City trip
He gestured to the soldiers who were standing there blankly.
The guys gave him a look, but when I frowned, they hurried over to Brick.
As expected, once you get the hang of it, things get easier afterwards.
“Brick, I’m going to run an errand.”
“Yes, please take your time.”
After speaking to Brick, I headed to Shoney, who was waiting.
As I approached, Shoune walked ahead at a slightly faster pace.
As I stood next to him, the guy was startled and fell back slightly.
“I heard this guy is a problem solver from the Lone Wolf Group.”
He pointed to my work among the mascots in his hand and asked slyly.
“Oh, yes. That’s right. He’s a pretty famous guy in our city, so I remember his face clearly. I don’t know why I ended up like this in a place like this, but…”
The guy puffed out his cheeks as if he was about to vomit, then swallowed them.
“What kind of people are lone wolves?”
When I asked casually, the guy looked up at me slightly, scratched the back of his ear with his finger, and opened his mouth.
“Well… they’re really vicious. Out of the three major organizations in Karzan, they cause a lot of accidents and incidents, so they’re a real headache for us.”
The guy seemed to have a loose mouth and answered more obediently than I expected.
No, rather, the guy continued talking as if he was waiting for someone to ask.
“Accidents happen every time… The guards are also in cahoots, and they don’t even arrest them properly. There are also rumors that Count Behart is behind them… In the end, only the civilians end up dying.”
The guy sighed deeply, as if he had a lot on his plate as a lone wolf.
‘Count Behard···.’
Most of the city’s central area belonged to the empire, while the rest was divided among the surrounding nobles and religious orders.
“Anyway, it’s fortunate that at least this guy was caught. His skills are said to be as good as a ghost’s, so his nickname is ‘Ghost Wolf’. How did you catch him? Did you catch him, sir?”
‘Wolf Ghost? What a cool nickname.’
Now I glanced at the guy with the maggots on his face and nodded.
In the case of a normal criminal, if you take the money, you don’t ask who caught it.
It was a measure to prevent the retaliation that would follow.
“As expected! There are a few knights in Karzan too···.”
I could have predicted it without even hearing the aftermath.
If the Empire or the Counts had tried to subdue them by mobilizing their knights, they would have been exterminated long ago.
There was a reason they were still alive.
“Oh, here it is. Thank you. I have a particularly weak stomach…”
The carriage the guy came in was inside the castle.
I put the supplies in a large, thick wooden box at the back of the carriage, and the guy brought a thick padlock and locked it on top.
The guy filled the lock and knocked on the wooden box, muttering under his breath, ‘This is a dud, you rascals.’
“Whew… Can I ask you one more favor?”
The guy was being humble, which was not befitting of his rather high position as a third-class manager.
“which?”
As I nodded and asked, the guy continued.
“Do you know the best restaurant in Cassidy Castle? When I go out of town, I like to look for good restaurants.”
As the guy asked while wiping the sweat off his forehead, I suddenly thought of Marsha, but tried to hold it back.
“The most famous bakery in District 3 is Hesson Bakery.”
Usually, in a castle, a large bakery was run by a professional baker under the lord’s command.
There, commoners would bring flour and have it baked into bread.
Hesson was a baker who later opened a small bakery of his own.
It’s expensive so I don’t go there often, but I’ve been there a few times.
“Ah! I see. Hesson of District 3… Hesson… Thank you. I must definitely go.”
The guy who had been mumbling as if he was memorizing something nodded and said.
“Would you like to come with me? I have some free time, by the way.”
“Oh, I appreciate it. But aren’t you working…?”
“Go. It’ll be here soon.”
I gently pushed the back of the guy who was tilting his head.
***
The door to Hesson Bakery was so small that I had to crouch to get in.
“Aaron?”
Hessen asked with wide eyes, his hands covered in flour.
He was a large man with a bushy beard, looking more like a bandit than a baker.
“Aaron? I’m not some animal.”
“No, it’s been almost a few months since I last saw you. How have you been? It looks like you’ve been doing well. Next to you? It’s the first time I’ve seen your face. You’re exactly half as big as me. I should eat my bread diligently.”
Hessen, whose voice was thick and his words were fast, pointed at Schnee and chuckled.
Although he was not a noble, I was worried that Schnee, who had a high position, might be offended, but Schnee nodded his head as if nothing had happened.
‘I guess he’s a citizen-turned-administrator.’
I could guess the guy’s background from the humble posture that was familiar to Schnee’s body.
“My name is Schnee.”
“You’re a very sociable guy. Don’t hang out with Aaron too much. You might catch on to his ignorance.”
Hessen giggled, and the white flour around his mouth sprayed into the air.
“You’ve gotten bigger. Stop picking up flour while you’re cooking. You’re better suited to be a guard than a baker now.”
“No matter how much you pick up and eat, will it only be you?”
“Okay, bring what you’re most confident in. He’s an important guest.”
“I never would have guessed that there would be a crazy guy who would say something like that in a bakery, but then again, it’s Aaron, so it makes sense.”
“What? You don’t have any confident bread?”
“I’m confident in my bread. No wonder my wife fell in love with my baking skills and married me. Aaron, my wife is beautiful at the Catholic Castle…”
“Okay, I got it. I’ve heard it a hundred times.”
Hessen chuckled again and told her to sit at the table in front of the bakery before going inside.
I was worried that the chair, which looked flimsy, might collapse, but it held up somehow.
“The atmosphere at Cassidy Castle is better than I thought.”
“huh?”
“Oh, I heard that a lot of things have happened at Cassidy Castle recently. That’s why I was so anxious when I came here… And then the people above said there was no security so I should go alone….”
‘You’ve been busy lately. Are you feeling down?’
Well, if you hang twelve human heads on the gate, even a passing horse would stop by and think there was a feast going on.
‘Anyway, you ignorant medieval bastards.’
Clicking my tongue, I dipped my finger into the thin sauce on the table and put it in my mouth. It was sweet and sour, perfect for dipping bread in, and it was a flavor that made me want to keep reaching for it.
“Karzan has been feeling a bit shaky lately, with the Lone Wolves constantly poking around. They used to be the ones who would walk the line ambiguously, but recently something has happened and they’ve been acting wildly… The guards who were just watching have also noticed and are starting to move around a bit….”
Even though I didn’t ask, the guy just kept talking.
He seemed like a talkative guy from the start.
I dipped my gravy in sauce and listened to what the guy was saying.
According to the guy, there were three organizations in Karzan City: ‘Lone Wolf’, ‘Cool Dagger’, and ‘Cute Rabbit’.
‘Cute bunny? What organization name is that···.’
It seemed like something that had been built by someone in their right mind, but Shoney explained that it felt more like a citizen’s guild of Karzan natives than an organization.
The Cool Daggers were a long-established gang of thugs in the city of Karzan, while the Lone Wolf was a fast-rising upstart gang that had rolled in a decade earlier.
‘Those gangsters have a complicated life.’
I scraped the sauce that had already run out with my fingers.
“Who is the leader of the lone wolves?”
“Ugh···.”
At my question, the guy craned his neck and looked around. He looked like he was worried that someone might hear him.
“That guy… is called Philippe. Rumor has it that he was the illegitimate son of a nobleman. He tried to poison the eldest son, but failed and was banished…”
The guy started talking at length again.
Philippe came to Karzan ten years ago with three men, and as was rumored by his noble birth, he was very sociable and made a name for himself. Once he gained momentum, he showed his true colors and expanded his size exponentially… that was the story.
“And things weren’t as bad between the organizations as they are now, Phil… because of that man’s possessiveness… Ah! Thank you!”
“Oh, you don’t have to get up. You just get up. Isn’t the front of the store crowded?”
Just then Hesson came in with a flat cake on top of a crusty, bowl-like crust.
Hesson playfully tapped my shoulder and I inhaled and puffed out my body.
Now we can completely block the front of the bakery.
Hessen chuckled and I shrugged.
“Okay, this is the cheesecake I’m most confident in.”
The flat cake looked far from fluffy, but it smelled very good.
“Wow – it smells really good.”
“Of course. It’s a cake I made. My wife, who was a famous beauty at Cassidy Castle, also got one cake…”
“Okay, now go and bake some bread.”
“I have to take a bite and see what happens. That’s my pleasure.”
With a burdensome look in his eyes, he roughly tore off the cake with his hand and put it in his mouth.
‘It’s delicious. It feels familiar though.’
Hesson, who had nodded but not turned back, smiled in satisfaction only after hearing her say out loud, “It’s delicious.”
Hesson walked away, holding the empty saucepan, muttering, “Huh? I filled it this morning. Did someone steal it?”
“I think this is enough to sell in the city.”
“I see.”
“Yes! When people think of cities, they think of the best things, but there are just more people, so it’s not that different.”
“So what about the possessiveness of that guy named Philippe?”
I asked him where he left off earlier.
“Ah! Possessiveness! So the cool dagger guys went to the bar owned by Philip… and stole the sword on display as a joke. It was just a cheap sword for display, so it could have been passed off as a joke… Philip said that they took something that was his and completely destroyed the city the next day. He said that he managed to get the sword. And ever since then- it’s been a cold war….”
‘Possessiveness… Do you think the mini fridge is yours?’
If not, there would be no need to send in a problem solver.
‘He’s a wolf.’
It was a vicious type I had seen several times.
They have a wolf-like nature that once they bite, they will never let go until the last breath.
It was probably the venom of a hungry beast that got him there, but most wolves ended up like this.
‘If you bite the wrong thing, you’ll die with all your teeth pulled out.’
It seemed like I had to go on a business trip.
It was unclear whether the guy would give up or continue to cling, but waiting for that to happen didn’t sit well with my temperament.
And originally, it was easier to attack than to defend.
“Excuse me… Are you not going to eat any more?”
While I was thinking for a moment, the guy who had already eaten exactly half of it asked with shining eyes.
When I gestured to him, he nodded and quickly ate the remaining cake.
‘I guess three days will do.’
If you add up the time spent going and coming, including the time spent messing around in between, it should be about the right amount.
In the first place, I couldn’t stay in a city with a lot of snow for a long time.
In about three days, I was able to make a stir-fried large intestine.
“Ah- This is really so delicious. I should pack some and give some to Nova when I go tomorrow. Nova is beautiful, but she’s so hard to deal with···”
“Nova?”
“Yes. I heard that Mr. Nova, who is in charge this time, will be going with us. That’s fortunate. It was so lonely when I came, but I’ll be able to go back without feeling bored···.”
If he spoke like that in front of Nova, I could guarantee he would get slapped.
‘By the way, I’m going with Nova···.’
If I did well, I could comfortably go on a business trip without having to nag the captain. I could also save some money for the business trip.
I felt eyes on me from the side, so I turned my head and saw the Inquisitor looking down at me.
I checked with him and saw a cake in the inquisitor’s hand.
‘I thought the cake tasted familiar somehow.’
It seemed like the cake you gave me last time was bought here.
At that moment, my eyes met the inquisitor’s.
The inquisitor, still with his characteristic expressionless face, nodded with the corners of his lips slightly raised.
‘···Why is it like that?’
The heretic inquisitor came up to me without any reason and placed his hand on my forehead.
After giving a brief blessing, the heretic inquisitor nodded again and turned away.
“I couldn’t go to synagogue last week because I was so busy…”
Shoney, who had been shivering, let out a sigh of relief and muttered.
Wherever I went, there were a lot of weird guys.
***
“You stupid market guy. I’m so busy, who should I call?”
Nova rummaged through the pile of papers and let out a torrent of curses without hesitation.
The eldest son of the Fener family. Cleaning up the surrounding area. The abbot who suddenly appeared. In the midst of the rapidly piling up workload, the mayor of the city of Karzan added a big spoonful.
But I couldn’t refuse it either.
Knowing him, Nova hurried to get things done, even while cursing.
‘We have to select people, but none of them know how to write.’
Nova clicked her tongue and sorted the papers.
Important things and less important things. Things I will never see again and things I will see someday. Then, feeling annoyed again, I crumpled up the paper labeled ‘Things I will never see again.’
‘Okay, let’s think about taking a short break.’
Just like my mother often said, I told myself to think positively, but then I quickly started cursing.
at that time,
Knock knock- knock.
‘Why does that idiot keep knocking on the door so strangely?’
That distinctive knock was recognizable without having to ask who it was.
Aaron, the scoundrel of the Cassadic Castle.
Nova quickly recalled recent events.
Among them, those that can be thought of as Aaron’s doings···.
‘There are too many?’
However, if you think of the opponent as Aaron, they are all trivial things.
And at Cassidy Castle, Aaron’s ‘petty antics’ were mostly tolerated.
This was because of Aaron’s very unusual position at Cassidy Castle.
Aaron was outwardly just a guardsman, but the people of Castle Cassidyk relied on him more than any knight or lord.
To begin with, the noble lords and knights did not care about the well-being of the commoners, but Aaron always grumbled and stood at the forefront whenever there was a problem, so he felt like a kind of wall.
It was Aaron who drove out those rascals who had taken root in Cassadic Castle, and it was Aaron who stood in front whenever Cassadic Castle was in danger.
Thanks to this, Cassidy Castle had unusually few accidents compared to other places.
Compared to Aaron’s accomplishments, his usual behavior was so ‘petty’ that he was called ‘a petty scoundrel.’
However, it was a strange situation where people could not hold him up as a hero because of his clear antics and unique personality.
Aaron was offered the position of captain of the guard, and even a higher position, but he declined with an unknown phrase, saying, “A captain of the guard is just the right amount of strength.”
I don’t know why Aaron, with his abilities, would bother to lead security in a place like this, but Nova instinctively knew that if she tried to catch him, she would miss.
He didn’t bother to dig into it and treated it the same way he did with other people.
Sometimes he would nag him, sometimes he would take special care of him so that he wouldn’t notice, and he just wanted the scoundrel Aaron to stay at Castle Cassidy for a long time.
Nova always vowed to herself, ‘I have to treat Aaron well,’ but whenever she saw that shameless face, her tone of voice naturally became sharp.
“Come in.”
Nova cleared her throat and said.
“Oh, hello. Orange.”
The door opened carefully, and something large came in through the gap in the door and greeted me.
‘It’s really colorful. It’s colorful.’
Nova bit her tongue to keep herself from bursting out in laughter at the shameless orange rhetoric and the strange outfit that didn’t suit her.
Somehow I felt like I would lose if I laughed in front of that guy.
“···what?”
“Oh, I heard you export oranges.”
Nova racked his brain trying to figure out the meaning behind the orange song.
‘Orange is me, but export?’
Oh, so you’re talking about going to Karzan.
“Karzan?”
“That’s right. Orange is really quick-witted.”
“So what? You want me to buy you a souvenir?”
“There are plenty of souvenirs here, so why bother?”
‘Was there a souvenir at Cassidy Castle?’
I thought about it carefully, but nothing came to mind.
“I’ll go too.”
The words coming out of Aaron’s mouth were unexpected, so Nova narrowed her eyes and observed the boy.
I didn’t bother asking Aaron why.
Since hearing anything would only make her angry, Nova simply calculated her options.
‘We can deploy the outer wall guards with the soldiers of the Fener family, but it’s too risky to deploy them to the inner wall… Then, if we take Aaron as an escort instead of the inner wall guards, we can deploy the outer wall guards with soldiers.’
It was more efficient to go with Aaron.
There’s more to it than meets the eye.
‘It’s also more comfortable than those who struggle to hold onto weight.’
It was a reasonable choice in many ways.
“Okay. We’re leaving tomorrow morning. I’ll tell the captain of the outer guard.”
“Orange is a quick decision maker.”
Nova lowered her head and pretended to do her work to hide the corners of her lips that went up whenever she opened her mouth to mention oranges.
“A genius orange who can also write.”
“···get out.”
After Aaron left, Nova grinned and then got startled and slapped herself in the face.
***
I woke up and looked for the sword.
And as usual, I went out to the backyard and moved around.
As my muscles scream, I feel stronger than yesterday.
I told the weasel that I would be away for a few days and to take good care of the kids, then headed to the meeting place.
The carriage seemed to have already been prepared to go by Carzan.
“Oh, you’re here!!”
Shona, who was standing in front of the carriage, fidgeting and restless, found me and greeted me.
I waved at him and got into the carriage.
Inside the carriage, Nova was busily moving a quill pen, with a pile of papers next to her.
Eek-.
Shoney let out a small breath after seeing Nova like that.
‘I guess you heard something while you were messing around.’
The situation is roughly outlined.
“You’re late.”
“Make sure to eat breakfast.”
“Okay, let’s leave quickly.”
“Yes… Yes! Let’s go! Let’s go!”
Shona answered Nova’s soft words in a loud voice, then shouted to the coachman like a sailor.
The carriage moved slowly.
Shawn, sitting next to me, whined like a puppy that needed to poop.
‘Did you really get slapped?’
The sound of wheels rolling mixed with the ticking of Nova’s quill pen.
I looked at Nova in front of me for a moment, then quickly noticed that she was dressed differently than usual.
Normally she would wear baggy pants and a shirt tucked in like a man, but today she was wearing a dress that clung to her body.
The packaging changed, so the oranges looked as luxurious as Hallabong.
“An orange army for export that gives you strength to go to the city.”
As I muttered, Shoney next to me made a strange sound, “Eek-“.
“I’m busy, so I’ll play with him.”
Nova still didn’t take her eyes off the papers.
However, as if my words had hit the nail on the head, Nova’s pale cheeks turned pink, as expected of an indoor NPC who couldn’t see the sun.
“The orange has turned into a peach.”
Nova, her eyes narrowed, pointed at me with the tip of her quill pen.
I looked away, feeling like I would get stabbed if I opened my mouth any further.
“Can you tell me a story about the city of Karzan?”
“Yes? Is that okay…?”
Then, Shona looked at Nova and mumbled.
‘I guess you were scolded to keep your mouth shut.’
The situation was described in detail.
As I nodded, Shoney took a deep breath and slowly began to talk about this and that.
“The restaurant I often go to is ‘Choked and Dead Pig.’ The pork foreleg meat there is really excellent, so I always recommend it to guests who come from other places.”
“Really? That looks delicious.”
“Let’s go together! It’s really awesome!”
“Okay. Do you want to go with Peach?”
Then, Shoney made a strange sound again, saying, ‘Eek-.’
Nova nodded without taking her eyes off the papers.
Shawn continued to talk, and his characteristically thin voice and uninterrupted speech were enough for ASMR. Thanks to him, I was able to sleep very deeply.
When I woke up a long time later, I had arrived at the post station.
When Nova was away for a moment, I asked Shoney casually what happened in the morning.
“Ah… That… Mr. Aaron called me Orange, so I called him Orange because I wanted to be friends with him… and I got scolded for a long time.”
Shona answered, looking around nervously as if he was talking about the gang leader named Philippe. It seemed to Shona that Nova was as scary as the gang leader Philippe.
“Oh, that’s because you pronounce it wrong. Listen carefully, you should call me ‘O-Renji.’”
“Really…? Oh, really? Oh, really? Is that what you mean?”
“okay.”
Just then, Nova came back and I held back a laugh and gave him a gentle push on the back.
The guy approached Nova cautiously and said loudly, ‘O-Renji.’
Nova said something to him, and Shona came back with her shoulders slumped and glared at me.
“Did I do it right? It’s not o-range, it’s o-range.”
“···I’m not an idiot. I’m a 3rd class manager! 3rd class!”
I couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of the guy exploding with anger.
***
‘I’m being fooled again!!’
Shawn trembled in embarrassment.
Despite his fierce appearance, Aaron’s words strangely put people at ease, and I found myself calling him ‘Orange’ again.
Now Nova just ignored him without even looking at him.
Shawn, who realized for the first time that indifference was more frightening than insults, covered his reddened cheeks with his hands.
‘···Am I really an idiot?’
This was the fifth time I had been fooled by Aaron.
Maybe it was because of his size or his unique low voice, but Aaron’s words sounded strangely persuasive every time he heard them, and Shawn fell for it every time.
It was fortunate that we finally arrived in the city.
As the sun slanted to the left, we arrived at Karzan and the carriage passed the long line that stretched out in front of the town as if it were a given.
The sight of the large Aaron clinging to the carriage window and waving at the people watching from outside was so funny that Shoney forgot about his pout and laughed.
As we entered the city, someone came out from the city council.
“This isn’t Catholic, so don’t cause any trouble.”
Nova glared at Aaron and snapped.
For no reason, Shona, who was standing next to him, was startled.
“I’m not a kid… what kind of accident did I have?”
“The walls here are thicker than in Cassadic, so you have to go through the door. If you break them down like you did in Cassadic, you’ll get sick.”
“Yes. I learned how to open doors from Orange. Oh, and can I open the city doors the same way?”
“Pfft… Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow for lunch at the restaurant he mentioned. I think he’ll be done with work by then.”
Nova smiled faintly, then quickly changed her expression and glared at him before disappearing along with the city council.
‘I can’t believe Mr. Nova can make such an expression…’
Shona had met Nova a few times for work-related reasons, but this was the first time she had seen him smile.
I thought I had facial paralysis because I was always frowning…
‘She was already beautiful, but she looks incredibly beautiful when she smiles.’
Shawn replayed the conversation to see which part of Aaron’s words made her laugh. It definitely wasn’t the orange!
Then I realized something important.
‘Didn’t Aaron not respond when I told him not to cause an accident?’
Ah, it must be my imagination – Shoune shook his head slightly, ending the thought.
“Showba friend.”
At that moment, Aaron raised his head at the sound of her calling.
There was a face right in front of me that startled me every time I saw it because of the scar.
“Yes? I’m Shawne···.”
“Okay, anyway. Is there anything you want to do right now?”
At Aaron’s question, Shawn hesitated for a moment and then shook his head. The time was ambiguous, so there was no need to go back to the viewing room.
“Then, could you please show me around the city? Aren’t you a local?”
Somehow, Aaron’s raised lip corners seemed strangely uneasy, but Shoune nodded.
‘Did I mention that I’m a native?’
Shoney tilted his head at the sudden question, then followed Aaron, who was walking ahead.
“Oh, you. Are you good at running?”
Shawn nodded at Aaron’s unexpected question.
“Good. It’s going to be a very long night.”
Aaron’s thick hand patted her back, and the force made Shawn’s body sway.
Aaron, who stood tall and proud among the crowd of people passing by in the densely packed buildings, looked back at Shawn and smiled wickedly.
The smile was somewhat threatening, but something hidden beneath it made Shawn feel like a child who had been given a toy.
Shoney, who was blankly staring at him, wondered whether he should tell him that he was sleeping a lot at night.
