
“Then shall we go get some tea?”
“Isn’t this the part where you’re supposed to offer to carry me on your back?”
That’s a bit…
“Hyeon-ung, carry me, too. I’m good at being carried.”
Elaine squeezed in between Timi and me.
And she was the one who looked the most energetic…
“Let’s go rest for a bit. There’s a place with delicious cake nearby.”
“Ooh, I love cake!”
“Cake?”
Elaine tilted her head again.
“It’s a sweet, soft bread. Milli, you know what it is, right?”
“Um… huh? I’ve heard of it, but I’ve never had it…”
So she hasn’t.
There were so many things she hadn’t experienced.
“Well, you can try it now.”
“Is it spicy like that red noodle dish from yesterday? That was… a bit…”
“Not at all. Let’s go.”
After about a five-minute walk, we arrived in front of a shop that was decorated much more luxuriously than the others around it.
“Oh? You were here before, weren’t you?”
“You remember me.”
“You brought in a huge amount of sales. Please, come in.”
Inside, an elderly man in a white uniform was diligently spreading cream on a cake.
Was his name Charles?
He was the owner of this bakery. Originally from a lower noble family in another territory, he was the son of a concubine and had returned to his mother’s hometown of Kramis to settle down.
“You came alone last time, but today you’re with some pretty young ladies. Are they your wives?”
Wives?
His mischievous smile told me the owner was quite the character.
“W-Wives?”
“But we’re not married…”
Milli and Elaine’s faces turned bright red in their fluster, but Timi was all smiles.
“Oh my, do we look like that? You have a good eye.”
“They are my companions.”
“For now.”
Honestly, she’s incorrigible.
“Sir, are the cakes ready? We’ll have one of each kind, please.”
“You’ll have to wait a bit for the fruit one. What would you like to drink?”
“We’ll have what you recommended last time.”
We found a table by a sunny window.
After a short wait and some conversation, a waiter brought over an orange-hued tea along with several round cakes.
“Thankfully, none of them are red.”
“There’s no such thing as spicy cake. Go on, try some.”
I started by cutting a slice of the whipped cream cake for each of them.
“Wow, Hyeon-ung, this is amazing!”
“I’m glad. How about you, Milli?”
I could guess from her expression, but I asked anyway.
“I’ve never eaten anything this delicious before.”
“Try the other flavors, too.”
“Hyeon-ung, why didn’t you ask me?”
Timi had that disappointed look on her face again.
“You said you’ve had it before, didn’t you?”
“Still, it’s the thought that counts.”
Haha… this isn’t easy.
“How is it?”
“It’s a decent cake. I think it’s sweet because I’m with you, Hyeon-ung.”
Sigh, I really can’t bring myself to dislike her.
If there were a flirting competition, Timi would undoubtedly take first place.
“Hey, you guys, eat slowly!”
I thought we’d have a lot of leftovers since they were whole cakes, but the girls were eating far more than I expected.
In the blink of an eye, they had devoured three cakes, and the fruit cake that came out next disappeared just as quickly.
“What are you going to do for lunch?”
“I don’t think we’ll need any.”
“Hyeon-ung, is cake very expensive?”
“Expensive? Don’t worry about the money.”
It was a bit pricey compared to other pastries, but to me, it was pocket change.
We paid and left the shop.
“Where to now?”
“I was thinking of visiting the guild building. Is that okay with everyone?”
It wasn’t that there weren’t other tourist spots, but…
“Are we going to buy cola?”
“Yes.”
“Cola! Cola!”
They were all so excited.
It was in the complete opposite direction from the guild district, so it took us about forty minutes to arrive.
As always, the street was bustling with summoners, and all my companions looked surprised.
“There are so many summoners.”
“This is an area where summoners tend to gather and live.”
“Then why do you live alone, Hyeon-ung?”
Elaine asked, tilting her head.
“Because I’m not part of a guild.”
“Weaklings are the ones who flock together. Our Hyeon-ung can do just fine on his own.”
Timi came to my defense.
“Still, don’t you get lonely by yourself?”
Lonely. It’s true I’ve felt that emotion before.
“I have you guys, don’t I?”
The words were a bit cheesy even as I said them, but they all looked touched.
“That’s right. You have us, Hyeon-ung.”
“The Golden Lion Guild’s building is that way. Let’s go.”
Most of the summoners on the street started in surprise when they saw us.
Part of it was due to my companions’ dazzling beauty, but I suspected it was mostly because of Elaine.
Just as the lord had said, the residents didn’t think anything of Elaine, but the summoners wouldn’t have that information.
“This is it. Let’s go inside.”
As we entered the Golden Lion Guild building, the atmosphere felt strange.
On the first floor, a group of men was in a standoff with members of the Golden Lion Guild.
“Mijeong?”
“Oh? Hyeon-ung? Aren’t those your companions next to you?”
“Yes. I got an item that lets me summon them outside. But what’s going on?”
There was no physical violence, but the atmosphere was so tense it felt like a fight could break out at any moment.
“…It’s because of the 35th batch of summoners.”
“The 35th batch?”
I was about to ask for more details, but I figured I could hear it from the source.
The man facing off against Vice-Captain Chil-seong was a familiar face.
“Apeid, what are you doing here?”
“Hy-Hyeon-ung?”
Apeid jumped in surprise when he saw me.
“Oh? Hyeon-ung, you’re here?”
Brother Chil-seong, on the other hand, looked very pleased to see me.
“The atmosphere seems tense. What’s happening?”
“Ah, well…”
“We have done nothing wrong. A member of the Golden Lion Guild has caused immense damage to our side. We are here to demand responsibility and compensation for it.”
The Golden Lion Guild caused immense damage?
“What kind of damage are you talking about?”
“They vandalized a shop under our management and kidnapped an employee.”
Vandalized a shop and kidnapped someone?
The Golden Lion Guild I’d known all this time would never do something like that…
“Brother Chil-seong? Is this true?”
“…Some of our new guild members caused some trouble early this morning.”
He shook his head as if he had a headache, and from what he said, the situation was indeed complicated.
With the principal’s death, the Peace Middle School guild had disbanded. Although they were re-recruiting, less than thirty had been chosen by the Alliance.
Some of the smaller guilds had taken in a few, but many students were still left without a place.
Among them, some students who no longer wished to enter the Labyrinth had been swayed by Apeid’s organization.
It was dizzying, but I could understand it to some extent.
In a world hostile to summoners, it wasn’t easy to earn enough money to live and pay taxes without going into the Labyrinth.
The students who hadn’t been swayed asked the others for help, and the news reached the new members of the Golden Lion Guild.
Two of the guild members, who had been teachers, went and brought the kids back, and a conflict arose in the process.
“We are being falsely accused of luring them. It wasn’t a kidnapping; we made a legitimate agreement for them to work in exchange for fair compensation. Isn’t this unfair?”
Apeid had an incredibly wronged expression on his face.
In the modern world, that kind of nonsense would land him in jail, but this was Elsia…
“Still, they’re just young kids. How could you put them in a place like that…”
“Young kids? In Kartea, you’re considered an adult at fifteen! Hyeon-ung, we even offered them generous terms, considering they’re summoners.”
I heard the terms. First, a year’s worth of taxes paid upfront.
After that, the profits would be split 70-30, with the organization taking 70. The 30% for the employee would be paid in cash, not deducted from the advanced taxes.
Once the 3 gold from the organization’s 70% share was paid back, the ratio would be reversed to 30-70.
I didn’t know anything about this sort of thing, but considering this was Elsia, the terms didn’t seem all that bad…
Brother Chil-seong also seemed deep in thought, unable to refute it.
“Hyeon-ung, are these people fighting?”
“Just a moment, Timi. Hey, Apeid.”
“Yes.”
“I understand the situation, but for today, could you leave for my sake?”
Apeid thought for a moment, then left after saying he wanted an answer by evening on what they were going to do.
“Thanks to you, we’ve bought some time. I appreciate it, but I’m too embarrassed to face you.”
“Embarrassed? It’s not like you caused the trouble, brother. This is just a complicated mess. Is Brother Tae-soo not here?”
It was strange that he wasn’t around in a situation like this.
“Tae-soo has gone to the lord’s castle because of Seol-hwa’s issue.”
An issue with Seol-hwa?