walking corpse
The raindrops grew heavier. The ground became muddy and dragged my feet. My steps became heavier.
“Damn it! I shouldn’t have taken on this request. They gave me a lot of money… but there must have been a demon involved. Oh my god… the sun god.”
The weasel continued to mutter curses as he searched for the sun god, not knowing whether he was praying or cursing the god, but either way, it didn’t seem like it would be of much help.
“···You are strangely calm.”
John said, handing me the canteen. I shook my head. Alcohol slows down your hands for a split second. Right now, it’s better to be thirsty.
‘I see.’
As John said, he wasn’t as shaken as the other mercenaries.
In any case, we had a knight on our side. Even if the opponent was a demon, as long as we had the sword of humanity, we had a chance of winning.
And sadly, if there was even a slight chance, I always survived.
The power of the demons varied greatly depending on the sacrifice offered. From simple insect-like demons that were worse than adult men, to demons that could devour cities and destroy kingdoms. It was truly diverse.
However, this was a village with only 80 people.
“Nothing bad could happen. And the guys who did that might not come back.”
“That’s true. It’s better to be peaceful than to be terrified. Don’t they say that the devil preys on people’s fears?”
John laughed bitterly at her question. It was one of the rumors floating around about demons. But demons don’t feed on fear.
[Aaron.]
The devil feeds on despair.
I like despair that has matured to the point where it smells really bad and putrid.
“But you guys don’t eat stew? The other mercenaries were raving about how delicious it was.”
John asked, pointing to the place where people were gathered.
“Ugh… How can you eat after seeing such a horrible sight? I almost threw up after eating just now.”
The weasel made a face and imitated vomiting.
I didn’t really have any thoughts about dinner either.
The fishy smell of the shitty fish bread I ate earlier still lingered, so I had no appetite.
“If you want to live long, you have to eat while you can. Isn’t life something we never know when something will happen?”
John muttered, took a dry-looking piece of bread out of his arms, and took a big bite.
“Then why doesn’t John eat that delicious stew instead of that dry bread?”
“I don’t usually eat food given to me by others. I don’t know what might happen.”
John chewed the bread, as if he was a wild beast, taking a big bite. Then he put his hand out to catch some rainwater and put it to his mouth.
“Ugh… I have to spend the night here. I’m worried I won’t be able to sleep….”
The weasel continued to groan.
Yeong-ae and the knight entered the largest house in the village. It seemed to be where the village chief lived, and unlike the other houses, it was a large house built of bricks.
In front of him, a woman dressed as a maid was distributing stew boiled in a large pot. People were crowded around the pot.
The horrific sight just now didn’t seem to be enough to dampen their appetites. After all, in the Middle Ages, when executions were carried out in the square, people would bring bread and chew on it while watching.
“But isn’t that girl really pretty? Wow, I’ve never seen such a pretty girl in my life. Ouch! Why are you hitting me! Ouch! Seriously···.”
As if he had lost his mind, he quickly grabbed the weasel that was talking about nobles. He grumbled, so I grabbed him again and he quickly became quiet. One punch was more effective than ten words.
“It’s better not to even mention things related to nobility.”
“···I know that too, but isn’t it far? And the sound of the rain is loud.”
“Anyway, just think about it to yourself. No, don’t even think about it to yourself.”
As John spoke firmly, the weasel grumbled and closed its mouth.
Once again the sound of rain filled the surroundings.
I took the sword out of its scabbard and checked its condition.
For me, the cool sensation of the black cotton worked better than any sedative.
***
‘These guys are crazy.’
Weasel… No, Dylan swallowed a curse inwardly as he watched the mercenaries nodding off next to him.
Right now, in a situation where the devil could come out, you’re dozing off! It was obvious that your liver was swollen. Even though there were three people standing guard together, the other two, except for Dylan, were both dozing off.
‘Those losers deserve to get screwed.’
He wanted to punch him in the back of the head, but unfortunately the mercenary was bigger than him. If he punched him, he would definitely get a verbal response.
Dylan was able to endure it easily because he had recently keenly realized the importance of understanding the subject.
Dylan then turned his gaze to the soldier standing in front of the building where the nobleman was staying. The rain was falling heavily, and it was clear that he would get soaked if he tried to get through.
Dylan weighed the options of fucking these guys up and getting soaked in rain.
Drumroll. Kuu.
Dylan made up his mind when he heard loud snoring next to him. It would definitely be worth it to fuck them up even if it meant getting soaked.
Dylan ran quickly towards the house across the street. His body instantly cooled as he got drenched in the rain.
‘You guys are fucked now.’
I couldn’t help but hum when I thought of the punishment those lazy bastards would receive.
Two soldiers stood there, holding spears. Dylan approached them, seriously considering what he could say to make them even more angry.
“Those soldiers… they’re standing guard right now, aren’t they in groups of three? So, just in case something serious happens, they’re looking around with their eyes wide open, when all of a sudden, they hear a snoring sound right next to them?!”
Drumroll.
“That’s right! It’s a little smaller than that, but similar… huh?”
Dylan noticed something odd and tilted his head to the side to examine the soldier’s face beneath the helmet.
The soldier, whose face was covered in ugly acne, was leaning against the wall, holding a spear, but his eyes were closed. Even saliva was flowing from his mouth.
‘Are you crazy? Even the soldiers… They’re going crazy because they can’t keep up!’
In that moment, the heat rose up. Right now, some people are so worried about closing their eyes because of the devil that they open their eyes less than twice, and instead open them only once to stand guard, but the rest of them, whether they are soldiers or mercenaries, are all sleeping…
‘Everyone is sleeping? The soldiers are guarding the nobles?’
Only then did Dylan realize something was wrong. Unless he had multiple lives, he couldn’t sleep while protecting the nobles. And he didn’t know when the demon would show up. It didn’t make sense to sleep without going crazy.
Suddenly.
At that moment, a sound was heard through the sound of the rain.
It was a very small sound, but Dylan was creeped out by the hostility contained in that small sound.
He slowly turned his heavy neck as if it had a weight on it.
Couldn’t you hear it because of the sound of the rain?
Something in the dozens was approaching.
In the darkness, both hands were outstretched and approaching, and it had the shape of a human being, but it was completely lifeless and had an indescribable ominousness.
‘···What a devil!!!’
Dylan tried to scream, but he punched himself in the mouth. Blood was coming out of his mouth, but he didn’t have the presence of mind to care.
He desperately rolled his eyes and looked for a place to escape, but dozens of them were closing in like a net. Dylan was helplessly trapped like a fish in a net.
절체절명의 순간에 딜런은 무의식적으로 그 악마 같은 개새끼를 떠올렸다.
Instead of horses, a bastard is ignorant.
하지만, 지금 여기서 가장 강한 개새끼이기도 했다.
“Hyung, yuh …
Dylan quickly ran to where the mercenaries were staying.
***
There was no way I could sleep in this situation.
I sat down closest to the door, holding the sword in my arms and taking out the book I had brought earlier.
The content of the book was about a certain article.
The noble knight helped those in need, fought against demons, and eventually became a hero and was praised by the people.
It was a typical hero story. The main character’s name seemed familiar, so it seemed like it was spread by a high-ranking family for propaganda purposes.
The blank spaces in the book were filled with crooked writing. It was a sloppy novel, but the child was so absorbed in the story that he seemed to admire the knight.
In the part where the knight is suffering, the words ‘Cheer up!’ were written in crooked letters.
Then in the middle.
[I met the old man today. The Jones gang was harassing me, and the old man swung his fist and beat them up! Jones cried so hard that I was embarrassed. The braggart Jones!]
‘I hit you too hard.’
I smiled bitterly and turned to the next page.
[Yesterday, I saw the old man beat up Hans, the troublemaker in the village. Hans was the strongest man in the village, but he couldn’t even lay a hand on the old man and got beaten up so badly. The old man was the strongest man I’ve ever seen. I asked my mother if the old man was a knight, and she scolded me to stop talking nonsense and get some more straw to spread on the floor.]
[Reading and writing is so much fun.]
[When I told him how much I love writing, he told me about the job of a librarian. He said that if you go to a city far away, there is a place where the whole world is filled with books! Oh my!]
The next part was torn as if someone had ripped it off. After that, the last page remained.
[I told my father that I wanted to be a librarian, and he beat me for a long time. My father was so angry that he tore the book apart and threw it away. It was my favorite part···]
[My father came back drunk and held me and cried for a long time. He said that we were tied with an invisible leash and that we couldn’t escape it. He cried for a long time, saying that he was sorry. It was such difficult words, I didn’t know what he was saying, but I cried along with him.]
···It’s a leash.
That was right.
Not only the peasants of the village, but also I, the mercenaries, and the nobles all wore invisible leashes.
Yeah···.
Hearing the small sound, he habitually pulled out his sword and stabbed. An unpleasant sensation ran through the handle of the sword.
The blood flowing down the sword touched my hand. The blood was not hot, but cold. It was as cold as ice. The opponent was not human.
As I drew my sword, my opponent was dragged closer. Despite his fatal wound, he opened his mouth wide, showing his hostility. I could see my opponent’s face in the cool moonlight coming through the crack in the door. His gray eyes, his pale face with flesh falling off here and there, exuded an ominous aura.
‘A walking corpse.’
It was a zombie. I pulled out the sword stuck in the guy and cut off his neck. Cold black blood soaked my body.
I felt resistance from the bone in the middle, so I slammed my fist down on the handle. Crunch. My neck was cut off with an unpleasant sound.
I kicked the head of the fallen zombie with my foot. The head rolled away and hit the sleeping mercenary, but the mercenary did not wake up.
He struck the mercenary next to him in the face with his sword. He hit him so hard that it made a loud noise, but the mercenary did not get up.
Judging by the up and down movement of the ship, it was alive. But since it did not wake up, it seemed to be more than just a deep sleep.
“Hyoo …
A weasel with a very sad face came into the house.
“There are… strange things outside… and the soldiers are all sleeping… Kkieeeek!!!”
The stammering weasel saw the headless corpse at his feet, screamed, and jumped up.
‘Even the soldiers… Is it medicine? When?’
I quickly retraced my steps. The weasel and I were safe… Something had definitely been added to the stew I had eaten for dinner. It wasn’t just that the soldiers looked tired, so they were given medicine to sleep through, so there had to be an enemy inside.
‘It’s like that fucking fish bread saved me.’
I felt strangely dirty. I swung my sword, shook off the blood, and went outside.
It was pouring rain and there were a ton of zombies swarming around. It was like something out of a B-movie zombie movie.
‘It looks like you need to stay alive, since you’re not poisoned, but you’re given sleeping pills.’
The thought continued without stopping. Who would be needed alive? There was no way he would do something so grand just to target soldiers or mercenaries, so it was one of two things. The Black Knight and the Young Lady.
‘Is it Youngae?’
Even if they were in a relationship where marriage was involved, it was strange that they gave him that precious article.
There must be something about Youngae that I don’t know about, since she wouldn’t do such crazy things within the empire just because she’s beautiful.
‘What about the knight?’
The question was whether the Black Knight had eaten the famously delicious stew. If he could take on demons, then zombies were no problem.
“Brother!! Let’s run away! If the two of us work together, can’t we break through one side?!”
The weasel cried out, his hand trembling as he held the axe. The creature was twitching its body as if it wanted to run away at any moment, and was watching me closely.
‘···Escape.’
I laughed bitterly at the words that were sweet and yet refreshing.
[Run away.]
[Don’t look back.]
[Survive.]
[It is an order.]
It was already the eastern outskirts of the empire, on the other side. Where else could they run away from here?
If I left Young-ae behind, I couldn’t return to Cassidy Castle. I would be caught right away and become the new mascot of Cassidy Castle.
‘In the end, all that’s left is the Brighton Kingdom across the sea… I’d rather die.’
I laughed bitterly at the smell of blood still lingering in my mouth. I didn’t want to go there even if I died.
“Get in. You look like shit, but you’re weak. Don’t sleep and swing your axe properly.”
I thought the weasel was yelling something behind me, but I couldn’t hear it because it was drowned out by the sound of the rain. It must have been dog barking anyway.
As I stepped forward, heavy raindrops greeted me. The ambiguous April rain, neither here nor there, was lukewarm.
The eastern part of the empire was a place with really shitty weather. It was a shit place where it rained more days than it saw sun.
Grow up-.
The zombie right in front of me greeted me with a dull, squelching sound, like the air was being sucked out of me.
“Growling!”
He swung his sword horizontally. With one stroke, the zombie’s neck split. Cold blood spurted out, but he didn’t dodge. Soon after, lukewarm rain washed him away.
The body that lost its head fell forward, extending its hand as if it was sorry. I pushed him with my shoulder and advanced. The zombie fell to the ground, creating a small spray of water.
[Huh? Why do you smile every day? In the village I used to live in, there was a saying that if you smile, good luck would come. So, youngest, you should smile too. What’s with that expression?]
Now, I needed some luck.
I forced the corners of my lips to rise.
The knight may or may not have eaten that delicious stew, but he needed to get the zombies’ attention.
“Papa! Papa! Papa! Papa!”
I shouted the military bugle call, which I now vaguely remember, so loudly that my throat burst.
[I told you not to do that! It makes me feel bad! I don’t know what it is!]
Woorurung- Bwaang!!
A lightning bolt cracked the crimson sky in half.
The surroundings suddenly brightened.
I saw dozens of zombies staring at me, their movements frozen. Long streams of saliva flowed out of the zombies’ mouths, falling to the ground.
“There are so many shits.”
He pretended as if nothing had happened, muttered, and adjusted his grip on the sword.
With this number, there was no chance of winning.
And sadly, if there was even a slight chance of winning, I always survived.
