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return
Crackle···.
A creepy sound, like a reptile scratching my body.
A feeling of oppression, as if one’s lungs were being seized.
A fear that makes your whole body tremble.
There was no one else with this kind of presence.
‘He’s already dead···.’
I suppressed the random thought and readjusted my grip on the sword.
No, it wasn’t a sword, it was a bone.
I was so startled that I lost sight of him.
The bones that had been rolling on the floor began to grow rapidly and take shape.
Soon she began to crawl towards me, taking shape and groaning.
Now I don’t feel anything special.
I held her in my arms, feeling her bones crumble as I stared into the darkness before me.
The great being beyond.
[That’s him.]
‘No, he’s dead.’
[Have you seen it?]
‘······The captain of the imperial knights showed me the fragments of that bastard.’
[I didn’t see it myself. If that’s the case···.]
[I don’t know if he’s alive.]
[Then, the promise···.]
The voice was really murky and unpleasant.
[Do it.]
Because it was my voice.
***
Phew···.
I woke up with a start.
I hurriedly searched for the sword in my arms.
I took a deep breath, feeling the cool touch of the sword.
‘The bastard is dead. And those responsible.’
He muttered it like a prayer.
“I guess you had a nightmare.”
The abbot’s voice brought me back to my senses.
“Yes, the vampires were chasing me.”
I searched through my pockets for the water bottle. With trembling hands, I pulled out the bottle’s cork.
Boom.
I laughed softly at the cheerful sound.
I rinsed my mouth with wine and then drank it.
A small fever rose, awakening my hazy mind.
“···Is that a nightmare for you?”
The abbot asked in a trembling voice.
“Yes, the vampires in my dreams feel like they’re at a disadvantage because their fangs aren’t pulled out.”
I wiped the sweat from my forehead and forced the corners of my lips to rise.
hmm···.
The abbot, who had been letting out a low sigh at my answer, lowered his gaze again.
That was when.
A cold hand touched my forehead.
It was a blank expression.
‘It’s been a while.’
I smiled bitterly at the unspoken blessing and turned my gaze.
The carriage was running hard. The weasel was driving the carriage with skillful skills. It was enough to make him sleep soundly.
After finishing his blessing, Lung-gyeop lowered his hand. I nodded vigorously, and Lung-gyeop nodded along.
At that moment, I felt something foreign and touched my forehead, and there was a lot of cream on it. The prickly face of the lung avoided my gaze. There was a pile of cake next to the lung.
This time, there was a portion of the reward, so I divided up the gold coins. Then, it seemed like they bought all the cakes that were there.
‘You’re the type to ruin everything.’
Of course, there is no sense of economy in a person who cannot even ‘wait’… From now on, there was a need to manage finances rather than giving them all at once.
I tried to calm my mind by knocking on the treasure chest next to me. My mind naturally relaxed as I imagined the gold coins inside.
‘What should I do with the gold?’
I deliberately changed my mind and thought about it seriously.
There were exactly 54 gold coins.
I gave 4 of them to the waste, so 50.
I wanted to give a little more to the disciple, but since he was in the church, it was clear that giving too much gold would be harmful.
50 gold coins… It was a truly enormous amount of money that could buy you a large building in a big city.
It wasn’t for nothing that Table Tennis recognized him as a big brother. Of course, Table Tennis is an American style, so there is no distinction between upper and lower class.
‘There is no building here.’
Real estate speculation was not a good option. Buildings could collapse at any moment and there was no insurance.
The best thing to do is to invest in your own strength.
It was a so-called temple purchase.
‘It’s a sword after all.’
Since I was a prosecutor, I couldn’t help but be interested in swords.
The sword that an unknown knight had given him was useful and useful, but it was still lacking in being called a famous sword.
‘That doesn’t mean I’ll put all 50 in… About 30. I’ll buy armor for the rest.’
It was a consumption habit suitable for the Middle Ages. In the Middle Ages, when everyone was a bandit, it was best to wrap it around your body and turn it into a real thing.
‘I didn’t know Jackson had that much talent.’
If I were in my younger days, it would have been easy to get it, but since I was an old man who had retired on the surface, it might have been a bit difficult. I could think about that later…
The carriage slowly stopped.
Cassidy was visible outside the window.
Compared to Karzan, the really shabby walls felt strangely cozy.
The newly built wide walls caught my eye.
There were strange pictures of Deokgu on the walls. Most of them were ridiculous, but Deokgu was dead anyway, so he had no right to his portrait. The pictures were not particularly important, but the progress was strange.
‘You already built it like that?’
It was only about a day and a half away.
But the wall is going up…
It was an abnormal speed considering that medieval people built every ten years.
The carriage slowly headed toward the castle gate.
“Hey, Dylan! I told you you had a cold!”
“···Echwi! Echwi! Eeeechwi!”
After a very brief silence, a cough was heard.
“Um… what about Aaron?”
“Achoo! You are inside.”
The carriage door opened carefully.
It was Group 6.
“Oh, Aaron. Are you okay, I heard you had a cold?”
“Etchi.”
“Aha. I see.”
The carriage door closed and a short voice said, ‘Pass!’
“Shouldn’t we be quarantined?”
“It’s Aaron.”
“yes?”
“My name is Aaron.”
“What is that···.”
“I’ll explain later, so just open it for now.”
“yes!”
‘Did you get a new recruit?’
I glanced outside and saw a man I had never seen before getting scolded by that guy.
The carriage moved slowly.
“I guess you are very trusted by the guards.”
“Yeah, well, if you hit them a few times, everyone’s eyes will change.”
I turned my head at the gaze I felt from the side, and Lunggyeop was looking at me with an expression on his face as if he had realized something. I nodded roughly, and Lunggyeop nodded twice.
The carriage passed through the gate and stopped.
The abbot offered me a thanksgiving service for my safe return, but I declined, saying I had much work to do.
The abbot said with his eyes that he too had a lot of work to do, but unfortunately, the abbot didn’t seem to notice and dragged her away.
The old lady gave me a desperate look, but someone had to make a sacrifice. I showed my gratitude for her sacrifice with my eyes.
I parked the carriage somewhere and headed to headquarters with Dylan. It was a vague time to report back to work, but it was a good time to report back. I felt like the carriage was turning slightly, and it seemed like Dylan was aiming for it.
Perhaps because the weather had cleared up a bit, the captain looked relaxed for the first time in a while. Of course, the armor was still on display next to him.
“Are you better from your cold?”
“Each. There’s still a little left, but as a foreign guard who thinks of Cassidy, how can I just sit still?”
“Hmm… Yes, yes. I know very well how Captain Aaron feels about Cassidy. But let’s rest today and come out tomorrow.”
“Etchi.”
Hmm···.
The captain waved his hands with a low grunt.
I left headquarters and headed to Hana’s bar.
More than anything, I wanted to wash this filth away quickly.
There was only a washing machine sitting in the bar.
It seemed like everyone was busy preparing for the branch.
After the washing machine did some light laundry magic, I felt like I was reborn.
‘Next is···.’
I looked at the box on my side. It was a treasure chest with gold coins. I felt too bad about leaving it in my room. I had to choose between making a safe or getting rid of the gold coins quickly.
Even though Jackson was a very trustworthy person, I wasn’t stupid enough to give him fifty gold coins as a down payment. Inevitably, I had to keep the gold coins, and fifty gold coins was a lot of money to carry around.
I needed a safe.
‘safe···.’
I don’t know what will happen in the future, but the amount of gold I have is increasing, so I need a safe.
He nodded and headed towards the castle walls.
Wow!
Kanna is Kanna!
The strange chant echoing from the walls sounded very familiar.
In the middle of it all, Kanna was carving a stone while holding a bucket over her head. Maybe it was my mood, but the sound of the stone being carved was strangely ominous.
‘···When did the bucket get changed to iron?’
I was just watching, scratching my cheek, because it looked exactly like Deokgu’s helmet.
Jiiing-.
Soon, ‘Deokgu with a bump on his head’ is drawn quickly like a 3D printer on a fiercely carved stone. Next to him is ‘Deokgu standing on his head.’
‘Should I just come later?’
It was only for one day, but I had a bad feeling about it.
At that moment, Kanna suddenly lifted the bucket and sniffed.
‘Why are you like that?’
Sniff sniff. Kanna, who was frowning, opened her eyes wide and hurriedly looked around. Finally, Kanna found me and kicked a stone and ran.
Dadadak.
‘Yeah, getting hit by a rock will only result in a bruise.’
I braced myself as I watched Kanna running towards me quickly.
That thought was quickly extinguished by the fire emanating from Kanna’s palm as she reached out towards me.
‘No matter what, the fire is a bit… this little brat…’
Of course, it was only as strong as holding a lighter to an F-Killa, but the heat was definitely rising. Just before Kanna’s head was about to be hit, the flames suddenly changed direction.
The blazing fire gradually took shape as if sculpted by the wind, and its appearance was strangely familiar.
‘···crazy.’
The fire was burning in a shape that resembled me. Of course, it had no facial features and was just a shape, but it was not a normal shape.
“As expected! Kanna! That’s right! Deficiency is magic! Burn all emotions! Condensate the wind a bit more! The hair hasn’t been formed yet! That damn good hair that doesn’t match!”
Behind him, there is a strange man named Kua Ba Rou who is encouraging him with strange words.
‘That’s definitely very wrong.’
However, I couldn’t help but applaud like last time when I saw Kanna’s anxious face as she checked her homework again.
“As expected, Kanna is Kanna!”
Only then does Kanna smile and put away the flames.
It felt like I was going down a very wrong path…
‘Yeah, I like the kid…, no, no matter what.’
I scratched my head as I watched Kanna, who was clinging to my right leg and laughing. I thought it was okay because she was laughing anyway, but the smell of fire coming from her made me feel something was wrong… But still, she was laughing…
It was a repetition of that.
Still, seeing as it can handle both fire and wind, it seemed to also have a boiler function for the coming winter, so that was good news.
‘I hate the cold! No, wait.’
I muttered absentmindedly without realizing it, then shook my head in surprise. It seemed to be a side effect of method acting.
“Whew… You, did you see that just now? Beyond controlling the strength of fire using the wind, you can also shape it, which is a technique I’ve never heard of or seen before!”
Kuo Bao Rou praised him with a proud smile, as if he was bragging about his student who got full marks.
‘Well… there’s no need to take shape.’
In the first place, it wasn’t going to be a circus, so who would care about appearance if they didn’t care about firepower? Still, I nodded roughly.
Since the Kanna stuck to my waist showed no signs of coming off, I just stuck it on and moved.
I wandered among the stones to find the right size.
‘I can barely hear it.’
A safe, something that no one else can open and only you can open it.
Most would use keys or dials, but it would have been difficult to implement in the medieval frontier.
There was no need to go that far, as long as I could open it there.
‘That should be enough.’
I picked a stone of a suitable size from the pile in the corner and hit it with the back of my hand. The dull sound it made seemed to indicate that it was well-cooked.
“away.”
At my words, Kanna slightly looked up at me.
When I waved my hand at him, he stepped back a little further.
I took a moment to relax and held the lower part of the stone on both sides.
I took a deep breath and straightened my back, and the stone slowly lifted.
oh my god···.
The onlookers gathered nearby erupted in cheers different from before.
‘Is it a little light?’
I was wondering if I should change it to something a little heavier, but seeing the reactions around me, it seemed like it would be enough.
“I picked this up?”
When I spoke to the stonemasons who were watching with their mouths wide open, they nodded their heads repeatedly in surprise.
In the first place, who would own the stone? But it was better to ask for understanding in advance. Most people didn’t refuse the understanding I asked for.
The stone was so big and heavy that I thought it would break if I used a cart, so I moved it myself, even though it was a bit difficult. I felt relieved, as if my heavy body was loosening up.
“Kuhh!!”
At that moment, a small shout erupted from the side.
When I turned my gaze, I saw Kanna holding a rock as big as my body and sweating profusely. I don’t know why she was doing that, but judging from the corners of her lips, she seemed to be doing it because she liked it.
“Yes! Feel the weight of the stone! Feel the properties of the stone! Feel the texture of the stone!”
Kkwobarou followed her around and shouted something, but Kanna didn’t seem to listen.
As she was heading towards Haena, Kanna let out a ‘ugh…’ sound and dropped the stone. She paused for a moment and then started moving again.
thud-.
I put the rock down in the backyard and wiped the sweat from my forehead. I had been feeling like I was lacking exercise as my strength had been increasing recently, so this seemed like a good exercise for strength training.
I sat down on the ground, feeling a little bit of muscle strain. Kanna, who awkwardly wiped her forehead, sat down next to me.
Kanna, who had been fidgeting, held out something. It was an ice cube that looked like me and was a reasonable size.
I put it in my mouth and let it cool for a moment. Then I explained to Kanna how to carve this stone.
“What an ignorant thing to do. What are you going to do with a piece of stone you’ve carved?”
“It’s a safe.”
“safe?”
When Kuo Bao Rou raised his question, Kanna, who had a bucket over his head, began to carve a stone. The form was simple. He carved a square in the middle of a large stone, put an object in it, and blocked him with the large stone.
‘It’s vulnerable to auras, but that’s the same as railroads.’
I nodded and took my shovel and started digging around the side. I didn’t want to leave the safe outside, so I planned to bury it deep in the ground so that only the entrance would be visible.
‘Doesn’t this guy know what a safe is?’
Swallows stuck out his tongue as he watched the two working hard. However, he changed his mind when he saw Kanna, who was carving the stone more seriously than usual.
It wasn’t as good as when Aaron wasn’t there, but it was still not bad magic efficiency.
‘By the way, the reply to my letter is late.’
The Swallows, who had been thinking about something else for a moment, clapped their hands vigorously again.
***
The work was finished around sunset.
A slight slope was created at the end of the safe to prevent the stone from pressing down on the storage area.
A new stone was brought in and cut to fit the opening of the stone, and a truly magnificent safe was completed.
He buried a safe in the ground, placed an entrance stone on top of it, and as an experiment, he called Choco and asked him to open it.
Choco held onto the safe’s handle with great confidence and struggled for a while, but could only lift it by a finger.
Vermunt was the strongest man I knew, aside from me, so I was certain that only I could open this safe.
After finishing him, I cooled off with a beer with ice cubes floating in it, shaped like cereal cubes.
Kanna was digging, clumsily, with the stone she had brought.
I made a safe-shaped door just like mine, but because Kanna’s strength was weak, the door had to be thin. It was a ridiculous shape to call it a safe.
After thinking about it for a moment, Kanna glanced at me and carved the word Aaron in large letters on the stone.
‘Why is my name there···.’
I swallowed my question and sipped my beer at the sight of Kanna smiling contentedly.
Kanna magically dug a hole right next to my safe, buried hers, and jumped up and down on top.
As I was thinking, ‘Why does a child need a safe…’, Kanna turned her pockets inside out into the safe. My muttering was interrupted by the silver and gold coins pouring out from it.
‘Hana takes good care of me.’
Hannah and Kanna’s business relationship seemed healthier than expected.
“Aaron!!”
At that moment, Hannah greeted me with a bright smile.
Hannah looked at me and Kanna covered in dirt and asked what was going on. I told her about the wonderful safe I had made.
“So you’re saying you’re going to keep the gold in there?”
Hannah asked with a strange look in her eyes. When I nodded, Hannah tapped my cheek with her finger and began to ponder something.
And Hannah nodded vigorously as she headed straight to the safe and touched the door.
“Aaron, can I use this safe? Of course, I’ll give you half of the profits.”
“utilization?”
Hannah explained the business idea she had just thought of.
They advertise to people a safe filled with gold coins. Then they charge an entry fee and give them a chance to open it. If they open it, they can take all the gold coins inside, which is a very healthy game.
‘···Is it good?’
There was no way anyone in Cassadic could open this. Medieval men who had nothing better to do were always fascinated by new things, and this was a game that even gently touched a man’s pride.
However, the problem was that the stone looked extremely heavy from its shape… This problem could be solved by showing it open from the side and showing the gold coins underneath. The ignorant medieval people would definitely go crazy over the gold coins.
‘Then I guess I’ll have to make another safe.’
It was a risk-free way to make money.
“If anyone happens to open it, I’ll pay you the gold. What do you think?”
Hannah extended her hand to me with a confident smile.
“···You probably don’t have that much money.”
I answered, scratching the ball.
“I am the owner of the biggest pub in Cassady, the ‘Awesome Aaron Rabbit’, which is opening soon.”
I had a hard time taking my eyes off Hannah, who was showing off her confidence by tapping her chest, but I nodded anyway.
“Then how much do you plan on putting in? The more you have, the better it will be for attracting people! If it’s not enough, should I lend you some?”
“Okay. That’s enough.”
I shook my head slightly and brought the treasure chest from the room. Hannah was wiping the dirt off Kanna’s face.
“Wow, that box is really pretty. Where did you get it?”
“My brother gave it to me.”
“···Aaron had an older brother?”
“It’s new.”
“Oh… really? That could be the case. Can I open it up and take a look? I need to check how much is inside.”
As I nodded, Hannah carefully opened the box. Hannah’s eyes widened as she saw the contents, then closed the box and opened it again.
I wrote down my impressions, closed the box, and opened it again.
After doing that twice more, Hana looked up at me with a blank expression.
“···1 gold coin!”
The eyes are back to normal···, said Hannah, waving her hand roughly with a strange heat in her voice.
“No work.”
I shook my head and carefully placed the treasure chest inside. I had set aside about ten items from the box.
I closed the door and peeked at him. As I nodded my head in satisfaction at the weight, Hannah nudged my side.
“Aaron, you didn’t leave any evidence behind, did you?”
Hannah asked with confidence.
I was about to say something in response to his injustice, but then I suddenly thought for a moment about whether I had left any evidence behind.
It seemed like he hadn’t left anything behind.
***
Gesher Wind, the Imperial Eastern Administration Office, was enjoying some rare leisure time.
The reason for this leisure was that he had recently had drinks with someone from the Northern Management Agency.
‘Ahem···.’
Gesher Wind decided to relax. Since Director Ben Hardt had told him not to report to the East anyway, he was just going to follow him.
In fact, the East was almost a semi-abandoned place, so unless there was a major problem, no one paid attention to it. It wasn’t for nothing that the Eastern Administration was called the graveyard of continental administration.
Gesher Wind carefully examined the materials for the Northern Management Agency that would be moving forward.
‘A wizard who crossed the wall from the Kingdom of Harperina? What the… in a place with only ice…’
Unlike knights, who could be controlled, wizards were a headache for the administration because they were not within their controllable realm.
Gesher Wind, as the Northern Management Authority (Jin), was seriously considering how to resolve this.
‘Those who climb over the wall are out of class···.’
That was when.
I heard cool footsteps.
Instinctively anxious, Gesher Wind folded the paper he was reading and jumped up from his seat.
The door opened wide. A sharp-looking man came in. He was dressed in neat white attire, had a luxurious sword on his waist, and the seal on his chest made Gesher Wind’s mind flash.
‘The Inspector General’s Office?!’
If the Eastern Administration was the graveyard of the continental administration, the Inspectorate was the executioner of the continental administration.
I don’t know what it was, but it was clear that something big had happened.
Gesher Wind hurriedly stood at attention and quickly turned his head.
Two armed imperial knights followed the man in.
Two imperial knights were following me as my escort… My clenched fists broke out in a cold sweat.
“Eastern Management Office Gesher Wind?”
“Yes! That’s right!”
The man asked, looking at the small tool. Upon closer inspection, he saw that it seemed to be a magical tool popular among high-ranking members of the royal family.
“Where is Ben Hardt?”
“It’s inside!”
Gesher Wind quickly pointed inward and took a step back.
“Take him and tie him up in the interrogation room. Prepare him for easy interrogation.”
At the man’s command, one of the imperial knights nodded and moved.
bang!
“What…what! Why is the royal knight…Kyaaaaak!!”
Eventually, Ben Hardt was dragged out, and his appearance was horrible. His limbs had been cleanly cut off, and the fact that no blood flowed from the cuts made it even more grotesque.
“This… This is all his doing! Aaron! It’s that bastard’s doing!”
The imperial knight carried Benhard’s severed limb in one hand and Benhard himself as a burden in the other.
“He’s still saying that. Was the shock of being kicked out of the center that great?”
Tsk, the man who clicked his tongue waved his hand lightly.
The imperial knight dragged Ben Hardt out of the room.
···Gulp.
Gesher Wind smiled awkwardly, trying to hide his trembling hands behind his back.
“Gesher Wind. I hereby appoint you as interim director of the Eastern Administration until the investigation is concluded.”
“Yes···Yes!!”
Gesher Wind responded nervously to the short remark from the man with the cigar in his mouth. It was a groundbreaking promotion, but it couldn’t have been good after seeing his predecessor for the last time.
“An official document will come down later, but the collapse of the western front, the recent poor performance of the northern front, and the draining of blood from the eastern part are all three factors that are putting the supply in a very precarious state.”
The man read the entire document in a businesslike voice, looking at the tool. Despite the content, the man seemed to be indifferent.
“The western side will be up and running soon, but… for now, we’ll harvest what the Black Bloods have, even if they’re still underdeveloped, and deploy new tools on the eastern side. Something a little more efficient.”
Acrid smoke obscured the man’s face.
Gesher Wind nodded desperately.
The man disappeared after saying, “Confirm the rest through the official document.”
As the tension eased, fatigue set in. Gesher Wind sat down in his chair and thought about what he had just heard.
‘They’re restarting the West… So is it true that it didn’t die then? I heard it ran wild and was scrapped.’
Since we were in the East, news was very slow.
No matter what, I’ll probably hear it through the inspection office.
My thoughts continued and I came to my own conclusion.
First of all, I became the director, albeit temporarily.
It was a groundbreaking promotion that will go down in history.
Gesher Wind noticed something, then got up from his seat and went into the director’s office.
The director’s office was quite well organized.
Even though it was a place where a limb had been cut off, there was only a faint smell of alcohol instead of the smell of blood.
After looking at him for a while, I sat down on the very soft chair of the director, and my whole body trembled as if it was melting.
As I put my crossed legs on the desk, it felt real that I had become the temporary director.
‘But Aaron···.’
I remembered the name I had read in the report, but shook my head slightly.
‘Because it’s a common name.’
It was her death that was certified by the Central Administration.
It was better not to worry about it.
***
‘The stars are bright.’
Vermunt looked up at the sky and muttered softly.
Funnily enough, I was gradually getting used to the stars I could see from here.
I’m not sure if that was a good thing, but it didn’t feel too bad.
That was when.
Beep-.
A very low, tickling sound came from far away.
It was a familiar sound.
‘You’re here now.’
At his belated visit, Vermunt smiled bitterly as he realized his position anew.
“I’ll be back.”
“yep!!”
His crew responded loudly to his muttering.
It was a satisfactory size.
When I first got here, their answers were so small I couldn’t even hear them, but it didn’t take even a day to fix him.
Beep-.
Vermunt drew his sword and followed the sound, holding it in his hand. The sound was heard from a certain distance away.
After moving for a while and entering the mountain, I finally got close to the sound.
And what I encountered was a woman in skimpy attire. It was the first time in a long time that I had seen the attire of the Kingdom of Byzant.
From his appearance, it seemed that he was a person who had not yet let go of that string.
“Meet the brilliant fifth star.”
The woman knelt down and bowed.
Vermunt nodded without answering.
“The Supreme Star has ordered the assembly.”
However, the woman’s next words made me laugh.
‘You’re calling a meeting now?’
The more he thought about it, the funnier it became. Vermunt’s laughter grew louder and louder. Soon, it turned into madness and reverberated loudly.
The woman still had her head bowed gently.
“I refuse.”
Vermunt suddenly hardened his expression and answered.
“Yes. And the beautiful ninth star is looking for the brilliant fifth star. To fulfill her promise···.”
The woman hesitated for a moment and then said a name she did not want to hear.
‘That promise is still···.’
She was a woman like a viper. It was clear that it would be a hassle to get involved with her.
After thinking for a moment, Vermunt opened his mouth with a mischievous smile.
“He refuses too. He is a defeated body from ‘One Soul.’ Tell him that there is nothing he can do.”
“···Aah.”
The woman, her face slightly red as if thinking about something, bowed her head deeply and stepped back.
‘She’s going to be furious.’
Vermunt stood there for a moment after the woman disappeared, then walked away.
I was looking at the stars, but I didn’t follow them because I had a destination.
Soon a shabby wall appeared.
Vermunt smiled faintly as he looked at the stupid pictures painted on the walls.
[You are truly wicked! You who killed stars! And now you are eating stars···]
Vermunt chuckled at the memory that suddenly came to mind.