233
Handsome sin
[From now on, I, Pulphutz, will stand above the Empire.]
A handsome young man, as green as a feather, raised his fist and shouted.
As if God had responded, a godly light radiated from the young man.
The sight was so magnificent that it was recorded in legend.
It was so cool it brought tears to my eyes.
However, the problem is-.
No. Why am I standing above the Empire? I am a full-foot from the frontier. A small and precious Cassadic from the frontier is enough. Above the Empire! Oh my- What is that-?
“······Are you okay?”
Pullputs opened his eyes, breathing heavily at the shaking hand.
Fortunately, it was a familiar ceiling.
‘It was a dream. Well, that can’t happen.’
Why did so many troops come to this remote Cassidyk? The endless lines of troops on the ridge were a terror in itself.
‘I thought that handsome young man was Aaron. I guess I was very tired.’
Even Aaron would have no reason to make such a statement that Fullfoot stands above the Empire.
‘No, if I tell you the goal, the number of people will be filtered to some extent······. What am I thinking!’
Pulpouts shook his head hurriedly to shake off his thoughts.
I’ve had so many things to worry about lately that it was definitely a nightmare caused by the accumulated fatigue.
It was so vivid that I can still hear the thick voice in my ears.
‘···That voice is Aaron.’
“Are you in your right mind?”
At that moment, Sir Adolf, with his big nose, looked up worriedly. When he looked out the window, it was dark.
“It’s okay. You must have been tired.”
“Oh, but it’s fortunate that Sir Adela was nearby and received it safely. You almost hit your head on a hard rock.”
‘···A hard stone?’
Pulpouts’ eyes narrowed at the relieved Adolf.
I was sleeping in a soft bed, what are you talking about now?
“You are risen!”
Adolf shouted loudly.
Fullfoot came to his senses in surprise.
Only then did I feel the commotion. It was noisy outside. I could hear loud voices and the sound of people running around hurriedly.
The door opened roughly, and Nova came in with a crumpled face. Selena and the sheriff followed suit.
‘···Why?’
Pulpouts was now realizing. That hasty movement and that unmistakable noise-.
“Since we have exceeded our current capacity, we have stationed them outside of Cassidy. At that time, we must expedite the second phase of the outer wall expansion that you mentioned. Above all, the food issue is the biggest issue.”
Nova spoke urgingly, holding out a wad of paper. Her voice was slightly raised, and full of annoyance.
“This is a document listing the available supplies of the nobles who have joined. They have stockpiled supplies in the midst of the chaos in the East, so bringing them will not cause any problems for their castles.”
Selena, who had become much brighter than before, was even humming a song.
“The security situation is serious. It’s quiet now, but with that many people, you never know when they’ll cause trouble. They could change at any moment. The method-.”
Even the sheriff raised his voice-.
There was no denying it any longer. Fullfoot’s head whispered the truth.
[From now on, I, Pulphutz, will stand above the Empire.]
‘It wasn’t a dream-.’
Pulpouts, who was soon faced with the truth, grabbed his face.
The blocked thoughts quickly flowed away.
I don’t know why, but that handsome young man must be Aaron. Come to think of it, he probably would have looked like that without the scar.
Aaron’s statement that he made was probably a declaration of war. If he had captured the sword’s owner, the empire and Aaron would not be able to coexist.
‘Are you thinking of capturing the emperor?’
It’s probably a declaration about him.
The question was, why are you speaking in your own name?
‘I even refused the position of security captain because it was annoying. And then I took money behind his back… No way…’
A rough headache came up in the flow of those thoughts. Pulpouts hurriedly used the elven breathing technique. The headache slowly subsided.
“Since you have declared war on the Empire, it would be best to proceed as quickly as possible. The capital is currently half destroyed, so it would be best to advance before the Empire recovers-.”
Selena spoke in a monotone, her businesslike voice utterly cold.
‘When did I declare war······.’
I forced myself to swallow what was almost coming out of my mouth.
In any case, the situation has occurred. As a result, Baron Pulpouts will declare war on the Empire. Since many people have seen him, rumors will spread very quickly.
‘I never declared war-.’
He muttered like that, but his thoughts quickly drifted away as he thought about the impending crisis.
Now, if I made even the slightest mistake, I would be guillotined.
Phew······ Phew······.
Fullfoot tried to suppress the anger that was welling up in him by practicing elven breathing.
‘No, over here is Aaron, who killed the sword master and destroyed the capital!’
Aaron may be a bit rough, ignorant, and dog-like, but he was not a man who did things thoughtlessly.
Plus, it’s clear that Aaron cares about Cassidy, so he must have a plan.
Yeah, Aaron will handle it like now.
So that’s why he said that.
“So, where is our demon king?”
Pulpouts asked with a forced smile. However, the corners of his lips were so heavy that they trembled even when he exerted all his strength.
“He said he was tired and went to a bar. Oh, in the case of Count Behart-.”
Selena’s words were not heard. It was a very simple sentence, but Pulpouts realized it after repeating it several times.
‘Aha, so you’re saying he went to rest.’
Upon realizing it, Pulpouts’ mouth moved on its own.
“This is totally fucking shit.”
Pulpouts uttered a curse word for the first time in his life.
***
“Don’t come! Turn your head! Turn your head! Turn your head! Turn your head now!”
‘······This is fucking crazy.’
I clicked my tongue slightly as I looked at the bowl next to me.
I was tired from the long trip and came back to my accommodations with the intention of taking a hot bath.
“Turn your head! Turn your head! Turn it! Turn it! Quickly! Who do you want to see die?!”
Hannah, who was facing me, suddenly started to freak out.
“···Why is it like that?”
I asked, pressing Kanna’s round head. Kanna just looked up at me with her characteristically sparkling eyes, as if she couldn’t hear me.
Hanna suddenly turned over the bucket next to her. Kanna did the same, and I couldn’t understand why Hanna was also using the bucket. Is it hereditary?
“Why is that?”
“Why does Aaron have that face!”
He squinted his eyes at Hannah, who was shouting at him in return for the question.
What a face! I realized that this was the first time he had seen my face without the scars.
Certainly, his face looked rather dull without any scars. In the primitive Middle Ages, scars and sword marks were the standard for a manly man.
“Not really? After all, a man needs to have some scars······.”
“······That’s not it!”
Hannah’s words were loud and muffled because she was holding a bucket.
There was silence for a moment.
Hannah immediately pointed her finger at me and shouted.
“He’s so handsome! He’s already Aaron! What if he’s handsome too!!”
‘hmm······.’
It was clearly an angry voice, but it took me a while to understand it because the content was a compliment. I scratched my arm for no reason because the words were so explicit.
“······So the problem is that I’m too handsome?”
“Yes! It was already hard to look at Aaron’s face, but now it’s dangerous!”
The bucket Hannah was holding shook stupidly from side to side. Her voice was trembling as she shouted.
We were clearly having a conversation, but I couldn’t quite understand what they were saying.
I looked down at Kanna, who was next to me. Her eyes were no different than before. They were still big and sparkling.
but-.
‘···Can it be done remotely now?’
The sculptures of my likeness displayed in the hall began to change slowly. I clicked my tongue slightly at the real-time updates.
‘Being handsome is a problem.’
I sat at the table, clicking my tongue at the sentence I heard for the first time.
Inside, Delmuto brought out the food. It was a very fancy meat with lots of spices.
“The boss prepared it in advance. He said he would give it to Aaron when he comes.”
Delmuto spoke briefly, raising his eyebrows. Then he bowed his head deeply and took a step back.
From Hannah, who lifted the bucket slightly and then lowered it while screaming softly, to Kanna, who turned the table towards my face while humming-.
‘···I’m dizzy.’
However, I was hungry, so I picked up some meat and ate it.
It was a meal worth eating after a long time. Delmuto’s cooking skills were clearly the best in Cassadic.
Suddenly, it occurred to me that Delmuto was originally a magician, but he was more talented at cooking than magic.
At that moment, Kanna grabbed Hannah’s hand and dragged her along.
Hannah, who had been dragged in, sat down on the other side. When I playfully shouted ‘Kuhh!’ at her, Kanna burst out laughing.
Hannah, who had lifted the bucket quietly, hurriedly put it back down. Still, she held out a little longer than before.
Just then, the door opened and the Swallows came in.
“Kanna, are you okay? I was worried a lot.”
Swallows spoke to Kanna in a sad voice. Kanna was busy shouting ‘Kuh!’
As if it was familiar, Swallows sat down in the empty seat without a care, nodded, and clapped his hands.
Then, Swallows, who had discovered Hannah, furrowed his eyebrows and asked.
“Why is that woman wearing that? It’s cute because it’s Kanna wearing a bucket, but it’s ridiculous.”
“It’s not that. It’s because Aaron is handsome! I wrote it because my heart felt like it was going to burst!”
Hannah screamed, her voice echoing through the bucket.
The face of Swallows, who heard him, slowly crumpled-,
“This fucking shit···.”
Soon he started swearing harshly, with a lot of sincerity in his voice.
Amidst the commotion, I sipped an ice-filled beer.
This is the taste-.
The iced beer was really tasty.
***
“···But why is Hannah like that?”
I glanced at Berman’s question. There was Hannah, holding a fancy bottle over her head. She had evolved from a bucket.
“They said it was hard because I was too handsome.”
He clicked his tongue and sipped his wine.
It’s been a while since I last drank, so the alcohol keeps going down.
“haha······.”
Berman laughed awkwardly.
The guys who were supposed to be noisy were surprisingly quiet. Everyone’s expressions were awkward.
“···But is it really the leader? Aah! That’s right!”
Kel, who had been asking quietly, nodded roughly after being hit once. I chuckled at Kel’s stupid reaction.
“Chief, what about the king? Those who followed the chief······.”
The grass asked quickly with its sharp eyes shining. I closed my eyes for a moment at the bastard’s question. I didn’t feel like explaining.
“That’s what happened.”
He spoke firmly and nodded. Their expressions became strange again, but-.
“······Is that so?”
Berman nodded calmly. He nodded faster than expected. The others nodded a little later.
“But why are you so handsome? Did you eat a dragon’s heart somewhere?”
Kel, with his strangely sharp eyes, asked slyly.
“He was originally handsome.”
I lightly touched my cheek. It wasn’t just that the scar had disappeared, it had become baby-like skin. Even though it was my cheek, it felt good to touch it.
“But, Captain, can’t we not say that you’re handsome?”
Berman, who had been the most obedient, asked with a slightly tearful face. When I looked at him, Berman chewed his lips and opened his mouth.
“When I used to say I was handsome, it was a really funny joke, but now that I say it with that face, I feel a little deprived.”
Berman’s voice was full of sincerity as he spoke. But-.
“What can I do? He’s handsome.”
Let’s give him a cool laugh, Berman bangs his head on the table with a “thud!” sound.
“I think it’s good. Recently, sales of Namiyad’s Deokgu sculptures have been low, but with such a handsome face, wouldn’t they sell well? And from what I saw earlier, it seems like there are new customers.”
The grass spoke with rather torn eyes.
Brick just smiled broadly, saying that it had been a long time since they had gathered together for a drink.
The mood quickly improved after Berman and Kel, who were not in sync with the mood, were beaten a few times. The two even put their arms around each other and danced.
“But since you named him Jojang, the baby will be handsome.”
He patted Kel’s shoulder, who was feeling depressed, and said, “Kel grinned at that.”
“But what if it’s not a son but a daughter?”
Berman asked as he passed by, clinking his glasses.
“The leader is handsome, but if it were a woman, wouldn’t it be Sophia?”
The pool was pondering with a rather serious expression. Kel’s face turned pale at that.
“What about Sophia! Sophia has eight men.”
Berman shouted in a fit of rage. He sipped the newly brought ice-cold beer and admired their idiotic conversation.
At that moment, Brick, whose face was red from drinking, looked at me with a serious expression. Brick, who had been thinking for a while, nodded his head and-.
“possible.”
He hummed softly.
I struggled for a moment to understand that short word, then grabbed Brick’s head.
“surely···.”
I also grabbed the nodding grass and squeezed it. It had been quite a while since I squeezed the quick-witted grass.
Dylan, who arrived late, sneaked in and started beating Brick up, but was caught and beaten up.
Then, he said that today was the day to decide the order of things, and laughed out loud while looking at the tangled Brick and Dylan.
***
Knock knock,
I woke up with a stretch at the familiar knocking sound.
Then, I opened my eyes at the slightest noise.
There was someone next to me. Bona Mana-.
“Selena.”
“Good morning.”
Selena stood at the head of the bed, looking down at me and smiling brightly.
It was a situation that seemed to come out of a horror movie, but Selena was like that often. I clicked my tongue because I knew that saying anything would be useless.
Selena wiped my face with a wet cloth.
“The next target is the Emperor, right?”
The voice was calm despite the rather heavy content, so it felt like he was asking about breakfast.
“Yeah, are you okay? I feel like I’ve been treated with hypocrisy.”
“Ah, it won’t reach here. It was the capital city, so it had strong influence. Ah, the more time you give it, the more advantageous it is for the emperor. There are also demons underground. Do you want to blow your nose?”
“Okay.”
I pushed Selena’s hand away and got up. As Selena had said, it was clear that the more time I gave him, the worse it would be for me.
In any case, he was the emperor of an empire that had ruled the continent for a long time. In contrast, the people gathered on my side were more like a rabble, so time was not on our side.
‘All you have to do is to conquer the Emperor.’
I intended to end it in one go. I knew full well how terrible war was, so I didn’t intend to make it last long.
I stared at Selena for a moment. She was looking at me without blinking.
“It has to be finished within a month at the most.”
Selena was the director of the Central Administration, so that would probably be correct.
‘···A month.’
It was pretty similar to what I had planned.
I didn’t intend to drag it out too long either.
Knock knock.
A knock urging me on.
“I intend to call down the Red Calamity. If he cooperates, the other dragons will join in.”
“The Red Calamity is too dangerous. It is a territory that even the Master of the Sword has abandoned.”
I laughed slightly at Selena’s rebuttal.
Of course, that giant dragon called the Red Calamity was dangerous because it was rather rough-.
“I win.”
I answered briefly.
Selena nodded, even though there was no evidence to support her claim. Judging from the way her eyes moved busily, she seemed to be formulating a new plan.
It took quite some time for me to get into that state. I covered Selena with a blanket and headed for the door.
Knock knock.
When I opened the door, there was Brighton, dressed in casual clothes.
When I last saw him in the capital, he had been frozen in agony, but now his face looked strangely carefree.
“Aren’t you fired?”
“Just because you’ve been excommunicated doesn’t mean you can’t worship. And aren’t you an honorary abbot now? Since there’s no abbot in the synagogue, you’re the one who should take his place.”
If I were Brighton, I probably wouldn’t even pee on the podium, I was such a grumpy person.
Then, suddenly, a good thought occurred to me.
“Oh, I decided to believe in another god.”
I snapped my fingers and created a black aura. Brighton’s eyes widened as he saw it. He seemed to notice the aura contained in it.
However, the reaction was different from what I expected.
“You finally wield divine power! Yes! No matter how honorable it may be, it is impossible for an abbot to not be able to wield divine power! That is a good thing!”
I had to admit I underestimated Brighton, who were genuinely delighted.
“Wait a minute, doesn’t this color look a little weird?”
He hurriedly raised the black aura even higher.
It certainly had a sacred feel to it, but the color was black, different from the white sacred power of the sect. However-.
“Aaron, what does color matter? There are tens of thousands of colors in the world. It’s not right to discriminate by color. The essence is what matters.”
I muttered a curse under my breath as Brighton suddenly hardened his face and began to preach seriously.
There was no longer any excuse to refuse. Besides, it was true that Brighton had escorted Kanna to Cassadic, so I clicked my tongue and left the room.
“You, you don’t carry a sword anymore?”
Brighton asked with a smiling face.
He shook his right hand. The flesh split open and a long sword emerged. It was quite hot, but he was used to it now.
“These guys are there too.”
He pointed to Ben and the five elders standing on either side of the door. The two were still glaring at each other as if they were not on good terms.
“Are you awake?”
Ben spoke softly and showed his respect. The five elders bowed their heads deeply and made quiet, hushed sounds.
The two of them should have taken turns standing, but it seemed like they stayed up all night side by side, fighting over their pride.
I wondered how Selena got in through them. Looking at the five eldest sons who were slightly avoiding eye contact, it seemed like there was an insider.
Since there was no need for an escort, Ben left them at the bar and sent the five elders to sort out what was waiting outside. They both moved without saying a word.
‘The first one was useful, but he returned to the palace-.’
It seemed that he was worried about his eldest son. There was no way that his eldest son would die from a simple fire. There was also a possibility that he would turn to the emperor.
“The Cassadic Synagogue has been officially dissolved because all its members have been excommunicated. He was provided to us by Baron Pulpouts. We worship there regularly. Faith does not come from positions.”
Brighton opened the door to the bar, speaking calmly. Then I was greeted by the distinctive Cassadyk smell, mixed with the subtle smell of shit.
“Oh, not all of them were excommunicated.”
As I was swearing and shaking the mud off my boots, Brighton stared at me.
“You don’t need it, but are you really afraid? I’ll give it to you at a low price.”
He smiled faintly as he said that. He expected a torrent of complaints to come, but contrary to his expectations, Brighton just laughed heartily.
“Positions aren’t something you can buy or sell. I heard they’re here···.”
Brighton answered briefly and searched the stall in the corner. Then something popped out with a small sound.
It was a sullen Joanna. There were crumbs all over the corners of her mouth. Joanna, who was grabbed by Brighton’s neck, froze in place.
‘He was excommunicated and I stayed?’
I furrowed my eyebrows as I watched Joanna being scolded by Brighton. I wasn’t thinking much of it, but it made me feel uneasy to see her like that.
My eyes met with Joanna’s as she turned her head away from Brighton. When I nodded, Joanna frowned for a moment.
Nod.
However, they quickly nodded their heads in agreement.
“I have to return the armor, but what am I going to do if it’s just sitting there collecting dust like this?”
Nod, nod. Knock! Nod… nod.
Joanna kept saying something to Brighton’s nagging. It seemed like she was asking for help.
“Let’s just hurry up and clean up. I’m busy.”
“Aaron, the Honorary Abbot, you’re holding a service – what is that······.”
Joanna, who had taken advantage of the gap to get away from Brighton, turned her head to look at me. It was a new pattern.
So when he did, Joanna laughed softly. The sound of her laughter was rather strange. It sounded like the laughter of a sheep.
The synagogue was the same as before, but the number of people was incomparably greater.
It used to be a small synagogue on the outskirts, but now it was full of people who looked like they were forming a crusade.
Instead of shouting, they recited prayers. The one who led them was Joanie’s older sister, Johelia. They looked alike, but surprisingly, their actions were exactly the same.
So we headed to the chapel and had to attend a service full of madness unlike usual. Everyone was crying and scratching their cheeks in search of God, and then we ate the cake that Joanna had given us.
It was a little salty, but it wasn’t bad.
‘Then I guess I should take care of the bungbungi first. And while I’m at it, I should harvest some garlic too.’
Because my memory was so good, I could clearly remember the bastard’s nest.
Thinking about garlic made me feel good for no reason. No matter how delicious the food was, it was boring without garlic.
Dongle-.
At that moment, Joanna turned her head around to look at me.
I followed him and he let out that strange laugh again.
It was the sound that would come out if you pressed the stomach of a full sheep.
***
‘This··· This··· How did this happen···.’
BbungBbungi… no, Alvarsik tightly closed his eyes at the tragedy unfolding before him.
At first, I was attracted by the spicy smell that tickled my nose.
However, he tried to ignore it because it was planted by a strange human. Alvarsik did not want to get involved with that scary human.
But the longer they were left alone, the bigger they grew. Already as big as trees, they released their characteristic pungent odor everywhere.
It smelled faintly like a troll, so it seemed like troll blood had been sprinkled on it.
Since that terrifying human never came back again, Alvarsik thought that humans had forgotten him. Humans are creatures of forgetfulness.
Alvarsik intended to take care of the abandoned things a little, because leaving them alone was not good.
As I was managing it, I became curious about the taste because of its strong smell.
Since there were so many sheep, one seemed okay.
Alvarsik, who put one in his mouth, rolled around holding his stomach. The taste was so strong that he felt like it was a trap, so he hurriedly ran back to the nest.
Alvarsik was able to regain consciousness only after suffering for a long time.
I vowed never to go back there again, but the painful intensity kept coming back to me.
When I came to, I had eaten all that food.
‘I should have left some and grown new ones!’
Alvarsik wrinkled his nose at his own stupidity.
I found out that its name was garlic.
It only grows in the realm of Grektarkan, known to humans as the Red Calamity.
‘He is the kind of person who does not allow even the same dragon to enter his territory···.’
Alvarsik smacked his lips with deep regret.
Then suddenly, the thought occurred to me that humans might come back to find garlic.
There was no way he could find his nest in such a dense forest.
Still, feeling sorry, he carefully transplanted some very expensive trees into that area.
Even though they were trees that Alvarsik cherished, he still ate others’ trees without permission.
‘This should be enough.’
Alvarsik nodded in satisfaction as he looked at the gorgeously decorated landscape filled with precious trees.
Looking at this, you’ll forget there was even garlic.
When I finished with him, I felt tired.
Alvarsik headed to the nest.
This time, I had a lot of new experiences, so I planned to have a very deep and comfortable sleep.
Alvarsik, feeling better, laughed out loud.
