*Click!*

‘Finally!’ Cheek thought, he’d just managed to open this damned advanced-level lock.

Although he had succeeded, it didn’t mean his skill had reached that level.

To be considered advanced rank, one needed to be able to open such a lock within three tries.

…it had taken him fifteen.

‘Perhaps I should have practised more on the adept-rank ones?’

It didn’t matter either way, he could still do so now.

The difficulty levels went like this : Novice-Apprentice-Adept-Advanced-Master.

Being a master didn’t mean one could open a master-ranked lock, such a thing didn’t exist.

In the first place, locks were vaguely categorized by how small the success rate was.

‘These are medieval locks, it’s even less secure than some random shit you can buy in a hardware store.’

‘At least, I think.’

He really didn’t know anything about locks, much less some that could have earned a place in a museum.

The mechanism should be simpler, though. The only flaw with that logic was that the tools should be too.

‘Ah, the joys of modern life.’

How long had it been since he’d taken a bath?

Sure, Old-Cheek’s memories helped him adapt to the era he’d found himself in, but he was more Noah than he was Cheek.

‘My body wasn’t the best when I awoke here…’

Great, another thing to worry about.

His life was really stressful these days, still he couldn’t really complain. He had asked for this, at the very least, he would be as little a hypocrite as he could.

Cheek held a belief that everyone was a hypocrite, every person who had lived contradicted themselves at least once in their life.

At least, those who could realize it were better.

…or was it worse?

Letting out a mirthless chuckle, he returned to his work.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Losing track of time, Cheek made use of the variety of tools he was given access to.

Opening chest after chest and lock after lock. This continued until time was up and he had to leave.

Frustratingly looking at the master-level door in front of him, Cheek sighed.

It seemed that advanced was his limit.

‘Does opening and advanced-rank one in 50 minutes count?’

He doubted it, but at least he had managed to open it.

Although, perhaps mastering the lower-level one first would have been better.

Either way, it didn’t matter, time was up and he had to go.

Looking at the person who hd come to get him, Cheek felt that they were quite rude.

‘You could have said so instead of pulling my arm.’

He’d noticed there was somebody behind him because of the shadow, it was just annoying that they didn’t speak.

Dismissing the useless thought, Cheek followed the man towards wherever they were going.

Seeing this was a different path than before, Cheek kept quiet and raised his vigilance.

Arriving in front of a mouldy wooden door, his guide tried pushing it open.

…it didn’t work.

Pulling it this time, the door opened, it showed a ladder leading up.

Passing the man before he could leave, Cheek made his way up the ladder.

He didn’t know how long he had been here, but he was hungry.

‘I’m not the only one who needs to be fed either.’

Unconsciously, a smile appeared on his face at the thought of his sister.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Opening the latch above his head, Cheek found himself back in the slums.

He was in an alley.

Peeking out, he took a look at his surroundings.

‘South, huh?’

It seemed the market went far deeper than he thought.

‘Perhaps this kingdom was built above a cave system?’

It was possible, especially with how wide the underground market seemed to stretch.

Glancing at the sun, Cheek determined it was noon.

Rather, he wasn’t even able to look at the sun, his eyes simply burned the moment he looked up.

‘Isn’t summer supposed to be ending soon?’

*Growl~*

Hearing his stomach, Cheek decided that his first priority would be food.

Martin had only told him to come at dawn for the next day anyway.

Problem was, he didn’t have any money on him, it seemed he would have to pass by his house.

Guiltily thinking of his sister, he thought of how he could make it up to her.

He should be able to get his hand on some wood, he’d carved a bit during his time in the scouts. Maybe he could come up with some type of board game?

In any case, he had his day cut out for him.

Taking of the cloak as well as the mask he was wearing, Cheek wondered where he could put them.

Quickly coming upon a decision, he opened the wooden latch once more and carefully hung the mask and cloak on the ladder.

He would come back for them later, such things weren’t common on the slums. He would attract too much attention.

This place was also quite far from his home, he would have to walk longer than usual.

The southern part of the slums wasn’t unfamiliar to him per se, he had been here a couple of times. Still, it couldn’t be said he knew the in’s and out’s the same as its northern counterpart.

Trudging back, Cheek kept a normal walking speed, he wasn’t pressed enough to gather attention by running.

Looking around, he inwardly sighed.

To people who had never seen the slums, it probably appeared as a dreary place where the sun never shined and where all sorts of crime ran rampant.

Such an image wasn’t fully false, it was true that crime was rampant and that one could see a metaphorical gray cloud over everyone’s head.

But the reality of it was much more detailed and despair-inducing than one would assume.

This was medieval times, there was no sewers and no electricity, it was common to see one die from an illness in middle-class neighbourhoods, much less the slums.

Sewers didn’t truly exist yet, or rather, they weren’t widespread.

‘Like the cholera epidemic which was caused by people throwing their shit and piss in the streets.’

More than just that, war could spark at any day, any person worth two golds knew that.

People were being drafted, and the so-called “divine kingdoms” were fighting.

In this era, knowledge of Beyonders wasn’t exactly widespread, but it wasn’t deliberately hidden either.

It was common knowledge that certain people could perform supernatural feats.

Cheek hadn’t believed it at first, his experience as Noah had made him dismiss it.

Such an act was proof that he still had a lot to learn, and that he truly wasn’t just Cheek.

Nonetheless, the mark he had gotten from Venithan made him rethink quite a few things.

‘Why did I dismiss it anyway? Transmigration is fine, but supernatural powers aren’t?’

No matter what he thought or what people said, war was coming, and no one could stop it.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Looking at where he was now, Cheek roughly estimated the time he would need before arriving home.

He had already walked around for 30 minutes, at most it should take him five more.

This time, he didn’t immerse himself within his thoughts and made sure he wasn’t being followed.

He absolutely could not bring trouble to Elisia.

Feeling he was fine, he pushed away the cloth and made his way inside.

Quietly making his way towards the bedroom he peek inside, only to awkwardly meet the gaze of his sister.

Blankly staring at each other for a moment, the pair of siblings didn’t know what to say.

““…””

“Pfft- Haha!”

Bursting in a fit of chuckles, they looked at each other warmly.

“Why are you here, Brother? Elisia thought you would be back late. N-not that Elisia minds…”

“I finished for today, but I didn’t have any money, I thought I would drop by to get some…”

Narrowing her eyes at the “for today” par, Elisia pursed her lips, but didn’t mention it.

“…and to see my cute little sister, of course.”

Pouting at him, Elisia didn’t say anything, but it was obvious that she appreciated the attention.

Rummaging under her bed, Cheek quickly found what he wanted. A small bag of gold coins.

Taking out two gold coins with the number 5 written on them, he put back the bigger “10” coin that had dropped onto his hand.

In the Kingdom of David, coins values were determined by their weight. It was a simple but effective method, and it seemed to work for this kingdom. Cheek wasn’t sure about others, though.

‘Not my problem, and I hope it never will be.’

He didn’t want to struggle with currency, he would get what he wanted through other means if needed.

“Alright, I’m off, I should be back before sundown.”

“Okay, Elisia ate the rest of yesterday’s bread, Elisia can wait.”

Smiling, Cheek kissed his sister on the forehead, before turning around and leaving.

Finding himself outside once more, he didn’t waste any time and immediately started moving. The more time he wasted, the less he could spend doing other things.

Trudging towards the market, Cheek once more immersed himself within his thoughts.

‘Maybe I could make a makeshift card game?’

——————————————————————————————————————————

“-10!? That’s ridiculous!”

“Don’t argue with me, Cheek! You’re lucky I’m even letting you buy my wares!”

Glaring at the woman, Cheek felt indignant; yet he knew there wasn’t much he could do.

‘Still, a ten-gram coin for 2 loaves of bread? It was barely worth five two days ago!’

“Tch! Listen here, brat.”

The store owner spoke, lowering her voice.

“Your anti-social ass may not have heard, but war is coming. Prices are going up and I have to go with the flow.”

She spoke in an unusually somber tone, making Cheek stare at her for a moment.

Determining she wasn’t lying, he clicked his tongue and set the two coins he had brought on the stall. Grabbed his due, and left.

He had enough to worry about already.

Munching on the hard black bread, Cheek decided to take a detour to clear his thoughts.

He was already stressed enough as it is, dammit!

Letting his brain go into autopilot mode, he simply wandered around.

Releasing a frustrated sigh, Cheek to a look at his surroundings.

Strangely, he was back to where he had first transmigrated.

Staring for a moment, he leaned against the wall and slowly slumped on the floor.

One day, things will get better, he told himself.

He just had to stay alive till that day.

‘Not hard at all, huh?’

War was on the horizon, some crazy guy wanted his help to rob something and he was at their mercy.

Was this the opportunity he had asked for?

He didn’t know, he just… wanted to… sleep.