Relieved that I could finally return home, I hastily stood up from my seat.
I took a towel out of my bag and scrubbed the seat thoroughly.
Even as I wiped the chair, the girl kept offering me more food, but after a few rejections, she soon gave up.
After cleaning the chair and was about to sling my bag over my shoulder, I realized my clothes were cleaner than usual.
“Um—”
“Yes?”
“I want to change into my own clothes…”
The clothes I was wearing were luxurious, so much so that it made me feel nervous.
If I damaged them, I might have to pay hundreds of thousands of won in compensation.
It was clear that the girl was using these clothes to control me.
“But it’s a gift. Don’t you want to keep wearing it?”
The girl insisted that I keep wearing the clothes.
She was a dangerous woman I couldn’t let my guard down around.
“I prefer my own clothes.”
“Really? Weren’t the ones you were wearing a bit too worn out?”
“Yes. But they’re my treasure.”
To call such tattered and worn clothes a treasure seemed ridiculous, but I had no choice.
I had to climb a mountain to get to where my tent was.
If the clothes got dirty with dust or snagged on branches, it would be the end of my life.
“Okay… Just wait a moment, alright?”
“Sure.”
I looked around the hotel while the girl talked to an employee.
In a corner of the restaurant, I spotted the man who had hit me on the back of the head.
“Ah.”
Our eyes met.
Startled, I was about to look away when he turned his head first..
‘Huh?’
This was the man who always glared at me.
Why was he avoiding my gaze now?
Confused, I decided not to dwell on it, as it was better than getting into a conflict.
There was something more important right in front of me.
Empty bottles.
Objects worth between a hundred and a hundred and thirty won each were piled up on a table.
Just picking a few to sell could make me a fortune.
“Wow.”
When I was captured by the slave girl, I wondered what would become of me.
But maybe you really do reap rewards after trials.
Swallowing hard, I walked towards the bottles.
I estimated I could fit about four beer bottles in my bag.
Just as I reached for a bottle, I heard footsteps approaching from behind.
Perhaps because of my new animal-like ears, I was very sensitive to sounds.
“What are you doing?”
I only tilted my head back to the sound of the girl’s voice.
It felt like being caught stealing precious jewels, even though they were just discarded bottles.
“Bo–bottles…”
“Bottles?”
“Be–beer bottles… a hundred and thirty won each…”
I was too startled to speak properly.
Before anything else could happen, I placed the bottle back on the table.
“Oh, were you going to take the bottles to sell them?”
“Yes…”
She’ll surely say it’s not allowed.
As I gazed at the empty bottles with regret, the girl began placing them one by one into my bag.
“It seems like they won’t all fit.”
“No–four is enough!”
I quickly showed her four fingers, indicating the number of bottles I needed.
Perhaps she didn’t understand the value of these empty bottles.
“Okay, I’ll help you put four in. Then you can sell more, right?”
“Yes…”
Four bottles in the bag.
Four more in the girl’s hands.
And one more in my arms.
In a short time, I could make more than a thousand won.
✱✱✱
— Yeomyeong Guild —
There’s a convenience store in all kinds of weird places, even the headquarters of the strongest guild in South Korea.
The convenience store clerk, Joo Sang-wook, was scanning the interior with tired eyes.
It was a busy time of day that the manager loved, yet there was not a single customer.
‘It’s quiet for a change.’
He decided to enjoy the rare moment of peace, knowing it would soon get busy again.
As Joo Sang-wook yawned, a customer entered, and he quickly put on a business smile.
“Welcome…?”
The person who entered the convenience store was a familiar face to Joo Sang-wook.
It was Han Yeoreum, a top-ranking member of the powerful Yeomyeong Guild.
‘Huh?’
Working at the store, Joo Sang-wook often saw famous members of the Yeomyeong Guild.
So, seeing Yeoreum was not a surprise, but this time he widened his eyes unusually.
It was because of the young beast-kin girl following her.
‘What’s that?’
Beast-kin is a rarity in South korea, numbering less than fifty in the whole country.