Chapter 65: Yuhwa’s Test (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 65: Yuhwa’s Test (1)
“What in the world was that…?”
Pinned beneath Rin, Yuhwa stared into the void like a woman possessed, muttering incomprehensibly.
I still had no idea why she was suddenly acting this way or what had just happened.
My mind had gone hazy as if in a dream, and by the time I came to my senses, everything was resolved.
Maybe Santa Claus dropped by with a gift because I’d been such a good boy. Since this is the land of beastkin, I wonder if Rudolph is a beastkin too?
I followed that train of thought to calm my nerves.
“What will you do, Celestial Fox? Are you still unwilling to become our Rin’s master?”
Yuhwa’s dazed eyes focused, and she looked up at me.
“You want me to defy the Mandate of Heaven…?”
“It’s a matter of human decency to care for a pitiful child right before your eyes, rather than follow the will of some invisible heaven. Even a slave trader like me knows that.”
“In the end, countless innocents will come to harm. Does the suffering they will face not concern you?”
“Haha, all I see is a future where everyone lives happily ever after. I guess that Heavenly Eye of yours isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”
“…”
Yuhwa fell silent and lowered her gaze.
She seemed to be contemplating what the right choice was.
After a long moment of thought, Yuhwa looked at me again.
“What is it you want from me?”
“Just one thing: teach Rin your magic.”
“And what will you do if someone is hurt by the gumiho’s misfortune?”
“I’ll make sure that never happens in the first place, but if it does, I’ll take full responsibility. Covering for a slave’s mistakes is the master’s role, you know.”
“…Fine.”
Finally, the words of agreement came from Yuhwa.
A smile bloomed on my face.
“Then…”
“On one condition.”
What’s this?
This unsettling feeling.
“What’s the condition?”
“You must pass a test I give you.”
“Ah.”
There it is. I was wondering when this would come up.
I thought we might have skipped it, but we’ve come full circle to a test.
“I refuse. I’m the one in charge here, so why should I have to take a test?”
“If you refuse, then so be it. Have the gumiho tear my throat out. I’ve lived long enough; I have no lingering attachments to this life.”
Usually, the old folks who say things like that are the ones with the most attachments. If I threatened her a little, wouldn’t she fold, crying, ‘I’ll give you my merchant group, my magic, everything! Just let me live!’?
“I don’t know what you’re plotting, but you must have a reason for needing to raise this child into a gumiho. In that case, I suppose I’m not completely at your mercy.”
Nope.
This old woman has made up her mind.
Just as you’d expect from the Celestial Fox, Yuhwa, her mind works at a different speed.
“Fine.”
I couldn’t refuse this, too.
Besides, this was part of my original plan, so it wasn’t a problem.
“Now, would you mind letting me go?”
“What are you talking about? We have to sign a contract.”
“A contract…?”
“Oh, please. A woman of your experience shouldn't act so surprised.”
Yuhwa’s gaze wavered, but it was no use.
Since when do merchants make verbal agreements?
“I may trust my slaves, but I don’t trust people.”
We drew up a contract.
The sight of me forcing the old woman to sign a contract while she was lying on the floor felt uncomfortably like elder abuse, but I had no choice.
She could agree now and turn on me later. Things had worked out well this time by sheer luck, but I wasn’t counting on it happening again.
“Will this suffice?”
Yuhwa handed me the contract.
It was a contract created with her magic.
It forbade her from taking any action that would harm us.
If I passed her test, she would teach Rin her magic.
The finer details would be renegotiated upon passing the test.
If the contract was broken, the violator would face Divine Punishment.
“This is good enough. Rin, you can let her go.”
“Granny, if you try any more funny business, I’ll grab your neck and snap it! Got it, nya!”
Rin, who had been holding Yuhwa’s arms, stepped aside. She made a throat-slitting gesture at Yuhwa, who was dusting off her cloud-like clothes as she stood up.
Yuhwa looked at Rin with a complicated expression before her gaze shifted to me.
That was the best I could do.
Don’t look at me like that.
“So, about the test. What is it, exactly?”
“I merely intend to see if you have the minimum qualifications to raise a gumiho.”
The qualifications to raise a gumiho.
Yuhwa’s test.
“You’re a merchant, are you not? Then make a name for yourself as a merchant in Vestia.”
It was a tycoon game.
*
“What? You met the Celestial Fox?”
“It just sort of happened.”
“What was she like? Young and beautiful, I bet.”
“No comment.”
After leaving the Celestial Pavilion, I had a small meeting.
It was with Seira and Bolt.
When I told them I’d met Yuhwa, Bolt kept pestering me for details about her appearance, but I refused to answer.
I’m not cruel enough to shatter his innocent image of her with a harsh dose of reality.
“So, what happened? Did she agree to help?”
“Not exactly. She gave me a test.”
“A test?”
“She told me to succeed in business in Vestia. If I pass, she’ll help.”
[Yuhwa’s Test: Earn Yuhwa’s recognition through business.]
Time Limit: 30 days
Reward: Yuhwa’s assistance.
If this were a game, a message like that would have popped up.
Why business? It might seem random, but in a way, it would be strange if it wasn’t. After all, this world was fundamentally a tycoon game.
To succeed, I would have to run a shop and achieve a certain amount of profit and fame within the time limit.
—You can learn a lot about a person by watching them do business. Things like their ability, wit, adaptability, and interpersonal skills. Furthermore, with a gumiho by your side, it won’t be as easy as usual. The purpose of this test is to see if you have what it takes to overcome any adversity.
That was her reasoning.
In the game, playing the tycoon mode with Rin was always harder than normal.
A tycoon game needs to run like clockwork; if one gear breaks, it affects everything else. With Rin around, three or four gears would break at once.
Every kind of unfair bullshit imaginable would happen.
—You don’t look very confident. You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. Of course, you’ll fail the test.
—No, I’ll do it. Just sit tight and try not to get any more wrinkles.
This was my specialty.
Now that she’d provoked me, there was no way I was backing down.
“But to start a business out of the blue, with no capital… earning the Celestial Fox’s approval in just thirty days is nearly impossible. Besides, you’re…”
“A human. Which makes it even harder, I know.”
Beastkin tend to dislike humans.
But I didn’t necessarily have to win over the beastkin.
“I’m thinking of setting up shop in the sixth district.”
“The sixth district… you mean Edenvar. It’s true that most of the humans in Vestia reside there.”
Just as there’s a Chinatown in Korea or a Koreatown in the US, the beastkin nation of Vestia had a place where humans gathered.
My primary target customers weren’t beastkin, but humans. I would run a business for humans.
“Seira, you mentioned the street cat people were a handful, right?”
“Yes, but why bring them up all of a sudden?”
“They’re going to play a big role in this.”
I had already laid the groundwork the moment I arrived in Vestia.
A species whose actions made you want to punch them.
But a species that had avoided extinction through sheer cuteness.
“I’m going to open a cat café.”
*
“You want us to work, nya?”
I went straight to the back alley where the cat people lived.
I explained the situation, but their reaction was cold. It was only natural that these bums, who had done nothing but play and eat all day, would reject the idea of working.
“In the first place, you’re the one who said we wouldn’t have to do anything when we first made the contract, human-nya. This is a breach of contract, nya.”
To think this furbag would hit me where it hurts by bringing up the contract.
I thought all they knew how to do was groom themselves and eat fish. Impressive.
“You’re right. I certainly said that when we made the contract. That you wouldn’t have to do a thing.”
“So…”
“But that contract has been terminated, hasn’t it? Which means whatever I ask of you now can’t be a breach of contract. What I’m offering is a deal.”
Mirabelle’s Reaper had broken the cat people’s shackles.
The contract was a one-time deal.
It couldn’t be renewed.
I knew this because I’d experimented with my first slave, wondering if I could duplicate the points. It’s why I’m so incredibly careful when I fully liberate my main slaves.
Once they’re liberated, that’s it.
Mirabelle’s case was the strange exception.
In other words, they were no longer my slaves. But even though they weren’t, I had continued to supply them with fish.
“If you don’t want to, you don’t have to. I’m no longer obligated to give you fish, either. It’s not like I’m a volunteer.”
“That’s a cheap shot, nya!”
“That’s right, meow! If you start something, you should see it through to the end, meow!”
The cat people erupted in protest. They had been eating comfortably without having to risk their lives stealing.
An animal that has grown accustomed to the touch of a human hand can never return to the wild. They’d been living far too comfortably for that.
I drove the final nail in.
“Responsibility? Fine, I’ll take it. But I don’t have enough spots for everyone. First come, first served. Ten spots only.”
There were about thirty cat people here, right?
That meant twenty of them would be left out.
“Don’t fall for it, nya! It’s a trap, nya!”
“That’s right, meow! Let’s show them our solidarity, meow!”
The cat people united.
“Oh, I forgot to mention. If you work at my shop, I’ll provide a full-course fish meal three times a day, plus lodging—”
“Nyaaa!”
“You traitor! Have you no pride as a street cat, nya?!”
“What pride does a street cat have, nya? The ones who had pride are all dead, nya!”
A schism erupted among the cat people.
No matter how small, once a crack forms in their unity, it’s only a matter of time before the whole thing shatters.
“Okay, that’s one spot filled. Next. Nine more to work at my shop. Hands up.”