◈ 280. [Side Story] Fall Festival
Beast Painting is largely divided into three stages.
Level 1. The power of the beast begins to dwell in the human body. As a human, it is a relatively normal step to use the power of the beast as a tool.
Step 2. The beast begins to devour the accident. He loses his ability to speak and acts like a half-animal.
Still, the ego as a human remains, but the boundaries are blurring.
Step 3. It completely becomes a beast. He loses his sense as a human being and normal thinking, and becomes a monster who just longs for violence.
If you enter the third stage, you will never be able to return to being a human.
And Lucas reached the end of the second stage this time.
If he had taken half a step further, he would have become no different from the werewolf army we killed this time.
If so… … .
Maybe I should have killed Lucas with my own hands.
“Do you know how many days the karma eater absorbed your bestial tendencies before you stabilized this time?”
With their faces flushed from being beaten by me, they were still clinging to the chains.
Lucas is lashing out at me with his downtrodden dog attitude.
“A week is a week! Do you see how far you’ve gone?”
“… I’m sorry, lord.”
“sorry? If I’m sorry, will everything be resolved, you bastard?”
I growled as I rolled up my sleeves.
“What was the order I gave you this time? say it.”
“… .”
“Tell me!”
“The defense of the southern wall… You have entrusted it. You handed over command to me.”
“But what did you do?”
“… We went out of the wall and charged into the enemy camp.”
“and.”
“I wrote a beast painting.”
“and!”
“… I lost my sanity. At the end of the battle, no memory remains.”
Jab-!
I slapped Lucas on the other cheek. Lucas gritted his teeth and endured the pain.
“There are three reasons why you are beating me right now. First, you didn’t even listen to my order not to wear beast shoes.”
“I’m sorry, lord.”
“Even though he was the second in command, he threw away his command and fought in the middle of enemy lines like a mad dog. And do you know what the last third is?”
“… I do not know.”
“You don’t take yourself seriously, you bastard!”
Jab-!
He slapped the same cheek once more. Lucas even burst into a bloody nose this time.
“Being a beast! Even charging into the enemy camp alone! It’s all suicidal! It’s all about eating away at your flesh and using your life for firewood! Why are you doing this?!”
“… .”
“And do you have a heroic spirit? Do you feel some kind of catharsis every time you win a battle by scraping and sacrificing your life? uh?”
“… .”
“If only you knew how important your part on this front is! That’s why it shouldn’t be! Why don’t you listen to people, you bastard!”
Lucas, who had been silently listening to me with his head down, slowly opened his mouth.
“But your lord too.”
“what?”
“Even though he is the supreme commander… Are you on the front lines?”
“… .”
“Your lord… Are you fighting for your life every time? every time every time. always… .”
After being speechless for a moment, I sighed in bewilderment.
“Hey I… !”
I am… .
… .
I am… It still works.
I opened my mouth, but the words didn’t come out. I stuttered and then shut my mouth.
Suddenly, I remembered what Evangeline had said to me before.
– Seniors don’t take care of themselves too much.
– I’ve felt it before, but if you’re a human, you don’t have too much desire for the body you should have. It’s a completely special situation from the frontline commander fighting on the front line.
– You are so willing to throw yourself into the battlefield. like… .
– like… It’s like it’s not your own life.
“… .”
Certainly it may be.
I might still be standing here on the battlefield with the sense of the game. Maybe that’s why I’m using my life as a chess piece while rolling wildly.
Lucas just… … Maybe he just learned faithfully by seeing me like this. I do not know.
‘ah.’
Only then did I realize
That everything I said to Lucas also applies to myself.
It’s like looking in the mirror and blaming yourself.
“… haaa… … .”
He covered his forehead and let out a long sigh.
I roughly brushed back my disheveled hair and tidied it up, and coldly let out.
“… Beast shoes are permanently sealed. Never use it again.”
He raised his index finger and thrust it in front of Lucas’ nose, warning him.
“If I see you writing one more time, then I will kill you as a real disobedience of orders. okay?”
“Yes sir.”
“… .”
I felt guilty when I saw Lucas, whose nose and lips were covered in blood from being hit by me, who was completely downcast.
However, if I didn’t go this far, I wouldn’t be able to stop using beast shoes, so I made up my mind and went out hard.
‘A dog with dung on it is the same as scolding a dog with chaff on it.’
Laughter leaked out at his own contradiction. I sighed, turned around and beckoned.
The guards who came inside loosened the chains that bound Lucas one by one.
I chinned out to Lucas, who stumbled and was released.
“Good job. Go to the temple, get healed, and rest.”
“Yes sir… .”
Lucas bowed to me, bowed his head, and limped out of the prison first.
“… Whoa.”
I looked at the drops of Lucas’ blood scattered on the floor, and then I came out of the prison too. At the entrance, Ader was waiting.
Ader handed me a towel. I roughly wiped my bloody hands.
“… I hope everyone doesn’t risk their lives.”
I muttered as I watched the back of the wagon carrying Lucas on its way to the temple. Ader smiled.
“But they were battles that could not be won unless you risked your life, right?”
“know. I still wish I hadn’t walked. If you’re doing it moderately and endangering your own life, I’d like you to take it out.”
Blood stains were left on the towel. I looked down at it and murmured.
“I hope my colleagues aren’t hurt. I hope no one dies.”
“… .”
“know. That this is the same as the whining of a child. That is nonsensical nonsense. but.”
I thought of my living party members and the party members who had already died and entered the grave in turn.
stage 10.
How many people have thrown their lives like stubble on the way here?
“I don’t want to lose any more… .”
“… .”
“It hurts whenever someone dies. I thought that if I continued to suffer, I would become numb, but no. I still feel like I’m being pierced with a hot skewer every time.”
“Don’t forget that pain, lord.”
Ader quietly whispered to me as I clutched at my throbbing stomach.
“The moment when that sense wears out and becomes dull one day. The moment when a person’s death becomes a number, not pain… … Because the lord will become a different being.”
“… .”
The pain is still vivid.
Maybe that’s why I reacted more violently.
Because Lucas, the main character of this game and a valuable ally, doesn’t take care of himself and keeps fighting as if he was risking his life. I want to dry it.
but… .
Maybe my colleagues felt the same way when they saw me a long time ago.
I kept my mouth shut and continued to wipe the blood off my hands. But it didn’t wipe clean.
‘… From now on, I’ll never do corporal punishment.’
I feel so bad.
I won’t have to punish you again except when I hit you with the staff [Maestro] and give you a buff… … .
***
A few more days passed.
Autumn is fully ripe, the trees of the mountains are clearly changing their clothes, and the wheat fields of the neighboring town in the distance are golden.
The sky is high, blue and cloudless. cool autumn weather
Crossroads, which had been submerged since the last defense battle, began to gain vitality. Colorful fabrics covered the buildings and stalls were set up on every street.
Somehow, the atmosphere is excited, so it’s just autumn? I wanted to
“A fall festival?”
Turns out, it was a festival soon.
“yes! It’s a fall festival. It’s almost time to harvest this year’s crops, right? It’s the day when the whole country plays together. Well, our city is a bit far from farming, but… … But after a year of hard work, everyone should eat and play!”
Yeongju’s office.
Evangeline, who came to play, explained in a clear voice. I made a sound like oh-ho.
So, like Chuseok or Thanksgiving? After all, festivals during the harvest season seem to be a common culture in any world.
‘Come to think of it, there is an annual fall festival event in the game.’
It was only briefly mentioned, gave the mercenaries morale +5, and passed by without much presence. I feel like a big event is coming because I smell the air myself.
“How does the Fall Festival in Crossroads feel?”
“What’s so special about festivals in rural villages like this? Grill and sell skewers at street stalls, bring out sake from door to door and share it… … .”
Evangeline shrugged.
“It’s like holding a simple martial arts competition.”
“… What’s open?”
Martial contest?
“And about a dance festival?”
“… What festival?”
Daeans?
Evangeline then waved her hand away.
“It’s far from the flashy things Ai sunbaenim thinks of. It unfolds on a small scale worthy of a real country town.”
“Hmm… .”
Still, the moment I heard those words, something flashed through my mind as a city lord.
‘festival… Martial contest… … dance festival… … .’
… Isn’t this a tourist product?
If you put proper tags such as ‘festival’ and ‘event’ and advertise well, tourists will flock like hyenas.
It reminded me of the ‘Crossroad Tourism City Plan’ that had been put on hold in the past.
I was eager to build a luxury hotel with a casino.
‘Come to think of it, no architects have come from the ecliptic yet.’
An architect who will design the hotel. And the circulation of magic stones piled up on the crossroads.
I was supposed to handle both of them at the Wintersilver guild. No news yet.
Well, it should be understood that it will take some time because the distance is so far. When are you going to arrive… … .
… That was when I thought
“Yeong-joo niii!”
Ader jumped out in a hurry. why? Let’s look at it eagerly.
“A guest has arrived from the ecliptic!”
“… !”
I heard that even a tiger will come when I say it!
I quickly grabbed my coat and went outside. Ader and Evangeline also followed me.
When we arrived at the North Gate by carriage, the streets were already full of citizens who had come out to watch.
And through the wide open north gate.
As if some kind of parade had been held, colorful and sophisticated style wagons were coming in endlessly.
These are the wagons of the upper ranks of Wintersilver.
“Wow… What’s this. What the hell is going on?”
Evangeline watched the procession with her mouth wide open. I also whistled. It’s serious, but Winter Silver!
“majesty!”
Then a familiar voice came from the head of the parade.
When I looked there, I saw a woman in an elegant suit with bright aqua-colored hair blowing in the wind.
The silvery gaze is clear under the beating autumn sunlight.
She eagerly waved her arms at me. Her thin, white arms swayed like a painting against the blue sky.
I smiled brightly and said her name.
“… serenade.”
The owner of the Winter Silver Merchant.
A business & dance partner who overcame the hardships in the ecliptic with me.
Serenade Wintersilver came to the Crossroads.
wil there be romance