Certainly, it must be because it's a medieval-style other world.
Its main stage.
The capital market of the Avelan Empire, which boasted the mightiest standing in the world, was more boisterous, more chaotic, and more alive than any traditional marketplace I had seen back in Korea.
The streets were a blend of spice aromas and the reek of beasts. Every time I breathed in, a scent struck me that made me think, *Ah, so this really is another world.*
Merchants screamed themselves hoarse haggling. Merchants of other races reeled in customers with their unique accents. And a scene mixed with humans, beastmen, dwarves, and elves swirled before my very eyes.
Strange objects I had only ever seen described in the story.
Glowing crystals. Toys moved by mana. Accessories made of dragon scales. Suspicious herbs reeking of blood.
All of them pulled hard at my gaze.
"E-Excuse me… Young Master."
Karen whispered in a voice laced with derision.
"If there is something you need, you could simply send me on an errand. Why bother disguising yourself in secret and personally going grocery shopping?"
"Ah, well~ I suppose I was just cooped up inside the house for too long."
I answered with a vague smile.
"I wanted to get some fresh air for the first time in a while."
Me, with my hood pressed down low, and Karen following behind me warily, as if on guard.
Right now, the two of us were a suspicious pair that looked like a noble hiding his identity at a mere glance.
Karen's tone was one of 'feigned concern,' but I, who knew how she died in the original story, was well aware that it was all meant to probe me.
The feeling of being watched constantly from the moment I stepped outside House Argente.
A bastard who used to act like a total outcast had suddenly changed, so she must be confused.
But for me now, that suspicion was rather a useful weapon.
When we left the mansion, even the maids and knights who usually treated me like dirt had quietly stepped aside after seeing Karen's frigid gaze.
She seemed to have taken precautions in advance, afraid sparks would fly back onto her.
*If anyone picked a fight along the way… I was going to personally slap myself in the face again and give them a scare, but oh well.*
Thanks to that, from leaving the main gate, to boarding the carriage, to arriving at the market, everything was a free pass.
*Our Young Master would be heartbroken and make a scene if he didn't go to the market today, so what about the supply manager? We must serve him well~.*
Besides, the bastard of House Argente was treated as nonexistent by the core figures of the house.
They were the type to ignore me even if they passed right by me, as long as I didn't die, at the level of *Huh? Must've been the wind.*
Thanks to that, today was a day where I could do anything as long as I didn't break curfew.
I walked around the market with Karen, picking up all sorts of items.
"Boss, this and… this and… this too, please."
"Huh? These are all food ingredients and gear for ferocious beasts… Young Master, aren't you buying something too dangerous?"
"Ah~ It just looks nice to have them at home. It's like interior decoration."
What I bought could be grouped into exactly three categories.
Traps for ferocious beasts.
Poisonous herbs used to catch ferocious beasts.
Meat. And more meat. And big meat.
They were not things a noble young master hiding his identity would pick by any stretch.
The merchants couldn't hide their expressions of *Why would a brat want this…?* every time I ordered.
Karen was no different.
"Young Master."
Karen looked me up and down, speaking as if she didn't even want to breathe.
"For your information, you are not allowed to raise any animals, Young Master."
It meant that not even a beast could be on my side in the house.
Karen threw that fact in my face as if I should just naturally accept it.
But the funnier thing was—
"I already know that?"
It meant I had never had any such intention to begin with.
"Who said I'd bother raising animals?"
"…What?"
Karen's expression went completely blank.
Just looking at the equipment I had bought, it seemed like I was ready to catch a few ferocious beasts in the mountain ranges and build a pen. But since I had actually said I don't raise animals, the circuits in her head seemed completely tangled.
Seeing that expression, I laughed for no reason.
Yeah, stay blank like that.
Because from now on, I'm preparing to escape this trash house in ways you can't even imagine.
"Just tell them to put it on our house's tab roughly. You tell the merchants."
"Y-Yes?! No, what… Where in the house is there money to spend on the likes of the Young Master…!"
"Then get caught by the merchants as a thief for not being able to pay and take a beating."
"Khk…!"
I could hear Karen gritting her teeth so hard I didn't even need to look back.
So what.
If it bothers you that much, you try being the bastard young master.
And there's no money in the house to spend on me? Don't make me laugh.
Of course, compared to the official successors, the expenses allocated to me must be less than dust.
But at the very least, it was true that half my blood was Argente's.
Even so, why did the original Lucas Argente become a typical 'strong against the weak, weak against the strong' character with a frail physique, barely surviving on a few pieces of hard bread in such a beggar-like environment?
The reason was too simple.
No matter how much of a bastard he was, he was 'merchandise to be sold off someday.' There was no reason to starve him like that.
If there was a reason, it was exactly one.
Someone behind the scenes had been skimming his share.
For example, this exclusive maid right here, or the exclusive chef, or the people the Family Head had attached with instructions to 'look after him moderately~' had no fear of their master and had devoured his entire share whole.
*Fuck… I can't even guess how much they've embezzled until now.*
But well, it's fine.
Because soon, I'll make them vomit up everything they devoured in the name of 'debt,' equal to what was embezzled.
I had been walking around the market like that, and it was around when lunchtime was approaching.
Still, to this exclusive maid who followed me around attending to my needs, I had decided to now become a 'kind master.'
Since I had swung the whip, this time it was the carrot's turn.
"Karen. Thanks for putting up with all my stubbornness and following me. I bought this skewer with my own money, so you eat it too."
"…What? Ah… yes. Thank you….
Karen took the skewer and stood blankly for a while.
The young master who had slapped his own face in front of her while threatening her in the morning, then bought beast-hunting equipment at the market, and now was smiling amiably and even taking care of skewers for her.
She had a face that said she couldn't read the flow at all.
But soon, seeing me wolfing down the skewer in the middle of the market with grease smeared on my cheeks and a foolish grin, Karen must have reached this conclusion inwardly.
He's just a brat after all.
A kid who feels better as soon as something enters his mouth.
*'No matter what you scheme, it'll all end when I drag you back in.'*
…Thinking so, Karen took a bite as if humoring me.
And—
That was the first signal flare of my plan.
Dizzy.
"…Ugh… hm?"
"Huh? Karen, are you okay? You seem a bit unsteady on your feet."
"Ah, yes… maybe because it's hot… I'm a bit tired…."
"Then let's stop shopping here and rest at a nearby teahouse. I was getting thirsty too."
"Ah… shall we… then… let's do that…."
Karen followed behind me with steps that fell one beat off, like a drunk who had downed a glass, obvious to anyone.
I pretended to support her arm so she wouldn't fall, heading toward a quiet, secluded teahouse on the outskirts of the market.
When the door opened, a subtle herbal scent wafted out.
"Hello. Do you happen to have a room? My companion looks very tired."
"Yes? Ah, yes… we do. I'll guide you to the upstairs room."
"And our order as well. Please send one Chromian Mocha Tea and one cup of Purple Hightree to our room."
"……Yes, understood."
Supported by me, Karen staggered up the stairs.
And the moment the room door opened—
"I'm sleepy… let me sleep a bit… don't go out, Young Master…."
Thud.
She fell face-first into the bed and plunged straight into sleep.
Even her breathing was completely defenseless.
After confirming she was sleeping soundly, I quietly grabbed the doorknob and stepped outside.
The moment I closed the door.
"Hello?"
"…Who are you?"
The man who had given us the room key at the counter earlier—someone who didn't fit the teahouse atmosphere at all—was waiting in front of the door with his arms crossed.
A long scar running beside one eye.
But he was wearing a floral apron.
The incongruous combination was rather more threatening.
"How did you know our 'code' to place that order, brat?"
"Code? I just ordered two cups of tea."
"Cut the crap."
The shopkeeper strode up close and growled low.
"Chromian and Purple Hightree are not menu items in any teahouse. That is… the combination formula for a 'sleeping poison recipe' that knocks out even the fiercest, most ferocious beasts in an instant."
I smirked inwardly.
Bullseye.
Exactly that.
The skewers I had fed Karen moments ago had been soaked very thinly with the herbs Chromian and Purple Hight, which beast hunters mainly apply to arrowheads.
These two herbs each cause strong paralysis in a similar manner.
So they were famous as common paralytics frequently used by hunters to immediately catch or dismantle prey after stunning them.
But because the effect was fast, the moment one was hit, they would immediately realize they had been 'gotten.'
In other words, they were useless for 'assassinations.'
When used on people, they were merely obvious paralysis drugs that would be discovered right away.
But who would have known.
That if you mixed two paralytic poison herbs at a specific ratio, the exact opposite effect would occur.
Instead of going numb in an instant—*snap*—a 'perfect sleeping drug' that gradually saps strength and naturally puts one to sleep, as if nodding off under sunlight.
There was no outward difference from fatigue or the heat, so no one could feel anything 'strange.'
So now Karen was snoring away with her face buried in the bed.
The problem was that the mixing formula was a unique combination known only to a certain secret organization.
"How does a brat like you know and use the code of a mixing formula that only insiders of our organization know."
The shopkeeper wearing the floral apron looked down at me without a single flicker in his gaze.
There wasn't a scrap of mercy on that face.
To put it bluntly, it was the face of a killing machine.
The momentum he exuded grabbed my throat before his words did.
It was an atmosphere where if I misspoke a single word, it wouldn't be strange for me to evaporate on the spot.
*Damn… If I relax even a little, I feel like I'm going to vomit.*
His killing intent was on a completely different dimension—enough to make me kneel instinctively despite having lived my previous life rolling around in menial labor and back alleys.
But—
The moment I falter here, I freeze into a subordinate in this spot.
My position as the bastard of a dark house was already more than enough reason to be looked down upon.
And if I crumbled further here, the very existence called Lucas would never be able to raise his head again.
So instead, I raised my head slightly.
Like a madman.
Like a man holding on by sheer bravado.
Grin.
"……You smile?"
For the first time, the shopkeeper's expression wavered.
Meanwhile, I pretended to be calm, rolling along like a cart completely empty inside but noisy on the outside, and retorted nonchalantly.
"Why should I tell a small fry like you?"
"…What?"
In that moment, the air twisted and grew cold.
But I decided to rattle my cart even louder.
"I'll deliver those words directly to Her Highness the Imperial Princess myself."
"?! Y-You…!"
"So shut up and guide me to the secret base hidden in the basement of this teahouse or whatever."