Chapter 83
Chapter 83
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 83
Chapter Title: Stalling for Time
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The host, having failed at the coin toss once again, bit his lip and ordered the burly man to fetch a dog. The burly fellow brought over a tiny puppy that couldn't even open its eyes yet and shoved it through the bars. The hunting dog reacted violently, barking ferociously.
The children, who had momentarily forgotten about the hunting dog, scattered to the far side of the cage as it thrashed wildly inside.
Nihil glanced at the hunting dog before picking up the squirming puppy and inspecting it closely. Its pulse was a bit weak, but it didn't seem sick, and it was relatively clean.
Nihil approached the huddled children and handed the puppy to Lianus, whispering softly.
"Shel, take good care of it. Even if the hunting dog gets loose, it won't charge recklessly with a pup around."
"Got it."
"Don't do anything that draws eyes."
"Okay."
Nihil didn't say more and headed back. Drawing attention from the other kids would make protecting them harder, and it would just complicate things. Besides, handing over the one puppy had already reminded the audience of the children's presence.
Nihil deliberately raised his voice to pull all eyes back to himself.
"Ugly mister, got more candy?"
"……."
The host, burned twice already, didn't reply right away and eyed Nihil warily.
"Mister, if you miss this time, give me candy. If you win, I'll give you a key."
"…Fine. But this time, I throw."
The host held out his hand expectantly for the coin, but Nihil tilted his head, feigning ignorance.
Growing irritated at Nihil's blank stare, the host snapped.
"Hand over the coin if you want me to throw!"
"Huh? This is Nil's! Why are you trying to take Nil's?"
"You… did you tamper with that coin somehow…?!"
"Oh! Mister has no money! Okay, I'll lend you some special-like! But you gotta pay it back after, right?"
"……."
A gambling den operator having to borrow money from a brat because he was broke.
The host looked like he wanted to argue, but realizing it would only make him look foolish, he chewed his lip and accepted the coin Nihil tossed.
The coin was flipped again.
Nihil hadn't expected the host to play fair anyway, so he picked randomly. And naturally, he got it wrong.
"Hand over the key quick."
"Hmph, even I miss sometimes."
Nihil pulled the keyring from his pocket and detached one that was definitely not for the cage.
The host protested why not all of them, but Nihil insisted they were only trading one item at a time and pressed on with the game.
The subsequent rounds were, of course, all losses for Nihil. His keys dwindled until only the dog cage key and the children's cage key remained.
"Waaah… only two left."
"Your life won't last much longer either."
"This time I'll throw! I keep missing when you do it!"
"Hmph, like I'd let you pull some trick!"
"Hmm… then let's play something else."
"What? Who decided that?!"
Nihil decided to switch gambling partners to reignite the bored audience's interest.
The man protested, not wanting to lose his chance at the keys, but the moment Nihil pulled a gold coin from his pocket, every spectator—including the host—stared wide-eyed.
"Whoever guesses the number on this shiny coin gets it."
"Y-You… where'd you get that?!"
"Found it! Pretty, right? First time seeing a donghwa this sparkly and clean!"
Lianus ducked his head in embarrassment as Nihil called the gold coin a donghwa. Had he looked that foolish when he mistook a dirty gold coin for a donghwa?
Pan whispered from beside him.
"Hey, I've never seen a donghwa that shiny. Aren't they supposed to be that color?"
"…That's a gold coin."
"Huh?"
"Worth a thousand donghwa…."
"Uh, uh… a thousand? How many is that?"
Pan unfolded his fingers one by one, but his ten-fingered hands couldn't count to a thousand, so he tilted his head.
Watching him, Lianus resolved that the children needed proper education someday.
"One gold coin can feed a poor family of four for a whole month."
"A month… how many nights is that?"
"A month is about twenty-eight to thirty-one days, short or long."
"Whoa……."
"Yeah, so one gold coin means four people can eat three full meals a day without starving for about thirty nights."
Pan, who hadn't grasped the gold coin's value, finally widened his eyes after Lianus's simple explanation.
"Th-That's a huge sum, right?"
"Huge… sum, yeah."
In truth, one gold coin wouldn't even cover a single button from Lianus's wardrobe, but to these kids, it was a fortune.
The thought that one button from his clothes could feed so many left Lianus with a bittersweet ache.
The audience lit up at the gold coin's appearance. In a noble casino where hundreds traded hands, one gold meant nothing—but this place was different. No debt here exceeded a hundred gold, max.
Pan trembled, staring at Nihil grinning innocently with a month's living expenses for four in his hand.
"H-Hey! Shouldn't we stop him quick?"
"My brother's drawing all the attention to protect us. We can't interfere."
"Why's he doing that?"
"To buy time until the guards arrive while keeping us safe."
"You called the guards?"
The word "guards" made one child whisper.
"When? C-Can we get out?"
"When we got sold here. They checked the place and Cat, Jane, and Dave went to report together."
"Y-You left it to Cat and the others?"
Despair filled the children's eyes at the mention of leaving it to Cat.
"…Not just Cat, but anyway, don't worry. Even if the guards don't show—worst case—snatching you kids out won't be hard. You're all the captured ones, right?"
"Who's gonna snatch us? Yeah, he's amazing, but still tough, no? Even holding hands bold-like, only two could slip out."
Pan grumbled half-jokingly to ease the tension. But one child took it seriously, face draining pale as he shoved Pan.
"Me first!" he whimpered.
Pan, indignant at being pushed, started to snap back, but Lianus quickly stopped him.
"No fighting. And it's not just Nil—big bro over there's watching too."
Lianus gave the tiniest nod toward Evan. The kids, lost in the crowd, asked who.
"Who?"
"The tallest guy there. Super strong."
Pan eyed Evan—who towered a head above even the burly entrance guards—and muttered dubiously.
"The bear-sized big bro?"
"Yeah. If things go south, he'll smash the cage and come in."
"Whoa… real reassuring. Now I get why you're so chill."
"So don't worry too much. Just stay quiet."
Lianus reassured them, but the boys—who'd endured horrors—kept glancing nervously at Evan.
"M-Maybe ask your bro to bust us out now? You've been here a bit, and no guards… Sharton Street's not that far from them…."
The child continued hesitantly.
"And will the guards even believe Cat and your friends? I know your cat's smart, but… maybe they think kids like us aren't worth saving…."
"No. There's accomplices in the local guard, so we called the royal guards. Drug warehouse, this guard post, rabbit-trading inn—all raided at once, so it's just taking time."
Lianus glanced at Evan again.
Evan met his eyes briefly, pulled out his pocket watch to check the time, then tapped it twice indifferently, paused a beat, tapped once more, and pocketed it.
"About… twenty minutes left."
Evan's signal meant twenty to thirty more minutes till the guards, but Lianus shortened it to calm the kids.
"Staying low-profile till then is helping."
"J-Just ask them to get us now."
One child, still anxious, started whining tearfully.
Lianus understood their desperation to escape immediately, but letting the bad adults slip away meant they might resurface elsewhere to buy, sell, and cruelly kill more kids. Caution was key.
"But if we do, all these guys'll bolt. Bear it just a bit longer, okay? Even if scary."
"Help us nooow…."
Lianus tried soothing, but the child wouldn't budge.
'What now….'
Lianus grew jittery, fearing the kid might wail loudly. He was no good at comforting others—he was always the one being comforted.
Pan snapped irritably from the side.
"Quit sniveling, crybaby."
"You just got here—what do you know?!"
"I don't know much, but I know we can't make a racket now!"
"K-Kids, voices down…."
Lianus fretted, trying to hush them. But emotions flared; their voices rose.
"Why…!"
"Q-Quiet, or they'll…!"
"Why noooot! Tell 'em help us nooow!!"
The child's shout echoed deafeningly. Chilly stares whipped toward them in unison.
A heavy silence crushed the space, the boy's voice bouncing off walls until true stillness fell.
Startled by the stares, the child collapsed, gasping for breath.
Lianus's eyes trembled at the sudden crisis. Too panicked to even think of soothing the gasping boy, he fretted over damage control. He never imagined mentioning Sir Evan to reassure them would backfire like this.
To the children, escape trumped catching bad guys—his thinking had been too narrow.
Watching, Evan knew the cage kept them safe but instinctively gripped his sword hilt anyway.
As a royal knight, he couldn't just slaughter people recklessly, and subduing them outnumbered him. At this rate, forget exposure—some would surely flee.
'Block the entrance first, cripple the aura users' mobility… no, just grab the kids and….'
Then, a bright voice rang through the hall.
"What's wrong? What happened? Nil'll help! Nil's great at this!"