Prologue
Niall Giles was a young man with an impression that made people like him even when he was still.
This young man, with soft light brown hair and eyes of the same color, always had a friendly glimmer on his face, his voice was clear, and he was of a composed and proper attitude.
The overall impression was gentle and warm, made all the more so by the smile that always hung on the young man’s lips. The young man was kind, friendly, and had a nice smile. Therefore, people would comment that the Niall resembled the spring sunshine.
Niall Giles was popular with women because he was tall and had a nice face. ―In the first place, Niall was bound to be popular simply because he was the only man who never yelled at women. ―He was neither the most handsome nor the strongest man in town, but when ten women gathered, one or two would surely like Niall. They didn’t make it obvious though.
Niall’s job was to be an assistant to the port administrator. Galen, situated in the center of the empire, was a city noted for its vacation spot adjacent to the sea, and the word adjacent to the sea also meant that there was a port.
Niall was involved in a wide range of matters, from checking the lists of incoming and outgoing ships and transporting the freight to the trivial tasks of deciding the ships’ anchorage to the detection of contraband.
The administrative manager only had to sit in his office and sign the documents, but the assistant producing the documents had to engage in much more miscellaneous affairs.
The port, as a matter of course, was always teeming with tramps, swindlers, crooks, and vagrants, so people wondered how the sweet Niall could hold out in the midst of such wild men.
A good-natured butcher had once offered Niall to work in his shop. It was better to kill animals than deal with them.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Most of the sailors in the port were always angry. They hated the word ‘port entry fee’, and regarded words like ‘overload tax, administrative fee, and storage tax’ as enemies who killed their parents.
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Ktf jrrlrajcar tjv wbcatis debajr ab olii, jcv atfs kfgf obgmfv ab ub vbkc ab j ifnfi rlwlijg ab atflg milfcar.
If they threatened, they would threaten back, and if they used their fits, they, too, would use their fists. Otherwise, the collection would not be possible.
The amazing thing was that Niall Giles always met his quota without ever making such threats. In addition, he would be the first one to do so in the port, and far more than the quota.
People were puzzled whenever they saw Niall at work. He always had a smile on his face no matter who he dealt with. His attitude was relaxed and his voice explaining taxes was clear and low.
The captain of the ship and Niall exchanging tax bills were as natural as close friends, and the captain always gently kept the entry fee in Niall’s hands. It had always been like that. There was no shouting or fighting.
When the other assistant was called the sailor who reported to Niall out of curiosity and asked, he scratched the nape of his neck and replied:
“No, I was definitely asking him to not impose a fine on the cargo coming in tomorrow. But at some point, when I came to my senses, I was talking about my mother.
The assistant named Niall didn’t say much. He just asked this out of nowhere while talking about taxes. ‘Come to think of it, how did you end up on the ship?’ It was a question no one has ever asked me before.
At that moment, our eyes met, and I thought that the assistant’s brown eyes were similar to those of my late mother. It’s quite strange. Because my mother’s eyes were blue.
Anyway, when I came to my senses, I was talking about my mother’s dying wish. The assistant listened to my gibberish until the end. That’s all. After talking about it, I didn’t want to be stingy with a small sum.”
The sailor laughed as he said so. Even the listeners laughed out loud.
That was it. Niall Giles was clearly a sweet man. And his talent lay in gently softening the hearts of even those rough sailors.
It was not once or twice that the sailor held on to the sad-looking assistant and talked about the difficulties of sailing or the ups and downs of business, and before he knew it, the port entry fee was put into the young man’s hands.
At first, he was thinking of asking for a little discount by saying the current circumstances are so difficult after whining to his heart’s content. But when the young man listened to him attentively with kind, warm brown eyes, strangely, he didn’t want to cause him any more trouble after facing those eyes for a long time.
No doubt, it could not be said that there was no friction at all, but Niall was certainly the only assistant in Galen’s port who met his quota while being ‘least beaten’ and ‘raising his voice the least’.
As such, people liked Niall, and they also liked telling him stories down to the tiniest details. Thanks to this, Niall was able to get a second job, which was as an information dealer.
It seems somehow mysterious to say that he buys and sells information, but the information he could handle as a commoner was actually just gossip.
For example, rumors that a wife gave birth to an illegitimate child without her husband’s knowledge, or that a pig gave birth to a piglet and the owner hid the piglet in order to pay less tax. Or, that a certain nobleman wanted to consume the woman’s urine every time they had sex ―rumors like that ―which were fairly close to the truth.
Interesting stories were always welcomed everywhere. People invited Niall to dinner and expected him to share a pleasant story, and Niall was able to sell rumors and get free meals.
While eating, naturally the masters of the house would also tell a story, develop a good atmosphere, and then a third commission would come to Niall.
Niall was good with his hands. He could do everything from fixing a broken water supply system, sharpening the metal blades, and connecting the clasps of pearl necklaces, to making detachable wooden dolls, and the women’s job of baking bread.
The stories he heard while eating. ‘Come to think of it, someone’s house had a clogged drain’ or ‘I heard that an apothecary on a certain street is looking for an errand boy.’ These types of stories were very useful to Niall. After hearing the news, Niall was able to go to those in need faster than anyone else and negotiate his wages.
Niall really did anything. Not only did he crawl through other people’s drains but he also did not care about the extreme touts. Thanks to this, Niall was able to earn an extra income of nearly 10 pennies a week.
A kind and resourceful man. A man who was kind to women and children.
He was diligent and smart, so he was unlikely to starve his wife and children for the rest of his life.
He was tall and had a nice face, so the parents of daughters who had reached the marriageable age used to look at Niall with very warm eyes. In fact, the richest tanner in town once called him and offered his daughter’s marriage proposal to him.
If he didn’t have such odd preferences, Niall Giles would have already been married with a couple of children. This was despite the fact that his origins were unclear and he even had debt.
The problem was Niall’s inclinations.
…he’s gay. 😛
I like that he is such a popular person. Translator lady/sir, I wonder who the people in your profile are 👉🏻👈🏻
Thanks for the chapter! 🌹
shion and nezushi from the anime, manga, and light novel called “no. 6” ;]]
Thanks!
I love it when it’s omegaverse tbh ehhehe
I am loving this story thank you for translation