Chapter 82
Kai scolded.
“Dust, why are you riding a dirty horse when you’re just standing there stepping on the top of his head?”
“…Isn’t that a circus?”
“Once you get to the hotel, throw away your pants and dress.”
“I’m 12 years already, but now the expression ‘dirty’ is…”
“This is a remote area, so listen to your brother who is five years older than you. Lisa, please take off her pants.”
Contrary to his annoying tone, the hand he held me was cautious.
‘Anyway, everyone has arrived, so I have to go straight to the guild headquarters.’
It wasn’t a good situation, but it seemed like the guild’s situation would end quickly.
As soon as I arrived, I met the Twin Ax guild members.
“…First, give directions to those people…”
“You must travel cleanly, princess. His Grace has instructed you not to let even a single speck of dust touch your clothes.”
I was planning to order them to go quickly.
“Hehehe. What is that.”
Suddenly, my backside felt tickled and I turned my head.
Before I knew it, Lisa was approaching me and was dusting my butt with a luxurious duster made from peacock feathers.
“Your hand touched the dirty top of his head, so I’ll wipe it with a tissue.”
“It might have dandruff on it.”
This time the rest of the employees rubbed my hands.
“Miss. It’s meal time, so I’ll give you some warmed soup. His Grace told me to feed you once every six hours outside of bedtime.”
“No, I mean… Munch, munch…”
Before I could say anything, a golden spoon came into my mouth.
In that state, I ate the soup served by a maid.
“… Really, that b-brat is the Twin Ax Guild’s…”
“Brat?”
It was then.
One of the executives who was talking to himself flinched when he made eye contact with the Black Panther unit and Kai.
“…I mean…”
“It should be the guild leader.”
“Ah… She’s the guild leader.. Yes, that’s right.”
The group looked at each other for a moment.
He looked like he couldn’t understand that the guild’s most powerful person, whom he was proud of, was a 12-year-old.
“Guild Leader.”
However, one large person among them quickly changed his expression.
He seemed to be the leader of this group.
“H-Hello.”
“…”
“Haha. Hello.”
“…”
The executive naturally approached me with a friendly smile and a nod to the people around him.
The hand that was rubbing like a fly was extremely shallow.
“I truly apologize that I didn’t recognize the Guild Leader. I didn’t hear that you were coming to the Free State, but since you came here in person, we will guide you to the guild headquarters.”
“Guild Leader, please follow me.”
“We will guide you through the fastest route.”
As the captain took the lead, the rest of his subordinates lowered their heads.
I, who had been chewing on the gold spoon, opened my mouth.
“After dinner, take me straight to the guild headquarters.”
“Yes.”
“Yes.”
“Yes.”
Of course, I wasn’t talking to the big guys.
“No. Not the misters.”
“…Yes? If not us, who else will…?”
When I corrected them, the big guys looked embarrassed and hesitated.
But from earlier, I had been keeping an eye on something beyond them.
“Yes, right, it’s you. You.”
“…Me?”
In the distance, the boy who was wiping his torn mouth stiffened in a daze.
I grinned as I made eye contact with his surprised butter-colored pupils.
“Alright, you.”
***
The executives were surrounded by the Black Panther unit.
As the executives shrank their bodies to avoid touching their massive shoulders, people passing by started whispering.
“Isn’t it the Twin Ax Guild?”
“They’re always making a fuss, but what happened today?”
“I knew that would happen. When they meet people who are bigger than them, they feel like flies.”
Listening to the conversations around me, it seemed like they were known as the king of power in this area.
I knew it now.
The previous guild leader dies and the new owner doesn’t appear.
The unbridled executives were extorting people’s efforts by force, like real animals.
“…Twelve years old. You’re Princess Billishia, right?”
It was then.
As I was walking along with the boy’s directions, I heard a suspicious question next to me.
It was the boy with glasses who asked for directions.
“…You know me?”
I opened my bunny eyes in surprise.
He suddenly walked next to me and said while putting on his glasses that had fallen off.
“…Y-You’re the guild leader of the guild I joined, so o-of course I should know. I did some research. That person is P-Prince Kai…”
But his way of speaking was a little strange.
Should I say that it stutters as if it is broken?
Swishㅡ
When my eyes met the butter-colored eyes behind the thick lenses, he was startled and turned away from me.
…He was acting like a gamecock earlier, but his character has changed.
“Are you okay?”
“Y-Yes?”
“No, I think the way you speak is different from before.”
It was a simple question, but was it accepted intelligently?
The boy’s face turned bright red.
“Well, that’s because I can see clearly when I wear glasses…”
“You can see clearly, but why can’t you speak?”
“I-If I can see people well, it’s a-awkward…”
“…”
“So, when I was talking to the executives earlier, I deliberately…”
“You mean you took off your glasses?”
“…Yes.”
The voice crawled away.
At this level, it was close to penetrating the inner core of the Earth.
“Then you can take off your glasses and talk.”
“I-I can’t… s-see the way…”
A shy finger pointed to the right.
This meant that he had to give directions.
‘I’m going crazy and jumping up and down.’
I glanced around.
He said it would be about a 10-minute walk, so I think I could get there if I just gave him a rough idea.
“I’ll tell you the names of nearby stores. Then can you guide me even if you can’t see it?”
“I memorized it, so it’s possible…”
“Good. Then take off your glasse…”
“Geez, tell me sooner.”
…s, I was going to say so.
“…?”
“I thought I was going to die of frustration.”
Before I could finish speaking, the boy took off his glasses and muttered angrily.
He even complained.
What.
Is it not the way he speaks that change, but the whole person?
100th life.
This was my first time seeing a character like this, so I opened my eyes in confusion, and those elegant butter-colored eyes turned towards me.
He frowned and crossed his arms dissatisfied.
“What.”
“…What?”
“Why do people stare so shamefully?”
“You know I’m the guild leader, right?”
“Guild leader or whatever, that’s none of my business? The guild will hit me anyway… Uwaaaah…”
In frustration, I took the glasses away and shoved them into his face, and a helpless scream was heard.
“F-Foul… It’s a foul…”
As his vision became clearer, the boy blushed and quickly covered his face, probably from surprise.
The foul play revealed his character.
I narrowed my eyes.
“Just speak like this. How do you know my identity?”
The boy’s eyes, which had been flustered because he was shy, became watery.
He continued speaking with a tearful expression on his face.
“Well, this is the guild I’m planning to join, so of course I’ll research…”
“You did research? How?”
“Rolls newspaper…”
It may be natural to read news about Vallois in newspapers, but there was something strange.
The Free State is a country found by runaway nobles who escaped execution in the Rolls Empire.
To hide their identity, they modified the grammatical system to be used in the Free State.
So a language similar to the Rolls Empire but different in texture was born.
I heard ‘water’ is called ‘morong’.
Even the word ‘slave’ in the Imperial language meant ‘free people’ with the same pronunciation in the Free State.
If you don’t know the difference, communication is possible, but sometimes it can lead to fatal misunderstandings.
In particular, newspapers contained a lot of technical words and were difficult to interpret.\
So does that mean he understands the Imperial language?
“Did you learn the Imperial language?”
I asked back in frustration, yet the boy turned his head.
“The I-Imperial language… isn’t f-fun…”
Ah, how frustrating.
I can’t take off his glasses because I feel like I’ll get annoyed.
“Then how did you know!”
“H-Hiiik. C-Calm d…”
The boy, who was almost fainting, clutched his chest.
“I m-made a t-translat…”
“What…?”
It was then that the shadow disappeared from my face.
“What did you make?”
“Why should I learn the R-Rolls I-Imperial language, I could just make a translatooaaar!”
I was so frustrated that I took off his glasses, and the boy, whose expression changed with gradation, jumped up.
“Hey! Don’t take people’s things and crumple them!”
“You made the translator?”
But right now, all I could hear was the translator.
‘…I understand why the big guys held him by force.’
Is talent separate from personality?
The translator that the boy created out of boredom became a huge hit as a business item in the Free State five years later and became an essential import for the Rolls Empire.
I think the boy in front of me is probably the inventor.
‘Wait, he’s the person who created a translator in my past life?’
It was a role that influenced the original story.
I groaned and tried to remember, yet I couldn’t think of anything.
I decided to move on for now.
“Did you really make the translator?”
“Well, I made one because I thought it would continue to be useful… Then what…”
But he, who was wheezing, suddenly lowered his gaze.
He had no confidence in his gamecock-like tone of voice.
“…Can’t you just leave the guild?”
I asked earnestly, without any anger this time.
“I don’t even have money to feed my younger siblings lunch today. If I go now, I can do some manual labor, but double labor is prohibited under the guild contract.”
“…You’re wasting your skills and doing dirty work?”
“It’s better than working without getting paid.”
I flinched at the resentful tone.
In the awkward silence, I felt the boy’s gaze.
The highest he expected from me now was withdrawal.
…If I had had interest.
If I had intervened just a little, this wouldn’t have happened.
Even though I wanted to make an excuse, I had no choice but to keep my mouth shut.
Because it’s true that the guild was ruined due to my indifference.
‘I can’t believe such a talented kid is working hard because he doesn’t get paid a penny…’
Voluntary withdrawal rate: 45%.
How many people have had their hopes dashed because of my irresponsibility, I wonder.
Did they also turn around with boy-like expressions every time they left the guild?
I clenched my fists until they turned white.
“I’ll change it within today.”
“…Huh?”
The boy’s eyes opened tentatively at the firm promise.
“What is your name?”
“…Dei.”
“Alright, Dei. Just watch for today. If nothing changes even after waiting until today…”
Of course, it wasn’t just a promise.
I flicked a gold coin in my pocket.
“Today’s daily wage of hard labor. I’ll give you three times as much.”
Dei’s eyes wavered as he absentmindedly grabbed the gold coin that had bounced around.
“…Really?”
“Yeah. I will also calculate all the commission rewards you haven’t received up to this point. Of course, only after I find out what happened.”
Unfortunately, comforting someone when they’re having a hard time wasn’t the Vallois way.
Since I was a noble, all I had was money.
But the important thing is that the person in front of me also didn’t want comfort that was poetry-like.
Giving and receiving what we can give to each other.
What if I do what the executives didn’t do?
“…Let’s go to headquarters.”
As he grabbed the gold coin and tried to walk straight ahead, I, surprised, grabbed his hand and turned.
“That’s a trash can.”
“Ah, yeah?”
Dei, embarrassed, put on his glasses.
So, although clumsy, we slowly walked in the right direction.
