Published: September 4, 2025
※2016/4/3 Typo corrections made.
This is Satou. Back when I was a student, I often did part-time jobs, but incidents involving money troubles were rare. Maybe it was because I made sure to avoid jobs with training periods or strange payroll systems.
◇
In front of the gate, five men and women were having an argument.
“I’m telling you, we can’t pay the city entry tax, so we want the reward paid upfront!”
“Why should we go through so much trouble for you?”
“Right? You said you’d be useful and asked to be taken along, but you ended up being no help at all.”
“You got tired right away when asked to carry the luggage, and drank all the water by yourself.”
“And to top it off, you kept slashing the corpse of the Crimson Fox we finally took down, ruining the pelt.”
The four women jeered and dismissed the protests of the one-armed boy.
In a story, this would be the part where everyone sides with the boy, but for some reason, I can’t help feeling the women are making more sense here.
Maybe the boy was a burden, but he was desperate and kept pressing on. He doesn’t give up easily—
“Fine, then come to the tavern next to the buying place by sundown today. If you make it, I’ll pay you three Large Copper Coins, the promised reward for six days.”
“Wait! I killed four goblins myself. Don’t forget my four copper coins commission.”
“Come on, you just swooped in and stole the goblins we nearly finished off, didn’t you?”
“How can you even demand a reward after that? You’re really shameless.”
“Still, I was the one who killed them!”
The tall female leader shrugs as she looks down on the boy pestering her and states a compromise.
“Alright, alright. But you didn’t kill all four by yourself; it’s half. I’ll add two copper coins. You better make it to the tavern by evening.”
The women around sneer at the relieved boy with wicked smiles.
“Heh heh, if you don’t hurry, all that money will turn into booze!”
“Alright, let’s bet on whether we finish drinking it all before the kid arrives.”
“Sounds good. One Large Copper Coin if we finish it all.”
“I’ll put five copper coins on finishing it off.”
“Hahaha, that’s no bet at all.”
It really feels like they’d drink it dry if it takes too long.
Apparently, the boy felt the same and hurried off to negotiate with the gatekeepers.
◇
“I told you, didn’t you hear me? Just let us through here and we’ll come back to pay properly.”
“Hmph, a gatekeeper can’t work if he listens to the words of Demon Hunters. Why don’t you hunt some beast you can trade for tribute by evening?”
“You can’t catch beasts without trapping tools.”
“Then just give up.”
Hmm, so they can pay tribute. I didn’t know that.
Noticing our carriage approaching, the gatekeeper shoved the boy aside. The boy tried to dart into the city, but another gatekeeper caught his leg and slammed him to the ground.
“Well, welcome to Puta Town. Don’t recognize you—are you peddlers?”
“No, just passing through on a trip.”
I showed my noble silver identity plate to the gatekeeper.
“My apologies. You’re a noble lord, aren’t you?”
“While we’re at it, noble lord, this is the remote town of Puta, you know? Where exactly are you headed? Don’t tell me you’re going to cross the mountains to steal wyvern eggs?”
“Hey, Guts.”
Curious about the gatekeepers’ words, I checked the map and sure enough, there are wyverns in the mountains ahead. I wonder if their eggs are really that big.
“I plan to cross the mountain, but I didn’t know about the wyverns. Are their eggs tasty?”
“Maybe incredibly tasty, but they sell for a high price. It’s rumored that if you take them to the Royal Capital or the Silga Kingdom beyond the mountains, you can trade them for gold coins of equal weight.”
“I haven’t seen one in person, but they’re apparently used as mounts for dragon cavalry.”
If an egg weighs 500 grams, that’s about 150 gold coins.
The Silga Kingdom is apparently a small country beyond the eastern mountain range. By the way, the Forest of Boruenan we’re heading to lies beyond the southeastern mountains.