124th
precursor
124 ? Prelude #1
Kkaaaaaaah!
A bird with wings of steel spread wide roared. It was a terrible scream, like the sound of iron scraping against iron.
We covered our ears and frowned at him.
Soon the mechanical bird spread its wings wide and came waddling on two legs, flapping its wings toward me.
Phew.
It seemed like the guy’s sharp feathers were targeting none other than my jar.
As the name suggests, he is the guardian of the lake, and he seems determined not to send me back just like that, as I try to float away the black spring water as I please.
Phew, phew.
The guy kept attacking me, swinging his two wings like a fan.
Because he was carrying a large and heavy jar on his back, he had quite a bit of trouble avoiding the guy’s attacks.
So rather than avoiding it, I decided to pull out my club from my waist and slap its wings away with all my might.
Kang-!
Then, the new monster staggered back, making a loud metallic noise.
“I’ll help you, Hassan!”
Taking advantage of the gap, Luna also took something out of her bosom and threw it at the bird. However, even though she was covered in steel, her reaction was no less than that of a wild beast.
Pirruruk!
He cut Luna’s projectile flying towards him in two with his sharp steel feathers.
Sling, slap.
However, the contents inside are turned over and written on the steel body due to inertia.
“Okay, okay!”
Luna shouts brightly.
“Because you got grease, your body will become slippery and you won’t be able to move!”
“What, Greece?”
I don’t know what Greece is, but it was definitely painted on the machine bird’s body, smooth and shiny. The metal friction noise that could be heard whenever it moved was noticeably reduced.
Kkaaaaaaah!
The creature let out a high-pitched scream, as if it was angry that a strange liquid had been sprayed on its body. Then it jumped up and swung its wings like blades, rushing towards Luna.
Wings of steel feathers slash down like blades toward Luna’s head.
Shhhhhh, crack!
“Kueeek!”
Luna slowly fell to the floor with a shattered skull and a desperate scream.
Fur stone.
The smooth movements of the mechanical bird attacking her were almost artistically fast, so Luna seemed unable to dodge it.
“Luna! Are you okay!?”
“Well… .”
There was a loud bang, but Luna was moaning, so it seemed she wasn’t dead.
Anyway, when I thought about Luna getting hurt, I couldn’t help but feel so angry that my eyes flashed red. The hand holding the club suddenly gained strength.
“This Sibural baby!”
Then I kicked my hind legs and jumped towards the guy. It was quite difficult to run because of the heavy jar on my back, but I didn’t have time to worry about that.
He swings the club with all his might towards the bastard and strikes him with it.
Bang-!
Then, at the same time as the distinctive sound of metal hitting metal was heard, a chilling shock was transmitted to my hand.
Fortunately, my increased strength must have had an effect, as the body of the machine that was standing on the ground with both legs also shook greatly.
The guy staggers about uneasily, as if he might lose his balance and fall over at any moment.
That’s it.
Clank, clank.
It seems that most of the problems in this world are solved by swinging one’s fist!
Sueeeek!
The guy seemed angry and retaliated with the claws and beak on his front legs. The sharp steel attack left a horrible claw mark on the breastplate covering my chest.
“Hey, you little shit! How much is this? You piece of shit!”
I kept swinging the bat at that guy. Boom, bang, bang—the sound of something like a piece of scrap metal being smashed echoed around the area.
Seeeek, seeeek!
The creature’s steel body began to buckle and crumble, and its glittering feathers began to fall apart and roll across the floor.
Kkaaaaaaah!
I raised my head at the sound of another scream echoing through the sky.
And above them, I could see a bunch of strange birds fluttering and flying towards me, similar to the ones I had just been beating so hard.
Shit, I thought I could handle just one.
Four more are added. Is this a true balance patch?
“It’s done.”
A despairing assessment came out of my mouth. Is this the end? I have to lose the gold I earned without being able to use it.
It was that moment when I was trembling with slight anxiety.
“… A ditch, a ditch, a small stream-.”
Isn’t that strange words bursting out from somewhere in a small voice, as if terrified?
“Stream, stream, stream water, little pond. Rabbit, deer, fox, sparrow, little nymph friends…”
Sval, it was a nursery rhyme with a childish edge somewhere. The orange-haired nymph Paranoy, who was lying on the floor, shivering, began to sing!
Swooooow.
However, as if in response to the song, the bird lying beneath me lost a great deal of strength. It looked as if the power to a mechanical device had been cut off.
Not only that, but the strength drained from the bodies of the birds that were flying in the sky, and they slowly stopped flapping their wings and fell to the ground here and there.
Boom, bang, bang.
“Hee, heeeek!”
Paranoia screams, startled by the mechanical bird that landed next to him.
As soon as the guy stops singing like that, the mechanical birds start creaking again and making ominous noises.
“Hey, hey, sing! Sing!”
I urged Paranoy on like a boss who has been rudely treated at a company dinner. Paranoy shook his shoulders and made a sad face.
“That, that next lyric, I can’t remember…! It’s a song my mother used to sing to me when I was little….”
“Do whatever you want!”
“Ah, bird, I remembered! Ears, cute little nymph-. Beware of deer. You’ll be in big trouble if you ride on their backs. Poor little nymph, beware of swans-.”
It was a very funny and weird song.
“Koo, gurgling, gurgling, hide your head at the sound of thunder. Tiny little nymph of the stream and brook-.”
It seems that the suggestion to scare away the strange birds by singing has indeed worked. The birds stop moving again at the strange song and become frozen like cold stone statues.
“Hehehe, we’ve got the whole damn thing down, you little shits! It’s Sarah Connor’s revenge, you little shits.”
I took advantage of the gap and hit the bodies of the mechanical birds that had fallen to the ground with my club with all my might.
It wasn’t that hard to beat a stopped machine, so I was able to easily crush and dismantle their entire bodies.
* * *
When I came down to the entrance of Black Rock Mountain, a golden sunset was already setting in the sky.
Only after coming down from the warm volcano can you feel relieved.
“Brother, it will be okay now.”
Birds of a machine.
It seems that the Falcons of Stimpalos only chase people within the area of that rock mountain.
“Ugh, Sval, I really thought I was going to die.”
“Ah, ahh-. I guess I don’t have to sing anymore.”
Fortunately, Malko, who had come to his senses, continued to sing nonstop throughout the descent, so he was not attacked by any additional birds that followed him.
“I heard that there are often cultists around Mt. Bawi. Fortunately, I didn’t have to run into any cultists.”
“They must be busy too. Phew. Anyway, I came down safely. I climbed the mountain once.”
After the wagon was fully loaded, just before the coachman trotted the horses, I looked around at the group and asked, just in case.
“You didn’t leave anything behind, did you? Check to see if there are any injuries or sore spots.”
“Ugh.”
Luna took off her helmet at my words and touched her forehead. When Luna lifted her bangs with her palm, there was indeed a fairly large bump growing there.
It might be because I got hit in the head by a bird’s wing just now.
“I’m afraid….”
I was really worried because it made a loud noise, as if my skull had cracked.
Perhaps because he was wearing a sturdy ox-head helmet, his symptoms were limited to a mild concussion and a bruise with a swollen lump.
What would have happened if I hadn’t been wearing a bone helmet? It’s not something I’d want to imagine. That’s why adventurers have to be really selective about their armor.
If it weren’t for the iron plate covering my chest, I might have had a beak-shaped hole in my heart.
“I heard that they were made strong by the blessing of Vulcan. I didn’t know that they could be so broken. Brother, you have a knack for breaking things! Even the good ones will be destroyed if you get your hands on them!”
“Is that a compliment?”
“That’s right!”
Malko, who had taken a breath, evaluated the battle that had just taken place as if it were a great thing.
“Honestly, I don’t know if people would believe this story if I made it into a song. There’s no need to brag about it.”
I didn’t realize it because I was so busy hitting and destroying things, but it seems that the mechanical birds are quite intricately and sturdily made, making them difficult to destroy.
Now that I think about it, they were definitely quite sturdy. The scrap metal that went into their parts was so heavy that I had to throw it away.
Luna was angry because she thought she was attacked by a bird, so I think she must have shown more strength than usual. When people are pushed into extreme situations, they sometimes show strength that surpasses their usual level.
Suddenly, I felt like I knew why Hippolyte, Elfriede, and other famous adventurers took on dangerous tasks.
They say that the human brain limits its functions to a level that does not put a strain on the body.
Perhaps, for those who cross the line, such limits are becoming looser and more lax.
So, isn’t it that high-ranking adventurers have strength and skills that ordinary people can’t even imagine?
Of course, it’s just my own speculation, but it sounds like a pretty plausible story.
No, not that.
How many hours did I roll the carriage wheel, observing the sunset scenery with my body soaked in fatigue?
I could see smoke rising in the sky far away.
“Hey, Malkoya, isn’t that the direction of Sodomora?”
“That seems to be the case. There’s smoke coming out. Isn’t it like they’re having a festival with roasted bird?”
When I heard the word “shrimp,” an image of oily, golden-brown meat came to mind.
The meat and alcohol will seep into my body, which has suffered in the steamer, like rain pouring on dry sand.
“Damn, this looks delicious. I was hungry, so this is good.”
“Fresh meat…?”
Luna sniffs at him.
“It doesn’t look like fresh meat. It smells like burnt meat. It smells like burnt wood! It doesn’t look like they’re grilling meat!”
Luna’s words were correct.
As we approached the city, we could see black smoke rising here and there.
The city-.
The city is burning.
To be exact, it seems to have burned.
“What the heck, Sval? What the hell is going on?”
I grabbed one of the guards who was running around busily and asked him. The guard clicked his tongue and sweat dripped down from under his helmet.
“The cultists have appeared! Didn’t we capture the cult priests a while ago? There was chaos as the remnants of the cult clashed with the Temple Knights who were trying to transport them to the prison city!”
Remnants of the cult, the Templars, and the Prison City are transferred to the city.
The first thing that comes to mind when you think of familiar keywords is Pluto’s cultists, Schizor and Somnia. You mentioned that you were going to transport them to a giant prison city.
“So, what happened then?”
Paranoy, who was listening to those words from the side, reacted violently. Since this guy was originally a cultist, was he curious about what had happened to his colleagues?
“What’s the matter? They’re the Knights Templar. Of course, they were easily defeated. We even found a mountain hut where the remnants are hiding. A punitive force will be formed soon. Maybe even today.”
While we were struggling in the hot volcano, Sodomora was also struggling in her own way, fighting the hot flames.
Anyway, since it didn’t really concern us, we just walked to the Temple of Venus to finish the task we had been given.
The cultists, the Templars, these are all quite different from the bronze nerds we are.
The Temple of Venus on the central street, where we arrived, had a peaceful atmosphere, just like the day before, with white birds flying around and flowers spread out here and there.
This place too must have been far removed from the cult raids and battles that swept through the city.
Is this really the temple of love? Is love stronger than violence?
“Wow, they’re beautiful. There are so many roses.”
Luna looked around with her mouth wide open, as if it was her first time at the Temple of Venus.
There must have been something about the garden scenery with the sunset that touched the heart of the tender girl Luna.
We carried water buckets and entered the temple. However, unlike the last time we visited, the interior of the temple was much more gloomy than we had imagined.
The only person guarding the temple is the same receptionist we met last time.
“The whole city is in chaos. The saint is hiding. Next time you come, you will receive proper compensation along with our thanks.”
Because he is a VIP who could be targeted by air raids, he seems to have taken refuge in a bunker or something.
I wonder what kind of compensation I will receive from that VIP. Since he is a high-ranking person, I am sure he will give me something great, right?
“Then let’s go eat!”
As usual, we went to the inn and ordered some alcohol and meat to relieve the aftereffects of the request.
Whether the city is burning to the ground from the raids of the cultists or not, the slum inns are as always filled with drunken fools with red faces.
Of course, we are one of them.
“You said it was a request from the saint, right? What can I get in return? Gold coins, just like the advance payment I received?”
Luna’s eyes sparkled as she thought about the reward she would receive. She didn’t feel drunk even though she had already had a few drinks.
Malco drinking a glass next to Luna.
“Brother, not long ago, you were selling goblin teeth. Now, aren’t you in a pretty good mood? Let’s go to Rock Mountain again later!”
“Fuck you, you almost got screwed when you passed out halfway through. If it weren’t for Paranoy, we’d all be out by now.”
I recalled the urgent moment just a moment ago. Now that I think about it, it was a dangerous situation that made my eyes go dark.
Paranoy, who had done a great job of killing the birds, was lying face down, sprawled out on a glass of beer. He seemed tired.
“Gold coins-. A lot of gold coins… .”
At that moment, my heart ached at the sight of the gold coin that came out of the guy’s half-open mouth.
While Sera was looking around in case someone had heard, Luna took out a moderately sized carrot from the food and put it in Paranoy’s mouth.
“Be quiet, Paranoy.”
You shouldn’t say things like ‘I ate the thief’s money’ while sleeping. That would be a very wise thing to do.
“… .”
At that moment, everyone kept their mouths shut and fell into a brief moment of silence.
Bam. Bam, bam, clank.
A crowd of armored soldiers poured into the inn. Malko shouted in surprise.
“Hey, this guy doesn’t know anything!”
What the hell are you talking about all of a sudden? Why are there soldiers coming into the inn? Have you really already been caught stealing money?
The thieves’ gold coins in their pockets began to feel heavy. But the soldiers did not look at us or anything, and instead stuck small scroll-like things on the walls of the inn.
Then, a soldier wearing a yellow cloak shouted loudly at the guests who were looking at this sight with puzzlement.
“I am the Count’s knight Bayona! Those whose names are being called now, stand up! First of all, those of age or older! And men who can hold weapons, stand up!!”
At that shout, one of the drunkards frowned and asked.
“What on earth is going on that makes people who are resting well get up?”
At that question, everyone’s eyes were focused on the soldiers’ mouths.
Sling.
The knight asked the question, Bayona, drew his sword from his waistband, and slammed it into the table, shouting:
“War! War! It’s war!”
[Work Review]
Today is the day the entire novel is released for free ㅠㅠㅠ… I never thought I would have an event like this…!!!
Readers who have read this far…!!!
I am grateful to the new readers who joined the event and to those I will meet in the future…!!!
Please let’s see each other for a long time, tsk tsk…ㅠㅠ!!
