"The Bank of Felphe."
The coachman looked Seo-a up and down in silence for a moment, then shrugged his shoulders and slammed the carriage door shut.
Thanks to being pushed onto the carriage by the crowd, the suspicious people following her disappeared. In addition, she was able to enjoy a brief, comfortable rest while riding alone in the carriage.
However, she didn't know that the cost of riding the carriage was that expensive.
"Who knew a carriage would be more expensive than a train?"
From the moment she left her hometown, money had become a limited resource, and she had to carefully weigh the money she had against the money she would spend. As Seo-a retraced her journey to this place, Felphe Bank, she habitually did the calculations in her head.
"How much is left?"
The inside of the coat was packed with dangling pockets. Among them were money pouches. Her face turned pale as she counted the remaining money.
Even if she added up all the small amounts of money, it was only 120,000 Kertes.
Although she had not yet adapted to this unfamiliar civilization called the continent of Norfolk, she knew that with only the money in her pocket, she could barely survive for a few days, let alone a week.
What could have been the problem?
Did I get scammed during the currency exchange? Or did I accidentally pay the wrong fare for a carriage, a train... or a boat?
The problem was that she had no idea what on earth she had done wrong.
The fact that she had safely arrived at her first destination, Felphe Bank, was at least a small consolation.
Just then, she sensed someone's presence.
Seo-a quickly buttoned her coat and straightened her posture. Just as she was hurriedly fastening the buttons, the door opened, and an employee entered. Her heart, which had been calm for a moment, began to pound again, and her gaze dropped downwards as if being pulled by someone.
"Thank you for waiting."
The employee spoke sweetly with a voice mixed with laughter, then sat down opposite her. She saw smiling lips in her half-visible field of vision.
"Verification has confirmed that the key is genuine. I apologize for my inadequate response. I ask for your understanding."
Seo-a replied, thinking it was a relief.
"Yes, I understand."
"..."
Did she give a strange answer? However, she had simply answered as she had been taught. The employee's reaction was lukewarm, but Seo-a, having no way of knowing which part was strange, had no choice but to remain silent. And usually, silence was also the answer that reached the average.
As expected, the employee got straight to the point.
"We will go through a few verification steps. Are you the person who opened this safe deposit box?"
Seo-a, staring at the corner of the documents placed in front of the employee, answered while trying her best to maintain a calm expression.
"No."
The corners of the employee's mouth drooped slightly and then went back up.
"I see. In principle, the right to open a safe belongs solely to the person who opened it. However, as this safe has remained unclaimed for 20 years, ownership is also recognized for the person who acquired the key 210 days prior. Please understand, however, that the process is complex and time-consuming if you are not the person who opened it."
“I understand.”
The employee, tilting his head, shrugged his shoulders and answered.
"Um... yes, thank you."
"Ah, then... can I get the certificate confirming the holder of the key today?"
The employee paused for a moment, stared at Seo-ah, and then asked slightly, as if testing the waters.
"You seem to know quite specifically about the safe withdrawal method?"
“...is it confidential?”
“Of course not.”
The employee pushed the black tray forward.
"We need an official document to prove your identity. Have you brought it?"
Seo-a rummaged through the coat as if she had been waiting for this moment, and as the rummaging dragged on, the employee's professional smile faded away.
With beads of sweat glistening on her face, she rummaged through everything so diligently, and the sheer number of pockets visible here and there was overwhelming. He felt like he could bet his entire fortune that the woman in front of him was using that tattered coat as a giant wallet.
Just then, the woman's face brightened slightly, and something popped out from under her coat. Looking like a handkerchief at first glance, it was a surprisingly luxurious item. It gleamed so glossy that it was hard to believe it had come out of a worn-out coat.
The woman placed it on the tray, and the employee retrieved it. It looked too heavy to be a handkerchief, and a warm residual heat could be felt from it.
It's strange. He wondered why she was wearing that like that.
She was suspicious from head to toe, so he was curious. Just what on earth was this woman's identity?
The employee unfolded her identification document with a strangely pounding heart. And at that moment, the sales smile that had been preserved on his face vanished like evaporation.
He blinked blankly, looking at the woman once, then at the document once, and then back at her again. The woman, who had been watching his reaction like a cornered rabbit, asked.
"Is there a problem?"
"Ah... well..."
The employee's voice trailed off.
There was a problem. It was just that it was difficult to voice it.
Living as an intellectual on the continent of Norfolk, this was the first time he had encountered something like this.
The employee clamped his mouth shut and looked at the document again. That wouldn't solve the problem.
Because the problem was that there wasn't a single character he recognized in the document the woman had handed him.
***
Seo-a thought.
When she was pushed by the crowd into a carriage, that was her chance.
She should have asked to go to an inn instead of the bank. After getting a good night's rest, she should have come to the bank as soon as it was light.
To start with the conclusion, the identification document she had cherished like a sacred treasure was put on hold.
The employee, who had been examining the certificate from various angles for quite some time, hurriedly brought in a few other employees, and they huddled together like sparrows that had found food, staring intently at the certificate, and eventually even held it up to the light to look at it.
She was staring at him in disbelief when he suddenly asked this.
"In which country was this certificate issued?"
If riding in the carriage was the first opportunity, the second and last opportunity would undoubtedly have been when she heard that question.
That time when she asked such a question even after seeing the words written prominently at the very top.
"Danguk."
"...Dian guk?"
"Dan, Guk."
"Daean Guk?"
"Dan. Guk."
"Dan. Guk?"
"...Yes, I think that is correct."
Instead of exchanging such meaningless words, she should have asked directly if he could read. She should have told him she would allow him to copy one copy so he could find someone who could interpret it for verification, promised to return, and just taken the certificate confirming her right to the key and left immediately.
While Seo-a hesitated like a fool, unable to say what she wanted to say at the right time, the day completely set. To make an excuse, the VIP reception room had no windows, so she didn't realize the day was ending like that.
After what felt like a long back-and-forth, they reached the conclusion that it was impossible to interpret at the moment. Only after spending tens of minutes copying the identification document did the employee draft the document certifying that she was the rightful holder of the key.
It was then that she received the completed certificate from an employee; after all the employees who had swarmed in like sparrows had disappeared.
'What...?'
Her muscles, lifeless like withered grass exhausted by the heat and boredom, contracted tightly like a conditioned reflex. Instinctively, she held her breath and chased away the chilling sensation that had run cold down the back of her neck.
The creepiness seeped in from outside the door where the employee was coming and going.
It was not a mere feeling or an illusion. She felt the hairs all over her body stand on end.
It was not the presence of an ordinary person. It was the sound of footsteps deliberately silenced. Moreover, it was not the sound of an ordinary person tiptoeing, but the footsteps of those who had learned how to silence their presence, which could be felt from beyond the door where the staff used to come and go.
One person? No, it seems like two people.
Sak, sak, sak, sak.
Seo-a hid her body and prayed like prey waiting for a natural enemy to pass by.
Please let this pass, please.
However, the silent footsteps stopped precisely in front of this room. And they came very close to the door.
Just like putting an ear to the door.
Her heart pounded as if it would burst.
Just then.
A knock that felt uniquely leisurely split the quiet air.
Knock, knock, knock, knock.
Seo-a immediately looked up and met the green eyes in an instant.
"...!"
The employee, who must have been scrutinizing her, smiled as if he had been waiting for this moment. Then, glancing back briefly, he stood up from his seat.
"I apologize. I will be back soon, so please wait a moment. It is late, so I will call a carriage for you."
"..."
Instead of answering, Seo-a nodded.
Stay calm.
You must stay calm.
Suppressing the urge to get up and run away right then and there, she held her breath and watched the employee move. When the employee finally walked steadily over and opened the staff door, Seo-a involuntarily squeezed her eyes shut.
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