The Failure Marquis Is A Genius [EN]: Chapter 60

8. Liang: Looking Down on the Scoundrel

Swaaa…

The refreshing sound of waves below soothes the soul, and white seagulls soar across the sky above, their cries echoing.

The salty scent of the sea fills my nostrils, finally confirming that I’ve arrived in Liang.

The gatekeeper guarding the entrance glanced at us and then looked away, feigning disinterest.

You could definitely sense that it was a free city.

In a typical territory, the moment suspicious men and women wearing hoods arrived, they would have blocked the road and demanded identification.

But here, there’s none of that.

Hundreds, even thousands, of outsiders come and go every day, so they only prepare for possible emergencies and don’t impose any special restrictions.

We entered the city.

The scenery inside was also quite different from other cities.

Not only was there a well-paved road for carriages, but a waterway was also opened in the middle of the city, allowing seawater to flow gently.

Above it, people riding small canoes were quickly crossing the city.

“Selling Elbinew Mountain earrings! Expected to sell out today!”

“Honey directly from Hoden! Noble lords and wealthy merchants, come and taste it.”

“Invigorating herbs from the Eastern Great Forest! Any man lacking confidence, come and buy! Your wife will love you.”

Feeling the lively atmosphere, Campbell gets excited like a child.

“They’re selling street food! That looks delicious. I don’t know what kind of meat it is, but why don’t we try it?”

“Did you come here to play? Let’s stop looking around and find a place to gather information first.”

When Sion remains businesslike, Campbell crosses his arms and pouts.

“As always, the maid has no romance. No romance. That’s why she doesn’t have a boyfriend… Keheok!”

“What did you say?”

“No, let’s try our best!”

Campbell clutches his side.

They’ve been sparring a lot lately, so it seems they’ve become close friends who exchange punches.

I usually go along with Campbell, but today I decided to side with Sion.

“Rakan told me there’s a pretty big tavern in the city square. All the major rumors pass through there, so let’s go there.”

We arrived at the square.

White stone slabs were neatly laid out in a circle, and a pointed tower stood in the center.

I heard it’s a monument symbolizing freedom.

Various shops were lined up around the outside of the square, and the tavern Rakan mentioned was easy to spot because of its good location and the crowd of people.

“Welcome!”

The tavern felt like a combination of a buffet, a pub, and a restaurant.

Unlike other places, it had a balcony on the second floor, allowing you to enjoy the square while eating.

“I’ve never seen a restaurant with a balcony before.”

Sion also seemed fascinated by the balcony, her eyes sparkling for the first time since arriving here.

“Do you want to eat there?”

Sion was startled and shook her head.

“No. Didn’t we come here to gather information? We should blend in with the crowd, not indulge in luxury in a place like that.”

As expected, a rigid answer.

She secretly wants to watch people, feel the cool sea breeze, and enjoy the food.

I decided to grant Sion’s wish.

“Waiter, please guide us to the balcony seats.”

The burly waiter who heard me paused, then asked a strange question.

“Would you mind taking off your hoods and showing your faces?”

“What does sitting on the balcony have to do with taking off our hoods?”

“It’s just a simple verification process.”

When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

I slightly lowered my hood just enough for the waiter to see my face.

He nodded after seeing Sion’s beautiful appearance and my charming face, but then made a disgusted expression when he saw the rugged Campbell.

“Got a problem? Want me to make you have one?”

“Ah, no.”

“Then guide us now.”

“I’m sorry, but there’s an additional verification.”

“What is it this time?”

“Are you a noble, a merchant, or royalty?”

Growing impatient with the constant nagging, Campbell grabbed the waiter by the collar. The waiter was quite bulky, but he looked small in front of Campbell.

“Are you kidding me? Why are you making it so complicated to sit on a balcony seat? Just say you don’t want us there.”

“Tsk, tsk.”

A clicking tongue was heard from the side.

Turning my head, I saw a man with a severely protruding belly clicking his tongue.

He had a series of mismatched piercings in his nose and ears, and the clothes he wore looked excessively expensive.

But my eyes were drawn more to the leash in the fat man’s hand than to his extremely obese body and luxurious clothes.

Because at the end of the leash, surprisingly, were three slaves tied together.

The slaves, barely covering their vital areas with rags, were staring blankly into the air with lifeless eyes.

Their ankles were connected by chains, probably to prevent them from escaping.

“Looks like it’s your first time in Liang. If you want to enjoy special benefits here, this is what you do.”

The fat man took out a pouch of silver coins from his pocket and threw it to the waiter.

The waiter’s back immediately bent at a right angle as he received it, and the nobleman was guided to the balcony seats.

The bound slaves also followed their master up.

Each time they went up, the sound of the chains dragging on the floor drew attention.

I figured out how to get up there.

I threw a pouch of silver coins just like the nobleman.

“I will guide you.”

Now I see that asking us to take off our hoods and asking if we were nobles or commoners were all indirect questions to see if we had the ability to pay.

As soon as we sat on the balcony seats, a series of mouth-watering dishes were brought out.

“This is the appetizer, Rabbit Stew. The matching wine is Oren Mountain Red Wine. We will prepare the next course after you finish your meal. Please ring the bell if you need anything else.”

Despite the long-awaited mealtime, neither Sion nor I picked up our forks. Only Campbell was happily munching away.

There weren’t many people on the balcony.

The few who were sitting there seemed to be wealthy bourgeois [middle class].

Their ostentatious words and actions were ingrained in them, and they gave off a stronger *nouveau riche* [newly rich] vibe than a naturally wealthy one, perhaps because of their excessive embellishments.

Some of them, like the fat man from earlier, had slaves standing next to them while they ate.

The slaves, so thin that their ribs protruded, swallowed hard at the smell of the food but endured with desperate patience.

Looking closely, I could see quite a few red whip marks on their backs.

“The city’s atmosphere is… strange.”

Sion couldn’t help but say something.

“It certainly is.”

Even among the passersby I saw from the balcony, quite a few were dragging slaves around.

This atmosphere was unfamiliar.

Of course, Lloyd’s territory also had the lowest classes, such as serfs and maids, but it wasn’t to this extent.

It felt like a kind of contractual relationship where they worked in exchange for providing a home and safety, but here, they were being treated like objects.

Free City of Liang.

It clearly had the word “free” attached to it, but it seemed far from freedom.

It was then.

The entrance on the first floor below the balcony burst open, and a boy fell onto the street.

“Ouch…”

The boy was dusty and grimy, as if he had come from a long journey somewhere.

He had very curly brown hair and severe freckles, giving him a mischievous impression.

“Is this guy crazy? Huh? He ate the food but doesn’t have money, so he’s asking for credit? Does he think this is a place that feeds beggar bastards?”

The burly waiter who had asked us for money earlier on the first floor rolled up his sleeves and grabbed the boy by the collar.

Seeing this, I realized that we were treated politely because we were adults and exuded an unusual aura, so they were being careful.

He was merciless to the boy who seemed to have nothing.

“I’ll pay you back! I just arrived in the city, so I don’t have any money, but I can get it soon!”

“What can you do? You look like you can’t do anything but beg!”

“I’ll do odd jobs here. I’ll clean, so please let me pay you back.”

“There are plenty of guys here who can work besides you.”

The boy, grabbed by the back of his neck by the waiter, flailed his arms and legs in the air.

The waiter, who had been watching this slowly, then revealed his yellow teeth and gave an evil smile.

“Hehehe, it’s okay. You might not have money. It’s better this way. There are elders who like boys like you. I’ll sell you as a slave… Keheok!”

Thwack!

A gold coin accurately hit the face of the waiter who was wearing a rotten smile.

“Who…”

The waiter, with a bright red mark between his eyebrows, was about to shout with anger rising to the top of his head, but then he realized that the thing that hit him was a gold coin, and his mouth dropped open.

“G, gold?”

I waved my hand at the waiter who was looking up.

“It seems like the boy isn’t eating properly. I want to feed him, so send him up here.”

The waiter, who was angry because of his rapidly swelling forehead, couldn’t openly say anything when he saw the gold coin and grumbled in a crooked posture.

“This is enough to cover the credit, but it’s a bit ambiguous to send a beggar to the balcony where everyone can see him.”

“Are you going to disobey me now?”

The waiter was too weak, so I exuded my energy and focused it on him.

Even though I had reached the intermediate level of Expert, I had survived countless life-and-death situations.

The suffocating pressure from experience was too much for an ordinary waiter who only cared about money to withstand.

The waiter’s face turned pale, and he bowed his head with a completely changed attitude.

“No! I’ll send him up.”

“Huh? Huh? Don’t push me!”

The waiter, who almost pushed the boy onto the balcony, disappeared.

I spoke gently to the boy who was standing awkwardly.

“Come and eat something.”

The boy remained still. Seeing his pitiful appearance, Sion took some food and placed it in front of the boy.

“You can eat it. We’re not bad people.”

The boy scratched his cheek and hesitated, then sighed and said.

“Okay.”

Then he nibbled at the food.

Campbell, with his hands behind his head, looked at me, wondering what this situation was.

He must have thought it was strange that I was suddenly saving a beggar and giving alms.

But there was a reason why I even threw a gold coin to save this boy.

-It’s even more certain when I see him up close. This boy, he’s the one who sold me to Lord Lloyd.

It was because of the Heavenly Demon’s words.

To think that this boy was the one who handed over the Heavenly Demon Sword to Lord Lloyd. How could I just let the boy go after hearing this?

Especially since, as far as I know, Lord Lloyd said that the person who handed him the sword was an interesting colleague.

If Lord Lloyd used the expression “colleague,” then even if this boy looks ordinary on the outside, his true identity is probably…

While my thoughts were racing, a dark shadow fell on the table where I and my companions were sitting.

Wondering what it was, I raised my head and saw the fat man who had been dragging slaves around at the entrance earlier.

“Excuse me.”

“What’s the matter?”

Even though I was clearly much younger, I naturally responded in a casual tone, and the fat man’s brow twitched.

He put one hand behind his back, put his fist to his mouth, cleared his throat, and opened his mouth.

“Ahem, do you understand what this balcony means?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. If you’re planning to disturb my meal, please leave.”

The fat man’s face turned as red as a boiling kettle at my blatant disregard.

“Why did you bring a beggar bastard to the balcony? This place is for us privileged people. If you bring in a rootless bum, our status will drop. So get that beggar out of here right now.”

Sion and Campbell’s faces turned cold.

In particular, Sion was about to take out a hidden weapon from her pocket, so I waved my hand to stop her.

I scanned the fat man up and down.

An excessive obsession with status, which could be seen as a sense of superiority, and an excessive packaging to show that he was different from others.

There were quite a few people like the fat man back on Earth.

The characteristic of those people is that when you actually look into them, they are mostly insignificant.

Because people who are truly successful don’t act like that, and their surroundings acknowledge them, and they often find it annoying to be noticed.

Clatter.

I pulled out my chair and stood up.

Since my height is quite tall even in the Arnia continent, I naturally looked down on the fat man.

“Us? Did you say us just now?”

“Yes! Get that beggar out of here for us privileged people.”

“What are you anyway?”

The fat man seemed to have been waiting for this question. He suddenly straightened his shoulders, opened his chest, and said triumphantly.

“I am Pug, the head of the well-known Pug Merchant Guild in Liang. You look like you’re new to this city, but there are certain principles and iron rules here…”

“Do you have a title?”

“I don’t have a title, but if you’re talking about our guild…”

“You’re just a commoner.”

Pug had a blank expression. He had an expression that said he didn’t expect to be insulted like this. He soon came to his senses and became furious.

“How dare you say that!”

“Campbell.”

I only said his name briefly, but Campbell understood my thoughts perfectly, restrained the fat Pug with both hands, and knelt him down.

His face, suddenly kneeling in the restaurant in front of everyone, was stained with humiliation.

I squatted down in front of such Pug, glared at him with cold eyes, and recited the facts.

“I don’t want to be associated with the likes of you. So you’re the one who should get out of here.”