“Damn, it was doomed from the start.”
“Are we on death row, brother?”
“I hope it doesn’t go as far as the death penalty since I blew it as I knew.”
Prison under the police force.
The four conmen met again in prison.
“I should have just kept making and selling sausages.”
The tall man buried his face in his knees as the cart-puller muttered. It was always about that damn money. Greed for money blinded the man.
'I shouldn't have gotten involved with that guy in the first place.'
The boy gave off a very ominous vibe. It wasn't because he was a Shartin. The high-ranking nobles there said that the Shartin were lowly and dirty, but they were from the back alleys and had been living with the Shartin since they were young.
So it wasn't that they had any prejudice against the Shartin tribe.
'There was no humanity.'
Even bad guys have at least a modicum of humanity, right? But that boy seemed to have lost his humanity.
“But making it with a human corpse is a bit...”
“What is the difference between processing dead animal by-products and processing already dead people?”
That wasn't sarcasm. If it had been sarcasm, it wouldn't have been so uncomfortable. Many people would do anything for money.
But the boy was genuinely curious and asked the question. It was a pure question, without even the slightest hint of sarcasm.
What's the real difference? They're both already dead, so what's making you hesitate so much?
The boy looked like he didn't understand what the difference was, but he didn't ask any more questions. Instead, he tried to persuade them with enough money to live off of for the rest of their lives.
The soldiers who interrogated the gang of swindlers laughed at them, saying that they had been giving money regularly just for a child to handle snakes.
'Would I have wanted to pay half that amount? But looking at those bright yellow eyes, no one would have wanted to give up.'
Those bright yellow eyes were much clearer than those of the other Shartins. The same greedy snake-like eyes that had now put him in prison seemed to be visible even when he opened his eyes again...
“Damn, it’s that snake! Warden, Warden, there’s a snake here, ugh-.”
***
Anyone who can afford to buy cosmetics that cost one gold coin a bottle can also buy medicine.
Judith thought so. Would it be okay to buy cosmetics with money and get medicine for free? She decided to sell the medicine that Beichi made for money.
However, they did not forget the pain of the victims and set the price within ethical boundaries.
The drug sold like hotcakes. It was a natural result.
Judith gave one of the empty rooms in the mansion to Beichi as a workshop. With orders pouring in, everyone in the house, including Mia, was mobilized to produce the cure.
“Mr. Beichi, now your suffering is over and happiness begins.”
“Well, isn’t this the beginning of the hardships?”
Beichi laughed as he looked at the medicine bottle that needed to be filled. It was a laugh that burst out because it was so absurd, difficult, and hopeless. He had been making medicine for days without seeing the sunlight.
“Happiness begins with money.”
That's what it was.
Meanwhile, Beichi worked twelve hours a day as a successful pharmacist, but he had not saved a single penny to feed his group of godmothers.
It was a situation where they lived from hand to mouth. If Beichi got sick, the future of the godmother and her family would be uncertain.
Tan worked as a psychic, and Mia, Ryan, and others worked as day laborers to earn money, but that wasn't enough.
But now the money is saving up. It's piling up. There's enough money left over to buy meat, buy fruit, and buy everyone a new set of clothes.
This was an amount of money that could never have been earned without the cure and Judith.
“How are you, Mr. Beichi, are you happy?”
“I think so.”
Beichi nodded as if possessed and went back to making the cure. Erne, who was leaning against the wall and watching him, clicked his tongue.
“Today, another guy became a sacrifice to the money ghost.”
Next to Erne, Kaya came in with her arms full of dried herbs used to make medicine.
“Where should I put this?”
“Over there.”
Behind Kaya, Vadim and Milo came in carrying a bundle of medicines. Since the adults were so busy, they left the children to run errands such as carrying light herbs.
Judith, who saw this, said that work should be fairly rewarded and gave each of them a coin as pocket money. The children were amazed at the money they had received for the first time in their lives.
Now, they started looking for things that they could do without adults telling them to. It was no use trying to stop them.
“Tsk tsk, the kids have all gotten sick of it too.”
He wonders if, at this rate, everyone here will be jumping for the chance to make money.
While Erne was worrying about the distant future, Judith groaned as she carried the box containing the finished medicine.
Erne took a short breath and snatched the box full of medicine. The remedies were being sold at a makeshift table set up in front of the incense shop.
Since everything was sold out as soon as it got there anyway, a simple table was enough for the stand.
Erne placed the incense and medicine chest on the cart that Gold was pulling. Erne and Judith had no choice but to walk while Gold pulled the cart.
They had been planning to buy another horse for some time, but the stable was a problem. Gold was smart and wouldn't go outside the mansion even if they let him loose, but they didn't know how the other horses would be.
If a horse ran away after paying a lot of money, it would be a big problem, but the stable was still in a broken state.
They had to fix the stable to buy a horse, but everyone was so busy that they didn't have time to fix the stable.
So what can they do? They have no choice but to walk.
“Erne, there’s a new bakery over there.”
“Should I stop by later? Judging from the baker’s face, it looks like this place sells real bread.”
Fortunately, however, the walk wasn't that boring.
***
A few days later, in front of an incense shop.
“Madam, don’t worry too much. My face was so bad that I couldn’t even recognize it. But if you take your medicine, you’ll get better soon.”
Henry was standing in front of a makeshift table, selling antidotes. He wasn't completely cured yet, but he had almost all of his old skin back.
In the past, Henry would have been embarrassed to hide his blotchy skin, which was covered with scabs and new skin here and there, but not anymore.
Instead, he proudly showed his scars. The hope that the scars would soon disappear and the goodwill to help victims like him moved Henry, who had been confined to bed.
“Can our daughter get better too?”
“Yes, Ma’am. You have nothing to worry about.”
Henry held her hands tightly and comforted her. Henry, who had recovered from a skin disease caused by cosmetics, was a great comfort to other victims and their families.
That meant that it would soon sell hugely. Judith gave Henry a thumbs up. Henry responded with a bright smile.
“That guy is born to sell.”
Erne stuck out his tongue as he looked at Henry. And at the same time, he thought it was a good thing he hadn't told Henry what the ingredients in the cosmetics were.
“Henry, are you curious about what that makeup is made of? I wouldn’t be curious.”
“Even you, who has been through all kinds of hardships, think that’s how it is?”
“Yeah, so leave your curiosity aside. Even Beichi can’t make a drug that works on mental shock.”
Erne tried to dissuade Henry, and Henry quickly gave up for the sake of his own mental health.
“Where should I put this?”
“Please stay in the store, Erne.”
As Erne carried the box of medicine into the store, the sound of urgent horse hooves came closer and stopped in front of the store.
“Erne!”
"Marquis?"
It was Cain. He got off his horse and gave a rapid-fire greeting to Henry, who was looking at him with bewildered eyes, saying, "I'm glad to see you so well," and then ran straight towards Erne.
“I feel uneasy.”
Erne didn't even ask what it was anymore.
“His Majesty has ordered you to enter the palace.”
“Why again?”
“They say they are praising you for your contribution in solving this illegal cosmetics case.”
Erne didn't want to go all the way to the palace just for praise, but it was a good thing to receive praise from the Emperor. It was definitely a good thing, but Cain's attitude was strangely suspicious.
“So I don’t think you would have come running.”
“That gang of swindlers are all dead.”
"What?"
“When I went this morning, they were all dead.”
Cain wiped the sweat from his hasty arrival with a handkerchief.
“It hasn’t been autopsied yet, but all four of them show signs of snake bites. The autopsy doctor said it was most likely snake venom.”
Erne suddenly remembered the story of the boy who summoned snakes. Could it be his doing?
“Of course, you couldn’t catch a snake.”
"Of course."
Wait a minute, I'm telling you not to say that so confidently. If you didn't catch it, you should be a little embarrassed and stuff.
Whether Erne frowned or not, Cain continued to speak.
“But His Majesty doesn’t know yet.”
“Then report it quickly.”
“That’s why I entered the palace with you.”
No, why are you reporting that with me, why on earth?
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