## Chapter 218 – Holy War Army
Three days have passed since I established justice in this world.
Elise and I did our best to drive out the evil beings and rescue the impoverished, but the world didn’t seem to have changed much. However, believing that our noble sacrifice would not be in vain, I visited the guild today to look for work.
“Yo, Barbarian jerk! Long time no see!”
Copson, who was inside, saw me and waved, grinning widely and moving his protruding jaw. What a pleasant guy. It’s been a while.
It was strangely fascinating how his hair seemed to have gotten even better in the meantime.
“Yeah, it’s been a while.”
“What have you been up to?”
“Oh, just doing some good deeds for a change.”
“Did you kill someone again!”
“No, you bastard.”
For three days, I had fun shaking my hips, went out shopping with everyone, and even met Elise for a meal. It seems I just spent the entire three days with women.
How many times did we do it?
I can’t even count.
Elise hasn’t returned to the church yet. She said she has a few more things to sort out. Well, that’s good for me. I’d be sad if we parted ways.
And for the aftercare, I went to the Brass Sanctuary Church and reported the giant’s corpse and the tunnels the heretics were digging. The pastor who gave me the superior holy water last time came out, investigated, and promised to reward me.
Doing good deeds leads to good things.
Anyway, I didn’t need to explain all this to Copson, so I just glossed over it.
“What, are you busy? I haven’t had breakfast yet, wanna grab a bite?”
“Hmm, I haven’t eaten either. Let’s go.”
“Let’s do it.”
I went to a nearby restaurant with Copson.
As for the menu, there’s no need to eat anything fancy with Copson. A cheap stew with some meat that can fill us up and some hard bread for breakfast is enough.
We ordered something like that and sat down, chatting with Copson.
Copson bragged about himself and eventually asked how to meet women. I told him to fix his protruding jaw first, and he started getting angry.
We continued talking in that vein until Copson said something as if he’d remembered something.
“Ah, Barbarian. Do you remember me mentioning the bandit gangs infesting the Barony of Dodens last time?”
“Hmm? Oh, that thing. What was it? Those bandits who worship some god?”
I think we talked about it while drinking last time.
Who were they again?
“The Godless Ezathra.”
“Yeah, that was it. But why?”
The stew came out.
Copson grabbed a piece of bread roughly, soaked it in the stew, and put it in his mouth, chewing happily.
It’s quite impressive to see his protruding jaw moving up and down.
“I heard that the Baron of Dodens’ army was defeated.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
I almost spat out the bread I was chewing.
The baron’s army, which even made the orcs break morale, lost to a gang of bandits?
“I’m just telling you what I heard. It’s… yeah. It’s an ominous rumor. Do you even know who Ezathra is?”
“A god of bandits, right?”
“More precisely, a god of thieves. An evil god worshiped by those who enjoy murder and plunder. Most kingdoms probably consider it heresy.”
Copson said with a serious face.
No matter what kind of guys the baron’s army was, it was shocking that a professional killing organization like an army lost to a mere gang of bandits.
Are they the Yellow Turbans or something?
“I heard that the leader of those bandits claims to be an apostle of Ezathra. I don’t know if it’s because the baron underestimated them or was careless, but the army was defeated, and the bandits have occupied a village called Yertak near the barony.”
Copson, who had ordered beer in the meantime, drank half of it in one go.
“Is their leader named Zhang Jiao by any chance?”
“Zhang Jiao? I don’t know.”
So it’s not Zhang Jiao.
The Taiping Tao followers seem innocent.
To sum up the story, it seems that a bandit leader claiming to be an apostle of an evil god crushed the punitive force and occupied a village without permission.
I decided not to think about what kind of hellish scene would unfold in the occupied village. The cruel bandits of this world would have no mercy. It would be ‘fortunate’ if they just massacred everyone without hesitation.
They might have suffered something even more terrible.
“But, are the bandits that strong? Even if they were careless, it’s still an army. They’re not new to war, there’s no reason for them to lose.”
I was very suspicious of that.
Of course, an army isn’t an all-powerful group, and it’s a gathering of idiots who do a lot of stupid things, but… oh? Ah, now that I think about it, they might lose.
Because armies are mostly groups of idiots.
They can beat orcs, but they might lose to people of similar intelligence.
ㅡThwack!
Copson slammed his fork down on the bread.
It was a gesture that seemed to imply something.
“It seems they’ve received Ezathra’s blessing. Some say that each of the bandits possesses considerable strength. It’s not for nothing that their leader claims to be an apostle… They’ve become a completely rampaging horde of heretics.”
“That’s scary as hell. Are we screwed here too?”
“Hehehe, not likely.”
I also drank my beer.
It’s a chilling story.
Claudie would like it, but if a war breaks out, I’ll have to flee to another city. War is too dangerous. I’m a person who vehemently hates war, to the point where I’m actively involved in online anti-war communities.
I know its dangers very well.
Hitler… Stalin… Fascism and imperialism…
Just mentioning them is horrifying.
ㅡWar is an absolute evil that should never happen.
“There are already talks of nearby churches gathering holy war armies, and rumors that Lord Isbant and the Lord of Krasheim are also sending reinforcements. The magic towers will definitely get involved too… Barbarian. Don’t you smell something? The smell of money. This is an opportunity.”
Copson started smelling money without knowing his place.
“No, you idiot. The army got crushed, what money is a nobody adventurer like me going to make?”
“Hehe, you don’t know anything. The Baron of Dodens was defeated, not us. If the holy war army, the lords’ armies, and all the mercenaries and adventurers in the area go, Ezathra or whatever won’t stand a chance.”
“Groundless confidence, you bastard.”
“Well, it’s definitely dangerous, but there will be rewards accordingly, right? No matter how strong they are, they can’t do anything against sheer numbers. It’s not entirely without basis.”
As he said, historically, there were quite a few armies that charged in believing in their numbers and ended up getting destroyed.
Separately, if such a large punitive force is organized, there would definitely be many opportunities to make money.
Well, I should talk to Claudie about it.
Copson’s words are tempting.
If a large-scale punitive force is organized, it wouldn’t be bad to jump on the bandwagon. Given the nature of these money-crazed people in this world, they’ll jump in without hesitation if something like this happens.
The power of capital is beyond imagination.
There’s even a joke in this world that if a bounty is placed, even the dragon living in the back mountains will be captured by the day after tomorrow.
I finished the stew and stood up.
“Ugh. That was good. What, if you have nothing to do, will you go to the gambling den with me?”
“You’ll ruin yourself if you do that, you gambling addict.”
“Says the killing addict.”
“Hehehe… Who’s the killing addict?”
“Don’t deny it. So, are you going?”
“No.”
“Ah, why not? I need someone to cause a ruckus if I lose money.”
“Crazy talk.”
“Well, see you later. See you next time.”
“Alright.”
I parted ways with Copson there.
That gambling addict.
I had a strong feeling that he would get into trouble because of that someday. There’s no easier sucker to scam than an adventurer who’s addicted to gambling and starved for women.
“Ugh, damn. I’m full.”
…The bandit god Ezathra.
I’m not entirely uninterested.
Well, if something happens related to that, I’ll naturally find out.
I should let Elise know on the way back.
I was heading to Elise’s accommodation like that.
ㅡTap tap tap tap!
The sound of footsteps.
It wasn’t uncommon for someone to be running in the street, but one should always be careful. That running person might be a pickpocket, right? Not wanting to cause any trouble, I moved closer to the wall and turned around.
“There! Swordsman! Stop!”
“Hmm?”
When I turned around, a blonde woman was running towards me. She pointed at me and shouted loudly.
Who is she?
Something about her impression is memorable.
Full blonde hair at the back.
The bangs were cut straight, giving her a firm impression. Her eyes were blue, and her chest was barely visible. Flat-chested? Does she not have breasts at all? The clothes she was wearing were white martial arts uniform that looked like a cheongsam.
Martial arts uniform.
A white cheongsam with gold embroidery.
Below that were thighs that looked as sturdy as a healthy horse, and pure white long boots that seemed to match the martial arts uniform.
Something… something… my memory is coming back!
“Martial Arts Instructor!”
I shouted reflexively and drew my sword!
That weakling who got his ass kicked by me!
Could it be revenge for what happened back then!
“You bitch! Did you come for revenge!”
I immediately unleashed the deadly moves of the Director Jang’s Swordsmanship and took a fighting stance. The pedestrians who were walking around in the sudden commotion ran away, leaving me and the Martial Arts Instructor standing alone on the street.
“Haa… Haa… I finally found you, you barbarian swordsman!”
She was panting and speaking roughly, as if she had been sprinting.
“Who are you!”
“Wh-What! You’ve already forgotten me!”
“Yeah! Who are you!”
I stalled for time while looking for an opportunity to attack.
If she came all the way for revenge, she must have come to end it or have a life-or-death battle. She was such a weakling that she had already been crushed by me once, but her kicks were quite sharp, so she was a tricky opponent.
Are we going to fight!
“My name is Mariel! I told you I was a lower-level instructor at the Martial Arts Guild last time!”
Was that her name?
Mariel shouted fiercely and started huffing. Compared to her straight bangs, her hair at the back was very full. She had an impression like a lion.
But her thighs were like a horse.
“Are those thighs a honey trap! You cowardly bitch!”
“Th-Thighs… D-Don’t talk nonsense and reveal your name!”
My name…!
“The existence beyond the heavens.”
Then it’s only right to tell her.
Holding my sword, I took the most murderous stance possible and said heavily.
“Cheonma.”
That “name” was very heavy.
The name of Cheonma.
Is never light.
“I am Cheonma.”
At the same time, I released my inner strength. Perhaps overwhelmed by the momentum, Mariel also repeated my name with a serious expression.
“So… you’re called Cheonma.”
She stood up straight as if she had regained her composure.
What?
Is she not planning to attack?
“Cheonma, I have come to challenge you to a duel.”
Then she pointed at me with a bold attitude.
“What? A duel?”
“We didn’t have a proper match back then. Aren’t you a martial artist too? I’ve been looking for you for the past few days to have a proper match and settle the score from back then.”
It seemed that she was upset about getting crushed back then, so she had been looking for me.
Seriously?
“No, if you lost, you should admit it. What match? I crushed you back then.”
If my memory isn’t wrong, she couldn’t even resist my flashy Director Jang’s Swordsmanship and was crushed and thrown into the gutter.
“No! That’s not true!”
“Ha. You’re being pathetic after losing, right? Get lost. I’m a very busy man.”
I have no interest in weak opponents.
I pinched my nose and waved my hand.
“Defeat is out of the question!”
“Out of the question my ass… Get lost, you weakling. You’re worse than a goblin.”
“Such an insult…!”
After spouting some nonsense, Mariel, whose face had turned completely red, shouted reflexively.
“Are you perhaps trying to avoid the match! Coward! Barbarian!”
“…What?”
A match.
Avoid it?
“Cheonma.”
I felt something in my head snap.
More taboo than calling me a barbarian.
“Never avoids a fight that’s been offered.”
“…”
I erase my playful heart.
Cheonma must not be frivolous.
With the utmost seriousness, I look at the challenger in front of me.
“I’ll make you regret running your mouth. Come at me.”
“…Tch.”
Is she a little scared?
As expected, a weakling is a weakling.
Mariel, who had hesitated for a moment, continued.
“I’ll set a condition before that.”
“A condition?”
Flag for first war arc?