## Chapter 967 – The Sea
And so, I strolled through this port city.
The more I walked, the more I felt it acutely: this was not a good neighborhood. The security seemed terrible, and the streets were filthy. Even the people seemed to have vicious hearts.
Since people flowed in and out as they pleased, it was inevitable that it would turn out this way.
It reminded me of when I first came to this world. Back then, I lived in a similar atmosphere, living like trash.
“Move it, move it!”
“You morons! If you keep working like that, I’ll dock your pay!”
“We’re sorry!”
The workers, bustling about, were being cursed out just for breathing. Still, they looked like murderers, but they were helpless before the supervisor.
Still, the city was somewhat sound.
After all, people were working to live for today and tomorrow. That was the most important value. People become human only when they work.
Smells like people living.
I walked through those streets.
ㅡThud!
ㅡThud!!
ㅡThud!!!
But just walking made me feel unpleasant.
Trash was falling from the sky.
Looking up, I saw trash being thrown from the windows of buildings. The trash piled up on the ground, soaked in seawater splashing from all directions, polluting the city.
Just throwing trash out the window?
These little shits have no concept of manners.
ㅡThud!
Another piece of trash fell in front of me.
“Seriously, what the fuck.”
Wow, so much trash falling.
It was like I was in some strange country where throwing trash out the window was common sense and morally acceptable. Can’t they just throw it away properly? These conscience-stricken bastards were just throwing it all out.
They didn’t care at all about the people below.
This was all ruining their own city.
So, pedestrians dodged the trash, and those who were hit by mistake cursed.
I, too, walked through the streets, dodging the trash. The sky was gloomy, and the city was gloomy as well. The falling trash was a dirty rain shower instead of rain. It also represented the residents’ character.
ㅡThud!
ㅡThud!!
ㅡThud!!!
“Ah.”
The water splashed by the relentlessly falling trash soaked my shin.
“Fuck.”
These motherfucking sons of bitches.
I was trying to pass it off as culture and let it go, but I couldn’t take it anymore. Today, as a paladin with a lofty sense of morality, I would instill some sense into these bastards’ heads.
I immediately grabbed the trash that had fallen and shouted at the window.
“You fucking assholes!!! If you’re going to throw trash, check if there are people below, you goddamn bitches!!! I almost got hit!!! Come out!!!”
ㅡSwaeaaaaaak!!
As I shouted and threw the trash at the window, the closed window shattered with a crash. “Waaaaaah!” A short scream was immediately heard.
“Which son of a bitch is it!!! You wanna die, you bastard!!! I’ll kill you!!!”
A bald man with a red face stuck his head out and shouted.
“It’s your mom, you bastard.”
“What the fu… Oh!”
ㅡPaaat!
With a light jump, I landed on the railing of his third-floor window. The flustered bald man took a step back and pointed at me.
“W-what…? W-who are you…?”
“Your mom. Can’t you recognize your own mom? Is that how your mother taught you? You fucking unfilial bastard?”
“What did you say?”
I stretched my leg and entered his room. The inside was quite dirty. There were only a few pieces of furniture and a dusty floor.
“This fucking bitch throws trash and then curses back?”
“W-well, you see…”
As I pointed to the debris of the broken window and the scattered trash, he lowered his eyes and stammered.
“The kid doesn’t know public manners. Anyway, you threw trash and almost hit me, so I deserve financial compensation…”
“G-get out! Get out of here!!! Uwaaaaaaaaah!!”
Anyway, when I tried to get compensation, he suddenly started screaming.
The nerve of this bastard!
I can’t stand this.
“You crazy bastard!!!”
ㅡPahak!
“Kyaaak!”
My hand naturally flew out, and the man who was slapped flew away and crashed into the wall, sprawling on the bed.
“You bastard! If you make things difficult for people! Give them compensation!!!”
“Aaaaaaaaah!! Kkeuaaaaaaaaak!!”
I used my palm to beat his entire body, adjusting the strength so he wouldn’t die. Every time I slapped his cheek, there was a thud, and every time I hit his torso, he flew away and hit the wall.
“Die!! Die, you bastard!!”
“Kyaaaaaaaaak!!”
After beating him for a long time and pouring out my violence, the bloodied man cried and begged.
“H-heuk…! Keuek…! I’m sorry…! I’m sorry! Please save me!”
Perfect etiquette has been instilled.
Violence makes people, after all.
“Yeah, yeah. How nice it would have been if you had apologized from the beginning.”
I nodded, smiling with satisfaction.
This paladin’s lofty sense of morality had turned a human trash into a person.
Was this how Hwanung felt when he forced mugwort and garlic on the bear to turn it into a human? It was a kind of inhuman warning. A silent warning to kneel if you want to live.
I can do something more terrible than feeding you only mugwort and garlic and locking you in a dark cave for a hundred days.
A destructive warning containing such implications.
I will widely benefit people with fear and an iron fist.
“Anyway, you bastard, this is a total of 10 silver for consolation money, education expenses, and my time.”
“Huh? Huh?”
“Lie down. I’ll take it.”
I immediately searched the room for something worth money. I opened the closet and rummaged through the boxes. But nothing really came out. This bastard… is he just living in poverty? If he doesn’t have education expenses, he’ll have to get beaten more.
I was rummaging through the drawers like that.
“Hmm?”
Something strange like a sculpture came out from the inside of the drawer.
“What’s this?”
ㅡSculpture.
The upper body of a beautiful woman and the lower body of a fish.
ㅡA mermaid.
A sculpture of a female mermaid came out.
Is this some kind of souvenir from the coastal area?
Looking closely, her figure was quite good.
Her breasts were large, and her waist was thin.
Her nipples were hidden by her long hair.
“This bastard… was collecting lewd figures.”
“T-that’s…!”
“This is confiscated.”
I shook the confiscated mermaid sculpture in front of his eyes.
I could get some money if I sold it.
“O-oh…! G-give it back!”
The flustered man reached out his arms to me.
Is he crazy?
“This bastard dares to talk back to his etiquette teacher? Do you want your head pulled off?”
“I-I’m sorry!!”
The man who apologized raised his guard and shouted pleadingly.
“B-but please give it back…!! Please…!!”
“What is it? Is it something precious?”
I looked at the naked mermaid sculpture again.
Literally a lewd figure… Is this bastard’s only fap material?
Then I acknowledge it.
“Y-yes, yes… It’s s-something precious…”
“Why is it precious?”
“That’s…”
He hesitated and avoided answering.
He’s like a middle schooler who doesn’t want his fap material taken away.
“Hey, why are you embarrassed? With something like this… No, wait a minute. You stay right there.”
Something flashed in my mind, and I looked at the sculpture again.
ㅡA sculpture in the form of a mermaid.
Could this be… a religious sculpture?
That sea goddess?
The mermaids’ faith?
“You.”
I looked down at him.
“You’re a follower of the mermaid god.”
“…!”
When I calmly revealed his identity, he was horrified and tried to get up and argue.
“No! It’s not that!! It’s not! It’s just that it’s expensive…!”
Having accumulated experience from living so far, I could easily notice that he was trying to make excuses. Is this really a statue of the sea goddess?
What should I do with this?
After thinking for exactly 1 second, I smiled and grabbed his shoulder.
“It’s okay, you bastard!!! Me too!!! I also believe in Shamaelreina-nim! Wow, it’s been a long time since I came back!!! I’ll give it back!! Take this!!”
“H-huh…?”
With a smile, I handed the sculpture to him. He grabbed it as if he had received something very precious.
“Wow, to meet a fellow believer here! Nice to meet you! I’m Jacobson! What’s your name!!!”
“Yes…? Yes? Ah, Zors… I’m Zors…”
“Okay, okay, Zors.”
When I asked, giving a fake name, he nodded. I asked him in a kind tone.
“Sorry. Did it hurt a lot?”
“Yes, no. That…”
“It was because of the trash. It suddenly fell and the water splashed on me, so I got really pissed off. But if we’re fellow believers, I can forgive you enough. I’ll forgive you, so will you forgive me?”
“…”
He seemed very confused.
Of course, it’s confusing when someone who was beating you suddenly shows friendliness and acts crazy. And the easiest time to handle someone is when they’re confused.
“Use this for treatment.”
I took out several 1 silver coins from my pocket and handed them to him.
“…!”
Instantly, his face lit up.
“T-thank you!! Thank you!!”
“No thanks. I’m giving it to you to use for treatment. Sorry. I suddenly hit you. You’ll forgive me, right?”
“Ah, yes! Of course, I have to forgive you, of course…”
“Good, good.”
He became docile in an instant when he saw the money.
“Hey, hey. Relax. Sorry for hitting you, you bastard. But we’re friends now, right? We’re fellow believers.”
“Hahaha… Yes. I have to relax.”
This bastard keeps staring at the silver coins and grinning.
He’ll be easy to handle.
“But do you have more of those? I want to see them.”
“Ah, yes. I have a few more.”
Kneeling, he rummaged under the bed and took out a box. Inside were shells with some kind of pattern carved on them, coral fragments, and stuff like that.
From the point of view that a grown adult has this kind of thing, he’s confirmed as a heretic.
“You must have believed quite diligently?”
“I’m a sailor… Yes. I believe.”
No wonder he looked like a habitual child abuser.
I started talking, matching his mood. If I do this well, I might be able to find out the location of a gathering place.
“I used to be a sailor too. Most of the sailors believed in the goddess. You know, mermaids are beautiful, right? And kind.”
“Yes. That’s true… How beautiful they are…”
He looked out the window and answered.
He seems to be charmed by mermaids.
“And if you believe in the goddess, you don’t have to worry even if you’re shipwrecked. The mermaids will save you.”
“There’s also that saying. Yes.”
He just answers with a smile.
“But a guy like that throws trash around?”
When I pointed that out, he tilted his head.
“Huh? Isn’t that… okay…? This is land, after all.”
It’s okay to throw it away because it’s land?
You crazy heretic bastard.
“No. Where does all that trash you throw away go? It all flows into the sea. Then that’s sea pollution, do you really think that’s okay? I don’t think so?”
“W-well, that’s… Still…”
“I really can’t just let this go. This all flows into the sea and pollutes it, but you just think it’s okay if you only make the land dirty. This is a big problem. Do you know what came out when I gutted the fish I caught while fishing the other day? Trash that humans threw away came out of it. It all pollutes the sea.”
“…!”
When I lied appropriately, he widened his eyes.
“What was it. A turtle? I caught a turtle and it was caught in a net. The net had completely dug into its flesh, and it seemed like it had been living with it. It’s all because humans threw away trash. Like you.”
“N-no! I didn’t mean it that way, I…!”
When I told him that his actions were polluting the sea, he was horrified and confused.
“All this land trash flows in and the fish eat it and get hurt, you bastard. It’s fucked up, really. So you. Is it okay to throw trash around?”
“I don’t think so! No, but this is… I did it the way I was taught… I didn’t think that far!”
Taught?
I sensed it.
“Who taught you? Who gave you such wrong teachings?”
“That’s… Well…”
“Hey, in our sea, we collect the trash properly and bury it in the ground to protect the sea. I think people here should do that too. Anyway, tell me who told you to throw trash around. I’ll go talk to them.”
I grabbed his shoulder, smiled, and asked.
“Th-the nuns… said it was okay.”
“…”
Nuns?
