This is the whole sentence: ほい、今日の依頼料だ 悪いとは思っているが この村じゃ、これがせいいっぱいなんだ
From the context, I'm guessing that "悪いとは思っている" is kind of like "I'm sorry" or "is not much" and the whole thing means: This is your payment for today. Is not much but this is the best we have to offer around here
I am getting this right?Anyone has anything to say about it or some link about the expression "悪いとは思っている" ? :)
Your interpretation is correct! 悪い is often used as an informal apology, especially by men - it's the same idea as "my bad!" in English. In this case, though, while the speaker feels guilty about it, they're justifying the low payment. は adds emphasis here, functioning a bit like English "do"; compare
