Surviving on the Northern Front with Gukbap

Chapter 10 - Word-of-Mouth (4)

CRUUNCH!

The bald Battalion Commander, who had been savoring it with his eyes closed, spoke.

“Hah! This kind of sweetness can't be produced by fruit. Did you use water boiled with sugarcane?”

For a Battalion Commander, he gave off the nuance of someone who knows a lot about cooking.

“And also…… ho ho ho. Truly amazing. Just as you said, outsider, my body feels lighter.”

At that, the blond bastard reacted.

“It's more than just light, sir. I can feel it more clearly now that I've drawn my sword.”

“Is that so?”

The Battalion Commander drew his sword as well.

His leather armor was also of fine quality, but even to my untrained eye, his sword looked like an incredible masterpiece—

'—No, that's number 11 of Kalista's masterpieces, you've got to be kidding me!'

It's already been six months since I crossed over to this world.

For the first time, I saw a unique item from the game, something called an 'Artifact'.

There was no way I could fail to recognize it.

Because the mark of Kalista, the Spirit King of the Forge, and the number 11 were engraved on the crossguard.

'But why is that in the hands of a Battalion Commander of the northern Duchy?'

It was supposed to drop from a labyrinth in the beastmen's country.

No, if that's the case—

'How much time has passed since the game's starting point?'

A question I had been desperately suppressing while trying to survive suddenly popped up, but,

“It's definitely different. The sword is light.”

I returned from my thoughts at the Battalion Commander's satisfied voice.

“Ho ho. To think my condition has improved from eating one piece of bread. How amazing.”

The Battalion Commander laughed heartily in satisfaction and then said.

“Good. This is enough to solve my curiosity, so let's return to our seats. It seems the subordinates are feeling uncomfortable.”

“You've only just realized that, sir?”

“Ho ho ho. I think there are more fellows who are uncomfortable with you than with me.”

The two said as they spun around.

At that, the crowd parted wide again to make way,

“Oh, right. Outsider.”

The bald man said with his back to me.

“Yes?”

“Where and under whom are you working?”

Ah, crap. Why can't he just leave.

“I am serving under Bert as my master at a shop called The Fairy's Leg, on the western outskirts of town.”

“Ah. I've heard of it. That cheap inn that Jeros frequents, is that right?”

“Yes. That's correct.”

“I see. I didn't bring any money with me today. I'll come by soon to pay for the bread.”

You really don't have to.

“Understood.”

“And one more thing.”

Is he still not done?

“Yes?”

“You seemed to be close with Jeros, what is your relationship?”

The words 'Why about that bastard?' almost slipped out, but I held them back.

By the way, when did he see me with Jeros?

“Jeros is……”

At that moment, for a very brief second,

I remembered the kid dealer asking if we were 'friends'.

But there was only one word to describe the relationship between Jeros and me.

“He is a regular customer at our shop.”

“Is that so? You seemed closer than just a regular customer. Ho ho. Anyway, be sure to learn a lot from Jeros.”

“What do you mean by learn, sir?”

“Everything. The laws of the north, etiquette, and so on. Ho ho ho.”

With those final words, the bald man and the blond man moved completely away from me.

“……”

I ruminated on the bald man's words.

'Learn. Everything.'

I, too, wanted to do so gladly.

A world where you could be killed for not showing respect in front of a high-ranking person.

Because to survive in a place like this, I had to know everything.

'Not crap like character specs and builds.'

The things I know might be helpful someday, but,

I had painfully realized that they weren't of much help for immediate survival.

“Ian!”

I was snapped out of my thoughts by Ralph's voice.

“You were in real big trouble! You were brought back from the brink of death! Do you know that?”

“Roughly.”

“What do you mean, roughly! This guy, he still hasn't come to his senses. Hahaha!”

The big-jawed man was so excited about something that he kept slapping my back.

At that, my wandering mind slowly started to return, but ah, right. This wasn't the time to be spacing out.

“Just a moment. This isn't the time for this.”

“Huh?”

I gently pushed Ralph aside.

And I held the Fondue Bread high once again.

“The Fondue Bread acknowledged by the Battalion Commander himself! There are still plenty left! We offer them for 5 copper coins each!”

It's only human nature to do what you're supposed to do once you've survived.

Right now, this is the right thing to do.

'I have to earn money.'

Because economic power is survivability, I couldn't miss this moment when the promotional effect was at its peak.

“Fondue Bread that improves your condition and tastes great! For the low price of 5 copper coins!”

At that, spectators who looked like soldiers approached me and shouted.

“I'll buy one! Give it to me now!”

“No, wait! Don't push! I was in line first!”

“Hey, outsider. I'll buy it for 7 copper coins, not 5. Sell it to me!”

“In that case, I'll pay 10! I'll buy it for 10!”

It was enough to be called a frenzy.

It's more popular than I expected.

“I've seen the order you all arrived in. I'll serve you on a first-come, first-served basis. It's 5 copper coins!”

And so, as I sold off the last 10 Fondue Breads in an instant.

The customers engaged in all sorts of antics.

From the guy who took a bite of the Fondue Bread and jumped up and down in surprise at the taste,

< The customer is satisfied with the food. >

< You have obtained 1 ‘Satisfaction.’ >

to the guy who held an auction and scalped it right in front of me.

< The customer is satisfied with the food. >

< You have obtained 1 ‘Satisfaction.’ >

< The customer is satisfied with......

..

.

I shouted my lungs out promoting the Fondue Bread and the shop, and the people were able to engrave 'The Fairy's Leg' into their minds.

“Is that The Fairy's Leg on the outskirts of town? The one run by the guy with the nasty impression?”

“That's strange. Isn't that place shabby and tasteless?”

“Hey! Quiet down. Didn't you see the Battalion Commander praising how delicious it was? And it even raised Ralph's Hierarchy.”

With this kind of reaction, I don't think I'll have to worry about having no customers from tomorrow.

Just as my brain was soaking in dopamine,

“Heh heh. You're doing well, Ian.”

The narrow-eyed, silver-haired bastard stealthily appeared and snickered.

This bastard. Where was he when he abandoned me and ran away?

“You seem to have been busy?”

“Even for someone like me, the Battalion Commander is a bit of a hassle. Hmm. Not a bit, a lot. Heh heh.”

'Seeing as he uses the expression 'even for someone like me', I guess he knows his own actions are those of a psycho ruffian.'

“That's that. It seems you've done enough business, so when are you going to collect your money?”

The way he talks, he sounds more like a loan shark than a guard.

However,

'That's why he's more reassuring!'

I took the red, chopstick-like piece of wood from my inner coat pocket and replied.

“Let's get going.”

It was time to collect the second spoil of war obtained from Ralph's victory.

30 times 12 copper coins, a whopping 360 coins!

Hmm. Looking at the amount alone, this seems like the main prize.

“But this, where do I collect it?”

“Heh heh. Follow me.”

Jeros led the way with a stride that looked like it could hunt down and crush anyone who'd welsh on an illegal bet.

'So incredibly reliable.'

As expected, a Jeros with money on the line is a madman.

And so, as I followed Jeros into a shabby tent in a corner of the square,

A man with an impressive straight-line (一) scar under his eye was looking over a ledger.

Furthermore, instead of a hand, he had a hook attached to his wrist, and there were several thugs around him.

'If I had come alone, I definitely would have gotten ripped off.'

The thugs were startled upon seeing Jeros, and one of them approached the Captain Hook who was preoccupied with looking at the ledger.

“Boss. A customer……”

Only then did the Captain Hook tear his gaze from the ledger, slowly raise his head to look at Jeros,

And his already grim face completely contorted.

“Why are you here? According to our deal, you shouldn't be coming here.”

“It's been a while, don't be so disappointing, eh? Heh heh.”

Jeros gave my back a hard shove,

And I was pushed by his hand right up to the front of Captain Hook's desk.

“Ahem. Here you are.”

As I took a slight step back and placed the chopstick-like wood on the desk, the Captain Hook who saw it spat a curse and glared at Jeros with murderous eyes.

“Are you fucking with me? What proof do you have that you weren't involved?”

Despite his murderous atmosphere, Jeros just shrugged his shoulders.

“If it were me, would I have stopped at just betting that much? I would have bet at least 50 shillings. Heh heh.”

Grind. Griiind.

Captain Hook's teeth grinding revealed his complicated inner thoughts, but Jeros was completely at ease.

“Why are you being so cheap? You must have raked in a ton of money from that long shot winning, you can afford to pay out this much, can't you? Right?”

“This cunning son of a bitch……”

I don't know what kind of ill-fated history the two of them had, but it seemed to be a past that went beyond my imagination.

While that suffocating atmosphere was maintained,

“……Fuck.”

Captain Hook handed my chopstick-like wood to his subordinate.

A moment later, the money pouch thrown by that subordinate flew in a parabola and landed in my arms.

Poof.

It's heavy. Nice.

I opened the pouch first.

Three silver shillings placed on top of a bundle of copper coins.

Since 1 shilling is 100 copper coins, this amount should be about right.

I looked at Jeros and nodded.

I was about to leave the tent,

“Hey, outsider.”

When I turned my gaze, Captain Hook's eyes were wide and crazed.

Is he trying to threaten me with something like, 'watch your back at night'?

“Who was the dealer?”

An unexpected question.

His voice was so gloomy and cracked that I hesitated to answer, feeling uneasy,

“The youngest kid.”

Jeros answered instead.

“The brown-haired one?”

“Yeah.”

The moment I saw Captain Hook's expression distort rapidly, I could instinctively tell that bastard was going to harm the kid.

'Damn it.'

I couldn't help but feel a sense of guilt.

But even so, there was nothing I could do.

'If I run into him, I should probably give him a tip.'

Then this uneasy feeling might get a little better.

“I get it, now piss off! Don't show your face around here again.”

Despite Captain Hook's yelling, Jeros replied slyly.

“See you around. Heh heh.”

And so, I was pushed out of the tent by Jeros's hand, and only after coming out into the bright square again could I let go of my tension.

'Phew. That was brutal.'

Captain Hook, of course, and the thug bodyguards next to him were all exuding a menacing aura, so I couldn't let my guard down.

Still, it feels like I can breathe now that I'm out.

Hmm. I can breathe, but,

“For the time being, I... I should probably lay low, right?”

Now that I'd actually received the money, I became anxious.

The worry that I might get ambushed and killed by those thugs.

“Lay low? What's the point of laying low. You think you won't die just because you lay low? Heh heh.”

Jeros said these annoying words as he showed me the palm of his hand.

'Haa. 'You earned money thanks to me, so give me my cut,' is what he's saying.'

My impression of him as a loan shark earlier was no illusion.

He was a loan shark.

I silently opened the coin pouch and looked at the three shillings lying on top of the bundle of copper coins.

'I really don't want to give it to him.'

I squeezed my eyes shut to suppress my rising greed, and picked up two silver coins and placed them on Jeros's palm.

“Oh. I was only thinking of taking 1 shilling, but you're giving me two. Heh heh. Thanks. I'll use it for something good!”

I debated between one shilling and two until the very end, but I just gave him a large cut.

I earned it thanks to Jeros anyway, and,

“If you're so thankful, please walk me to the shop.”

I was even going to request his escort, since those gambling bastards might chase me and try to take my money.

“Kuh. You clever bastard~ You quick-witted bastard! This is why I like you. Let's go!”

Just as I was about to reply 'Yes-' to his words.

“Outsider, what's this?”

I turned my head in the direction of the voice,

“Why are you here?”

The town's only hunter and Bert's friend…

Flaco was staring at me.

That day I killed Bert, the day I was knocked out by Flaco.

Since then, Flaco has come to the shop about once every two days to ask.

— Where's Bert?

A strange gaze, his intentions unreadable.

Was he worried about the well-being of his friend, Bert, or was he aiming for the shop like Jeros?

Flaco would ask with that kind of inscrutable expression.

— Hasn't Bert returned?

Each time, I managed my expression as best I could, and,

— He hasn't come back yet.

Flaco would stare intently at me without a word.

He was probably trying to grasp the truth with his 'hunter's intuition'.

— What about the rabbit meat?

— If you mean the smoked meat, there's still plenty.

— Alright. When Bert comes, tell him I was looking for him.

— Yes.

The conversations were generally like this and I had to barely swallow the words I wanted to spit out.

'When should I talk about the fresh meat delivery?'

I need fresh meat to make gukbap, but that bastard Flaco exudes such a strange aura that I couldn't easily bring it up.

'It's not like I can buy it at the general store like other ingredients. I can only buy meat from that bastard.'

On the other hand, I was also worried.

The worry that that bastard might also try to take over the shop like Jeros soon.

Therefore, Flaco was an opponent I had to be most careful of and a person of interest I had to persuade.

But of all things,

“Outsider, what's this? Why are you here?”

I had run into that very Flaco at a bad time in a bad place.