Episode 182: The Wandering Knight, Goo Dae-seong (1)
It was a field.
The only proper road is one large motorway leading into the city. Even that was poorly maintained and was half-obscured by overgrown bushes and weeds.
Every time I step on the broken stone floor, I get a sharp pain. The boy gasps for his breath, as if he believes that there will be a lifesaver at the end of this crude road nonetheless.
“Heo-eok…! Heo-eok…!”
In order to survive, they simply kick the floor with all their might.
To find out where to turn for help. When I meet someone…
“Huh…!”
The boy knows what a stupid idea that is.
Those lazy thugs think of themselves as parasites.
They are beggars who set fire to mountains without paying taxes.
But they are abandoned.
Those who escaped from the land polluted with magical energy and live in despair without any help from the government.
The people are so poor that they cannot survive unless they burn down a mountain and cultivate a firearm.
There was no way they would come forward to save themselves from being treated like that.
Because this country has been like this for a very long time.
still.
I heard a rumor.
A town that sells agricultural products harvested by slashing and burning for a couple of hours by car. The father, who met the village headman who drives a truck and buys agricultural products, asked curiously.
[You can’t see monsters in this area these days. Did the mercenaries do some work?]
The village chief smiled and shook his head.
[They are the same as usual.]
[But why did the monsters decrease?]
[It’s not confirmed, but there are people who are roaming around and catching monsters for free these days.]
Hunt monsters for free and protect people?
No matter how remote it is in the countryside, these are groundless rumors. But the little boy listened to the story as he and his father toured the town.
[Who are they?]
The village headman’s grandfather scratched his head and said a name that came to his mind.
[I hear it’s a knight’s performance…]
knight performance.
Even for the slash-and-burn farmers who live backward lives far from civilization, the story is very old and outdated.
[There are so many stupid noblemen.]
Even they skipped over it, saying it was pointless, but it was a story that was strangely embedded in the boy’s mind.
Keeping the story alive, the boy runs.
“Ha, ha…! Ha…!”
Mountainous wallpaper even in underdeveloped countries. Running down an old, worn-out road with only traces of pavement left.
“Gi… sa! The knight…!”
A little further, a little further ahead, with the city’s luminous glow in front of you——
– Kaak!
A sharp pierce passed through the boy’s leg.
“ah···!”
A short burst of breath, and the speed at which he was running was slammed to the ground, and a harsh shock struck his entire body.
“Ah, ah, ugh…!”
I can’t even scream in so much pain. The knee, which was the beginning of the first shock, feels as if it has been broken, and the soreness of the skin seems to have sliced raw flesh.
-Key profit…!
Only the eardrum catches the sound in the midst of pain that seeps through the whole body. The boy looked back at the bloody eyes watching him in the dark and held his breath.
“Oh, no. Don’t come…!”
they are beasts
Unlike the beasts of the forest, they are monsters from another world that cannot even compete with firearms. If only we had something in common…
It’s just that the beasts of the forest and the monsters of the other world consider them prey.
“help me······.”
Even the boy knew keenly how meaningless those words were to a monster.
That her own voice would not reach her, and that no one would listen to the boy’s voice.
but······.
“Sa-save me! Someone! Someone save me!!”
Even without ears to hear, the boy must scream.
– Kyaaaaaagh!
The moment the monsters opened their mouths and jumped at the prey screaming meaninglessly——
-Purheung!
Something flew through the air with the sound of horses hooves coming from somewhere.
– Crack!
Poop! and a large spear stuck in the monster’s neck. At the same time, an urgent voice calls out to the boy.
“Hold my hand!”
The owner of the voice was a man on horseback. He reached out his hand for the boy, and the boy grabbed the arm.
“Hey!”
A man riding a horse who grabs the boy and carries him on. Monsters are chasing him.
But the chase didn’t last too long. It was because the monsters spurred on the ground was much faster than the speed at which a horse could run with two people on top.
“Heeik…!”
The moment the boy flinched at the approaching monsters, the man held him tight and reassured him.
“It’s okay, I’m not alone.”
“This way!”
There was a group of soldiers there. Primitive warriors armed with spears, swords, and shields unsuitable for this modern day.
They open the road and let the man and the boy on horseback pass, and then, in close proximity, they sharpen their spears like hedgehogs.
“Commence the battle!”
cried the man on the horse.
The boy looks up at the man with blurry eyes, thrilled by the rope of hope that he finally caught.
“Are you… a knight?”
At the boy’s innocent question, the man seemed embarrassed, perhaps with an expression more innocent than the boy’s——
“I’m trying to be like that.”
he talked about his dreams
* * * *
“Whoa…! I think I’m going to live a bit now!”
Captain Kim Do-han pours an entire water bottle into his sweaty face like rain. He looked at the people they had saved with a tired face.
“Manhak!”
“dad!”
The boy he found while patrolling the road was a resident of a slash-and-burn village that had been attacked by wild monsters.
“Thanks to Lord Yapi, I found it easily.”
“Thank you.”
Goo Dae-sung once again thanked Yapi for the communication. From the other side of the communicator! A cute mechanical sound is heard.
-What was the test result of the new weapon?
At Yapi’s question, Koo Dae-sung and Kim Do-han saw a near-futuristic gun held by the Man at Arms soldiers.
“This is a really awesome Dep Show? It’s much more stable and powerful than most magic bows.”
“It’s like watching humanity evolve from a bow to a gun.”
Bondi Man-at-Arms formation is the basic formation of swordsmen, spearmen, and archers.
However, experimental weapon systems began to be introduced after the joining of the Kikkiruk tribe and the establishment of a special iron processing workshop for yakt spinners.
“Wouldn’t it just be enough to arm all the soldiers with this? It seems to be enough for the monsters at the gate.”
“But again, this doesn’t work for high-ranking monsters. It’s still not comparable to the physical abilities of high-ranking hunters. Especially for ‘knights’.”
As is widely known in the case of Leon, the Knights of Lionheart hate long-range weapons.
They didn’t say anything about freemen’s soldiers using long-range weapons, but they hated the use of such weapons by knights.
At first glance, it may seem like anachronistic prejudice and arrogance, but the reason was simple.
“Isn’t it said that knights who are weaker than long-range weapons can’t be knighted? If you become a Holy Grail Knight, you won’t even be able to snort even if you use this kind of weapon.”
They knew very well that even such a great weapon was meaningless in front of superhumans who did not meet the standards of knights and Holy Grail knights.
There was no need to go all the way to Leon, the Guardian of the Holy Grail, in addition to the Holy Grail Knights such as Yacht Spinner, Beatrice, and Vulcanus, even Hanhari right now was a natural disaster.
“When will our old knight be like that?”
Even as he said it, Kim Do-han considered it unrealistic.
Goo Dae-seong, the only knight in this unit, is a man with tenacity and patience, but he couldn’t compare to other talented people like Hari Han and So-yeon Cheon.
‘Even so, he’s a guy who doesn’t give up.’
Kim Do-han had an expectation that Goo Dae-sung would eventually achieve it.
“Anyway, I see a lot of monsters here recently.”
“Well, isn’t it because the gate management of the People’s Republic of Heilong is such a mess? Besides, this is the former Korean-Chinese Autonomous Region. It’s called Yanbian.
A couple of months ago, a pantheon combat unit was dispatched to defend the Heilong People’s Country’s granary during a massive gate incident.
Gu Dae-seong, a pilgrim knight, and hundreds of Man-at-Arms succeeded in defending the granary along with mercenary hunters hired by Yapi, but Goo Dae-seong, seeing the reality of the Heilong People’s Republic where dungeon breaks exploded and people died, decided to stay.
The remaining pilgrim knight and about 50 Man-at-Arms did a lot of work for two months.
“Anyway, let’s finish this job and go to the city to rest. It’s already December. Monsters are also less active, so it should be fine.”
“I’ll go around a little longer and spend the winter.”
The world is still noisy with Leon and the pantheon, but Koo Dae-sung and his friends also have a reputation for knowing in the Heilong People’s Republic.
They tour the country, treating wild monsters for free and saving people.
It is like a travel story of a knight in an old story, and someone posted their story, and coverage came.
Although Koo Dae-sung refused the interview, saying that he was not a subject for such a topic.
“Mr. Goo! Eat some corn here.”
Kim Do-han recommended Koo Dae-seong to eat steamed corn, which was served by the villagers.
“thank you for this food.”
After eating the steamed corn, Goo Dae-seong put on a puzzled expression.
“What’s wrong? Doesn’t it taste good?”
“No, the corn is sweet and delicious. But…”
Kim Do-han chuckled as if he knew the unfinished intention.
“It doesn’t feel like eating at the pantheon.”
“These people lost their land due to magic contamination and came all the way here.”
It’s not just monsters that the gate causes a dungeon break and pours out.
Even the dense magical energy inside the gate poured out, contaminating the ground.
No crops can grow on the land contaminated with demonic energy, and people cannot live.
So many people have lost their livelihood, and this may be one of many.
‘If there is a blessing from Goddess Demera…’
Demera, the goddess of life and fertility. Her blessing purifies the soil contaminated with magical energy and blesses the crops that grow in it.
Those who ate the crop did not get sick and were cured of their illnesses.
As a knight’s virtue, it was Goo Dae-seong who served Ariana, the goddess of light and justice, and Petos, the god of war and flame, but isn’t Demera, the goddess of life and fertility, what the grassroots need most?
‘No, I can’t decide the superiority of the gods.’
For a moment, Goo Dae-seong blames himself for thinking disrespectfully.
“Sir Yapi. The operation has been successfully completed, but I have a request for you.”
-Kick?
“Would you like to send a priest of life and abundance from the Pantheon?
-Currently, all priests of Goddess Demera are busy. No spare manpower.
“Keuk…”
Goo Dae-seong was pitiful. Now, what these people and these grassroots need most is a place where they can live.
Of course, it was urgent to slay the monsters around here, but the magic contamination was serious enough to drive them into the mountains.
-Your Majesty told me to tell you.
“You mean His Majesty?
-Teach them the code of the Goddess Demera and let them tend the land. you said so
“Am I?”
Koo Dae-seong is only aware of Goddess Demera’s code of phrases. What does a pilgrim knight who can’t even use the spell properly teach, unlike old man Choi and other priests of the Mansinjeon?
“Is it okay if I just write down the doctrine and propagate the church?”
-It is.
“If that’s all… But if you can afford it later, I think it would be better to dispatch a proper priest.”
– Considered.
With that, communication with Yapi ended. Koo Dae-seong plans to spend the winter for the time being after the battle in the slash-and-burn village. It wouldn’t be bad to walk around here for a while and spread the teachings of Goddess Demera.
I don’t know if they will believe in the teachings of the gods of the pantheon, but Koo Dae-seong decided to stick to what he can.
So, for a few days, he went around the Heilong People’s Republic, where he had been touring so far, and preached the teachings of the Goddess.
-smart!
“Rye, are you there?”
Yanbian hotel. A man came to the hotel where they were staying.
“Who are you?”
“Yeah, I heard that you can meet South Korean compatriots when you come here.”
He was a North Korean.
