.
A dark and damp place.
The six men and one woman who emerged into their hideout were arguing.
“Shut up, fool.”
Sewers, where polluted water flowed and mice lived in.
“So do we only fail? We did succeed a few times. Why are you complaining?”
“There’s no harvest today! Today!”
Bottom Solia.
How do beggars earn money from a nobles’ event?
“I disguise myself as a poor girl surrounded by tough men and enact an unjust scenario! Then! The noble bastards like to step forward saying ‘what are you doing to a lady!?’ Then I trick the nobles, darting in and out!”
As a woman, who was the most outstandingly dressed among the beggars due to her role as ‘bait,’ flicked her tongue in and out like a snake; a man who was walking next to her clicked his tongue.
“Oh? Why are you clicking your tongue? Today’s work, if we think about it, didn’t we fail because of your acting Hemil?”
“We failed because of me? No! That’s not right!”
The beggar called Hemil by the woman rebutted.
“Hah?”
At Hemil’s rebuttal Beta, who was the bait in the group, filled her face with killing intent and threatened.
“What? Rat? Has this bitch gone crazy?”
The rest of the beggars shook their heads at the two people gritting their teeth.
It seemed that they were used to this sort of thing.
“Anyway, if we keep going like this then we can’t fill the quota. If we’re going to use that reject properly then we have to succeed at least twice tomorrow you know?”
A beggar who had just barely calmed the two down pointed at someone who was crouching in the corner of the hideout.
“Ah, yeah… It’s a reject from the magic tower that we went through a lot of trouble to get.”
Her hair was wet with effluent water.
She had hands that were missing around two fingers, as if they were cut off…
The person, who had an appearance so bad that if someone were to look at her they would be cursed with all kinds of bad luck, was the beggars’ joker card.
“Trash is trash, so we need to quickly use it before the expiration date.”
She was a card that allowed them to swallow it forcefully.
The person who was sitting in the corner with a horrendous appearance was a secret weapon that they could use to swallow up the foolish nobles that they tricked.
“What? Who would show interest to a bitch who can’t even wear a ring due to her missing fingers?”
“Ha, that’s true too!”
The beggars looked at their ‘tool’ and laughed.
***
“…Oh, you’re here?”
Riley, who came back to his room after finishing his tour, saw Ian, who was sitting on his bed drinking black sugar beer, and sent a greeting.
“Young Master…”
There wasn’t enough alcohol in the black sugar beer to intoxicate someone.
At Ian’s face which was somehow flushed, Riley’s shoulders shook.
“Why are you doing this?”
Because they rented two rooms, currently there was only Riley and Ian there.
It was somehow awkward.
“…Ian?”
Or was he angry about how they had left him behind for the entire day and went off to play in Left Solia?
“Maybe…”
Riley wished that if it was one of the two, it would be the latter, and asked.
“No, what do you mean angry? Why would I get angry? Just because of that.”
Riley who went towards it to hang his outer clothes realised that the area near him smelt of alcohol.
“…”
Riley discovered the ‘Capital’s swordsmanship tournament spectator ticket’ in Ian’s jacket pocket and looked at Ian again.
“Really… I wanted to bring the ‘Competing ticket’ but… Keueug!”
Glug! Glug!
As if his throat didn’t even sting, Ian swallowed the drink which was still over half full in a single breath and went ‘puha!’.
“You did well.”
Instead, it was changing as if he was about to cry.
“…Do you know what happened at Castle Solia today?”
Something must’ve happened to Ian who went there for the spectating tickets.
“Listen. In the afternoon…!”
Riley who was tired due to touring Left Solia for half the day was about to lie down in bed but was caught by the shoulder.
“…Eug.”
As if he was reminiscing, he started to talk about what had happened.
‘Excuse me, but where are you from?’
‘I-Iphelleta? Did you really come from Iphelleta?’
‘Spectator ticket… Are you sure you want the spectator ticket?’
‘…Give me the spectator ticket.’
“Aah, yeah. Well done.”
Riley cut off Ian’s reminiscing and tried to get out.
“Really, I was so embarrassed that it wasn’t the competing ticket but the spectator ticket! The problem is…that wasn’t the end! Keuheug!”
“Gah, just let off me a bit…”
As if he wouldn’t let go Ian held onto Riley’s clothes and started sniffing, then started to talk again.
‘…Hmm?’
‘Haha! Seeing as how well you are, it seems that it’ll be quite a while until you go huh? Wow… It’s like the time when our names were famous as mercenaries was just yesterday!’
‘…Yeah. I currently work as a butler in the Iphelleta Family. I’m not a noble.’
‘It is regretful but it is also to atone for my sins. Falling in love with someone and raising a kid, I am not suited for such a life.
‘E-Eh?’
‘…’
‘…’
‘No, it’s… Sorry. I just remembered something urgent so I need to go.’
‘Keuheum! When are the spectating tickets coming out? Is it far?’
‘…!’
‘That’s…’
‘Lazy Sword? Was it Lazy Sword? Because he’s slothful…’’
‘That’s enough.’
Riley didn’t really cut it off.
“…Heueoeoeong!!”
It was cut off because Ian started crying loudly.
“You wouldn’t know how embarrassed I was! In front of my old companion! The humiliation! Who would look at a person called the mercenary hero with those pitying eyes! Eoheuheoeong!”
Riley’s expression slowly scrunched up as it seemed that Ian’s complaints wasn’t going to end.
‘…Ah.’
Riley sighed as he buried his face in his hands as he didn’t know when he could sleep anymore.