Chapter 149 – 149 – I’m Going Far Away
The paladins who had been waiting at the back of the mansion under Florica’s instructions began to light a bonfire with gloomy expressions as night fell. There was nothing else that could be done.
A Demon God’s temple was discovered in the distance, putting Great Elan on high alert, but the Dragon’s Nest and Hyanggokju did not take the Paladin Holy Knights, who would have been of great help on the battlefield, there. He said that he might be manipulated by Mithra during the fight and harm his allies. It was an understandable reason, but it was also enough of a reason to be sullen.
Of course, there is a possibility that it will open up because we stayed behind. Florica had told them a few days ago that they had to help a porter escape. The paladins who were gloomily polishing their armor were happy that something exciting had happened. He deliberately hid his weapons and armor in the backyard, and took the group of lizards he had come with under the pretext of taking them for a walk. As expected, as expected from the Vatican’s special combat team, no one was caught by the locals during the process.
However, Tan’s escape, which started due to Florica’s taunts, was quickly stopped by the new lord of the compatible grain, Eshen. Even if he waited endlessly, it seemed unlikely that the porter would be able to escape from prison.
Moreover, since they gathered heavily armed and secretly drew spear knives, they could not go back to their lodgings and pretend that nothing had happened. So they can’t even go back to sleep as they please. The paladins began to hope that the locals of Hwanghwagok would find them, beat them up, and imprison them.
The legendary Holy Knights of the Holy See, who were said to chew even the bones of devils, were caught up in the feeling of being nothing but commoners at this moment.
They decided to fight against faith because faith was trying to burn people. They abandoned the church because the church abandoned humans.
But faith and denomination were their whole lives, so what was left for them now?
“Is it a dream?”
“Brother, this is truly a romantic statement, but I was lamenting, not turning twenty heads. It was not a complaint hoping for an answer.”
“Neither do I, brother. Look up there. Am I dreaming?”
The group of paladins raised their heads. Then, scared, he climbed onto the lizard and got close to the wall of the mansion. The lizards, which had been dozing off irritably due to their cold bodies, were also startled.
Amidst the torches and shouts coming from the direction of the mansion, Tan and Florica were standing on a high wall, looking down at them.
And immediately he threw himself at them.
———-
“You said you would show me an easy, quick and refreshing escape? – No matter how well suited you are as a porter, your body is so hopelessly inept at fighting.I didn’t know it was going to happen!– Did you realize that only after you broke all my fingers? I ended up in a fistfight with the guards who I could have avoided! It hurts, you idiot! – If I knew you were this bad, I never would have joined!“
The two voices coming out of one mouth seem to have thrown the paladins into confusion.
Luckily, the rest of my body didn’t have any disagreements. Lilith safely fell onto the flat-bellied lizard, and placed Florica, whom she was holding in her arms, on the back of the saddle.
In fact, Florica, who I found in the downstairs prison cell and escaped with, did more work than Lilith, who boasted that she would defeat the Tigris with my rotten body.
Florica, who was exhausted from breaking through the siege at the head of her, hugged her waist tightly and nodded her head, Lilith skillfully pulled the reins as if she had driven before before.
“Whip! Where is the whip?– That’s animal abuse. I don’t use that kind of thing these days! – Damn it, what’s going on these days! How on earth are you supposed to speed up without whipping yourself!“You’re already running fast as you can tell, so why are you even thinking about hitting me now, just like before?”
“···Bantai-kun? Are you okay?”
“Ah. Hello, Paladins? I’m a little late, right?”
The hesitating paladins greeted them with a nod. With an expression that seemed suspicious of mental illness or possession by a miscellaneous ghost.
···I hope you just think of it as something that hurts. I saw someone holding a hammer tightly as if they were willing to help with an exorcism.
And the hammer flew not to me, but to some unlucky Tigris.
And more Tigris rushed out to fill the place of Tigris, who was wriggling and holding his nose.
“There’s a Tigris pursuit team on the left! Don’t let them catch Bantai on board!”
“Hey, religious men! What on earth are you doing? If that guy disappears, our Eshen will beat him to death!”
You crazy superhumans, you can catch up with a lizard running at 80 kilometers per hour just by jumping.
But that wasn’t our only ordeal.
“Right! Chasers are following us on the right too!”
The paladins quickly looked to the right. And I was astonished.
It seems that the Tigris warriors are not the only ones left under my surveillance. A dark red shape was flying through the night sky with a force that seemed to tear it apart.
It’s a dragon. An adult dragon that is almost comparable in size to Nidroga.
The lizard must have realized what was happening and ran with all its might. However, the apex predator quickly followed suit, as if snorting.
The moment its head got closer to hitting me, I squeezed my eyes shut, but the expected collision didn’t happen.
Instead, someone suddenly appeared on the lizard’s back. Holding my right arm tightly.
“All kinds of thoughts must have crossed your mind, Brother. ‘Do the Paladins have to face something like that for me? Do I have the right to sacrifice them for Thena?’ Same things.”
The man who had shed his dragon form narrowed one of his eyes. Flustered, Florica tried to push him away, but he didn’t even flinch, as if he were made of steel.
“Let me tell you, you have no right to do that. So just stop.”
“···Cookie Dragon.”
This is someone I know. Thanks to the familiar face, I forgot my fear and responded calmly.
Nidroga’s younger cousin, who has a strange obsession with hemp seeds, was rather delighted with the strange nickname Cookie Dragon.
“A bite to eat while we’re talking? It will help you recover quickly and calm your mind.”
“I will refuse unhealthy food. There is a long way to go to run with an upset stomach.”
The dragon, who was taking out a bag of snacks from his arms, clicked his tongue.
While the paladins were taken aback by the dragon that appeared from the right, the Tigris attacked the group of paladins from the left. A white shadow jumped onto the shields of the paladins, who were struggling to take the barrage of bullets. And it immediately hit me.
Damn it, Eshen put Garam on me?
My lizard screamed and shook its body due to the unexpected overload. I screamed in fear as both my arms were grabbed and I couldn’t control the reins.
But Garam Taiga didn’t seem to have the luxury of being considerate of me. Garam, covered in snot and eyes, screamed.
“Hey! Don’t go!”
“Go, go? Are you okay?”
“Are you planning to leave like your sister? Did you attack me just to do this? You traitor!”
“…Could you please stop saying that out loud? It might make those Tigris friends look at me strangely.”
“It’s really a mountain beyond a mountain…”
Florica muttered in her laid-back tone. Garam glared at Florica, who was holding me, with jealousy dripping from her eyes for a moment. And then he looked at me again and started crying.
“Let’s go back. Let’s stay at Hwanhwagok! Let’s finish that ritual and then move on!”
“I have work to do. It’s important! I’m not leaving you forever, so let me go. I promise I’ll come back!”
“It’s a promise. Making a promise is easy. Keeping a promise is difficult. But people who are overly ambitious usually push themselves to the point where they can’t keep their promises.”
The dragon sighed.
“Are you going to meet the blue-gold hero even if it means throwing the patient’s body into the battlefield? What are you going to do if the hero ends up in danger because you’re worried about Brother’s safety?”
“He’s willing to put himself in danger even without me. That’s why he asked you to keep me here! So I have to go and stop him!”
“I respect that iron will and motivation. You plan to use your greed as fuel to row hard and go far. But when you sink and struggle in the water, everyone has no choice but to use the word ‘and’ as an insult. ‘ It’s put in front of you. By the time you realize it, it will already be too late, so I’ll tell you now. That’s too greedy, Brother. Let’s go back.”
“Is atonement also greed?”
“Expiation?”
“I was young, so I didn’t know what the problem was until now. I only thought about the hurt I received, and couldn’t understand how he felt.”
He returned to the village carrying Thena, who was dying after being attacked by a group of low-level monsters. Fighting against the monsters with only torches, clubs, and the scent of poisonous herbs.
I entrusted Thena to the healers at the temple. Since I did not have the money to offer my share to the temple, I endured it by lying on the straw in the stable and groaning.
Fortunately, Thena, who had recovered safely, came back to me, who was suffering from death. She poured an expensive recovery potion into my mouth, which I didn’t know where I got it from, and moved her to an inn to nurse her.
And then leaves, leaving behind harsh words. I don’t need you anymore, so don’t follow me. It’s not my fault, it’s only my fault.
What is it that makes Thena such a strong person that no one can look down on her today? Is it perhaps because of all the times I’ve been scolding myself and whipping myself?
Was he trapped in those cold days of his childhood? Like me?
“I couldn’t tell you that it wasn’t your fault just as much as it wasn’t mine. So I have to go.”
“I don’t know what it is, but if you wanted to reconcile, you would have had a chance by now. It’s your fault for realizing it too late, right? That hero probably wants his friend’s safety more than what he didn’t hear! So-“
“Argh! Argh! Don’t squeeze too hard! Help me! Her right arm is going to fall off!”
I suddenly shook my head and struggled. Garam, gritting his teeth like a person suffering from separation anxiety, glared at the Cookie Dragon with his eyes burning with anger.
The dragon paused in ominousness. And then Garam flew straight to the face and stuck to his face, causing him to scream and fall down.
“Wait a minute! We’re on the same side-“
“Who are you touching, you scaly, fishy lizard!”
The two, entangled in anger, fall and roll on the floor. Garam, I’m sorry I took advantage of you. When I come back, I’ll hit your head on the ground and apologize.
“I thought it was the end, but you solved the problem in a surprising way.”
“It’s not over yet, Florica.”
For a moment, I thought I had overcome the predicament, but this time, the cavalrymen came after me.
Gold and white armor symbolizing the Sunstorm family. I bit my lip as I recognized my old colleagues, members of the Golden Dawn.
The most elite monster hunters, filled with Class A and Special Class members, clash weapons with the best monsters of the Church raised by the Holy See. Because of the relationship between the party leader, Uncle Mansell, and the church, there was some resentment towards the Dawn League members’ attack, but thankfully they stopped at the point where they made each other retreat, as they thought it was not something worth losing their lives.
It is difficult to fight on horseback without harming each other in the first place. In the end, Uncle Mansell hurriedly rode his horse between the two troops and ran parallel to me, pretending to stop everyone.
Uncle Mansell’s eyes wavered when he saw Florica. Florica looked away as if she was completely ignoring me. Uncle Mansell hesitated for a moment, then finally shouted as if he had decided to solve my problem first.
“Tan, you bastard!”
“Did you sleep well last night, Uncle Mansell?”
“I guess I slept well even though my head was pounding because of Adamantone. Thanks to you, I didn’t sleep well today either. It’s late at night, so what kind of riot is this!”
“I’m sorry for making you noisy. If you go back now and cover yourself with the blanket, wouldn’t you be able to sleep for a few hours?”
“I can’t do that. I also received a request from your party members. They asked me to persuade you if you show any signs of running away before I gather myself and prepare to leave!”
I guess Eshen and his colleagues didn’t find me funny at all. I made a double and triple request.
Should I say thank you or should I resent it?
“Even if Adamantone wasn’t here, he would have stopped by at least once to visit you in hospital. So, out of concern, I don’t like the situation in which you and I are racing right now. Are you really going to go to the front lines? Don’t do that!”
“It really warms my heart to know that there are so many people who care about me, even while I’m being chased. But now you’re worried like that? Even when I was much younger, didn’t you feel free to drag me into all kinds of dangerous places?”
“The Demon God’s Temple is on a different level from what we have experienced. Even if only half of what I heard in the letter is true, it will be a more dangerous mission than you and I have ever experienced! I think I will regret sending you there, even though you are injured!”
Mansell tried to snatch the reins from my lizard. However, Lilith quickly moved her arm and hit the back of Uncle Mansell’s hand.
Perhaps the speed of reaction was unexpected from me, but Uncle Mansell stepped back with a slightly surprised expression.
“So, if you have something to say, I’ll say it for you. I can do that much for you, who are like family to me! Isn’t that enough?”
“Thank you for your kindness, but it’s not something I can ask someone to say for me! I have a feeling I’ll have to see it and say it in person!”
Uncle Mansell tightened his chin as if he had made a tough decision. And he raised his sword as if he were going to strike my lizard. The lizard squeaked and screamed as it suffered today the hardships it would endure for the rest of its life.
I was very nervous. Are you planning to make the horse fall by targeting the saddle straps? Are you trying to stop me, even if it means killing the poor lizard? Or was he just trying to threaten to do it?
Considering his usual personality, the last one probably seemed like Uncle Mansell’s intention, but because someone broke in, it was never clear.
“That’s right. Don’t bother me any more, just get out of the way, old man!”
Old man? How dare a fool say something like that to a man he respects.
Uncle Mansell also looked back with a slightly puzzled look on his face. He looked like he couldn’t think of anyone who would say something like that to him.
At that moment, an unidentified rider wearing a black cloak stepped between Uncle Mansell and me. Uncle Mansell quickly drew his sword and stood guard.
And the rider powerfully pulled out his sword and struck it down on the man’s warrior sword. The moment a flash of light spread and a loud crashing sound was heard, Uncle Mansell became thoughtful.
“···Adamantone?”
This is an unexpected help.
The expression on the rider’s back is not visible. However, Palyun’s voice somehow sounded happy.
“I’ve been thinking about it, father!”
“What are you doing, son?”
“I guess I don’t want to beat up Hero like this!”
“Didn’t I say I couldn’t leave it like that? Besides…!”
The man gritted his teeth as he blocked his young son’s energetic attack.
However, it was not Uncle Mansell who showed signs of aging, but Adamantone’s sword. The warrior’s sacred sword, which had been bent due to collapse by the blacksmith’s hammer, groaned every time it collided with the man’s sword, which had been carefully maintained like a cultural asset.
Uncle Mansell shouted urgently.
“It will break, Adamantone!”
“It’s so broken. What’s the big deal? Wasn’t it something that was going to be melted down and destroyed anyway?”
The moment the broken fragments bounced, Uncle Mansell opened his eyes. It seems that he did not want to dispose of his son’s holy sword himself.
The father and son fell into a stalemate, pushing each other in positions that resembled mirror images. Mancellarion glared at Adamantone with sad eyes.
“What are you going to do?”
“First of all, I’m going to try to repay the debt to the guy behind my back little by little.”
“Are you going to cause an accident that is too difficult to handle? What on earth are you thinking?!”
“This is the first time in my life that I have come to a conclusion after careful consideration, father! I have not yet been able to make Adamantone Sunstorm a worthy warrior before you!”
“···Is that so?”
In the final collision, Adamantone’s warrior sword breaks beautifully. However, it was Uncle Mansell who was pushed out.
The moment the fragments scattered into the night sky, the flash that I saw in the stormy sea emanated from the sword. Uncle Mansell, whose vision became distant, had no choice but to pull the reins and stop.
Adam Manton, who had tactfully covered the eyes of the horse he was riding with a cloth for a moment, covered his puffy eyes and followed me next to him with a hearty smile.
“If you have a place to run to, just look ahead and go, you stupid porter! Why are you just sitting there watching!”
“Hey, you idiot!“
Instead of me, who was speechless, Lilith used her mouth to shout. Adamantone twitched his eyes and only when he looked behind him did he realize his mistake.
Everyone whose eyes were attacked by the unexpected flash of light was rolling around on the floor, screaming. Regardless of pursuers or allies.
Adamanton covered his mouth with his hand as if he was frightened by the tragedy of a large-scale contact accident in which heavy armored soldiers and Tigris were entangled and twisted.
Florica made a sound through gritted teeth.
“Tan? Are you also blind right now? This mayhem won’t end with you hitting the wall, right?”
“I can see it. Don’t worry about me!”
The only thing that escaped the accident was my lizard, which was running forward because it was scared of Uncle Mansell.
Additionally, thanks to Lilith quickly closing at least one eye, I was able to avoid the scary experience of driving while blind.
“Let’s not worry too much about the people behind there. On Catnip Night, duels to win partners take place actively. That’s why there are a lot of high-class healers hired on a part-time basis in Hwanhwagok.”
“That’s a good thing. No one will die because of that bastard’s accident.”
As Florica gritted her teeth and mumbled, Adamantone said nothing and cowered.
“Let’s not blame each other if we’ve already been in the same boat. It’s better. Since it’s such a mess, we can increase the distance between us while we clean it up. Let’s get out of Hyonghwagok like this!”
“What do we do next?”
“Let’s look for merchants or travelers heading to the West. We will hide among them and move. Then, we will take the transcontinental train to Daelan!”
———-
“It’s obvious.”
Things went strangely smoothly until we left the East and boarded the transcontinental train. There were no merchants who noticed our disguised identity and inquired about us, and there were no Cheonmooshin Church agents waiting at checkpoints or other points and persistently searching for us.
The incident happened after boarding the train. When someone suddenly opened the door to the room and came in, Florica and Adamantone, both wearing fake beards, swallowed their saliva.
He disguised himself as an imperial nobleman, complete with bowler hat and cane, but his disguise alone did not hide his cold appearance. In fact, it was difficult to recognize him because wrinkles had formed under his eyes, as if he had aged drastically in just a few days.
Yeongrak, the leader of the Cheonmushinsyo cult, flopped down across from me. And Garam, who was snuggled up next to his father, was glaring at me while barely holding back his tears.
However, the expression of resentment changed to an expression of suppressing laughter when he saw my face hidden behind women’s clothing after thinking about my fake identity. When Garam started whimpering quietly, I closed my eyes tightly in shame.
Youngrak looked at me pitifully.
“Do you think I won’t be able to guess the intentions of the porter Nabulaengi?”
“I’m sorry, but I think you’re looking at the wrong person.”
“Do you want to be found dead in a dress?”
That’s worse than dying. I quickly changed my words.
“Ah, I almost didn’t recognize you because you were much better at disguising yourself than me. How are you, cult leader?”
