Things Money Can’t Buy (5)
“That’s right.”
I had to admit, her learning ability was better than I’d expected.
Well, if you wandered around this place long enough, you’d naturally start to feel the shape of things, but she was accepting it far faster than I’d anticipated.
The moment I raised my hand, the other mercenaries stormed into the arena.
Several men with shields rushed toward the survivors who were still breathing, while magic poured down on the monster all at once.
The people in the stands all looked displeased by the sudden turn of events, but there were also those who found the shift in the battle intriguing.
Arrows and spells steadily sank into the monster’s body. Of course, injuries were inevitable in the process.
We needed to rescue the merchandise we were here to buy first, so there were plenty of places where we had to overextend ourselves.
Still, before long, the thing that had been tearing humans apart and killing them finally stopped moving altogether.
I’d thought they’d manage to finish it off with a simple knockout, but apparently the only way to stop the enraged thing was to kill it.
I did briefly think the mercenary company they’d sent out could have been a little stronger, but the water had already been spilled.
I’ll have to pay for that too.
Not only that, but it felt like I’d also be on the hook for the injured parties’ medical expenses.
Unlike me, who was lamenting pointless expenses, Cho Hyejin stood there staring at the scene before her and murmuring quietly to herself.
It was easy enough to see what she was thinking.
“This….”
She had never imagined it would be resolved this simply.
“This….”
She hadn’t expected the job to end so easily.
Even as she muttered to herself, voices continued to rise from the stands.
“Kill it!”
“What are you doing? Kill it!”
“You think I paid to come here and watch this crap?!”
“Kill it! Kill it!”
That’s going to cost a bit.
Still, it was a decent ending.
“Simple, isn’t it?”
“…….”
“That’s just how it is. We’re not able to solve this so easily because of where we are. Yuka. Things work out because I have purchasing power. Not just here, but outside too. Most of the problems around us can be solved with these shiny little things.”
“That’s….”
“And since you probably can’t afford the cost, I’ll lend you the money. It looks like it’s going to be more expensive than I thought.”
“…….”
“As a gift from your friend.”
Cho Hyejin didn’t bother answering. She simply watched me in silence.
As expected, one of the guides began walking over this way. He was probably calculating the bill for what had just happened.
“How would you like to pay?”
“How much is the exact amount?”
“The surviving slaves are four individuals at fifty gold each. One is a non-human elf, which brings it up to five hundred gold….”
“No problem.”
“The dead monster costs ten thousand gold.”
“Good.”
The monster was worth far more than the dead slaves.
That was exactly what I had expected, but to Cho Hyejin it apparently made no sense, because she stared blankly at the guide bringing over the receipt.
“There’s also six hundred gold for the mercenaries we deployed to handle the rescue. Ah, that includes medical treatment for the wounded as well.”
“Understood.”
“Total admission fees from the spectators inside the arena come to forty thousand gold. Compensation for various other damages adds another twenty thousand, and the base cost is fifty thousand gold. The total is one hundred twenty-one thousand, two hundred fifty gold, sir.”
More expensive than I thought.
It wasn’t enough to break me, though.
Even if the price made my teeth ache, Kasugano Yuno would take care of the expenses entirely back in Celia, so it wasn’t really a problem.
Sorry, Yuno.
From a large guild’s perspective, it wasn’t pleasant to have that much money vanish all at once.
I’d basically stuck a straw straight into their bank account, so it was only natural to think I’d have to repay them someday.
Perhaps I ought to write her a letter at least.
“I’ll charge it to the receipt.”
“Yes. Thank you, sir.”
“I’m sorry for causing such trouble so suddenly.”
“Not at all.”
“I suppose it’s because I’m fond of non-humans, but it really hurts to see elves dying. Elves aren’t born to die, after all. I wasn’t told in advance that the food portion included elves, though… is it normal for your company not to provide prior details about the show?”
“Ah, I’m sorry.”
“Perhaps you should make a pamphlet. Tsk.”
“T-that said, as an apology, we can provide a few leftover elf slaves….”
I glanced at Cho Hyejin, and she slowly nodded.
They were offering to give away elves who could be freed from their suffering for free. It would have been stranger to refuse.
“Hmm. Very well. If possible, I’d prefer ones with at least some combat ability. Ah, I don’t want elves who are too well-educated. If your apology is sincere, I’d appreciate it if you showed some proper earnestness. We’d like to maintain a good relationship with your establishment as well.”
“Yes. Don’t worry. Our company always acts for our customers’ satisfaction. If I may ask, when do you plan to leave…?”
“I’ll look around a bit and then head out. I’m not in a particularly good mood.”
“We apologize once again for our company’s inadequate management.”
“It’s fine. I understand, more or less. Well then, we’ll be going.”
“There are also a lot of good elves scheduled to appear at the central auction today, so if you’re interested….”
He was trying to make a sale at a time like this. This place really was something else.
“Are there any other special items going up?”
“Monster eggs, high-quality Heroic-grade items, and a variety of other goods will be auctioned. There are also works of art that can no longer be obtained….”
“I’m not especially interested in art, but… hmm. Did you say monster eggs?”
“Yes. They say it’s a special item that was extremely difficult to obtain.”
“It’s interesting, but… regrettably, I’ll have to visit the central auction another time.”
I had no idea what kind of egg would be valuable enough to be sold at the central auction, but for now, leaving this place was the right call.
If I lingered any longer, I had a feeling I’d end up buying whatever “food” they brought out next, one item after another.
And since Cho Hyejin looked as though she was eager to get out of here too, I figured things were fine.
From her point of view, she probably didn’t want to spend even a single second in a place like this.
She didn’t say a word all the way until she stood from her chair and walked out of the circular arena, which meant she’d definitely been shaken. The scene had been too stimulating for someone so innocent.
“Fifty gold, huh.”
“What is?”
“The value of the people who just died. It’s only fifty gold. Only… only… fifty gold….”
“Well, that’s how it is. I thought it was more expensive than expected. Guess you don’t think so, Yuka.”
“That damned monster was priced at ten thousand gold.”
“Don’t you think that’s a reasonable price? I heard monsters like that are difficult to capture alive… though of course they’re even harder to manage. From their perspective, the fact that it’s worth more than the humans assigned to the food section is perfectly natural. Just disassembling the monster’s corpse would probably yield materials worth several hundred gold as catalysts.”
“Still, I can’t accept it.”
“Nobody cares whether or not our Yuka accepts it. The only thing that matters is that monsters are more expensive.”
“You….”
“I wasn’t stating my opinion. I was simply telling you the facts. I didn’t set the price; they did. You’re free to get caught up in your feelings, but I think it’s about time you faced reality… unless you’re a little more innocent than I thought. Yuka, you saw it yourself, didn’t you? Wasn’t this a compromise with what you called injustice?”
“I… understand… I do understand… but….”
“You can’t accept it?”
“I suppose… that’s true.”
Seeing her shut her mouth, she seemed to have sunk into deep thought.
I didn’t need to speak to her any further.
The fact that she was thinking was what mattered to me.
Having come all this way, it would have been awkward to just leave immediately, so we went back inside for a while and looked around slowly, but none of the other sights seemed to stir her much.
She did look like she was grinding her teeth, but that was all.
The image from the circular arena still seemed to be stuck in her head.
In the end, without achieving much of anything, we stepped outside, where a carriage was waiting for us in view.
A number of elves were trembling as they looked in our direction, but I had no particular interest in them.
Five.
The number was a little small for what I’d called “plenty,” but they didn’t look to be in bad shape.
Bound completely in restraints, the eyes staring back at me held more fear than hostility.
“Not bad.”
“It’s a token of our sincerity for the customer’s satisfaction.”
“It certainly is satisfying. I’ll be sure to stop by again sometime.”
“Yes. Then have a pleasant journey.”
“Ah. Please load those elves into the carriage.”
“Yes, sir.”
After Cho Hyejin and I climbed into the carriage, the elves with their ears still trembling began to climb inside as well.
Once the carriage door closed, I saw Cho Hyejin carefully reaching out her hand toward the elves.
“Eek!”
It was only natural for them to flinch in shock.
From their perspective, Cho Hyejin wasn’t some brave knight who had come to save them, but just a deranged human.
Watching the five of them huddle together and shake, Cho Hyejin finally spoke in a small voice.
Not to them, but to me.
“What… do you plan to do with them?”
“Well… one of them is basically yours, so I’ll have to think about it a bit. It’s awkward to take them to the lord’s castle, and it’s a little much to just free them somewhere at random, so I’ll need to find a place where I can keep them safely. Probably sending them to the Blue Guild is the most reasonable option.”
“You’re not going to free them?”
“Even if I set them free right this second, it won’t change much. Before long, they’ll just be captured again and end up in the same mess. Do you really think elves who can’t do anything on their own will be able to find their way back to their forest?”
“…….”
“I’ve got more important things to deal with right now, so that isn’t possible at the moment. If I ever have occasion to go to the elven kingdom, I’ll take them there myself. Once this is over, stopping by wouldn’t be such a bad idea.”
“That’s… a relief.”
“I’m not a worse person than you thought, am I?”
“I don’t particularly want to answer that.”
“I’ll take silence as a yes.”
“Why did you bring me here?”
“That’s for you to figure out. What I wanted to show you was the result.”
“The result…?”
“Yes. The result. The result of the judgment you made. And the result you’re seeing now. The difference between what you did in Castle Rock before and what you did today. Think for yourself about which was the right solution. No, you may think about it, Hyejin.”
“That….”
“I was the one who rescued them, yes, but you were part of it too. Your correct choice is what saved them.”
“I don’t think so….”
“The visible outcome is different, but if you say you don’t think so, then I’ll respect that.”
Cho Hyejin appeared in my line of sight, her mouth tightly shut.
It was the sort of expression that said she didn’t want to admit it, but whether she admitted it or not didn’t matter.
What mattered was that I’d planted my way of thinking inside her heart. That was the important part.
After all, a bond isn’t something formed in a single day.
It’s built by exchanging each other’s values and beliefs over a long period of time, until at last both sides can understand one another and something like a bond is finally established.
Personally, I didn’t think her foolish beliefs would influence me, but at the very least, I needed to show that I understood her.
I wasn’t aiming for anything dramatic. I understand her, and she understands me.
For now, that was enough.
“I don’t think so… but still… today… thank you. Vice Guild Master.”
I knew it.
There’s nothing money can’t buy.