Chapter 7
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 006
Chapter Title: Hypocrite
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Snip. Snip.
The sound of the scissors rang out unusually loud.
Granny emotionlessly cut away the bandages hardened stiff with crusted blood and pus.
The room was so silent not even breathing could be heard.
Master and I stared down at Rinea, who lay there like a corpse.
"......Tch."
The snipping stopped. Granny clicked her tongue.
"How is it?"
Master asked.
"What do you think? Just look at her."
As Granny peeled away the severed bandages, a stench hit us hard.
The deep, sticky smell of decay.
"Her flesh is rotting."
Granny prodded Rinea's wound with her tweezers.
Rinea's brow furrowed in pain, but her eyes stayed shut.
"It wasn't properly sutured."
"Torn open, hardened up, torn again, oozing out..."
Granny wiped the blood from her hands on a filthy rag.
"On top of that, she's skin and bones from not eating."
"She whored herself out with a body like this?"
Granny's gaze lingered on me for a moment.
A complicated expression.
"Don't frown like that."
"Your wrinkled mug's already bad enough without turning into an asshole."
Granny didn't respond.
"So... no hope?"
Master asked, adjusting his glasses. Granny snorted.
"Hope? Sure, there's hope."
"Then..."
"But I can't do it."
She said flatly.
"It's not just a simple tear. The bone inside is crushed and exposed."
"The rot's creeping upward. Leave it like this, and her whole thigh will go."
Granny clicked her tongue again and slid another cloth under Rinea's blood-puddled leg.
"To fix this, you don't need medicine. You need a miracle."
"A miracle?"
"Yeah. Those priests over there in their white robes, babbling about gods and faith."
"......Divine power, you mean."
Granny nodded.
Divine power. The force that makes gods do what humans can't.
Seemed like this world had cheat keys straight out of a kid's game.
"The wound's too big for some novice priestling."
"Yeah, you'd need a high priest at least."
Granny stuck her pipe in her mouth and puffed smoke into the air.
"No high priests in this neighborhood. Or even this kingdom."
"To call one?"
"You'd have to fetch one from the Empire. With tribute, fees, whatever they demand."
She held up five fingers.
"Something like this?"
"5 gold?"
"That's 50."
"......!!"
Master's mouth fell open.
It was understandable.
50 gold. By my standards, about 50 million won.
Only five years since my past life, so I still thought in won.
Anyway, that was enough to buy this rotting building outright and remodel it top to bottom, with change left over.
Simply put, an astronomical sum no slum rat could touch in a lifetime.
"That's the minimum. Could cost more, won't be less."
"......Ridiculous."
"Yeah, it is. For bottom-feeders like us."
Master's gaze turned to Rinea lying there.
"No other way?"
Granny fell silent at Master's question.
It was clear there was a way.
But opening her mouth about it wasn't easy.
"......There is one. A really crude method."
"What is it?"
"Cut off more."
Granny traced her finger midway up Rinea's thigh.
"Saw off the healthy flesh and bone above the rot."
"Then sear the stump with a red-hot iron to stop the rot from climbing higher."
Damn, this was K-medicine? Nah, F-medicine.
F for "fuck you, bitch."
"But even that..."
"......?"
"She won't survive it."
Granny shook her head.
"Even healthy grown men foam at the mouth and die from it."
"Let alone her. She's a corpse already. Her heart'll stop before the saw even starts."
No money for the money pit option.
No body strong enough for the body option.
Either way, it came down to one thing.
"Rinea's gonna die."
A cool conclusion.
Granny didn't deny my words.
She just silently started packing her things.
.....
It was still early night.
Normally, the tavern would be rowdy with drunken shouts and whores' moans.
But tonight, the doors were shut tight.
[Closed for business.]
A wooden sign hung crookedly with that message summed up.
Silence filled the first-floor hall behind it.
Clink.
The lukewarm glass of booze without ice shook.
Master sat in the corner of the counter, downing strong rum by the light of a single candle.
I watched from the stairs on the second floor.
Stooped shoulders.
Fresh stubble making him look even scruffier.
His whole pathetic sex ledger weighing him down.
He looked truly pitiful.
"......Not sleeping?"
"Not the time for that."
Normally, this was peak whoring hours.
Plus, I'd slept a week's worth already.
"I see."
"You look lonely. Want some company?"
"......No need."
"Playing hard to get."
A young punk like me offering to sit without even TCing.
I trudged down and climbed onto my usual tall stool.
"......Want a drink?"
"Sure."
He poured water.
"No juice?"
"......What's that?"
"Sweet stuff with fruit juice. Not booze."
"Fruit? You some noble young master?"
Master gave a wry smile and refilled his glass.
The sharp alcohol scent filled the air.
"......"
Long silence.
Just the crackle of the candle flame.
"Leon."
"Yeah."
"......Do you resent me?"
"What? You drunk?"
I propped my chin and stared at Master.
His eyes behind the glasses were bloodshot red.
"Normally... she'd have refused. A regular woman would."
"If I hadn't pressured her."
That part, huh.
Yeah, Rinea was smart for a whore.
Whoring was unavoidable with a kid like me chained to her.
But a monster like that? Normal times, she'd pass.
No "big dick prohibited" rule for nothing.
For women selling their bodies, the body was the asset. Ironically.
But it wasn't normal times.
So Rinea took it.
And Master sent her up.
He rubbed his dry face with his hand.
"I killed Rinea. Your mother."
Guilt. A luxury emotion in this business.
But surprisingly, this stiff glasses nerd was indulging in it.
A shabby vagrant like him.
"So?"
I asked dryly.
"Resenting you gonna make Rinea better?"
"......What?"
"If I curse you out like a dog, will new flesh grow on her rotting leg?"
Master stared at me blankly.
"......No."
"Then why the moping drama?"
"You into getting chewed out or what?"
"Not even a busty cutie—just some stinky maso middle-aged pig with no demand."
"......Keep that inside your head."
"Oh."
My bad.
Not really.
"Anyway, pass on the emotional drain. Just hungry."
I shrugged.
Same in my past life. Dad drunk and raging—hating him just left bruises.
All loss.
"......Needed money."
"Obvious."
"The debt I owed... the amount changed."
Suddenly spilling his confession unprompted.
"The guys running this place got pushed out a month ago."
"Port gang took over..."
Master fiddled with his glass and continued.
"Protection money... yeah, tribute doubled—no, tripled."
"How much?"
"Three times the old amount."
Regime change, tax hike. Simple.
"Don't pay?"
"They'll burn the place. Said they'd scar the girls' faces too."
Master gave a bitter smile.
"So I squeezed it out. Not just you guys—everyone."
Sell family to save family.
Contradictory, but the most rational survival in the slums.
Feed weaklings' flesh to the strong ones' jaws.
"I get it. Makes sense."
"Not a bad guy, really."
"......Yeah?"
I flashed him a grin.
"Kidding. You old hypocrite bastard."
Time to vent.
"Making excuses, rationalizing."
"'You guys?' 'The girls?' You their daddy now?"
I pointed at the ceiling.
"Those panting whores upstairs and their sex byproduct brats—your family?"
"You? For real?"
Master's face hardened. But I didn't stop.
"Face it, you're just a pimp."
"Selling other men's women between the legs, but you'll die before admitting you're scum."
"Pretending shop owner, protector. That half-assed hypocrisy makes me wanna puke."
"I'm not... like that..."
Caught off guard, he was speechless.
"If they were real family, you'd have come clean first."
"Hey kids, gang wants more cash. We're fucked. What do we do? Let's survive together."
"At least say that much."
I tapped the counter.
"But you didn't."
"......"
"Why? Pride? Scared they'd panic and bolt?"
Master said nothing.
His flickering eyes gave the answer.
"Whatever your heart said, result's this."
"Didn't explain, didn't ask forgiveness. Just shut up and squeezed."
Fuck, getting heated just saying it.
"Take it back. You get my emotional spend. That's fair."
I downed the water in one go.
"To save your shop, you fed the weak disposables into the grinder."
"What'd you say earlier? 'I killed your mom'?"
"Spot on, fuck. Rinea didn't know shit, just got her legs ripped."
"......Yeah. My fault."
Master's head hung fully.
Of course, emotional spends like this?
Hurts hitter and bag alike.
No change there.
But that's when there's no gain.
Gaslighting with purpose?
Different story.
Look at this.
Defeat and self-loathing wafting off him.
Perfectly ripe.
"Stop blubbering. One question."
I propped my chin cockily.
"For real—me, Rinea... those whores upstairs, their byproduct brats."
"Family?"
Master slowly lifted his head. Bloodshot eyes met mine.
He slowly opened his mouth.
"......First time they pressured me."
"Said hand over you and Beat's twins, call it even."
"Refused. Staked my neck on it."
Ah, the human trafficking bit.
Prime kid meat for cannibals.
Or onaholes and dildos for the impossible challengers.
Fuck, close call.
......Kinda sorry now.
"Alright. Sincerity confirmed."
I tapped the table.
"So, the tribute."
"......?"
"Deadline? Amount?"
Master sighed.
"Next Wednesday. 5 gold."
"What, less than a week? What you got now?"
"......Scraped 3 gold and change."
Short 2.
"Whores' room fees?"
"......Not fleecing, it's rent."
"Same diff. Per room?"
"......20 silver a week."
20 silver.
Girls getting 2-3 per go, but breathing costs that weekly.
Two or three rounds a day minimum to eat.
"Real sleazy pimp, huh."
"Cheaper than others..."
"Shut it."
Cheap or not, math matters.
Upstairs, minus brats, five whores.
TEAM Whore adds to five.
"Collect all? 1 gold... no, 80 silver."
"Rinea can't pay, right? Whose fault."
"......"
She never did anyway.
I stared at Master.
"3 gold now. All in, under 4."
"Still short over 1."
Master nodded silently.
That 1 gold. Lack of it pressured Rinea that day.
Still lacking, he'd hang soon.
"No one to borrow from?"
"......Who lends in this game?"
"Sell a kidney."
Situation grasped.
Answer set.
"Said it before. Hypocrite."
"......Yeah."
"Drop the hypocrisy. Be a straight merchant."
I reached into my pocket. Cold metal touch.
Clink.
A single gold coin rolled across the counter.
"Wha......?"
Master's eyes widened.
But once more.
Clink. Second one.
Total 2 gold.
Golden gleam stripping his wits in the dark.
Now it begins.
"Th-this... Leon, how did you..."
"Don't ask source."
"......If stolen..."
"Time to pick hard bread or soft?"
I leaned back deep in the chair.
Made my five-year-old frame look as arrogant as possible.
"This douses the fire."
"......"
"But conditions."
Master reached for the coins like hypnotized, then froze at my gaze.
"Not a gift. Not a loan."
"......Not paying back Rinea's rent?"
"Am I an idiot? Why pay her debt?"
'Cause it's your mom's?'
His face said it. No dice.
"Then what is this?"
"Investment."
I held up five fingers.
"51% stake in this place."
"......Stake?"
"Yeah. Ownership. Management rights. Call it what you want."
I grinned.
"Moment you take this, you're just a figurehead."
"Shop runs my way from now. My orders."
"Why? I'm majority shareholder."
Master stared blankly. Made sense.
Two measly coins to swallow over half the shop.
But those 2 gold were real.
Without them, he'd lose it all.
Shop, pretend family, whatever.
No choice.
"Deal?"
I slid the two coins toward him across the counter.
Now, gulp down this booze-hole tavern in one...
"Leon, one question."
"......Yeah?"
Master adjusted his glasses.
Back to his usual stiff face.
"What's a stake?"
Ah.
Dumbass slums.