My Villains Episode 282
53. The Midnight Sun (1)
The sky, which had been clear for a while, suddenly became threatening as if it had never been. The gathered clouds clumped on the mountaintop, crumpling the impression.
Whoa –
Snow and a cold wind swept down the overgrown slope. My back straightened and it was difficult to open my eyes.
Two days after I got out of the valley, which was covered in thick snow, the road with hundreds of years of history hurriedly meandered along the snow-capped mountains.
“……Ahh.”
Munchhi, who was walking along the uphill, tightened the front of his cloak with his chin trembling.
The cloak that Phoenix had provided was heavy, coated with wool oil, but the winter wind, like ice cubes, penetrated the thick leather and pierced the skin.
“Munchi, are you okay?” friendly voice. Bunch raised his eyelashes on which the snowflake had sat and turned his head. A party of about 20 people and two horses are moving heavy steps through the snow.
Phoenix, a handsome man at the forefront of them, was walking with a rough woolen cloak over plate armor. He looked at her with a worried expression that didn’t match his cold expression.
“what’s the matter? Are you very cold?”
“Eh” Mungchi, who didn’t want to bother him, shook his head resolutely, but he said,
‘…what if my hands and feet are frozen like this? Then it would be a bigger nuisance…
In the end, Mongchi licked her lips for a while, not like an assassin who had undergone harsh training in Yoonguk, which is notorious for its harsh cold.
“Hey, are you dancing?”
Phoenix burst into laughter at her strange pronunciation, supported Moongchi’s thighs and waist, and lifted him up.
In an instant, Mungchi, who was held in Phoenix’s arms, shook his shoulders and buried his forehead under the warm neck. The overflowing warmth instantly melted the snow on his forehead and nose.
“wait for a sec.”
The man was always kind to her. Even now, he whispered in my ear as if tickling me, then gently wrapped his large hand around my shoulders and thighs.
Moongchi said ‘yes’ and swallowed his breath.
The man’s hand was as soft as usual. But squeezing my arms and thighs felt nothing like stroking my hair, poking my cheeks, pinching my nose, or patting my back.
Also, it was up to her to lean on the man’s kind and mischievous attitude and express affection, such as hugging him or rubbing his cheek. It was actually a little strange for a man to reach out and embrace her first like he does now.
“……Stone’ 石’ uh…”
——9 —— I .
Is it an illusion caused by tension? The heat as if it had been burned by fire came from the part where the big hand touched.
The slender muscles of the whole body shrank. Mungchi took a deep breath and tried to control his mind, but it was not easy. It’s because of the scene that popped into my head.
Protruding veins in thick, large hands, hard forearms, shoulders glistening with sweat, back contorted like a goblin, flexible waist wavy, and—
gulp.
“Is it a bunch?”
“Ah!”
Surprised, Mungchi lowered his head involuntarily. It was to hide her reddened face and embarrassing imagination.
Phoenix, who was looking down at her with a grinning face, opened his mouth.
“How is the cold gone?”
“yes yes’?”
“Are you warm?”
“to. That ah-”
Only then did Mungchi realize that his body was as warm as a stove. She thought it was an illusion, but Phoenix’s hands wrapped around her thighs and shoulders were actually sending heat to her.
The group with wide eyes nodded.
“Yes, it is warm!”
“I’m glad.”
“Is it magic?”
“What is magic? My mana increased a bit, so I tried tricks with blood manipulation.”
Mung-mung murmured, ‘Oh, that’s right-‘. Then, as in the position of holding him, he put his hands on the nape of Phoenix’s neck and buried his face in his arms. Judging by the shy smile, it seemed that he had relaxed and enjoyed the situation.
Noticing this, Phoenix asked the wad as if full of energy.
“…You want to keep doing this?”
“lol.”
“What is ‘hehe’?
“My feet hurt. The soles of your feet.”
“…Ew.”
Phoenix smiled bitterly and looked up at the sky. It was hard to see because of the thick, dark snow clouds, but the sun was clearly going down.
It is foolish to spend the night in the mountains in a blizzard. Phoenix opened his mouth thinking that he should find a place to camp soon.
“I’ll look after you today, but there’s no way from tomorrow.”
“Eh?”
“It’s obvious that you’ve improved your stamina, so don’t think too hard.”
“…I’m not sorry.”
“No.”
” Really.”
“Look at him. What should I do if my childishness gets worse?”
Phoenix made a stern expression on his face, but Mungchi laughed bashfully and shook his legs.
Phoenix, who was staring down at her, eventually burst out laughing.
It wasn’t easy to find a place to escape a blizzard in the snowy mountains. Thanks to that, the happiness of the group continued for a while.
When Phoenix began to worry, ‘Should I really sleep covered with fallen leaves?’, the party finally found a wide, shallow cave dug under a high rock wall.
The mercenaries were divided into three groups, some unloaded dry firewood from the carts and started a bonfire, some helped the Hicks and Rowen couple prepare meals, and some went out to scout the surroundings to get firewood for tomorrow.
“Whoa-”
Utequai, who had created a spark at once using a piece of oil-glossing cloth and a flint, blew in cautiously. The embers quickly engulfed the nest-like pile of twigs, and soon moved to the firewood.
After checking the status of Altonize and the Spotteds, Phoenix looked around the camp from the top of Heila Rock and gathered around the bonfire Utequai had made.
“Hey, I’m going to live for a while. Aside from being cold, the wind was so strong that I couldn’t even open my eyes.”
Utequai, who had been rummaging through the fire at Phoenix’s grumbling, burst into laughter.
“right. I underestimated Winter in the Kingdom. He hit his nose.”
He, the warrior of the grassland, was wearing a brown mantle as if he couldn’t handle the cold. The cape was fur of unknown material, and thanks to this, Ute Kwai looked like a big bear crouching down.
While the two men were chatting about something, Heila quietly prepared tea. The water in the kettle quickly boiled, and the honey and cinnamon tea leaves that had been poured near the fire gave off a sweet, fragrant smell.
“A girl adorned with flowers-”
Moongchong sang a small song while sitting on the edge of the landscape. It was a song sung by an old minstrel at an inn he stopped by somewhere in Troshire.
“They come stepping on the melting snow-”
Mungchi liked to sit by the campfire. Even if you couldn’t warm yourself up in Phoenix’s arms, you would sit across from him and make eye contact from time to time.
I also liked the fact that Heila was sitting on the right. Although she was a noble lady of high status, she was quiet and thoughtful, giving her a sense of comfort.
Besides, because she gave out delicious snacks and sweet tea from time to time, Mungchi liked Heila the most after Phoenix.
Utequai, who was sitting on the left… originally didn’t like it very much.
When Mungchi was in the form of a wild boar due to the curse of the Marquis of Ibayle, he bullied her constantly, saying that he would roast her and eat her and that it was delicious when she was a baby.
However, after the curse was lifted, Utequai showed unreserved kindness to Mungchi as if he were treating his own kin. Mungchi, who has no tolerance for the goodwill of others, has forgiven Utequai without even knowing it.
So sitting around a campfire with Phoenix, Heila Utequai, was one of Mungchi’s favorite times.
Although she felt sorry for the vacancy of Ellen, who secretly took care of her while teasing her, she
was enjoying this moment of reunion anyway. It would have been nice to spend time like this before going to sleep.
But things in the world
didn’t always go the way I wanted them to.
At the end of dinner, Phoenix stared at one side of the camp.
Secretly following his gaze, rookie mercenaries from Paulville were sitting there. Recently, Moonggae was the threesome that bothered him the most.
Goleman Kavas Shea was whispering something among them with a slightly excited face.
“…Earning seven silver coins in one battle. Wouldn’t it be better to sit down as a mercenary?”
“Don’t be greedy. It was just luck this time.”
“Donnell received twenty-one pieces, and Dervish-nim received twice that amount. If this luck repeats itself a few times, we might be able to make as much money as Dervish-sama…
It was an obvious story.
When Phoenix gained wealth through battle, he fairly distributed it to his mercenaries.
Of course, the amount of distribution was different depending on the skills and performance in battle, so unlike Phoenix or Utequai, who received five or six shares, those rookie mercenaries only received one person’s share for all three.
However, in this battle, the loot was quite generous, and each person’s share amounted to twenty-one silver coins. If you divide it by three Golman Kavas Shea, you get seven silver coins. It was a shocking amount for rural youth.
In addition to that, they captured useful equipment used by the Ratmen, so to the threesome, mercenary work should have felt as easy as swimming on the ground.
“wait for a sec.”
When Phoenix, who had been clicking his tongue slightly, got up from his seat, Mungchi quickly followed suit. However, Phoenix grinned and put her back on the seat and approached the rookie mercenaries of Paulville.
Moongchi sat down with a sullen face, and Phoenix sat in front of the three, who were surprised by his sudden appearance and started talking.
Goleman Kavas Shea, who had a grim expression on his face, immediately corrected his posture and listened to the serious expression of the renowned knight.
What Phoenix told them was not nagging them not to get excited. How to manage equipment, how not to get tired while walking, what to pay attention to during battle, and what to pay attention to as a mercenary.
Phoenix, who continued his explanation, looked at the sword Gollman had captured, and this time brought up a story about swordsmanship. In order to do so, he began to lead the trio to one side of the camp and train them.
That was the reason why Mungchi was against Paulville’s threesome.
I don’t know why, but Phoenix paid attention to them without even trying, as if the threesome kept getting stepped on in their eyes.
If the burnt Donnel was harassing the threesome severely, Confidence or Dervish were discreetly noticed and told to stop it, and Eson, who managed the supplies, was given a separate word to make sure he had a good meal.
I didn’t know where that interest came from, but Moongchi felt uneasy inside. It was uneasiness that the same sympathy or affection he had shown for her as a young boar might have been transferred to those young mercenaries
.
Unknowingly, Moongchi touched the ring on the ring finger of his left hand. A ring with a sky blue crystal embedded in it. It was given by Phoenix.
Heila’s gaze followed the unconscious gesture. Mung-mung could feel the twist of the judgment in her flickering. Oddly enough, it eased my mind a little.
While sparring with Phoenix, Golman stumbled and fell alone. Shea, who was watching, let out a tingling laugh.
Moongchi quietly touched the ring.
