Jiro looked at Paulina in utter confusion. He felt like his whole worldview just got turned on its head. He blinked rapidly, staring at the receptionist, bewildered, as he processed this information.
"Mr Jiro? Did you perhaps think that gold is costly?"
"It's not?" Jiro asked, reconsidering every decision he had made in his life.
Paulina laughed softly. She slapped his knee playfully.
"Oh God no! It's actually one of the most common natural resources in our kingdom, which is why gold coins are the least valuable, followed by copper, then silver, and finally platinum. Did nobody tell you about it?"
"No! Nobody told me about-"
Jiro suddenly remembered his first moments at the castle when he listened to Princess Anastasia's massive lore drop after he got summoned to this world. He recalled skipping the whole tutorial without blinking, to get it over with, not even considering how important that information could have been or even what the contents of her big speech were.
(Oh shit)
Yeah, should have thought about it sooner.
"Wait… I thought Arthur's golden armour was a symbol of how big a narcissist he was, flaunting the wealth of his church to everyone."
Paulina tilted her head in confusion.
"Mr Jiro. Arthur might have been unusual, a bit of an asshole, but he was still a paladin. They wear golden armour to demonstrate that their skills are sufficient to keep them safe, and all they need is the cheapest equipment. Paladins are technically monks after all. They wouldn't wear something so expensive. It's against their doctrine."
Hero's eyes widened for a moment as he processed the information. He picked up his golden coins that now felt more like some silly allowance you'd give to a kid. Jiro believed the king, as a goodbye gift, gave him five golden coins to live on his own for a while, but instead, he received just enough to buy some bread.
"So… fifteen gold is really not that much, huh?"
He clenched the gold in his palm. His energy was slowly depleting after the whole day of being put through a ringer. He was ready to call it a day.
Suddenly, his eyes shot open like two moons, and he stared at Paulina.
"Say… If someone tried to sell you something valuable and told you it was just five gold coins, what would you think?"
The young receptionist looked a little bewildered by this question. She took a second to find the best words for an answer.
"Honestly? I would think someone is trying to sell me some garbage because, to them, I look like I don't know any better. So maybe want it off their hands as quickly as possible. But why do you… Mr Jiro? Are you ok?"
Hero's breath suddenly quickened as he listened to Paulina's words. He suddenly stood up, knocking his chair over.
"I need to go"
"Mr Jiro? But what about your guild card? "
Before he could answer, Jiro already sprinted out of the adventurer's guild. He was exhausted – mentally and physically, but he couldn't stop running no matter what. The wind running through his hair felt like a mean distraction, nature's own slap on his face, as he rushed through, ignoring the festive celebrations. All he could think about was powering through the crowd.
"Hey! Watch it, lad!" yelled a middle-aged man as Jiro knocked him off balance, but the hero didn't even flinch. Didn't look back. He pushed the crowd away with his supernatural strength as his desperate sprint continued.
His breath was short and rapid. Shallow. Barely giving him enough oxygen to stay alive, let alone run like his life depended on it. A panic attack started setting in as his vision began to narrow.
A burst of emerald mana exploded out of his body as if he tried to forcefully heal his mind out of the anxiety, knowing he didn't have the luxury to dwell on it for even a second.
Finally, after what felt like days, but in reality was less than two minutes, Jiro arrived at his destination. He stepped into the dark alley.
Cobble here seemed to be covered in grime and materialised sadness. Sunlight didn't shine as brightly in that side alley, where cages previously full of fantastical creatures and people would tower over the potential buyers.
He passed a steel cage, once occupied by a half-naked orc, now empty.
Jiro stepped up to the short man who seemed to be in a rush to pack up his last belongings.
"I want to buy her", Jiro said with a cold voice.
The slave trader looked back at him. He smirked as he saw the young man from earlier, who had surprised him by refusing to buy a demi-human for just five gold. He laughed.
"Buy who exactly? Oh, you mean that little wolf kid? I sold her to someone just after you left. Managed to squeeze four copper from that sucker"
Jiro grabbed his collar and slammed him against the cold wall behind the slave merchant. Hero's eyes were filled with anger and guilt.
"You're going to tell me who bought her. NOW!"
The short man in a black silk suit chuckled at the hero's threat. He put his hands on top of Jiro's and pushed them down, away from his collar.
"I'm a businessman kid. I can't tell you that. Confidentiality policy. But I can promise that the dog will be put to good use. Its new owner looked interesting to say the least, so I bet he'll have some fun with her."
Jiro gritted his teeth, holding back as much as he could.
"Then at least tell me why… why did you try to sell me Mira for five gold. You knew I didn't know how much it was, didn't you?"
"I had a feeling. I got word the hero was summoned, and when I saw your clueless face, I knew who I was dealing with, so… I wanted to get a little favour with the hero and sell you my garbage, but you didn't fall for it. It kinda impressed me, but now I can tell you were just completely oblivious, huh?"
"… garbage?"
"What else would you call this animal? It was honestly a hustle to keep it alive. Thank god someone bought her before it got outlawed. But hey, no hard feelings, right? After all, you didn't buy it."
"Is that why the slave market is so empty? Because it will be outlawed?"
"Of course, lad. We knew that since we're living in peaceful times now, with no more prisoners of war, we needed to sell the last scraps we had before they became illegal. And look around. All of those things got sold. We made a pretty penny, but I guess it's time to find a new merchandise."
Jiro looked at the slave trader. Filled with blind rage as he processed his words. Treating people like merchandise and calling a scared little girl 'garbage'. Trying to sell her for the price of a loaf of bread, and showing her she wasn't worth even that when she wasn't bought. His head couldn't comprehend the reality of this world. So all his emotions just....
Snapped.
He wasn't furious. The hero for the first time felt... empty. It's like he couldn't handle it anymore, so what's the point of feeling anything? After being deprived of his whole world, being treated like garbage and thrown out of the castle, dealing with the insanity of the locals, facing a demon lord general, and witnessing his new friend commit self-harm to please him. Now, his guilt for not buying Mira in a pretence of self-preservation tipped the scale just enough as he stared at the person who, in Jiro's eyes, represented everything he hated about this world.
"Don't you feel any remorse?" he asked coldly.
"Remorse? Kid. Business is business. I sell shit to people. I'm a merchant. That's what I do"
"Right… that's what a merchant does", said Jiro with an icy tone, lacking any emotion. Filled with regret, guilt, but most importantly, exhaustion and resignation. "I will do what I do then. I guess that's what heroes do."
Jiro took a deep breath and looked into the merchant's eyes, almost as if he was looking past him. He grabbed the slave trader's arm.
"Mr Narrator. Can I do it? Is he important for the plot?" he said while looking at the short, greedy man. His voice was monotone, lacking its usual playful melody.
"What? Who are you talking about? Are you insane?" the slave trader responded, clearly frightened by the unusual nature of the hero's words.
"I promised I would ask next time, so I'm asking. Can I?"
Yeah... Do it.
…
..
.
Jiro pulled the slave trader's hand closer to his waist and placed his hand on the handle of his holy sword, filled with the divine strength and power of the goddess.
"What are you doing? Are you insane-"
Merchant's words were cut short as he suddenly lost his breath. Jiro looked in his eyes.
"Did you know? Apparently, only the hero can hold the sword. They said, there's too much divine magic on it for anyone else to handle it."
The slave trader desperately tried to grasp for air and free himself from Jiro's firm grip. Unsuccessfully. It didn't feel painful. It was much worse than that. It felt inevitable. Like it was always meant to happen, and there was nothing he could do about it. He could feel like each atom of his body was slowly withering away as if his entire essence and soul were being erased from existence. He tried to free himself desperately, but the hero's grip was too tight. Hero's strength was like an unmovable mountain, so that no matter how much the merchant struggled, he wouldn't be able to move even an inch, as Jiro was forcing him to hold the holy sword. His eyes were filling with tears as he silently begged for mercy. Jiro's gaze hadn't left his eyes even for a second, as he watched this man disappear into the wind, as the last piece of his skin perished from existence, like it was never there.
Who was there?
I can barely remember.
There's no trace of him after all.
Not a single atom.
Not a single sound
It's quiet.
Very quiet.
.
.
.
Jiro stood alone in the empty alley. It was almost silent, with sounds of distant celebrations and festivities barely bouncing against the walls in a gentle echo. He took a piece of leather that was lying on the table left by the merchant and wrapped the handle of the holy sword protectively. A single tear rolled down his cheek. Guilt was ripping him apart as he thought about Mira being sold to someone who would use her like some cheap merchandise. If only he listened to Anastasia. If only he knew he could earn that money back in just a few hours. If only he wasn't scared of taking responsibility for the little girl. If only he didn't put his own comfort over some innocent person. If only he had acted like the hero should have instead of treating it like some game. He could have saved her.
But didn't.
Jiro wiped his face with the back of his hand. He took a long breath and looked at the sky.
"Peaceful times, my ass"