This Emperor Is Running a Marriage Scam - Chapter 89
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 89
It would have been nice to go a bit slower, but this forced movement only stopped after my body was completely out of the water.
When I turned around, the Rock Mole was slowly repeating the motion of bending and straightening its body. It seemed to be nodding its head as if finally relieved.
The situation wasn’t hard to understand. Just like before when it had moved Baron and me, this time the Rock Mole had pulled me out of the sea.
“Thanks to you, I became safe in an instant. Th, thank you.”
Even while greeting it, I couldn’t help but feel regretful looking at the bucket I was holding.
The Rock Mole disappeared back into the water. It seemed like it was going its own way, so I turned my steps as well.
The conch shells were now only enough to say I had ‘caught plenty.’ The weight was much lighter and manageable to carry.
Though I was disappointed with the collection amount, this was still much more than before.
Serch circled around me. It seemed like it was trying to comfort my sadness, so I smiled back.
“It’s okay. I got to enjoy the thrill of catching them after a long time, and I greeted the cute Rock Mole too, right? And thanks to that I became safe, so it’s actually good.”
Thinking only of the good things that happened today, my mood improved again and I naturally started humming.
Then the ground next to me bulged and moved.
The moment I looked down, I was really startled.
It was the Rock Mole.
But its form was different from before. This time it looked like a large turtle without legs. It was moving by sliding flat against the ground.
The shell part was hollowed out, and inside it was packed full of conch shells. The Rock Mole’s head was sticking out where a turtle’s tail should be.
“D, don’t tell me you picked up what I dropped and came to deliver it?”
The Rock Mole nodded its head.
“My goodness! You’re really kind! Are you perhaps an angel?”
Its sky-blue eyes gently closed. It looked very friendly, and seemed to understand my praise and was smiling.
‘No, looking at its behavior so far, it definitely understands human speech, right?’
Then now was the opportunity to convey my gratitude from all this time.
“I’m Hailey. I’ve really been indebted to you so much. I’m so grateful.”
I began to slowly pour out the words of gratitude I had accumulated to the Rock Mole.
The Rock Mole matched my walking speed and kept sending harmless looks or eye-smiles.
“Today you even picked up the conch shells I spilled and brought them to me.”
Then my steps stopped without me realizing it. It was because one conch shell a little distance away was quite large.
“Hmm. It’s a king conch. It’s an ambiguous distance, should I take that or not? It’s troublesome to take it, but wasteful not to take it…”
I was muttering to myself while pondering for a moment.
Suddenly that conch shell started rolling toward us out of nowhere. Then it fit snugly into the Rock Mole’s hollowed-out part.
“?”
When our eyes met, the Rock Mole smiled.
As if saying, ‘I did well, right?’
At the Rock Mole’s unexpected action, laughter burst out of me without realizing it.
“Ahahaha! What, you’re so cute!”
The Rock Mole’s body shook. It seemed to be laughing loudly like me, making me feel even more friendly toward it.
While walking and laughing like that, our house came closer.
“Oh, you remember the boy who was with me that time, right? Want to greet him while we’re at it?”
I raised my voice to call Baron. Soon after, I also introduced the neighboring people to the Rock Mole.
“They’re really good people, you know? They even knew that you were a Rock Mole.”
The Rock Mole smiled whenever our eyes met and followed obediently.
Then Baron’s voice was heard.
“Nuna! I’m here!”
Baron was waving his hand in front of Raven’s house. My steps naturally quickened at the thought of showing him today’s seafood catch and the Rock Mole I met again.
I quickly went to where Baron was and held out the bucket full of conch shells in front of him.
“Ta-da! Look at this! And also!”
I pointed to the Rock Mole right behind me.
“I met this one at the sea!”
“Huh? You are?”
That’s when it happened. Serch’s light suddenly dimmed and disappeared as if bouncing away.
At the same time, the Rock Mole also suddenly moved toward our house.
“Huh? Where are you suddenly going?”
I was flustered and chased after the Rock Mole.
Thud thud thud thud! Splash splash!
The Rock Mole instantly threw the conch shells into the aquarium installed in front of our house, then went straight into the ground.
“?”
Bewilderment and worry came over me simultaneously at the Rock Mole’s sudden action.
Just as I was about to introduce it to Baron, it put the conch shells in the aquarium and disappeared.
‘If they had greeted each other, Baron would have been very happy too, but since it disappeared before his eyes, wouldn’t he be disappointed? I should have been more careful…’
I seemed to have made assumptions about the Rock Mole’s feelings.
Feeling troubled, I glanced at Baron’s expression. But Baron didn’t look disappointed at all.
Baron, who had been looking the other way, turned his head and spoke to me as if to reassure me.
“Someone’s coming, so it probably hid.”
“…Huh?”
I made a shade with my hand and looked into the distance.
Someone was riding a horse toward us from far away.
After squinting for a while to observe the person, I unconsciously grumbled and stepped back.
“Ugh, it’s the Lord. Why is he coming?”
Baron’s expression also changed unpleasantly.
The Lord who finally arrived stopped his horse in front of us.
“You happened to be outside.”
That sounded like he had business with us.
“Hello, Lord?”
I subtly moved Baron behind me, greeted him, then looked around.
“But you came alone without guards?”
The Lord snorted.
“Who would harm me here? I heard this is an area where even monsters don’t come.”
“True, surprisingly nothing much happens here. By the way, what brings you here?”
“It’s nothing else, I heard some rumors about you recently.”
“Rumors?”
“I heard you started doing business here?”
I closed my mouth for a moment.
‘What exactly is he trying to say?’
Then the Lord’s gaze turned to Baron standing behind me.
“I heard you started it to raise your brother’s tuition.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
After thinking quietly, I asked the Lord back.
“Since I sold on state-owned land, I understand there’s no problem.”
“Oh my, why are you being so simple-minded.”
“…Excuse me?”
The Lord looked around.
“In such a desolate and remote place, doing business without status guarantee, wouldn’t dangerous things happen? What if someone comes and causes trouble.”
‘Even if monsters appeared here, it would be fine. You just don’t know, but there’s a Rock Mole nearby too. People are surprisingly orderly.’
Honestly, this was something I learned while doing business.
The domain’s people were all different and said all sorts of things, but they actually followed the established rules well.
It turned out that such rules were usually set by the Lord or business people.
The Lord’s rules aside, most shop owners were former sailors who had been seasoned at sea.
If passengers don’t follow the rules they set, they immediately get a taste of spicy fists, and this has become ingrained among the people of the domain over time.
However, there was nothing good about openly contradicting The Lord’s words.
As I kept my mouth shut, The Lord continued rambling his argument without even dismounting from his horse.
“Well, you’re not officially one of our landowners since your identity isn’t guaranteed, but you’re still living in the domain and blending in, aren’t you? That’s why I’m concerned. Also, people say it’s inconvenient to come all the way here.”
In the end, The Lord’s proposal was this: he would become my guarantor so I could officially register my identity and open a shop within the domain.
The Lord’s ulterior motive was immediately obvious.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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