#016
“Since we’re one team, we’ll split the earnings fairly. Look, how many of us are there in total?”
I glanced around briefly. Muchi and his lackeys. There were more of them than when I saw them at the guild.
“Seven people.”
“Right. Eight including you.”
“…You’re dividing it into eighths?”
“No, no. There are two more. Members who handle other business. If we’re the muscle, there need to be guys who manage and calculate things too.”
“……”
It was absurd. Even if the things I gathered today sold for 1 million rual, only 100,000 rual would fall into my hands.
“Shall we sign?”
Despite my clear expression of refusal, Muchi grinned and thrust forward what seemed like a pre-made contract. The contract written in tiny letters was obviously full of toxic clauses even at a glance. According to this, I wouldn’t even get a full 10%.
Equipment rental fees, transportation usage fees, medical costs if injuries occurred, transaction fees, and various other costs would all be deducted first, then divided into tenths. Moreover, whether one or two people were assigned as my actual escorts, it would unconditionally be one-tenth because we were “one team.” It was a structure where I might end up shouldering a pile of debt instead of getting even pocket change.
I kept my mouth shut and just glared at the contract. Anyway, it wasn’t a situation where jumping up and down saying I couldn’t make such an absurd contract would work. I pretended to read the contract carefully, but my head was full of thoughts about how to safely escape this predicament.
“You must be hungry after working all day, right? We have plenty of time, so read it thoroughly while eating this.”
Thinking I was a rat trapped in poison anyway, Muchi smiled leisurely and pulled out a hamburger from somewhere to hand to me. For a moment, I almost lost my mind at the smell that stimulated my sense of smell. It was real food! The quite generously filled contents were real meat patty and real vegetables, not monster meat. I couldn’t hide it – saliva went down my throat with a gulp. I almost unconsciously reached out my hand.
“…No thanks.”
I forced my brain to resist. I wasn’t a child, and I had enough awareness not to carelessly accept food from guys like this. I barely managed to pull my body back and refuse, though I couldn’t take my eyes off the sandwich.
“What, worried I might have poisoned it? Why would I play such tricks with precious food? In times like these, you’d be punished by heaven for doing that.”
Muchi split the hamburger in half with his large hands. Then he shoved the bigger half into his mouth all at once and chewed roughly. Sauce spilled out of his mouth, but Muchi scraped it up with his finger and licked it clean. It was a scene I would normally find disgusting, but even watching it, I couldn’t help but salivate. The delicious smell vibrated and the crispy sound of vegetables being chewed stimulated my ears. I felt like my senses were several times more sensitive than usual.
“See? Now eat.”
Muchi pushed the remaining half toward my mouth. The fire aroma of the beef patty and the salty sauce seeping between my lips confused my senses. I was on the verge of dizziness. I couldn’t bring myself to open my mouth, but I also couldn’t push it away, so I just stayed like that.
“Ah, shibal, seriously.”
One of the lackeys suddenly interrupted with rough language.
“Why are you treating him like a woman? Hey, why would we put drugs in this? Food is precious and drugs are precious too! Shit, we have our pride too – would seven of us need to waste expensive drugs because we can’t handle one little bastard like you? Forget seven, even I alone could subdue a scrawny guy like you with one arm tied. We’re being nice to you and this shibal is looking down on us.”
I had no idea where his point went off track to make him so angry. Was this a good cop, bad cop strategy?
Anyway, he might start swinging to hit me, so I quickly bit into the hamburger. Honestly, I was scared of that guy swinging his fists in the air… but that was an excuse – I just wanted to eat it. At least seeing Muchi stuff it in his own mouth, even if he put something in it, it probably wasn’t poison that would kill me immediately. If the goal was to use me as a slave anyway, he wouldn’t be thinking of killing me.
And the hamburger that entered my mouth… was truly heavenly. The rich, savory beef patty’s juices, the deep cheese aroma, and the crispy texture of vegetables all harmonized together to make it the most delicious hamburger I’d ever eaten in my life. It was regrettable enough that Muchi had eaten more than half of it. I couldn’t tell if it was really delicious or if it was because I hadn’t eaten proper food for quite a while. Probably the latter.
Making my resistance until just before seem pointless, Muchi grinned watching me hurriedly wolf down the hamburger. Regardless, I even accepted and drank the beverage in a small bottle he offered. Of course, that was also after confirming he took a sip himself first.
I couldn’t understand why guys forcing a fraudulent contract would give me food, but honestly, I wasn’t in a position to be picky about this and that. I had starved yesterday, and all I’d eaten today were two carrots. I had found some wild berries and gathered them, but since I couldn’t know the exact level of contamination, it was risky to eat them carelessly.
Having walked all day, caught mobs, and gathered in that state, my stamina was in a precarious condition. To do anything, I needed to raise my stamina a bit more first. Something like this, for instance.
“Ugh!”
While pretending to scribble something with the pen Muchi had given me and sign, I secretly threw dirt I had gathered at his face and simultaneously stabbed his hand with the pen. While Muchi screamed and crouched down, I bolted up and ran frantically.
Since I had obediently accepted the food and Muchi was guarding beside me, the lackeys had let their guard down. They were scattered around doing other things and only belatedly screamed after confirming I was running away.
“Catch that bastard!”
I was confident in running if nothing else. While sprinting at full speed, I checked the mini map I had up on one side.
Most of the people taking the bus seemed to have already moved. Human-shaped markers were swarming at the bus stop location. But the markers thought to be bandit groups hadn’t disappeared from various spots in between. With no time to think about this and that, as I ran avoiding them and Muchi’s gang as much as possible, I was gradually running toward the east of the fields, in a direction I hadn’t been to.
The problem was that the sky was getting dark. When darkness fell, it would be good for avoiding human groups, but another worry arose. I raised my gaze to the top of the map. From deep inside the fields, red groups were continuously increasing and moving downward.
‘Monsters…’
Too much time had been wasted while being caught by Muchi’s gang. The monsters that appeared at night would be clearly different from the daytime small fry. They weren’t opponents I could handle with just a hoe even if my level had gone up a bit. Thanks to getting the hamburger and juice, my stamina had recovered somewhat, but it was wearing down faster than expected due to running at full speed. I was out of breath. My heart and lungs felt like they would burst. Please just hold on.
How long had I been running?
‘Huh?’
Muchi’s gang had disappeared from the map at some point.
“Huff, gasp.”
Breathing as if I might vomit, I stopped running. The spot where they had been was empty, but there were no signs of them chasing after me either.
‘What? Did they give up already?’
They wouldn’t be the type to give up this easily, would they?
‘Are they thinking to just wait and see at the village?’
That was possible, but no matter how broken the social safety net was, law still existed in the village. Police openly existed and the guild’s hunters also helped maintain order. So if they were caught forcing illegal contracts there, they would not only be expelled from the guild but also kicked out of the village.
If that happened, they would have to live confronting mobs outside the village day and night. No matter how well-armed they were, constantly being on guard against monsters was impossible with ordinary human nerves.
‘Did they switch direction to monster hunting?’
They would have been thinking that night monsters would pour out since the sun had set. Maybe I was just a lucky catch and their original purpose was monster hunting. Anyway, catching monsters that come out at night would be more profitable than random grass scraps.
And they might be thinking they could catch me again anytime.
Thinking that way, perhaps feeling relieved, my legs suddenly became heavy. As night fell around me, my vision also suddenly felt like it was getting dark. My heart began beating irregularly and my breathing started getting short. Was it because I suddenly ran too much?
‘No, that’s not it…’
Anxiety suddenly surged. My body getting heavier and my vision blurring were similar to symptoms when the stamina bar was worn down, but these were symptoms that would only appear in crisis situations when the stamina bar had about 5% left. My stamina was still around 25%. Moreover, my heart beating strangely like this was different from the aftermath of an all-out sprint.
‘Shibal, did they really put something in the food?’
Maybe they had taken antidotes beforehand and set it up.
Just as that thought occurred to me, suddenly something burst out from a side path with a vroooom and pulled up beside me. It was a motorcycle.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
