Tower of Karma Chapter 20

Willian was walking at the capital of Arcadia, Arkas, by himself. He actually didn´t have any specific intentions to be doing that. He was simply wandering around to get some fresh air. To Willian, who didn´t like pointless things, this kind of period of idleness was very rare to him. He had too many things he had to think about that his head completely stopped working for the time. It was because of that that Willian was now doing this pointless action.

“”Kail is at his job at the colosseum and Havella is also busy because of the work at her guild. Well, it´s fine… At any point, earlier then at that time….””

“It seems what you are talking about is really serious, but isn´t things of that sort the type that you should ask other people to teach you? People that can do things will be able to them, and people that can´t won´t for the eternity. Whether it is for talent, or for sense, and other things.”

“…You b.a.s.t.a.r.d, are you saying that I have no talent?”

“I´m not saying that. Rather, you have too much of it, or so I think. Well, but you should have been able to immediately get to use it as long as you just had the basic perception of it. Though, saying “get to use it” is a faulty expression, I guess.”

“I don´t get what you are saying. Explain it in a way I can understand.”

“This is impossible. I can´t just let you know everything about me. The opposite would be the same too.”

“…Miser.”

“Sorry. Well, if I was to give you one advice… It would be for you to accept yourself, I guess.   ….No, actually, forget it. This would be too harsh on you.”

“I don´t get what you are saying.”

Willian remembered about his conversation with Kail the previous day. In the end, he wasn´t able to understand anything, but a lingering discomfort remained inside Willian.

“Aa-ah, is it impossible for me to get stronger in an easier way?”

To Willian, in a certain meaning, this was his first bottleneck. There were many deep bottlenecks he had to go through, but after pondering about it, and after putting effort, he would be able to break through it for the most of it. If he needed to learn about it, he would get a place he would be able to study about it, and if he didn´t have enough muscles, he could simply eat things that were very nutritious and have an adequate amount of exercise. He would obtain knowledge and put it into practice. Before, just this sufficed.

“I wonder what I am supposed to do from now on.”

He also couldn´t keep being in the care of the Teirah family forever. Even if it was impossible for him to have a whole house for himself, it was obviously still possible for him to think about renting a place. Since he was a foreigner, him living at the slums would be suitable, and besides, the rent there would also be cheap.

“”No, I would stand out even if I was to cause the smallest trouble, so I might need to go live in an inn… But is it too expensive to be possible in the end? There are some small s.h.i.tty rooms that are really cheap… but as expected, since I´m not a slave, I would be looking bad in the eyes of society….”

Even for such a simple thing like that, Willian couldn´t think of an answer even after thinking about it.

“”What is it about reputation, this stupid thing. I am really not thinking well right now. If I don´t go back to normal soon, I don´t know what kind of mistake I might end up making.”

Willian scratched his head. Being able to quickly think about things no matter the circ.u.mstance was one of his strong points. At his current situation, this strong point was as good as dead. Even if he was to think about the things he needs to do now, no matter how he tries, those thoughts would lead to [that thing]. That mysterious power spike, and also, the terrifying himself that was reflected on those eyes.

“”s.h.i.t, forget about it for now! There are many things I need to think about right now!””

But even so, those thoughts kept clinging onto his head and wouldn´t go away.

Willian was in agony.

“That´s troubling, ojou-san. For you to be putting all the blame onto the merchandize I sell… If you want me to sell it cheap for you, I wish you would say it directly to me, you see.”

“No, that, uhm….”

“If my reputation declines, how are you supposed to take responsibility?”

Willian looked ahead. What came to his sight was a crowd of people. Right in the center of the crowd, there was a stall that was selling cloth. The shopkeeper was probably having a quarrel with his client. If it was the usual Willian, he obviously wouldn´t poke his nose onto it. However…

“What´s the problem here?”

Right now, Willian was stressed.

“Yes, it is this client here. She started to complain about my merchandize. She was saying this silk wasn´t made in Nehderks. If this beautiful silk isn´t from Nehderks, then where is it supposed to have come from? Isn´t this unreasonable, onii-san?”

Willian approached the shopkeeper of the stall. He glanced at the customer that had complained about the cloth, but because her head was hanging down, there was no way for him to see her face. Willian also didn´t have any interest in seeing it.

In the end… he only came to vent his stress after all.

“I see, it is a beautiful silk. Can I touch it for a bit?”

The shopkeeper hesitated for a moment. At that instant, Willian was able to know who was the one at fault.

“What, it´s not like I am suspecting you. I have no idea how to identify the quality of cloth. I simply want to have a touch at this beautiful and refined cloth.”

“Ah, yes, of course, be my guest.”

After that, all he needed to do was to bring him down.

“I see, this is a good silk. By the way, owner, this… Do you know what kind of weave is this? No, no, it´s just that I want to have a reference.”

At that instant, the complexion of the shopkeeper´s face changed. The client that had issued that complaint from before also showed a reaction of surprise.

“Something like that dooesn´t matteeer! It has nothing to do with you. Take your hands off it already and just go somewhere else!”

Willian showed a smile. At first glance, Willian looked like an agreeable young man, but…

“The silk of Nehderks is made in satin. This is the same silk, but it is made in plain weave. I don´t have the intention to say which one is of better quality by that, but I would have to say that you promoting this is Nehderk´s silk is just lies.”

Once all the pretence was peeled off, Willian became filled with wicked feelings. His smile was of the devil himself.

The shopkeeper´s face became palid.

“Yo-you said you didn´t know how to identify the quality of cloth…”

“Yes, I don´t know. I have no idea what kind of cloth is of good or bad quality. I simply have some knowledge about it. I know that the silk from Nehderks is made in satin and that the one made at the northwestern side of Arkas is made in plain weave. In terms of selling price… even if both are silk, the price is different by twice the amount, and it should be clear which of them is the higher priced, right?”

The shopkeeper couldn´t even gasp. The crowd of people around the stall were all at once giving angry glares at the shopkeeper. Now that it became like that, he wouldn´t be able to sell anything at this place.

“Well, the plain weave is very firm, so I think that it by itself is a good product. To unknowledgeable eyes though.”

Saying that, he turned away from the stall and walked his way out of the place. He glanced at the shopkeeper, who fell on his knees, and let his mind be carried by the dark feelings of having his appet.i.te satiated.

“”Ah, I feel refreshed now.””

His thoughts were more or less flowing better than before. Defeating others, kicking them down their place and eating a part of their life. After knowing of the feeling of victory once again, Willian got in a bit of a good mood.

“”But despite being the kind of middle-lower cla.s.s that would be coming at a open-air market like this, that girl was really able to see through the quality.””

Satin and plain weave had many differences, but there was no mistake both were silk. If a first cla.s.s citizen, who would often deal with shops specialized on that, had gone to this stall, the shopkeeper would have definitely had problems. However, for second and third cla.s.s citizens, and others that would be coming at such market, it would be unexpected that there could be someone who would be capable of knowing the differences between different weaves.

“”To begin with, she was the one at fault to be issuing the complaint at a place like this. There is no way there would be something of good quality here.””

While it was possible for there to be an imitation product here just for the attention of customers, there was no way there would be a product of good quality at a stall like this. For her to come all her way to point this out only proved she didn´t understand that. She probably underestimated the shopkeeper.

“…Now then, since my mind is better now, let´s go fish out for something to buy here.”

Willian, the slight feeling of relief from before increased.

“…-ello.”

“”For now, let´s find a room to rent. After I am done with what I need to do, I will go.””

“Uh, h.e.l.lo…”

Willian´s sleeve was twitching.

“Hm?”

Willian´s sight were first at his moving sleeve, and then, it was at the thin fingers that were holding it. Then, it reached to the gorgeous arm, and after that, it reached to the person standing next to him. At that instant….

“What!?”

Willian´s face became stiff.

“Ah, thank you for having helped me before.”

The one saying that with a timid and small voice was Lutogarde Von Teirah. She was Louran Von Teirah´s daughter and the younger sister of Karl Von Teirah, who was currently working at the military together with Willian.

“N-no. I just said what was the truth, yes.”

Willian´s cheeks were twitching and he was making a false and crude smile. Because of how much of a surprise attack it was, he wasn´t able to control his expression.(TL note: The way its written in the j.a.panese one is ->先ほどまでとは別の意味で自身の制御ができないでいた<-, which="" literally="" translates="" to:="" he="" wasn´t="" being="" able="" to="" control="" himself="" in="" another="" meaning="" at="" that="" moment="" before.="" i´m="" not="" sure="" what="" “in="" another="" meaning”="" would="" be,="" but="" it="" probably="" is="" simply="" saying="" he="" wasn´t="" able="" to="" control="" himself="" either="">

““I-I was caught in an awkward moment. No, rather than that, isn´t her the one that made the complaint?””

Willian looked at Lutogarde in a way that wouldn´t be disrespectful. After having another glance at Ludogarde, he was startled by the lack of aura that she had. It was to the point one would lose sight of her once she got into a crowd of people. While she was a beautiful girl, it couldn´t be felt any kind of presence from her as a person.

““What are the chances of me pa.s.sing by an acquaintance that is a n.o.ble in the big capital of Arkas, and moreover, at a run-down market like this!? s.h.i.t!””

He felt like swearing in his mind.

“Um, I´ve heard before you were going to fish out for something to buy, but…”

While she had so suddenly appeared, she didn´t hold out with her questions.

“Ye-yes. There is no way I can forever be in the care of the Teirah family, and since I am receiving wages for being a regular soldier in the military just like Karl-sama, I thought that I should soon find a place to live.”

As Lutogarde was listening to Willian´s words, her face was becoming cloudy in an obvious manner. Seeing that face, Willian became anxious in his mind about whether he had said something bad carelessly.

“There is no way… anybody in the house thinks of you as a bother… probably.”

By the end of the sentence, her voice almost couldn´t be heard. Because of how much small her voice was, it took all his effort for him to be able to catch what she was saying.

“Be-besides, I-I think you should save your money until you have a good amount of money to live without problems. If you can save enough money, you can use it to buy a property and other things… b-but right now, I think you don´t need to be in hurry… Yes.”

“No, but….”

“…”

Ludogarde continued to hold Willian´s sleeve without saying anything. Willian couldn´t understand what she wanted from him. To begin with, he didn´t know the reasons behind her actions.

“B-by the way, what would Lutogarde-sama be doing in such a place like this?”

Thinking he should break out from his current weird situation, he brought up a subject which he actually didn´t have much interest in particular. Lutogarde sluggishly raised her face.

“…Shopping. Uhm, because my family manages a company that works with clothing, and I also do a bit of sewing and designing myself, and because I was entrusted with the clothes for the party by my friends, I… Uhh…. I went shopping. I still didn´t buy the cloth I need though…”

Because of how Lutogarde came to buy cloth, she was probably planning on making the clothes from the scratch. Choosing clothes and making clothes obviously were completely different things. It was only a guess, but her friends probably requested her to choose the clothes. However, Lutogarde decided that it was the latter, and so, she came all her way here to do shopping despite being a n.o.ble.

““Sh-she is too stupid.””(TL note: So mean T.T maybe she just wanted to make the clothes herself)

Willian felt like holding his head. Lutogarde was other-worldly and completely different from the standards of how Willian imagined a ojou-sama from a n.o.ble family would be like. It was this type of person that Willian had the most trouble with. This was because he couldn´t predict or make calculations of her actions…

“”Besides, she won´t release the hem. I don´t understand what´s up with her.””

If this was to continue like this, the day would soon be over. He needed to think of some way to make Lutogarde move; think of a way to have those fingers release his sleeve. The answer he came up with was…

“If you don´t mind, could I accompany you in your shopping?”

It was to give in to her. For now, he needed to give up on all his plans for today and go along with her. Willian believed there would have been a chance for him to get away. However, there wasn´t. Thus, he gave in.

“I don´t.. mind. I am really… thankful.”

Ludogarde was showing a happy smile. It was lovable how she was still firmly holding onto the sleeve.

“Then, let´s go. By the way… isn´t it difficult to walk like this?”

Willian intended to implicitly tell her to release his sleeve by saying that, but…

“Is that, so?”

It seems that he couldn´t get the message across at all.

The weird shopping of the young man, who was leading the way, and the girl behind him who held his sleeve began.