Translator: Nox

I Became A Married Man in Another World

Chapter 98

Was That What the ‘S’ Stood For?

The income from subjugating the Orthos seemed likely to be higher than what he had originally heard.

Usually, the reward for a subjugation was the amount promised at the start, but in cases like this where one person effectively took it down alone, it seemed a larger share went to the one who contributed most.

“But I wouldn’t have been able to catch it without that old man’s advice.”

Juhwan didn’t like the way things were heading, as if he were stealing someone else’s credit.

He thought of Jack, who had been sobbing with tears and a runny nose.

That old man must have been a good person to the boy. One could tell by the child’s attitude.

To think a person like that… His face contorted involuntarily.

“Haha. You really are unique, Mr. Juhwan. Usually, in these situations, people argue about why they should give money to the other party when they did all the work.”

The Chatterbox laughed, saying there was no need to worry since the other party was an experienced hunter.

“People like that know exactly how the work is divided and how the money is split. The more experience someone has, the less they feel like their share is being taken in a situation like this. Because under normal circumstances, that system allows them to receive more. It’s fine.”

That was a relief, then.

A brief conversation about the subjugation followed.

The Chatterbox asked for as much detail as possible without prying into personal trade secrets—how the old man was doing, how the Orthos had behaved in the village, and at what intervals it had appeared.

It seemed he intended to use the information as a reference should another Orthos appear.

If it had been anyone other than Juhwan, he probably wouldn’t have asked in such detail. He likely asked because it was Juhwan, thinking he would share the information freely.

Once the conversation wound down, Juhwan brought up the cabin in the mountains where they planned to settle.

He had heard that most of the forests in this world were owned by kings or nobles. Entering to live there without permission was a crime, and one couldn’t hunt freely either.

“Oh, you’re not going to live in this village or Moderni?”

The Chatterbox seemed slightly surprised.

“No. I plan to hunt magical beasts from now on. I want to live quietly with my family and sell the beasts here.”

“Ah, that sounds wonderful. The number of magical beast hunters has decreased, so the earnings should be quite good.”

“Is it alright to live on that mountain as I please?”

“It’s fine as long as you get permission.”

After hearing the location, the Chatterbox went to a shelf and rummaged through some documents. He pulled out a few papers, read them over, and nodded.

“You won’t even need to get permission. That area has been open to magical beast hunters since a long time ago. You can live there and hunt whatever you want, whether it’s common game or magical beasts. You can build a house or start a farm as you please, provided you’re capable of it.”

When Juhwan asked what would happen if someone who wasn’t a magical beast hunter tried to live there, the Chatterbox laughed loudly.

“Ordinary people can’t survive in places where that kind of permission is granted. They’d be eaten by something within days. That’s why it’s open. Because no one can live there anyway.”

He added that people were often abandoned in such places. When people became desperate for survival, they would leave children or the elderly at the entrance of mountains or forests.

“They’re abandoned barefoot with nothing. If their feet bleed, even the faint scent of blood attracts magical beasts or predators. Then, even if they know the way, they can’t return home.”

It was a cruel story.

Juhwan looked down at his lap, worried the child might have heard.

Dorothy, who had been squirming in his arms while playing with Oz, had fallen fast asleep.

The Chatterbox smirked. He had clearly waited until the child was asleep to tell that part.

Looking to his side, Lij was also leaning her head against his side with her eyes closed.

It seemed the conversation between Juhwan and the Chatterbox had been boring and uninteresting to both of them.

‘Ah!’

Juhwan suddenly murmured to himself.

‘Is that why my mother and father adopted a child?’

He had found it a bit strange that his parents, who supposedly hadn’t even had children because they were thinking of Juhwan back on Earth, had taken in an adopted son.

But it seemed they hadn’t adopted because they wanted a child; rather, they couldn’t just leave an abandoned child in the forest and ended up taking him in.

That part hadn’t been written in detail in the diary.

He hadn’t read all the parchments yet, so it might be written on another page.

Seeing the adopted child might have made his parents even sadder as they thought of Juhwan.

However, Juhwan thought it was a good thing.

If raising the child had brought even a little joy to his parents, then it was truly a wonderful thing.

“Oh, come to think of it, I forgot to mention something.”

The Chatterbox spoke up with a bit of fanfare.

“The Master has gone up to the main branch to register you for S-Rank.”

“S-Rank?”

Did this world have S-Ranks too? Juhwan was slightly surprised. Since he had initially heard that ranks only went from the starting grade to 6th Grade, he hadn’t expected such a rank to exist here.

But it did. It was similar to games or novels. He felt a bit strange. An S-Rank ranker—it felt just like a novel. He felt a little embarrassed.

The Chatterbox nodded with a smile.

“That’s right. Santa’s contractors have a separate ranking system. It’s so rare that it’s not classified as a regular rank. This is the first time a Santa Rank has come out of our branch. The Master is very excited.”

“A… Santa Rank.”

“Yes, it’s extremely rare. Congratulations.”

So that’s what the ‘S’ stood for.

The Chatterbox seemed very happy, but Juhwan’s feelings were a bit more complicated. He had been expecting a gold ring, but it felt like he’d been handed something gold-plated.

‘Well, whether it’s solid gold or plated doesn’t matter much… but still.’

Implicitly, he was also annoyed that the rank was named after Santa. Just thinking of that guy’s face made something boil inside him.

“Please, look a bit happier. A Santa Rank is something very special.”

The Chatterbox looked at Juhwan with a serious face.

“When you take requests as an S-Rank, the pay is astronomical. Of course, requests specifically for that rank are very rare, but if you take just one such job, you could live for several years without working. Your market value has skyrocketed.”

“But I plan to make a living hunting magical beasts.”

“True. Sigh. It really is like letting gold rot and throwing it in a cesspool.”

“….”

“Well, S-Rank jobs don’t come along often anyway. If a request does come in later, please make sure to take it. The commission our branch receives is also enormous. The salaries of every employee working at this branch depend on the commissions adventurers drop off.”

“….”

Juhwan wondered if this man was capable of a normal social life, given how he didn’t even try to hide his inner thoughts.

While they talked a bit more, it seemed the appraisal staff had finished checking the condition of the Orthos. One approached with an excited expression.

“This is incredible. I saw an Orthos once when I was a trainee. This one is much larger than the one I saw back then. Moreover, the mana measurements are amazing. This will sell for a great price.”

The appraisal staff member said he had come here after gaining experience at several other branches. He looked young, but he might be surprisingly old.

Perhaps because the appraiser’s voice was loud, or perhaps because of the new voice, Lij stirred from her light sleep and blinked her eyes.

She seemed confused about where she was. After looking around blankly for a moment, her relaxed body suddenly bolted upright.

As if embarrassed that she had been sleeping, Lij’s face turned red.

“Juhwan, did I sleep a lot?”

Lij asked in a small voice.

“No, just a little bit.”

Juhwan chuckled as he watched her hurriedly wipe the corners of her mouth. He had wanted a rabbit-like bride, but he never imagined he would have a wife who was truly so much like a rabbit. She was adorable.

“It’s okay. You didn’t drool or anything.”

“….”

Lij shrank back slightly, smoothing her somewhat disheveled hair. She seemed mortified.

“You two really get along well. It’s poison for the eyes of a bachelor like me.”

As the Chatterbox sighed, the appraiser and several other nearby employees also let out long sighs. There were a few men with weathered faces among them, but sadly, they all seemed to be old bachelors.

“You should get married soon. Marriage is good.”

When Juhwan spoke with a smile, the employees looked at him with resentful eyes.

“We don’t have time to meet women. Even if we try to use a matchmaker, well, we need time to actually meet them.”

A man with a particularly haggard face standing a short distance away muttered. Whether on Earth or here, it seemed “black companies” were everywhere. How unfortunate.

Now that things were mostly wrapped up, it was time to head out.

As Juhwan picked up Dorothy, Lij looked at the appraisal staff member with some hesitation. Her lips moved as if she were about to say something.

“Lij, what’s wrong?”

When Juhwan asked, Lij’s expression became a bit tense.

“I was wondering if I could learn how to process magical beast hides.”

“Oh, do you plan to do it yourself?”

Lij nodded at the appraiser’s question.

“I can process normal hides. I know the methods. If I just know how it’s done for magical beasts, I should be able to do it.”

“Hmm, but I don’t know the methods myself, and leather crafters don’t just teach their secrets to anyone. Usually, they only teach their apprentices, and even then, you have to start learning at a very young age.”

“I… I know that.”

Lij lowered her head slightly. She clenched her hands so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

Normally, she would have given up as soon as she heard that. But Lij seemed determined to handle magical beast hides. She looked up and met the appraiser’s eyes.

“If I can handle it, it will surely be a help to the Guild as well. It’s best to process any hide as soon as it’s caught. Isn’t that even more true for something rare like a magical beast?”

“That is true…. Come to think of it, the rabbit hides from last time were very well-tended. I remember them because they were processed in a style rare among hunters these days.”

The appraiser fell into thought for a moment, then shrugged.

“There’s only one master in this village who processes magical beast hides. Most people handle common magical beasts themselves. I can introduce you to him.”

“Then…”

“I don’t know if he’ll teach you the methods. That’s his livelihood, after all. But since he also does the manufacturing, it might be possible. If he can get high-quality magical beast hides, the value of the finished products can skyrocket several times over.”

The appraiser grinned.

“Besides, magical beasts are rare right now. You can make a fortune just with the hides, but many leather crafters are starving because they can’t get any beasts. Try to use that to your advantage.”

“Thank you.”

Lij beamed. She seemed extremely happy.

‘But it’ll be hard.’

Juhwan sighed with a bit of pity.

Even for normal animal hides, the cleaning process involved pressing and scraping with one’s fingernails and fingers, which was very taxing on the body.

Last time Lij was cleaning hides, her fingernails had nearly peeled off and were dangling.

The wounds were healed instantly and became clean again, but healing magic only repairs; it isn’t a preventative medicine that stops pain. It couldn’t take away the pain felt during the work.

Furthermore, Lij was the diligent type and didn’t try to use other tools. She used her fingers exactly as she had been taught.

If normal animal hides were that difficult, magical beast hides would surely be even worse.

The reason she had been scolded for being slow since she was a child was likely because she worked without taking any shortcuts.

‘I’d prefer if she didn’t do it.’

Yet, he couldn’t stop her because Lij found her own value through such work.

Juhwan let out a silent sigh.

---

When they asked if they could have lessons every day for a while, Annette seemed pleased. She answered calmly that it was possible, but her tone was somehow joyful. Perhaps she had been in need of the income.

Children naturally mimic their parents’ actions. If the parents are studying, the child will follow suit, even if it’s something they find uninteresting.

While the ones officially receiving lessons were Juhwan and Lij, Dorothy was always by their side, mimicking their pronunciation or pretending to study.

Since it was effectively one more person studying, Juhwan always added an extra amount to the tuition fee so Annette wouldn’t have to worry.

On days when the lesson went long, there were many questions, or Dorothy was particularly noisy, they would also provide things like meat.

Of course, the one who actually handed over the money and meat was Lij.

It seemed there were few people who paid more than the set amount like Juhwan. Not just Lij, but even Annette had found it a bit strange at first.

And he had been treated with a bit of suspicion. Apparently, they suspected it was a ploy to demand sexual favors. It was a bit absurd to be suspected of that while he was with his wife, but that was just how unusual the extra payment must have been.

---

When they went to the parking area, the crowd that had been milling about was mostly gone.

Finding it strange that people had suddenly left, Juhwan asked the attendant and was told it was because they had realized the Unicorn was quite a violent magical beast.

As soon as Juhwan had disappeared, the people seemed to have crowded around the Unicorn. Since it was a magical beast that looked tame and accustomed to humans, well, they might have approached out of curiosity.

But once the people crowded near it, the Unicorn, which had been as gentle as an angel until then, suddenly began biting people.

“Biting?”

“Yes, didn’t you know? That Unicorn bites people.”

It was a great relief that it hadn’t kicked them with its hooves, but the giant horse had chewed on people with its large mouth and even bitten them and tossed them into the air.

Seeing it raise its front legs and stomp around like that was enough to make anyone realize it wasn’t a normal horse, but a magical beast.

“As soon as someone said they might get eaten by the beast, everyone ran away. Magical beasts hunt and eat animals, after all. They’re carnivores. That’s common knowledge even for those who don’t know much about beasts.”

The attendant laughed.

“But it seems there was no intent to kill. Strange as it is, neither the people who were bitten nor those who were tossed aside were seriously injured.”

“….”

What a relief. He had heard that if a magical beast committed a wrong, the blame fell on the owner.

As Juhwan felt relieved inwardly, Yeonhwa gave a soft whinny as if she had known all along.

But biting… it was a bit funny. It didn’t seem like the sort of thing a legendary Unicorn would do.

That day, after selling the weapons they had collected from the bandits to a merchant, they headed straight to the inn.

The innkeeper’s son seemed to have gathered a few guests, but because of the rumor that the Unicorn might eat people, several existing guests had apparently left.

In the end, the number of guests remained almost unchanged, and the boy was huffing and puffing. He seemed very frustrated.

Dorothy went after the boy saying she would play with her big brother, but she returned quickly.

“Mom, Dad. Oppa says he has to go gather more guests. He says he’s busy.”

Hearing Dorothy speak dejectedly, Juhwan and Lij laughed together, which seemed to make the child pout. She tearfully said she hated her mom and dad, making them laugh again.

He felt that he would be a little lonely once they left this inn.

It seemed they had grown fond of the place in the meantime. Lij also had a slightly lonely expression, as if she were thinking the same thing.