Chapter 9
My body suddenly tilted to the side.
At that moment, a memory from the dark underground laboratory overlapped in my mind.
“Jenuiere! Come here right now!”
The feeling of the priest with glasses grabbing my wrist and throwing me into the cold experiment device came rushing back.
I tightly shut my eyes.
It felt like that rough hand would grab my wrist again at any moment.
But instead—
What touched me first… was the warm embrace of a boy.
Thump.
“…?”
A strong warmth spread across my back, and I could hear a loud heartbeat.
At that moment, I realized something.
“A person’s embrace… is this warm.”
I already knew that in my head.
But I had never felt it before in the underground laboratory.
Tashik held me tightly, stepped back a few times, and then sat down on the soft snow.
Because of that, I wasn’t hurt at all.
And the terrible memory of my wrist being grabbed disappeared.
When I came back to my senses, I quickly stepped away from his arms and stood up.
Tashik looked up at me with a surprised expression.
“…Are you okay?”
“Ah? Yeah.”
I was completely fine.
Except—
“Woof! Woof!”
The wolves quickly ran to me again, pushing their fluffy bodies against me.
I froze once more.
Tashik frowned slightly and carefully walked toward me.
“You… are you hurt any—”
“We need to sell this.”
Our words overlapped.
I looked straight into his gray eyes and pointed at the frozen claw lying near the magic beast’s body.
“This claw. We need to sell it at an apothecary. Is there a way to carry it there?”
“….”
“If you help me, I’ll definitely repay you.”
Tashik said nothing.
‘Should I push a little more?’
I clenched my fists and made my eyes sparkle.
“Don’t worry. We’ll earn a lot of money!”
“….”
After a while, he let out a long sigh.
“Ha……”
I felt confused.
‘Why is he reacting like that? We can make money.’
Maybe he didn’t fully understand what money could do yet.
Then Tashik ran his hand through his hair roughly.
“You really…”
He took out a cloth from his leather bag and walked toward me.
Then he started wiping the black liquid from my clothes and hair.
“…Huh?”
Now that I noticed, that sticky liquid from the magic beast was all over me.
Well, of course.
I had climbed on top of its body.
While wiping my cheek, he asked,
“Doesn’t it bother you to have something like this on your body?”
“Hmm?”
I thought for a moment, then nodded.
It didn’t really bother me.
It was something I had to endure.
“Compared to what I went through in the laboratory… this is nothing.”
Tashik looked at me quietly and let out a small sigh.
Then he said,
“Anyway, don’t worry.”
“Hmm?”
“About moving that claw.”
I froze for a moment.
Then a smile slowly appeared on my face.
“Thank you, Tashik!”
I clasped my hands and smiled brightly.
“I’ll definitely repay you!”
“You really are…!”
Tashik rubbed his hair again and turned away.
“Follow me.”
He whistled.
Whistle!
The wolves around us lifted their ears and looked at him.
He whistled again.
Whistle!
“Woof! Woof!”
The wolves barked and ran toward the frozen claw.
* * *
There was a small village at the base of the snowy mountain.
There was an apothecary shop there.
Because wild herbs growing through the snow were sold as rare medicine.
Tashik told me that when his mother was alive, he used to visit such shops sometimes.
So we decided to go there.
We wrapped the frozen claw in leather and loaded it onto a wolf.
Then we went down the mountain.
The apothecary shop was located in a quiet corner of the market.
Before entering, I prepared myself.
“I need to look as intimidating as possible.”
That way, I could pressure the seller and get a higher price.
I grabbed the door handle and pulled it.
Creeeak—
A strong smell of old herbs filled the air.
The inside was dark and narrow.
I stepped forward confidently—
But suddenly stopped.
* * *
I was confused.
The man sleeping at the desk looked exactly like the priest with glasses who used to grab my wrist.
‘What…?’
I had frozen that man. He shouldn’t even be alive.
‘Is this some kind of trick?’
But my body froze and couldn’t move.
Then—
The man removed his glasses.
“Oh? A customer has come.”
At that moment, my vision cleared.
‘Ah!’
He was not the priest.
He was an old man with a kind face and thinning hair.
Realizing that, my stiff body relaxed.
The old man put his glasses on the book and stood up.
“Welcome… wait, what is this?”
He looked at us and frowned.
“Where did these kids come from? You look like beggars coming here to ask for help.”
It was obvious.
He thought we were beggars.
Well, we were both wearing worn leather cloaks.
But I just smiled.
“Is that so?”
I walked inside confidently.
“You called us kids. But what about this?”
I turned back proudly.
“Tashik. Bring it.”
Tashik carried the large leather bundle and placed it on the table.
Thud!
The old man frowned.
“Hey! What are you bringing here—wait… what is this?”
His eyes widened.
“Th-this is!”
Even though it was frozen, he immediately recognized it.
He opened the bundle and was shocked.
“A fully frozen magic beast claw… You, little one, are an incredible ice ability user, aren’t you?”
‘Good. He understands its value.’
I looked at him calmly.
“Do you still think we are just kids?”
“….”
While he was speechless, I continued.
“Grandpa, how much will you pay for this?”
“Uh… something this size… maybe… 100 Krone?”
“300 Krone.”
I crossed my arms and lifted my chin.
I already knew how to negotiate.
‘100 isn’t bad… but this is worth more.’
My freezing skill was far superior.
‘It preserves the material much better.’
At least 200 Krone was fair.
The old man hesitated for a long time.
Then finally—
“…Then… how about 250 Krone?”
“Deal.”
I nodded simply.
“Ah… this is crazy.”
The old man stomped his feet.
Then I raised my hand.
“But before selling, I have one more condition.”
(To be continued)
