Smuggling Gold
The sight of gold smuggling made my eyes snap wide open. Leaving this gloomy, stifling place for a bustling metropolis overflowing with hope? Did that mean I could finally explore a proper fantasy world? A smile crept across my lips before I could stop it.
“Why are we going there?”
“Our job is to dispose of the loot the other squads have plundered. We’ll secretly sell these crates of liquor to the taverns that deal in them.”
The moment Harry finished speaking, he tore into the rat jerky clutched in his hand. The wagon rattled as it began to move. Phelton, seated at the driver’s bench, gripped the reins and skillfully urged the horses forward. Marcus, sitting beside him in the passenger seat, was already nodding off like a sick chicken.
Did that mean I just had to wait until we arrived? I draped a thin blanket over myself and leaned back comfortably. My whole body ached from carrying those boxes earlier—it had been a while since I’d exerted myself like that. I figured I should get some proper rest before we reached the city.
With that thought in mind, I chewed on the jerky Harry had torn in half and shared with me, lazily scanning our surroundings. In the distance, I could see Freyr. On the other side, Nancy was mixed in with the crowd. The other squads seemed to be getting busy as night fell, preparing to begin their real work. I stared blankly at the scene for a while before our growing distance naturally pulled my gaze away.
When I glanced to the side, Harry had already fallen fast asleep. Even with jerky still in his mouth. It was the first time I’d ever seen someone eat in their sleep. Maybe I should catch some shut-eye too. We’d be working through the night, so if I didn’t sleep now, I might not get another chance.
Right on cue, Phelton chimed in. He looked back, saw my wide-awake eyes, and chuckled.
“Get some sleep ahead of time. I’ll wake you when we arrive.”
“Are you sure you’ll be okay, Mr. Phelton? You’ll get tired if you keep driving the wagon.”
“Aigo~ Thanks. It’s been ages since someone worried about me. I’m touched.”
He cracked the joke, then continued more seriously.
“Don’t worry about it. Driving is my role, after all. The old man handles the thinking, Harry does the heavy lifting, and I drive the wagon. Our roles are clearly divided among the three of us. I can just catch a quick nap when we unload later.”
“And don’t even think about running away once we’re outside,” a raspy, metallic voice suddenly cut in.
Marcus, who had seemed to be dozing, was now awake. He turned around with a cold expression and warned me.
“Phelton and Harry might act like nice guys, but the second you get any funny ideas, they’ll turn into devils in an instant.”
“Hehe, just go back to sleep, old man,” Phelton tried to intervene, but Marcus kept going, his voice firm.
“These guys and I have killed more people than we can count. Our hands are filthy beyond redemption. No matter how much we pretend to be good, our true nature doesn’t change. Don’t even dream of doing anything that might upset us.”
What a terrifying old man. Just when my guard started to drop, he’d pop up and put me back on edge. And the fact that he’d only been pretending to sleep meant he’d definitely been watching me closely. I kept my expression neutral and answered as calmly as possible.
“I’ve never once thought about running away. I want to become an excellent thief, you know.”
“What a load of crap. Kid, if you’re going to lie, go tell it to the ghosts. There’s no one here who’ll believe that.”
Yeah, you’re right. The truth is, I want to run. I want to run away hundreds of times. But with this kind of surveillance…
After the uncomfortable conversation ended, Phelton and Marcus turned their eyes forward again. I secretly pulled the golden orb from my pocket and stared at it. Then I prayed desperately in my heart.
How do I get out of this crisis? Please, just tell me. Don’t just sit there—hurry up and show me a way to escape this bandit group. Weren’t you supposed to help me in times of crisis?
The golden orb remained as still as a common pebble on the roadside. I hadn’t received any special powers when I came to this world; I had to rely entirely on this thing. It would be nice if it could at least give me a hint on how to overcome this hopeless situation, but there was no sign of that happening.
Just help me one more time. Please.
My mouth went dry. I shoved the unresponsive golden orb back into my pocket and pulled the blanket over my head. By then, the wagon had left the mountain stronghold and was heading out onto the plains. The night wind brushing against my face was cold. In the distance, wild beasts howled noisily. Amid that sound, I wearily drifted off to sleep.
“Hyunu! Wake up, Hyunu!”
Harry shook me awake with a whisper, and when I opened my eyes, I found myself in a pitch-black forest. Hadn’t they said we were going to the city? How much time had passed, anyway? I rubbed my sleepy eyes and sat up.
Looking ahead, I saw that Phelton had gotten down from the driver’s seat. Not satisfied with the dagger at his waist, he pulled another from his bag and stuffed it into an inner pocket of his coat.
“What’s going on?” I asked Harry in a low voice while glancing at Marcus in the passenger seat. The look in Marcus’s eyes as he watched Phelton was anything but ordinary. Tension filled the air.
“Be careful out there. Keep a sharp eye out for any ambushes lying in wait.”
“Don’t worry, old man. When have you ever seen me make a mistake?”
Phelton laughed casually and met my eyes.
“I’m counting on you to watch my back, rookie.”
“Huh?”
“Ask Harry for the details.”
With only those words, Phelton turned and strolled leisurely into the forest. Harry immediately gestured for me to get down from the wagon. I threw off the blanket and jumped down from the cargo bed. Unfortunately, Harry tried to leap out and land on all fours, only to tumble forward and roll across the ground. Marcus clicked his tongue at the sight.
“Where is Mr. Phelton going?” I asked after helping Harry up by grabbing both his arms. He urgently told me to grab a knife. When I pulled out the pocket knife Marcus had given me from my back pocket and showed it to him, Harry’s face grew serious as he took the lead, motioning for me to follow.
It was the same direction Phelton had gone. We walked hunched over, moving cautiously, so I kept my mouth shut and quietly followed behind Harry. It felt exactly like we were tailing Phelton. After pushing through the forest for a short while, we spotted a small cabin and Phelton.
Phelton calmly opened the cabin door and stepped inside. We stayed hidden in the bushes and waited in place. Only then did Harry speak in an extremely low voice.
“We’re smuggling gold. We’re watching Phelton’s back because we don’t know how the other side will react. The security forces might be lying in ambush.”
What? What the hell was he talking about? The bandit group was involved in smuggling too? I whispered back, pressing for more.
“Are we selling smuggled gold as well?”
“No. We’re just the couriers. There’s a separate person who smuggles the gold. A courier from the border hands the gold over to us, and we deliver it to the owner in Nobern. That’s our role.”
“Ah, so we’re just the middlemen who get paid for transportation?”
Harry nodded with a silent laugh. Before long, Phelton emerged from the cabin alone. In one hand, he carried several clothes hangers that definitely hadn’t been there when he went in.
Once we returned to the wagon, I asked about the hangers. Phelton handed me the five hangers and told me to keep them safe, then instructed me to peel off the fabric covering them. I picked one up, made a small cut with my pocket knife, and peered inside. The sight was shocking.
The frame of the hanger, which I had assumed was made of wire, was actually crafted from gold.
Harry, who had struggled to climb back into the cargo bed, caught his breath and explained.
“It’s a method that still isn’t widely known. Even the soldiers at checkpoints or guarding the city walls don’t know about it.”
“But isn’t this too little gold? Just five hangers. Would the owner really risk something this dangerous for only this much?”
“Three grams of gold is enough to stay at an inn for a hundred days.”
“Whoa. That’s insanely expensive.”
I stared at the hangers in my hand. If I added up the weight of all of them, it would probably be just a little over one kilogram.
“Gonna sleep again,” Harry said, pulling the blanket over himself. I put the hangers away in my bag and wrapped the blanket around my body as well. The wagon started moving once more.
Phelton held the reins in one hand and a liquor bottle in the other as he drove. It looked like a personal celebration for making it back alive. He took three big swigs before closing the lid.
I closed my eyes and thought. Whether by choice or by force, since I’d participated in smuggling, didn’t that make me an accomplice now? This was the first time I’d committed a crime in this other world.
On the way to the great city of Nobern, we passed through two checkpoints. Since it was a quiet night road with few people around, the guards took their time but still conducted only perfunctory, simple inspections. The guards seemed to know Marcus well. Just seeing his face in the passenger seat was enough for them to wave us through with a gesture. Each time, Marcus handed them a bottle of fine liquor, saying it was for their trouble.
When I quietly asked Phelton how we could pass without any real inspection, he smiled and answered.
“Those guys and Marcus have known each other for over ten years. They think we run a brewery out in the countryside.”
One thought flashed through my mind. Collusion. I’d heard stories back on Earth about how in small rural towns, police and gangsters would casually call each other “brother” in private. This place really wasn’t all that different.
The strategy of using Marcus worked at the gates of Nobern as well. The guard watching the gate greeted Marcus like an old friend with a joke the moment he saw him. When we presented the first-pass certificate we’d received at the checkpoint, he issued us a new one and let us through without issue.
Finally entering the long-awaited city, my eyes and ears snapped to attention. I swallowed hard and began scanning the surroundings.
“Wow……”
It was early dawn, so the buildings were dark and the streets were nearly empty, but it was more than enough to appreciate the overwhelming majesty of the enormous city spread out before me. Everything I saw was fascinating. The moment I laid eyes on the beautiful cityscape, a sudden desire to live here surged up, along with an urge to quit this bandit life immediately.
Yes. This was what living properly in another world should look like.
As I looked around in every direction, grinning like an idiot, Marcus, who had been watching me silently, seemed to decide it was no good and called out to Harry.
“Blindfold that kid with a bandage.”
“What?”
I’d been enjoying the sights, so an unexpected order like that sparked some resistance.
“Why are you covering my eyes?”
“If you keep looking at stuff like this, all you’ll think about is running away.”
“I told you I’m not going to run.”
“Shut up. Harry, hurry up and cover his eyes.”
He was dead serious.