NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 4
A moment of silence passed, and soon the bald merchant, having regained his senses, turned bright red in the face as he pointed an accusing finger at Edu.
“Ba, baldie?! This brat here has a big mouth…”
Roaring loudly, the merchant yelled in anger, but Edu’s reaction was lackadaisical.
“So what am I supposed to call a bald guy, huh? Bald as a drought? Or barren land?”
“T-t-this impudent brat!!”
Shouting, the merchant charged at Edu, but even as he barreled forward with the power of a giant twice, no, three times his own size, Edu remained calm.
Edu extended an open palm towards the air and intoned quietly.
“Summon, Little Drone.”
– Consuming MP, a summoning creature is summoned.
A blue ripple emanated from Edu’s body, and a round drone about 15cm in size appeared above the outstretched palm.
“Eh?!”
At this, the charging merchant stopped.
“G-awakener?!”
The merchant visibly flustered. His pupils, wide with fear, betrayed his troubled mind, replacing the previously confident expression with one of alarm.
“Yeah, Awakener-sama.”
Awakener.
The term used to refer to those with special abilities usable within an AOE, treated as high-level personnel akin to superhumans within the world view. Naturally, with humanity in decline, all Awakeners, regardless of birth, were educated at the Academy.
Ironically, for this very reason, these Awakeners were rarely seen by commoners. Hence, the bald merchant’s startled reaction was understandable, akin to finding out that the person you had underestimated was actually of far superior standing.
“G-G-Why would an Awakener be in a place like this…?”
“Why? Is there some rule saying Awakeners can’t enter the Outlands?”
“W-Well, there isn’t… but…”
The bald man quickly became respectful despite his rugged and dangerous appearance. It seemed he understood his place as a merchant.
“Hehe, now you’re being polite all of a sudden?”
“I-It’s just that one cannot be rude to an Awakener-sama.”
As he groveled, beads of sweat streamed visibly down the bald merchant’s cheeks.
In a collapsed society and world, the class and status differences still persisted, clearly marking the inequality of individuals. This stark reality bore down on the merchant’s shoulders.
“Yeah, yeah, you should have been like this from the start.”
Saying this, Edu took a confident step forward, but then—
– Due to the negative trait of clumsiness, a large penalty is incurred on movement!
– The move has failed.
At the familiar alert from the ID, Edu’s gaze suddenly plummeted toward the ground.
Thud.
“…”
“…”
A brief silence.
The suddenly frozen atmosphere and tense tension broke, replaced by an awkward silence.
Bzzz…? Bzzzz….
Little Drone buzzed around Edu, who had collapsed with a thud, unsure of what to do. After a moment, Edu, who had fallen, abruptly got up.
“Hmph…”
Taking a deep breath, Edu stared down the merchant as if nothing had happened.
“So, baldy, why were you trying to confiscate Mili’s battery?”
“T-that…”
“Answer me!”
Edu pressed the merchant, who was attempting to evade her question, swinging his fists wildly at the drone that buzzed around.
Clack.
“…Huh!”
A strange sound rang out and Edu flinched. Beads of tears formed at the corners of her eyes, but she clenched her emotions and glared at the merchant.
“I-I have no choice!”
The merchant’s desperate cry.
“I-I suppose you already know, but there’s no way to obtain proper items around here other than through rations or smuggling, right?”
“…That’s true.”
Of course, the Outlands do produce some items, but compared to Fangju, they are inevitably inferior and crude.
“B-But when these rats who usually scavenge trash suddenly bring in a military-grade battery, one made in Fangju, no less, it’s natural anyone would be suspicious!!”
“Alright, that could happen.”
The merchant’s expression brightened at Edu’s agreement, but conversely, Sita and Mili’s expressions darkened slightly.
“D-Do you understand?”
“Of course, I understand everything. That’s why, baldy, isn’t your point this?”
Edu smirked, her face full of mockery. Too focused on escaping the situation, the merchant failed to notice the sarcasm.
“Goods with unknown origins should be managed by someone more reliable – right?”
“T-That’s correct!”
Without suspicion, the merchant immediately echoed her, but his thoughtless answer carried much more weight than he anticipated.
“Huh, hahaha!”
Edu’s sudden laughter perplexed the confused bald merchant. Sita and Mili also looked at Edu with slightly surprised expressions.
“You’re too simple-minded, you’ve been caught! Baldy. ID, store what he just said.”
[ Code confirmed, will record the voice data. What would you like the filename to be?]
“Shaved head eats.”
[Confirmed. Will save the voice recording 01 “Shaved Head Eats” file.]
Speaking quickly with the ID, Edu engaged in a sudden exchange that filled the merchant with unease.
“W-W-Wait! What’s this suddenly-”
Edu ignored his question and turned to Mili and Sita.
“Guys, did you hear what he said? You can take any nice clothes or goods from the store that you like.”
“Eh?”
“N-Neh?”
Ignoring their confusion, Edu continued cheerfully.
“Don’t worry, go in and take whatever catches your eye, Mili, you can let go now too.”
“H-Hold on! W-What nonsense is this! Hey! Rat-brats! I won’t let you near me!”
The merchant shouted desperately and threatened the two. However, Edu merely tilted her head in confusion.
“Why? Have you forgotten what you just said?”
“W-What are you talking about?”
“Items of unknown origin should be properly handled by people more reliable – right?”
Saying this, Edu pointed a finger at herself.
“So baldy, I’m saying I’ll take good care of the items of unknown origin in your store.”
“T-That’s just ridiculous–”
“Why? What’s ridiculous about it?”
Edu chuckled.
“I have an ID as a Fangju citizen, and you’re an Outlander pretending to be a merchant, right?”
Tapping her temple, Edu smirked.
“So, between the two of us, who is the more reliable person?”
“T-That’s…”
“Ah…”
“Waaa…”
The merchant at a loss for words, Sita and Mili finally realizing what was happening.
In truth, while this argument was rather aggressive, it was also true that the official stance within Fangju was that the Outlanders had no recognized rights.
The reason Fangju didn’t usually interfere with Outlanders was purely because meddling in this area with poor law and order, and trying to take goods of little value, wasn’t worth the trouble.
“N-no…”
The merchant muttered to himself, clearly flustered. His cloudy eyes lost focus as though he couldn’t believe he had brought this situation upon himself.
The reason I’m doing this to this merchant is because there is a reason. Within the AOE, there’s a setting regarding income sources for the Outlands: the economy here isn’t driven by rations or smuggled goods but rather by the dumping grounds.
In other words, rations and smuggled goods are merely means to obtain certain high-end items. What holds this place together are the kids like Sita and Mili, who scavenge through the garbage mountains for items to sell.
However, as evident from Sita and Mili’s appearance, the profits aren’t going to those kids, so where are the profits going?
Turning my gaze to the bald merchant.
The excess fat visible through the gaps in his clothing and the ostentatious decorations on his clothes clearly show he has a certain level of comfort.
So where does this bald man get such comfort?
From hard work?
No way.
When a simple way to profit is available, very few people would take another path.
In a way, he just chose the easier route, taking advantage of those weaker than himself to enrich himself.
This is the Outlands, or Out Moon, a land of survival of the fittest. Survival is an individual matter.
That’s probably why this bald guy acted so rudely towards Mili earlier. Of course, I don’t aim to question all the flows in the Outlands. People can only do so much and achieving everything is impossible.
But, this baldy, no matter how trivial the item, there’s no way someone like me will let an unnamed NPC gulp down what should be mine.
“Mili, Sita. Go take the items.”
“U-Will that be okay?”
“Don’t worry, hurry up.”
“Y-Yes, yes.”
After being urged again, the two finally budged. Hearing their footsteps, the merchant snapped back to his senses.
“Ah! No! You little rats! Don’t touch my stuff! Get lost!”
The bald man flailed his arms wildly, threatening them.
“You recover fast.”
“Y-you little brat!”
At Edu’s indifferent comment, the merchant glared at her with hostility.
“What do you think by letting me speak quietly and trying to take my stuff with that?”
“Trying to backpedal on your words?”
“Tch! Shut up! Shut up!”
The merchant yelled desperately, then, glancing around, grabbed a thick iron pipe from a nearby shelf.
“Don’t get near me! I warned you!”
“Hmph, knew you’d resort to that.”
Seeing Edu’s expected reaction, the merchant’s face showed his growing anxiety.
“Figured you’d act this way. There’s no way a greedy baldie like you would just give up his stuff.”
Snap. Edu flicked her finger.
Once again, a blue aura of mana spilled from her body, spreading around her.
“Summon, Little Drone. Armament: .22 caliber turret.”
– The .22 caliber turret is not yet unlocked. Would you like to use skill points to unlock it?
“Alright.”
– Unlock complete. Consuming MP to summon the summon creature with the specified armament.
A drone appeared in mid-air. Unlike the first drone summoned, this one had a black gun turret mounted beneath it.
With gun versus iron pipe, it was clearly a one-sided situation, but Edu didn’t stop there. She continued summoning drones.
– Consuming MP to summon a summon creature.
– Consuming MP to summon a summon creature.
– Consuming MP to summon a summon creature…
The number of drones grew into the dozens, and with each increase, the merchant’s complexion grew paler.
As Edu raised her finger, the drones simultaneously aimed their turrets at the merchant, as if understanding her intent.
“Urgh…Ah…”
“It would be better to step aside if you don’t want to become a pincushion.”
“This is blackmail!!”
“Yeah, it’s blackmail. But you also tried to push Mili around using your status as a merchant, didn’t you? So now I’m just using my status as an Awakener, doing the same. What’s the problem?”
“…”
Perhaps finally realizing that further resistance was futile, the merchant dropped the iron pipe he was holding.
Sita and Mili watched this moment, and upon my nod, entered the store with slightly flushed faces.
After a while, Mili and Sita exited the building. Their arms were full of items wrapped in a large cloth.
“…We’ve got everything.”
“Me, me too.”
Sita, who had a slightly confused look, and Mili, who chuckled while making pained sounds but smiled at me, gazed at the bald man who was still stunned.
“Alright, let’s go. One of you, could you carry me?”
“If-if it’s me…”
Mili moved quickly forward, but her hands full of the bundle concerned her.
“Will it be okay? It’s not too heavy?”
“Y-Yes! I’ve always been confident in my strength…”
“Alright, then…”
Cautiously, Edu climbed onto Mili’s back. It seemed her confidence in strength wasn’t unfounded, as Mili stood up effortlessly.
“Sita, can you grab the battery?”
“Battery- Oh, yes.”
Sita pushed the military battery resting on the crude display stand into the cloth bundle. With that, our business here was done.
The bald man, still in shock, just stared at us.
Despite feeling a little sorry seeing his pitiful state, I remembered this situation was of his own making, and such feelings disappeared instantly.
My distant uncle, Fu Shu Wong, once said:
If you receive grace, repay it twofold, but if someone does something despicable to you, use everything within your power to make them defecate blood.
I didn’t understand when I first heard it as a 10-year-old snot-nosed kid, but now, it seems like excellent life advice.
Though, the uncle who gave this advice ended up getting his back smacked by the elders at the time, complaining about what kind of advice one gives a 10-year-old.
“Then, from now on, try to keep your heart a bit kinder.”
“Grrr…”
The merchant gritted his teeth but had no power to do anything else.
“Alright, Let’s go!”
“Understood.”
“Y-Yes, yes!”
[!– Slider main container –]