189th
New Crusader
189 ? New Crusader #3
“This person is a being who lives in a world different from mortals like us…!! Hurry up and kneel down and confess your wrongdoings!! And then, become a follower of Hassan-nim like me!!”
The narrow cabin was instantly filled with silence at the sound of Paranoy’s majestic shout.
This moment where not a single breath can be felt.
I felt dizzy.
Paranoia’s condition was getting worse.
“Blood, you’re not mortal…?”
However, I felt as if those words had sunk in, as I felt fearful blue eyes looking up at me.
I was embarrassed and didn’t know what to do, so I just frowned and put on a serious expression. Antiope muttered as I pretended to be silent and thought of something else.
“I’ve heard. The successor of Pluto, the king of the dead, will appear in this world. Could it be, could it be, Samaritan, that you are the son of that, that Pluto…?”
Instead of me, with my stern expression, it was Paranoy who answered, raising both hands high and opening his mouth wide as if he was very excited.
“I cannot reveal it because I swore an oath on the River Styx as a secret between Hassan and his right-hand man, the chief disciple…!! But it is roughly similar…!!”
Oh, damn it. The secret is leaking out.
While I was feeling slightly flustered, Antiope lowered her head to the floor. Then, as if all the strength in her body had been lost, she spoke in a calm voice.
“Was the prophecy true…? Pluto’s son, already in this world…? The appearance of a sloppy and clumsy savage warrior, was all, a deceptive tactic…? Am I, am I falling into a trap…?”
Antiope muttering something to herself.
But the sight of a sloppy and clumsy savage warrior made me dizzy, as if I had been hit in the face unexpectedly.
“The Knights of the Temple of Jupiter, the 8th rank capable warrior, this body, this body, is the first to fall into the trap. Why, why…?”
Antiope, who had been muttering like that, finally raised her head and looked at me.
It felt like he was asking me why I had trapped him. I guess that’s what happened. But Sval, it was a trap and I never intended for it to be like that.
So, while I was wondering what other lies I should tell, Paranoy said:
“Of course, I was after your body as a warrior…!!”
“My, my body!?”
“You will have the glorious role of giving birth to many children for Hassan and expanding Pluto’s power…!!”
At those words, Antiope was so startled that she backed away into a corner and ran away. Then she hugged her body with her hands and trembled, screaming.
“Who would give birth to a child like that of a socialite?”
“But Hassan-nim’s club always stands firm…!! You, you will eventually succumb to Hassan-nim’s club…!!”
“I guess that’s why you touched my breasts lewdly when you were removing the tattoos on my body, and why you targeted me, one of the few women in the Knights Templar!!”
I felt like I’d seen this scene somewhere before.
I think Hippolyta was exactly like this.
Although the only thing that Hippolyte and Antiope have in common is their bronze skin, they are indeed sisters.
At this point, I couldn’t help but seriously wonder if there was something wrong with Mars’ bloodline.
“I, I think about it now, from the first time you massaged my body, you must have been groping me lewdly. This, this guy, from the beginning, from the beginning, you were after my body… . Back then, back then, you must have touched the tattoo on my back. Did you know this would happen…?”
If this guy really resembles Hippolyta.
There’s no use in making excuses like “no.”
So I thought it would be more appropriate to take advantage of the situation, so I decided to just say whatever came to mind.
“Yes. It’s all according to my plan. You are under the palm of my hand.”
“But your plan would be meaningless without me, who has the grace of the “War Song”. Are you saying that you expected the Knights of the Temple to dispatch me, a native of this city…?”
“Yes. You Knights Templar are all in the palm of my hand. No, this kingdom and the world are actually controlled by me from behind.”
“Ugh, that, that can’t be, that can’t be…!!”
It was just a random remark, but Antiope seemed to be so shocked that she believed it.
When I first met this guy, I was really scared because he was the elite of the kingdom and all.
Looking at it this way, it seems like she’s just a young lady of similar age to me.
Actually, that would be exactly right.
A woman who somehow ended up with stronger strength than others. A woman who has a trained appearance, but is soft and girlish on the inside.
And since ancient times, the ones who have been most easily affected by voice phishing and pseudo-religious groups have been young women with such naive qualities.
If you can control their minds like this and sway them by deception, it is possible to fool even a black market charlatan like me.
As I was thinking that this is how pseudo-religions come into being, Paranoy, who was listening to my conversation next to me, spoke to me in a sly manner, like a very evil villain.
“Hassan, I have a good idea from the first believer, Paranoy…”
“wrinkle?”
I was getting nervous for no reason, wondering what useless things I might say. But the suggestion I heard from the guy’s mouth was quite unexpected.
“How about making this guy your paladin?
“A Templar?”
The word “templar” brought to mind the greatsword-wielding Scizo and the thorn-clad templar Psyche I had met in the temple of Venus.
Did they say that they were like slaves who were endlessly forced to do tasks by God?
“Should we make him a holy warrior?”
“This foolish boy has committed a great sin against Hassan, Luna, and me, the chief believer, Paranoy…!! I will make him a holy warrior and make him pay for his sins endlessly…!!
Indeed, it was said that the Templars were those who had sinned against God. So this is how the Templars were born.
But I couldn’t make this guy a paladin because I’m not a real god. So I was wondering what to do.
It made me think that you could tattoo yourself with the weird ink that comes out of that guy’s fingertips.
“Okay. That’s a good idea, Paranoy. There’ll be a big reward later.”
“Hehe, I appreciate your compliments, but… Then, could you please increase my share in the future from 5 to 6…?”
“Yes, the area you will transfer from me is 6 percent.”
“Hehehe! Thank you…!!”
“Then shall we give it a try?”
I slowly approached Antiope, who was cornered. Then, moving my hand even more slowly and slowly, I grabbed the girl’s hand.
“What, what are you doing! I don’t want to give birth to the blood of the god of the underworld, the god of the underworld…! Hey, sister, sister-!”
Antiope struggles as if I am about to rape her. In fact, what I am about to do is not much different from that.
But if you keep making such a loud noise, Luna upstairs will wake up and ask, “What are you doing Hassan?” and growl, “Why are you touching a woman’s body!” and it might end with, “Hassan, you’re going too far!”
“Paranoy, the lips of a sinner are too loose.”
“I will stop it…!!”
So when he instructed Paranoy to keep quiet, he covered Antiope’s mouth with both of his palms.
“Eww, eww!”
Antiope struggled as if trying to escape from the restraints, but perhaps because the tattoos on the guy’s body had been erased, the guy’s level was only 27.
Of course, level 27 is a pretty high level, but it still seemed difficult to deal with me and Paranoy, who were both over level 20.
Eventually, I grabbed the guy’s finger, which had become quite quiet. Then I ran a hand over his body.
Then, strangely enough, something like ink came out of the tip of my fingernails and black trails appeared all over my body.
“Eww!”
“Do you see what I’m trying to do? From now on, whenever you see the letters drawn on your body, you’ll be reminded of your wrongdoing. And you won’t be able to take your clothes off in front of anyone.”
Swish, swish.
I just randomly drew whatever pictures came to mind on the guy’s body.
“Eww!”
When I carved letters on my stomach, back, arms, and legs, it was quite funny and ugly. But, since this is literally a punishment, it is just right to be this ugly.
But as I was drawing the letters, I got really excited and drew cat whiskers on the face. It suits him quite well because he looks like a black cat.
While I’m at it, I decided to draw a swirling circle around the belly button as a bonus.
Round and round.
“Ugh!”
In the end, Antiope ended up in a ninja-like form with the nine-tailed fox sealed in her stomach.
I thought it would be nice to draw something else, so I drew Pikachu and Charmander.
“Sval, you’re not drawing very well. Stay still and don’t move. Oh, my. I told you to stay still.”
It turned out to be a failure because it wasn’t drawn as well as I thought. In the end, all that was left on Antiope’s arm was a Pikachu and a Charmander that were swollen from falling down the stairs.
“Phehehe, you really look so stupid…!!”
Paranoy laughs at that. Paranoy teases me for being an idiot. If it were me, I would have been so shocked that I couldn’t even eat a meal.
But it really did look stupid. It wasn’t even Charizard, it was Charmander.
“Just in case, I’ll tell you this: don’t even think about covering the drawings with ink. From now on, you have to come to me every week to inspect them to make sure they’re all okay.”
Anyway, with this, Antiope became Hassan’s version of a holy warrior.
I was very satisfied and content because I thought it was quite an amazing idea.
“Antiope, you must live with these tasks until you are forgiven by me. I am the only one who can erase them. You know this well.”
“I, I am the holy warrior of the underworld….”
“Don’t tell anyone. Not your trusted sister, not your fellow knights, not even while praying to the gods. This is a punishment you will have to live with for the rest of your life.”
Antiope looked down at her own body and was speechless. Soon, tears began to fall from her eyes, as if she was truly resentful.
“Ugh, ugh, y, how can I go out like this… My, my body is dirty. I can’t even get married like this… .”
For a moment, I was embarrassed because I thought I had done something very bad. Paranoy, who was next to me, scolded Antiope in an even harsher voice.
“This guy-!! Know how to be grateful for Hassan-nim’s grace-!! Be grateful for Hassan-nim’s grace that allowed you to live like this when you were originally supposed to be executed as a sacrifice-!!!”
“Huhhh… .”
In fact, Paranoy’s words had some truth to them. If things were as they were, killing Antiope would have been the most effective way to get rid of her.
But I didn’t do that.
She was also the younger sister of an acquaintance, and was a natural monument that could cause legal problems if killed without due care, so it was necessary to set up such a complex device.
So I opened my mouth in a serious, non-joking tone, with a warning message.
“Antiope the Picture Keeper.”
Then Antiope is startled.
“… How about me, my second name…? It’s a name that I haven’t even told my sister, and only Jupiter knows?”
Antiope, who had been sobbing and shedding tears until just now, looks greatly surprised as if she has just realized something.
From what I heard, her second name, Grimkeeper, was something she kept quite a secret.
“Antiope the Grim Keeper-.”
I came into this world and continued speaking in a more serious and weighty voice than ever before.
“Feel My mercy. It would be easy to kill you, but I have decided to let you live.”
“… .”
This was my true heart, not a lie or an excuse.
“There is no next time.”
And at the same time, it was a warning and a pledge to my fragile heart.
There is no next.
This will be the last time someone else comes out of the yard and threatens Luna’s safety.
“… .”
Fortunately, my sincerity must have been conveyed well, because Antiope could not respond or answer any more to what I said, and just stood there as if frozen.
Soon she knelt before me and put her forehead on the floor.
“… Thank you… for your mercy. But… But what should I tell my colleagues? They’ll be suspicious if I suddenly change their behavior… .”
Indeed, Antiope’s words made sense. There were only ten Temple Knights in the kingdom, and they were truly high-level troops. If their behavior suddenly changed, they would be suspected.
But, as someone who didn’t know much about the internal workings of the Temple Knights, no plausible method came to mind.
“You’ll have to figure that out yourself. You didn’t get there just for show, right?”
“That, that kind of….”
“Remember, your life and death are in my hands. I am now your master-.”
For a moment, I stopped talking and thought back to what happened with Elfriede. Master and slave. No, there must be other words that would be more appropriate now.
“I am now your god.”
“… .”
Antiope laid her head on the floor and said nothing. But her silence was enough. In fact, she was glad that she had nothing to say.
For some reason, calling myself a god made me feel extremely embarrassed and humbled, but also quite excited, as if I could do anything.
Yeah, whatever.
Is this omnipotence?
When you are so contented on your own, Paranoy asks.
“But, Hassan. What kind of god are you in charge of, Hassan?”
Then, Antiope, who had been resting her head on the floor until just now, carefully raises her head as if she is very curious about something.
What is this god in charge of?
I was about to say something like, “He’s the god of illness, so he can cure illnesses with acupressure,” but I kept my mouth shut.
[Work Review]
The God of Bottles… He fits Hassan so well… It can’t be anything other than a position… But no…
