Chapter 171 – Console
Neither of us wanted to continue working, so we packed our food and headed home. Once we were there, Suuru threw herself into my arms, crying and sniffing.
“Why does this always happen to me? Sniff! What did I ever do wrong? Uuhhh! Waahh!”
I enclosed her with my arms and hugged her tight while caressing her back.
“It's not your fault. You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s all these people’s fault. They’re just jealous of your success.”
That didn’t console her much, and she wailed at full power. She wept for a long time, and I couldn’t do much for her except console her again and again. Eventually, she cried herself to sleep, and I tucked her into the bed.
Even though her situation was very different from mine, her questions were precisely what I had been asking myself all my life. Why do I have to go through all of this? What did I do to receive such treatment? Why me?
And just like Suuru, the only answer I ever received was that I was born like this. Suuru was born outside of the baby field and I was born with spatial affinity and high willpower. That was just how it was and there was nothing we could do about it.
Suuru might have been tired because she didn’t wake up until the following morning. She was still a mess when she did, with red eyes and cold sweat. When I tried to examine her, she had a slight fever. I told her to rest at home for the day. She didn’t protest this time, proof that she was far from her top condition. I made breakfast for us, fed her, and made sure she wouldn’t do anything straining. After that, I started my day as usual.
Unfortunately, things didn’t go well. It was clear that word of what happened the previous day had circulated because I barely had any customers coming to the stall. Even our regular clients avoided our products, glancing at us from afar before buying somewhere else. Stigmatization and preconceived ideas were so strong in the domes that they wouldn’t approach me even without Suuru being here. Or maybe they didn’t like the way I handled the argument with the other merchants. My anger was indeed very different from the image I usually gave. It was good that Suuru was taking a day off or this situation would depress her even further.
About two hours after the market opened, Ulum came to visit.
“I heard about what happened. How’s Suuru?”
“She’s taking the day off. She’s a bit depressed.”
“Hmm, I hope she gets better soon.”
There was a moment of silence.
“What? Are you not going to ask how I’m doing?”
“As if something like that could have any effect on you.”
“Hey, I’m just a normal girl, okay?”
“If you’re normal then the world would be close to its end. It would be my loss to worry about you.”
“How mean. Say, I’ve got a question.”
“What?”
“What do you feel about Suuru’s… situation?”
She squinted her eyes.
“Do you think I care about something like that? Who do you take me for?”
“Well, I remember someone shouting stuff like “Don’t you know who I am?” with all her strength not too long ago.”
She winced.
“That’s because you suddenly touched me!”
“I’m the mayor’s daughter! You’re in trouble! I could get you into prison for that!”
Her usual dark gaze pierced me as she trembled in anger.
“Tila… I’m pretty sure I could slap you without a problem right now. I’ve been wanting to do it for so long too.”
I gave her my most innocent smile.
“You’d never do that. You love me way too much.”
“You’d be surprised how strong my love is for you… especially on your cheeks.”
“Pfft. You’ve become really funny, Ulum. My training is showing great results.”
“That’s not what we’re training for. Sigh… Why do all discussions end up the same with you?”
“I wonder why.”
“Whatever. Anyway, I don’t care about how Suuru was born. I only talked to her a few times but I know she’s a good person. A bit too timid for my taste, though.”
“As expected of my Ulum! You’re so cool!”
“Sigh. I’ll go now before you make me crazy.”
“See you soon!”
I was now back to waiting for customers that didn’t come, and this was getting a problem. If this continued for long enough, I wouldn’t be able to buy as much from the Muyal family, and their stock of food would start growing again. And of course, my sole revenue stream in the inner world would take a serious hit.
In the early afternoon, another person came to visit. She was a short woman, looking at me hesitantly, and I remembered seeing her among the troublemakers from yesterday.
“H-Hello.”
“What do you want?”
She flinched at my cold tone, using some time before she opened her mouth again.
“I… I wanted to say sorry about yesterday.”
“Sorry? Why would you be sorry? We lost all our customers so you achieved your goal. Congratulations. You can get lost now.”
“Please wait. I know now I was wrong. I had trouble making a profit for a long time even before you came to the market but I was so stressed that I let Userc convince me it was your fault. It’s not like more people are coming to buy my food now. I regret what happened. I’m sorry.”
“It’s always easy to come say sorry after the act. I didn’t see you doing anything when I was almost killed by Userc yesterday.”
“Ugh… I-I was wrong about this. It happened so quickly... I’m really sorry. I never expected her to resort to violence.”
“Okay, you said your piece. Leave now.”
“W-wait. I… I have a proposal for you.”
“Do you think I’d accept anything you say?”
“It’s beneficial for you.”
She was annoying but it didn’t hurt to hear whatever she had to say, especially since no one was coming to buy my food anyway.
“Speak quickly.”
“Yes. If you’re all right with it, I propose working for you. I’m not sure how you manage to get food for so cheap but I’d be fine just to get a normal salary. And that would help you sell the food since you’ve acquired such a… reputation now. It’s advantageous for you too.
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