Rudeness? It's Chivalry (3)
Clack, clack, clack.
Sitting at the rickety wooden desk, I rolled the charcoal between my fingers.
It had been a whole week since I'd handed my manuscript over to Edelin Publishing House, but there'd been no word. Not a peep.
What if they actually rejected it?
Anxiety crashed over me like a wave. If this failed, it was an emergency. My runaway father—the former Baron Crowley—had tanked the family carriage business, and the loan shark interest payments were due tomorrow.
My fingertips trembled.
I'd been dead certain the empire's literary standards were low, but maybe I'd overlooked their grammar too much.
This was the backwater of Crowley Territory.
News from the imperial capital took forever to reach here, and even rumors from the next village over could take days. The information blackout only made me more jittery.
"Hoo... This is driving me nuts."
"Young master. What is it now? Did you gamble away everything on loans like the previous master?"
Ellie pushed open the door with a sigh.
In her hands were a few potatoes that had already sprouted.
"Oh, Ellie. It's nothing... just thinking things over."
"Thinking what, exactly? Instead of wasting time on useless worries, why not help the neighbors in their fields? Do you want potato mush again like yesterday...?"
Ellie's sharp tongue cut deep. I had nothing to say, so I fiddled with the innocent charcoal and paper.
Forcing some optimism: bank accounts were guaranteed anonymous under imperial security laws.
Since I'd only dropped off the manuscript and given them the account, the publishing house had no other way to track me down. One account number wouldn't reveal anything.
So. They'd publish it under their own authority.
And Edelin, with their same-day settlement policy... the payout might already be in.
Maybe I should check the bank.
But the bank was half a day's ride from the village. In our situation, even round-trip fare felt too precious for a wasted trip.
That's when it happened.
Bang—! Bang bang bang!
The front door rattled like it might shatter, accompanied by a savage bellow.
"Kyle Crowley! You little rat bastard, I know you're in there! Open this door right now!"
"Shit—it's here."
What was coming had arrived early. It was the voice of Jackson, the loan shark from Black Claw. Ellie startled and ducked behind me.
"If you don't pay up today, I told you I'd pay a gold per finger, right? Get out here! Sell that pretty maid of yours if you have to—!"
I clenched the charcoal tight. Damn you, Edelin bastards!
If you really recognized my genius, wouldn't you send the knights by now? The empire's literary prodigy is about to lose fingers to a loan shark!
Kwaaang!
Dust rained from the ceiling as he kicked the door. I quickly hid Ellie in the basement and opened the door with a groveling attitude. "Aigoo—! Great sir! What brings you to this humble shack...? I thought the due date was tomorrow...."
Jackson stomped over the threshold in his mud-caked leather boots. Two burly thugs shadowed him, filling the rundown parlor.
"Tomorrow? You trying to pull a fast one? The interest on the interest is due today, you know that?"
It was today?
Jackson pulled a yellowed bundle of papers from his coat and waved them in my face. They reeked of stale tobacco and sour blood.
He flapped the paper, pointing to the deadline—marked in fresh ink with today's date, glittering on the page.
You sneaky bastard... Altering it yourself and calling it a contract.
"Well, Kyle Crowley. Your choice: hand over ten clean fingers and go dig potatoes, or let me take that pretty maid hiding over there. Oh, and your fingers? They wouldn't fetch a gold even as apothecary scraps in the market."
"Aigoo, great sir, why talk like that? So harsh. I submitted a masterpiece to Edelin Publishing House, you know? Where's that? The empire's top publisher! Once they settle up, this debt is nothing...."
"Edelin? Ha! This punk's gone from crazy to delusional."
Jackson clutched his belly, cackling, and slapped my shoulder.
"Edelin deals with high nobles, kid. A fallen baron's son munching sprouted potatoes? They'd set the guard dogs on your ass before you crossed the threshold. Where'd you get the balls?"
"It's true! Under the pen name 'Yangpanso'... You might've heard...."
"Yangpanso? What kinda dogshit is that? Never heard of it! Hey, boys—tear this place apart. Grab anything worth a rat's tail!"
The men started ransacking the house roughly.
I gritted my teeth. No choice. Time to gamble. Ellie. I'll bet on you believing in me, and my writing chops.
The empire's literary prize. My work can't fail. I'd stake everything on it.
"Wait—! It's real, I swear! Why won't you believe me? You carry a Magic Device for account links, right?"
"...? You nuts? Fine."
"Check it. There should be a deposit from Edelin. You know their ironclad rule? Fast sales, same-day payout. They have branches in every imperial city."
"This thing eats a magic stone per use, you know? That's one gold, you little shit."
The magic stone for a Magic Device—rare ore from the mines. A gold each? Water under the bridge now. I nodded boldly.
"Rip my guts or kill me, your call."
"Hah! No idea what wind's in your sails, but... you'll regret it. Hey—Magic Device."
"Yessir!"
The big black brute pulled out the device with a scary glare. As Jackson drew a magic stone to insert—
"Stop."
"Oh? Ellie, right? Still a looker."
His square jaw twisted at an odd angle, lips curling. Jackson's face turned lecherous in an instant.
"How much for me?"
Ellie's voice shook, but her eyes burned fierce. Jackson's sleazy gaze raked over her body.
"Brothel or tavern?"
"Whichever pays more."
Jackson smirked, pausing with the stone.
"Brothel? I'd give up to twenty million gold. Assuming you survive that hellhole. Tavern? Five million. What d'you say, Kyle Crowley? Way more than your ten fingers."
"Like hell! Hey! Ellie! Are you insane? Get inside now!"
I yelled, but Ellie didn't even glance back. She stared Jackson down and continued.
"If... there's no money in the account for the interest by then. Take me however you want."
Her voice quivered finely, but she didn't close her eyes. The disgust of his sticky gaze was nothing compared to Kyle.
Jackson cackled and slotted the stone into the Magic Device. Ellie drew a shaky breath, steeling for hell.
Zing—!
The device hummed with mana, glowing bluish. The one-gold stone burned, illuminating the parlor. Jackson whistled tunelessly as he punched in Kyle's name and account number.
That brief moment felt eternal to Ellie.
Truth be told, she was terrified.
Brothel or tavern... what awaited was obvious. Horrible thoughts swirled, but she thought of Kyle to steady herself.
I remember the young master from childhood.
A pitiful kid raised amid the family's grim reality.
After losing his tirelessly working mother, he'd stare blankly at the ceiling with empty eyes. Or scribble meaningless doodles, drifting through days listlessly.
She'd found him pathetic, repulsive back then.
But now? She pitied him.
Born into a life ruined by family debt. Fragile as thin ice without her— liable to shatter anytime.
But lately, he'd changed.
Writing through the night, sometimes cackling to himself, then diving deep into serious thought. And he'd even succeeded in submitting to a publisher.
Ellie liked that. The guy who'd always been a shut-in corpse, showing no emotion, no spark.
-Ellie! I'll treat you right.-
-Hey, Ellie. Mind your tone.-
Weird, sure, but brighter.
Even if his confidence was wrong, it didn't matter.
Her young master was chasing his dream as a writer. Letting him lose fingers? No way.
Better I bear it.
Her body might wear out, but better than permanent loss. Ellie meant it.
"Alright, let's see."
Silence fell. Ellie clenched her fists, eyes shut; I swallowed hard.
Scary. Even confident in my writing, would seven days' payout clear this massive debt? Edelin was fast, but if pre-publication...?
Numbers scrolled rapidly on the device's screen.
"...Huh?"
Jackson's face twisted oddly. His sleazy grin vanished; his eyes twitched.
"Wh-what the hell? Why won't the numbers stop?"
"What's up, boss? No money?"
The thug peered over, then screamed louder than Jackson.
"H-how many zeros? One, two, three... Wait, this unit gold?!"
The Magic Device nearly slipped from Jackson's hand. The screen blazed with Edelin's clear seal and settlement details.
Depositor: Edelin Publishing House (Headquarters)
Amount: 450,000,000 gold (Advance royalties & rights prepayment)
"Edelin! I knew it—!!"
My cheer exploded. Ellie nearly collapsed, legs buckling from released tension. 450 million gold—an unimaginable sum. But what choked her more was...
"Ellie—! I told you! I'll treat you right!!"
"Yes... it's real."
The young master grabbed her hand, shaking it wildly with a beaming grin. Kyle's laugh.