The best man in the East
When he returned to where Kel had been, the goatee man was trembling, holding a skewer in his hand and glaring at Kel.
“Isn’t it too late, Captain? Ugh.”
Kel, who had found me, burped long. There was a mountain of fruit peels under him. Goatbeard was glaring at Kel, holding a skewer, and muttering something, as if cursing.
“What do you mean late?”
“Captain, look at this. Rosa really likes oranges, so I brought some for her.”
The guy seemed to have no conscience at all, as he lifted up the paper bag and laughed blithely. Well, what conscience can there be in this place where shitting on the street is a culture?
“Now that we’re on the subject, can’t I just give this to Rosa?”
“no.”
“Cho… Didn’t the captain go and come back?!”
“If you keep nagging, you should encourage it.”
Shocked by my firm words, Kel opened his mouth wide, then closed it again.
“hey.”
“Bitch… Yes?”
If you’re going to swear, do it somewhere less likely to be heard. Goatbeard, who had been glaring at Kel, jumped in surprise.
“Fill it with the cheapest fruit.”
“Even a devil like this would cry···.”
I thought he would swear loudly if I left him alone any longer, so I took out a 50-cooper coin from the pocket I had received from Scar and handed it to him. The goatee, who had been mumbling while holding the skewer, smiled brightly and smiled brightly.
‘···Anyway, merchants.’
The excited goatee filled a large paper bag with various fruits. I could see that he was only picking out the ones that were in bad condition, but I didn’t point them out because I wasn’t going to eat them. They were the kind of guys who would eat anything even if you threw rocks at them.
“More importantly, I heard from Rosa that several of the guards in the castle lost their heads.”
“Guardian of the inner castle?”
“Oh, Rosa, there’s a guard among our guests. I heard this story from him. Isn’t this your chance?”
“Doesn’t it bother you that your woman is sleeping around with another man?”
“Huh? It’s good for a prostitute to have a lot of customers. Why is that? I heard that on days when Rosa has three or more customers, she makes a pie with meat in it.”
Kel’s expression, full of doubt as if he really didn’t know, actually made me speechless. Is that so? If your girlfriend is a prostitute, is it a good thing for her to receive a lot of customers?
I thought about it for a while, but I just couldn’t understand it. Usually, it’s better for my mental health to just let it go.
“okay.”
“If I do this well, won’t I be able to move up to the internal security guard?”
Kel’s eyes sparkled, but I was skeptical. Unlike the outer castle guards, who were simply big and strong enough to support, the inner castle guards had strict requirements to protect the inner castle where the lord resided.
Of course, the treatment was good. I heard that the salary was several times that of the outer guards, and that they were even provided with a separate house to stay in District 3. And I heard that when you join the inner guards, you get a lot of letters from the snobbish girls of Districts 1 to 3.
‘Even so, it’s only a difference between those who wash once a week and those who wash once every three days.’
Still, areas 1 to 3 seemed a little better because there were almost no people defecating on the streets. But I didn’t feel like going up to the inner city guard post.
“Here it is! I am always grateful for the hard work of the guards!!”
He smiled as he held out a paper bag full of goatee. Judging by the way the paper bag was bulging as if it would burst, it was clear that he had picked out all the ones in bad condition.
“If it doesn’t taste good···.”
“Hey, Captain, you wouldn’t do that unless you’re crazy. Captain, you’re famous for being an ignorant person who’d give up if something was even a little bit wrong.”
“Huh···?!”
When Kel chimed in on the joke he made as a joke, Goatbeard’s face turned pale in an instant. It was so funny that I couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
Then Goatbeard quickly took the paper bag, poured out its contents on the floor, and began to fill it up again in a hurry.
There was no need to do that, but I didn’t try to stop him.
***
Although it took a lot of effort to clean up the messy streets, the patrol ended without any major incidents.
The paper bag full of fruit that was brought to the headquarters was empty when they came out after submitting the report. They really were good eaters.
After finishing work, I headed straight to my lodgings. The place I was staying was an inn in a corner of District 5.
“Ah! Aaron! You’re here! You need to take a bath first?!”
As I entered the inn, the maid Hannah, who was sweeping the floor with a broom, smiled and asked. It was an ambiguous time between lunch and dinner, so there weren’t many people eating.
As I nodded, Hannah headed inside. It took quite a while to heat the water, so I headed to my room.
It was a simple room with only one bed, but I felt at ease as soon as I entered. I took off my leather armor, which had been soaked through the rain for the past few days and gave off a musty smell, and went downstairs in light casual clothes. Of course, I took black.
“Ah! You’re just in time. I already heated up the water.”
Hannah, with sweat dripping down her forehead, rolled up her sleeves and said.
“thanks.”
“But don’t you need this? This?”
Suddenly, Ha-na grabbed her right hand and shook it up and down, smiling brightly. It was a vulgar gesture that did not match her innocent smile at all. Where did she learn that? The moment I saw it, my head hurt.
“No need. I have hands too.”
“Hey… Aaron! I told you I’m good at it, right? It’ll feel completely different when you do it yourself?! It’ll only cost you 1 silver! I’m giving it to you at a special price because it’s Aaron.”
At first, she had a hard time dealing with me, and I wondered when she would become so sly when she would stutter every time she spoke to me. I shook my head and passed Hannah, heading to the bathroom.
“70 Cooper! I really can’t do this anymore! I’m telling you, I won’t even get my principal back!”
I closed the bathroom door. Then I heard laughter outside.
A large, crude wooden tub was filled with steaming hot water. I took off my sweaty clothes, placed them next to me, and slowly immersed myself in it.
My fatigue seemed to melt away in the warm water. I dipped my head in and then took it out.
‘You didn’t get caught, you’re really talented.’
I let him go, but I thought he would be caught before long. That would be the case. Even if I had applied a potion, the guy was in the worst condition with one of his arms cut off. How could a guy like that, not even a lizard, shake off a knight on horseback?
‘Did you have an assistant?’
I shook my head at the naturally following inference. What kind of helper is there in stealing women’s panties…?
Still, I thought it was fortunate that the guy didn’t get caught.
My thoughts turned to the stranger Scar had mentioned. I don’t know if he wants to be the owner of the back alley, or if he wants to be a vigilante, or why he keeps worrying about the safety of the castle.
‘It doesn’t matter, though.’
He roughly rubbed his body with the cloth next to him. His body, full of scars, was not good-looking even to me, but in this era, scars were a badge of honor and a qualification for a man. With this much, he was clearly the best man in this castle… no, in the eastern part of the empire.
After taking a quick bath and drying my body, I changed into the everyday clothes I had brought. I threw the clothes I had brought in on the side. Hannah would do the laundry and bring it to me.
“Aaron! Is that bread with lots of meat in it?”
As soon as I went outside and sat down in an empty seat in the hall, Hannah put down the plate with the bread on it.
“Oh, thank you.”
“Why don’t you eat stew? Other people ask for stew the most.”
Hannah sat across from me and asked.
The stew Hannah spoke of was an endless stew in a large pot in the center. Those who visited the inn would put in the ingredients they brought, but these uncivilized people would just boil it over and over again without washing it or making anything new.
At first, I ate the stew without knowing anything about it, but then I saw some hairy guy grinning and taking moldy jerky out of his pocket and dumping it into the stew, and I threw up everything I had eaten that day.
Although it was the cheapest food in the inn and was sought after by many, I would never eat stew if I had to starve.
“No work.”
“Aaron is really amazing.”
I took a big bite of the bread that was dripping with oil and filled with meat. The bread was so hard that it would not tear easily if I just ate it, but it was soaked in oil, so it was somewhat chewable. The meaty smell added to it, creating a fantastic taste. I wanted to throw up, but this kind of food was worth it.
Knock knock.
Hannah drummed her fingers on the table with an uncharacteristically serious expression.
“But Hans… did that really happen?”
When she met my eyes, Hannah asked with a loud voice. It was a dangerous curiosity.
“Don’t pay attention.”
“but···.”
“Use it.”
When I wrote the impression, Hannah turned her head with a pout. It seemed that since there was nothing to enjoy, she needed something to chew on, but this matter related to Yeongju was not a very good topic.
“Oh! Did you hear that Baron Fener is visiting?”
Hannah, who had been silent for a moment, suddenly opened her mouth.
‘Baron Fener? Is it because of this incident?’
The place where the young lady, the protagonist of this incident, had a marriage proposal was the house of Baron Fener. Although he was of the same rank as Baron Fulputs, the lord of the Castle of Cassadick, it was difficult to see them as being in the same location because the castle was 1.5 times larger.
The castle ruled by Baron Fener, Bolt Castle, was the closest castle to Castle Cassadick, but it was quite far away, taking two days to walk. Of course, noblemen would travel by carriage, but Baron Fener himself visited, so it seemed like the underwear theft incident was bigger than expected.
‘Well, I guess something bad could happen to someone like me.’
However, it was strange that Hannah, the waitress, knew about this fact before I, the captain of the outer wall guards.
“Mr. Jang, who manages the horses, told me that he was going to Bolt Castle today.”
Sensing my gaze, Hannah stuck out her tongue.
“You can be the one in charge of the external security.”
“Oh my, really? Well, my arms are really strong… They’re really good….”
I quickly turned my gaze to Hannah, who was laughing slyly at my joke and waving her arms up and down.
***
[No name? Then let’s call him Aaron.]
[Run away without looking back.]
[It is an order.]
As soon as I woke up, I checked the sword by my bedside. Only after I held the sword did I feel at ease.
I drank the foul-smelling water from the wooden cup and got up from my seat. Looking out the window, I saw that it was dark dawn, before the sun had even risen.
I did some light stretching to loosen up my body and then got up from my seat.
I headed to the vacant lot behind the inn. The first owner of the inn had rented a large piece of land to build a stable, but lost it in a gamble and ran out of money for construction, so it became an vacant lot. This was also the reason why I chose this shabby inn as my lodging.
I stood in the center of the open space and stretched my body. It was still before sunrise, but there was a lot of noise from around me. It was a simple place where you had to wake up early in the morning and go to sleep when the sun went down.
I stretched my body slowly and thoroughly.
After stretching, I went for a light jog in the open space.
Then he gradually increased his speed and repeated it until he was out of breath.
‘At first, I felt like I would die if I ran even just a little bit.’
Now I didn’t even count how many laps I did. I just stopped when I felt like I couldn’t go any further.
I stopped running and took a breath.
As my breathing calmed down, I drew my sword and held it with both hands. The grip of the handle felt satisfying.
It was six years ago that I suddenly became this body. It was a really long time. It was enough time for a college student who knew nothing to become a murderer, a cowardly fugitive, and a border guard.
The six years filled with all sorts of stains made the memories from before fade, so I had to work hard not to forget them.
Slash the sword horizontally.
There was no such thing as herbivory or swordsmanship.
Just a simple cross cut.
By continuing to cut out and trim the unnecessary parts, it was now a simple horizontal cut that served its original purpose only.
When you fight someone with a sword, the one who swings it faster wins.
The winner was decided in an instant, based on how much he had swung his sword, how much he had trained his body, and whether his hands were covered in blood to the point where he would not hesitate when putting the sword in.
Another cross cut.
The air tore and screamed.
[If you swing it like that, your wrist will break.]
A sudden thought occurred to me, so I gripped my sword tighter and adjusted my posture.
Keep repeating horizontal slashes like that, then next time do vertical slashes.
After the last thrust, my whole body was hot, steam was rising from my body, and my muscles were screaming. My thoughts were consumed by the pain, and I could no longer make a sound.
Clap clap clap.
When I turned my head to the sound of applause, a man wearing dark black armor was standing there.
“It was a really neat swordsmanship.”
A man covered in irons smiled brightly and applauded.
The man had the Fener family crest sewn onto his chest.
