Digging sweet potatoes
greatness···.
As soon as I opened my eyes, I looked for a sword.
I felt relieved when I realized I was holding the sword hilt.
Square, square-.
Nova was on the other side, spreading out a bunch of paper and moving her quill pen diligently.
“If you’re here, I’ll wake you up. You’re feeling heavy.”
“···under.”
As I spoke, turning my shoulder, Nova glared at me with a small sound as if she was dumbfounded.
“A uselessly thoughtful orange.”
My mouth felt itchy for no reason, so I spat it out.
“That’s not it. I think you misunderstood, but I still have some work to do…”
He said it as a joke, but it hit home, as Nova stuttered in an uncharacteristic way.
“Oh, thoughtful peach.”
“Shut your mouth.”
“I’m going to close it, so put it down.”
Nova, whose cheeks were flushed and turned into peaches, was pointing the knife she had put there to cut meat at me.
“Don’t call me peach.”
“Okay, put that down···.”
“I’m not hungry and I have a lot of work to do, so I’m thinking of taking my time and finishing up my work first···.”
Gulp-.
At that moment, as if in a well-planned play, a sound came from Nova’s stomach. Nova’s already red face turned as red as if it had been covered in blood.
“hmm···.”
I wanted to make a joke, but I held back because I thought Nova, who was holding a knife, was trembling and biting her lip so hard that it felt like it would burst if I touched her.
“Hey… bring me some meat.”
Nova, frozen in place with his sword outstretched, lowered his face.
But when I saw that the crown of his head was red, my mouth moved on its own.
“Here’s an orange on the verge of starvation… Aaah! This crazy orange….”
“Shut up! Shut up!”
Orange’s untimely swordplay only stopped when the waiter brought him a large piece of pork shoulder.
“If you need anything else, please call me anytime!”
The strangely energetic employee nodded and stepped back.
“···Ahem.”
Nova fixed her messy hair and made a polite expression.
“It’s real front leg meat.”
As Shawn said, a truly honest pig’s foreleg came out.
It was clearly well-cooked and had an appetizing color, as if something had been sprinkled on top, but…
‘Even down to the toenails… Anyway, ignorant medieval bastards.’
I clicked my tongue as I looked at the claws that clearly showed how hard this pig had lived.
Nova dismembered the forelegs as if butchering them with a knife.
His skills were quite outstanding, so it seemed like he would be quite good at swordsmanship if he learned it.
Nova, who had just finished disassembling it, handed me a knife, but I was already eating it.
Nova put down the knife he had been holding out awkwardly and went back to eating the meat.
“Hmm-.”
Nova, who had put the meat in his mouth, couldn’t stand it anymore and let out a small hum and shrugged his shoulders.
I laughed out loud at that sight, but then got hit square in the face by the front leg bone that Nova threw.
‘It’s violent.’
The pig’s feet were 40% lacking in flavor.
But since this was considered the best food in the Middle Ages, the two of us ate it without saying a word.
The waiter brought me a hot beer.
I then switched to wine, but Nova refused, saying he doesn’t drink alcohol.
“Wine isn’t alcohol?”
“···It’s alcohol. You ignorant bastard.”
“That is truly amazing.”
Nova smiled slightly at my answer, then lightly slapped my cheek before returning to her usual cold expression.
“It’s delicious.”
Nova muttered as if nothing had happened, one cheek slightly reddening.
“Crazy Orange.”
“Oh, that’s right. There was chaos in the city. You didn’t get in an accident, did you?”
Nova looked at me with her characteristically sharp eyes and asked.
“···The wall was not broken.”
To which I replied, scratching my cheek with my finger.
“The wall… didn’t break down? The wall?”
“Oh, I didn’t break it. Not directly.”
“···Directly?”
Nova’s eyes gradually narrowed.
“Uh. Actually, indirectly···.”
“No, don’t say anything. I don’t want to be an accomplice, so keep quiet.”
Nova cut me off abruptly.
“Yeah, well. If you don’t want to know.”
“Don’t pretend to be. What else have you done but fight? Who else have you beaten up?”
Nova waved his hand as if he could clearly see it, then put the meat back in his mouth.
I was about to say something in rebuttal, but after thinking about it carefully, I nodded because it seemed to be true.
“Are you done eating? Let’s get up.”
After finishing the meal, Nova took out a few silver coins.
“I will buy it.”
My pockets were bursting with last night’s overtime pay.
“Okay, what money does the security chief have?”
Nova waved her hand and raised the corners of her mouth as if it was absurd.
“Okay, well then, it was delicious. Orange.”
I nodded, since it didn’t really matter.
Then Nova, who had placed the silver coin on the table, glared at me.
***
When I arrived at the restaurant, the sun had already set.
Unlike Cassidy Castle, the city with the magic lantern was bustling with activity even after the sun had set.
My pockets were so heavy that I needed to empty them a bit. So I suggested to Nova that we go buy some souvenirs.
Nova nodded, as if she had nothing else to do, and we headed into the city.
Since I had gotten a rough idea of the city map while running around the night before, I was able to find my way around easily.
“You’re buying souvenirs? Isn’t that the blacksmith’s shop?”
“Oh, I’m going to the blacksmith shop.”
Nova’s eyes widened at my answer.
Land! Land! Land!
The sound of iron striking and the sweltering heat filled the surroundings.
Children who were not yet fully grown were running around and laughing.
I tapped a man lying down, warming himself in the heat of the forge. The man got up with a frown and followed me, pulling a cart, calling me “brother” for 50 coppers.
I looked for a chest plate that was thick enough, had a solid sound when tapped, and was reasonably priced.
Nova, who had been following me without saying anything, stepped forward when I was about to pay.
Nova lifted the breastplate and examined it here and there, then pointed out flaws that even the blacksmith didn’t notice with his finger and poked at his opponent with his characteristically distracting way of speaking.
The blacksmith, whose hammer he was holding was trembling, nodded and was able to purchase it at a much cheaper price.
Actually, I didn’t really need to do that because my pockets were deep, but I couldn’t stop them because it was so funny to see them struggling with Nova.
Nova demanded 10% of the cut for himself, and I nodded quickly, having already seen the faces of those guys who were struggling.
After giving Nova the silver, I was able to get five breastplates at a much cheaper price than I had expected. Still, since they were iron, my pockets felt much lighter. This was enough to carry around.
I wasn’t sure if they’d fit, but if they were big, they could just gain weight, and if they were small, they could just lose weight, so it didn’t really matter.
“But you said you were buying souvenirs?”
Nova tilted her head behind me and asked.
“Oh, a souvenir.”
I nodded, pointing to the breastplate covering the cart.
They made great souvenirs, as iron was the only thing of value in the Middle Ages.
“The breastplate is a souvenir···?”
Nova, with his eyes wide open, nodded and muttered, “Yeah, because it’s Aaron,” which was strangely annoying.
“But the color and shape are all···.”
“Nonsense. Since ancient times, armor has to be thick and strong.”
I stroked the breastplate I had collected while cutting off Nova’s words.
They were all proper breastplates, about half the width of a finger joint, and made a heavy sound when struck.
Of course it would be a bit heavy, but it didn’t matter because I would gain muscle if I wore it.
“Group 4 will become more famous now. The Rainbow Group.”
Nova giggled in an uncharacteristic way.
“Oh, you pick one too. I’ll buy it for you as a souvenir.”
“···You want me to choose here? In a place with only these lumps of iron?”
“uh.”
Nova glared at me with sharp eyes, then the corners of her lips twitched and she nodded.
“Well, that’s what it is.”
I pulled the cart again and made a circle.
Since there was no such thing as women’s armor in the first place, he gave Nova the thin and light heart protector.
“I think it will be small?”
Nova, who had been fitted with a heart protector, tilted his head.
“Do you think that will be enough?”
To that I looked back and forth between the heart guard and the Nova and answered.
“···what?”
Nova narrowed her eyes again.
The sight was similar to when he was holding a knife in the restaurant earlier.
“Orange. You tend to overestimate yourself···.”
“Did you see it? Ha, you don’t know. It’s really small! Very small!”
Nova, who had turned even redder and strawberry-like, put on the heart protector, and it fit him perfectly.
“You… are so small I can’t breathe.”
Nova, who had been acting awkward, suddenly shouted, “That’s because I didn’t eat breakfast or lunch today!” and then became quiet.
‘So, have you bought everything? Oh, I guess I should buy a mini fridge and a Hannah too.’
We had to pack the souvenirs carefully because if we left out even one person, it would be a real shame.
“What are you looking for?”
Nova asked, her voice becoming smaller.
“Oh, Hannah and Kanna.”
“Hannah? That waitress? Who else is Kanna?”
“Oh, Kanna is a kid who makes beer cold.”
Nova frowned and muttered something softly before hitting my hand as I searched for the guard.
“If you give a woman a lump of iron, she’ll love it. Just buy her some accessories on the way.”
“Rather than something useless like that, something that can save your life in a moment of need···.”
I was about to refute him, but I swallowed my words at the sight of Nova’s fierce gaze.
On the way out, he picked up a few things Nova had chosen for him and put them in the cart.
I didn’t like it that much, but I held it in because Nova seemed ready to stab me at any moment.
“But why are you only buying the breastplate? If you’re going to buy it, why don’t you buy it all?”
“If you buy everything for him, he’ll get spoiled.”
Nova gave a small nod of admiration at my answer.
Soon, we arrived at the inn where Nova was staying.
The man enticed me by telling me that he had a room as grand as a palace, so I chose the most expensive room and rented it.
“Anyway, thanks for this!”
Nova, who had been going up first, turned around, shouted awkwardly and disappeared.
Then I scratched my neck because it was ticklish.
I guess I need to take a bath.
‘The palace is plagued.’
I was sure that Nam-gyeop had never been to the palace.
Still, I was satisfied because there was a bathtub in the room.
***
We headed to Cassady Castle early the next morning.
The wagon bearing the Karzan seal was loaded with souvenirs, but there was so much of it that I had to crouch in a corner.
Nova frowned, perhaps annoyed by him, but didn’t curse. He was wearing a heart protector, and his chest area was sticking out more than usual.
When he was making a joke about a smaller orange that drank less water.
“Ugh!!”
A groan of pain and a gasping sound were heard from the coachman’s direction.
Without hesitation, I pulled Nova towards me and hid her inside, and soon the arrow pierced through the carriage wall.
It was a piece of trash arrow with a sharp stone at the end.
Low quality arrows that even mercenaries wouldn’t use.
I rolled my head as I looked at him.
The most plausible one is···.
‘Is it a goblin?’
I had heard stories of orcs and goblins appearing around, so there was a high chance that they were goblins.
“What···what is it?”
“It’s an attack. Goblins, I guess.”
He covered Nova with the breastplate that had fallen on the floor, who was breathing heavily in surprise, and got up from his seat.
I broke off one of the arrows stuck in the carriage wall and pulled it out, then looked outside through the hole.
Small, hideous-looking goblins were approaching, shaking their butts excitedly.
The number is approximately twenty.
Considering that they usually hang out in groups of about five, there were surprisingly many of them.
‘Did a goblin village appear?’
He clicked his tongue and pulled out his sword.
Goblins, classified as the lowest-level monsters, were not that difficult of an opponent.
Their crude weapons couldn’t penetrate even leather armor, let alone iron armor, and they had a habit of quickly turning tail and running away after killing a few, so they were more than capable of fending off even adult males.
But I was going to tell Nova to stay here because she might get into trouble if she comes out to help her in a clumsy way.
“Okay. Be careful.”
Nova waved his hand slightly as he pulled his chest armor closer to make it look like a bunker.
The sight was so disgusting that I clicked my tongue and opened the carriage door.
As I came out, the goblins jumped up and down in their seats, making strange noises like ‘Squeak! Squeak!’
‘Are you welcoming me?’
“Squeak!”
I followed his lead and made a noise.
The goblins who had been noisy until just now closed their mouths and tilted their heads.
A few of them pointed at me with their fingers and made a ‘squeak’ noise with the guy next to them.
At that I laughed out loud and jumped into the middle of the goblins.
***
Phew···.
I took a deep breath and calmed my ragged breathing.
Around me lay the mutilated corpses of twenty goblins.
‘It’s strange.’
If it were a normal goblin, no matter how strong they were, they would have run away the moment they killed five of them, but these guys charged at me without a single one jumping back until the very end.
The guys clung to me as if I were their parent’s murderer.
I had to get into a dogfight out of the blue and my whole body was drenched in sweat and blood.
It felt like fighting twenty large, bipedal Chihuahuas.
It was fortunate that he was wearing iron all over his body, otherwise he would have been scratched and bitten here and there.
‘A scar from a goblin bite…’
It was embarrassing just thinking about it.
After swinging the sword and drawing blood, he took out the silk he had prepared the night before and wiped the sword.
Squeak-.
Just then, the carriage door opened and Nova, comically clad in breastplate, stumbled out.
“are you okay?”
“So-so. But this is a bit strange.”
“what?”
I explained to Nova what I felt strange.
“There have been reports of an increase in the number of people being attacked by goblins recently, but they didn’t even run away when there were twenty of them···.”
Nova, whose expression became serious, tapped his temple with his finger as if he was thinking.
I crouched down in front of the goblin’s corpse and ran my hands through its cross-section.
If you look closely, there is bound to be something that catches your eye.
After muttering curses at the wet and hot feeling and digging for a while, a familiar black sap came out of the goblin’s stomach. It was the same as what my brother had sprayed from his hand back then.
‘Black magic on a goblin?’
Even though goblins had low intelligence, dealing with intelligent creatures was on a different level than dealing with corpses. They were no ordinary guys.
‘A guy like that in a remote place like this? Is it because of Young-ae again?’
As with the last warlock, the odds were high this time around too.
“here.”
“Oh, thank you.”
I wiped the blood and sap from my hands with the rough white handkerchief that Nova held out to me.
“Does Youngae have anything to do with cleaning?”
I asked Nova.
“Are you saying that the goblin might have been after Youngae?”
“Oh, maybe.”
“There is absolutely no chance of a goblin or orc attacking the castle, so if the eldest son of the Fener family takes the young lady out during the cleaning, there will be one.”
I nodded because Nova’s answer seemed plausible.
“According to the plan, there’s still quite a bit of time left before we go out to clean.”
Nova muttered softly.
“You’ll know when you get to the castle.”
I answered briefly, crouched down in front of the goblin corpse, and took out my slaughter dagger.
I took a deep breath, reached down, grabbed the goblin’s body, and cut it with my dagger.
“What…what are you doing?!”
Nova’s panicked voice was heard from the side.
“This one costs 60 Cooper.”
The important parts of the demon’s body were popular because they were rumored to be good for stamina.
I already had plenty of money in my pocket, but the more the better.
There was an old habit there, so I felt like I was missing out if I didn’t catch a monster and take this with me.
“···Do people really buy things like this?”
Nova clicked his tongue, his face full of annoyance, then pulled out his dagger and sank down in front of another goblin corpse.
Then, without a moment’s hesitation, he moved the dagger.
I admired him a little. Usually, female mercenaries would curse and get sick of it, but Nova often did it while muttering curses.
I took one of the breastplates and placed it next to me, and piled the cut objects on top of it.
We moved diligently as if we were digging sweet potatoes.
They were very mini sweet potatoes.
“Aaron, how do you cut a female….”
“That’s it, that’s it.”
“If the male says it’s good for male stamina, then the female says it’s good for women…”
I hurriedly waved my hand at Nova, who was tilting his head in front of the goblin holding the dagger.
Nova nodded, smacking her lips.
“You are also amazing.”
I was truly impressed.
“I have to do what I can, since it doesn’t help in battle.”
Nova answered, roughly wiping the blood on her hands onto her dress.
I nodded to him and checked the carriage.
I just checked, but the groom was dead with an arrow stuck in his neck.
I clicked my tongue and closed the groom’s wide eyes.
One of the horses tied to the wagon was already dead, its entrails spilled out from the goblin’s teeth, while the other was in fine condition.
Since we couldn’t go by carriage, we calmed the startled horse and tied the souvenir on.
“I can’t ride a horse.”
Nova shook her head with an uncharacteristically frightened expression.
“why.”
“Because I was scared.”
It was not something to be said with green blood and flesh all over the dress.
“Shit.”
“Really… seriously!”
I grabbed Nova by the waist, lifted her up, placed her on the horse, climbed on behind her, and pulled the reins.
As the horse started off, Nova seemed flustered and tried to grab the horse’s neck.
He clicked his tongue at him and hit the back of Nova’s head, causing Nova to lose consciousness and become quiet.
I was able to go much more quietly.
***
“Hasn’t the castle been quiet lately?”
“Aaron went to Karzan.”
“Oh, really? I thought it was a bit quiet.”
Today, Srim and Ferring from the 3rd External Guard Unit, who were in charge of the inspection, spent their time chatting away.
That’s understandable. These days, attacks by monsters in the area have become more frequent, so the number of visiting carriage drivers has decreased significantly, and as a result, there has been less work to do when checking them.
Although the number of surrounding monsters had increased periodically, this time the frequency and number were unusual.
I heard that the inner side is busy preparing for cleaning.
“Haam- These days, inspections seem to be the sweetest thing. There’s nothing to do. The captain told me to be on guard, but how can I get to the castle without being attacked by a monster?”
Slim clicked his tongue as he looked at the properly released pairing.
Slim was worried about the cleanup that would be done behind the scenes.
Seeing that the cart driver’s seed had dried up, it seemed that they would take all the troops with them, leaving only the minimum number of people to defend, and if that happened, the outer wall guards would be no exception.
Slim had the illusion that his right knee, which he had broken when he fell during his last patrol, was hurting again.
Unaware of the speed of such streams, Pering talked about the ‘secret social parties’ he has been attending these days.
Ferring bragged about how mysterious and secretive the party was, where masks were required, and how hot the woman he met there was.
Slim clicked his tongue, asking what kind of ‘secret social party’ they were having in this shitty castle in the middle of nowhere.
“You don’t even know the face of the woman you met?”
“Yes. But she is definitely a beauty, judging by the beautiful chin visible under that mask.”
“If you were really beautiful, you wouldn’t have gone to the mask party, you idiot.”
Slim chuckled, and Pering retorted angrily.
But Slim didn’t listen and teased him, calling him ‘Pumpkin and Jean Fairing.’
As I was spending time like that, something approached from afar.
“Huh? What is that?”
“So, that woman’s chest… huh? I can’t see it very well.”
The two narrowed their eyes and stared at the horizon.
What was revealed above the horizon was green···.
“Oh… an orc? Not just any orc, but an orc king or something….”
Ferring swallowed hard and muttered.
He looked at his opponent, wondering if he should ring the bell right away.
By the time the opponent’s face came into view, I realized it was not an orc, but a large man covered in green blood.
“Aaron?”
At Pering’s words, Srim swallowed and nodded.
Aaron was the only one who looked that fierce.
Ssurukruk – thump.
‘What’s that in the back?’
Slim narrowed his eyes and saw Aaron being dragged behind him, tied up.
Upon closer inspection, I saw that it was a bundle of breastplates.
Beneath it lay a goblin, preventing its breastplate from scraping the ground.
There was something piled up on top of the chest plate, and as he looked closely at it, Slim barely managed to suppress the nausea that was rising.
“Oh my God. Oh my God.”
Seeing the horrific sight that was clearly from hell, Srim put his right hand to his forehead and searched for God.
Ssurukruk – thump.
Aaron came right up to me, making a steady sound.
“Aaron.”
Slim straightened his posture and bowed his head for no reason.
“Oh, you guys have had a hard time.”
Aaron waved his hand nonchalantly and greeted me.
“Did something…happen?”
Slim asked, his mouth still moving.
“Oh, there were a lot of monsters on the way here, so I have to go out and clean them up.”
At Aaron’s muttering, Slim gulped.
Just looking at the number of hideous things piled up on the chest armor, it wasn’t a lot, but at Aaron’s light-hearted speech, Slim’s body trembled slightly.
“Why don’t you open it quickly?”
At that moment, a rough woman’s voice was heard behind Aaron.
“Nova?”
“I want to wash up quickly so I can open it. Jo-ot- the same monster Jo-ot-.”
Although he didn’t understand what was being said at all, Slim hurriedly ran to the gate.
Aaron was Aaron, but Nova was also quite famous in the Catholic Church.
Perhaps, seeing those two like that, everyone would sigh and say, ‘The end of days has finally come to Cassidy Castle!’
“Oh, do you guys need this?”
Aaron, who was passing by at that time, pointed to the ugly thing and asked.
Slim hurriedly shook his head, but Pering, who was next to him, nodded.
“I’ve been feeling a bit down lately anyway···.”
“Really? Then how many···.”
“Seventy Coopers each.”
Nova raised her hand and shouted.
It was really shameless, knowing full well that goblin items usually sell for 60 coppers a piece.
“This was just picked today, so it’s exceptionally fresh. Freshness is everything for these things…”
However, listening to Nova’s story, I felt strangely persuaded.
By the time Nova said, “Touch it, it’s warm?” Slim had bought three and Ferring had bought five.
Ssurukruk – thump.
“Isn’t it heavy?”
“How many times do I have to say it’s super heavy? An overweight orange.”
“Isn’t it heavy?”
“Ah! Don’t pinch me… That’s right, it’s not heavy.”
“That’s right. I told you it’s not heavy.”
Slim, holding something hideous in his hand, blankly watched the backs of the two as they entered the castle.
Behind the two, a long line of green goblin blood stretched out from under their breastplates.
The green line felt so ominous that Slim unconsciously placed his right hand on his forehead, and the ugly thing he was holding in his hand hit Slim in the nose.
“Kid… crazy… fucking dog….”
“Phew… Slim, that’s not a dog, it’s a goblin….”
Slim swore for a long time.
