243
Underwear thief
‘There’s no place to park.’
Unlike the BbungBbung, which could be placed on the Yeongju Castle, the BbungBbungIl was a size between the inner and outer castles, so it could not be parked inside the Catholic Church.
He led Bongbongil to a clearing between Dalus’s cabin and the Kirton Mountains.
It was an unused area because there were many cases of monsters coming down from the Kirton Mountains.
Kuung. The ship slowly descended with a heavy thud.
The bungbungil that landed within a short while lowered its head to make it easier to get down. I patted the head of the rather docile guy and got down.
At that moment, the bung-bung that had been following me landed far away.
Its tail was wagging awkwardly, as if it was really scared of BbungBbungIl. It looked as if it would flip over at any moment.
‘That’s also a dragon-.’
“Aaron!”
Vivian, who was on the top of the balloon, jumped. It seemed like she jumped lightly, but she jumped quite high, as if she was flying. Her wide skirt flapped like wings.
Vivian landed lightly. But there were two children in her arms. One was Kanna, and the other was a white little boy she had never seen before.
Kanna jumped out of Vivian’s arms and ran quickly. Kanna, who was right next to my leg, opened her eyes wide and looked up. Her eyes sparkled so brightly.
It seemed like BbungBbungIl was curious. I glanced at BbungBbungIl and nodded.
“You can touch it.”
“Wow-!”
Kanna, who burst into cheers, approached BbungBbungIl and touched him carefully.
BbungBbungIl’s eyes were fixed on Vivian. It seemed to be due to the influence of the one who was loved by Mana, but she did not call her “Mom” like BbungBbungI did.
“You’re here? You’re late!”
Vivian smiled brightly and spoke quickly. Her voice sounded strangely burdensome compared to before. Her eyes were also sparkling big as if she was expecting something.
“Oh, Vivian. Could you please check on her?”
I said, pointing to the bung bung with its shell torn off.
“······yes?”
“Yes, I heard that if you receive mana, it will heal itself.”
“Ah! That’s right! I’ll give it a try!”
Vivian, who had a strange expression on her face for a moment, smiled brightly again and turned to BbungBbungIl.
“Hello! My name is Vivian! Let me touch you for a moment!”
Vivian waved her hand while looking up at the bumblebee. Then the bumblebee’s eyes blinked widely.
[Hmm.]
As Vivian placed her hand on the torn area of the shell, the worm let out a low, gurgling sound.
It was the exact opposite of the silence I felt when I received my crimson aura.
“Your shell is very glossy! Your figure is also very manly! You are cool!”
Vivian continued to shower him with compliments and skillfully stroked BbungBbung. Perhaps it worked, as BbungBbung lowered its head a little more. It was a great friendliness.
“Are you a seed of the South?”
At that moment, I heard a voice from below. I looked down and saw a little white boy looking up at me.
The crooked stance and the pipe-mouthed puffing posture were irritating.
I couldn’t stand anything else, but I couldn’t stand rudeness even more.
“Being arrogant in front of adults.”
I swung my fist, intending to knock it lightly, but something blocked it.
‘You were a wizard.’
As I put more force into my hand, something transparent broke with a light sound.
A small look of surprise crossed the little boy’s face. However, it was quickly blocked by another barrier. This one was even harder.
‘It’s solid.’
It wasn’t like I couldn’t break it if I wanted to, but I didn’t intend to go that far.
I habitually shook my hand, keeping an eye on how much force it would take to break the barrier below.
“This guy, that girl… Is the East going to swing its fists first?”
The little boy squinted his eyes and blew smoke. Then, a round, colorful puff of smoke came out.
“You look like a child, but you’re actually quite old! It’s the winter of the North! The famous one!”
Vivian, who was watching the commotion, shouted in a hurry.
‘···Winter in the North?’
It was a name I had heard before. He was the strongest magician in name and reality. But who would have thought he would be this brat?
“You’ve been around for a while.”
The little boy laughed, seeming pleased with my compliment. Colorful smoke poured out of his nose and mouth.
“You’re a funny kid. Yes, you’re the king of demons.”
“I’m doing it as a side job.”
“······sideline?”
As I nodded, the little boy frowned. After mumbling to himself for a moment, the little boy smiled faintly.
“Anyway, we’ve collected three seeds. So where is the last one in the west?”
The little boy suddenly started talking about seeds.
‘You think I’m a southern seed, huh?’
I don’t know why, but the way he spoke seemed to suggest that he thought so. I answered the little boy’s question by patting my stomach.
“The seeds of the West are here.”
The little boy frowned as if he didn’t understand my answer.
“···What does that mean?”
“I ate.”
“Did you eat?”
As I nodded to the brief question, the boy exhaled a long stream of smoke. He flicked the ash from his pipe and looked up at me again.
“Wasn’t the seed of the west the great devil?”
“There were good reasons for that.”
The kid looked at me with a look that said, “What kind of guy is this?”
“···Was it delicious?”
“Not bad.”
The little boy laughed as if he was coughing. He was very good at puffing on his pipe.
“Okay, so all the seeds have gathered. Hmm······.”
The little boy looked me up and down with his eyes as if he was examining me.
At that moment, the first one riding a wyvern arrived. The wyverns, which were usually noisy, were quiet and not even barking.
I remember the wyvern as having quite a temper, but now it was lying flat on its stomach and sulking.
The sun was almost set and it was getting dark.
“I’ll do the rest tomorrow and then go back for now.”
‘Eight of them-.’
I fiddled with the wyvern reins the first guy gave me and wondered where to use them.
‘You can’t ride a wyvern where there’s a roar.’
At that moment, Vivian tried to pick up BbungBbung. As soon as Vivian’s hand touched it, BbungBbung’s tail started wagging wildly.
“Oh, let’s leave BbungBbung here.”
It seemed necessary to attach BbungBbung to BbungBbungIl, so Vivian, who was taking care of BbungBbung, was stopped.
At that, BoongBoong opened his eyes wide and looked at me. Squeak- squeak-. He wagged his tail pitifully, but at BoongBoong’s gaze, the little guy slowly crawled again.
“I’m sorry! I’ll come right away tomorrow when the sun rises!”
Kanna ran over to me as usual and sat down in front of me. I was trying to make room for her-.
“Why are you here?”
“This is my first time riding a wyvern!”
“It will be similar to a dragon.”
“It’s different!”
I was momentarily speechless at the confident answer. Since the three of us could ride the Wyvern anyway, I didn’t bother arguing.
but-.
“Please stop fiddling around.”
“No! I caught it because it was dangerous!”
He clicked his tongue at Vivian’s bewildered voice and pulled on the reins.
As the wyvern flew up, Kanna raised her hand in delight.
Since I liked Kanna so much, I took a few laps around the area and returned to Cassady.
***
“The preparations are complete.”
I nodded, looking over the document Selena handed me.
I thought Selena would take care of it since she was the head of the Central Management Office.
‘You did better than I expected.’
I just thought it was a matter of raising troops to open the way, but the number and quality were far greater than I expected.
Of course, since it was hastily put together, it would be somewhat lacking in actual combat, but even taking that into account, it was a sufficient force.
“There were various factions within the rebels. There was a certain generational crossover among them.”
It seemed like trouble had already broken out even though it had been empty for a few days. Anyway, those uncivilized medieval guys would do something if you took your eyes off them for even a moment.
but-.
“It doesn’t matter.”
Anyway, once they advanced to the capital, the problem would have died down. Now that they had time, they looked around here and there, but once the battle began, they wouldn’t have time to think about such things.
Selena bowed her head deeply. Nova, who was next to her, looked back and forth between Selena and me with an uneasy expression.
“First of all, as you said, we did not involve any Cassidy personnel.”
Nova spoke in a sharp voice, the exact opposite of Selena’s. It was clear that she was not happy with my decision.
As I nodded to him, Nova knitted her eyebrows together.
“I understand how you feel, but you are only able to provide one troop, so why are you excluding all of the Cassidy troops? Isn’t that too much?”
Nova glared at me and nagged me. Her voice was sharp, but it was more concerned than annoyed.
No matter how much you train them, they are still just frontier guys. Taking them with you will only make you feel uneasy.
“They’re useless. Those who haven’t even experienced combat are just a burden. Whether they’re there or not, they’re a small force.”
“But you’re going to die anyway. And they want you to be with them.”
Nova spoke wetly at the end, as if chewing.
That was true too. If I lost, my life would be tied up and disposed of anyway. Of course, the stupid ones would risk their lives to help-.
I shook my head.
There was no need to do that.
“I can shoot a bow too···. I’m really stubborn···.”
Nova nodded, grumbling slightly.
“Nova was very worried.”
“···Selena!”
Nova screamed sharply. Selena winked.
“No, I wasn’t worried. If you lose, just-”
“Okay. Just build a sewer with those troops.”
Nova grumbled for a moment, looking back and forth between me and Selena.
“······Is the sewer really that good? Yes, I’ll build it really nice. I won’t envy the water supply.”
Nova answered grumblingly. Then Selena slowly put her arm around his shoulder, and Nova, who had been leaning against her unconsciously, stepped back in surprise.
Just then, someone knocked on the door. Before Nova could answer, the door opened and a familiar face came in.
It was the illegitimate square Jayce. He must have gotten promoted or something, the man in the soldier’s armor said urgently.
“They said they came from what I think is the Management Office, and they said they had to see Aaron… no, Aaron himself-.”
Jace hesitated for a moment and then took a step back.
Then a man with a very shabby appearance appeared. His hair was disheveled and his body was covered in soot and peeling marks.
Nova took a deep breath at the horrifying sight, as if she had just descended into hell.
“Oh… It’s been a while. This is Gesher Wind from the Eastern Management Agency.”
It was only after I heard the bastard’s voice that I was able to recognize who it was.
It was Aisher who had been showing us the way at the management office. He had clearly been quite neat in appearance, but now he looked like something that was hard to look at with open eyes.
It seemed like a lot had happened in the meantime.
“I told you to pass this on to me-.”
The guy whose eyes met mine held something out to me.
It was a familiar clump of black feathers to me.
The crow’s owner was clearly a heartless young bird, but he was very fond of the crow. There was even a story that he somehow beat up a noble who caught the crow.
The fact that a guy like that sent a crow feather meant that the situation was serious.
“Who is that?”
The guy shook his head at my question. It was unclear whether he meant he didn’t know or that he was lost, but it seemed like the latter.
‘You stupid kid.’
I clicked my tongue slightly and examined the feather. It looked like an ordinary feather, but upon closer inspection, each part of the feather was of different lengths.
This was the guy’s password.
I remembered how I had a hard time memorizing him in the past, so I deciphered it in folded and short parts.
‘This kid is quite the vicious one.’
The situation in the capital was described in detail, as if it were an intimate report.
‘···He must be dead.’
No matter how bad a bastard he was, there was no way he could extract this information and get away with it.
After reading what was written there, I could understand why the guy had plucked the crow’s feathers.
At the end of it-.
[I will receive the balance in hell.]
It seemed as if that hypocrite had eaten crow meat.
“Why? What does it say?”
Nova asked with an anxious look on her face. At that, I realized that my face was seriously stiff.
I thought about my answer for a moment, then winked one eye instead.
Nova screamed softly.
Jace, who was behind him, vomited.
***
‘What is this······?’
Balhar Khan grimaced at the musty smell that filled the dark space.
A variety of people were sitting around a large round table in the middle.
What was strange was that in the center of it all sat a purple-haired girl. The girl looked at Balhar Khan with a proud face.
Balhar Khan turned his gaze to him and found a familiar face.
‘···Five eldest sons?’
Balhar Khan muttered quietly as he looked at the five eldest sons.
“Then, let us begin the 4th Aaron subordinate meeting.”
At that moment, the mean-looking guy across from me spoke with an unbecoming, solemn expression on his face.
“I told you not to call me that useless thing.”
“Then you don’t have to come.”
“···Ben.”
As the five elders spoke in an irritated voice, a blond man who appeared to be a knight answered.
The five elders glared at the blond man and closed their mouths.
“We’re all working hard under Brother Aaron, so let’s get along well. And this time, I’m telling you, it’s not something useless-!”
The mean-looking guy jumped up and said.
“You said it was important last time, but you keep saying weird things.”
This time, the ugly wizard grumbled. The mean-looking guy, who ignored the grumbling of the others, immediately glared at the ugly wizard.
Then the ugly wizard closed his mouth with a blank laugh as if he found it ridiculous.
“Whew-. I’m sure you all know that my brother is back. But did you know that he brought us a gift?”
The mean-looking man spoke in a low voice.
At that moment, Balhar Khan turned his head at the rustling sound he heard from the side.
There was a woman wearing the armor of the sect, and a faint light was coming out of her body, as if she had done something.
It was brighter than I thought even though it was underground, probably because of that light. The woman was eating the cake diligently, as if she didn’t care.
Boom! A mean-looking man knocked on the round table, drawing attention.
“······Eight wyverns!”
A small murmur arose as the mean-looking man shouted.
Everyone seemed to know the value of the wyvern. It was a given. For ordinary knights, the wyvern that only the imperial knights rode was like a dream.
Balhar Khan sat up straight for no reason. However, no one was looking at him.
“Now, aren’t all of you gathered here important confidants of Brother Aaron? That’s why I called you here to discuss it. Of course, Brother, you’ll probably be foolish to share it! Wouldn’t it be nice to have our own stories? It’d be nice to get to know each other better!”
Everyone nodded to the words of the vile-looking man.
When the story of the wyvern came up, the atmosphere changed subtly. Everyone looked around with sparkling eyes.
“Of course I deserve it.”
At that moment, the blonde knight stood up and spoke firmly. Her upright posture showed that she was quite skilled.
“Sir Adelaide? What is the reason?”
“Of these, I served first.”
The knight named Adela looked around and said.
‘He has good spirit and is a useful knight.’
Balhar Khan nodded while examining Adela. Her posture was good, and her spirit was not bad. She was a great knight.
“Akdelgu, you don’t say that you serve when you lose a fight for honor.”
At that moment, the plump middle-aged knight shook his head and said.
‘···The knight risks his honor? Did he even insult his parents?’
To a knight, honor was his life. He would never risk his honor unless it was for a serious matter.
“Didn’t you say we’d keep it a secret! You piece of shit!”
“Ahem······. I’ve followed him since he was a Deokgu. I even have a collection of Deokgu statues at home, so you could say I’ve followed him the longest.”
Adolf spoke, trying hard to avoid Adela’s gaze. From that moment on, the atmosphere began to heat up.
“I traveled the continent for him. Of course you know how big the continent is.”
“It’s a continent, it’s just wide, but it’s not useful. It’s not even enough to destroy the capital. I still vividly remember blowing up the administration office with that guy.”
“If I had a wyvern, it would be good for magic research-.”
They rose from their seats one after another and began to brag about how loyal they were to Aaron. Balhar Khan frowned at the fact that the five eldest sons were among them.
What was strange was that they were arguing while looking at the girl sitting in the middle.
They chattered as if the girl had the final say.
Meanwhile, the heretic inquisitor was eating the cake, seemingly uninterested. A mean-looking guy approached him and spoke.
“If you fly on a wyvern, you will never find Brighton.”
When Balhar Khan squinted his eyes at the incomprehensible sound-.
A woman who had been quietly eating cake suddenly stood up from her seat and raised her hand.
Everyone shut their mouths at the sudden strengthening of the halo, and the woman declared in a low voice.
Everyone’s eyes widened at the woman’s shocking remark.
***
Knock knock.
At the sound of a heavy knock, executioner Dalus headed for the door.
As people have been flocking to Cassidy recently, there have been some uninvited guests. Just in case, Dalus prepared his halberd and stood in front of the door.
“Who is it?”
“grow.”
Dalus opened the door with the corners of his lips raised at the rough, low voice that he could not imitate.
Aaron was grimacing. His face was somewhat unfamiliar with the scars that had disappeared, but his distinctive aura was still there.
Dalus opened the door with a small smile.
No, Aaron was already in before I could open it.
It was a time when the weather was gradually getting warmer, but the sun had set, and a chilly wind was blowing in through the gap. Dalus closed the door with force. The joints of the door creaked.
“I guess you made some money.”
Dalus laughed slightly at the sight of Aaron naturally drinking the wine on the table as if it were his own. For such an ignorant man to be called a king. It was ridiculous.
“These days, it’s a big deal. Even two bodies wouldn’t be enough.”
“Can you help me?”
Aaron asked casually.
Dalus felt a little relieved. When he saw me riding on top of the giant dragon, he felt like he was far away, but it was the same. There’s no way it’ll change… Dalus muttered quietly and shook his head.
“Okay, you are the king.”
“···The king.”
Dalus and Aaron looked at each other and laughed for a moment.
“Where did Ted go?”
“There have been a lot of people outside the castle recently, so I’ve left it to the captain of the outer castle guard.”
“···Did you touch this place?”
“It’s okay, I was just wandering around.”
Dalus smiled wryly at Aaron’s slightly furrowed eyebrows.
“By the way, that was a really cool dragon.”
Dalus sat down across from Aaron and said.
“It was hard to catch.”
“It was hard work-.”
It was a light-hearted remark, almost like a joke, but Aaron’s face looked strangely tired.
The two continued to talk about trivial things while pouring wine, such as whether they should be paid more when beheading an outsider.
Aaron argued that they should receive more, and Dalus argued that they should receive less so that there would be fewer visitors. In the end, they decided to split the bill halfway and receive the same amount.
Aaron’s expression as he spoke was a little different than usual.
Something seemed to be going on, but Dalus didn’t bother to ask. Aaron hadn’t asked why Dalus’ wife had run away either.
dripping.
“Oh, you’re here. Could you please step aside?”
“Do you have the awareness that this is your home?”
“When the roof collapsed in the heavy rain, didn’t I help? Half of it is my house.”
Dalus laughed out loud at Aaron’s words. He was right. If it weren’t for Aaron at that time, it would have been quite a struggle.
Dalus emptied his glass and stood up. He must have had quite a lot to drink, because he felt hot.
“hello.”
When I opened the door, there was a strangely familiar man. I couldn’t recognize him right away because his appearance was somewhat worn, but I could quickly recall him.
“···Kind Hans.”
“Yes, it’s been a while.”
Although it was a similar greeting to that time, there was something strangely bothering him. Dalus hesitated for a moment and then stepped aside.
“thank you.”
Hans entered the building with a familiar look. Although it was clearly his first time here, he walked without hesitation.
Dalus looked inside for a moment, then went outside.
‘The scenery has become beautiful.’
Dalus muttered as he looked at the giant dragon in the distance.
***
‘Hans was the gray horseman.’
I chuckled as I turned the glass in my hand.
The underwear thief who was released returns as a gray magician. What kind of nonsense is this?
It was also said that the Gray Tower Master who helped me escape the capital was the underwear thief who repaid the favor.
“It’s been a while, hyung.”
Then, the guy sat down across from me.
The empty left hand caught my attention for a moment. I’m sure the hand was there when I faced him with the mask on…
‘Its distinct features made it difficult to look elsewhere.’
The presence or absence of a left hand was a distinguishing feature that obscured everything else.
I remembered Hans as one-armed, so I didn’t notice that he didn’t hide his voice.
Hiding the little things with a distinct feature. This is a technique I often use, but I’ve fallen for it.
“Yeah, Hans the Underwear Thief.”
“I told you. There’s a reason.”
I waved my hand at the guy who was laughing coolly. I didn’t want to hear why he stole my underwear.
However, there was one thing I was curious about.
“Was that arm cut off on purpose?”
If he was skilled enough to become a Gray Tower Lord in just one year, he wouldn’t have been caught by the knights of Cassidy. Even though Adela is useful now, they were all worthless knights back then.
The corners of his mouth rose at my question. It was the cool smile that Hans used to wear, but it wasn’t a very pleasant sight these days.
“It was your password that day, hyung.”
I nodded at the guy’s words. We were all annoyed when he called me out while I was resting. As if that was the answer, the guy closed his mouth.
I wasn’t particularly interested, so I didn’t bother to pursue it.
There was a brief silence. Drinking with Dalus is more fun, you know. As I muttered softly, Hans opened his mouth.
“I heard about the situation in the capital.”
The content was a question, but the ending was a subtle one that did not raise the question.
I nodded at him, feeling the feathers I had put in my pocket.
The feather contained detailed information about the capital city that the crow’s owner had risked his life to save.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t a hopeful story.
“The knights I encountered in the Red Calamity Zone-. Those guys who moved so sloppily!”
The guy was twitching his lips wildly. He was twitching them as if he couldn’t hold back on telling a funny story.
The kid clicked his tongue slightly, as if his head was broken. He used to be a pretty good kid.
At that moment, the guy who had stopped his lips wrinkled his nose and said,
“He was a common soldier, not a knight.”
I wanted to say so much that my voice rose in laughter in the middle of my sentence.
The guy was panting, as if he was satisfied with that. It wasn’t a pretty sight.
After he finished speaking, the guy stared at me without blinking, as if he was expecting my reaction.
I remembered the words written on the feather.
[He spreads rumors that the capital is a paradise and feeds the people of the empire indiscriminately. Whether he is using him or not, soldiers have also been seen using Aura.]
‘Hypocrite, it’s just going away.’
It’s probably not about the guys riding wyverns, but the guys the apostles ate like lunch boxes.
Although they were handling the aura, their movements were definitely sloppy.
They must have lost quite a few Imperial Knights when the capital exploded, and it seemed a bit odd to feed them to a number as large as a hundred.
‘A regular soldier who handles auras-.’
It was a story so huge that I couldn’t even begin to comprehend it.
However, even if that is the case-.
“It was some kind of shitty meal.”
Nothing changed.
Hans’s face hardened, perhaps expecting a different reaction.
I looked at him, giggling, and poured the rest of my drink into my mouth.
‘I guess I’ll have to use Brighton.’
When I think of him, the taste of alcohol suddenly goes down.
