Aaron has a cold
Knock knock.
I woke up to a knock and headed for the door.
At the door stood the abbot of the monastery.
It was really amazing that he came even though his face was full of fatigue.
“···Big!”
Then the sneeze came again.
The abbot looked at me for a moment, then grabbed my shoulders and closed his eyes.
As the bright light entered my body, my fatigue went away, but I still sneeze.
“It’s not getting better. Read around chapter 3 of the Bible. When I have a cold or am not feeling well, I read chapter 3. If that doesn’t work, I read up to chapter 4, and then….”
I went downstairs, lightly ignoring the dog barking that had become a daily occurrence. The abbot followed me as usual and continued to dog bark.
“Are you awake?”
In the hall, the three men were moving busily.
It was before the sun had even risen yet, and seeing them working made them really hard workers.
I waved my hand roughly and headed toward the backyard.
My body was heavy, but I couldn’t rest.
Relax.
Swinging and stabbing with a sword.
I fell to the floor with a muscle-rending pain. Today, I fell forward and buried my face in the mud filled with rainwater.
“···I don’t know what made you so desperate, but sometimes going slow is the best way to go.”
The abbot spoke at length, rather than in prayer, as was his custom.
“The more a man who eats rice with a knife swings his knife, the longer he will last.”
I could be sure.
Because I was the proof.
There was a moment of silence following my answer, and then a polite prayer was heard.
‘So don’t be afraid if you don’t see the sun. Just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. The light within you…’
He got up, muttering to himself a phrase that seemed to think of his followers as solar cells.
The abbot, who would disappear as soon as the treatment was over, looked down at me from that spot.
“···Soup with lots of pepper is good for colds.”
The abbot recommended the breakfast menu and disappeared.
Only then did the washing machine and refrigerator approach and I reached out with both hands.
My body was automatically washed away, and the impurities fell to the ground. The refrigerator gave me a cold glass of beer in my empty hands.
‘Not bad.’
I nodded my head at a sudden thought, and my nose started tickling.
Achoo!
I wiped under my nose with my finger and let it go.
The refrigerator and washing machine were looking at me with astonishment.
‘It looks like you’ve seen a robot cough.’
Feeling bad for no reason, I ruffled my hair in the refrigerator and moved away.
When I saw the sun beginning to set, it was time to go to work.
***
“Captain, did you sleep well?”
Kel, with dark circles under his eyes, nodded crookedly and greeted me.
“I slept well. You did that even though all that trouble was going on…”
At that moment, my nose started tickling and I shook my head.
“Don’t you know that you can sleep better if you do that? You can sleep soundly after taking it off. Even on days when Rosa receives guests···.”
“Good morning! Captain!”
“Brother! Did you get home safely?”
When Kel was rambling on about something so dizzying that he could barely hear it, Brick and the Weasel made their appropriate appearance.
Weasel also stayed at Hae-na’s, but since I left earlier, we didn’t have to go to work together.
‘The team leader comes to work later than me?’
Suddenly feeling bad, I hit the laughing weasel on the head.
Ouch! The weasel gulped as it looked up at me with wide eyes, letting out a small scream.
“···I’m sorry! Brother!”
My eyes narrowed at the sudden apology.
“I didn’t do it on purpose··· It’s just···.”
Seeing him babble and make excuses, it seemed like he had done something wrong.
At that time, my nose started to tickle.
Achoo!
I sneezed coolly.
At the same time, the guys around me opened their eyes wide and stared at me.
Those eyes were similar to the eyes of the washing machine and refrigerator earlier, and I felt strangely uneasy.
“···Are you sick too, hyung?”
I waved my hand in agreement with the weasel’s question, which seemed genuinely shocked.
As I entered the captain’s office, the captain with unusually dark circles under his eyes nodded his head.
“Yes, everyone worked hard. As for those corpses, I understand that they will be processed at the same time as the executions today.”
He said that he had a headache and pressed his temples with both index fingers. At first glance, it seemed like he was holding back his anger.
“Ah… And Captain Aaron was called by the inner Nova. Go from there and come back.”
As the captain continued to speak, I scratched my cheek with my finger and thought about all the things I had done wrong.
‘···There isn’t any?’
The captain waved his hand.
I nodded to him and went out.
After sending the kids off, I headed to Naeseong.
The stench of filth and rotting corpses mixed together and the hot weather made his head spin just smelling it.
Two guards with blank expressions greeted me. I had seen their faces somewhere, but I couldn’t remember their names.
They let me through without even asking if I knew them. So I passed them and headed towards Nova.
Knock knock.
“Come in.”
I opened the door to Nova’s still rough voice.
Nova was sitting at a desk piled high with papers.
Nova frowned when he noticed me and gestured.
“Just sit there for a moment. I’ll just take care of this.”
I nodded and headed towards a spacious table that seemed to be reserved for guests.
There was not enough space, and the tables and chairs were also piled with papers. I pushed him aside and sat down.
As I sat down on the hard chair, a piece of paper caught my eye.
The paper contained information about the estate’s funds.
Although it was only a portion and not the whole amount, the size of the amount was extraordinary.
‘Even in the outskirts, is a castle still a castle?’
It was my first time seeing it organized like this, so I read it carefully.
If you look closely at these things, you can find the corners where money is leaking. Then, if you go to the place where money is leaking and open your mouth wide, sweet honey will come in on its own.
‘Hasson, this kid earns a lot? How much bread does he bake?’
I knew his bread was popular, but this was beyond my imagination.
It was rare for anyone to lie about their taxes unless they were crazy enough to immediately become the new mascot of the Catholic Church.
‘That’s why my son flipped over when he picked up the guitar.’
As I was clicking my tongue, Nova sat across from me.
“Sorry, I just had too much to deal with after the chaos yesterday.”
Nova, who looked exhausted, said as she tied up her disheveled hair. Nova gathered her hair several times and tied it up so that not a single strand was out of place.
Nova’s thin, white neck was revealed.
‘Tsk, it’s so thin… If I hit it, it’ll fall apart.’
I clicked my tongue at the sight of Nova’s neck, which seemed out of place in the Middle Ages.
“It’s okay.”
However, because her face looked tired, she swallowed the words that were on the tip of her tongue and nodded.
“But can you read?”
Nova, with her hair tied back, asked with narrow eyes.
It was a question that might sound rude at first, but it was a natural reaction here. Because of the illiteracy rate, most signs were just pictures.
“of course.”
Then I read carefully what was written on the paper.
Writing was the first thing I learned after coming here, after swordsmanship.
“What? You really know?”
Nova’s eyes widened in surprise and she clearly expressed it.
It was as if I had a similar reaction to when I found out that the unemployed man next door had graduated from a prestigious university, and my shoulders tense up for no reason.
“of course.”
“Hmm···. I see. It’s more useful than I thought···.”
Nova’s eyes became strangely burdened by my answer.
He opened his mouth to change the subject.
“So what do you have to say? I’m busy.”
“You’re busy… Anyway, the lord will give you a position.”
“Position? I don’t need it, it’s just annoying.”
“Even if I give you a position… First, listen. The position the Lord will give you is Honorary Secretary.” “Honorary Secretary? What the hell is that….”
I scratched my head at the position I was hearing about for the first time in my life.
Although being a secretary was a relatively high position that governed the administrative side, it was not the kind of position that could be given honor.
Unlike the honorary monks who had religious overtones, the honorary secretary had a strange feel to it. It felt like an honorary managing director or honorary executive director.
‘But is it a good thing since I have the honor?’
As an honorary monk, I had a pretty good time, so the word ‘honor’ felt good to me.
Honeypot monk, honeypot scribe.
The texture wasn’t bad.
“···Your expression is really weird right now.”
Nova’s point was further strengthened.
The corners of his lips drooped.
Nova let out a ‘thud’ sound and then slapped her cheek with the palm of her hand in surprise.
“Crazy Orange.”
“Anyway, originally I was just going to demote you, but since you know how to write, I’ll be taking care of you from now on…”
Nova’s gaze, which seemed to be looking at a delicious cake, felt burdensome. At that moment, my nose started tickling again.
“Each!”
“what?”
Nova’s face wrinkled when I sneezed.
His expression was as if he had been insulted.
“I caught a cold.”
“···You? What are your intentions?”
I scratched my cheek for no reason at the sight of Nova’s wary gaze, even crossing her arms.
“I told you, you have a cold.”
“you?”
The conversation seemed to be going in circles.
Nova glared at me with a suspicious look, then took something out of his pocket and handed it to me. It was a small container containing a potion.
“what!”
Nova threw the can in anger as I watched him not accept it.
‘Wow, this is fucking crazy.’
Watching her hand out potions so nonchalantly, I had a feeling that Nova would make a lot more money than I expected.
Even though drinking the potion doesn’t cure my cold, I didn’t refuse it and drank it straight away. I got used to drinking the potion so often that it felt like a red ginseng stick.
The feeling of fever after drinking was similar.
“Anyway, since you are now an honorary secretary, please read these and categorize them.”
Nova muttered, pointing at me with her finger, ‘Honorary Scribe,’ and pointing at herself, ‘Scribe.’
The weather was hot so it was better than patrolling, so I nodded and looked at the paper.
Nova returned to her original position with the corners of her lips raised and a mischievous expression on her face.
‘This is also called organizing···.’
I picked up my quill pen, clicking my tongue at the primitive medieval arrangement that was so unrecognizable that there was no distinction at all.
I compiled the list, comparing it to a very distant and hazy memory.
‘I’ll show you the skills of a genius who got a B+.’
You uncivilized medieval bastards.
He moved the quill pen with a smile.
***
“I have a headache. I’m going.”
Nova raised her head at the voice heard from beside her.
Nova looked down again, seeing the giant back going out.
‘You’ve been here longer than I thought.’
I was just told to sit down and rest… No, I was told to sit down so that I could at least pretend to be an honorary secretary since I would be getting a salary, but I stayed longer than I thought.
‘But what were you using?’
Nova, whose hands had been itching with curiosity since a while ago, got up from her seat as soon as the door closed and headed to where Aaron was sitting.
‘What is this?’
He had drawn something on paper, and it was something I had never seen before.
Nova narrowed his eyes at him.
The flowing handwriting was very unfamiliar, not befitting its size and personality. And there were unidentifiable lines drawn around it.
Looking at it closely, it seemed like he had organized something.
However, since it was my first time seeing that method, it took me quite some time to understand it.
‘If I organize it like this, I won’t have a hard time finding things. I can compare them too···.’
Nova nodded repeatedly as he read on.
‘···Is it good? No, why is it good?’
Nova, who had been nodding her head in admiration, suddenly realized that this was something Aaron had roughly scribbled down and frowned.
‘This… Aaron? Why?’
Nova couldn’t believe it, so he muttered, “Is this Aaron?” as he read on, and there was a strange drawing in the center.
Looking closely, it was an orange with a serious expression on its face.
Nova, who had been examining the above lines and pictures for a while to see if they were related, soon realized that they were just simple doodles and exploded with anger.
Nova, who had been feeling angry for a while, looked around for no reason and put the paper with the drawing on it into his pocket.
‘Aaron knows how to write… and his handwriting is even elegant… and he’s smart?’
Nova rubbed her arms, feeling strangely eerie.
It occurred to me that Aaron might have made a bigger mistake than I thought.
***
When I returned to the Foreign Guard headquarters, there were quite a few people gathered. Judging by the number of people, it seemed like everyone except those facing the checkpoint had gathered.
It seemed like they had gathered in relation to the disposal of corpses and executions that the captain had mentioned earlier.
‘The leader of Group 5 was Flip. Flip···.’
He wasn’t a particularly sharp-tongued guy. He wasn’t a nice guy either. He would get rowdy when he drank, but he was a gentle guy who would calm down after a few hits.
‘Did I get a beer from that guy?’
I searched for the kids, rubbing my neck for no reason.
The armor was colorful and easy to find.
They were huddled in a corner, with the weasel in the center insisting on something.
“That’s why! My brother should take over the Castle of Cassadic! This fucking castle! How long are you going to take it over? My brother is better at fighting than the lord! He’s also mean! He has his own sense of duty! So it’s only natural that my brother should take over!”
The content was not simple.
‘This crazy guy.’
I was so surprised that I hit the back of the head of the weasel who was chattering away loudly.
The weasel fell forward with an ah-ah sound.
My request to the executioner Dalus almost came true. I knew he would do his best to grant my request.
“The leader has arrived.”
The other guys nodded in greeting.
“If he talks nonsense, put your fist in his mouth or something. Are you just going to listen to him?”
“Ah, now that I hear it, it seems like it’s true···.”
Brick, with a round face, answered with a small smile.
The sight of the people around him nodding their heads with serious faces felt strangely eerie.
‘What do these kids think of nobility?’
Even if Pulpouts was just a simple baron, there was Count Behart behind him, and even an empire that surpassed him. It wasn’t just a matter of taking Baron Pulpouts’ head.
It was clear that things would get bigger and more complicated than I thought, and it would become a hassle.
‘···It might be fun.’
Just then the captain came out.
The captain, despite wearing his armor, did not complain as usual.
“You idiots. I told you to do it moderately, but you’re always risking your life. I always tell you to do it moderately. If you get 15 or 20 silver, do that much. Why are you risking your life for nothing? It makes people uncomfortable.”
The captain looked at us reproachfully and snapped.
If it were normal, there would have been an outburst of complaints, but they didn’t say anything and just listened.
“Do you know how much a knight gets paid? At least 5 gold a month. 5 gold. Why would you risk your lives when there’s a knight like that?”
The captain looked around with force in his eyes and said, “So do it properly. Do it properly,” before walking away.
‘It seems like the captain isn’t doing it properly.’
My mouth was itchy as I looked at the flesh peeking out from the gap in the captain’s armor, but I tried to hold it back.
“Should I start with the captain first?”
The weasel’s eyes lit up as he looked at the back of the captain’s head.
“Okay, go first.”
“Yes? Where are you going? If you leave now, wouldn’t it be a bit bothersome for the captain to be in that state?”
“It’s okay. I’m an honorary secretary now.”
The guys gave me the same look they gave me when they coughed in response to my answer.
Some guys asked what a scribe was.
When someone answered him, “It’s Nova! Nova!” Brick’s eyes widened and he asked me, “Chief, was it a woman?”
Then someone started talking nonsense, saying, “Somehow! Her breasts are big!”
It was such nonsense that I didn’t even pretend to hear it.
“···Can you read the instructions?”
Among them, Berman asked with an expression of astonishment as if he could not believe it.
“Of course, you ignorant bastards.”
When I nodded to him, this time there was an even bigger commotion.
It was really funny to see him tearing his hair out and feeling discouraged at the fact that he was more ignorant than me.
‘Where are those ignorant medieval bastards going to rub it?’
While I was enjoying the reaction, a weasel came up quietly and asked in a whisper.
“Then are you going to start with Nova?”
I stuck out my fist and silenced the guy in medieval style.
***
Razbeth raised his head with an uneasy feeling.
As expected, the man was sitting across from me.
‘Here we go again.’
I’m getting used to it now, but I just can’t get used to the heavy atmosphere and menacing impression he has on me.
Still, he couldn’t show his surprise, so Razbeth clenched his teeth and raised the corners of his mouth.
The man just sat across from me, saying nothing, and tapping his fingers on the table.
The unspoken pressure felt heavier than shouting or threatening. The moment Razbet was about to open his mouth-
“Each!”
The man sneezed.
The sudden sneeze was fatal to Razbeth, who was so nervous that his hair stood on end.
“Gyaaaah!”
Razbeth jumped back in surprise, let out a long scream, then realized his mistake and covered his mouth.
“Oh, I have a cold.”
The man spoke lightly, running his finger under his nose.
Razbeth nodded nonchalantly, desperately trying to calm his pounding heart.
However, since I had already made such a serious disgrace, I couldn’t help but feel my face burning.
The scar on the corner of the man’s mouth seemed to be strangely smiling.
Razbeth bit his lip and exhaled deeply.
“···I sent a message to the Platon Castle branch. I haven’t heard back from them, but I checked and there was some movement. I told them that they were in Karzan City, just as you said.”
“Well, who’s in the Platon branch?”
“There’s not much information about him, but he’s a person named Vermunt. In the first place, he’s in the branch farthest from headquarters, so he’s not someone we need to worry about, so he wasn’t even on the list.”
Razbet added an extra note because it seemed like the information power was underestimated.
It was a reasonable inference. If a mercenary unit headquartered in the westernmost part of the empire was transferred to a branch office in the easternmost part of the empire, it would be safe to say that it was a demotion.
At that moment, the corners of the man’s mouth went up.
This time it was an obvious mockery.
“Maybe so.”
“···Do you know him?”
He asked, trying to suppress the sharpness in his voice that was naturally rising due to his hurt pride.
Normally, I would have raised my voice, but when I faced that man, my anger naturally subsided.
“hmm.”
The man did not answer.
“And although they called to Karzan, I think they might come straight to Castle Cassadic.”
Looking at the man who was just staring without asking any questions, Razbeth opened his mouth to organize his thoughts.
“You’ve become quite famous lately, Honorary Secretary.”
I thought the other person would be surprised, so I forced the corners of my mouth to rise while speaking, but the man didn’t show any particular reaction.
“Oh, do you know anything about the people who recently attacked our castle?”
Instead, the man changed the subject by asking another question.
From the fact that the man was not particularly fond of fame, and that he did not mind the name Vermunt coming to Castle Cassadyk instead of Karzan, and that he called Castle Cassadyk “our,” Razbeth deduced that the man had some affection for Castle Cassadyk.
It wasn’t an accurate inference, but I nodded slightly as if it lifted some of the veil.
“Of course I know.”
Razbeth leaned back in his chair and answered, feeling a little relieved that he had found out even a little bit of information about the man.
The man turned his head slightly at that.
The thick scar carved into the nape of his neck caught his attention.
There was a brief silence.
This time, it was Razbeth who spoke first.
“···But it’s a bit expensive.”
Razbeth pretended not to be nervous, crossed his arms, and wiped the palms of his hands on his clothes.
“It’s worth it···.”
The man laughed as if he found it funny.
At that, Razbeth felt his spine tingle and wanted to scream right away, but he held back. If he was pushed out here, he would definitely be swayed endlessly.
“The master who wants to live.”
At the man’s subsequent words, Razbeth’s eyes grew wide as if they were going to tear.
Razbeth moved his hand from his crossed arms and grabbed the handle of the weapon hidden on his left chest. His hand twitched with tension.
“Oh, I’m joking. It just occurred to me. Of course I should pay for it. How much is it?”
The man laughed to himself as if it was really a joke. Razbeth awkwardly laughed along without letting go of the handle of his weapon.
‘What are you joking about…’
It was clear that the man was not in his right mind.
“···One gold coin.”
Originally, it was information worth at least five gold coins, but if you add a bonus, you could get ten, but Razbet just now took out all the bubbles because of the man’s threat.
“It’s cheap.”
The man who spoke lightly took out two gold coins from his bosom and flicked them. Razbeth hurriedly took the coins and put them away.
‘···But why two?’
Razbeth looked at the two gold coins in his hand with a questioning look, and searched his bag for the paper envelope containing the information he had requested. It was easy to find, as he had taken it out recently.
The meeting was also a place that the ‘White Leaf’ side kept a close eye on, so there was quite a bit of detailed information written on it. After taking out the envelope, Razbeth handed it to the man, pasting a piece of paper with a code that could be deciphered on top.
The man took care of him and got up from his seat.
Then, for a moment, it felt as if the man’s shadow had filled the surroundings.
The man looked down at her, and when she followed his gaze and lowered her head, she saw her clothes flowing down as she held the handle of her weapon.
When I picked up my clothes and raised my head again, the man was no longer there.
It was amazing how something of that size could move so stealthily.
Razbeth looked at the place where the man had just been, rubbing his numb hands that had been drained of blood due to tension.
Then, a sudden thought occurred to me, so I jumped up and hurriedly looked around the house.
There was once again a large hole in the wall that had been filled with great effort.
‘Why do you keep going up to the wall…’
After staring blankly at the hole for a moment, Razbeth suddenly had the thought that the additional gold the man had given him might have been for the cost of wall repairs.
at that time.
“Ah, you worked hard today! Me! Even though I missed it in the middle···.”
A dapper guy came in through the broken wall, tapping my shoulder. Then he noticed Razbeth, opened his eyes wide, and covered his body with his hands.
“Oh, you waited until I got here? Seriously… I told you it was burdensome….”
Razbeth looked back and forth between the idiot talking and the hollow wall behind him.
I accepted the offer because they said they needed help setting up a branch and that I would be promoted after working there for a year, but seeing them like that made me think that way.
‘···Have I been demoted?’
Razbeth became depressed.
***
“Sir, are you really going alone? At least bring a hand… Or at least tell me where you’re going….”
Vermunt grimaced at the voice he heard next to him.
‘A handgun···.’
When did those who considered it a virtue to make everything with their own hands, from what they wear, to what they eat, to the weapons they wield, start looking for a substitute?
But I couldn’t yell at him either.
Except for the weapon, everything he wore was made by others.
“Okay.”
“You should at least tell me the destination… If Your Majesty the First Star happens to be looking for the General….”
I couldn’t hold back my laughter at the words that followed.
“That little brat is looking for me? The loser who sent me to the end of the world just because I heard one bitter remark?”
“No matter what, General···.”
“Okay.”
Let’s speak firmly. The guy gave a long ‘uh-‘ and stepped back.
Vermunt looked up at the dark night sky and sighed softly.
The sky was full of strange stars.
The stars that were clearly visible in the desert were not visible here.
Even in the middle of a desert surrounded by sand, Vermunt was able to find his way by reading the stars, but now he couldn’t even see where to take his next step.
‘I should have done this a long time ago.’
Now that I was completely lost, it didn’t matter where I went.
‘···He really is a stubborn person, just like he said.’
Vermunt laughed for the first time since the fall of the kingdom.
***
‘Vermuntra···.’
I fiddled with the envelope in my hand, flipping through old memories that were stale and had a strong musty smell.
‘I thought there would be a reaction, but… It’s Vermuntra.’
The fifth fallen star in the west, the one who caught the sand dragon with his bare hands – all these cool nicknames came to mind, but the first thing that came to mind was…
‘Stubborn sand squirrel.’
I smiled bitterly and stroked the handle of my sword.
