I'm Not an Earthworm, I'm an Earth Dragon

Something was definitely going to happen, so as soon as Altera went out, I followed her. Akash followed, saying there would be something fun to see.

It’s not that her personality is bad, but considering the high level of hostility she shows to humans she doesn’t trust, her limited vocabulary, and the squalid environment of the back alleys, it was a miracle that nothing happened.

“Where did she go…? Akash, didn’t she definitely go into this alley?!”

“There are more than one or two alleys. But if I were to answer sincerely, yes. She went in here. Now, there are four paths ahead. Well, do you want to split our bodies in half and go all the way?”

This is bad. I grabbed anyone around and asked if they had seen a woman with horns and a tail, but they just asked for money, so I had no way to find her.

Where did she go? She must be around here somewhere. But I didn’t have to worry for long, because I soon found out where she had gone.

From across the alley, I heard a girl’s ear-splitting scream. It might not have been Altera. It might have been the voice of a girl caught up in a back alley power struggle.

But I could swear I could sense that Altera had done something. Back alley disputes usually end in fistfights.

It’s a place where you have to risk your reputation because it’s so narrow. But if it were Altera…

I could easily imagine her beating up everything that bothered her. Monsters are funny, but to her, the poor are probably like dust.

As I headed towards the source of the voice, a dirty beast-girl begged me to save her and suddenly threw herself at me.

“Save me!! Please save me!!”

The broken collar and the blood stains everywhere made it hard to even guess what had happened. I thought she might be a slave, but I couldn’t see any branding.

Then is she an illegal slave? It seemed plausible since they were being distributed in the dark back alleys without any branding. Originally, slavery is a punishment given by the government or such places to people who have committed serious crimes.

That’s why it costs money to brand them. All the people who can brand them are also closely watched by the guilds or the government.

In other words, there’s no chance that they’re connected to the guilds or state agencies, at least. I was relieved for a moment, but soon Altera appeared from around the corner.

The girl, seeing Altera walking with so many slaves that the alleyway was full, her body covered in blood, clung to me even harder.

“…Altera. Who are all those people?”

I understand why the girl was scared. She was probably scared by Altera’s appearance. She’s pretty to me… well, I guess it’s a bit creepy to be covered in blood.

“I don’t know either. They were being traded in some dark place in cages, so I saved them all for now. Are these people all slaves, or what? Ask her.”

So. She just rescued them because they looked suspicious without considering the consequences.

“…Wait, calm down. Can you tell me what happened, girl?”

I dipped my finger in the end of the brush, applied some ink, and wrote on the girl’s arm to calm down, then asked what had happened.

As expected, she was an illegal slave. She said she was captured by bandits and brought here with other people.

She said her parents were dead, and most of the people who were brought with her were the same, and it made me sad to see her crying, but I was also relieved. Altera didn’t do anything too strange.

“Well, yeah. It’s a sad story. That’s that. Then why is that bitch covered in someone else’s blood?”

Aside from the unnecessary details, Akash’s words were important. Whose blood is it? It can’t be hers. Unless she lowered her barrier and told them to hit her on purpose.

“Altera. As you thought, these people are illegally captured slaves. Fortunately, it’s not legal slaves that were touched. But… whose blood is that?”

“Oh, this? They were being a bit annoying while I was freeing them, so I dealt with them. Why are you looking at me like that? I didn’t kill them… probably.”

So that’s what happened. They’re criminals, so it won’t be a big demerit for Altera’s promotion. I asked if she had touched anyone else. Fortunately, she said she hadn’t touched any civilians.

Then there’s no problem.

“…Then let’s go back to the Adventurer’s Guild and report what we did. We can’t just drag these people around. You’re not planning to take these people and do something to Akash… are you?”

I don’t know the way well, but at least this place was completely opposite to where little Akash was. It was closer to the rampart than the tower.

Little Akash’s wrist is still safe…

I hope she gives up. It’s hard to go, and the purpose isn’t good, so I wished she would stop.

“That’s right. Then let’s go.”

“What about the wrist? I followed you to see that bratty kid cry, but you were just saving slaves? Ha, what a waste of time.”

Akash was the only one who was dissatisfied, so naturally, by the principle of majority rule, we decided to hand over all these rescued slaves to the guild.

Even if they go back to their homes after being handed over to the guild… it would be difficult for them to return to their original lives since their homes were destroyed.

But we can’t help them any further.

This is all a stranger can offer. If we get involved any further, we won’t be strangers anymore.

“Akash, do you remember where we came from?”

“No, not at all. I just followed without thinking. Shouldn’t the one who was running in the lead know?”

I felt foolish for expecting to have an easy return, even for a moment.

Now, where did we come from…

– – – –

“So that’s what happened, that’s good. I thought Altera was going to twist little Akash’s wrist. Hmm… little Akash. I can’t imagine it. Is she cute?”

“She’s cute if you say so… I don’t know. I can’t say her behavior is cute. Her appearance is cute… well, anyway. That’s not what’s important, is it?”

“That’s true.”

We handed over all the slaves to the guild. The receptionist was a little flustered when I said I beat up some people, but she said we did well and gave us some money.

No one had made a request, so it wasn’t a lot of money, but money wasn’t what was important.

It’s delicious. It looked like a fish with a human face, so I honestly thought it would be bad, but it was surprisingly good. As I ate it, the original shape collapsed, and it was just a delicious lump of meat.

I was more interested in the food that stimulated my senses than trying to infer the conversation from the occasional words I heard.

They all looked like ingredients that came up from the underworld, but they tasted good, so I didn’t care.

“About the departure date, let’s leave the day after tomorrow. There’s no reason to stay in Corvo for long. That demon race might find the ruins first.”

As I was biting into a plant that looked like a human arm bone, Myungho suggested that we leave in two days.

“I don’t care. There’s nothing to see, and that kid…”

What should I do about the kid? Now that I think about it calmly, I wondered if I really needed to destroy her. I don’t know the way, and it’s not like I can’t become invisible.

My anger was relieved by beating up those shady things, and the cloak wasn’t a bad item. I like it, it’s sturdy, and it can make me invisible.

“…Well, whatever. Yeah, anyway, I don’t care. You guys decide.”

“Two days isn’t bad. We can buy enough of what we need.”

“…Two days. I don’t think we’ll hear from them by then… I don’t think anyone will… Okay. Let’s leave in two days. We’ve done everything we need to do.”

“Then let’s leave in two days. But Altera. Can you leave some for us to eat?”

“We can order more if we need to. I’ll pay.”

If we’re short, we can just order more, right? It’s not like we’re short on money. And there’s not much else to do.

This is good. It doesn’t look like much, but when I bite into it, the sauce inside bursts out. I thought I had eaten a lot of delicious things in the world, but there’s still a long way to go.

“You said you’d pay? Ma’am!”

Everyone chimed in and ordered, but it wasn’t that much. About 20 silver. I was going to pay even if it came out to 20 gold because a man’s word is his bond, but this is… anticlimactic.

Everyone said they were a little bloated from overeating and went to their rooms early, so today Myungho and I studied together.

“Ugh…ch. 2… 10. 20? Is this how you read it?”

I stretched and read the numbers. Is this the right pronunciation? He told me to read it a little faster, so I did.

“Yeah. 20. That’s pretty close. That’s how you read numbers. It doesn’t change whether it’s three digits or four digits. Be careful because people will misunderstand if you read them separately.”

I’m starting to get the hang of it… my ass. It was still difficult. Does it make sense that the meaning changes depending on the reading speed? At least the meaning doesn’t change with the pitch, so that’s good. If it did, I would have just kept Myungho as my interpreter for the rest of my life.

Maybe that’s not a bad idea.

A companion who will never betray me and an interpreter. Isn’t that great?

“Haa… ugh, I ate too much. Sorry, Altera. Let’s do the rest tomorrow. I’m so full I’m sleepy.”

You should have eaten in moderation. This is the right amount for me, but it might not be for others.

“Okay. Then go to sleep. But no slacking off tomorrow.”

I had no intention of forcibly waking up someone who wanted to sleep.

I turned off the lights with one hand and promised to meet again tomorrow.