Chapter 98 – 98 – To Compatible Songs
“You seem quite good at bringing out women’s tears.”
A quiet dawn without any people. As I wake up early in a groggy mood, look at the sunless sky, and sip on freshly brewed tea, all sorts of useless thoughts come to mind.
For example, it’s like an impulse that no one will see even if I hit the head of this parasitic brother who sneaks up next to me and disturbs my peace of mind and secretly buries it somewhere.
Of course, if I fight, I will lose. Because I’m about half a head shorter.
To Erinak Sophon, who approached me as if I was friendly without knowing what others were saying, I suppressed my boiling stomach and responded.
“What do you mean?”
“Yesterday’s meeting ended somewhat lukewarmly and ambiguously, right?”
“That’s right, Thena suddenly said she was tired and told us to disperse. She said she would convey the rest of her words in an order.”
Looking at the puzzled expressions of the existing party members, it seems that this was not something that happened often.
Tena’s new porter partner, who was leaning on the rooftop railing in the same posture as me, said something to support my guess.
“Actually, it wasn’t because I was tired, but I think it was because I thought more about what you said. I cried a lot. Tenaga.”
“Yes?”
I guess my embarrassment amused him. Erinak looked at me with a sly smile on her face.
“It’s not that I did anything wrong. I was glad that I could go back early and rest thanks to you.”
“···Did Thena cry? Because of what I said?”
“She says that her childhood friend, whom she grew up with like a best friend, is her family and is worried about her. How can you not be touched?”
Coincidentally, as soon as those words were spoken, light rain began to fall.
Moisture taps and fills the empty teacup. If you wait about three hours, you might be able to collect a sip.
Tena cried. Behind that cold, cold expression, she was still that crybaby.
Amid all the mixed feelings, a thought suddenly crosses my mind.
“He held back in front of us, but showed his emotions in front of you?”
“When you say that, it makes me feel like I’m being favored. That’s not true, I just lay in bed and cried quietly.”
“Did you go into Tena’s room?”
“No, I didn’t follow you in-“
“You overheard?”
“I don’t know what to say about this.”
Erinak giggled only with her mouth. Her eyes weren’t smiling.
“I can guess with what eyes you are looking at me. A robber who took the seat next to your childhood friend who will always need your care? A suspicious badger who may at any moment turn away and run away from her innocent and foolish old friend? “
“I didn’t say that.”
“But you may be thinking that way. However, no matter what the young warrior you remember from a dozen years ago was like, the current Tena Everlight is not a shabby person who would let someone like that follow him around.”
Erinak pretended to slit her own throat with her thumb.
“Just as you, who used to starve because you couldn’t even kill a rabbit, have recently become a big name in this industry, your childhood friend has grown into an adult who would have seen the blood of a fraudster and not live at a loss. If you are the kind of person I am worried about, “You don’t have to worry because it would have been a dead body on the street long ago.”
“···That’s something you wouldn’t know just by listening to what you say.”
Rabbit. It’s a rabbit.
The two-member party, who started their career by headbutting the bare ground, regretted holding on to their hungry stomachs after not being able to kill a rabbit they had naively caught and letting it go.
I tried roasting the defeated monster, but it only gave off a terrible smell, and the client scolded me for setting fire to catch it and halved the reward.
I still can’t forget the taste of the carrot soup I bought with the money from the half-cut piece. It was the best food that all party members at the ‘Tena and Tan’ party agreed upon.
“Rabbit… Did Tena tell you what happened between us?”
“You keep getting jealous. So openly.”
I sighed and poured myself another cup of tea. Erinac, who was grinning, held out his hand, but there was no cup for him.
Erinak pouted her mouth, as if holding a slight grudge.
“Do you by any chance remember who it was who picked you up and threw you into that train car when you were unconscious about two months ago? ‘Uncle’?”
The hot water almost made me regurgitate, but I barely managed to maintain my dignity, burning the roof of my mouth.
Talking like that while sipping tea is quite intentional. If this guy was the one who put him on the transcontinental train the day he was recruited to the extermination party while drunk, it means that he had already encountered him before he put on the headband. Of course you will know that I am a man.
Did you want to see the car spout like a fountain? Erinac made a strange expression.
“From a man’s point of view, it’s complete paradise. It’s like I helped you get to heaven, so you should say thank you.”
“You’re babbling on nonsense.”
“It’s true that it was put on to make you happy, but if you become too happy, someone next to you might get upset.”
“I don’t really know what you mean.”
“That’s right. Here is the ‘order’ that Tena mentioned. Before she left at night, she told me to hand it to the party member who wakes up first.”
“···Tena gone? Already?”
“It’s been a few hours. I’ll have to hurry so I can meet you at the meeting point on time. See you next time.”
Erinak smiled brightly and placed her rolled up paper in my hand.
I urgently grabbed his wrist as he turned to leave.
“What is it?”
“···You said you were involved in some kind of organization chasing the Demon Lord, right?”
“That’s right. But like I said yesterday, I can’t tell you in depth. If I do, a lot of people will get hurt. What are you curious about?”
“Gunther, a fragment of the Demon King, said this to me: ‘Those who stand in the holy temple must not leave any regrets behind.'”
Erinac’s face, which had been relaxed all along, turned pitch black. I swallowed her spit.
“Thena said that she had provided shelter and friends ‘for me’, ‘in preparation for death’. She said that I was a great man with an important mission and that I should not be disturbed as I was going to do great things in the future. By showing us dead. It seemed like they thought that if I gave it to them, they would return to their mission and focus.”
“Oh my.”
“Do you know what that means? If you have any idea, let me know.”
“I don’t have any.”
It’s a lie.
I’m busy pretending to look at the horizon because I’m so busy, but in reality, it’s just a tactic to avoid making eye contact. The deep embarrassment that I couldn’t hide at first, and the faintly forced smile that I put on to control my embarrassment later, are proof of this.
As I glared at him intently, Erinac finally sighed as if he was surrendering.
“Yes, I know something. There is nothing I can tell you without Thena’s permission.”
“If you tap on the head until it pops out, will it come out?”
“If that happens, I will use the artifact and fly away.”
Erinak let out her sigh as the ground fell once more.
“No. It’s not a secret. I’ll just say to Thena that a fragment of the Demon Lord named Gunter told me everything. That’s actually true.”
“What do you mean?”
“I will tell you three things. Only what I can be sure of and what I can tell you. Our Demon Lord, whose thoughts are so unique, seems to think that Thena Everlight is a worthy opponent for him without any grounds for disqualification. “Once you kill the Demon King, your childhood friend will not return safely in any way.”
It feels like lightning has struck her head. Erinac grabbed my shoulder and pressed it as I retreated little by little. As if she was telling me not to run away.
“Your incorporation into a party made up of Tena’s friends is practically a measure to distribute the inheritance.”
“Distribution of inheritance?”
“I am leaving behind you, a first-class porter who is difficult to find a mate for the party members, and leaving you, who was suffering from the Adamantone Sunstorm, good party members who are better than you. Tan Bantai is leaving more women with great character, skills, and looks. “Once you get to know each other, maybe you can find a new bride and plan a happy retirement together.”
Erinak shook her head as she looked at my blank face.
She didn’t smile. Now this conversation didn’t seem very enjoyable.
“Now you know almost everything about Thena’s situation. How do you feel?”
————
“How do you feel? I feel refreshed inside.”
A few hours later in the afternoon. Her Eshen shrugged her shoulders after hearing Erinak’s revelations from me.
“I understand Tena’s position on wanting to hide it, but it’s better to tell her than to hide it. It’s less frustrating.”
“Is it cooler? Is it less stuffy? I’m feeling steamed to death!”
“Oh, kinda. I’m not saying this to you, so shut up, Garam!”
Inside the prison, Garam responded by raising his middle finger, and some of the party members giggled.
The place where we are temporarily staying is ‘Lindborg Castle’, built on the side of a mountain.
This place, quite far from the splendid, half-crumbled Grand Duke’s Palace, is said to be the cradle and traditional home of the Lindborg Grand Duke family.
The head of the dukedom also serves as the lord of this castle. Now that it is unknown whether the gangster Archduke is dead or alive, his position has been taken over by his nephew.
That nephew is the Archduke’s adjutant whom I saw at the request location. The common-sense nobleman who tried to stop Barbo Lindborg, who bullied us like a gangster. I think this is a very good thing for the Principality of Linden, which is in crisis.
After the task of destroying the extra-large demon cave that Gunther had summoned to this country was completed, the Lord promised to officially support him and help him succeed to the position of Archduke. Later, a legend may spread that he is a monarch recognized by the Dragon Lord.
I don’t know when it will end.
“That’s hot.”
“It’s hot.”
We gulped as we looked out the window of the castle.
Even though it was twenty kilometers away, I could see it clearly. Giant elder dragons that look like several buildings attached to each other take turns flying low and spouting flames toward the Demon Cave.
It started as soon as people finished evacuation, so it’s already been two days. The ground, which had been heated for two days and nights, could not stand it and was turning red and cracking, and the grass and trees had disappeared.
“The tragedy that the Kingdom of Alkark faced for destroying the dragon’s egg is being repeated in this country.”
While watching the gorgeous dance of Lorde and her family’s elders, Nidro even blushed and muttered.
“She was starting to think that she would have to be more polite to her mother in the future.”
“Hey, fire lizard. Can you tell your mom what I’m saying? Reduce your firepower.”
“Are you okay with being burned to death for your brave words, Garam Taiga?”
“I die like this, I die like that. I’m really going to collapse after sweating like this.”
Inside the prison, Garam spoke dissatisfied. He was lying down on the bed with his bare legs spread out haphazardly.
It’s not just because it’s early summer that the air is so hot. As the dragons destroy the demon cave, hot winds are spreading in all directions.
The heat trapped in the narrow cell took off almost all of Garam’s clothes, like a fairy tale of clouds and sun. The male guards, who were perplexed as they did not know where to focus their eyes on the unconventional behavior of throwing away prison uniforms, seemed to welcome the visit of our female party members to ease their worries.
It wasn’t Garam. It seems that her older sister was more unpleasant to Garam than the guys who could destroy her with just a stretch of their hand.
“Did you come here just to scratch my temper even more while my discomfort level has reached its peak? Then go away. It’s not like a bitch called Sister can bring you a glass of cold water.”
“Dear little brother, if you keep talking like a dog, I won’t take you out.”
“···What? Are you here to take me away?”
Eshen sighed and reopened the order with the party leader’s seal.
Tena’s letter, written with sincerity in each and every word, first conveyed her deep gratitude to all of us.
Thank you so much for saying you will join us. You are such precious colleagues that I feel like I am undeserving. I think I was still immature. When we meet again soon, I will greet you with even stronger resolve. Etc.
‘Of course, thank you too, Tan. All.’
And it also contained quite unconventional orders.
‘I will respect everyone’s wishes to be treated properly. However, the order to take a break from battle will not be relaxed. Not only did the Lord say that he would resolve the situation regarding the second Demon Cave, but it would also be wrong to abuse high-quality personnel like our party members. ‘I don’t know when something like this might happen in the future, so I hope everyone can rest in a place with fresh air for a few weeks.’
“Relax? Is this bitch really out of her mind?”
‘But now, while you are recovering, I would like you to go wherever I ask you to go.’
“I’m going crazy. Is going to ‘compatible song’ a break? According to TENA’s standards, what is going to hell? Is it a picnic?”
Eshen sighed, and Garam was embarrassed. The rest of the party couldn’t help but laugh as they looked at the two’s expressions.
“Where are you going now?”
“My house, you stupid little brother! What did you hear!”
I silently motioned to Lennie. Lennie grinned and handed over his keys.
When the cell door opened, Garam raised his fist in warning, but Eshen walked in fearlessly and held out his hand.
“Get up quickly and lead the way. We have a long way to go.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. If you reject your tribe’s traditions and leave, you are an outcast, Eshen.”
“Mom and Dad are always telling you to come back. Why?”
“What about the remaining strong members of the tribe? Will they look at you with kind eyes?”
“That’s why I’m trying to use you as an excuse to go back. If we have to somehow persuade the people of our terrible tribe to help Thena, we have to do it quickly before the heat gets worse and we lose our minds.”
What TENA asked us to do was inform the world of the seriousness of the situation and gather strong allies.
All demon kings recorded in history are absolute monarchs of demons, and at the same time, they are disasters that exist to sow destruction in our world. Therefore, once his true identity is discovered, it is certain that he will cause trouble somewhere and blood will be shed.
Tena seems to have thought that the Tigris tribe would be of great help in this matter. But Garam’s thoughts seemed a little different.
“I don’t know how you will be punished by your father right now. But you’re going to drag outsiders to Hwanhwa Valley like this? Do you want to die? It’s obvious that you’ll have to fight to the death with the tribe’s hunters before you even set foot in the White Beak Mountains.”
“Ah, bitch! Ask Tena, who came up with the idea, about that!”
While there were several loud roars, the party members watched Eshen and Garam bickering. However, when the sisters started pulling each other’s hair at the same time, they were shocked and stopped them.
Eshen ripped off a handful of his brother’s hair and roared.
“I’m going to plant the word ‘unni’ in your mouth with my fist, you bitch!”
···It is said that as the day gets hotter, Tigris become much more sensitive and angry than ordinary people. I don’t know if it’ll be okay.
