Can Someone (Anyone!) Please Turn Off the Auto-Skill Setting?! - Chapter 9
“You’re greedy, aren’t you?”
“That’s…”
“And you don’t even like God as much as we do!”
“What are you talking about!”
Nancy, feeling wronged, demanded an explanation. They didn’t even know that she faithfully went to the temple and offered prayers and donations on every holy day! Her hands trembled with reluctance every time she made a donation, but she still did it without fail!
When she protested, feeling insulted as a devout believer, one of the little demons asked her,
“You broke the first teaching of God, ‘Do not covet what belongs to others,’ didn’t you?”
“When did I? I only ever covet what I rightfully deserve.”
“Then why did you pick up that coin this morning?”
How did these little demons know about that? Nancy was startled but tried to hide it, responding with defiance.
“Yes, I found it on the street. But I didn’t steal it from anyone, like you do.”
“It had a name on it—’Chuck’, my name! But you rubbed off my name and put the coin in your pocket!”
“You broke God’s commandment, ‘Do not covet what belongs to others!'”
Their combined voices, intentionally loud and close to her ears, were painfully overwhelming. Nancy grimaced and finally shouted,
“Alright! Fine! I’ll at least try to compete in the Hero’s Festival.”
“Yay! The human has surrendered to us!”
The little demons hugged each other and cheered.
“Wait, the only thing I’m agreeing to is the challenge! Whether I become a hero or not is up to God. I’m not responsible for what happens afterward.”
Nancy tried to clarify, but the little demons were too busy celebrating to listen properly.
【 Nancy has acquired the title 〈Dark Merchant in League with Demons〉. 】
【 Nancy’s morality decreases due to acquiring a title in the 〈Dark〉 series. 】
Nancy frowned at the dishonorable title she had just received.
***
After escaping from the little demons, Nancy trudged home, pulling her now-empty cart.
“It seems like everything is going horribly wrong…”
If she could claim that she hadn’t known her buyer was a demon, she might have a way out. She could at least save her life.
But agreeing to help them in exchange for payment had earned her this disgraceful title, and there was no excuse for that.
Before anyone could see, Nancy quickly switched her title back to 〈Shopkeeper〉. She wished she could erase the title altogether, but that wasn’t possible.
Isn’t there any way to delete it? And then there was the problem of the hero’s ring. Even if it was 30 years old, if someone recognized it, she’d be in serious trouble.
‘But it’s a diamond ring…’
As a human acknowledged for her greed by the little demons, she couldn’t simply throw it away.
Lost in thought, she walked until she spotted the red roof of her shop, which also served as her home. The sight of the small but cozy shop should have brought her relief, but instead, a large figure blocked her way.
A person clad in armor from head to toe was standing in front of the blacksmith’s shop next door. It looked like they had business there, but with the door closed, they couldn’t get in.
‘Has Old Man Rivel gone home for lunch again?’
The old man, stubborn as ever, refused to eat anything unless it was prepared by his wife, so he would go home for lunch every day. Sometimes it took him a while to return, so it would be better for the man to find shelter from the rain elsewhere.
Nancy momentarily considered helping, but decided to ignore the person. Kindness came from having the luxury to be kind, and after such a rough day, she didn’t have any left to spare. Besides, it was a stranger.
‘What if something bad happens again? I’ve already run out of luck, so I need to be careful.’
Making excuses to herself, Nancy quietly pulled her cart to the storage and then returned to the front of her shop.
The armored figure, whose gender was still unknown, was still standing in front of the blacksmith’s shop like a statue. The plume on their helmet and the cape draped over their shoulders were soaked and drooping, making them look rather pitiful.
…No, no pity. Who’s pitying whom here?
She was the one feeling so tired that her body felt like it was being pressed into the ground. Forcing herself to ignore the person, Nancy went into her shop.
But she didn’t last long. After a few moments, she went back outside and approached the armored figure.
“If you have business at the blacksmith’s, would you like to wait in my shop?”
Though she tried to ignore her conscience, this triggered a new status change.
High morality was linked to increased luck, which was good news for someone as unlucky as she was. Doing a good deed was indeed beneficial.
Happy with the unexpected reward, Nancy tried to persuade the person.
“Old Man Rivel sometimes takes a long time to return. He even naps after lunch, so you might be waiting for a while.”
The armored figure hesitated for a moment before nodding slightly.
“I appreciate your kindness.”
The low voice revealed that he was a man. Nancy nodded for him to follow and led him back to her shop.
