Sister, Don’t Marry That Guy – Chapter 81

Chapter 81

“Ren, you’re going to the Aiteman shop in the 1st District soon, right? Would you like to go with this little friend?”

“Oh, is this a customer? Yes! I understand!”

Haden nodded. His slightly curly hair swayed along with his head.

Linba smiled brightly and turned her gaze towards me.

“Okay, okay. It’s not urgent, so you can take your time.”

She patted my shoulder lightly.

“Did you hear that, Ren? It won’t take long, and I’ll explain it well to Ranan-ssi. Have a good trip!”

“Yes, please tell Oppa well!”

Of course, that Oppa isn’t in this building… I’m sorry, Linba-ssi.

I apologized to her inwardly and watched Linba’s back as she hurriedly left.

‘Hmm, it seems like something is going on with the merchant guild.’

I felt someone approaching.

“Hi?”

“Ugh, you startled me!”

I was surprised and stepped back. The floor of the old building, which hadn’t been moved into yet, was uneven.

I was even more surprised by my swaying body, but someone grabbed my arm.

“Whoa, are you okay?”

The boy who grabbed my hand blinked.

As I looked at his slightly drooping yellow eyes, I couldn’t help but swallow.

‘Hmm, our black puppy is more handsome, though…’

Is it because he’s the protagonist?

He wasn’t as meticulously and classically handsome as my older brothers, but his face kept drawing my attention.

“Uh, y-yes, thank you.”

“No problem. There’s a part of the floor that sticks out here. I’m always careful too.”

Haden smiled brightly. It was a refreshing smile.

“Linba-ssi told you to go together, right? You can go now.”

“Ah, y-yes.”

And so, I went outside the building.

“Um, let me introduce myself first. I’m Ren.”

“Ah! I’m Haden. I’m working here as the youngest employee of this merchant guild!”

Rainante must be watching me from somewhere nearby.

“My dream is to become the best swordsman!”

“I know. I was there when you had your interview.”

“Ah, I know too. I remember.”

Haden smiled, holding a rather thick ledger in one hand.

He was a protagonist with a lot of smiles.

“But I thought you might not remember me.”

His future is bright, so bright.

Maybe it’s because of his hair color, but he looks like the protagonist in a soda commercial.

I could almost see what kind of impression he would give when he grew up.

“It was too memorable for me to forget.”

“Hmm, is that so?”

“Yeah. You talked about swords and swordsmen a lot at the merchant guild interview.”

“Ahaha, I guess I was nervous. Ah, it’s this way!”

Well, he didn’t look nervous at all back then. I know he wasn’t nervous.

Because I know your personality well.

“Then, was I perhaps hired because of you?”

“There’s no way. I came here following my Oppa, so they wouldn’t listen to a kid like me.”

It was actually true, but I pretended not to know.

“But what kind of place are we going to?”

“Ah! It’s Aiteman-ssi’s merchant house, one of the clients in the 1st District. I know they run a restaurant and sell food ingredients in the store next door. You just need to bring the ledger here.”

“Is that so?”

The city was quite crowded in the middle of the day.

Haden skillfully chose to walk through less crowded passages.

He seems familiar with this city.

“Um, it’s over there. I don’t know if I should say this now, but…”

“Huh?”

“When you had your interview, you talked about the Blackwinter family.”

As soon as the word Blackwinter came out, a light flashed in Haden’s yellow eyes.

I flinched at his face, which had lost its smile for a moment.

The boy’s expression without a smile gave a completely different impression than when he smiled.

Oh, I knew it, but it’s surprising to see it in person.

“Yeah, I did!”

Soon, Haden’s eyes curved prettily as if they were about to close, and he smiled.

If our Roy has the feeling of a black puppy, especially a Doberman, then.

This one is the same puppy, but more like a Golden Retriever, an impression that fits the expression ‘댕댕이’ （daengdaengi ━ puppy-like）.

It was a face that was often described in the book.

Expressions like, ‘When he’s smiling, he looks so innocent, but when he’s not, he has a completely different face.’

“Um, actually, an acquaintance of mine works as a servant in Blackwinter… So I heard about it.”

“Oh, a servant? Really? I heard that even if you go in as a page or maid, you have to know how to use a sword!”

“That’s right, to be exact, even the maids have different positions, and the higher you go, the more essential sword skills are. Of course, there are people who can’t use it at all. Anyway.”

I stopped walking. Haden, who had been walking with me, also stopped.

“I heard about you from that person.”

“Oh, about me?”

“Yeah, the story that you went to the Blackwinter entrance and were chased away. Actually, it didn’t end there, did it?”

“Uh?”

“Are you okay?”

Haden froze stiffly, his eyes still blinking.

I thought, ‘He’s still a child,’ and I took a step closer.

“I heard you were hit here and there. It wouldn’t be a wound that heals at once, are you in pain? Actually, it’s the story of a stranger, but I was very worried. I wondered what kind of thing happened…”

“Huh? Uh, uh, yes. Uh.”

I moved a little closer.

Haden was wearing looser clothes than he had at the interview, so his neck and arms were more visible.

‘I think I saw a faint black bruise when this kid was walking earlier.’

Was it a mistake? I was about to get a little closer, but for some reason, his neck moved away.

When I looked up, I saw his face frozen stiff.

What, why are you avoiding me?

“Uh, um, I wasn’t hurt that much. I covered the most important parts well!”

That’s not something to say while smiling so brightly.

I frowned slightly.

But he said he was okay and was gently avoiding me, so I couldn’t ask any more.

“I have ointment, take it later. My Oppa will have it.”

“Uh… I’m grateful, but. You’re going to give me something like that? Isn’t it expensive?”

“It’s not expensive. It’s not much.”

“Then I’ll gratefully accept it! But why are you giving it to me?”

‘Just, seeing the protagonist of that story in person…’

Actually, that was the one thing I really wanted to prevent, but I couldn’t, so I was so disappointed and sorry.

I recalled the feelings at the time and said nonchalantly.

“It’s just that it didn’t feel like a stranger’s story. I wanted to help.”

“……”

His big eyes blinked.

Looking at him like this, he really did remind me of a gentle-looking retriever.

“Thank you!”

Haden answered with a smile. Seeing him like this, he accepts goodwill as goodwill.

This is indeed different from our black puppy, the second one, and the children of Blackwinter.

Even I, when someone shows me kindness, I first think, ‘Why are they being so nice to me?’ and become wary.

“Um, then there’s something I want to say too…”

“What is it?”

“Ah, I was a little surprised earlier. When you came so close.”

This time, I quickly closed the distance that Haden had moved away from.

“Actually, it’s not like I’ve never seen a girl before, and there were many kids I played with in my neighborhood.”

I was surprised for a moment and blinked.

That’s right. I had momentarily forgotten, but this novel is a male-oriented fantasy novel, the protagonist’s harem. In other words, it was a novel where he had many romantic relationships with numerous women.

To be precise, there were close to ten core female characters who liked and chased after the protagonist, and I was one of them. An extra, though.

Moreover, I was the one who tormented him immensely when he couldn’t let go of his attachment to our family and worked briefly in the stables.

Then, after seeing his grown-up self, I regret it, a so-called regretful female lead role…

‘And I even fall in love at first sight and chase after him.’

I have no intention of doing that now, though.

To be honest, I felt that a protagonist who gave such openings was a bit pathetic, but maybe because I met him first as a child, I didn’t feel that way so much.

“And Sena also lived nearby…”

“Sena?”

“Ah, she’s my childhood friend.”

Hmm, I know who she is.

But I don’t think she was just a friend.

“She’s kind and cooks well!”

Fantasy protagonists always have a childhood female friend who lives in the same neighborhood.

The ‘Sena’ mentioned now was such a character. I didn’t dislike her either, so I was quite happy to hear about her.

There were many debates among readers about whether ‘Sena’ was Haden’s first love or not…

Of course, I didn’t participate in that debate. There was a character among the many female characters that I liked so, so much.

Veronica Snow White.

My favorite Unni’s name. It’s a pity that I still have time left before I can see her.

Haden raised his head. Our eyes met directly.

“But it’s the first time I’ve met a girl who smells so good. I was surprised.”

Looking at him smiling brightly under the sunlight, I could see why so many girls, and later many women, would fall for him.

For the record, I didn’t like that the protagonist liked so many female characters, so my score was very low.

He’s got a yellow streak.

* * *

Not long after, we entered a large street.

In the meantime, Haden explained things here and there while we walked through the less crowded paths, so it wasn’t boring.

“You seem to have lived here for a long time?”

“Um, not that long, about 3 years?”

Oh. He lived in the capital for that long.

I knew he was in the capital, but I didn’t know this.

Is that why the Red Winter had difficulty finding the protagonist?

Even now, he knows how to walk around the less crowded paths.

“I came up to the capital from our village. Ah, our village is at the far west end of the empire.”

I know. Also, the protagonist’s parents were immigrants who came to the empire from the western continent.

“Did I say this at the interview too? I know how to use a sword. I learned it in our village!”

I know that too, you learned it from the sword dojo teacher in your neighborhood.

“I learned from the teacher in our neighborhood.”

“Yeah.”

“And I wanted to learn swordsmanship even after coming to the capital… For some reason, I was always chased away. Thinking about it now, was it because I didn’t have money? I was supposed to learn in exchange for doing chores.”