[TS] Became a Peach Saint – Chapter 330

“Get in.”

A man pushes me into a thick iron-barred prison.

“You’re young, so we didn’t even put magic restraints on you. You better behave. If you make a fuss and cry, you’ll get whipped.”

“Kay.”

The man glares at me once and leaves without looking back. Guess he was trying to scare me or something.

The place reeks of layers of foul smells. It’s poorly ventilated, so there’s a moldy stench and a nasty smell of blood.

“Damn those Shaiyen scum. They’ve gone and captured another kid.”

Looking inside, I see a human figure in the darkness. The small bulb in the hallway can’t possibly light up this dark corner of the prison.

“Who’s there?”

“What? Hahaha.”

As my eyes adjust to the dark, I start to see the person sitting in the corner clearly.

A middle-aged man covered in wounds and scars. The guard who pushed me in wasn’t lying. These are clearly wounds from torture and whipping.

His hands and feet are shackled with heavy cuffs.

—Click, click.

“Phew— What are you doing here, mister?”

“You’re quite the bold one. Kids shouldn’t be smoking cigarettes already.”

“Want a puff?”

“….”

The shackled man stares intently at the cigarette.

Even as I slowly approach, he just sits there, not making a move.

Maybe he doesn’t even have the strength to move, only his gaze shifts.

“Here.”

I take out a cigarette and offer it. The man, who seemed to be pondering, opens his mouth and bites onto it.

—Click, click.

Every time I light the lighter, the dim corner of the prison wall flickers into view.

Dried bloodstains are splattered all around. The man’s torn clothes are stained red, likely contributing to the blood on the walls. Sadly, it doesn’t seem voluntary.

“Ha— I’m alive.”

The man exhales a heavy puff of smoke and laughs.

“Give and take.”

The man’s body twitches.

“You’re quite the talkative kid. You’ve seen my state, what do you want?”

“Spill some info.”

“….Are you really a kid?”

“Yeah, so spill it.”

“Hah…!”

The man lets out a hollow laugh.

His unkempt beard suggests he’s been here for a long time.

“This is Wyoming.”

“Where’s Wyoming?”

“It’s a big chunk of land in the western U.S. It’s also the least populated place in America. Nothing but fields all around, and you’d be lucky to see a car pass by all day.”

“Oho. Sounds nice.”

The smoking man looks at me like I’m crazy.

“There are even villages with just one person. You’ve been captured and brought to the underground of such a place.”

“This is underground?”

“Yeah. The world’s largest black market.”

“Wow, the world’s largest!”

The man raises his shackled hand, takes the cigarette out of his mouth, and grinds it into the floor.

“Here. Have another one and keep talking.”

“Really… You’re not all there either. Looking at your face, I can see why you were caught.”

Despite his words, he puts another cigarette in his mouth.

—Click, click.

“Ha— This place deals in everything internationally banned, from hallucinogenic herbs to people. Drugs, tax evasion, organ trade, human flesh, slave trade—you name it, they sell it.”

“Ah. So they caught me to sell me.”

“You didn’t know?”

“How would I? Do I look like a regular here?”

“Well… that’s how it is.”

The man, as if he had nothing more to say, smacked his lips and put the cigarette he was holding into his mouth.

Every time he raised his hand, the thick handcuffs rattled and made noise. The handcuffs were engraved with strange characters that looked like they came from an enchantment shop.

“Still, seeing that they didn’t even shackle a child, I guess they’re still human.”

“With that attitude, you’re overflowing with humanity. Do you hear the prayers of little lambs or does the sea part when you go to the shore?”

“Ahem! Are you really a kid?”

“If it were me, I would’ve prayed to you, not over there. You really have a heart as big as the black market.”

“….This kid’s personality is something else.”

The man muttered softly, his face red, and kept smoking.

“What’s your name, mister?”

“Charles Willowby.”

“Charles, what did you come here for?”

“Do I look like I brought a shopping cart?”

As I sat down next to him, Charles’ gaze followed me down.

“Then why did you come?”

“I….”

Charles started to speak but then hung his head low.

“Phew—”

Charles exhaled cigarette smoke, rubbed his face, and then lifted his head again.

After looking around, Charles turned his head toward me.

“I’m an intelligence agent for the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency.”

Charles whispered to me in a small voice and then put the cigarette back in his mouth.

“Keep it to yourself.”

“Is it okay to tell me that?”

“Let’s scratch each other’s backs. I got a precious cigarette, so I should spit something out. Anyway, I’m done for.”

Charles tilted his head back, the almost burnt-out cigarette still in his mouth.

“You use some pretty lousy idioms.”

“….You’re really a brat. Pfft.”

The cigarette Charles spat out fell to the ground, and sparks flew.

Charles stepped on the cigarette with his foot and looked at me.

“But you won’t die. It’ll be tough, but keep holding on. At some point, an opportunity will come.”

“Is that supposed to be encouragement? You don’t have any friends, do you, Charles?”

“Damn. You’d live a really long time if you just kept that mouth shut.”

Charles hung his head low.

A dark shadow, the kind that visits those without hope, seeped into Charles’ eyes.

Bitna had asked me to catch that nerd, Randolf. The eyes of that nameless ranger who was dying at his hands were like that too.

I took out a cold beer bottle from the subspace and pressed it against Charles’ cheek, startling him.

“What, what’s this?”

“Don’t you like beer?”

“I have alcohol dependency.”

“You really live life carelessly.”

“I really want to sew your mouth shut. You keep saying such lousy things.”

Charles took the cold beer bottle with droplets of water on it and opened the cap with his teeth.

Pop!

Just seeing that, it’s clear he’s not an ordinary person.

“Phew!”

Holding the beer bottle with both hands, which rattled due to the handcuffs, Charles stared at it for a moment before bringing it to his mouth.

Gulp, gulp, gulp.

It seemed like he wanted to finish it all in one go, as his Adam’s apple kept bobbing without pause.

“Ah! I almost thought I died and went to heaven.”

“Do people who part the sea go to heaven?”

“You don’t have any friends either, do you?”

“I didn’t have any before, but I’ve got quite a few now.”

“…..”

“Unlike Charles.”

“Damn.”

Charles chuckled weakly.

It seemed like even he found the situation funny.

“Is it good?”

“It’s amazing. Thanks.”

I reached into my pocket and pulled out another beer from the subspace. Charles, who had been watching, widened his eyes.

“What on earth do you keep in your clothes…?”

“Curious about what’s inside the kid’s clothes?”

“Really dizzying.”

“Before you get dizzy, finish this too.”

As I hand over the beer bottle, Charles takes it with his blood-stained hand.

“This too.”

“…”

I push the cigarette pack and lighter next to Charles, and he stares blankly.

“Not wine, but satisfied with cheap cheese.”

“Ugh.”

Charles bursts into laughter as if it’s absurd.

“The best cheese of my life.”

While talking with Charles, I hear footsteps from afar.

“Charles, you’re eating that. They must be coming to get me now.”

Charles looks at me with a sad face, as if he hadn’t laughed at all.

“Sorry…”

“For what?”

Charles slowly lowers his head and starts making choking sounds.

“Sorry… couldn’t save you.”

“Ugh, stop meddling. Why cry over someone you just met? You’re acting like a girl, might as well sell yourself instead of me.”

“Ugh… sob.”

“Either laugh or cry, pick one.”

The beer Charles was drinking would be hidden by the thick darkness.

If only the cigarette smoke clears, there won’t be any trouble for a while.

“No wonder you have no friends, crying like that. Want me to be your friend?”

Charles, not wanting to show his face, just nods while crouched.

“I’ll come get you in a bit, so keep drinking.”

“Sorry, friend…”

“Tsk, tsk.”

“Phew—”

A man approaches the bars and glares at me with fiery eyes.

“Come out!”

“Sure.”

“Where’d you get the cigarettes?”

“Your mom felt sorry for raising a bad son and gave them as bail money. Can I get out now?”

***

Just one word, and silence falls over the auction house.

“Huh?”

But only for a moment.

“Hahaha!”

“Where did they bring such an item from?”

Laughter quickly fills the auction house.

The auctioneer, who looked half-dead, steps forward after glancing around.

“Ha, haha… As you can see, it’s an untrained item, so it’ll be fun to tame slowly. Starting bid is $100 million, with minimum increments of $15 million.”

As soon as the auctioneer finishes, participants raise their paddles.

“$115 million!”

“$130 million!”

“Oh, look at my value.”

$100 million is about 14 billion won, and $15 million is about 2 billion won.

Muttering to myself, the man who brought me from prison places his hand on my shoulder.

“Stay quiet if you want to live.”

Snap!

Flicking my finger, his shadow squirms.

Creak!

As the shadow makes a playful sound, his head falls off.

Thud!

“$175 mil…”

The sound of the head hitting the floor silences all the participants.

Quickly, silence returns, followed by the sound of swords being drawn.

The hunters standing behind the participants to guard them.

At the same time, dark red smoke erupts from my shadow and gathers.

[Grim Reaper]

● Regeneration

● Summon Followers

● Dark Pursuit

● Shadow Ambush

● Death Sentence

Level: 11

—

“You, take care of the kids who look like they’re three, and Shadow, handle the rest.”

As the Grim Reaper disappears from his spot, the heads of the escort hunters fall to the ground.

Shadows that burst out simultaneously from my shadow also start beheading the auction participants, not wanting to be outdone.

“Kyaaa… Gah!”

*Crack!*

A female participant, who had been screaming, clutches her pierced chest and collapses to the floor.

“Oh, right, leave those two alone.”

Pointing at one participant with my finger, I look around, my neck almost breaking from the effort.

“What are you looking at? You’re the only one left.”

The auction hall quickly fills with the smell of blood, and only three people remain besides me.

Two participants and one auctioneer.

As I approach one of the participants, they start trembling.

“I wanted to participate in the auction too.”

Standing next to a man with distinct features and gray hair, he avoids my gaze.

He’s a man with a well-maintained gray beard.

“Auctioneer, start.”

The auctioneer on the stage, who caught my glance, is also trembling.

“Hey, clean up the bodies and sit down. There are no participants, so we can’t start.”

*Clatter.*

*Creak.*

Following my words, my friends roughly throw the bodies into a corner and one by one take their seats.

Seeing this, the auctioneer slowly raises his trembling hand and uses the remote to change the screen on the stage.

“Th-the next item is the Protect Ring…”

“Oh, that would suit Bitna well.”

“Th-the starting bid is 20 million dollars…”

“What, why so expensive? Can you lower it a bit?”

“Gasp! Th-the starting bid is now 0 dollars.”

“Me! 1 dollar!”

The bearded uncle next to me doesn’t bid.

“Uncle, aren’t you going to bid?”

“…2 dollars.”

“See? This is how an auction works. 3 dollars!”

“…4 dollars.”

*Whack!*

“Ugh!”

I slap the back of the bearded uncle’s head, and he drools uncontrollably.

“Don’t outbid me on the Protect Ring.”

“Y-you’ve won the bid. Congratulations.”

“Yay. Now show me something good, like the Dragon Heart.”

Meanwhile, the gray-bearded uncle, who has regained his senses, looks at me.

“Who on earth…?”

“Can’t you see? I’m obviously a Saint. Do you want to die? Why are you pretending not to know?”