Chapter 39.1

fortunately, the man didn’t go far. i didn’t know if i should be relieved though.

“i finally got you, you rat.”

a strange man snatched the back of the pickpocket out of the alley, and not me or adrian. the short, but rather bulky man, was accompanied by rugged men on both sides. with one glance, the men who wore light armor held the pickpocket’s arms.

“i’ll cut off all your limbs so that you can no longer run away!” he yelled as he kicked the pickpocket’s stomach. “…fuck.”

the man looked back at me as he murmured a small swear word.

“what, my lady?”

i was frightened by the man’s force and merely shrugged my shoulders.

“what? oh… well, that’s.”

adrian pushed me behind him and growled at the man. the man quickly bowed his head as if he’d mistaken me for a slave-carrying aristocrat.

“he was a noble. do you have any business with him?”

i glanced at the pickpocket, whose glare was fierce at him, even when his body was half folded after the kick to his stomach. what if he’d announce that i was a foreigner and adrian was an illegal slave? my heart skipped a beat.

“…”

however, the pickpocket merely glared at the hulking man who stood in front of me and adrian, and didn’t speak a word about our identity.

“do you have any business with him?” the man asked again.

“…oh, no.”

when his question was answered, he waved his hand as if annoyed, and said, “then go away!”

“yes.”

i got out of the alley at the man’s words.

* * *

‘ahh, that was very embarrassing.’

when i returned to the inn with adrian, i immediately sat down near the oven.

“ha. i might just have the most terrible dream today, really.”

i don’t know if i could fall asleep in this mood. the innkeeper, who approached me with a deep sigh, asked with wide eyes.

“lady, what’s wrong with your expression?”

i answered, sipping the beer she brought me, “i saw a young man being dragged by a piggy old man earlier.”

sensing the situation at my brief explanation, she shrugged her shoulders, and put down the peanuts i had ordered for a snack.

“hmm? were his eyes yellow?”

“oh, yes.”

“then it’s tan. people from the tan tribe are difficult to tame, so many run away.”

i tilted my head at the innkeeper’s words, unsure of what i heard.

“tan?”

“yes, tan. you don’t know?”

i shook my head at her quizzical face.

“oh, no? of course you know, don’t you?”

adrian could be taken away if she found out i was a foreigner. i hurriedly pressed the system window to check for help.

tan: as one of the beast people, they are characterized when they reveal their ears and tails only on a full moon.

i opened my mouth to the innkeeper, glancing at the translucent system window.

“the tan people are those whose ears and tails show only on a full moon. it was originally a clan that lived in the harnen mountains above the shamua kingdom.”

“huh… many people don’t know, but you are quite knowledgeable. lady, you must be very interested in slaves.”

in an instant, i was treated like a perverted aristocratic lady who was crazy about slaves, but i couldn’t make an excuse and just nodded. the innkeeper shrugged her shoulders and continued.

“anyway, as you know, the tan people are hard to deal with because they live freely. the king of tartan sold his entire clan as slaves to the kingdom; he managed to escape.”

a king of one country sold his people into slavery to another country?

it was a fact that i didn’t know even after playing ten times. i squinted my eyes at the dire situation of the tan people pouring out of the innkeeper’s mouth.

“even a person i know is having a hard time because a tan slave ran away. he bought it at a high price, but it turned out to be a waste.”

i hesitated to speak up, clenching my mouth and holding back my tongue at the innkeeper’s words.

“what about the slave who was caught running away?”

“they are usually killed in a gruesome manner. a way to set an example to the other slaves.”

she returned to her place after answering nonchalantly, an attitude as if to say the issue had nothing to do with her. i heaved a long sigh, stroking rian, who was crouched next to me, and picked up peanuts and started eating them.