A Forgotten Promise – Part 07
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Translator: Kell
“I feel like a maiden betrayed by her lover who eloped with her with a promise to marry, and then one day sold to an ugly wealthy man,” Zero said as she took off her socks in front of the shopkeeper.
“Stop making it worse than it sounds! B-Besides, I-I’m not your lover… It’s just a pair of socks anyway. It’s no big deal. Also, it wasn’t me who made the deal, it was the kid!”
“What?! You’re blaming me?!”
“Because this is all your fault! I was gonna pay him with money. But then you felt sorry for the guy, and promised him Zero’s socks!”
“Yuck. A grownup putting the blame on a kid. Laaame.”
“You’re lame! Acting like a kid to escape responsibility—”
“Quiet!” the shopkeeper barked. “The lady is graciously doing me a favor. Arguing over something stupid. How pathetic can you get?!”
“Look who’s talking, fuckin’ baldie! You’re the one who threatened a kid over something stupid!”
“Stop it, all three of you,” Zero said, fed up with our exchange. “I have lost hope for society. I might just destroy the world now.” She threw the socks to the shopkeeper. “There. Happy?”
Squealing like a cat given some catnip, the man caught the socks with his mouth.
He then yelled at me with bloodshot eyes. “Cut me loose! I gotta put these socks away in an airtight box to keep them fresh!”
I was probably not the only one wondering what the hell he meant by keeping them fresh.
Albus didn’t even try to hide his disgust as she looked away.
Feeling a little uncomfortable, I turned my back to the guy.
Zero sat down on the floor holding her bare legs. She looked up at me, shivering. “My legs are cold. I feel cold. If I do not bury myself in your fur right now, I will freeze to death.”
“Oh, come on. You’re exagger—” I shut my mouth.
Zero’s pants were terribly short. Without her long, knee-high socks, her skin was exposed. Closing the front of her long cloak should provide a bit of warmth, but in this case, she was the victim.
A man kidnapped her out of nowhere and made her remove her socks. If it were me, I would’ve absolutely refused. It definitely wasn’t my fault, but I decided to make it up to her a little.
Silently I picked Zero up and pulled her into my cloak. She then pulled the cloak over herself and wrapped it around like a blanket.
“Warm, soft, and fluffy,” she said. “I would not mind being naked.”
“I would! Walking around carrying a naked woman is pure torture!”
If a Beastfallen, an embodiment of depravity, did such a thing, they would be put on the wanted list immediately.
“I’m sorry, Zero,” Albus muttered. “If I didn’t forget about the deal, I could have prepared an extra pair of socks. It’s cold outside. We should get you a new one.”
The shopkeeper, who had been repeatedly sniffing Zero’s socks, suddenly got up. “You can pick whatever you want from my shop! And then when you no longer need it, you can give it—”
“Absolutely not, baldie! We’re not buying from a pervert’s store ever again!”
“I saw a stall earlier with a lot of cute clothes for sale,” Albus said. “They’re probably second-hand clothes from noblewomen. Let’s check it out.” She tugged on my cloak.
Zero poked her head out of my cloak. “Are there socks too?” she asked.
“Lots of them,” Albus replied.
The owner, still tied up, crawled over to us, wriggling his body around on the floor. “I can show you to a great store,” he said. “This is my territory, and I’m well-known among the merchants. I can get you good prices. So please let me go shopping with you!”
Persistent and gross.
I might catch his deviance if we stayed for long, so I quickly ran out of the shop with Zero and Albus in tow.
“Wait! I’ll carry your stuff for you!” the shopkeeper cried. “If you want, I can personally pull your carriage. No, I’ll even let the lady ride me directly!”
I tried my best to ignore him. Some customer wandering into his shop should untie him. I don’t know if there were people who would come to a shady-looking store seemingly filled with miasma in the middle of the festival. If there were, they might even just loot the place without helping the man. In which case, I couldn’t care less.
By the time we left the slums, the sun had gone down and night had fallen on the town.
Still, the festival showed no signs of ending, and I could hear the faint sounds of cheerful music coming from the square. Lanterns of various colors and shapes were hanging everywhere, brightly illuminating the town as if nighttime was when the real festival started.
“Can I stop by the fortune teller?” Albus said. “I’d like to tell her that our problem’s been solved.” She ran off without waiting for a reply.
She seemed back to her normal self. Maybe it was because her speech was over and the matter with the letter had been resolved.
“All’s well that ends well, I suppose,” Zero said as she watched Albus go. “I cannot believe that a pair of socks could cause such a problem. There are still many things I do not know about the world.”
“Don’t worry. I couldn’t have expected that to happen, either. I was almost killed over a pair of socks.”
The wound on my stomach where the mercenary had cut me still hurt.
“Is that not a badge of honor?” Zero teased.
I didn’t say anything back. Since I didn’t deny it, Zero took it as an affirmation.
“It was only a pair of socks this time, but the Grimoire of Zero might get targeted in the future,” Zero said, suddenly sounding serious. “The lass will find herself in this kind of situation countless times. The book that I wrote will cause her hardship.”
“There’s not much choice, is there? The kid wants to spread Magic, so the grimoire has to stay with her. She knows the risks involved. Have faith in her. Isn’t that what you told me when she was giving her speech?”
“Are you trying to comfort me? Despite your terrifying appearance, you are so nice.”
“I’m just stating a fact.”
“And I love facts.” She smiled. “I have faith in her, of course. Otherwise, I would not have entrusted such a dangerous book to her. Still, I wish I had not written it.”
“Well, it’s too late for that. You’ve written it, it’s gone viral. You can’t erase what already happened.”
“You are so cold,” she said this time.
“I’m just stating facts,” I repeated.
Knowledge of Magic had already spread, not only in Wenias, but also outside the kingdom.
Zero needed to travel the world to make sure that Magic was not used for evil. Albus, on the other hand, would stay here to watch over the Grimoire of Zero on behalf of all the Mages.
Zero invented Magic, but it no longer belonged to her alone. Neither could she keep it in check without help.
“What are you two doing? Hurry up!” Albus called to us from across the street.
The sound of her voice erased the tension in Zero. “Let us not waste time, Mercenary. If we take too long, she might run off and leave us behind.”
Albus turned her back to us as though she heard Zero. She was a little kid who could easily blend in with the crowd. Carrying Zero, I immediately went after Albus.
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