Living as an Unemployed in Another World

32 – 2. The Path of the Dagger (13)

13.

The commotion generally subsided when I applauded the hall, including those who had come to the front of the room, saying that he was a real knight and nothing suspicious. Seeing that I returned unscathed, he threw another topic of conversation to the adventurers who were still suspicious of him. Even now, the bottom of the stairs is full of voices teasing Tulbo Wick.

On the other hand, I called the inn family to the second floor and briefly explained the situation without mentioning heresy or anything, and only then did the stiff atmosphere relieve to some extent. No, it was not a disguised thief, but rather a paladin dispatched to catch the thief, so everyone seemed to welcome it.

“Sorry for doubting you. The atmosphere of the fort is so upsetting. If there is a paladin, where else would it be as reliable?”

As I listened to Mr. Cooper’s words, I nodded. Well, I don’t know when it’s an enemy, but when it’s an ally, where else is there a person who is as reliable as that. No matter how strong an adventurer is, in the end their job is to defeat monsters, but knights were the ones who protected humans from all sorts of threats.

No, more than that, everyone might have a good impression of being a priest who believes in the doctrine of an orderly god. Since I believe in a god who puts goodness as a value, I have no doubt that the god is also a good person. Should I believe in a god of order? Even when I fell into this strange world, even when I ran away from the witch, even though he had never helped me before, just in case. The moment you believe, will you walk only on the solid road ahead?

There was a clicking sound. Oh what a surprise He was staring at me through the helmet, as if he could see I was lost in my own thoughts.

Come to think of it, we were so engrossed in the deep story that we couldn’t even speak to each other. The other side probably already knows my name, but I asked with an embarrassed expression what my name was. Then Celine’s spicy palm flew right up. Ouch.

“Oh, why?”

“Jin, it is rude for a commoner to ask a knight for his name.”

Did you? I had hardly ever met anyone who was not a commoner, let alone a knight, so I didn’t know much about it. Among the people I knew, Frederick was said to be the least noble, but at least he had no qualms about that. Well, as long as you work in the guild, you probably don’t have to be tired of commoner adventurers.

By the way, does that apply equally to people in the church? I looked at Celine suspiciously, but he also seemed a little nervous. Hagisa, isn’t that guy also where did he get that kind of knowledge after all?

Anyway, I don’t know when we’re alone, but now I have a lot of eyes. When I rubbed my sore arm and apologized for not knowing, he shook his head from side to side with his helmet making a clicking sound, then hurriedly shook his hand. Oh, let’s see what’s going on.

I thought priests were a profession with merit in that they had a good image to the public and used miracles that were out of reach of criminals. Not to mention, the paladins are equipped with armed forces, so they must be more powerful than ordinary disciples. I felt the light heart that I had to believe in the religion I ate just before flew away.

After a moment of light silence, Mr. Cooper rubbed his hands together and spoke up.

“Well, it’s nothing special, but I won’t charge you for accommodation while you’re here. Please consider it a small courtesy.”

Oh. This is a rare move for a salty Mr. Cooper. After all, the safety of the family is more important than a few coins. If you can make a good impression on a paladin with a small amount of money, that is the best business for him. He seemed to be shaking his head from side to side as a sign of refusal, but when I saw him face to face, he nodded cautiously when I shook my head a couple of times. There are only 20 cathedral knights in the whole kingdom, but after talking to them, they don’t seem very dignified. For some reason, I felt that he was a little friendly——slap!

“Excuse me!”

“No… ….”

So what? As for Celine, as I was looking straight at him, out of the blue she slapped her palm again. Don’t you just want to hit me? I stroked my left arm with an unfair expression.

Cancel what feels familiar. Suddenly, our inn mascot became ferocious with me. I stared at the thick helm, where I couldn’t even see the outline of my face.

Nothing happened after that. I always asked them to let me know if there was an adventurer suspected of being a thief, but there had to be someone like that in the first place.

Occasionally, newcomers who start staying at an inn with little money, saying they want to leave the house and become adventurers, sometimes come to visit——of course, when they run out of money, they go home before they even go to the guild——except for those who are strangers. It is very rare to visit this inn for the first time. In a word, they are people who know everything.

In the early evening, everyone left for their respective battlefields, and the hall was empty. I rested my chin on the counter and yawned a couple of times.

Then, I suddenly felt a presence from the stairs. Is it him? When I turned my head, unexpectedly long pink hair caught my attention. It was a mummy.

“Hello.”

I accepted that languid greeting by waving his hand. As a result of watching for several days, Mira, who confessed that she was not an adventurer herself, did not seldom leave the inn as she had said. Usually wakes up later than me and goes to bed early. There is no way to know what he is doing all day in that small room, but he seems like a person who is far from being diligent in many ways.

It’s a rogue (thief) class that has good skills despite being drunk for several hours a day. I looked at the wanted letter and Mira’s face for a moment, but I shook my head because I knew it was a stupid idea myself.

It has already been revealed that the thief is a man, and although there is a possibility that he may have changed his appearance, is it possible to disguise himself as a person of a different gender with a completely different appearance like that all the time? Besides, I don’t know if his behavior was manly, Mira is the guy who made fun of me by making skinship without hesitation from the first meeting with her. I can’t imagine how many men I’ve been possessed by while living as a woman.

There’s no way that such a mummy could be a thief with a bounty, but she’s not kidding, she can risk my entire fortune. As I was making my own conclusions in her head, Mira naturally pulled a chair and sat down right in front of the counter, not at a table.

“I am hungry.”

“Before the opening of business.”

“What is that? It’s okay to sell leftovers.”

“Unfortunately, the pot is empty.”

“Um, can I make something for you?”

“It’s annoying… ….”

“I’m hungry.”

“What can I do?”

We looked at each other intently without taking a single step back from each other, and soon burst into laughter without saying who came first. A really childlike conversation. There was no such thing as a fluttering vocabulary that could be exchanged between a grown-up man and woman. I don’t think it was enough to make me cry, but Mira said to me, wiping her eyes.

“Hey, Jineun… ….”

“Brother.”

“Ah, look at me. It’s because it’s awkward to say honorifics now.”

“Hmm, I was wondering if I could keep listening to my brother.”

“Puhehehe, what is that? Did you have that kind of taste?”

Okay then. Even though I have a 17-year-old girl who eats and sleeps under the same roof, do you really know the deep despair in my heart that I gave up on because I didn’t think she would treat me like an older brother? She has never really had a younger sister, so I won’t deny that she has a romance.

“Or not. What was he trying to say?”

“What is it? There are no customers anyway, so think slowly.”

“That…… Ah, my dagger!”

A dagger? Ah. Come to think of it, I had something to give Mira. Thinking that it was a relief that I didn’t have to go up and down again, I handed Mira the wooden model I had placed on the cupboard instead of going around the counter.

“…… Were you ready?”

“I thought you would come down anyway.”

“Hmm, hmm. I see wow…… It’s more plausible than I thought.”

Mira rolled the dagger model I roughly imitated back and forth in her palm, and in an instant, she grabbed her handle and cut through the air. I knew she was a good thief, but she couldn’t keep up with her hand movements unless she focused properly.

“It’s not strong enough to be used as a weapon. As you know.”

“Yes. I just tried it. Oh, how much did you say?”

“…… One shilling.”

“Expensive! I will stay here for another week!”

“Just kidding. Just take it.”

I smiled and said to her protesting. In the first place, sculpting is just a hobby to pass the time, not something that I am seriously trying to raise a lump sum of money. Working to earn money, isn’t that what an unemployed person would do? And if you put a price on it when you like it like that, I felt like I was putting a price on that smile for no reason.

“Are you okay? Still… ….”

“When they say no, it would be better to back down. A shilling is no joke.”

“Foot. That’s right…… Because you made it so well I guess so. Thank you, brother.”

…… I thought I had gotten used to Mira’s secretly smiling face, but it’s the first time I’ve ever smiled like that, so my heart is pounding for nothing. Who is not a thief, he was very good at attacking gaps. I just threw out a few words to hide my embarrassment.

“But why a dagger? I’m not saying anything, you’re the first person to ask me to make a dagger out of all the people I’ve requested so far.”

“…… Okay? Isn’t it cool?”

“If it’s cool, it must be cool. But a dagger made of wood is not as good as the real one. Sculptures or models imitating monsters are in demand because you can’t carry the real thing.”

My question was sincere. The dagger is one of the most common weapons. Even non-thieves, fighters and adventurers of other classes carry daggers as secondary weapons. A weapon that is easy to carry is of great value by itself. Besides, she is a skilled thief, so of course she must have a separate pair of daggers that she uses as her primary weapon. So when I was asked to make a dagger, I felt a little bit suspicious while making it.

“…… Even so, it has meaning to me.”

“Meaning?”

“Yes. Did i ever talk About Master.”

Master. Is it that person again? I waited silently for the mummy’s mouth to open.

“The person who gave me my name. The one who taught me how to live as a thief. How to handle a dagger, how to appraise treasure, how to kill a presence…… It’s the weapon he gave me. A wooden dagger was my first weapon as a thief.”

She murmured forlornly. The story continued. Mira’s pink hair melts into the red light coming through her swing door, leaving only her white face. I set my eyes on the model of the dagger I had made. Mira’s head keeps falling down toward that place…….