80
outing
“They are smarter than they look.”
The leader of the Cool Daggers, Anderson, spoke in a thin voice like a woman.
Everyone gathered nodded.
Contrary to popular belief, they were clever and meticulous.
Rather than just stupidly inflating the size, they systematically dug in and severed the link.
“That’s right. I’m trying to stop it somehow, but there are quite a few people who don’t cooperate. It seems like quite a few managers have already fallen for that side.”
Second-class manager Shone said in a gloomy voice.
“Is the article unoperable?”
“It’s possible because we have Sarshan. But we don’t know where their base is, or who the vampires are….”
Shawn’s words trailed off.
That was the biggest problem.
That it doesn’t show on the outside.
I couldn’t tell how far it had rotted.
A few days ago, several innocent civilians died due to misinformation.
“What is the opinion of Abbot Benhard?”
Dante looked at Abbot Benhard, who was quietly stroking his beard, and began to laugh.
“Everyone is worried. Darkness is bound to be pushed out by the sun, so it’s important to have a little more faith.”
‘Old man! Do you think I gave you that much money to talk nonsense like that?!’
Dante wanted to curse at Abbot Benhard’s calm answer, but he held it back and opened his mouth again.
“Then does the monastery have a solution?”
“Ahem···.”
Abbot Benhard nodded with a mischievous smile. From the look of his face, it seemed as if he was asking for something.
‘How much did I receive, and now you want me to give it back? You crazy bastard, the abbot!’
The reactions of leaders of other organizations were similar.
If faith is determined by the size of the donations given to the church, then the leaders gathered here were clearly saints.
As Dante exchanged glances with the other leaders, Shona opened her mouth.
“I assume you are referring to the three heretic inquisitors who recently entered Karzan.”
At Shoney’s words, Benhard’s eyes grew wide.
‘I guess that’s right. To think that they’re just making a fuss with just three heretic inquisitors…’
Thanks to Shawne, I was able to save gold.
“Ahem··· I wanted to tell you this good news slowly, but···.”
“We all know that the Inquisitors are the sledgehammer of the Church, but Karzan is not in a position to be appeased by three Inquisitors at this time.”
The cute rabbit’s grunt scolded him in a phlegmy voice. Dante nodded in response.
In the first place, there was an inquisitor in Karzan.
I had high hopes for him, but the Inquisitor’s method of identifying demons was to just tie him to a chair and throw him into the water.
When it rises, it’s a vampire, when it sinks, it’s an innocent person.
That was an ignorant method that could be used even by someone who was not an inquisitor.
“Haha, judging from everyone’s reactions, it seems like you only know one thing and not the other. For those of you who don’t know God, let me add one more thing: the heretic inquisitors who entered this time are from Cassadic.”
Abbot Benhardt spoke in a voice full of arrogance.
‘Cathedick! That guy!’
Dante trembled with instinctive fear.
“Ah, isn’t that the place where they recently caught some vampires at Cassidy? You were there… Then do you know how to identify vampires…?”
“Ahem.”
Abbot Benhard stroked his beard with that usual expression on his face, a face that said, “If you want to listen, show your sincerity.”
At the word Cassadic, Dante shuddered and then checked Shawn.
I’ve already told you this several times, Shawn.
Never bring him back to Karzan again.
At that moment, my eyes met with Shawn’s.
Shawn scratched behind his ear.
‘That’s a habit that comes out when you’re anxious. Why?’
Dante’s heart sank at the sight of Shoune coughing and avoiding eye contact.
***
I let out a sigh at the sight before me.
The Catholic Walls were in dire need of repair. Rumors spread that vampires might enter through the breach in the wall, and the residents flocked to the walls to help in any way they could.
‘I made a path with a vampire’s head, so you’re crazy and want me to come back?’
It was absurd, but the medieval people were already terrified and could not understand what was being said.
In that situation, Kanna showed off her abilities without holding back.
It seemed like he was having fun carving the ‘Deokgu’ picture into the stone, but the speed at which he carved the stone was incomparable to that of other stonemasons.
In such a situation, Kanna’s value increased exponentially. A strange man named Adolgu even took it upon himself to be Kanna’s bodyguard and stayed by her side.
Those who applaud, those who provide shade.
It was to the point where I suspected that a separate team dedicated to Kanna had been created.
It was nice to see the child having fun and receiving applause, but it was difficult to be completely happy about it because the place was a construction site.
“···Didn’t you say you were running low on mana?”
I asked Kuobarou, who stepped aside slightly, saying that he didn’t like crowds.
“So you’re only using wind magic?”
“You don’t have enough mana to carve stones like that without resting?”
“Oh, by the way, you said you didn’t know about magic. Hmm… How am I supposed to explain magic to an ignorant person….”
I thought about hitting the ignorant, ignorant, medieval Guo Bao Rou, but I held back, showing the generosity of modern people.
I had to be careful because wizards were kind of sinister and seemed like they’d put bug carcasses in my stew.
“Manaran… It feels similar to a beer keg. The bigger the beer keg, the more it contains, but the hole is also large.”
After a brief explanation, Kuobarou looked at me with an expression as if he were explaining something to a dog in human language.
‘I’ll just hit you once.’
I took a deep breath and suppressed my anger.
Guobarou must have sensed my sigh in a different way, as he continued to explain.
“For example, if you summon the same fireball, the amount that comes out at once for someone with a large beer keg will be large, so its size will be large. However, the amount that comes out at once for someone with a small beer keg will be small, so its size will be small.”
“If the amount that comes out is small, can’t you just wait a bit and then use it?”
“Ah, the wizard can only use the amount that appears in the magic he is composed of at one time.”
Guo Baorou looked at me with that look in his eyes again. When I nodded, Guo Baorou let out a small exclamation of admiration.
I felt strangely pleased by the admiration, but then I realized the fact and frowned.
“What Kanna is particularly talented at is freely controlling the hole in the beer keg. Of course, she can’t increase its size, but being able to change its shape at will is a great talent for a wizard. For example, when blowing a piece of ice, Kanna can shrink the hole and make it into a sharp spear shape. …Of course, it’s mostly like you.”
Kuabarou explained it better than I thought.
There, the guy seemed to understand, so he got enthusiastic and explained this and that.
I pretended to listen vaguely and checked Kanna’s side.
The story of ‘Hero Deokgu’ was being written on the newly built wall. In the middle, a small child wearing a similar mask appeared next to Deokgu.
‘Why did the Lord give his approval for that in the first place?’
Approving someone else’s painting on the walls of her own territory… I thought that maybe Young-ae’s stubbornness was hereditary.
“To reach a high level, you need mana and···.”
‘It’s a high realm···.’
He muttered softly in a voice that sounded like background music.
Is it really necessary to climb to such a high level?
Even now, I’m still going around carving stones like that, so if I go up to a higher level for no reason, I might not be able to handle it…
‘You just have to make ice on time.’
I gently swirled my beer glass, which had about half of the ice left.
The cold water droplets on the surface of the beer glass ran through my fingers and fell to the ground.
In the first place, it was Kua Ba Rou who gave it to me because he said he would teach it to me. It wasn’t something I obtained separately.
‘What’s good about becoming a high-ranking wizard?’
The endings of all the high-ranking magicians I’ve seen were not good.
Originally, moderate force was the best. Being too strong beyond the average only made life tiring.
No matter how strong you are, there is always something above you.
Just being able to hang out in this kind of remote area was the most suitable way to live a peaceful and happy life.
Waaaaaaaaa-!!
At that moment, cheers erupted from up front.
When I looked up, I saw Kanna chiseling two stones at the same time. The stones were engraved with a picture of a demon being torn in half. He was a bit cruel for a child to have carved them.
In the painting, Deokgu was tearing apart a devil with one hand and holding a beer mug with the other, while a small child next to him was filling the mug with ice.
Perhaps, from the perspective of child art psychology, it was the kind of painting that would have its guardian arrested immediately.
Kanna looked at me, lifting her chin at the cheers from those around her.
I quickly relaxed my expression and clapped my hands, and Kanna twitched the corners of her lips.
‘You’re making enough noise.’
That smile was so bright that it was hard to believe that he was the same person as the little boy who was shaking at the dice table.
The belated attention made the child act even more childish, but that suited him better than the occasional mature expression.
I wasn’t going to stop him, but I didn’t intend to push him either.
I handed the mug of beer, the ice of which had completely melted, to Kuo Bao Rou. Kuo Bao Rou frowned at that.
“Are you asking me, Swallows in the White Tower, to fill my beer glass with ice right now?”
“Oh, you can’t? Sorry. I thought I could do it since Kanna told me to do it···.”
···I see, you know.
I swallowed my words as I looked at the ice sticking out of my beer glass.
‘It’s definitely different from Kanna’s.’
I nodded, biting into the ice cube that had grown in my beer glass.
“Anyway, if I can just solve that problem, Manayang, I can become the best magician on the continent. In order to solve Manayang···”
“I don’t have money. I won’t buy it.”
“Money isn’t the issue… Of course, money is necessary, but more importantly, research comes first….”
“I told you I don’t have money. And you’re good at using magic.”
I pointed at Kanna, who was cheering on the rock, with my finger. Kanna, who saw my gesture, jumped down from the rock and ran towards me.
“This is absolutely necessary for the advancement of the magical world.”
Kanna, who had come right up to me, frowned slightly when she saw the ice growing upside down in my beer glass.
Kanna glared at Kuabarou, then shot a small blast of fire from her hand, melting all the ice in the beer mug.
He froze the mixture of warm water and beer into ice cubes shaped like duck balls and smiled contentedly.
‘My beer···.’
He tried hard to hide his true feelings and gave mechanical compliments.
At that, Kanna smiled and turned back to the stonemasons.
I took a deep breath and sipped my diluted beer.
Kanna declared that she would stop after carving about five more stones. So I took Kanna to Haenane and walked around the castle.
‘Yeah, there was this one too.’
A thick-skinned man with a huge stain on his clothes was blocking my path and smiling brightly.
“hello!”
“Yeah, whatever.”
“Good evening, huh?! The weather is getting cooler these days!”
It was a light greeting, as if we had met while taking a walk.
The problem was that District 7 was not a good place for Youngae to go for a walk.
‘Well, he has a knight-level body.’
If I were to beat up someone, I would beat them up. I wasn’t the type of person to get hit.
“Ah! There’s still one more gift left! Dad doesn’t seem to have any spare time these days!”
Young-ae Park, who was full of hair, smiled brightly again and said.
“That··· gift was a joke. This too···”
I hurriedly took out the seal I had put in my bosom.
“No! I gave it to you as a gift!”
Yeong-ae answered with a stern expression and frowned. Of course, even so, the corners of her mouth were still up, making it seem like she was joking.
“No, I know what this is···.”
“Of course! It’s a seal! A seal! Do you think I’m stupid?”
Youngae raised her hand and confidently shouted out the correct answer. Judging from the way she smiled broadly, it seemed like she was proud of having answered.
‘You’re an idiot.’
I swallowed the words that were on my lips.
“Anyway! Be sure to keep it safe! That’s really! important! Really important!”
‘So why are you giving me something so important and precious?’
Every time Park Dae-gari Young-ae said a word, I got a headache.
“Why are the clothes like that?”
I asked, pointing to Young-ae’s colorful clothes to change the subject.
“Ah! I heard that the residents are having a hard time these days! I asked to bring some food out secretly! I’m going to get in trouble with the nanny!”
Youngae then seemed to remember and rubbed the stain on my clothes with her hand.
I roughly guessed the situation. Young-ae went out secretly with a handful of food in her arms after hearing that the residents were short on food.
The nobles here were originally of the ‘If there’s no meat, eat bread!’ kind. Young-ae sneaking out to bring food to the residents was something out of a fairy tale.
‘The kid is good. The problem is that he’s a brat.’
I wish I hadn’t been so kind…
I clenched my numb fists and muttered softly.
“That’s okay! We have a lot of clothes! The residents were really happy! I’m going to bring more tomorrow!”
Yeong-ae smiled brightly again and nodded.
“I see. Let’s go. I’ll show you around.”
I tried hard to hold back the urge to run away and muttered, “She’s a good girl.” as I walked.
Park Dae-gari tilted his head for a moment and then followed me.
“But my wedding might be postponed! I didn’t really like the person I was going to marry, so what’s the big deal? He seemed like a gloomy guy! And my birthday is coming up soon, so I hope we don’t have a weird party like last year. People come up to me and compliment me, it’s so uncomfortable… And I also don’t make a lot of useless food! If we just gave it to the residents, everyone would be happy….”
The chattering was so loud that it felt like my ears were bleeding. I quickly backed away. Young-ae seemed to not notice because she was so absorbed in her own story.
After putting some distance between us, I quickly blew the whistle.
“Oops! I got fooled again!!”
Youngae’s scream was heard from afar.
***
Knock knock.
As soon as I woke up, I looked for a sword.
I grabbed the sword and took several deep breaths, and came to my senses.
‘Fucking medieval.’
I shook my head to get rid of the feeling that still remained in my hands.
However, the blood that had already been spilled could not be shaken off or wiped away.
“It’s time to pray.”
When I opened the door, the abbot with a complicated look in his eyes greeted me in an unusual way.
“Isn’t today a good dawn for prayer?”
“···I don’t know.”
The abbot’s ambiguous answer came back.
Then I pictured the abbot staring blankly at the rows of vampire heads on skewers.
‘A priest mourning the death of one who has become a demon.’
It was a funny sentence. It was an essential virtue for any medieval priest to be happy about crushing the devil’s head.
“···Are you okay?”
“Is there any reason why it wouldn’t be okay?”
“They were just hungry… no.”
The abbot stepped aside as he was about to answer.
He looked down at me with those sharp eyes for a moment as if asking me for a reason, then opened his mouth.
“That was the best.”
I muttered the strangely pointed sentence again.
A devil giving advice to a priest who is suffering from guilt about the devil… I suddenly found it funny and laughed bitterly.
The abbot stared at me at my answer. His gaze seemed to pierce through my soul, so I avoided him and headed towards Vermunt’s room.
I woke Vermunt up with a cool slap on the forehead. I felt much better seeing Vermunt wake up with a fit.
In this uncivilized place, the more you think about it in a complicated way, the more you get lost.
“Today will be different.”
“okay.”
He smiled slightly at Vermunt’s cliche and readjusted his grip on his sword.
“···hmm.”
Vermunt, who had been beaten so badly that he fell to the ground, let out a sigh.
‘It’s become useful.’
He gave a short comment while looking at Vermunt, who had his eyes closed as if he was reminiscing.
If it weren’t for the power I gained from the devil, I might have struggled a bit. Of course, I would have won even then.
I looked up at the brightened sky.
The sun was rising, so it was time to go to work.
After receiving the laundry spell and getting slapped with ice that resembled me, I ate some meat bread and left the bar.
Right in front of him, I came face to face with a person I had never seen before.
A leather bag and hat, a sharp-looking face.
‘Deliveryman.’
“Aaron… is this you?”
“you’re right.”
“This is a letter from Shone, a second-class administrator of Karzan City.”
‘They sent this kid again.’
The man who handed me the brown envelope nodded and quickly disappeared somewhere.
The letter that Shawn sent was full of things I didn’t want to know.
I briefly considered throwing it away, then sighed and read it quickly. I roughly read through the words here and there, but there was something bothering me at the end.
‘A vampire in Karzan?’
I read the last sentence again.
Because it was a city, Karzan had a much larger population than Cassadic, making it even more difficult to deal with vampires.
Of course, it was unlikely that Karzan would fall to a mere vampire, but the unfortunate accident could have caused a drop in sales at the branch.
‘That short… short… short story?’
When I told Danso to take care of it on his own, it seemed like he was trying to solve it within the branch rather than asking for help from the main branch.
‘That’s stupid. This is why the head office receives money.’
Still, the proactive attitude of trying to solve the problem on one’s own was a great attitude for a branch.
The head office, which receives case fees, cannot ignore the difficulties that the branch office is going through. The head office must fulfill its duties.
And considering the number of gold coins he received from the guy, it would have been enough to go back and forth to Karzan ten times.
Cassidy had recently been sterilized from vampires, so there was no way he would be in danger for a few days, and even if something did happen, it would take at least a week.
There was little room for trouble on the way to and from Karzan by carriage. There were now three knights, so it was a relatively safe ride.
‘Is it time to bring out the legendary vampire hunter Tak-Pong···.’
A vampire expert who has accurately identified the nature of vampires by breaking the heads of countless vampires.
Takgu was an expert among experts, with at least ten qualifications in vampire detection. He could detect vampires simply by making eye contact…
‘What could I take with me?’
I looked up at the sky for a moment and made a list of things I needed to pack.
‘Someone who will take care of the groom… and also get information.’
Just then, the door opened and a weasel came out.
“Brother! Are you coughing!!”
The weasel that found me suddenly shook its head and screamed.
‘I can do both with the groom.’
Even if there was some danger there, I thought the weasel would betray me and not die. That was enough.
The problem is, you don’t know how to drive a carriage…
‘If you want to live, you don’t know.’
Anything that puts life on the line tends to turn out well.
I nodded and gestured to him.
The weasel approached quickly.
“Get a carriage and leave it waiting near the main gate. We’re going to Karzan. Oh, and tell Hannah to bring plenty of meat bread and water.”
“···yes!!”
The weasel nodded without a moment’s hesitation or question.
As I watched the back of the weasel running away, I thought about what to pack next.
‘Let’s take care of the lungs too.’
Although it was a waste, its power against demons was real. It was sure to be useful if taken with you.
I went to the Hasson Bakery, bought a whole loaf of the most aromatic cake, and walked around the castle.
The wreckage was found on the same roof.
The sergeant who found me jumped down.
thud-.
He quickly put on an indifferent expression, but his eyebrows furrowed for a moment.
‘I guess it’s numb.’
I let out a small sigh and opened my mouth.
“The abbot said to gather everyone for worship···.”
The surprised cat looked around hurriedly like it had been splashed with water at my words. I continued quietly.
“Worship is important, but practice is the most important. They say vampires are rampant in the neighborhood next door… As a neighbor, isn’t it worth watching? There’s also a saying that you should love your neighbor….”
‘Isn’t this the place?’
For a moment, he was confused, but Lunggyup’s eyes were already fixed on the cake. Lunggyup nodded his head vigorously.
“But where did the other inquisitors go?”
“···first.”
The commander answered shortly.
It seemed like he went to Karzan first.
‘How did you know we were going to Karzan···.’
They were more capable than I thought.
I handed the cake to the attendant and told him to go to the carriage first.
The back of the lung-level worker walking away with his eyes fixed on the cake was somewhat unsettling.
‘Next is… a vacation certificate.’
I moved forward, retracing my plan.
***
“Now… what?”
The captain of the outer wall guard asked back in disbelief.
“Achoo! I think I have a cold and need to rest for a few days.”
The big, distracting guy was making a clumsy imitation of coughing… No, it wasn’t even an imitation. He was just making a sound without any sincerity.
A confident expression while lying about catching a cold in this sweltering weather.
It was truly shameless, but…
“Yeah… yeah, you should rest when you’re sick. You should’ve taken better care of yourself! You’re a treasure to our outer wall guards, after all! What are we going to do if you’re sick! Ugh… tsk!”
I couldn’t help but nod.
In the first place, the Yeongju Castle side had told them to accept all of Aaron’s demands as much as possible, and even without that, the weather was so hot that they didn’t have the energy to fight with that ignorant guy.
Still, I was grateful that he was even pretending to ask for permission. It meant that even in a small corner of his heart, he thought of himself as the boss.
“Yes, thank you. Achoo! Oh, and Dylan has a cold too.”
“Hmm… Dylan? Sure… Yeah, he might get caught. Then tell Dylan to rest too.”
“Yes, Achoo.”
Aaron left the room after making a vague noise.
“But you still think of me as your leader… I’m touched. I’m very touched.”
···You shameless bastard.
The captain smiled bitterly as he leaned back in his chair.
***
Razbeth was sorting the information.
There have been a series of incidents in the East recently, and there has been just too much going on.
‘Deokgura···.’
Secretary Nova bought all the information about Deokgu.
Originally, he sold raw information… unprocessed information. Because the price was extremely high due to the cost of keeping his mouth shut, there were few buyers, but a woman named Nova bought him without a second thought.
Of course, the price was reduced in exchange for reestablishing the position of the ‘White Leaf Catholic Branch’ in the process, but it was still a considerable amount of money.
‘What’s the relationship?’
Razbet still hasn’t given up on information about Aaron. It’s been difficult because Berman hasn’t been able to find much information…
‘Ahhh- it’s hot.’
Razbeth grumbled as he pulled off his sweat-soaked clothes.
The problem was the wall I had breached. I thought Razbeth was being dragged around too much by the man, so I didn’t fill in the breached wall last time.
Since then, I have been suffering from the heat without a man visiting. But it was a waste to endure it.
That was when.
Knock knock.
Anxiety came over me.
‘Hey… no way.’
Razbeth got up from his seat and headed for the door.
When I opened the door, it was a man with a vicious look, as always.
That fierce face looked particularly annoying today.
‘Why did you come to the door when I left the wall open?’
The hardships of struggling in the heat until now have passed by.
“···why?”
My mouth opened involuntarily in frustration.
“Hey Google. Give me the black blood info.”
The opponent did not answer Razbet’s questions, but playfully muttered something he did not understand.
It seemed as if he was laughing at the engraved expression on the corner of the man’s mouth. No, the corners of his mouth were clearly up. It was a laugh.
‘Let’s be calm. Calm.’
Razbeth forced his face to wrinkle and controlled his expression. Then he went inside and brought back the information.
“···5 gold.”
Razbeth gritted his teeth and shouted out the value of the information.
In the first place, in the case of ‘Black Blood’, the known information was not very useful, so 3 gold was the appropriate price, but it was called out loud.
The man handed over the gold nonchalantly and disappeared.
His indifferent attitude made me even more irritated.
Razbeth muttered a curse under his breath as he looked at the gold coins in his hand.
Then suddenly, she realized that she had been involved with the man and shook her head.
‘What the hell is this? Come on, Razbeth. You got more money than I paid you.’
Hoo- Razbeth let out a deep breath to gather his wits and brought out the plaster and square stones he had prepared inside and crouched down in front of the hole.
‘Come to your senses. Don’t get involved.’
Razbeth continued muttering and filling the wall.
When I finished filling the wall and was taking a break to catch my breath-.
Kkuung-.
The wall collapsed with a strange sound.
“Oh, have you heard any information about childcare?”
The guy was looking down at Razbeth.
It wasn’t because of the wrinkles around his mouth.
Clearly the man was splitting it.
Uh uh···.
Razbeth realized for the first time that when people get really angry, they become speechless.
“Hmm? I guess there aren’t any.”
The man tilted his head and disappeared again.
“···pup.”
Razbeth muttered softly as the warm breeze came in through the collapsed wall.
That day, Gillian, who had a fulfilling day, bought two loaves of bread, took one in each hand, and returned to the branch, eating them one by one, only to get beaten up by Razbeth for no reason and have to patch up the gaping hole in the wall.
‘You’re a very bad woman. It was a good thing you rejected my confession.’
Gillian grumbled and worked hard to fill the wall.
***
‘I got the information too… Is it over?’
I nodded, thinking about the plan for a moment.
I told Hannah about it, but considering how I got slapped with ice last time, I thought it would be best to go and come back as quickly as possible.
I headed towards the main gate that I had told the weasel about.
At the main gate, there was a large, magnificent carriage that had somehow managed to get there.
Looking at the sign, it was engraved with the sign on the top of the hat.
‘If it’s a mosaic… is that the carriage from back then?’
It seemed to be the carriage that the black magician Au had brought in when he first tricked him.
‘I was wondering where it went···.’
It seemed like the weasel had a secret stash.
The weasel sitting on the stable was holding the reins and hurling harsh curses at the horse.
And before that.
‘···Why is this person here?’
A man with cream on his lips was standing in front of the carriage with an expression on his face as if he needed to take a dump.
The sight was extremely unsettling.
The corpse that spotted me soon avoided my gaze.
The reaction of someone who has done something wrong.
‘What wrong did the sergeant do?’
My head was spinning quickly.
At that moment, the guy’s fault opened the carriage door and came out.
“The honorary monk has arrived. I was about to offer my prayers, but Inquisitor Joanna said she had somewhere to go. Come with me. I happen to know someone at the Karzan Monastery.”
The abbot, with every strand of his hair pulled back, looked at me and said:
‘···This traitorous bastard.’
I opened my eyes wide and glared at the lungs.
The old man was startled by that and hurriedly turned his head to the side.
The sight was so similar to the time when I was forcibly dragging my old friend to church that I couldn’t help but sigh.
