Chapter 183 (2/2)
“I have a few things to ask her Be polite… Don’t kill her yet”
He looked at her like she was a worm Her face turned white and she started to treaze
“N-no! You’re wrong, I really know nothing! Save me, anyone, anyone!”
“dale!”
“Get her out of here!”
The wouard station in the city wall
“Stupid woman… She’ll probably become a slave…”
“No… It’s been even more severe recently…”
“Carriers are beheaded without exception…”
“If they don’t die during the ‘cross-examination’…”
The people waiting in line whispered to each other, but theofficer cleared his throat they fell silent
“Alright, stay still”
One of the guards stepped in front of Borris He began the body check frohly worked his way up Borris stood still and stared at the couard’s hands felt the metal case in his shi+rt
The guard hesitated He felt all around the case, confirlance at Borris’ stiff face Then, the guard took his hands off of him
“Nothing strange here,” said the guard nonchalantly to the co officer behind him
The guard had stared at Borris earlier when he was fidgeting
“Okay, then let hiaze away from Borris
Borris exhaled a long, thin breath as he put his shoes back on and sloent through the sate
“—Next five, step forward!”
He ignored the coh of relief after he had turned down a couple alleys
That was close…
His face was gaunt In the dusk light he dragged his feet down the alley, which was much cleaner than the ones in the slums
Eventually, he ca from the door He took a seat at the counter and in a monotonous voice ordered from the bartender, “Ale…”
The bartender filled a woodenwith amber liquid from a barrel and violently placed it in front of him
“Yo, bro How’ve you been?” Theto his lips with obvious practice, and drank as if it were glued to his mouth
“Great…” replied Borris gloomily as he took the case out and slipped it to the man under the counter
He took it withouta beat
“Good to hear How’s the wife?”
“She ran off a long tio…”
“Hahahaha, that’s right My bad, ot” The e, he placed a s in front of Borris “Your bill’s on y, so drink up See ya,” the man stood up from his seat and left the pub
Borris sluggishly checked the contents of the bag A large handful of copper coins glimmered faintly
It was a little short of equaling one silver The bag was a little bulky, but it wasn’t worth all that much
“Just this much…” he muttered
This is how much your life is worth That’s what it felt like
“shi+t!”
He threw back hisand washed down the rest of his ale The cheap alcohol tasted bad, but he couldn’t leave it undrunk Not even a silver It paid better than a regular job, but it wouldn’t earn hi time He would possibly have to do it over ten more times
“Ale…” he said, holding his e la
Borris couldn’t even iine how much the contents of the e scale However, if he went by the street price then it’d sell for no less than ten or twenty silvers
Even so, he didn’t even get one silver
“shi+t!!”
He downed the rest of his ale, feeling sad and empty He didn’t even know the h, but one wrong step and he could’ve been at the end of his rope, just like that woman He was just the tip of the lizard’s tail His worthlessness made him feel nauseas While he laood times crossed his mind Times of when he was still a successful craftsman
“Those were the good days…” As he muttered to himself, Montand popped into his head “Why is he like that, yet I’orously “You’ll see what it’s like…”
The taste of this cheap alcohol
The rotten man’s venomous words died out in the faintly lit, small, and shabby pub on the outskirts of town
Afterword
By the way, the currency system works as follows:
1 coin = 10 small coins
10 copper coins = 100 small copper coins = 1 silver coin
10 silver coins = 100 sold coin
TRANSLATOR’S NOTES
[1] Green foxtail: This is an annual grass with decu, and known to reach two /wiki/Setaria_viridis
[2] small coppers: 10 ‘sher currency ie: 10 sold