Chapter 58. 1 – The One Who Searches for the Same Face

AN: A mob youth’s POV

「Do you know a woman with the same face as me?」

It’s been a month since I ran away from debt collectors and came here to Torquiva with my little sister.

I was still new to this place and a mysterious woman approached me on the street.

She had shoulder-length, wheat-colored hair, long slit eyes, and a trendy hat and scarf.

She’s a beautiful woman who seemed to brighten up her surroundings yet, she had a somewhat dim, expressionless look on her face.

Of course, I’d never seen her before.

「No, I don’t.」

「Is that so? Thank you very much.」

The woman turned around and quickly left.

The old man at the sake stall was smiling so I asked him what was all that about while I was buying some sake.

「She’s “same face” Solmetra. She’s been looking for a woman with the same face as her for as long as I can remember.」

「Heh….that’s weird.」

「Brother, you’ve only been to Torquiva recently, right?」

「That’s right.」

「She’ll certainly talk to the newcomers. Even among the slaves of the Schenker Family, she’s weird so better not get involved with her.」

「Slave? Even though she’s so fashionable? How can someone like her be a slave?」

「Yeah. The Schenkers are so wealthy that they even pay their slaves well.」

What the heck is that? Is that even possible?

I was told not to get in trouble with the Schenkers on the way here too.

Tsk, rich people are doing things the way they want.

Even my little sister can only wear rags.

I bought another round of drinks and went home after feeling a little cushy.

-0-

Torquiva is big.

I was exhausted by night after going back and forth many times a day on the main street that runs from the center of the city to the east, west, south, and north.

It’s a good thing that there are no high slopes here.

I hate myself for only getting a job as a cargo carrier

I did it for my little sister’s sake. I don’t want her to have to go through this kind of hardship in the future.

If she doesn’t learn how to write poetry or sing and marry off to a right family, mother and father won’t be able to peacefully travel to the afterlife.

「Ah, Nashita! Let’s eat.」

「Yes!」

I pushed the cart until I was starving and then, my boss called me to join him for lunch.

I was lucky today because lunch was on the house if I was in the same group as my boss.

The food in this city is delicious which makes this city live up to its name as a wheat producer of the country.

「Recently, the number of restaurants serving udon has been increasing which is great for noodle eaters like me….however, given that we do so much, it is never enough to fill our stomachs.」

「I’m not even sure if I can eat all of these.」

Today’s food is called udon.

I ate it for the first time when we arrived at Torquiva. That time, it was very cold.

It will make you hot from the inside out and above all, the noodles and the soup are delicious.

Ah, I’m getting hungry.

My boss ordered udon with raw egg on top and I had tempura udon with intestines.

It’s amazing that such a luxury item like raw egg can be served at a price that even an average person can afford.

I heard that the Schenker family uses magic tools to make it edible but no matter how many adventurers they have, magic crystals aren’t cheap.

It’s a rich man’s game and I don’t like it.

Ah, no, I’m not talking about the food.

Everything they sell is so delicious that no matter what they sell, it will be sold.

Maybe even if they sell bugs as food, people will still buy them.

「By the way, Nashita, how are you doing since you came here?」

「Thanks to you I’m finally getting used to it.」

「I see. Just let me know if there’s anything I can do. You’re still a little boy and you’re not planning to leave your little sister at the house forever, are you?」

「Yes, thank you very much. When my little sister calms down, I think I’ll send her out to study or something. 」

I bowed deeply to my boss, who told me that once I get a little older, he could let me work in the office.

Thank you. I’ll put reading, writing, and arithmetic in the things I must learn.

「Are you getting along with your neighbors?」

「Yeah, thanks to you. We’ve been having a lot of fun and there are no strange guys around….ah, come to think of it, it’s not exactly a strange guy but I met a mysterious woman the other day.」

「What was she like? Was she nice?」

「Yeah, she seems nice but I was surprised when she suddenly asked “Do you know a woman with the same face as me?”.」

「Ah, Solmetra-san.」

「Boss knows her too?」

「Of course.」

「I heard she’s called “same face” Solmetra….」

「…..oi, don’t you ever say that again.」