Chapter 81 – 81 – Courage?
About a year ago from the day Tan Bantai took off his pants.
[Artifact. A magical legacy left behind by ancient people.]
Multi-pronged horns and four magnificent wings. Red skin and goat hooves.
The impressive-looking devil, who even a three-year-old would say looked like a devil, lifted the box containing the artifact high.
The treasure chest rolled its purple eyes in all directions and chattered its sharp teeth. As if they were going to cut off the fingers of someone who covets the contents as soon as they see them.
[A miraculous relic containing the pure and infinite magical power of the ancients that cannot be detected even by those with aptitude for clairvoyance and cannot be broken by spell-breaking magic.]
The devil approached the obsidian altar and placed the box on the altar with extreme caution.
Then, a purple flash spread not only on the altar but also throughout the large secret room. The monsters trembled at the thrilling feeling, as if lightning had struck nearby.
[From now on, it will be the heart of the entire ‘Magul’.]
“Ah… Given by the Demon King himself…!”
The master of the demon cave, a human necromancer, his eyes glazed over with excitement. The demon glared disapprovingly at the old man who began drooling next to him.
The pyramid-shaped fortress called Magul is a multi-purpose military structure summoned from the home of the demons. It spreads the mana of the demon world that allows monsters to prosper in this world, checks the expansion of the power of the races of this world, and is also used as a base for monster troops that directly attack the civilized world.
In other words, it is a facility that is as important as gold of the same weight and is essential for invading a planet.
Why would the Demon King entrust such an important facility to an old man who is likely to collapse and die tomorrow? It was incomprehensible from the perspective of a devil who lives forever unless physically killed.
[Hey, bald head.]
“Baby, bald…? I am the lord of Magul!”
[No matter how much the Demon King entrusted you with this demon cave, I am a pure-blooded devil with the Demon King’s blood flowing. Let me give you some advice.]
The necromancer regained his senses as his four muscled arms struck simultaneously.
[As long as you still have life, it would be better not to let anyone take away this artifact that the Demon King has given you. If you take it out and play with it like a toy and lose it, I will rip off your skin, take it to the demon world, and make it into a bathroom carpet.]
“Choi, I’ll do my best.”
[One more. This altar is the core that makes the demon cave work, and it is a weapon that emits demon energy to purify the things of this world. If we mess with it to satisfy your inquisitive mind, we might become curious about the appearance of your internal organs. Did you understand?]
“Well, is it possible?”
[Yes, that’s right.]
The devil was satisfied and stroked his bald head once.
The necromancer, whose weakness was stimulated, gritted his teeth and swore. He said that if the Demon King notices his merits and grants him the blessing of demonization, he will beg to be allowed to regain his youth from the top of his head.
The world did not care about his evil ambition to transcend into the devil, nor about his terrible corruption that sacrificed even his family, nor about the power of necromancy to awaken the dead from their rest and enslave them. This world, worse than the necromancer, consistently called him Bald.
It is human physiology that when we think about what we have lost, a feeling of compensation arises. As the devil left feeling refreshed as if he had accomplished one thing, the necromancer asked a question dripping with lingering regret.
“But what is the artifact in the box?”
[Is this egg-headed bastard crazy? Shall I hatch it for you?]
“No, I just… That…”
[···Don’t be curious. Just consider the fact that the artifact supplies infinite mana to the defense towers of this demon cave. This means that you should not even think about taking it out of the ‘box of exploitation’ that extracts mana from the artifact.]
The demon sighed and swept his face with all four of his hands at once. While he was looking through old documents in the demon world, the thought that he was a human being curious enough to become a necromancer crossed his mind.
If he left without leaving any hints, the old man would wonder if he would ever be able to place the contents of the box on his devastated head.
[Those are clothes that cause dangerous hallucinations.]
“Clothes. It’s a type of artifact that needs to be worn to work, right?”
[That’s right. But unless you have a perverted sexual desire, it won’t be of any help-]
“It helps me.”
The necromancer and the demon, who were staring at the box, were startled and looked at each other blankly.
The person with the voice as fine as paint was none of them. The necromancer and the demon looked back and saw the silhouette of a person falling from the ceiling.
Blue hair braided down. Blue and mysterious eyes like a mirage of a lake reflected in the desert sky. And in contrast to the white and clean armor, even the claymore was as black as charcoal soot.
The necromancer, who started collecting newsletters and doing crossword puzzles as a hobby in his old age, quickly recognized the hero who is attracting attention in the media these days.
“Thena of Blue and Gold? Thena Everlight?”
“You know me.”
“It’s strange that I don’t know. The conqueror of the Twelve Demon Caves! I can’t believe such a slut appears before me alone. Isn’t this truly the perfect opportunity?”
Not only did the necromancer have a numerical superiority, including over demons with the blood of the Demon King, but he was also confident in his personal power. The necromancer smiled triumphantly, raising his necromantic staff.
“I will take off your armor and stab you with a needle to make you pay for your sins. I will sacrifice the blasphemous hero who can neither live nor die to the master of the demon world!”
“But it seems like you are not enough to be called a bitch. I guess you only know me through newsletters.”
But Thena blinked her eyes as if he didn’t understand what she meant.
“What does the newsletter say why I wear white armor?”
“What?”
[···Resolution of integrity.]
The necromancer looked back at the demon. And she looked around, startled to see that the devil had disappeared.
A pure-blooded demon with the blood of the demon king was hiding behind an obsidian altar with its huge body stuffed inside. Thena said, tilting her head to the side to examine the demon.
“The real reason?”
[···It clearly shows that the job was done properly.]
“That’s right.”
The necromancer twitched her eyes at the somewhat eerie question and answer.
Looking back, it was strange. In order to enter this secret room, you would have had to overcome numerous traps and monsters. However, the necromancer could not find any traces of battle or trials on Thena Everlight’s white armor.
The old man slowly began to feel that something was wrong.
The devil, who was instinctively hostile to the warriors, proposed while sweating coldly instead of rushing in to tear them apart as usual.
[Let’s talk rationally.]
“If you present an artifact, I will consider it.”
[···Hey, this thing has no value. A pair with ‘Wenya’s women’s headband’ that just makes men look like women-]
“It’s Kenya’s night sky corset. It’s exactly what I read about in the ancient text I found with great difficulty.”
TENA Everlight. Her nickname, known to the public, is ‘Tena of Blue and Gold’.
However, the name known in the world of demons is…
“That’s exactly what I was looking for.”
[But you are a woman. ]
“What you need to do is not ask questions.”
The devil swallowed his saliva and opened his box wide.
As the devil himself said, the necromancer wanted to take off the devil’s skin and make it into a carpet. The box’s eyes also glared at the devil with a ridiculous look.
While the gathered monsters hesitated and stepped aside, Thena approached the altar without any interference and grabbed the opened lid of the box.
Then, he tore off the entire upper jaw of the chest that was trying to force itself to close and threw it away, then took out the flowing translucent cloth from the storage box in the lower jaw.
[···Were you specifically targeting this artifact?]
“Because it was necessary. Don’t wonder why. It’s complicated to explain.”
[Right. But how did you know that I was going to bring this artifact to this demon cave?]
“Torture.”
When the necromancer told her not to wonder from now on, she decided to obey. The devil, whose expression was haggard, even backed away from the altar and began to walk backwards.
Meanwhile, Thena looked at the material of the artifact that became invisible when it touched the skin. And then she closed her eyes tightly.
“I was hoping the lord of Magul wasn’t a person.”
“What?”
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
The necromancer, taken aback by the sudden change in polite tone, carefully asked what he was sorry about.
Tena curled her lips once as if thinking for a moment. She then draped her pitch-black greatsword over her shoulder.
“No one should know about this.”
————–
As expected, TENA was thorough. She had a plan from the moment she put all the drunks on the train and sent them to the camp.
Although I don’t like the plan.
Of course, we can guess why the ancients created the artifact, an immortal magic tool, from its purpose.
The artifact that calls for rain was probably created because rain was needed for farming. The fire-breathing artifact was probably created because there was a need for an easy way to ignite it.
However, sometimes there are items that require a bit of reasoning as to why they were made. For example, a mysterious water cup that floats around with uncomfortable eyes every time you try to drink it.
People thought the artifact was created purely for the purpose of a bad joke. Until ancient literature records were discovered and the name ‘Unten, a magician who loved honey water,’s secret to controlling blood sugar levels’ was revealed.
It is a bonus that medical science has advanced since it was discovered that eating too many sweets causes sugar to flow into the blood.
But… I don’t know why these things exist. The two artifacts, whose existence was not even known to the world, had unique uses.
A headband that creates the illusion that anyone can see a man as a woman.
And a translucent corset with a design similar to a belly band that creates the illusion of a woman’s body.
What if you only wear a corset without a headband? When the clothes are removed, a woman’s body appears, with the male organ completely gone. However, when he puts on clothes, he still looks like a man.
What if you only wear a headband without a corset? When wearing clothes, she looks completely like a woman. However, when she takes it off, a man’s body is visible, causing a mental gap.
One gives the impression of a woman, and the other creates a woman’s body. It is difficult to even guess why the two were created separately.
No, I think I know. I think it’s easier to remember than a blood sugar control glass of water. The desire contained in an artifact can be guessed from its purpose.
But at the same time, I don’t really want to find out. No, I never want to know. Like a necromancer who goes crazy while searching ancient literature, I feel like I will learn the logic of a scary world that is too far for my taste.
I decided to just be grateful that this item was of use to me right now.
There was a time when I thought the world hated me. Not now. At least some part of the world loves me. I made a decision for them.
I pulled down my pants in front of the world.
The weak, whom the world has pushed into a corner, often have a stronger voice than anyone else when their innocence is revealed.
If that right to speak can be used to protect our party, we can do a thousand more dirty, shitty cross-dressing things. He who hesitates to get his hands dirty does not become a porter.
The moment the evidence of my innocence was revealed under my pants, the crowd fell into chaos.
Parents who were relieved of their worries were instead overcome with guilt. The guys who were jeering at me and calling me pervert were astonished.
Our party members felt relieved, but at the same time became righteously angry and started pushing the bystanders.
Meanwhile, the horrified and evil reporters began to draw ‘pictures’ on the canvas, clearly capturing my appearance in their eyes.
The dragons promised to monitor whether they were using corrective information properly. No matter how brave you are, you won’t be able to ignore the Dragon Lord’s subtle influence.
It’s not that no one doubted the existence of the artifact. A nobleman who had the strongest suspicions and threatened to kill me shouted that it was a conspiracy involving an artifact, whether it was insight or an excuse.
However, the evidence was weak. Certainly, saying that in ‘One Sun’ sounded as sloppy as saying that a porter had obtained a cross-dressing artifact that no one knew about its existence.
Baseldenan and the elves who were carried on the stretcher also avoided Nenya’s gaze with pale faces.
Robbendo got down on his knees and asked him to kill him. Lennie’s older brother was clearly an idiot, but he may not have been a bad person to the core.
In this way, the party’s honor was preserved. But my honor was tarnished by being thrown into the mud. The world will now know what Lan Bantai’s body looks like.
The dinner table was solemn because of that. Everyone was looking at me, who was silently enduring the shame. Some even cried and sobbed.
But my expression was calm. Honestly, I don’t give a fuck. Because I am Tan Banthai, not Lan Banthai.
To some, it seemed like resoluteness. One of the innocent daughters stood up with a touched face.
“···Cheers.”
Then he raised his beer glass and shouted.
“For our comrades we couldn’t protect! Cheers!”
‘For the colleagues I could not protect’. The voices shouting those words together echoed beyond the sunset of the camp.
Nidrogar, who was staring intently through the window, snorted. They said the onlookers leaving were shocked when they heard the toast.
The slight guilt of deceiving my allies for my own sake lingers like the bitter aftertaste of coffee. But the feeling of victory was as thrilling as caffeine flowing through my veins.
Parents who came here purely out of concern for their daughters can understand even if they are deceived by magazines like that. But fuck all the bastards who came all the way just to see the naked porter.
Behind the people leaving on the cross-country train, I mentally threw up my middle finger.
“I wouldn’t have been able to do that.”
While I was opening the bottle of beer that Eshen gave me, saying thank you for your hard work, Isilun came next to me and grabbed the bottle.
He pulled out the cork in an instant, poured beer into my glass, and nodded seriously.
“If I had to get hurt for my friends, I would get hurt. If I had to die for my family, I would die. But that kind of courage…”
“What courage? I just took off my clothes.”
“No, Miss Bantai. At that moment, you were much braver than warriors like me.”
···Probably not.
The guilt of cheating is starting to creep in. It was obvious that the women were trying to comfort each other through their loyalty, so I tried to shift my focus a little.
“Actually, they didn’t come here because of my gender.”
“Excuse me?”
“It doesn’t matter to them whether I’m a woman or a man, whether I have a flat crotch or whether I have male or female genitals. In a way.”
I stopped speaking and emptied my beer glass in one go. Silun Lee said with a satisfied smile, saying it was nice to see her in harmony.
But when I put down my glass and finished speaking, Isilun closed his eyes tightly.
“Actually, this happened because I was a porter.”
