Chapter 2

In the end, they only left after the sun had set entirely. It means I continuously got beaten until then.

The ringing in my ears didn't seem to stop.

It seems like Remy yelled something threatening in a rough tone. Of course, I couldn't hear it properly. Did that bastard think someone getting beaten would have the leisure to listen to others?

Anyway, it's great that they left me alone.

First, I needed to get up. My whole body was aching, but I couldn't just stay lying on the street.

Fortunately, I could move my arms and legs. It doesn't seem like they're broken.

"Ugh."

I forced my ragdoll-like body to get up.

After spitting out the blood pooled in my mouth, I sat leaning against the wall.

I could feel the excruciating pain throughout my body. As I gasped to endure the agony, I suddenly realized.

My lips were curled up into a wide grin without noticing.

"..."

In the end, I couldn't hold back my laughter.

"Hehehe. Kehkehkehkehkeh."

When I burst into sudden laughter, I could sense the pedestrians around getting flustered. Gazes that seemed to ask, 'Is he crazy?' were shot at me from all directions.

Well, if someone was laughing after getting beaten up, I'd probably think they were insane, too.

But there were clear reasons behind my laughter.

First, they didn't find the magic book I had hidden.

And…

"[Move]."

I raised my arm and quietly uttered the activation word. At the same time, I envisioned it. 

Lift up.

Move it.

Shoooosh—

A slight sound could be heard. The sound of something cutting through the air. 

I caught it, without missing it, as it fell. 

Jjalang! A crisp ringing sound reverberated. Even though I felt a jolting pain in my arm as it swung wildly, winning my prize was more than enough to ignore the pain.

A heavy coin purse. 

It was Remy's.

"Hehehehe. He beats people for money and steals spare change from a beggar's can, yet he can't guard his back pocket well."

Here's what happened:

The coin purse had been in the raincoat pocket. Pickpockets usually hide money pouches very carefully, but even skilled pickpockets don't lay a hand on the outlaw Remy.

Thanks to that, it was completely exposed.

While getting beaten, I activated the Type-1 magic spell [Move] to swiftly lift it.

I quickly levitated it into the air and left it on a building's railing. 

The process was so swift, and Remy was so focused on beating me that he didn't even notice the money was gone.

Pedestrians would have thought, 'Oh, something fell from the railing,' and never imagined I had cast magic.

Eugene, the upright gentleman and astute businessman, doesn't normally pickpocket. But against such an opponent, instead of feeling guilty, I operated magic more nimbly than ever before.

The purse now in my hands proves that my actions were the proper judgment.

 I untied the purse string and counted the coins inside.

There were 21 coins in total.

…21 shillings.

Phew.

"It's a party today."

How many loaves of bread can I get with this?

As a result, I gained a profit of 23 shillings. Though the money from the can was taken, I had more than enough to satiate my hunger with just the two coins from my back pocket and the 21 shillings in the purse. 

Thanks to that, I can also buy other foods I couldn't afford until now.

Like meat, for instance.

Sadly, meats like pork are out of the question. I'd go hungry the next day.

But I can certainly get my hands on some grilled fish. 

Just imagining the fragrant smell of fish made my mouth water profusely.

The satisfying protein and sweet fat vividly whet my appetite. It's been months since I last had any…

Ah, wait. 

Now's not the time for that.

I hurriedly stashed the coins away and looked around. By now, Remy may have realized his purse was missing.

I glanced around a few times. Fortunately, there was no sign of his gang. 

"Good."

Now was the time to get up. After resting a bit, the pain had somewhat subsided.

I was going to head straight to the market. 

"..."

I looked around again. 

An odd sensation.

The gloomy scenery was no different from usual. The dark streets, the grim-faced people, the ominous clouds starting to gather again – it was an excruciatingly mundane postwar landscape.

However, something slightly out of place was mixed in there.

I was drawn to it, arriving at an old man leaning against a wall near a building across the way, reading a book.

Among the unfamiliar faces and familiar sights, what this old man gave off was…

A sense of eeriness. 

This person.

I feel like I've seen him somewhere before.

The white-haired elder was engrossed in his book, having casually propped up his cane. Judging by his hat, he seemed to be from Frauvia, but he looked somewhat slovenly leaning against the wall like that for such a person.

That demeanor of his seemed oddly familiar somehow.

It didn't take me long to recall.

Just a few days ago.

On that rainy day, he was the one who saw me using magic. Our eyes met when I raced along using [Disk] as an umbrella.

But instead of being resolved, my suspicion only deepened.

This old man. Hasn't he been in that same spot since the daytime?

"No way."

An ominous suspicion arises. 

Has he been watching me this whole time?

If that's the case, it becomes troublesome.

"..."

The Federation's crackdown isn't limited to just magic-related items. They seize anything with the word "magic" attached.

People were no exception. 

Just as there's a 50-pound bounty on magic books, there's also a bounty on wizards.

Unlike the potential threat of magic books, wizards were seen as an actual threat, so the bounty was much higher.

A whopping 200 pounds.

However, they can't just capture living people out of nowhere. Evidence is needed. That's precisely why Remy didn't blindly accuse me of being a wizard and only tried to take the magic book – he lacked proof.

But the old man witnessed me using magic. 

It was up until just a while ago, two times. No, maybe even three times.

Being an eyewitness counts as excellent testimony and evidence itself. It's a famous rumor that the military camp has a "magic machine that can instantly recreate what was witnessed."

A chill runs down my spine.

The cold invades deep into my body.

If the old man's aim really is the bounty, then I need to choose right now – either flee or subdue him. Magic books get burned without mercy, so a wizard can't expect good treatment, either.

"Damn it…"

First, I need to confirm the facts.

In this head-splitting situation, even I couldn't guarantee the probability that my judgment was correct. 

I began to observe the old man closely for about 20 minutes.

Then, I came to a conclusion.

"Perhaps it was just my imagination."

The old man didn't glance my way, fully engrossed in his book. In 20 minutes, he should've looked over at least once.

As far as I could tell, he was just an ordinary white-haired elder.

It seems I was just being paranoid. The fact that he'd been there since the daytime could have been my memory blurring from the beating.

Even if he did witness me using magic, it likely wouldn't matter. A Frauvian soldier wouldn't readily believe the ramblings of a beggar claiming to be a wizard.

"Phew…"

As the tension left me, I couldn't help but sigh in relief. 

I had wasted too much time.

Without further ado, I turned my steps towards the shopping district, anticipating a meal of bread and grilled fish. And…

"Ah."

Our eyes met.

By the time I arrived at the market holding the coin purse, more than half the stores had already closed for the day. Especially the good bakeries – apparently, they had sold out of stock long ago.

Only after the sun had set entirely did I return under the bridge, and now on my right were piled just hard, tasteless pieces of rye bread.

Gurgle— 

And yet my mouth waters. 

After starving for three days, I felt like chewing on rocks, so how could bread not whet my appetite? Even that hard rye bread must have been the ultimate delicacy to me.

But that wasn't the only reason.

The smell of oil!

Whenever the doughy scent of flour wafted over from the right, the rich aroma of oil from the left would maddeningly stimulate my hunger.

The power of two freshly grilled fish was just that potent…!

Gurrrgle—

It became difficult to stop the drool from flowing out. 

I swiftly snatched up one of the fish with my bare hand after giving it a quick rinse in the river and chomp.

I took a big bite.

"..."

Chew, chew.

I gnawed on the fish flesh.

Tough. 

Having lost most of its juices, there was not a hint of tenderness to be found.

Packed with bones, too.

The fish was far from fresh, and having been grilled for too long, it tasted completely charred in my mouth.

"...."

And yet, it was blissful.

Words cannot describe it. I feel like I might start crying.

Warm grilled fish is unbeatable.

Chomp. Chomp. Chompchompchomp.

Picking out the bones was a luxury. I devoured the grilled fish greedily as if the bones were too precious to waste. The sweet taste of oil hitting my tongue for the first time in weeks seemed to rapidly infuse vitality into my withered body.

In an instant, one fish was gone.

Before all the oil in my mouth could be washed away, I quickly took a bite of the rye bread.

At this point, even the bread tasted good. Damn, delicious carbs. When I had only hard bread to eat for months, it was so dreadfully dull, but having it with grilled fish again for the first time in ages, how tasty could it get?

Slurp.

In the end, after devouring three tear-soaked pieces of bread and the grilled fish like I was hiding from a demon, my mealtime finally ended.

I felt full.

I knew just how great happiness that is, and I knew it very well from experience over the past few years. Right now, I was happy. 

Then my future self should be happy, too.

After a meal, the time for reckoning always comes.

"Let's see. Two grilled fish for ten shillings, six loaves of bread for five shillings."

Eight coins remained in the coin purse.

Even after such gluttony, I still had eight shillings left.

"Thank you, Remy."

It was an incredible bargain. Thinking that, I grasped all eight oil-stained coins in my hand and…

Deposited every last one into my savings jar without keeping any.