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Chapter 7
Gold coins! Gold coins!
I gave up my human dignity for a few seconds in exchange for a gold coin.
I wasn’t sure if it would work, but to my surprise, Wished smiled in satisfaction and handed me a gold coin right away. Honestly, I was a little shocked.
I thought he was bluffing—but he really gave it to me.
“Wished… maybe he’s not such a bad person after all.”
My opinion of Wished shifted slightly.
There was a perfectly valid reason why I was so obsessed with money.
Over what could be considered a long or short life, I’d gone through more than most people could ever imagine.
The most frustrating and unjust times in life are always when you have no money. Being an orphan is just a bonus misfortune.
I was ignored and discriminated against just because I was poor. I’d experienced that enough in my previous life to last several lifetimes.
Even after reincarnating as a rat, my obsession with money hadn’t changed.
“As long as I have money, I don’t care if I live as a rat.”
That’s how important money was to me.
So first, I needed to save up as much as I could.
Just in case, I bit into the coin with my teeth.
It almost cracked my tooth. When I looked, there was a tiny bite mark the size of my fingernail.
“Wow…”
It’s a real gold coin!
My heart swelled with hope.
“If I keep sucking up like this, will he give me more gold coins?”
If he says yes, I can pretend to die a hundred more times!
Dear lovely gold coin, I’ll treasure you and spend you wisely. Just wait a little longer. I’ll get you lots of friends.
“Lord Wished.”
As I was grinning stupidly, unable to contain my joy while hugging the coin, someone entered.
The man had striking crimson-black hair, neatly tied and draped over one shoulder, and an expression that screamed, “I’m uptight.”
His thin-framed glasses and tightly closed lips added to his sharp, severe image.
He really looked like a secretary.
The man bowed with military precision, as if measured by a ruler.
Wished called his name.
“Kaiman.”
“I’ve returned from the mission.”
“Good work.”
The man called Kaiman suddenly stopped mid-step.
To be exact—he stopped when he saw me.
“…A rat is hugging a gold coin and grinning wickedly.”
“Oh, that? Say hello. That’s Jjikjjik.”
I bristled at Kaiman treating me like a petty thief.
But honestly, anyone would misunderstand this situation.
I was literally hugging a gold coin like a treasure chest.
“Jjikjjik…?”
Kaiman muttered with a confused look as he stared down at me, then bowed again with the same perfect form he’d shown Wished.
“Greetings, Lord Jjikjjik.”
I was completely flustered. I never expected him to actually greet me.
And he just kept bowing.
With a man’s scalp right in front of my face, I felt like I was doing a hair loss inspection.
Well, his scalp looked thick and healthy. No signs of baldness—he’s good.
…Wait, how long is he going to stay like that? Am I supposed to say something?
I glanced at Wished and cautiously opened my mouth.
“…Jjik.”
“He says you can stand.”
Wished kindly translated for me.
Kaiman raised his head with a complicated expression.
Then, after a brief sniff, he furrowed his brow.
“Lord Jjikjjik smells like your blood, Lord Wished.”
“He survived Drug No. 1.”
“The rat did?”
Sounds like he left out the word ‘just’ in front of that.
I was immediately offended.
Why was he looking down on me like that? Just because I’m a rat?
“As a crocodile beastman, you probably think it’s strange that something bite-sized survived my blood. Yeah, me too.”
Well, thinking about it now, I’d probably find it weird too.
Not because Kaiman’s a crocodile beastman, but just logically, I’d be surprised too.
“I also think it’s a miracle I survived Drug No. 1. So I guess he’s just surprised.”
“That’s true. What species is it? Judging by appearance, it’s not an ordinary rat.”
“No idea. A rat’s a rat.”
Wished answered indifferently.
It’s true—I didn’t look like your typical rat.
I had a bushy tail, fluffy fur, big ears, and my fur was mostly white with gray tips on my ears and tail.
To be honest, I wasn’t that curious about my species. Even if I knew, it wouldn’t change the fact that I was still a rodent.
Most people would’ve asked more or been surprised, but Kaiman seemed used to Wished and got straight to the point.
“I’ll begin the mission report. As expected, the temple was embezzling donations. The route was…”
In romance fantasy worlds, temples are always the bad guys or at least on the bad guy’s side. And apparently, the same rule applied here.
From what I gathered, the temple was siphoning off the donations Wished had given them.
“They must be begging to die.”
Wished’s assessment was short and brutal.
I agreed.
You could tell how ruthless Wished was just by the fact he’d committed parricide and still became a duke. And yet they dared embezzle his money?
They must have a death wish.
“They must have something backing them to act this boldly.”
“There’s been some dealings with the imperial family recently.”
“The imperial family? That worthless bunch?”
Here, beastmen were considered the superior beings.
Long ago, there were endless wars among beastmen to claim the throne. But after centuries of war and realizing they’d all go extinct at this rate, a truce was made.
Instead of a king, four dominant beastmen—the snake, whale, eagle, and leopard—were made dukes, each ruling over a region the size of a country.
The imperial family was just a puppet group of humans placed there to keep the dukes in check.
Although humans and beastmen coexisted, beastmen were superior in every aspect—physically and socially. It was natural for them to be treated better.
So the imperial family was virtually powerless, and the four dukedoms didn’t care about them at all.
“They’re shaking the bait too openly. Something’s fishy.”
“Should I initiate contact with the imperial family and investigate their backers?”
Their conversation was beyond my full understanding, but I got a sense of the timeline.
“About a year left.”
In the original story, a member of the imperial family secretly made a deal with Wished. That information came to light not long after the story began, so there should be roughly a year to go.
“That’s plenty.”
Plenty of time to collect money and run.
I hugged the gold coin tighter and giggled softly.
“Clean up that blood on your way out. Anything else?”
Though the report was over, Kaiman remained standing.
“Ah, that is…”
His gaze was fixed on me.
Not my eyes—but my body.
Startled, I looked down at myself. Fluffy fur met my eyes.
“There seems to be some dust on you.”
Apparently, no one had cleaned the attic. The floor was dusty, and I’d walked through it and climbed onto the bed, so bits of dust clung to me.
Kaiman raised a gloved finger and adjusted his glasses.
In that moment, his crimson eyes gleamed behind the lenses.
What… what now?
“May I wash Lord Jjikjjik? I can’t allow such a creature to wander Lord Wished’s office in that state.”
Clink, roll—
The gold coin slipped from my frozen hands and rolled across the floor.
That day, I lost my human dignity yet again—this time by having a stranger I’d known for less than an hour scrub my furry butt clean against my will.
