As Joel drew his razor-sharp dagger, John and Nora flinched back.
However, John soon regained his bravado and puffed out his chest.
“What do you plan to do with that knife?” he sneered.
He had noticed Joel’s hand trembling ever so slightly and felt certain the boy wouldn’t be able to go through with it.
“……Let me go.”
Joel made the request even though he knew it was futile.
No matter how much of a villain John was, Joel didn’t have the heart to swing a blade at a human being.
Moreover, was this man not Becky’s father?
“That won’t do. I’ve already promised to sell you to a ship. Don’t think about ruining that pretty face for nothing; just hold out your hands quietly.”
As John raised a massive, threatening fist to intimidate him, Nora, startled, intervened. “Dear, stop! If you scar that face, the price will drop.”
Joel tilted his head, confused by their conversation.
What did being sold as a galley slave have to do with his face?
It wasn’t as if he was going to lure fish into a net with his looks.
While he was pondering this, John suddenly lunged at him.
Joel moved nimbly, dodging John’s fist by a hair’s breadth.
Unable to control his heavy momentum, John slammed into the wall and tumbled to the floor.
“Ugh, you brat……”
“Why are you blaming me when you fell all on your own?”
To Joel’s unimpressed retort, the wife this time charged forward with a strange scream.
“Yaaah!”
Her eyes were squeezed shut, and Joel dodged her easily as well.
Ridiculously, the club she swung landed a direct hit on John, who was just struggling to get up.
“Ack!”
“D-Dear!”
The wife hurriedly cradled her husband, who had been knocked back to the floor once again.
“Morons.”
When Joel sighed the word, the wife looked deeply offended.
They were a pair of fools who suited each other perfectly.
“I am a noble. Don’t even think about trying anything foolish with me.”
“W-What kind of noble are you! Wandering around alone without a single servant! You didn’t even have much money in your bag.”
At her words, Joel turned his gaze to his bag in the corner.
The strings he had tied so carefully were undone, and the bag looked significantly thinner than he remembered.
“……A silver coin shouldn’t be considered a small amount of money, surely?”
“Compared to the twenty gold coins we’re getting for selling you, it’s certainly small.”
It was John, finally regaining his senses, who answered Joel’s disgusted question.
He stood up with Nora’s support.
“Is that all you got for my price? You really are morons.”
Even in this situation, Joel felt offended that he had been sold for a pittance.
If they had sold him to a Lord as a bed-slave instead of for ship work, they could have gotten at least five times that.
Not that he wanted to be sold as a bed-slave to a Lord, of course.
Joel adjusted his grip on the dagger.
He hadn’t fought the devil with his life on the line just to face a miserable end like this.
He hadn’t given up after being scammed by a mercenary; he couldn’t let his life be ruined so absurdly now.
He was about to charge at John with the knife when something suddenly grabbed his legs.
John’s three sons, who had been shivering in the corner, had rushed over and latched onto his legs.
Joel realized he had overlooked the fact that he was in a five-on-one duel. But with a baby in his belly, he couldn’t bring himself to kick young children.
John didn’t miss the opening created by his hesitation and landed a punch across his face.
“Kuh!”
Joel felt a searing heat on his cheek and collapsed.
His vision went dark instantly.
He vaguely heard the wife snapping, “We’re selling him as a prostitute! What if you mark his face!”
‘Ah, so it wasn’t a galley slave, it was a prostitute? That’s much worse.’
Joel thought dizzily and stupidly.
By the time Joel fully regained consciousness, his wrists were tied behind his back and his ankles were bound as well.
“Ha, I can’t believe this……”
Joel muttered, frustrated by his outrageous predicament.
Since coming back in time, he hadn’t chased the Crown Prince, hadn’t bullied Benjamin, and hadn’t dared to covet the position of Crown Princess which was beyond his station.
He only wanted to live a quiet life with his baby on a modest salary.
So why did he have to suffer like this again?
“Still got that pride of yours, I see.”
John kicked the shoulder of the glaring Joel. Joel tumbled over with a groan.
Just then.
With a thunderous crash, the cottage door was flung open—or rather, shattered. Joel’s eyes widened as he whispered.
“……Jack?”
Jack the mule, sensing something was wrong, had broken down the door and charged in.
Jack rushed forward, snorting angrily.
The panicked John snatched the club from Nora to fight back, but Jack’s hind-leg kick was faster than John’s swing.
Struck in the chest by the beast’s angry hoof, John flew back with a choked gasp.
“D-Dear!”
Nora tried to run to her husband, but backed away when she saw the mule huffing aggressively.
Rob, who had come running in after the mule, saw the scene and stammered, “W-What on earth is……”
Looking back and forth between his father sprawled on the floor and the bound Joel, Rob fortunately chose to rush to Joel’s side.
Kneeling behind Joel, Rob began untying the ropes, his voice trembling with confusion.
“My Lord, what in the world happened?”
When Joel bluntly informed him, “Your parents tried to sell me to a ship,” Rob turned to his father with a pale face.
“Father! Why would you do such a thing……” he asked, but John, who had taken a solid kick to the chest, remained unconscious and limp on the floor.
“Indeed.”
With a grunt, Joel stood up and handed the bundle of rope to Rob.
“Here. Tie them up.”
“Pardon? W-Who?”
“Who do you think?”
Joel gestured with his chin toward Nora and John.
“B-But, how can I use my own hands against my father and mother……”
“Those people are the scum of the earth who tried to sell your sister to a forty-three-year-old man for money. Do you want to keep living with them? If not, come with me instead.”
There was a possibility that Rob was in on it, but Joel felt that Rob and Becky truly hadn’t known about the situation.
Joel decided to trust Rob.
The kind boy stared at the rope with a hesitant face, but when Joel urged him to “Hurry and tie them,” he took the rope with a look of resolve.
Nora tried to flee, but with the mule snorting behind her, she had no choice but to hold out her hands submissively.
Becky, who returned around that time, heard Joel’s explanation and began helping Rob tie up their father.
Meanwhile, Joel searched the house and returned his stolen belongings to his bag.
John only regained consciousness when Joel had finished preparing to leave.
Realizing his limbs were bound, he began to bellow.
“Rob, Becky! Untie this at once! You brats, do you want to be reported to the authorities along with that fellow?”
“Oh, how noisy. I was worried you might have died, but fortunately, you’re quite lively.”
Joel spoke haughtily as he shouldered his bag.
He handed the bag to Rob, who politely said, “My Lord, I will carry that,” and then glared at John’s three young sons cowering in the corner.
“U-Uwaaaah……”
The children, already terrified, began to wail like piglets.
Normally, Joel was kind to children, but considering what he almost suffered because of them, he couldn’t bring himself to look at them kindly.
In his heart, he wanted to tie the children up as well so they couldn’t seek help, but he couldn’t bring himself to let an entire family starve to death.
Joel decided to show them mercy.
Besides, it would take the young children at least half a day to reach the bottom of the hill and find help.
“We’re leaving now. Since you dared to try and sell me, I won’t be paying the bride-price for Becky and Rob.”
“Who do you think you are, taking my children!”
John raged at Joel’s words, but fell silent the moment the mule stamped its hoof.
“When did you ever treat Becky and Rob like children? Becky, Rob, if you have any last words for your family, say them now.”
At Joel’s words, Rob shook his head, saying he had nothing to say.
However, Becky hesitated before stepping forward, and Joel waited for her to say her goodbyes.
John and Nora looked hopeful, thinking Becky might help them.
But Becky, struggling to speak, simply said, “Father, Mother…… Let us never meet again,” and bid them farewell. They immediately began to rage, screaming, “That girl!”
Joel looked at the couple with disdain.
Setting aside the stepmother Nora, John truly was a pathetic father to the very end.
Gently wrapping his arms around Becky and Rob’s shoulders, Joel said warmly, “Let’s go.”
