༺ Hassan — The Swamp Local (2) ༻
“Oh, Mr. Hassan. I have heard a lot about your feats again. It seems you caught a big lion with your bare hands?”
The green-haired receptionist, Daphne, welcomed us with a laugh. And as soon as she saw me, she asked about the events that had happened with the lion-cat.
The same thing happened with the Sword Maidens earlier, rumors in this world spread so fast that it’s simply unreasonable.
Most probably, this rapid transmission of hot news is because they were shared as idle talk during having snacks in bars, and among street musicians that sang those tales in an epitomizing fashion.
“Well, It wasn’t really a lion… More like a giant cat… I didn’t kill it either, I just captured it with other people’s help.”
“I see. But that’s great too. Mr. Hassan’s fame is spreading all around the city.”
“Fame?”
“The expectations for you are high since an outstanding rookie has finally appeared again after a long time! The last one was Hippolyte. It feels great to be able to rebuke the pretentious receptionist bitches of the Minerva Guild!”
“I-I see…”
“Let’s just say that you killed it. Do you want me to exaggerate the size too? Let’s make it a drake instead.”
“Isn’t that too big of a lie!?”
“You have to do this much if you want to trample the bastards from the Minerva Guild. Let’s completely destroy those bastards using this method!”
The conflict between the Minerva Guild and the Mars Guild seemed to be somewhat similar to the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States.
They seemed to see each other as rivals, wanting to brag and show off their strength to their opposition and being anxious about not being able to weaken the other on any given chance.
Daphne flipped the abacus in front of her while I was having boring thoughts about the political structure of this world’s society.
“Hmm, two silvers for that kind of work seems kinda cheap. I’ll have to warn Ms. Nemea, the alchemist of the west gate slums.”
“A warning?”
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“Yes, as a start we won’t allow her to use the guild’s services for a few days and up to a few months. If the pricing even then is still not up to par and doesn’t fit the market price, we’ll have to consider permanent denial of services.”
So there was something like that. Damn, I can’t believe getting two silvers means I got the short end of the stick. I had no idea, I just thought it was good that I was getting more money than my time as a slave.
Looking back on it again, I was really suffering a lot.
Of course, I paid dearly then for gathering money… Well, I’d rather not remember it, I’ll just bury it in my heart for the rest of my life.
“Anyways, I have great expectations for you, Hassan. You’re the blessed Samaritan, after all. It’s going to make a lot of noise! By increasing your reputation, our guild’s reputation will also improve. As your receptionist, I might even get promoted too…”
Daphne was smiling like she was having a great dream about a beautiful future ahead of her. Well, everyone would have similar reactions when their interests were at stake, I suppose.
“That aside, someone requested for you and Ms. Luna specifically. The commission fees are 10 silver coins! And if you complete it…”
Tak- Tatatak- Tak-
Daphne kept using her abacus to do some calculations, then she looked at Luna and said in a jovial tone.
“… After taking into account all her achievements and contributions, Ms. Luna will be promoted to the bronze rank.”
“I-I will be promoted?!”
Luna, quite literally, screamed in disbelief.
I was just as surprised as her. Luna will be promoted to the bronze rank? Won’t she then be in the same rank as those armored Amazonesses from earlier?”
Well, it wasn’t that Luna’s growth prospects were poor. She was the daughter of that strange being, Knox or something like that. She was practically the daughter of a divinity. But isn’t the bronze rank still too much for the current Luna?
“I-I thought it would take way more quests for me to get the bronze rank tag…”
“That’s what was decided after an internal meeting. Luna is very valued by the executives as she’s the only supplier of Wasp Liquor in the entirety of Sodomora. You’ll qualify for a loan from the guild if you are promoted to the bronze tier. Starting from there it will be easy for you to set up your own brewery.”
“Opening a brewery? Really!? That’s crazy!”
“There’s nothing crazy about it. After checking with the Mercury bank I found out that a lot of land in Ideope islands was legally yours. That’s way more than enough credit… I wonder why you’re starving yourself when you have so much. You’re a very strange person, Ms. Luna.”
“Oh my god, Hassan! They said I will be promoted! I will be able to set up my very own brewery!”
Luna grabbed my hand and began excitedly jumping around. I wasn’t able to respond much though, being rather distracted after the claims about how much real estate she owned were uttered by Daphne.
I thought she was a helpless beggar like me, but she turned out to be a super rich lady or something along those lines. Luna’s image in my mind started to change.
“Hassan, did you hear that too?”
“Y-Yeah, I heard it, ma’am.”
“Hmm? What’s wrong with you all of a sudden?”
Luna frowned at my sudden polite tone of speech. Daphne, the receptionist, on the other hand, quickly explained to us the catch of the matter.
“Of course, all of that is based on the assumption that the following quest is finished successfully. As you might expect from the rewards, this quest is very delicate and difficult. You’ll have to go to the swamps of Acheron1This was a hard one to translate, thanks to the author changing the names sometimes. The Acheron is a river flowing in the northwest of Greece. It was also referred to as a swamp in some myths.. The quest boils down to dealing with indigenous spirits living there and getting rid of the Pluto cultists among them.”
Dealing with spirits, getting rid of cultists.
Now that sounds like a normal quest for an adventurer.
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I remember catching glimpses of what an adventurer’s life was like back when I was still with Elfriede and her gang of goons. These kinds of life-threatening quests were only given to Bronze tier adventurers and above, with only a few exceptional cases like us right now.
It seems that I am progressing rather quickly. I am probably carrying a lot of expectations on me. Am I something like a super rookie, now?
“Well, May I ask what the Pluto cult is Ms. Daphne?”
“Ah… They’re wicked guys. The god of death… Hmm…”
She closed her mouth near the end, as if on the verge of revealing something she shouldn’t have. She then coughed, to hide her momentary slip, and continued on with her explanation.
“They are heathens who unofficially worship the god of wealth, Pluto. No matter how many times you hang or burn them on a stake, these blasphemous corpses keep reappearing. It’s only natural to want to beat them up and reduce their numbers, right?”
“I see.”
“Since you’re partying with Ms. Luna, take this opportunity to learn about religions from her. Although she’s not worshiping one of the Twelve Gods, faith in Knox is still within orthodox religions.”
**********
I came out of the Guild with Luna. Daphne told us that we were to depart tomorrow. She also said it would be a fairly large expedition, and that I’d have to work along with other adventurers other than Luna.
That’s a lot of expenditure since the reward was 10 silvers per person…
…Money that I could only collect after suffering as a slave for half a year was given like this in a single quest?
Is this for real?
My monetary senses might have become weird.
It felt very similar to organizing a boss raid, and due to this ominous thought, I couldn’t help but become slightly nervous.
Damn it, I’ll have to run as far away as possible if a boss appears for real. Well, not just me, everyone will probably start running if that were to happen.
“Are you still listening to me?”
“Ah… Yes, ma’am.”
“Why are you talking so respectfully all of sudden? It’s weird. Stop it already.”
“That’s n-nothing. Nothing at all…”
“So, the twelve Gods dwell in Mount Olympus. Among them, three gods carry the highest power. The most famous would be Jupiter, the almighty god of the sky. Then Neptune, the undisputed lord of the seas, and finally Pluto, the god of wealth and treasures.
Luna began sharing her knowledge about this and that while we were walking. She was now talking about the gods and myths of this world. It sounded like a fairytale to me if I had to be honest.
Part of me was bothered by something as I was listening to her explanation.
“Shouldn’t it be the underworld when it comes to Pluto? I mean, shouldn’t they be the god of the underworld.”
Now that I think about it, a swamp seemed fairly adequate as an entrance to the underworld.
The sky, the sea, and the earth were the most basic components or hierarchies in most myths and tales. I began remembering the contents of the comic books I had read back when I was a kid.
“Shhh, you can’t say that. It’s a taboo.”
Luna started to look around like a Korean who secretly shouted “Long live the rebellion!” in the middle of Japanese police officers and warned me in a startled, whispery tone.
“Pluto is the god of wealth. Only cultists think he’s the god of the underworld. Don’t say that ever again.”
“Really?”
I was going to ask why it was like that but decided against doing so. It had nothing to do with me, after all. That wasn’t even what I was most curious about.
We had earned two silvers after finding Nemea’s cat. I gave Luna one silver, her share of the commission fee, and then asked her the question irking me the most.
“Hey, Luna.”
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“Yes? Do you have more questions? What is this thing? Holy shh- Is this really a silver!!? That’s way too much, Hassan!”
“Anyway, I didn’t mean to pry but, I heard you had a lot of lands under your name.”
“Ah, that? I don’t know. The elders of the village take care of that. The lands are like a sanctuary in the first place and cannot be sold, there’s no way to make money out of it. So, it doesn’t matter much, no matter how much land I have under my name.”
What did she mean by them being a sanctuary and that she couldn’t make money out of it? Maybe it was like the greenbelt in Korea that prevented the land from being developed? Still, having the ownership of so much land was still amazing to me.
Not like having lands or buildings to your name was weird, but it was a concept that felt closer to my own world than to this barbaric one.
Damn, it wasn’t a stupid pink but a “Gorgeous” pink. Was it actually a shiny Chikorita all along? Can I even call it a Chikorita anymore? But what should I say then? What the fuck? I can’t figure it out with my dull brain.
“But you would have been able to have a good life were you to stay on the islands, right? Is there any reason for you to come here, so far away from your home, and suffer like this?”
“As I told you, the islands of Ideope are cursed. I want to find a way to release this curse. Maybe I’ll find a relic to lift the curse if I become a high-ranked adventurer!!! I have to try at least.”
“Hmm, you might succeed.”
“Are you not in the same situation, Hassan? Samaria is pretty far from here, what led you to this place then?”
“Far away from home? Indeed, you’re right about that.”
Damn it, no one in the world wants to know how I came to be transported here more than I do!
Why am I, Hassan, here? Korea, where I used to live, was so far away from here compared to the wildlands of Samaria that there was no way to even describe the difference, at least with my limited vocabulary.
Leaving useless thoughts aside, it was time for lunch, and we entered a nearby restaurant.
I ordered a rice soup worth 5 coppers which was more than enough to fill my stomach along with barley tea worth 3 coppers a cup then came out with a satiated belly. As I got out, I could see people gathering on the main plaza and making a ruckus.
“Want stones? Come close, come close. I’m selling tough and easy-to-throw stones. I collected them myself!”
“We sell it cheaper than the competition over there! 1 stone for 1 copper, you can also pay 5 coppers for a massive one.”
Damn, what are they even selling stones for?
“Hassan, look there! It must be a stone festival!”
Luna began excitedly jumping around like a high school girl that was attending her favorite band’s concert. What the hell is a Stone Festival? I could only wrinkle my eyebrows in confusion.
I was left with no alternative but to ask the turban-wearing sandman bastard next to me, that was selling stones on a stall.
“What kind of festival is this?”
“Festival? You’re mistaken. This is an execution. Those who broke the precepts of the gods will be killed with these stones. With that said, wanna buy one? It’s very cheap.”
An execution?
Hearing this terrible word, I began looking around until I finally could see someone tied to a crucifix-like frame that was raised high up in the plaza, probably for everyone to see.
His face was swollen to an indescribable degree, and his tattered clothes, probably due to the continuous throws, showed heart-clenching wounds. It looked like he was whipped more than 20 times. I’ve been brutalized so many times by Elfriede and her goons that my observation probably wasn’t too far from the truth.
“Ahem…ahem…listen up, people! This man here, Penny, broke the precepts of the gods. His crime was treating people without getting permission from the temple.”
“H-He fed me mold!”
“Me too! Me too!”
The prisoner coughed out blood at these accusations.
“I-It’s not mold but medicine! Antibiotics to treat diseases that are invisible to the naked eye…”
“Shut up, evil cultist! The mold you fed me caused my hair to completely fall off! It was a cursed potion for hair loss, you damn bastard!”
“T-That’s probably due to hereditary reasons…”
“I don’t care! It’s your fault! Let’s throw some stones!”
Woh!
People all around me began throwing stones, this horrifying and barbaric scene couldn’t be described with mere speech alone. Naturally, I remained speechless throughout the event!
“Chicken Skewers! 5 coppers for a chicken skewer!”
“Spend as little as 3 coppers and get a refreshing barley tea!”
All around me were stalls that were selling all kinds of snacks, they were all busy and people seemingly enjoyed the stone show as if they were really in the middle of a festival rather than in the midst of an execution where you brutally stoned a man to death.
This goddamned fucked up world! How could people nonchalantly smile and laugh after stoning a person to death like that?!
“You want a skewer, Hassan? I’ll pay for it since I just got paid!”
“Of course, I want one.”
As expected, rich people always loved to spend away money as soon as they got them.
As I was waiting for the chicken to be grilled, the man that looked like the host came back and continued the execution, bringing in the next victim on the stage.
“Here comes the next one! It’s Marco, a street musician! He is already more than 20 silvers down in debt! Up to you whether he will be disposed of or sold as a debt slave!”
“Let’s throw stones!”
“B-Brother, help me! I said I’d pay you back once I became famous! This signature is gonna turn into a fortune once I do. It’s a treasure in the making!”
……
……
“Let’s throw a stone!”
Woh!
No, why is he tied up there? Anyway, I was fortunate in meeting you, fucking bastard. I suffered so much because of you.
“Boss, give me a rock. A big one.”
“Oh, you adapted very quickly to the customs of this continent, Samaritan. There’s nothing more entertaining than throwing stones. But be careful, you might get addicted to this. You might even sell your wife for some stones.”
I could get a stone as big as my fist with a single copper. I clenched my fist as hard as I could and was about to throw it at the bastard’s big nose when…
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“W-Wow, is that you brother? This is a fateful meeting! Thank you, Mercury! Brother! I’m gonna be stoned to death, why don’t you give me a little help?”
After seeing me in the crowd, Marco began struggling until the rope tying him loosened a little.
Damn, how did he notice me among so many people? Is it because of my hair? He was very sly indeed.
“Helping a prisoner?”
“Who dares?”
Marco’s loud cry brought attention to me. The sight of this large crowd holding rocks was terrifying enough to make my legs weak from fright.
“I have no intention of helping, I just came to throw stones.”
“Let’s throw stones!”
“Woooh!”
“B-Brother! Gaah, o-only the innocent can-!”
Marco’s nose which was already big became even bigger after getting hit by the stones. After some deliberation, Marco finally raised his hands as if tired of the endless thrashing.
“O-Only the innocent can throw stones at me”
Thud- Thud-
The hands that were throwing stones suddenly stopped. Marco began screaming, not letting this opportunity go to waste.
“Brothers, I know about everything! The blonde guy there! Y-You sneaked out yesterday behind your wife’s back…”
“Uh-huh!”
“Y-Yes, sister, you, next to him! Even though you guys made a vow of chastity…”
“B-Be quiet! You vile criminal!!”
“We are all sinners! Why would a sinner be able to convict another sinner? Only god can judge my sins!”
His voice was akin to that of a dying man, very heartbreaking as if his intestines were cut in half as he spilled out the last cry of indignant resistance.
There was something akin to madness, a certain type of unsettling eeriness, in it that made people drop the rocks in their hands and disappear. Maybe it’s because he used to sing on the street but his voice was very loud and powerful, being able to resonate all around in a large area.
“My god, I nearly died there.”
“I’ll give you one more week to pay me back you half-baked clown. I’ll castrate you then sell you as a eunuch slave if you don’t.”
“I-I’ll p-pay you back.”
And thus Marco was released. He then hobbled in front of me and Luna while wiping his bloody nose.
“Wow, I survived thanks to you, brother. Thanks to you, I was able to flip it!”
Damn, I didn’t do shit. I just sneakily threw my stone on the ground so he wouldn’t see it.
“Oi, you bastard. Why don’t you pay back your debts? That’s why you’re getting stoned like this.”
“I’m as poor as one can get, what am I supposed to do when I’m hungry? The path of an artist was always riddled with hunger. I have it even worse. I want a way to raise money, but I can’t find any job.”
“You have a lot of problems, you bastard!” 2An idiom about having to deal with a lot of things that had ‘nose’ in it. It was neigh-impossible to localize.
“Talking about my problems would take very long! Sigh, Lord Mercury! What am I supposed in this time of struggle?!”
Marco’s lonely back slowly got further and further away. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t pitying him at least a little. Anyways, we’ll probably never meet again.
That’s what I was thinking until I met him the very next day in front of the west gate.
“Sisters of the Sword Maidens. Give me your luggage! This Marco will safely carry everyone’s luggage! To the Acheron swamp!”
I think I’m starting to believe in that god of meetings and fate, Mercury or something. True faith was best demonstrated by actions rather than sermons.
Anyway, that’s how my first subjugation quest started. In other words, this quest was my real placement game, as for Luna it was a promotion game, I guess? 3League of Legends reference, well not necessarily lol but most probably.
“Hassan of Samaria! We meet again! It seems we’re in the same group. We’re gonna see each other a lot the following days.”
“Hi-Hippolyte…!”
Translator’s Note:
This was a fun chapter to translate. I always love it when Hassan interacts with Luna and Marco. Marco was especially entertaining in this chapter lmao. I hope you guys liked it and see you next time.
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