Chapter 170: Pauper
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 170: Pauper
Lena Spencer.
She had such terrible luck with money that the master who taught her once remarked, "It seems a vicious God of Poverty has latched onto your back."
It would have been one thing if she simply lacked luck, but Lena lost money as if she were under a literal curse.
It wasn't because she was stupid or prone to overspending.
Lena was always strapped for cash because she encountered financial disasters that most people might experience once or twice in a lifetime every single time money was involved.
Her father, who ran a small business, went bankrupt the day she was born, and she grew up in a cramped single room, living a life dedicated to paying off debts.
Lena worked from a young age to help her family and support her younger siblings.
If her master hadn't discovered her talent and helped her, she would likely still be drifting from one temporary job to another, living a life that had nothing to do with magic.
It wasn't that her master didn't try to help after seeing her pitiful daily life.
However, every time help was offered, a major disaster would strike as if it had been waiting, and Lena could never break free from the shackles of poverty.
The day after her master gifted her family a house so she could focus on magic in a more stable environment, a fire broke out. When her master handed her a large sum of money to use in emergencies, her mother was hospitalized a week later, and the entire amount vanished into surgery fees.
Fortunately, her mother made a full recovery, but the money her master had thoughtfully provided was gone.
Other things didn't matter, but the fact that she lost money with uncanny timing whenever she received financial aid meant that Lena had to live in poverty regardless of her personal efforts.
Having learned her fate through experience, she now shrank away whenever someone offered help, fearing she would only cause trouble for her benefactor.
If someone supported her with good intentions, only for that support to vanish overnight, how would they feel? And what if that happened repeatedly?
An ordinary person, without the broad-mindedness of her master, would inevitably feel that the money given out of kindness was a waste.
Yesterday’s warmth would turn into today’s anger and suspicion. Every time people’s emotions flared, Lena’s guilt for causing trouble because of her own fate grew heavier.
A life of misfortune had instilled in her a habit of constantly reading others' moods, and Lena grew up to be passive and terrified of human relationships.
Fortunately, as long as it wasn't direct financial support, nothing bad happened, so learning magic from her master was no problem.
The tools and expensive equipment needed for her studies were all purchased by her master and 'lent' to Lena. Eventually, she earned her Black License and made it all the way to Yggdrasil.
This 'lending' system was a self-preservation measure devised by her master, who had grown accustomed to Lena’s fate of carrying the God of Poverty.
Knowing that giving things outright would lead to some absurd incident causing them to vanish, her master was able to slightly evade fate by framing it as a loan and a debt that never had to be repaid.
Even this didn't work every time, and the debt continued to pile up to an astronomical level, but thanks to it, she was able to reach Yggdrasil safely.
However, because her fate made her overly sensitive to others' opinions and socially awkward, she didn't fit in well with Akito's Magic Research Club.
Although Akito, Shiori, and Chika took good care of her, her habit of building walls around herself meant she couldn't adapt well, and she still didn't have a single close friend.
Even at the festival, she had no one to hang out with besides Akito or Chika. When they took turns resting, Lena wandered around alone.
Iliana and Shunya said they were going to a cafe called Black Dragon, but the coffee price was 5 Wit—far too expensive for her.
Still, it was a relief for the poor Lena that other foods could be bought for just 1 or 2 Wit.
The prices were cheaper than eating outside.
Having lived a life where filling her stomach was more important than taste, she indulged in a rare luxury and bought 1 Wit's worth of takoyaki.
The eight pieces in the small box were perhaps more takoyaki than Lena had eaten in her entire life.
She had always been frugal, and whenever there was something delicious, she always gave it to her younger siblings first. Even when she had the chance to eat, she only ever had a single piece.
Lena even worried that eating all the takoyaki in this box by herself was such a luxury that her fate might punish her for it.
As soon as she took a bite, the flavor spreading through her mouth moved her to tears, and she chewed slowly.
She had to enjoy the taste as much as possible before swallowing. The moment it went down her throat, the joy would end.
Slowly, chewing until not a trace of the takoyaki remained, Lena swallowed and immediately moved on to the next piece.
Enjoying a luxury that wouldn't even be considered a luxury to someone else, Lena looked at the last remaining piece with regret, then squeezed her eyes shut and moved it toward her mouth.
Snap—
However, all she felt in her mouth was the toothpick, which felt like it was about to break from overuse. When she snapped her eyes open, she saw the takoyaki falling toward the ground.
Instantly circulating mana through her body for Physical Enhancement Magic, Lena’s foot shot out to get between the ground and the takoyaki. She struggled desperately to catch the takoyaki as it bounced off her dirty sneaker.
"Ah! Ugh! Aaah! Haaah!!!"
She put in more effort than she did during training, but she ended up falling flat on her face, and the takoyaki landed right in front of her head.
Staring at it with a face of utter despair, Lena looked around and then stared intently at the takoyaki, which was now covered in dirt from the flowerbed.
It was covered in dirt, but if she just peeled off the bottom part and ate it...
As she slowly reached out her hand, Lena was startled by a voice from above.
"Hey, pauper."
"Hyaak—!"
She was so startled that she jumped in place and landed hard on her backside. Her eyes met Yeon-woo’s, who was leaning against a window frame and looking down at her.
Lena and Yeon-woo had no reason to be involved with each other, but she knew him well.
This was because whenever someone in the Magic Research Club badmouthed or cursed someone, 90% of the time, it was this man.
Even if she just sat still, she would always hear about what Yeon-woo did in the morning, what trouble he caused on a request, or who he argued with today.
He was a man whom even Shiori, who was kind to her, detested, and whom Iliana, Emma, and even the polite Kurumi cursed.
His face, smiling as he leaned against the window frame, possessed a beauty that seemed to come straight out of a romance manga, but perhaps because she had heard so much ill-will about him in the Magic Research Club?
Strangely, Lena’s first reaction was one of repulsion.
"Do an errand for me."
"Pardon?"
"I'll give you 5 Wit if you do."
Lena was about to refuse his tone, which treated her like a subordinate, but her eyes were drawn to the Wit Yeon-woo was fiddling with on the window frame.
The Wit, stacked high like casino chips in a movie, tempted her.
"I've got some business, so I can't leave here. Can you go buy some food?"
He was an arrogant and rude person, just as Shiori and Kurumi had said, but before she knew it, Lena found herself shopping for him.
There were so many things to buy that it took a long time, and festival foods continued to pile up in both her hands.
Still, she had received the 5 Wit in advance.
It was a small amount of money, but as Lena was pondering what she could buy with it, she turned around after receiving some food and bumped into someone.
"Kyaa!"
"Ah! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."
As Lena flustered, unable to do anything because her hands were full, the woman who had fallen stood up, saying she was fine.
Lena thought she had made a mistake because she was busy buying so many things and was distracted by the 5 Wit she had received in advance, but in truth, it wasn't entirely her fault.
The other person also realized she had been careless and didn't blame her, but Lena, who had lived her life constantly walking on eggshells, apologized first, insisting it was her fault.
"I'm sorry, I should have been more careful..."
"No, it's fine. You're a student here, right? I was also distracted by my coffee..."
The woman stared blankly at the cup on the ground, which was leaking coffee everywhere.
Lena also recognized the silly dragon drawing on the cup.
It was the famous Magic Coffee.
The woman, who had been walking while completely immersed in the taste of the coffee, hadn't seen her surroundings and bumped into Lena.
She didn't mean to blame her, but the woman, who had been enjoying the fantastic taste of the coffee until a moment ago, looked slightly stiff with regret. Lena, who had lived a life of reading people's moods, flinched and offered to pay for it.
Even though the woman said it was fine, Lena, driven by her trauma, forced the Wit she had received from Yeon-woo into the woman's hand.
After apologizing repeatedly and leaving, Lena felt devastated at losing the 5 Wit she had worked for, but she did her best to finish Yeon-woo’s errand.
After waiting in a long line and receiving the last of the food, Lena hurried back to Yeon-woo.
"Good work. Didn't you buy anything for yourself?"
"I-I'll buy something later."
When Yeon-woo asked while looking through the food she had brought, Lena avoided his gaze.
Watching her intently, Yeon-woo placed the food items one by one on the window frame.
Because there was such a variety, the window frame was packed, and Lena stole glances while pretending not to be interested.
The items looked delicious individually, but seeing them all gathered like this made them look much more extravagant and appetizing.
As if he knew exactly what Lena was thinking as she swallowed her saliva, Yeon-woo chuckled and leisurely picked up a piece to eat.
‘If I ask her to eat with me, she’ll definitely refuse... that shitty setting of hers will get in the way.’
It wasn't because of pride. She had experienced so many instances where someone's pity turned into anger the next day that she was terrified of kindness.
Recalling what he had seen in the game, Yeon-woo ate only one piece of each variety.
"Oh, this is good. Didn't you say Yoshihiro’s family runs a rice cake shop? Even if he fails as a Black agent, he can just take over the family business. Honestly, his rice cake-making skills are better than those ridiculous ninja games of his."
After taking a bite of a pink mochi, Yeon-woo marveled at it, turning it over in his hand.
It wasn't just the mochi. Every time he ate something, he made sure to praise it and eat it with gusto.
However, despite his praise, he never took more than one bite.
Just as she thought he was going through them one by one, Yeon-woo ate a single piece of the last item and set down his chopsticks.
"Ah, I'm full. Should I just throw the rest away?"
"Eh—?!"
"... ..."
"... ..."
Lena, who had reacted instinctively, turned her gaze away in embarrassment when Yeon-woo looked at her, pretending as if nothing had happened.
The fact that she was still standing there even though the errand was over clearly showed her true feelings.
Yeon-woo pretended not to notice, resting his chin on his hand as he looked at Lena.
"It's a waste to just throw it away... Do you want to eat this?"
"Pardon? No... I'm fine."
Yeon-woo chuckled at Lena, who was trying to act calm with her eyes wide open, and reached for the food.
"If there's no one to eat it, I guess I have to toss it."
"Wait...!"
"... ..."
"Uh... I mean! I-it's a sin to waste food!"
"Ah, really? Then will you help me so I don't commit a sin?"
"I-I guess I have no choice. I-I'll help you."
"Then take these chopsticks first. This was good, eat this one first."
As if he had been waiting, Yeon-woo snapped open a new pair of chopsticks and handed them to her. Lena felt like she was being led along, but she succumbed to the temptation of the delicious-smelling food.
Though she started eating as if she had no choice, the speed of her hands and mouth gradually increased.
"There's still plenty, so eat slowly. Have some of this, too."
Yeon-woo poured a drink into a paper cup and held it out to her.
Lena, whose throat was indeed getting dry, took it quickly and focused on the food again.
Had she ever indulged in such luxury in her life?
Lena felt a sense of happiness with her mouth full of food.
As she ate frantically, Lena soon felt a gaze watching her warmly and met his eyes blankly.
"What? Eat more. I told you I'm throwing it away if you don't."
He was still a man she felt a sense of repulsion toward.
However, he had the same gentle eyes her master had when taking care of her.
A warmth that seemed to say he felt full just by watching her eat...
The man Shiori and Kurumi had cursed so much might actually be a warm-hearted person, contrary to what she had heard.