Chapter 135: Ceram, the miscellaneous merchant (2)
About 10 seconds passed.
Ceram, who barely managed to compose himself, cleared his throat and spoke in a much softer voice.
In human language.
“Hahaha…… Really…… I haven’t laughed like this in decades.”
Ceram looked at Kyung-joon awkwardly scratching his head and thought.
A human trying to communicate with him in incredibly awkward and clumsy fairy language.
Usually, when humans see monsters like him, they are ready to point their swords at them……
There’s no way someone like that would have any ulterior motives.
Ceram spoke to Kyung-joon in a much softer voice.
“You’re the first human I’ve ever met who can speak the monster language.”
“No, I don’t know if I can speak it. It seemed like a mess earlier.”
“Definitely. I was very confused as to what you were saying.”
“Haha…… Right? That’s strange. I’m sure I said it right.”
Kyung-joon scratched the back of his head with a slightly embarrassed look on his face.
He thought it would be fun to surprise him by showing him the extraordinary sight of a human using monster language.
It seemed like he had overestimated himself, thinking he could speak it well just by looking through a few books.
“No. For a human, you spoke very well. You said it right.”
“Huh?”
“You just didn’t put mana into it.”
Ceram said a fairy word with an intrigued look.
“Houhohoho.”
(Fairy language: I’m hungry.)
And this time, he asked Kyung-joon again in human language.
“Do you know what I just said?”
“Uh, um…… I’m hungry?”
Kyung-joon read the subtitles that Teemo showed him.
“That’s right. Then this time, try to guess what it means again.”
Ceram spoke again in fairy language.
“Houhohoho.”
(Fairy language: I’m full.)
This time, the subtitles also showed “I’m hungry.”
“Huh? Didn’t you just say the same thing?”
“No, it’s different.”
Ceram shook his head.
But they were definitely the same sound…….
“Ah.”
At that moment, Kyung-joon immediately remembered what Ceram had said earlier.
“You didn’t put mana into the first word, and you put mana into the second word? Do you mean the meaning changes depending on that?”
At Kyung-joon’s words, Ceram nodded, his expression saying that was exactly it.
“Yes, that’s right. In fairy language, sound is really only a small part, and the biggest influence on meaning is how you put mana into it. Then the second thing I just said would be ‘I’m full’ instead of ‘I’m hungry.’”
“Aha. I see.”
[You have learned new language knowledge (Fairy Language).]
[1 hour has been added to the Dimensional Study Room.]
“But why isn’t that in this book?”
“Book?”
“Ah, this one. I studied using this.”
Kyung-joon showed Ceram the World Language Encyclopedia.
Ceram’s eyes widened slightly.
“Oh…… You have that book.”
[Ceram’s affinity has increased by 10.]
Ceram seemed to know the book.
But why did his affinity suddenly go up?
“You know this book?”
“Ah, as you can see, I’m a bit of a language enthusiast.”
“Aha. That’s why. No wonder you’re so good at speaking other monster languages besides fairy language.”
Kyung-joon thought Ceram was a language nerd.
‘That would make it easier to ask.’
Kyung-joon decided to ask Ceram a few more things, showing him the open book.
“There’s a translation into human language here, but no matter how much I look at it, I don’t get it.”
Kyung-joon interspersed his studies with World’s studies in order to gain Dimensional Study Room time.
For example, Sever’s book 『Venom Grimoire』, and the 『World Language Encyclopedia』 he had just obtained.
He had to study things related to the game, not reality, to charge up his Dimensional Study Room time.
“I can read this because the pronunciation is somehow written out, but I don’t understand it. Some of it has the exact same pronunciation but different meanings. Is this also the difference between putting mana in and not putting mana in?”
“Let me see. Hmm…… Ah, that’s right. You see the vibration marks above the words here? This means that you have to vibrate the mana while speaking.”
“Ah, this? I wondered what it was since it wasn’t even in the appendix.”
“Haha. As you can see from the book, the author, Limi Nuhu, has a lot of quirks.”
“He really does. There’s so much that’s not explained or missing.”
The World Language Encyclopedia, written by Limi Nuhu, contained a truly diverse range of languages.
However, as such, it was not very specific about each language.
There were many missing explanations in between, making it very unfriendly.
If this had been published as an English reference book in reality, it would have been met with immediate complaints and criticism.
“Then what about this?”
“Where…… Ah, this is talking.”
Kyung-joon asked Ceram about the parts he had been wondering about while studying.
Ceram kindly answered every question Kyung-joon asked, as if he had read the book many times.
“So, this part is a sentence that can be misunderstood unless you understand the drinking culture of monsters. Humans usually count drinks as one glass, two glasses. But orcs and ogres keep pouring and drinking once they sit down, and then they go for first and second rounds, so this should be interpreted as ‘I’ll buy this round’ instead of ‘I’ll buy this drink.’”
“Ah, I see. The meaning completely changes in subtle ways like this because of culture.”
“That’s right. Language basically embodies culture.”
[You have learned new language knowledge (Ogre Language).]
[1 hour has been added to the Dimensional Study Room.]
Whenever Kyung-joon asked a question and understood Ceram’s answer, time was added to the Dimensional Study Room.
He hadn’t been looking at the World Language Encyclopedia much because Venom Grimoire worked better when he was studying alone with Teemo.
But now that Ceram was teaching him things with his vast knowledge of languages, he was gaining Dimensional Study Room time at a rate four or five times faster than before.
“Wow. Mr. Ceram, you really know your languages. You’re a much better explainer than Teemo.”
<٩ (ꐦ๑`^´๑)۶>
<Seething, seething…….>
Teemo shook his crystal at Kyung-joon’s comparison.
Ceram, on the other hand, tilted his head, wondering who Teemo was.
Kyung-joon glossed over it and thought.
‘When it comes to languages, Ceram is way ahead of Teemo.’
Even though Teemo was something like an artificial intelligence created by the previous Infinite Knowledge Seeker, he didn’t know everything perfectly.
He said that a lot of data had been lost while he was asleep for hundreds of years.
The only knowledge of World language that Teemo currently possessed was what was in the World Language Encyclopedia.
But since this encyclopedia wasn’t perfect, Teemo was also lacking in many ways.
Currently, Ceram was far superior to Teemo in terms of language knowledge.
‘I need to get him.’
Kyung-joon began to voice the decision he had made in his mind.
“Mr. Ceram. If you’re finding it hard to keep peddling, would you like to be employed at my territory for a while?”
“Ex……cuse me?”
Ceram was dumbfounded by the completely unexpected offer.
“I decided after seeing you teach me Fairy Language and Ogre Language just now. That I need to hire you.”
If he employed Ceram at his territory and received language tutoring from him, he would be able to fill up his Dimensional Study Room time extremely efficiently.
He had only asked a few questions, and he had already gained several hours.
“So, if you don’t mind, I’d like you to tutor me in languages.”
Ceram hesitated to answer, flustered.
Kyung-joon realized that he hadn’t mentioned the compensation.
“Oh, I didn’t tell you the conditions. Tutoring is 25,000 liyan per hour, the standard rate. Also, you’ll be employed at our territory, so you’ll be provided with a place to live and food.”
“That…… Um……. “
Even though he had stated the conditions, Ceram was still unable to answer.
“Is it still not enough? I can raise the hourly rate if that’s the problem. Oh, and for your information, the hourly rate applies even when you’re not working, so it’s 600,000 liyan per day.”
That’s a whopping 18 million liyan a month!
It was an extremely special treatment compared to the 2 million liyan received by ordinary residents and the 3 million liyan received by ministers each month.
Because he could teach Kyung-joon.
Still, Kyung-joon was fine with it because it was only 1.8 million won in real-life money, which was manageable.
“Oh, no. What you’ve offered is already more than enough. However…”
“However?”
“…Would it be alright for someone like me to come? I’m not even human…”
“Well, aren’t you a Silva? One of the Fairy races. I know a few Fairies and an Elf friend, so it won’t be uncomfortable or anything.”
“But… you said it’s a territory, wouldn’t the others living there find it unpleasant?”
Into the territory inhabited solely by humans, enters Ceram, a monster.
It was certainly something they could find disconcerting.
Nevertheless, Kyung-joon decided it was fine.
“The territory only has a little over 100 people right now. I know everyone, and honestly, I think it’ll be okay? One resident even said he respects demons when I asked him about it.”
Despite Kyung-joon’s (Kyung-joon) reassurance, Ceram was still hesitant.
The fact that he wasn’t refusing outright meant he was tempted.
‘AngerManagementVodka I could get away from that human… Good. It’s good, but…’
Ceram’s worry stemmed from a very primal place.
Ceram spoke in a meek voice.
“And…”
“And?”
“…Because I’m black.”
“What? What was that?”
Ceram clenched his fists, shut his eyes tight, and confessed.
“Because I’m black…… and hideous……”
“What? Hideous? Ah, because your skin is dark?”
“……”
Ceram averted his gaze from Kyung-joon.
It felt like he was looking away not from Kyung-joon, but from himself.
Memories of encountering other Silvas during his decades of solitude in the Whale Forest flashed through Ceram’s mind.
━ Demon Spawn!
━ Cursed creature!
━ Get out of here! How dare you show your face!
━ Why weren’t you killed at birth?!
It was the same when he encountered humans instead of his fellow Silvas.
━ Why is that Silva’s skin so black?
━ Maybe we’ll get something special if we catch his wings. Let’s get him!
━Ugh, but the fairy is so black that I really can’t see it.
━ I heard it was a demon curse.
━ So that’s why he’s cursed?
Even with his eyes closed, the memories replayed vividly before him.
He thought it had gotten better, but the pain was unbearable as it resurfaced.
Kyung-joon didn’t console him or empathize with his pain.
“Oh, come on, don’t be like that.”
He simply brushed it off as if it were nothing.
‘He doesn’t even know my pain……!’
Ceram felt a surge of anger.
He hadn’t expected empathy or shared pain, but how dare he dismiss it so carelessly without understanding!
But then.
He realized upon hearing Kyung-joon’s next words.
He wasn’t dismissing him.
“What’s a demon’s curse? It’s just that Mr. Ceram’s magical attribute is earth, right?”
It was a misinformed fact.
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