CH 17

Duke, Please Repent! chapter 17

4. In the Duke's estate (4)

'Is it right to follow... Ji?'

Now I was walking alone on a dark street.

It is not a gloomy and secluded place, but an alley filled with pubs and the like.

There are also bards playing all over the place, so the noisy atmosphere reminded me of the night streets of Hongdae.

One, the purpose of traveling alone

is a bait station for security check to the last.

I cringe, wondering if a giant with a weapon passing by will quarrel with me.

Why do I look so easy-going...

Serpens, who was having dinner together at a seemingly ordinary restaurant, suddenly spoke.

Do you think it will be possible to check public safety more properly today than usual? And what followed is the present situation.

He'll hide from afar and watch, I'm just telling you to act as usual

As pocket money, he gave me a 1 million ass bill.

The ass is the monetary unit of the Holy Lumen Empire, and 1 ass = 1 won.

There is nothing you can't use if you put your mind to it. But for an ordinary person like me, it was an excessive amount for one night's allowance.

'By the way, this isn't change, is it?'

It's a one-page bill.

Giving it to me, Serpens said he would collect all the remaining money after the night was over. So it would be better to write diligently or something.

Clearly, it was something I did while I had change so that I could become an even better Hogu.

'Whatever happened, why don't you go into any bar and ring the golden bell once?'

I thought about for a while, but the amount was insufficient for that. Well, it was given very vaguely.

I don't need anything right now. Would you like to buy some souvenirs to win the favor of the Duke's family?

I went to a trinkets stand and picked up about 20 items and put them in 100.

However, he held out an assortment.

"50,000 Asip . Customer? Do you have any change?"

No, the person in the business can't even sell 950,000 Ashes? Huh, true! How can a person not have 950,000 Ashes?

At my clever words, the merchant smiles with a contorted smile.

I wonder if there is any truth to this, but since he seems to have a lot of money, his expression is that he is patient.

"Then give it back as much as possible, and take the hat as a commodity.

yo. This?

At the next words, the merchant smiled brightly as if he had been in a bad mood. Sweep up all the items on the market and place them in my hand along with 800,000 Ars.

The first 20 ornaments I picked up were 50,000 pieces, so I'm talking about 2-3 thousand pieces per decoration.

There weren't even that many leftovers, right?

'This isn't a hogu, it's a hogaeng?!'

It was a great rip-off, but the money will disappear after tonight anyway. Just thinking that I did a good job

I went to the store that sold it.

This time, there was change, so there was no need to sweep everything. Instead, the merchant charged an excessive amount even if he pretended to be.

'Are you watching, Serpens? The spirit of extortion shown by the merchants of your estate.'

Occasionally, I also choked. Previously, mainly the spicy things that I had to pass through because of the serpence.

As I thought of Serpence, I wondered if there was something to buy him.

Why don't you deal with cheap stuff like this?'

After getting paid later, I'll have to order a whipped cream cake from a famous store. How much do you want to do at such a place?

Occasionally, I could see people appearing to be guards and arresting someone, but nothing happened to me.

There were no quarrels or pickpockets.

'I think it would have been okay if I didn't use the bait strategy, right?'

The security of this city was firmly guarded by the guards, so it is safe to say.

Even now, people in guard uniforms can be seen gathering again. Shall I go take a look?

Hey !

Is it because of the sudden change of direction?

A woman's scream resounded as she felt a dull feeling in her temporarily purchased backpack due to a lot of luggage.

When I turned around quickly, a woman who looked to be in her early twenties fell down with her butt wheel smashed.

Are you okay?

He approached and held out his hand, but the woman didn't even pretend to look.

He just rummaged through his bag, pulled out a piece of a broken bottle, and cried.

My reagent! Oh my god, how much does this cost!

Maybe this is finally here! It was only then that I was able to fulfill my role faithfully.

Nice to meet you, swindler!

Are you having any problems?

Wow, what's the matter? Do you know how expensive this is now? How good is it, the scrolls are all wet!

Peeking inside the bag, I saw wads of paper covered in powder and liquid spilled from the broken glass bottle.

'Is that all scrolling?'

Who in the world would carry so many expensive scrolls like that? No matter how cheap it was, it would be more than 500,000 Ars.

And with the magic reagents in glass bottles? There is a degree of carelessness.

The people around me are also indifferent to the first commotion.

I wondered what was going on, and then shook my head at the luck of the scroll.

"Is this your first time today? I know you want to have a big bang, but ."

It's not a scam! It's not a scam...!

The woman said sadly, shedding tears like chicken poop.

The blue eyes, wet with tears, looked very sad.

It's not as good as Serpence's, but it's a great performance that anyone would be mistaken for.

But .

You have chosen the wrong opponent.

Serpense would have contained a much richer emotion, not just a single sadness.

A little more gloomy, pathetic, with a heartbreaking heart. With a sad expression on her face, she was weeping bitterly, and she must have ripped off her opponent's heart.

You 1, my score is eliminated. It's not even worth a price tag.'

Looking down at her with cold eyes, Serpens appeared. I was really watching.

No, don't touch it!

When Serpens took out an ordinary scroll pretending to be a magic scroll from inside the bag, the woman shouted sharply.

Even though all the fakes have been found, do you still think it is not?

She grabbed the bag and blocked the entrance, but one of the scrolls was already in Serpens' hands.

Come on, Sion! Come on, let's find out about that woman's fraud!

Serpens, who opened the scroll and looked at it, looked at me and said.

This is really salty.

Yes?

What did you just hear? Really? All those rolls of paper are scrolling?

It's also quite well made. It must have been ruined by the seeping of a reagent mixed with magical power...

Oh, can you recognize?! I made it!

Because I'm not a magician. Once I entered the magic circle, I looked at the vocabulary of the sentences used.

Producer. I didn't expect it that way... ?

What about the spells given to the serpents and the scroll makers who thought they were scammers, and what about the ingredients?

We were talking about something, but nothing came into my ears.

There are only thoughts floating around in my head.

'How much does it cost to pay for all that?'

only thinking that

How much is Zion's salary? As an aide to the duke family, he gives a lot ok?

Why do you have so many things?

Would it be okay if I asked if you were around?"

"I was on my way to the castle of the lord to apply for an investment, but , but everything was ruined ."

The woman wept bitterly. That was really crying.

Somehow, it seemed to contain a lot of sincerity.

'By the way, I went to apply for an investment to the lord... .'

If you're the lord of this land, you're a Serpence, right?

"How about calming down and moving around and talking?"

Serpens lifted her up and carefully poured divine power into her. She looks slightly surprised.

"Oh my, not a wizard ? Weren't you really an expert?"

Serpens answered her question with a smile without a word.

The inn where she was staying shared a pub, and it was nearby, so we decided to continue the story on the first floor of that place.

"First, let me introduce myself, Solerti.

It's called Reseratus.

It seems that she, who had just become independent from her master, went to Yeongjuseong to receive an investment to open her own shop.

I was curious to see if I could check the scrolls I had made in advance and how they were made, so I grabbed a variety of reagents and went to them with curiosity.

But what came back was the story of following the established procedures.

I mean, I didn't hear that there was a procedure! If Master is my level of skill, he'll be welcomed just by looking for it.

I said... .

That's rarely the case.

" After all, I didn't believe the words of a yangban who ate a shop and crawled into the tower!"

At Serpens's denial, Soler Tia burst into anger.

Even after submitting the investment application, there was a process to confirm her identity and other things.

Because of that, it took several days for the documents to reach Serpens, but his stay in the Prasidus Territory is not that long.

If I missed this opportunity, I had to wait a full month or go to the capital to go through the procedure again and wait.

However, blinded by the desire to open her own shop as soon as possible, Solertia made a third choice.

According to the rumors, I heard that Duke Prasidus was kind enough to be arrogant...

I'm confident in my skills, hogu... . No, he was the Duke of Prasidus, famous for his generosity.

I'm dying in front of the castle gate, thinking that if I ejaculate, I won't meet you.

said to have seen

It was all a lie...! I've heard all of you staying in the castle this week! I also saw the duke's wagons coming in! Being away is a ridiculous excuse, isn't it?

Solertia slammed the table with her fists, bursting with anger.

I glanced at the 'luxurious' Duke of Prasidus. The lips that were not covered by the hood kept a gentle smile without the slightest shaking.

Even if it's Shion-san, go find it with me.

If you go and tell me how great these scrolls are... . Ah, you wouldn't believe it though! No one sees a broken scroll and accepts an investment application! Wouldn't it be great if Duke Frasidus could read scrolls like Shion-san!

She banged her head on the table.

Judging by what Solertia said like that, I guess. It seems that it is not common for a person who is not a wizard to interpret only the magic circles drawn on the scrolls.

'Hell Serpens, why did he even learn such a thing?'

After becoming the master of the Holy Sword, did you plan to eat it all by yourself without a companion? .

Ummm... if it's okay with you, can I see other things?

Yeah, that's fine. We'll have to throw it away anyway... Oh, don't tear it up! It might explode.

I'll be careful.

In a world where magic comes out of paper, it's kind of like exploding paper.

But how did the scroll come about?

I was wondering if it was. I went back to Serpens who was holding the scroll, and glanced over his shoulder to peek at the contents.

Even if I searched through Shion's memory, the magic characters that could not be interpreted were written in tiny sizes, and circles and lines that could not be recognized were drawn.

Did you mean to draw something like this on the spot!? It's going to take a while?

There are some simple ones. Or you can stay for a few days and make them...

Solertia answered my question in a confused voice.

Then, for some reason, she, who had been lying on the table with her cheek, suddenly raised her head and stared at me.

Maybe it's because I banged my head on the table earlier? There was a slight scratch on his forehead, and the area around it was also dyed red.

How hard did you hit it?

What are you going to do now? Take responsibility!

What should I do now? Take responsibility!

Solertia demanded responsibility from me, and I passed it on to Serpens.

went

He turned his head and stared at me for a moment with a look that said, 'What's with all these guys?'

"Whoa I can't help it, so I'll take responsibility."

Yes?! Are you Shion?

At Serpens's words, Solertia looked at him with eyes full of questions, 'How?' and 'Why are you?'.

"However, I want you to prove that Les Serratus was the one who made these scrolls.

Let me introduce you. Of course, even if that is impossible, we will compensate you for monetary damages, so it doesn't matter if you refuse.

I, really...?

Serpens lightly placed his fingertips on Solertia's forehead, who was making a blank expression as if in disbelief.

He healed a scratch on his forehead and had a benevolent smile.

Yes, it really is.