༺ School Tuition is More Expensive Than I Thought! (1) ༻
I was never the kind who enjoyed talking about the past.
Especially when it came to the two months after I crash-landed on this continent of Pangaea, even the thought of it was enough to stress me out.
But if I were to recall, the first thing that came to mind was the excruciating hunger and thirst that shook me to my very core.
A hunger that seemed to cause even my soul to wither.
When I regained my senses, I found myself alone in some kind of a dense forest, with absolutely nothing to eat.
I mean, I had suddenly been dropped into the Amazon jungle while on my way to buy ice cream at the convenience store; there was no way I could find anything to eat.
After a few days had passed, I reached a point where I thought, “Ah, if I continue like this, I’ll really starve to death.” So I resorted to tearing off strips of tree bark and chewing on them, or eating what looked like tender sprouts.
I even picked and ate any random mushrooms I could find, and those fruit-like things that resembled strange wild strawberries, only to suffer from diarrhea and stomach aches.
━Look, there’s a savage! An exiled or a castaway?
━We could get a good price for selling him!
And then, “human hunters” chased me.
Hunters who literally specialized in hunting humans.
They hunted people with ropes and nets. Wow, I never knew that nets could be such a powerful weapon.
I thought they were used for catching fish or something, but once they were thrown at me and started to entangle me, I couldn’t move anymore.
Nets are overpowered.
Anyway.
In the end, I was captured by the human hunters.
They took me to a place called the ‘Kowloon Mountains’.
It was a place where thieves’ huts and hideouts were haphazardly connected, forming a massive fortress.
I heard that it was a place on earth where all kinds of thieves and villains gathered, like a worldly abyss.
━You savage scum. There will be someone willing to buy you at a high price.
━Maybe Judas will buy you for a hefty sum? Didn’t that bastard say he was searching for a sacrifice to be offered to Nocturne?
This was the stronghold and homeland of all thieves.
Their royal city.
The Kowloon Mountains.
Because of that, it was said that the “King of Thieves” ruled sitting on his “Scum Throne”, made from all the loot and stolen trash that was piled up over generations.
━Do you think I could sell him to someone that swings the other way? Not sure if those bastards like savages or not.
━Huh, what? Hey, that bastard is escaping!
━Did he untie the rope and escape? My, my dagger! Why is that bastard holding my dagger!?
━Catch him!
I cut the rope and desperately ran away.
I didn’t know what kind of situation I would face if I were sold as a slave in this thieves’ den.
Fortunately or unfortunately, the kingdom of thieves had plenty of alleyways and shadows for the dregs of this world to escape to and hide.
It all changed after a week spent in this lawless and cruel underworld-like city.
━So you’re the savage who escaped from the hunters, the Lucky brothers? And you even stole a dagger from them too? You’re quite skilled. Still, it would be strange for those brothers to not tear you apart if they find you.
━…
━Don’t be too wary. My name is Tamar. And you? No. Before that, it seems like you haven’t eaten anything, right? Do you want to eat a potato? I already ate half of it
It was at that moment that I met Tamar… No, Salome.
At that time, Salome had long blonde hair.
Her eyes were blue and her skin was white.
To me, who had been barely scraping by for a month in these thieves and savages-filled forests and mountains, the beauty of a woman was sharper than any real dagger.
━Wouldn’t you like to work with me? I want to steal something, and I need an actor to play the role of a strong man.
Even more so if such a woman was kind to me.
━Actually… What I want to steal is a name. The name of the man who caused my mother’s death. But being with you, it seems like things will get better. You’re a really strange person.
━I’m strange?
━Yeah, you don’t seem like a savage or a thief. You feel fundamentally different from all the scum crawling in this world. Maybe that’s why you’re such a newbie at thievery.
━Tamar, even though I look like this, I graduated from college. I was just going about my life when I suddenly got dragged to this strange place. Thievery is also new to me.
━A Barbaroi going to college? Hahaha, that’s hard to believe. But it was an interesting story. I want to go see it too. To college, to school.
At that time, I was filled with hope.
Although I had fallen into a strange world, I hoped that I could somehow make it through with my own two hands.
I was gradually learning thievery from Tamar and starting to adapt to this savage world to some extent.
I was filled with confidence at that time.
━Tamar, let’s go together once everything is done. If we defeat Judas, who is the enemy of your mother, we can leave this place. I heard that there’s a big school in a neighboring principality.
━Once everything is done and we leave… hey. Why are you saying that to me?
━Because, Tamar, I don’t like seeing you in this filthy and despicable place. I… I want you to see a slightly better world.
━Is this a confession?
━…
It was my first confession to someone of the opposite sex.
I wonder how I looked at that time.
What kind of response would I receive?
I was so nervous that it felt like my heart was about to burst.
Fortunately or unfortunately, the woman laughed at my story.
Tears welled up in her eyes.
━What’s with this cowardly confession? But still, it was interesting. Many people have confessed to me, but among them, you seem like the biggest fool. Maybe it’s because you’re an uneducated barbarian.
━…
━But, I’m happy, still. Leaving this place, huh? I never even thought about it. Yeah. Just leaving today, without a trace. Stealing everything and going to a place where no one can find us.
Perhaps I am the protagonist of this world.
I had such thoughts.
But that was just my delusion, as I was still a novice among novices.
━Stupid. I am Judas’ daughter. The Judas I mentioned as my enemy is actually my one and only father, and this secluded mountain is my homeland and my home. I will never leave this place.
Lies?
From the beginning?
From the time we met?
━This will be your last lesson. To become a thief, there is always something you must remember. Never trust anyone else. Consider it as paying your tuition fee.
━Princess, what should we do with this guy? Should we offer him as a sacrifice to Nocturne?
━No. This guy has some skills. Instead of offering him as a sacrifice, let’s put him in the underground fighting arena for now. Remember, we needed someone to fight the two lions, right?
Right.
This is just the beginning of a long, cursed fate.
I did everything I could to survive, and I survived.
And I was now facing her again.
* * *
“Judas, do you have a daughter? A little girl. Six years old. Black hair.”
Salome, with her legs up on the chair, asked curiously.
She probably knew about Naru.
Salome is a meticulous thief after all.
She calculates and plans thoroughly, considering all the preliminary work and variables, rather than letting her emotions run wild and acting on instinct.
It was clear that she must have done considerable research on me and Naru as well.
Salome spoke.
“You said you’ve never had a girlfriend and even confessed, but you have a six-year-old child. It doesn’t make sense timing-wise. You’re a complete liar, aren’t you?”
It seems like there’s been a misunderstanding.
There’s no need to explain, I guess.
No.
It was the perfect time for some sarcasm.
“Don’t trust anyone. That’s the last lesson you taught me, wasn’t it? Because of that surprise attack, my head is still aching.”
As I was about to nod in agreement to our plan to leave together, suddenly someone hit me hard on the back of my head.
It was that guy, thief Conrad, who hit my head with an iron bat.
I don’t know if it was because of that, but even now, the back of my head feels slightly indented.
It even hurts a bit whenever it rains.
Salome laughed unaware of my frustration.
“Idiot. The problem lies with the person who is easily deceived. Thinking that someone likes you just because they treated you well, how pathetic.”
Soon, the sound of nodding heads could be heard in the conference room.
“It is true that the one who is deceived is at fault.”
“If you’ve been deceived, there’s nothing you can do about it.”
See?
This is the problem with thieves.
Their mindset was completely different.
They fundamentally believe that the one who suffers is at fault.
Clap— Clap—
Someone applauded at that moment.
It was Muscle Thief Baraba.
“I understand that the relationship between the 13th Judas and the Back Alley Princess, daughter of the previous Judas is complicated, but for now, wouldn’t it be better to have a more constructive conversation?”
Unfurl—
Muscule Thief Baraba unfolded what looked like a leather scroll on the table.
There, a mind map-like diagram was drawn, and upon closer inspection, the names and characteristics of people were inscribed on it.
“This is the organizational chart of Tenebris brought by Salome. Sahad of Lust and Shehrazade of Pride have both been killed. Salome of greed, betrayed them and is now part of our ‘Shadow Council,’ which means there are four left, right?”
Tenebris was an unofficial organization formed by seven executives with platinum-level skills.
Each had one of the seven attributes: pride, lust, envy, wrath, greed, gluttony, and sloth.
Among them, pride and lust were definitely dead, and Salome, who took the place of greed, joined the ‘Shadow Council,’ so there were four remaining.
Wrath, Gluttony, Sloth, Envy.
Swoosh—
Salome lowered the leg she had placed on the table.
Then, she straightened her posture and pointed at the diagram with her fingers.
“There are four executives left, but I don’t know much about them. The only one I know is Mara of Wrath. He’s the apostate monk from the Ascending Sun Sect. There’s also the Priestess of Gluttony.”
“The Priestess of Gluttony?”
Baraba asked.
And Salome calmly answered.
“She loves to eat. That’s why she got that name. Nobody knows her true identity. But she has the amazing ability to predict the future. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that all of our strategies originate from this Priestess.”
It reminded me a lot of the astrologer, Tywin.
Could it be that Tywin is the priestess of Gluttony?
When I was thinking about the connection between the two, Salome pointed to a single character with her finger.
“I saw Sloth once, he was sitting on my left. I think I heard that he was from the Principality of Freesia. I don’t know if he has a bad temperament or if he’s just unsociable, but he rarely participates in meetings. But one thing’s for sure, he’s a dangerous guy.”
That’s a pretty helpful explanation.
I suspiciously glanced at Salome.
The old thief then said.
“Miss, I was hoping you could help us with something, to prove your loyalty and that you truly left Tenebris for our Shadow Council. Is that fine?”
“What is it?”
“I want you to help me get rid of the Tenebris executives. We can’t trust you if you can’t at least do that. That’s the law of the thieves’ world, isn’t it?”
In other words.
To prove the sincerity of her defection, Salome had to bring the heads of the Tenebris executives, who were once her comrades.
Certainly, there were few ways better to prove Salome’s intentions as effectively as that.
Is this the wisdom of an old man?
He then spoke to me in a low voice.
“Can you keep an eye on her? Even if her words might be all lies, her skills are real. You’re the only one among us who can keep an eye on that woman.”
Chapter 50, what an insane milestone, thanks to everyone for reading this novel, always brings a smile to my face to work on it. I made a wiki for it, please contribute while you have the time, though please be wary of spoilers.
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