/
“Wait a minute.”
I glanced outside with a smile on my face and spoke quickly to Raven in a low voice.
“Ray, will you stay in the room? Don’t make a sound.”
“……Why?”
I spoke nonchalantly, trying not to express my embarrassment in his wonder-filled golden eyes.
“There’s someone that’s supposed to come by today, but he’s not the kind of person I want to show much.”
Bang!
– Hey, Evelyn! Open the door!!
“Look at that. It doesn’t sound like a good person just by hearing his voice. Right? Hurry up.”
“…I get it.”
Raven, who had moved his mouth as if to ask a question, frowned slightly, and after glancing at me, he nodded his head and entered the room.
“I beg you, never, never, ever make a noise! You must promise!”
“Yes.”
After Raven entered the room, I took a deep breath and made up my mind.
“Whoo.”
In Evelyn’s memory, there was a clearly visible silhouette of the voice coming from outside.
‘That’s the merchant.’
A merchant trying to run Evelyn into debt to make her a slave.
It also matched with the voice of the slave merchant I almost ran into when I went to the large village next door to buy a book.
Perhaps that person was the merchant Evelyn sold Raven to in the original work.
‘Looking at my memory, they seem to sell general merchandise as well.’
He was basically a merchant who handles slaves, so the quality of everything else was not very good.
“Oh really. I didn’t expect him to come so early in the morning.”
I sketched out the actions I had to do step by step in my head.
‘I just have to cut it off so he won’t come anymore.’
If he sees Raven here, it was clear that the merchant would target Raven even if I didn’t sell him.
‘But Raven doesn’t have citizenship.’
The people of the North family were nobles of the Empire, but they were the only family that did not receive Imperial citizenship.
In other words, the current Raven doesn’t even have the minimum safety device.
‘He’s been chased by the imperial family, so it would be better if he doesn’t have citizenship.’
This is because if you have citizenship, the Wizard of the Imperial Court can locate you at any time. Talk about a nasty situation.
“Okay, for now.”
After I buy what I need to buy today, I have to take care of it well so that he doesn’t want to come back again.
I didn’t react until the thumping got rougher.
Let’s make it so he doesn’t have time to spare.
– Evelyn! Hey! Are you not inside?
Noisy guy.
I stared at the door and bit my lips.
That human. He’s a person who knows Evelyn’s situation quite well. Orphaned, poor, terminally ill suffering from a disease that requires painkillers.
So, if I tell him not to come anymore he’d be suspicious of me.
‘He might even suspect I’m hiding something.’
So, angrily suggesting for him not to come anymore is dismissed.
‘In the first place that person’s purpose is to force the sale of painkillers, so I’ll roughly meet that condition.’
And the second goal is to make him give up on inducing me into debt. If I say I would not go into debt even if I died of starvation, there would be nothing he could do.
‘Imperial citizenship is very useful in this case.’
If it weren’t for that, whatever decisions I made as a young child would not have had any effect.
With that in mind, I finished preparing my mind for what I had to do in advance. Then I took a more intimidating stance and sharply shouted.
“Going! I said I’m going!”
Just like the original cynical and gloomy Evelyn. After doing my best to look exactly like the original, I opened the door.
“Are you inside? Then what took you so long to open the door, wait, talk it out!”
Bang.
And kicked him.
“You are noisy! Is this your house?”
“Ouch!”
The slave dealer groaned after being hit in the leg soon after I opened the door. I kicked him one more time, and then stood up crookedly.
“Agh!”
The slave dealer, who was grumbling, stared at me and shouted.
“What are you doing, you crazy bitch!”
He was a man in his mid-30s with a skinny goatee bear and a mouse-like face. As expected, he’s the slave trader.
I snorted.
“You must be the one who’s crazy. Who told you to scream like that at my door? If I die because of the noise, are you going to take responsibility? Then take it!”
Since Evelyn’s personality was the type to bite the flesh until it falls off, the slave trader only sighed with a look of avoiding dirty things.
From what I remember, he once got beaten up by Evelyn.
“Sheesh, Evelyn.”
He is someone who knows the original foul-tempered Evelyn, so there should be no sense of incongruity.
I guess I’m doing well, right?
“You… your foul temper is getting richer by the day. You must have run out of money. I thought you would have lost some energy from starving… or is it because you are sicker?”
This rude seller. Should I just send him right back because I feel dirty after hearing this?
“Ha. If you’re going to say something like that, get out of there.”
As I hardened my face and picked up a wooden bowl near me, the slave trader grudgingly ground his teeth and reluctantly said.
“Okay, okay. I was wrong, put it down. All right? More than that.”
“……”
“Have you thought about it?”
……What?
I didn’t remember this.
As soon as I frowned without answering, the slave trader smiled a little servilely and winked his eyes.
It was the same as saying, I’ll cut you some slack because I need something.
I put down the wooden bowl and showed a sincere reaction.
“Ugh, did you just wink? Do you want me to die from throwing up? Are you out of your mind?”
“C-Cof, no, I didn’t come all the way here for that.”
What do you mean?
I stood glaring at him and he said with a rotten expression on his face.
“This wench, you mean you don’t even remember, do you? I’ve been getting high-end painkillers for you myself. It’s hard to find this, don’t you know how busy I must have been just by not being here for a while?”
Aha.
Only then did I understand the situation, raising one corner of my mouth and answering.
“I didn’t tell you to save me, but now you want to show it off?”
“Ahahaha, this damn gi-, no hoo, Evelyn. Let’s look at the bright side, okay? The low-level potion you always buy is the lowest level for painkillers. But here is what I brought.”
He pulled out a potion in a crystal-shaped bottle from his pocket.
“It’s an advanced potion. Look.”
For information, that’s something you can’t buy even if you sell Evelyn’s house.
“I’ll cut you some slack, what do you think about this, huh?”
When I showed a smile, the slave dealer exaggeratedly bent his eyes.
“I mean, especially because I’m thinking of our long-standing bond, I will give you a good discount. This one is a top-grade potion. No matter what kind of pain you have, it will make you forget about it.”
Looking closely, there seems to have drugs mixed in it.
With that thought in mind, I narrowed my eyes, and the slave trader grinned, saying that he had even packed the things he usually bought.
“What do you think? Doesn’t your mind change when you see it? You can’t buy this by such a price anywhere else, you know?”
I pricked my ears.
Then I blew my fingertips to express my disinterest. The slave’s forehead seemed to be stamped with a crossroad to show how much he was grimacing.
‘More than that, Raven is probably listening to everything inside.’
I tried to hide the disease as much as possible, but that guy’s mouth just spilled the beans.
Anyway.
What he wanted now was for Evelyn to buy high-end painkillers.
‘It would also be like borrowing money while using the house as collateral.’
Then if I couldn’t pay it, he’d have me sign a slave contract.
That was a typical method of enslaving commoners who were difficult to touch because of their official identity.
Evelyn’s appearance was unusual, so it was obvious what he was aiming for.
Because silver hair is rare. Even though it is rare, it is a reason to be rejected in this town, but it is seen as a treasure in the eyes of slave traders.
‘It’s a good thing that Evelyn didn’t fall for it.’
But it’s not good to sell people in her place.
‘If he had known Evelyn had an incurable disease, he wouldn’t take the long road of inducing me into debt.’
I replied to the slave dealer, laughing inwardly.
“I won’t buy it. I told you last time that I don’t have money.”
I probably told you, right?