Chapter 16
Chapter 16
You Must Not Sell It Now
“…You bought a dragon as a slave?”
Myrtle, sitting across the table, had her lips trembling. She slammed the wooden mug she was holding down roughly and stared straight into my eyes.
“Are you… by any chance out of your damn mind?”
At the incredibly polite and sincere insult that slipped out of Myrtle’s mouth, I put on the most pitiful expression I could manage and hurried to defend myself.
“No, just hear me out! I feel really bad always asking you for favors, seriously… but no matter how much I searched around, I couldn’t find anyone except you who could broker this ‘large item.’”
“Oh really?”
Myrtle pressed her forehead and let out a deep sigh.
“I warned you like that last time! I told you not to buy it, and now you’re asking the same person to broker it too?”
“…Yes. That’s correct.”
There was nothing I could say to refute that.
I quietly lowered my gaze and nodded like a guilty man. At my pathetic admission, Myrtle rubbed between his brows hard before speaking in a deliberately serious voice.
“Listen carefully, Narsus. You absolutely must not sell that right now.”
“Huh? So a dragon really is a dragon, if I just keep it—”
Seeing the expectation in my eyes, Myrtle cut me off coldly.
“You should’ve sold it earlier, you idiot!!”
“…I’m telling you, it won’t sell!”
“Ugh! You bought something you can’t even handle, and now you’re stubbornly trying to recover your principal, but you’re actually losing more money on food than what you paid for it! At auctions, hopeless trash items get dumped for a single silver coin, you know? You should’ve just taken the loss and gotten rid of it immediately!”
“Ghk… but I’ve already poured way too much of my hard-earned money into it to turn back now.”
“I know, you idiot. It shows.”
Clicking his tongue, Myrtle gulped down the rest of his beer. I leaned forward across the table and clung to him desperately.
“So… can you introduce me? A dragon-collecting noble, some eccentric rich guy! Anyone!”
“….”
“Myrtle?”
“…Don’t know.”
“My life depends on this.”
“I said I really don’t know, you bastard.”
Myrtle shook his head firmly.
“I only said I’ve heard rumors that nobles with strange tastes who collect things like that ‘exist.’ I never said I have connections with people like that waiting around.”
“…Ah.”
My vision went dark.
It felt like I could see my wallet burning away in midair.
Watching me struggle in despair, Myrtle rested his chin on his hand and casually asked,
“By the way, there’s a rumor going around that some unknown guy completely destroyed a loan shark operation. That your doing?”
“…Well. Um… you already knew, right? Haha. That’s how it turned out.”
“You’re insane.”
At Myrtle’s dumbfounded mutter, I suddenly snapped to my senses and asked urgently,
“Wait… because of that, did I get put on some kind of wanted list in the underworld? There’s no bounty on me, right?”
At my anxious question, the corner of Myrtle’s lips curled up wickedly.
“Oh? You’re sharp at times like this. I was actually short on business funds… so I’ll just collect the money you owe me as the bounty on your head.”
“Eek! Spare me, boss!!”
I knew it was a joke meant to tease me, but the overwhelming presence and killing intent in his eyes at that moment sent chills down my spine.
When I exaggeratedly trembled on purpose, Myrtle finally smirked and waved his hand.
“Relax, you bastard. There’s no bounty… but there’s been some talk. I smoothed it over with a bit of ‘conversation.’”
“Really? Thanks… but those loan sharks probably had powerful backing. Is ‘conversation’ really enough to guarantee my safety…?”
“Hey. Those slum guys might not know much else, but they survive on reading the room. I made sure they understood properly through ‘conversation,’ so they’ll handle themselves.”
‘So it means the underworld groups that know each other decided not to escalate things and settled it quietly.’
“Myrtle, I’m always indebted to you. Seriously, thank you.”
“If you’re grateful, don’t treat me to this cheap, stale beer next time. Take me somewhere classy.”
“When I hit it big and make a ton of money, I will.”
“Ugh. Judging by how you invest, I doubt I’ll ever get that drink in this lifetime.”
Grumbling, he still refilled my glass.
As I quietly looked at his face, something suddenly felt off.
“By the way… what happened to your face?”
I hadn’t noticed under the dim lighting, but one side of Myrtle’s cheek and around his eye were badly bruised. Even his lip was slightly split.
“Hah, took you long enough to ask. Your friend’s face is half wrecked. Just got into a little scuffle with some old geezer.”
“Are you crazy? The great Myrtle who rules the back alleys got into a fight with some random old man? So… did you lose?”
“Anyone who survives in this world until they’re old is strong by default. You should always be wary of unfamiliar elders.”
“Sigh, what really happened? You’re not getting involved in something dangerous again without telling me, are you?”
“I told you, I got hit by an old man.”
“Hm? Did you mess with some high-ranking client or noble or something? Well… if it’s hard to talk about, you don’t have to. You’ve got it rough too.”
As I clicked my tongue in sympathy, Myrtle looked at me with a strange expression before letting out a small sigh.
“Yeah, well… anyway. I’ll be going far away this time.”
“How far?”
“I’ll know when I get there… but it’ll probably take quite a while.”
His voice was heavier than usual.
Swallowing my disappointment, I quickly returned to the main topic.
“Before you go, about that dragon buyer—”
“Ugh! Not before I leave. I’ve got business near the capital, so I’ll ask around when I pass by… but don’t expect too much. If you want to stay alive, just sell it cheap tomorrow!”
“Then you want to buy it? I’ll give you a special friend discount.”
“Want to get hit?”
“I’ll pass. Sigh, let’s just drink.”
Our rough wooden mugs clinked cheerfully in midair.
The bitter bubbles burst against my tongue, and the alcohol followed, sliding smoothly down my throat.
“Anyway, our future great merchant leader seems quite busy. I’ll miss you if I don’t see you for a while.”
“Yeah. I’ll… miss you a lot too.”
“Ugh, what’s with that creepy tone?”
At his unusually serious response, I rubbed my arms in disgust. Myrtle chuckled and pulled something out from his coat, tossing it onto the table.
Thud.
A leather pouch far larger and heavier than the one before.
The dull clinking of metal inside instinctively made my pupils widen.
“Myrtle? This… this is too much.”
The amount far exceeded my expectations, and instead of joy, anxiety came first.
“If I stayed here, with your personality, you would’ve come up with excuses and borrowed about this much anyway.”
“Haha…”
“So think of it as prepaying a few years’ worth of investment funds. And please, for once, don’t buy something weird with it. Use it properly.”
His gaze lingered over my face unusually long.
“Take care.”
“Hey. Are you going off to die or something?”
“…Why would I die?”
“No, you’re acting like some tragic protagonist leaving an inheritance to his lover before heading to his death.”
At my nonsense joke, Myrtle frowned like he’d bitten into something foul.
“You cry about having no money and beg me for it, and now you complain even when I invest big? Fine. Give it back. I’m not giving it to you. Get lost.”
“Ah, why are you like this! I was just speaking out of deep concern as your dear friend! Travel safely!”
I hurriedly hugged the money pouch tightly into my chest, forcing a servile grin.
That night.
We clinked our mugs and talked late into the night, reminiscing about how we first met.
Only around midnight did we part ways with brief farewells, heading to our own destinations.
The cool night streets as I left the tavern and headed home.
“Ugh, did I drink too much?”
The damp, cold slum air brushed against my flushed cheeks.
The narrow, winding alley.
Under the dim, flickering lamps hanging precariously on the walls, the stretched shadows looked as if they were holding knives, watching me from the darkness.
Normally, I wouldn’t have been scared of this gloomy slum.
But now, it was different.
Myrtle said he smoothed things over with ‘conversation,’ but hadn’t our house parasite caused a massive incident by destroying that vicious loan shark group? And on top of that, I had a heavy pouch of money on me.
It was only natural to feel uneasy.
Even the faint sound of the wind or rats rummaging through trash made my shoulders twitch.
Then, I noticed a suspicious silhouette standing at the entrance of the alley and stopped.
‘Huh…?’
Red eyes staring at me from the darkness.
Black hair fluttering in the night wind, arms crossed, leaning crookedly against the wall.
It was the dragon I had bought.
Erika.
“…Whoa! You scared me. What are you doing here?”
A chill shot down the back of my neck, snapping my hazy mind awake.
“Don’t tell me… you came again for food? I left plenty before going out!”
“It is not about meat.”
Erika frowned deeply and replied bluntly.
“Huh? Then what, scared to go to the bathroom at night?”
When I teased her, she uncrossed her arms and lowered her gaze slightly. Though it was hard to see in the dark, her foot tapped the ground aimlessly.
“You… said it, didn’t you.”
“What did I say?”
“When I destroyed that den of trash that didn’t give me meat before… you made a fuss, saying I had to lie low for a while, that it might be dangerous.”
Her metallic voice scattered softly into the night air.
“So?”
“So what?”
She crossed her arms again and turned her head away.
“…I just came out in case you ended up getting beaten up and dying on the street, and couldn’t bring me meat tomorrow. Don’t misunderstand.”
What is this, some textbook tsundere line straight out of an old anime?
It was so classic it almost felt fresh.
…
But I couldn’t stop the small laugh escaping my lips.
Whatever she said, it meant she had walked all the way out here to wait, worried I might get stabbed by those vicious loan sharks.
“Well, well. Coming out to greet a lowly meat delivery boy like me. How admirable.”
Maybe it was the lingering alcohol, but I smiled faintly and, without thinking, reached out and gently stroked her black hair.
She parted her lips slightly, then lowered her gaze and quietly accepted the touch.
She even seemed to enjoy the warmth, narrowing her eyes like a dog waiting for its owner.
Just as I was about to head home with her, a thought suddenly crossed my mind.
“But did you come alone? What about Camellia? That scaredy-cat wouldn’t just let you out at night. Was she asleep?”
Knowing how dangerous the outside was, she would have panicked and tried to stop Erika.
At my question, the dragon replied calmly.
“Ah, that woman. She kept blocking me, saying the night streets were dangerous, and that you had strictly told me not to go out…”
“Haha, sounds like Camellia… so?”
“I lightly knocked her unconscious.”
“…Yeah, good jo— wait. What did you just say?”