Chapter 145 – 145 – Meat, the Rich and Leni Astala
Uncle Mansell, who ran at full speed with a wind of sand behind his horse’s hooves, first entered the Gokju Chae main building to have an audience with the compatible Gokju and Rod.
Eshen, who had been taking a long nap because he stayed up all night with me, was hit by lightning. Because she had to wake up from a sweet night with her mother, Hwa-ryeon, and prepare to welcome her guests.
That was 30 minutes ago. In other words, the uncle would have definitely heard about it by now. The fact that both Taiga, the blind man of the East, and Ragnaroka, the absolute ruler of the West, have not decided how to deal with Adamantone, an attempted murderer, the son of the Demon King, and the benefactor of the Compassion Valley.
And because of that, they plan to entrust the disposal to Hero Mancellarion. The man will soon be walking out of the main building entrance. And with the blazing fire in his eyes, he will begin to search for Adamantone. Yeah, I see it over there.
Isil Rune, who was holding my hand, bit his lip gently.
“···Tan, it’s our family’s business.”
“I know.”
“You don’t have to stay with me.”
“What do you want me to do about Isilun?”
No matter how close I am to Uncle Mansell and Isilun, I am still an outsider to the Sunstorm family. There is no need to meddle deeply in family history, which may lead to trouble. Maybe Uncle Mansell doesn’t want it either.
But I had to ask Isilun’s doctor. Because his joined hands were shaking.
Ishilun gently bit his lower lip and let go, returning his smile.
“···Will you stay with me?”
“What is it? Why is your tone suddenly becoming friendlier?”
“Then keep speaking stiffly between us?”
Isilun’s hands are no longer shaking, but I feel like the future in which Uncle Mansell will crush my head is fast approaching.
But since Isilun is relying on me and forgetting to be afraid, I decided not to be afraid. What happens is bound to happen.
“I’ll be here, sister.”
But I shouldn’t have said that. I glanced to the side and added, trying to suppress my embarrassment.
“Try to do something about your red face.”
“Suddenly, my sister is outside. Shouldn’t I give her time to mentally prepare?”
Isilun, with the honorific word in his mouth again, muttered as he covered his red cheeks, which were so red that it was difficult to control them. When Garam called me oppa, I automatically closed my eyes, wondering if I was like that.
The phrase ‘outside’ was clearly Isilun’s mistake. Because it evokes the imagination that something is happening inside.
Isilun Thane seemed to have tried to speak as quietly as possible, but someone was close enough to listen. Adamantone’s eyes changed and he looked back at me with his wide eyes.
“Tan, you crazy bastard. What have you done?”
“···What?”
“Didn’t you say nothing happened to me? You damn bastard, I knew this would happen. What on earth happened with the women on that number-“
“Number, turn number? Why is that in your hand…?”
“Shh, shh. Both of you, be quiet. He’s coming.”
Now is the time for truth. Was it out of a sense of duty as her father that the honorable Hero Mancellar Leone personally ran over a distance of over thousands of kilometers? Or is it to complete the purge promised to the Dragon Lord as the head of the Hero family in the past?
Does her uncle still consider her youngest child, who has become an overly burdensome political nuisance, a member of her family? Did she initially think of the child she had no blood relationship with as her son? What was the background to the birth of Adamantone?
Fate has fired an arrow at the Sunstorm family, and there is nothing I can do. We can only wait for the moment when it is revealed.
Flipping meat over on the grill.
“···What on earth are you doing?”
“Salt-smoked pork belly is grilled to perfection. We set up on the street and enjoy the evening sunlight.”
“I know it when I see it. I mean-“
“Uh, wait a minute, mister. I’m going to get in.”
I quickly turned the meat over. Angered by the late care, the pork belly protested by spitting out the oil it had contained.
Ithilun, who was crouching next to me, quickly tilted his head back to avoid the insult of the dead pig, and to his chagrin, Adamanthon threw it on his face.
It must have been quite hot, but surprisingly, the guy didn’t utter any harsh words and just frowned and walked away. If you think back to the days when oil would only foam on your toenails rather than on your face, it can be said to be an impressive advancement.
The members of Uncle Mansell’s party, ‘Golden Dawn’, stood behind the man and exchanged puzzled looks with each other. On the other hand, Tigris onlookers are watching, tiptoeing around as if they are interested.
She looked at Uncle Mansell, who was looking down at her with his ferocious face with the warrior’s sword drawn, and at me, who was crouching in front of him and calmly fanning the bonfire.
While Gokju’s personal guards chased away the onlookers, saying that they had no reason to come and watch, Uncle Mansell glared at the two Sunstorms and a porter sitting around the fire.
And in the end, I couldn’t get any more angry and hung my sword in vain.
“I mean, what kind of trick is this?”
“You said it a long time ago. If there is a problem between party members who share in the ups and downs, like an adult, you should try to resolve it through conversation, even if it means talking all night. In the past, you’ve just greased your throat to make it easier to talk.”
I pointed at Uncle Mansell with the pork fat-covered tongs.
“And every time that happened, I was next to you and cooked a late-night snack. When I had to mediate a fight between party members, or when there was a conflict of opinion on how to attack a demon cave. It reminds me of the old days, right, mister?”
When I was a member of the Golden Dawn, I often did this. Originally, the youngest was supposed to prepare the late-night snack, and when it got dark, he had us sit in front of the bonfire.
Originally, there was no such rule, but a new one was created because of me. The intention was to keep the fledgling youth porter calmly attached to the campground.
But if you work well, your work increases. In the end, I was responsible for at least one meal during the mission.
“My skills were amazing.”
“It smells crunchy and sweet. How did you do it?”
In general, smoked dishes develop in regions where salt is scarce, and salt-pickled dishes become a tradition in areas where firewood is scarce.
And as the great hero parties defeated the hordes of monsters and expanded the realm of people, roads connected all over the world and countless cultures met each other.
And better things were born. For example, in our house, a unique home-cooked meal was created by combining my porter father’s salt-grilled meat and my seaside mother’s smoking barbecue.
“Banthai’s special salt-smoked pork. Because it does not need to be grilled like traditional smoked pork, the chewy meat and nutrients survive, and it is soft because it can be sterilized without using a lot of salt.”
Mansell, who was dazed, smiled and tried to say something. As if he wanted to say something because he was happy to see the memories again.
But Adamantone spoke first. Uncle Mansell paused.
“That’s right. It will spoil faster than meat that has been dried out and turned into leather, but it is much more delicious, and if sealed, it will last for about 15 days without spoiling. When and with what skills did you prepare it? Weren’t you busy suffering from being speared?”
In fact, we ate more of our house’s traditional smoked salt-grilled adamanton than Uncle Mansell. At Adamantone’s party, I was the only person in charge of field cooking. The dedicated chef, as well as the rest of the party, all ran away and took over.
In other words, there is one thing in common between Uncle Mansell and Adamantone. I am looking at the smoke of the meat I am grilling with eyes filled with memories.
“Well, I bought it at a butcher shop nearby. I guess I met a good culture here too. They sold it because it was completely similar to the one at my house.”
Uncle Mansell and Adamantone, whose nostalgia had collapsed, looked at me with puzzled eyes. Then they glanced at each other’s expressions and were taken aback by the fact that they shared the same sentiment.
I shrugged my shoulders and smiled as I looked at the father and son trying to pretend that nothing had happened.
“Then, did you know that I would set up a drying rack and dry meat, moaning like I did when I was young? Did I know when my uncle would come and prepare in advance? Just like this guy said, I was busy lying down and moaning.”
“···That’s right. Are you okay with your injuries?”
“I’m trying to be okay. Just sit down and eat.”
Uncle Mansell twitched the corners of his eyes.
What the man said a little while ago is correct. It’s a modified work and an obvious performance. What kind of crazy son of a bitch would light a fire and sit and grill meat in the yard of a rich man’s house?
But Mancellarion is not a man who can kick away bonfires and meat. The man eventually accepted the offer to sit together.
As the party leader sat down in the spare seat, the Golden Dawn party members also sat down on the floor of the yard, their armor shaking. An old colleague with a familiar face was giggling over Uncle Mansell’s shoulder.
“The little porter guy, his big liver has never changed.”
“Everyone be quiet.”
Uncle Mansell said wearily. And he looked at me intently.
“I will skip the formal greetings like I did in the Dragon’s Lair. Your intentions seem transparent, but I will still ask you as a formality. Despite everything you have gone through because of Adamantone, do you want me to save Adamantone?”
“···Father?”
“···You’re so direct from the start. Can’t we take it a little slower until we reach the conclusion?”
Isilun and I were horrified, but Adamantone just stared at the fire as if he was going to listen in silence. The matriarch of Sunstorm spoke terrible words in a dry voice.
“It would have been better if you had died. If Rod hadn’t kept you alive. I wouldn’t have had to think about what to do with you with my own hands.”
“Hey, Uncle Mansell. Just calm down for now-“
“I respect you as a colleague, but there is a line, Tan. It is not your place to step forward. I am the head of a family, and this is my family’s business.”
“Family? Am I still your son?”
Uncle Mansell was stabbed first by an invisible knife. The life seemed to have been sucked out of Uncle Mansell’s face.
Adamantone, on the other hand, picked up the hot meat with a fork and spoke energetically as he took a big bite without even cutting it.
“If I’m going to kill you, I’ll kill you. It seems like there are more people who don’t want me to live anymore.”
“What kind of mannerisms are you talking about, Adamantone?”
“It’s my fault anyway, sister! I don’t know if my father will cut me to death, bury me, or plan to salt me and smoke me, but no matter what happens, it’s my own business, so I won’t blame anyone this time. “But before that, I need to make two things clear.”
Adamantone shook the smoked pork belly on his fork.
“First of all, even if I die, I have to eat all of this. The juiciness is truly a work of art.”
“I won’t stop you from eating it, but just cut it and eat it. Here are the scissors.”
“Thank you. And I have to ask, who am I?”
Mansell’s pale face became even paler. It was as if the piece of meat that Adamantone had started to cut up was like a breathing hole for him.
“A man named Gunter Waldenhardt called me his son. I heard later that he was a demon lord or something. Not only did he look like me, but even the way he justified his actions was strangely similar to me, so my brothers used to tease me about not having any resemblance to my father. “Words take on a new meaning.”
Although family and honor may be the priority for the warrior father, it has become clear which is closer to his heart. Hero Mancellarion groaned long and painfully.
“…Something happened. Tell me. I think I was changed in the cradle or something bad happened to my mother.”
“Don’t talk nonsense, Adamantone!”
“It’s time to refrain from this, my sister! If you are going to go forward and go forward, only as soon as possible. “There have been many opportunities to express in the first place!”
Contrary to his calm tone, it seems that Adamantone was still painfully aware of the truth that he was an illegitimate child. When I tried to get up, my legs gave out and I fell back down.
Adamantone, who was glaring and twitching his eyes as if he was going to crush his weak leg, turned his eyes to his father, who looked like he was about to faint at any moment, and said,
“I don’t want to blame you. My father has never been indifferent to me before. But couldn’t he have at least hinted?”
“I thought that even if our blood was different, if I embraced it with my heart, I could have it grow up just like any other child.”
The voice of someone who came back from the underworld sounds exactly like that. A few Golden Dawn members let out a small sigh at Uncle Mansell’s miserable mutterings.
“That’s why I didn’t want to say that to you. There’s nothing wrong with you or your mother.”
“···What happened to your mother?”
“You are too young to know, Isilun. Some of your brothers may have noticed, but no one has dared to ask me or my wife directly. If you wish, I will tell you for the first time, Adamantone. Our family has been… Mitra for generations. “I was a paladin of the church. Like my father and grandfather, I was also a warrior belonging to the church. I formed a party with believers appointed by the church and performed missions instructed by the church.”
Oh, suddenly?
“Really? I never would have guessed.”
“Of course you don’t know, Tan. I broke off the relationship cleanly before you were recruited. It was after my wife was attacked by a Mithraist official at the church.”
Uncle Mansell’s expression became tinged with murder. Even when facing the most dangerous monster, I have never seen such hostility on his face.
“Hearing the screams calling me, I ran late and swung my sword, but the incident had already happened. I could barely guess the identity of the escaped criminal through the cut decorations. Gold thread embroidered on a black robe.”
“If it’s gold thread embroidered on black robes… Then he’s at least the rank of bishop.”
Isilun’s words blurred awkwardly. Perhaps there was something he wanted to say instead of the expression ‘bishop level or higher’.
Because there was a name that came to mind for me too. That bald bastard.
“But the Mithraic Church did not acknowledge the bishop’s deviation. If they thought the bishop jumped out of the confessional and attacked the saints, they needed more solid evidence than the bishop’s torn clothes. Although he did not renounce his faith because his wife tried to dissuade him, , I removed the sun symbol from my armor and erased all ties to the cult.
Since the donations from the Mithraic Church of Saints were no longer flowing into the treasury, I had to personally knock on the door of the party alliance and resolve any personal requests I could. “I had to raise my family from the ground up, as they had become completely penniless in an instant.”
Uncle Mansell raised his eyes toward the setting sun.
“Because of the reputation you had built up, the days of your stomach not being hungry were not long, but when you have multiple children, the cost of powdered milk increases exponentially, so you sometimes get angry with Mithra. Since you first betrayed me, a faithful citizen, sometimes you “Shouldn’t you help me?”
“Have you been thinking about that every time you look up at the sun in a daze?”
Uncle Mansell smiled faintly and nodded his head.
“But something happened and the youngest, who was born the next year, looked exactly like me in every detail. Thinking about it now, it was a sin, but I was so happy. Mithra, who had put me to the test, took the form of a girl. “I just thought you were sending me a message of reconciliation.”
“···Girls?”
“But one day, the baby in the crib changed. It was truly absurd that the boy was begging for milk. The frightened wife gathered the servants who came in and out of the room and questioned them, but to her horror, one of the twenty-year-old maids was the wife. He committed suicide by cutting his own head in front of his eyes.”
Even Adamantone, who was trying to maintain his composure, opened his mouth. The smell of neglected burning meat filled my nose, but I didn’t even dare to use the tongs.
“No matter how much I looked into it, the only thing I could tell was that the child was a believer of Mithras. There was not enough evidence to point out the bishop at the time as the culprit.”
“Damn it…”
“That’s what I’m saying. I’ve never had such a strange day. I couldn’t believe it when I saw it before my eyes. He was a bright and cheerful child who had worked in our house for a long time. When we moved from the courtyard of Mithras to the city, he bought half of the furniture in our house by himself. “They even moved everything. They said it was a waste of money to hire movers.”
“···Are you an apt porter?”
“Yes. Maybe my wife remembered the fears of that day from you, Tan.”
Now I know the real reason why Sunstorm’s hostess was reluctant to let me into her home. When the porter posted a report pointing out her son’s scars to her parents’ house, she did not believe it and hid it from her husband. It is not easy to raise a dog again after being bitten by a dog.
“My wife, devastated by what had happened, began to act as if nothing had happened in the first place. She had a child who had grown blonde hair that resembled Sunstorm’s, but she had a face that never resembled ours, more than any other member of the family. I raised him with care and protection.
About the time I gave up trying to convince my wife to place her in an orphanage, I thought maybe that would be a peaceful solution. “Isn’t that child, whom her wife named Adamanton, innocent? It may not necessarily be painful, she said, for you to resemble our speaking habits a little.”
“Then I… I have been a scar on my family from the beginning.”
“Adamantone.”
“I knew that. It was so fucking hard to behave in a way befitting the Sunstorm family. Damn, my poor mother. She looked at me and thought of that bastard Waldenhardt while still breastfeeding. I’m just glad that my curiosity was resolved. “I don’t think so. I thought about where my life went wrong for a long time, and in the end, the answer was right in front of me.”
“Adamantone?”
Adamantone, who was sinking and collapsing from his seat, put down the bowl containing the meat. And started pulling his hair out.
“You must have already made up your mind. Do as you wish, Mancellarion Sunstorm. If I could wash away my sins with my head, I would. Where would you cut off your evil ties? A mountain with no onlookers? A river where you can easily clean up corpses?”
“Adamantone, if you’re going to drive a nail into his chest, listen to what he says and then drive it in. He can’t even breathe because of you.”
Mansell, who looked like he was having trouble breathing, nodded to me as if he was grateful. Adamantone gasped and closed his mouth.
However, like a child who didn’t even listen to what I said, he opened his mouth again.
“Then what should I do?”
“I’d rather beg for your life. That would be better than seeing it now.”
“For what reason?”
“What about preventing a near-collision between the Compassionate Valley and the outside world? You saved the lives of not only the Taiga family but also countless people.”
“You spend your whole life messing around with other people’s lives and then ask them to look at you because you did a good job? Even in my ignorant opinion, that’s so ugly.”
“In my opinion, the nonsense of saying that you have done something worthy of a warrior for the first time in your life and now you are now giving up your life is even more terrible. In a 5-round martial arts match, I was beaten all 4 rounds, and in the last round, when I won for the first time in my life, I was hit with a blow. “It sounds like you’re going to be satisfied, abstain, and then go home and cry.”
Isilun and Adamantone’s brows furrow at the strange analogy.
If you put them side by side, no one would say they resemble brother and sister. However, there is a reason why I got the impression that they resembled each other. The facial expressions are the same.
I don’t know how much adamantone Gunther Waldenhardt contains, but I don’t think birth is everything.
If I admit that, I feel like I would be agreeing with Gunter, a hero supremacist.
“You once said, ‘I want to be like my father,’ and for the first time, you’ve come closer to realizing that childhood dream. But you’re going to die and wash away your shame? Instead of saying you’ll become a better person?”
“I am… But I am the Demon King… Damn it. Other people may not know, but aren’t you the only one who wants me to die by my father’s hands?”
“If that guy who wanted to become a hero like Mancellarion Sunstorm hadn’t suddenly returned, and if he hadn’t handed over the antidote to demonization to us, Hualien might have killed Eshen. Now, on the streets around us, people are laughing and talking normally. Those Tigris may have hesitated at an unwanted order and eliminated our party members without leaving a trace.”
I thought of my colleagues. And I thought about what it would have been like if just one of them had lost their life because of Hwan-Hyang Gok.
No matter whose name is engraved on the tombstone, there is one thing in common. I don’t think I want to live.
“So, even though everyone in the world is calling Adamantone Sunstorm a bastard and putting him down, I have reason to defend him at least once. That’s what I think you should say now.”
“···Tell me with a straight face? You want to become a good warrior? Tell your father that you will reflect on what you have done, and then ask him to give you a chance?”
“Can not be done.”
The moment I tried to encourage him by saying that was it, Mansell opened his mouth. Isil Rune swallowed her saliva in horror.
I slowly turned my head. Uncle Mansell was reaching for his warrior sword.
“Hey, uncle.”
“Don’t worry. There will be no need to cut off our relationship with a sword. I thought of him as my son for twenty years, but now seeing him bleed and throwing him away again is too cruel. I can’t do that.”
I internally breathed a sigh of relief. Uncle Mansell continued.
“But we can’t let the child who had an accident wander around any longer. Stop your adventures as a warrior and return home. Your mother wants to see you.”
“You mean-“
“I have concluded that I can no longer allow you to act as a hero. You don’t have to be a hero to become a better person. Don’t all Heroes make a living swinging their swords at monsters?”
The story seems to be going better than expected, but at the same time, it goes in an unexpected direction.
Uncle Mansell raised the warrior sword that had been in his hand a moment ago. He held the sword by the sheath, not the hilt.
“Would you like to know?”
“···It’s my sword.”
“It’s your holy sword, ‘Uza’s Lighthouse.’ Waldenhardt stole it back from the dragon’s nest and gave it to you, and Hyanghyanggok obtained the one you were holding after going to the demon world and gave it back to me. That’s how I used it twice. It’s back in your hands.”
Holy sword, also known as warrior sword.
Those mysterious weapons, which are only available to those with the aptitude for being a warrior, have many mysterious properties other than the ability to set fire to the hands of those who do not recognize them as their owners.
For example, it is a heavy object that cannot be blown away by the wind, but it keeps returning to its owner as if it were fate.
“I believe that an adult’s attitude toward a child should be like this warrior’s sword. Obviously, you are not my child. But, like Tan, I have a reason to stand by your side. I will live as your father a long time ago. Since you have decided to do it, I will always come back and guard your side like this sword.
Adamantone suddenly appears to have swollen his face. This is because he is struggling not to cry.
Uncle Mansell held out the hilt of his sword to his son. However, before Adamantone grabbed his sword, he spoke firmly.
“But I want you to return to the dragon’s lair with the dragons of Hyanghangok and return this sword directly to Aetrion, the creator of your sword.”
“···Yes?”
“It’s just like I said. I will always be proud of my son for saving Hyanghwagok, but at the same time, I cannot condone what you did as a warrior. Break the warrior’s sword and come. I will consider it as a resolution of atonement.”
“Like Tan said, what if I really need this knife?”
“Even if you don’t have a sword and you are no longer a warrior, you will still have us. Isn’t it enough for me to be on your side?”
For a warrior, the sword is a precious item, like another weapon. A warrior without a sword is a dead warrior. However, Mancellarion’s son Adamanthon will survive.
Killing the warrior Adamanthon and saving his son Adamanthon. In the uncle’s mind, the honor of the Hero family and his father’s resolve seem to have found a moderate agreement.
Adamantone, who is quiet, looked at me desperately for help, but I don’t think there could be a better conclusion.
In the end, Adamanthon bowed his head.
“Please just let me have it for just one day.”
“Of course. I can wait for about a day.”
Uncle Mansell, who warmly held the hand of the returned prodigal son, picked up the tongs I had put down and lifted up the burnt smoked meat.
And I bit down forcefully. Uncle Mansell mumbled with an expression as if he was chewing rubber.
“Your skills are good.”
“···What’s your skill? The meat is completely shredded?”
“It’s still worth eating.”
“This is the meat I bought.”
“Take it roughly as a compliment. Don’t keep pouting.”
Uncle Mansell got up and left without any hesitation. I was guided to a place to stay by Gokju’s SS members who had been watching me until now.
Isil Rune waved at the Golden Dawn members who were leaving following his father, and glanced at Ada Manton, who was lost in thought.
Then he tilted his head towards me and said.
“When the conversation ended well, I tried to joke that I would have done well in the restaurant business.”
“Is it so?”
“But I also think he would have done well as a lawyer. Before he sat down, there was a hint of murder in his father’s eyes, but it wasn’t the case when he left.”
“Yes. Even though my father sat down with a harsh heart, I may have survived because of you. Thank you. For standing by my side.”
“Is being a porter a big deal?”
I looked at the man’s back as he walked away. And like an old man, I took a bite of the burnt meat.
“It’s the porter’s job to carry party members’ luggage.”
———–
“He is a father who has to chew and endure a burnt relationship like meat left on a fire. Isn’t it poetic?”
“Is that what it means? It’s so bitter if you interpret it that way.”
“So is that the end? There was no stabbing?”
“Would you like to wake up?”
“I almost died for the idiot, but would I want to end well?
“…I think about it sometimes, Lenny. You have a strangely extreme side.”
“It’s a meaningless vent, so leave it alone. You may have been a colleague to Tan to begin with, but you’re a stranger to me.”
Compared to how soft my thighs are. I tried to bury the thoughts that followed.
But I can’t ignore this pleasant feeling of weight crushing my lower body. Lennie’s buttocks and legs, who suddenly entered my bathtub naked and sat on top of me, pushed me elastically like a new bed with vivid spring resistance, and melted into my skin like well-melted fondue.
It’s as frustrating as it is satisfying. I whispered into the back of Lennie’s head, who was leaning on my shoulder.
“But why are you suddenly like this, so scary?”
“Why are you suddenly like this? What do you mean, Tan? What are you trying to do? Is it okay to take a break from the healing ceremony today?”
“That’s not true.”
“Then let’s do it. Wouldn’t this be much better than having an A-class porter die from his internal organs exploding?”
Lennie said with a smile, slowly rubbing her thighs against her body. I tried to endure it, thinking about the taste of burnt salted meat.
It didn’t go as planned. The object that stood upright at the touch began to become sad as if it had been touched by fire.
My heart has already melted. My instincts are screaming in my ears to grab my hands full of thigh meat and knead it right now. But···.
“What are you…?”
“Ah.”
Lennie’s smile grew cold. Leni rolled his head against my shoulder and turned around, tilting his head crookedly and saying.
“It’s not here.”
