Chapter 49
Tie grunted as she stuffed jewels into her Hanbit Kindergarten backpack.
“Two gold bars, and…”
But the gold was so heavy she couldn’t lift it at all.
“I’ll carry that for you.”
Basto, who had been watching, took the two gold bars and put them into a leather pouch hanging from his waist.
Only after confirming that Basto tightly tied the pouch shut did Tie start packing the rest of the jewels.
“This one, and this one…”
She didn’t know how many poison needle bombs she’d buy, but she couldn’t afford to run out of money.
“Done!”
Finally finished packing her bag, Tie let out a “phew” and wiped the cold sweat from her forehead.
‘Good thing I took that treasure chest from the sailboat.’
Inside the shipwreck she had summoned in Pearl City, there had been treasure chests piled everywhere.
Tie had picked only the most valuable-looking items, and she planned to use some of them at the Armory today.
Looking at her now-bulging bag, Tie spoke generously, as if making a big decision.
“Tie decided. Today, Tie’s paying!”
The members who had been getting ready to go out turned to look at her.
Tie excitedly stuck her belly out.
“Enzo oppa, Grandpa Nordix, and Veil oppa’s swords—Tie will buy them for you! ’Cause Tie is the leader!”
Veil burst out laughing.
He walked over, lifted Tie up high, and said playfully:
“I like the sound of that. Unlike those rich young masters over there, I’m extremely poor.”
Enzo and Raul gave awkward smiles.
Nordix, who was beside them, also let out a low chuckle.
“I won’t refuse either.”
Hugging Veil around the neck, Tie shouted bravely:
“Veil oppa! If Tie buys poison needle bombs, from now on Tie will protect you, Veil oppa!”
Veil made a lukewarm expression.
“You talk like you haven’t been protecting me all this time. How many times have I barely survived thanks to you?”
“Stiiiill, as the Necromancer King, Tie has to be a more reliable leader!”
Veil and the other members exchanged glances.
They all just shrugged, clearly having no idea what she meant.
Veil casually put Tie back down on the floor.
“Hey, kid. But why did you suddenly think that?”
Tie closed her mouth for a moment, then spoke hesitantly.
“Umm… just… because I want everyone not to get hurt…”
“Are you worried we might get hurt?”
“Yeah…”
Tie lifted her head with a slightly gloomy face.
“This place… is nice, but there are lots of monsters…”
And there were also many people who had lost their loved ones to those monsters.
‘And Tie knows.’
She knew what it felt like to lose someone you loved.
Because Tie had lost her dad once, too.
The child’s eyes sank strangely.
“Now everyone is Tie’s family… so I don’t want anyone to get hurt anywhere…”
At that unexpected word, everyone froze.
Basto paused halfway through putting on his coat and looked at Tie, while Veil closed his mouth.
Raul and Enzo also stared at the child in shock.
“Family?”
Tie nodded.
“Yes. Not just family connected by blood. There’s family connected by hearts too, they said.”
It was something the grandma from Room 107 had told her every single day when she lived in the Gold Apartments.
Grandma wasn’t Tie’s real grandmother, but she had loved Tie every moment like she was.
And Tie loved the grandma from Room 107 like a real granddaughter.
“So Tie really loves everyone here a lot.”
Basto’s expression went blank.
Veil, Raul, and Enzo were the same.
“So no one can get hurt, okay? If people Tie loves get hurt, Tie gets sad…”
“What are you talking about?!”
At that moment, Veil shouted.
For some reason, his face had turned bright red.
“Kid, are you stupid?! We’re mercenaries—how can we not get hurt?! You almost got hurt yourself last time, remember?!”
Startled by his loud voice, Tie’s cheeks puffed out instantly.
She opened her eyes wide and snapped back at Veil.
“Tie gets hurt way less than Veil oppa!”
“Yeah! And you better not get hurt! You get hurt and, huh?! You’re so tiny! Huh?! I might start worrying if you get hurt, so don’t get hurt!”
“I won’t get hurt! The person who gets hurt first is an idiot!”
“Oh~ Then it’s obviously you! Because even if I died and came back to life, I’d never get hurt!”
“Grrr…!”
The sulking Tie shouted “Hmph!” and kicked open the door to the lodgings as she stormed out.
“Hey! Where are you going by yourself?! You’ll get hurt that way, huh?!”
Veil hurriedly chased after her, leaving only four people in the room.
“…It’s strange,” Enzo muttered first.
Raul followed up.
“Yeah. Our leader… is way kinder than I thought.”
Family.
Loving them.
Those were words so heavy that none of them had ever heard casually in their lives.
“Let’s go.”
Then Basto, who had been silent, muttered.
Raul and Enzo nodded and followed him out of the lodging.
Left alone, Nordix lowered his gaze to the floor.
After staying silent for a moment, he opened the door and stepped outside.
Tie was already far ahead.
In the central furnace zone of the massive forge.
Sparks flew in front of Berugon, the factory chief of the Populosa Weapons District.
“E-Elder. Um… I checked on what you mentioned.”
The hammer he’d been striking the anvil with stopped abruptly at his disciple’s words.
“They say Basto Paerix did go to the Armory together with the Agabert members.”
Berugon turned his head, his brows deeply furrowed.
Behind him, molten metal flickered red-hot.
“I clearly told him, didn’t I? That he had to wait two months.”
The disciple nodded.
“Yes. But since it’s two months, I thought maybe he’s just trying to get a new weapon to use temporarily…”
“That damn bastard.”
Though smaller than average, when Berugon slammed his hammer onto the side of the anvil, the ground trembled.
“Does that mean he’s planning to throw away the weapon he’s been using and get a new one? Who does such trashy things?!”
The disciple stepped closer, trying to calm him.
“No, n-no way he’d throw away the war hammer! He’s probably just trying to find something to use for the time being.”
But Berugon’s expression didn’t easily soften.
While grinding his teeth at the flickering molten metal, he muttered:
“Go and tell the blacksmiths at the Armory. Tell them to kick those bastards out of my exhibition area immediately.”
The disciple’s face filled with shock.
“But, Elder. Not again?! You’ve been doing this nonstop, and we already lost important customers because of it…”
“Customers, my ass! I won’t forgive anyone who treats my weapons casually!”
The disciple shut his mouth.
He wanted to say something, but when he met Berugon’s razor-sharp gaze, he had no choice but to turn around.
As he exited the central furnace zone, fellow blacksmiths who had been waiting rushed toward him.
“S-So? What did he say?”
“Was he angry? Don’t tell me he said to kick them out again?!”
The disciple nodded with a troubled face.
Everyone staggered in shock before letting their eyebrows droop in despair.
“This is bad… That Basto guy, just look at his build—he doesn’t look easy to throw out…”
Berugon Gregor.
Known as the Iron-Blood Craftsman, he was always considered a legend among blacksmiths.
He was the head of the weapons district and the factory chief, and the weapons he made were never just tools, but symbols of strength itself.
But as you can see, the problem was…
“Ha… The more I think about it, the more troublesome it gets! No matter how much he’s an Elder, if he keeps doing this, what are we supposed to do, huh?”
“Sure. Even I would go look for a temporary weapon if someone told me forging would take two months!”
Berugon was a man who valued weapons above everything else in this world.
To the blacksmiths, it even looked like he talked to weapons more than he talked to people.
“And lately, he’s been telling us to exile anyone and everyone from the weapons district for the smallest thing… I wonder if he’s already forgotten how he almost got executed last time.”
Two months ago.
That incident—where he raged at the emperor for breaking a sword he had made, and nearly got sentenced to death because of it—made everything obvious.
