Dishwasher
“You little bastards! Take care of them! It’s George!”
“Hey- Grab it!!”
The festival taking place inside the alley was louder than outside.
The sound of something breaking and screaming filled the surroundings.
‘These guys fight whenever they get a chance. They’re ignorant.’
I clicked my tongue and slowly turned my waist. My body was a little stiff from the festival earlier, so I had to let him go.
For any exercise, warm-up beforehand is the most important.
“What are you doing?”
Berman asked with wide eyes.
“Warm-up.”
“yes?”
“Warm-up.”
“yes.”
Berman answered briefly and followed me as I stretched out my body.
bang.
“Eww! These little guys!!”
“Catch him!”
“Kill him! Kill him!”
The heat inside gradually increased.
I turned my back and uncrossed my legs.
“Stretch your legs a little more.”
“Yes, sir.”
Berman followed me without saying a word, stretching his legs from side to side.
“after-.”
I soon relaxed my body to a satisfactory level and headed down the alley.
Inside the alley, a truly beautiful medieval scene unfolded.
More than ten men were fighting each other, some of them using clubs and hammers.
‘I’m really enjoying the festival.’
Then, one person was pushed back and fell in front of me.
I’ve seen that guy before.
The exposed upper body of a child I saw at the woodworking shop.
The guy who was still not wearing his top got up in a fit of anger, made eye contact with me, and stopped.
The guy blinked and swallowed hard.
“Ah···Aaron?! Aaron!!”
The guy called my name out loud, almost like screaming.
“Aaron?!”
The fight stopped at the same time as the guy screamed.
The kids wearing Skane hats raised both hands.
The guys who were fighting them still swung their fists, but the Skane kids didn’t fight back and just took the hits.
‘Well educated.’
He nodded and opened his mouth.
“Okay, now that all my friends are done playing, let’s hit their heads.”
I said, clapping my hands kindly.
The Skane kids quickly slammed their heads into the ground.
Since I had trained them several times before, everyone had great posture.
Fortunately, there were also uneducated people.
“Ha, what are these guys? They were scared by a mere guard? Even though it was the outskirts, these guys were eating them.”
Among them, the one who had been particularly sullen the last time spat and kicked the one next to him who was lying face down.
The guy next to me who had been pushed over looked up at me, and his eyes were really bright.
I nodded and the bastard slammed his head into my face again.
“Everyone, stop it. No matter what, we’re still the guards.”
The guy who seemed to be the leader last time stepped forward and spoke. There was red blood on his fist and the corner of his mouth.
Scar was seen lying behind the guy with his head buried in the ground.
Scar, who had been pretending to clear his throat and shirking his words, quickly bumped his head into mine as soon as our eyes met.
“I told you not to cause any trouble.”
I said lightly, spinning my wrist.
“Didn’t you bring me the silver? Does the castle guard get involved in such trivial disputes?”
The guy’s attitude was different from last time when he was in that position.
His expression was still sour as if he hadn’t forgotten the heat of battle, and his words were rough.
‘Now I can see some of the gist.’
I nodded at the attitude of the right guy.
“Oh my… Oh my… That won’t do….”
The scarecrow made a sound full of regret.
“huh”
“what?”
“I’m getting involved.”
“Ha···. That’s why those guys from the border···.”
The guy shook his head and laughed in vain, as if he found my firm answer ridiculous.
The guy’s confidence made the scarecrow exclaim ‘Oh my…’ again.
“You may not know much since you’re in the outskirts, but if you get involved this deeply, you’ll be in big trouble. Dealing with these innocents, you might make us look like fools···.”
The guy came towards me, swinging the hammer in his hand in the air. He then stood in front of me and pointed at me with the hammer he was holding crookedly.
“Oh my… Then we’re in big trouble… Oh my….”
The sound of Scar Nom muttering sounded like background music.
“If you think we are like those foolish guys, you are in big trouble. You are in big trouble.”
I couldn’t help but laugh as I watched the guy pounding his hammer on my chest armor.
A question appeared in the guy’s eyes.
The guys with their heads stuck in them straightened their posture even more.
“Border punch.”
My fist instantly erased the doubt on his face. I grabbed the falling guy by the collar and held him in place.
The guy whose eyes had been blurry for a moment looked at me with eyes filled with question.
I laughed heartily and punched the guy, and the guys around him rushed at me, screaming.
Oh my… why would you do something like that…
Scar sighed, squeezing his eyes shut.
***
Benhar hid at the entrance of the alley and quietly peeked inside.
I had heard the story of Aaron’s wretch many times before, but this was the first time I had seen it in person.
Even when I first met Aaron, I didn’t have a chance to see the mercenaries because they ran away as soon as they saw Aaron.
As soon as Aaron entered the alley, Benhar tilted his head as he saw the men on Scar’s side quickly bury their heads in the ground.
The Skane family worked in a carpentry shop, so they were all in terrible shape, but for them to get their heads smashed without doing anything-.
Aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!
Benhar felt something tingling at the long, tearing scream.
I had a gut feeling about it.
This is the moment the teacher was talking about.
Benhar stared into the alley without closing his eyes.
“Save me…!”
“please···.”
Benhar gulped at the overwhelming violence he had never seen before.
‘headsman.’
What an appropriate nickname.
“Never ignore the frontier again.”
Benhar trembled at the sight of Aaron, his face covered in blood, smiling broadly and muttering playfully.
‘Ahhh… This is inspiration.’
And then the merciless violence that followed.
Benhar, who had been peeking at him, gripped the guitar tightly.
An evil thought came to mind.
“Ahhh- there’s a scoundrel worse than the devil in the Castle of Cassidy···.”
Benhar sang softly because his heart was burning so much that he could not bear it.
Of course, the workmanship was still poor.
***
dripping.
I woke up.
And it’s annoying.
And exercise.
I went to work.
He muttered a few curses under his breath as he headed toward the gate with the Kel guy.
After my workout, I unconsciously recited the prayer while receiving treatment. The smile on the abbot’s face made me feel very dirty.
I went to the gate and changed shifts and started the inspection as usual. Somehow I knew, the carriage drivers had returned and the gate came alive for the first time in a long while.
Perhaps to make up for the losses in the meantime, they had all loaded the carriages full.
“Ahem··· The floor of the carriage···.”
“Oh my, why are you doing this, Captain Aaron-”
I was able to enjoy the little pleasures again as usual.
This was a minor detail since his pockets were full of gold coins, but it was a tradition among the guards.
There was no choice, since traditions must be preserved.
As I was watching the checkpoint, a beggar came limping towards me.
He was a proper beggar, wearing only rags and his hair was disheveled.
‘There are so many people here that even beggars are coming.’
As I was clicking my tongue at him, the beggar who had discovered me quickly approached me. Soon, the beggar in front of me knelt down and looked up at me.
“Soshi! I came here because I was called! Sob···!”
Just hearing his voice made me feel like he had just completed some mission.
‘what.’
I made eye contact with the guy, and his eyes looked strangely familiar.
And then I remembered where I had seen it.
“Carzan washing machine?”
“Yes? Yes! I am Sherhan, the wizard of Karzan City! I have brought everything I have, just as you said!”
“Everything?”
The beggar had nothing but a tattered sheet barely covering his body.
“Ah… because of all the things that happened… Karzan was in chaos… but it’s okay! The most important things for a wizard are all here.”
A guy named Sherhan smiled confidently and poked my head with his index finger.
However, it didn’t look that good because it looked like a beggar.
‘Still, the performance was good.’
He asked a carriage driver to take her to Hana’s house.
The coachman, who was kind enough to give me a piece of silver, smiled and nodded willingly. The corners of his mouth seemed to stiffen slightly, but they quickly went back up, so I guess it was just his mood.
The beggar laundry wizard followed the cartman inside and resumed the search.
Thanks to the carriage drivers who visited after a long time, I was able to watch the inspection with interest.
At that moment, a fairly large carriage approached.
It was a carriage painted with white leaves.
‘White Leaf Guild?’
It was the symbol of a fairly famous information guild on the continent.
‘Why in such a remote place?’
My eyes narrowed on their own.
I raised my hand and stopped the carriage.
The carriage door opened and a young man with wide eyes poked his head out. He was a fierce-looking man.
“I am Gillian, a level 5 informant from the White Leaf Guild.”
The guy spoke in a hoarse voice, his expression faltering.
“Get off.”
To which I replied, snapping my fingers.
“I think you misheard, we are the White Leaf Guild···.”
“Get down.”
“In this remote place…. Yes? Oh, yes.”
The guy who had been frowning looked inside the carriage, nodded, and got out. Then a woman followed him out.
My eyes met with the woman’s, and she squinted her eyes but did not avoid my gaze.
“What brought the White Leaf Guild here?”
“I’m planning to open a branch in Cassidy Castle, so I came out to do some preliminary research.”
The woman raised her hand to stop the young man from answering my question, but her eyes never left mine.
“Why are you so handsome?”
I said slyly, observing the woman’s reaction.
“Yes, I can’t take my eyes off it.”
The woman answered with only the corners of her lips raised.
I gave her a friendly smile, and the woman smiled back naturally.
It was the complete opposite reaction of the guy next to me who flinched noticeably.
‘This is not normal.’
The woman handed over the silver coins first. Three in fact.
‘She was a good woman.’
I waved at him and let him pass.
The woman didn’t take her eyes off me even as the carriage passed by.
‘I told you it’s annoying if you’re handsome.’
At that, I just scratched my beard and coughed in vain, saying, ‘Ahem…’
“You say Jo Jang-han is pretty? What a strange woman. Aaak!”
I hit the back of Kel’s head to silence him for talking nonsense while he was working.
“···But now that the Information Guild has come in, it looks like the Cassidy Castle is about to develop.”
Kel muttered, scratching the back of his head.
‘Information Guild···.’
It didn’t sound very good.
I thought I should go and check it out separately.
“next!”
I nodded and waved at him.
“Hello, Captain Aaron!”
It was John the carriage driver, a face I hadn’t seen in a long time.
This time the guy was flanked by two fierce looking mercenaries.
The guy started talking while skillfully placing a silver coin in my hand.
“Master Aaron, have you heard the story? One of the knights of the Bolt Castle was brutally murdered.”
“···Bolt Castle? The knight is dead?”
I asked again, taking the silver coins with a strange sense of foreboding.
“Yes, a big man suddenly cut off the knight’s foot and followed him around singing like he was hunting prey. From the front gate to the back gate of the Bolt Castle-.”
John said, shuddering as if telling a ghost story.
A big man, a knight…
‘Knight Hunter?’
At that time, I remembered the guy who had been sent back by the wisdom of modern people. The description was referring to him exactly, but I was hesitant.
‘The Bolt Castle is supposed to go to the right? I clearly told you to go to the left.’
The direction I had given him was to Count Behar’s Polyton Castle. I wondered why he was headed to Boldt Castle, which was the exact opposite.
No matter how lost he was, there was no way he could have confused right and left, so it was clear that he had changed direction because something urgent came up.
“The guards and soldiers tried to stop him, but the man beat them all up like children. But strangely enough, only one knight died, and the rest were only injured…”
‘You are a true knight hunter.’
Seeing that he only beat the knights to death and not the other guys, it seemed like he was true to the concept.
“The blood of the knight whose leg was cut off stretched from the main gate to the back gate of the castle.”
“But even if the first article said he was caught off guard, what about the other articles?”
There were four knights of the Fener family in total.
There were two more people, including Ben, who was there.
“One of the knights didn’t know because he was sleeping in a prostitute’s house, and one knew but didn’t come forward. That’s why Bolt Castle is in chaos now. I also escaped quickly.”
John shook his head as if he was going crazy and thumped the thick carriage with his hand.
‘Well, that’s just how knights are.’
The Cassadic surname was relatively good.
Ben was hardly a knight.
“Oh, that dead knight is Petrun, the scoundrel of Bolt Castle. So now the five scoundrels of the Earldom of Behart have become four scoundrels···.”
John looked at me and said slyly.
‘Five losers are a plague.’
My face crumpled at that, and a startled John hurriedly handed me another 50 coppers.
“Yeah, guys over there.”
I nodded and called out to the two mercenaries next to John.
“You should smile. If you go around with such a grim expression on your face, the residents will be surprised.”
The guys’ expressions became mysterious at my words.
The guys who had been hesitating for a moment raised the corners of their lips following me.
***
When I returned to the inn, the refrigerator, the wizard, the weasel, and Hannah were sitting there talking with serious expressions on their faces.
“Aaron! Come here quickly! Quickly!”
Hannah, who had discovered me, waved her hand urgently and urged me on.
He sat down at the empty spot at the table.
“Are you here?”
The wizard had washed up and was back to his usual intelligent self. Of course, his clothes were still tattered, so he looked more like a smart beggar than a wizard.
The refrigerator sitting next to him had its corners of its mouth raised and its chin raised.
‘Why is it so noisy?’
Weasel and Hannah looked back and forth between the wizard and the refrigerator with very nervous faces. The atmosphere between the two was similar to that of parents following their child through the college entrance exam.
“why.”
“Excuse me. Sherhan, can you speak to Aaron?”
“Yes. Big···.”
Sherhan cleared his throat and set the mood.
The weasel nodded and gulped, and Hannah clasped her hands together in front of her as if praying.
“In my opinion, this is the Khan···.”
Sherhan began to speak slowly.
At that moment, the weasel jumped up from his seat and interrupted Sherhan’s words.
“Our Boradongi is a genius! Brother!”
The weasel’s mean face was filled with a sense of emotion that did not match its appearance.
“Haven’t I told you over and over again! Boradungi is a genius! Sob! Boradungi is a genius!”
“I knew Kanna wasn’t ordinary. She’s so cute.”
The weasel and Hannah were making a fuss and praising the refrigerator so loudly that the refrigerator’s chin rose even higher, so high that its nostrils were visible.
‘···Is this guy a genius?’
I don’t know what the criteria for genius are for wizards, but I looked at the refrigerator with new eyes without realizing it. It wasn’t a mini fridge, it was a luxury fridge.
“Purple! Purple!”
“Kanna! Kanna! Kanna!”
As if Ha-na had been influenced by the enthusiastic weasel, the two of them clapped their hands continuously next to the refrigerator, causing the refrigerator to jump up and spread its arms wide.
At that sight, Hannah and the weasel closed their mouths and Sherhan nodded.
I wasn’t at all impressed by the short length of his arms, but I tried to concentrate.
“Show me what you learned today.”
“huh.”
At Sherhan’s words, the refrigerator nodded with the corners of its lips raised and soon began moving its hands dazzlingly.
The tension grew and everyone focused on him.
Within seconds, the refrigerator raised both hands and-.
The large beer mug right in front of me was instantly cleaned.
‘···?’
The dishwasher feature that was suddenly added made me cough for a moment.
However, unlike me, their reactions were very enthusiastic.
“Wow! Bora-dongie does magic! Whoa! Bora-dongie is a genius! Brother! Did you see it? Bora-dongie does magic!”
“Every… the beer glass was cleaned in one go. Kannaya! As expected of our Kannaya!”
The weasel cheered like a madman and Hannah gave a heartfelt exclamation of admiration.
And Sherhan, who was clapping along next to me, secretly glanced at me.
“washing machine?”
“Yes, yes.”
“Have you ever taught other wizards?”
“No! This is my first time!”
‘But how do you know you’re a genius?’
A question rose to the tip of my tongue, but I swallowed it as I saw the cheering Hannah and the weasel, and the shining eyes of the refrigerator waiting for praise.
“You are so talented.”
I smiled awkwardly and patted the refrigerator’s head.
The refrigerator grinned at him, and as if that were a signal, the weasel and Hannah lifted the refrigerator.
“Purple genius! Purple genius!”
“I don’t have to wash the dishes anymore! Kanna is really amazing!”
My feelings as I watched him from the side were truly complicated.
‘Yeah, well, the more functions the better.’
Soon I was clapping along and the dishwasher show in the refrigerator began.
It was a very minor incident when the refrigerator, excited by the compliments, cast a dishwashing spell on the weasel, causing the weasel to almost drown.
“Wow…you’re a genius! Boradongi! A genius!”
After that, the weasel’s cheers became a little smaller.
***
Gillian, a 5th-level informant for the White Leaf Guild, was extremely annoyed.
‘Why am I in such a remote place-.’
Of course, the guild told me that there had been frequent problems in the area recently, so they should go and check it out before establishing a branch, but this was clearly a demotion.
Gillian wasn’t stupid enough not to notice him.
Even the house the guild gave me was shabby and dirty, so I didn’t like it.
‘But I didn’t come alone.’
Gillian glanced at Razbeth out of the corner of her eye.
I was relieved that Razbeth had come with me. Razbeth was a woman known for being very capable even among third-level informants.
With her there, I started to think that maybe it wasn’t a demotion.
‘She’s pretty as expected from an informant.’
Gillian smiled faintly.
“I’m sure I’ve seen it somewhere.”
At that moment, Razbeth muttered softly and Gillian, who had been lost in thought, got up from his seat in surprise.
“yes?”
“The man who was checking the checkpoint earlier. I’m sure I’ve seen him somewhere.”
Razbeth answered briefly and opened the box he had brought, searching through it. Countless pieces of paper came out of the box, and the house was in a mess in an instant.
“Ah- how could that be? A large body, colorful armor, and a lot of scars. If he had so many features, how could anyone not recognize him if he were famous?”
Gillian shook her head.
The man’s features were so distinct that if he were a celebrity, there was no way he wouldn’t have recognized him.
“No. I’m sure. Those eyes… I’ve seen those eyes.”
Razbeth spoke firmly and looked through the paper again.
When Razbeth came out, Gillian couldn’t stay still either. She took a wad of paper out of the box and roughly imitated him.
‘They say that if you get hooked on something, you’ll go crazy. It’s true.’
Gillian sighed softly as she flipped through the papers.
How much of the paper did you read like that?
Gillian dozed off from the fatigue of the journey.
In her dream, Gillian became the branch manager of a city branch and ordered her employees around with one finger.
The staff did a funny dance at Gillian’s command, and Gillian laughed out loud.
“evil!”
Fell forward.
My mind suddenly snapped as my face hit the floor.
‘If I were in the city, I would have slept on a soft bed. But the bed is made of straw…’
Gillian grumbled, rubbing her frozen face.
I saw the sunlight streaming in through the crack in the door, indicating that it was morning. As I was rubbing my aching back from sleeping in the chair, I saw Razbeth.
Among the piles of papers, Razbeth was holding a single yellow piece of paper.
‘You stayed up all night? This is really awful.’
I thought it was fortunate that I had come to the outskirts with a beauty, but seeing that made it seem like that wasn’t necessarily the case.
Gillian turned to Razbeth, worried about her future, and picked up a few pieces of paper that had fallen to the floor.
“Did you find anything? There wasn’t anything on my side.”
I asked, not hiding my tired expression, but Razbet did not answer.
Gillian craned her neck to look at the paper containing the raspberry.
There was a montage of a man drawn there.
There were no scars on his face, but his size and unusually deep eyes were very similar to the man I had seen at the security check earlier.
‘Are you handsome?’
It was surprising how this handsome man gave off a similar vibe to the man from before.
I checked the bottom of the montage to see what kind of man he was, but there was only one line written there with no information.
‘Upon discovery, take no action and report to headquarters.’
Even the letters were red. Red meant that this order was from the guild leader.
“What kind of man is this… with red letters….”
Gillian trailed off at the unexpected turn of events.
The people with red letters were all famous enough to be known on the continent just by mentioning their names. The phrase telling them to report to headquarters immediately upon discovery was a sign that their fame was not going in a good direction…
“Let’s go to the Karzan City branch right now! There are birds there that are directly connected to the central area…”
“Be quiet!”
Gillian gasped in surprise at the loud noise coming from Razbeth’s mouth and covered her mouth.
“I will not submit a report.”
“···yes?”
“Even if I report it, nothing comes back. If it’s red, that means there’s someone looking for it… and the amount would be more than I imagined.”
I had no idea what the hell this woman was talking about, but the clear eagerness on her face made it impossible for me to ask any more questions.
“This is an opportunity.”
Gillian remembered her nickname as she watched Razbeth whispering while caressing the paper as if it were a treasure.
Razbeth, ‘blinded by ambition’.
Gillian, who ‘ate two pieces of bread for breakfast’, thought to herself that perhaps she had really been demoted.
