Freyr's Proposal
Freyr must have read the awareness of her in my eyes, because the blond man asked, “You only got hard earlier without finishing, so you must be feeling pretty frustrated. If you ask nicely, who knows? I might secretly take care of it for you in here.”
He flashed a bright smile after speaking. I shook my head, calling it unnecessary meddling. “No thanks.”
“Surprisingly, you don’t seem interested in that sort of thing.” He grinned and stole a glance at my dangling cock.
Hey. Just because it’s big doesn’t mean I’m some kind of horndog.
“I’m Freyr. I’m from Tamas village, past two mountains from here. What about you?” He gave me a bright smile. His features were almost pretty. Beneath the shabby clothes, he had the kind of face that would radiate young noble energy if cleaned up properly. His build was slender, almost feminine.
“Kang Hyun-woo. You can call me Hyun-woo.”
“Hyun-nu?”
“Hyun. Woo.”
“Hyun-nu.”
“Not bad.” It wasn’t exactly a relaxed situation for fussing over pronunciation, so I simply nodded. Freyr kept muttering “Hyun-nu” under his breath, repeating it like he was practicing.
“Foreign names are hard to pronounce.”
Your name is harder for me.
“What are you two whispering about instead of working!” The supervisor pointed his switch at us and barked. We quickly separated and went back to hauling stones as if nothing had happened.
Freyr approached me again during lunch. I was listlessly stirring my spoon through the tasteless grass porridge in a dirty bowl when he sat down beside me. He looked at my barely touched portion and let out a small laugh.
“Even if it doesn’t taste good, you should eat. You’ll need the strength.”
“Actually, I was saving it.”
“Saving it?”
“Watch.” I lifted the bowl like I was downing a shot of soju and chugged the entire thing in one go. The bitter, meager porridge disappeared in a single gulp.
“Hahaha.” Freyr clutched his stomach, laughing. I set the empty bowl on the ground and asked, “How did you end up getting caught?”
“Me? It’s a bit complicated.” The smile in Freyr’s eyes faded as he stared at the ground. “My life started going wrong after I killed a man.”
The dark shadow that fell over his expression made me listen carefully.
“I was working as a server at a tavern and got into a fight with the owner over money. So I killed him. After that, I ran out of the village, but I had the worst luck and ran straight into a bandit group.”
Freyr’s face stayed serious for a moment, but then the corner of his mouth twitched into a faint, wicked smile. “Everything that went wrong in my life is that tavern owner’s fault. I should have killed him more brutally. Tortured him, maybe. Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough time.”
There wasn’t a trace of regret or guilt in the way he clicked his tongue.
“Did he withhold your wages?”
“No. He caught me trying to steal from his safe. He gave me a real tongue-lashing for it.”
“Still, stealing someone else’s money is wrong.”
“You don’t know how much he used to harass me. I figured I could take at least that much. But he made a big deal out of it. I got so angry I killed him on the spot. Then I killed his wife and their three-year-old baby too. Once you start something like that, you might as well finish it properly, right?”
He spat out the horrific words without batting an eye and giggled. I could see thick, sticky madness gleaming in his gaze.
That was the moment I realized it. Ah, getting close to this guy would be dangerous. He was an entirely different breed from me. His first impression had been decent and his personality seemed cheerful, but something inside him was seriously rotten. On top of that, he looked like the type who would drag others into endless trouble. For the sake of my future, I needed to keep my distance starting now.
“Hyun-nu, I have one favor to ask you.”
The wariness I felt toward Freyr must have shown, because an awkward smile crept onto my face. “A favor? You know there’s nothing a prisoner like me can do for you.”
Freyr. I want to stay far away from you.
“No, you’re different from the rest of us. Your situation is better. The bandits all seem interested in you right now.”
“How is that any different?”
Freyr licked his lips, glanced around, then met my eyes again. “I might already be a wanted man. Do you understand what that means?”
“Not really.” And I don’t particularly want to.
“Even if I’m lucky enough to get out of here, survival will be nearly impossible. In short, I have nowhere to go. The moment I step outside, soldiers will catch me and I’ll be executed.”
Desperation and fear swirled together in Freyr’s eyes. At this point, I finally understood why he had approached me. He had a clear purpose. He was deliberately trying to use me to achieve it.
“Hyun-nu, your situation isn’t exactly great either. Don’t just sit still. Make good use of the fact that the bandits are interested in you. They might give you special treatment. With some luck, they might even welcome you as one of their own instead of selling you at the slave market.”
“One of their own? You want me to become a bandit?”
Becoming a bandit was the last thing I wanted. What was the point of coming to another world just to turn into a criminal?
Freyr clenched his fist. “If you get sold at the slave market, your life is over from that point on. They’ll brand the back of your neck, and you’ll live as a slave forever. Your children, their children, everyone. You can’t even run away. If your owner reports you to the authorities, you’ll be hunted for the rest of your life. You won’t even be able to stretch your legs when you sleep out of fear.”
“There’s no other option besides becoming a slave?”
“None.” He answered firmly and continued, “Why do you think they kept us alive? Look at our bodies. They haven’t touched us at all and kept us clean. It’s to preserve our value as merchandise.”
Freyr finally revealed his true intentions. “To be honest, I want to become a bandit. It’s the only way I can survive. But I doubt they’ll listen to me.”
He stared at me intently. “It’s just my intuition, but I think you could pull it off. You look special, so you’ll definitely spark their curiosity. Use that to earn points with them. Let’s become bandits together.”
So, to sum it up, Freyr might be a wanted criminal and therefore wanted to become a bandit. As for me, rather than living my life as a slave, I should become a bandit too and recommend him to them. In short, he wanted to ride my coattails.
But how was I supposed to know whether the bandits actually liked me or would listen to what I said? I opened my mouth with an expression that said this wasn’t going to work. “It probably won’t go the way you think. Let’s say I really am the most unique-looking prisoner and extremely special. If you had such a precious treasure, would you keep it safe or sell it right away for a fortune?”
“Obviously selling it for a fortune is better.”
“Then there’s your answer.”
Just then, the supervisor shouted from the side for everyone to gather. Freyr brushed the dirt off his backside and stood up. He patted my shoulder with a smile.
“It all depends on how you handle this. There are treasures too valuable to give away to others. If an elf among the prisoners voluntarily raised their hand and said they wanted to become a bandit, most leaders wouldn’t refuse. It would be an opportunity to bring glory to the whole group.”
Freyr turned to leave but stopped as if he had remembered something. “Oh, right. The girl who made you hard is named Nancy. I snuck over and asked earlier. I don’t know if that’s her real name, though.”
“What?”
My eyes widened at the sudden ridiculous remark. Freyr mischievously dropped an even more absurd line.
“I told her my friend was very happy and that she wanted you to do it again when you had time. She didn’t answer, but she didn’t look displeased. If she does it for free later, you can thank me.”
I quickly looked toward where Nancy was sitting. Even though I didn’t want to be conscious of her, the oral had left me hyper-aware, so I already knew exactly where she sat to eat among the prisoners.
The moment I looked, our eyes met. She had been watching me too. Her face was completely expressionless, impossible to read. Then she casually stood up and walked off with the other female prisoners toward the supervisor.
“That damn Freyr. Doing unnecessary shit…”
I stood up as well and hurried toward the gathering point. The moment I arrived, the supervisor pointed his switch at me as if he had been waiting.
“Why are you so late!”
I thought I was the last one and would get scolded, but that wasn’t it.
“You’re exempt from afternoon work! The boss wants to see you, so go immediately!”
“Huh? Why would the boss want to see me…”
“Don’t ask me, just run over there!”
I didn’t even know what the boss looked like. If he had called for everyone, maybe, but I couldn’t figure out why he would single me out personally. I followed the man who had come to escort me and glanced back at Freyr. He gave me a satisfied smile and raised his thumb in approval.