◈ 399. [Side Story] Pouring gold coins into a dry well
《… .]
In fact, Mason had long been freed from Salome’s fascination.
I was freed from the enchantment when I fell from the bridge to the bottom village here. With death just around the corner, his instincts threw off the chains that had bound his consciousness.
However, Mason was faithfully following Ash’s orders, hiding the fact that the fascination had ended.
“Hey bear! Use your strength!”
“They are getting bigger! Move it cheaply!”
《… .》
The order that Ash gave to Mason at the bottom of this place is to do as the two robbers of the Distressed Troupe, the Sword Demon and the Spear, tell them to do.
So, the Sword Demon and the Spear Demon were having fun playing with Mason.
They were called in to do all kinds of hard work, from cleaning the village to repairing collapsed houses.
Mason carried out all of these tasks without showing off, even though these tasks were cumbersome and cumbersome.
And is it because Mason was regarded as a fairly reliable and reticent worker?
The Sword Ghost and the Window Ghost led Mason to quietly dig out a secret safe buried in the yard of their house.
Then Mason took the safe and headed to the corner of town.
Every time I moved the safe, there was a rustling sound of metal coins inside.
Mason noticed without difficulty that the safe was full of gold coins.
Where are you moving these gold coins?
Puzzled, Mason soon found the answer.
A small well was dug in the corner of the village at the bottom. A pile of rusty gold coins was sunk in the well, where the black water was shallow.
“pour.”
“Hurry inside!”
《… .》
As instructed, Mason opened the safe and poured out its contents.
Charleureuk!
with a plop… !
The gold coins, full of the grime of the years, bubbled and sank into the well.
After confirming that the safe was empty and the newly poured gold coins had reached the bottom of the well, the swordsman and spearman turned around without regret.
《… Why?”
But Mason didn’t understand.
《Why did you throw away the gold coins you collected after all your hard work?》
It was the first time Mason had opened his mouth since coming to this village.
The Sword Ghost and the Window Ghost looked back in surprise, but eventually answered with a smile.
“Even before the Lake Kingdom came to this point, everyone in the village worked hard to save money. Rumor has it that you can buy ‘citizenship’ by collecting gold coins.”
《By the way?》
“But that was just a rumor. There was no such system. There was no way for us non-citizens to become citizens of the Lake Kingdom in the first place.”
“Shortly after my husband and I found out about that fact, the Lake Kingdom sank and collapsed. We have been cursed to become bodies that neither die nor live.”
The Sword Ghost and the Window Ghost looked at each other and giggled.
“After that, we worked hard and managed to get the villagers together again from this pit of hell, but we… What are you doing here?”
They knew it.
Even if they die and wake up, they will not be able to become citizens of the Lake Kingdom. Also, the Lake Kingdom can never return to its former beauty.
“In a life like this where you can neither die nor live, memories are still the tongue.”
“The goal we had back then, when we still had the driving force to dream and live.”
Collect money and go to utopia.
Even if you know that it is an unattainable goal five hundred years ago or now. Even if you know it’s a foolish and futile dream.
“How could you live in this hell without even this vain hope?”
Although the body may live forever.
Without a purpose to live, the mind… … the soul dies
So people here collected gold coins to survive.
Searching the bottom of this hell, like inertia, on and on.
And to maintain that inertia – when gold coins accumulate, throw them down here.
The coffers are empty and people have new goals to fill those coffers again… Get through the day again.
《… Hahaha.”
Mason, who finally learned a little bit about how this village works, let out a blank laugh. The Sword Demon and the Window Ghost glanced at Mason.
“Are we funny?”
“It must be a bit difficult for a living friend from the outside world to understand.”
“No.”
Mason shook his head.
“It occurred to me that there is not much difference between here in hell and the world outside.”
With the empty safe on his shoulder, Mason walked between the two old men.
《I learned the sword to support my family. My parents and relatives were old and sick, and I was the only one in the house who could do a good job.” “
… .”
《At first, it was enough to eat without starving. But when I stopped starving, other problems popped up. It was cold in winter wearing only a mat, and it was difficult to sleep without a proper house because of fear of thieves.”
I needed clothes. I needed a house.
So Mason was easily seduced. Instead of allegiance to the MacGregor family who taught him the sword, he immediately started hanging out with others who filled his pockets.
《I couldn’t live as a human being just by not going hungry. So I kept moving in search of an owner who gave a lot of money.”
And- I met Fernandez.
When he came to his senses as if his clothes were getting wet in the drizzle, Mason had already completely become Fernandez’s dog.
but.
“One day, the person who became my master said that. People say that people will perish anyway. Everyone will die, but I will try to save only the people within the ecliptic.”
Fernandez had his own firm cause.
He tried to save as many people as he could before the end of the world.
The Imperial Empire wanted to save even the people who lived in New Terra.
The problem was that Mason’s family wasn’t wealthy enough to live in the ecliptic. They lived in a suburb far away from the ecliptic.
“I urgently sold my family’s house in the suburbs, but the money was not enough to live in the imperial capital.”
Mason chuckled bitterly.
《Even though we spent our whole lives trying hard, me and my family still couldn’t become human beings.》
“… .”
“So I went to my master and knelt down and begged him. If you let my family live in the ecliptic, if you make us ‘human’, I’ll do anything for you.”
Mason looked down at his hands that had turned into beasts.
《Then it happened like this.》
I wanted to live like a human being.
He gave up being human for that simple purpose.
He betrays the family that taught him the sword, instigates the benefactor’s death, and thrusts the sword at the benefactor’s son… … At the end of being hit with the serum, he fell into the face of a beast.
I’ve been running all my life to become a person.
Suddenly, when I came to my senses, it had become something far away from people.
Mason laughed bitterly.
“Maybe living is like pouring gold coins into a dry well… .》
Discard gold coins to collect gold coins.
Giving up people to live as people.
In the end, both gold coins and people lost their original value, and only a series of processes became the purpose like a treadmill… … .
When Mason, who arrived at the house of the Sword Demon and the Window Ghost, brooding over the irony, looked up –
“I heard good things… .”
Ash was standing right in front of him.
Surprised, Mason’s shoulders stiffened. Ash dug his finger into his ear and glared at Mason.
“By the way, when did you break free from the enchantment?”
Mason laughed dejectedly.
… just got caught
***
Me and Mason were squatting in front of the sewers together.
Even though the fascination was broken, Mason didn’t seem to have any intention of harming me, and I wasn’t motivated to deal with him either.
We sat side by side and quietly killed time together.
Mason, who hadn’t said anything for a long time, searched his hairy body for a while and then suddenly pulled out a pocket watch. I was freaked out.
“Wow what?! Where did you get it from!”
No, nothing came up when I searched before! Where did you get it from!
“With a body like this, thanks to the twisted bone structure and hair, there are many places to hide.”
Then, he handed me the pocket watch. I groaned and pulled my body back.
“Didn’t you just put it in a dirty place?”
“It is something precious to me. It was kept in a relatively clean place.》
Relatively clean… ?
I accepted the pocket watch without raising my suspicions. Mason gestured as if to open it, and I flipped open the metal cover of the pocket watch.
Click.
A pocket watch that normally indicates the time, and… … I saw a portrait of a woman on the cover.
Looking at the portrait, Mason’s eyes were full of affection.
“this person is?”
I asked cautiously. Could it be Mason’s wife?
The answer that came back was a bit unexpected.
《This is my girlfriend.》
“Eh.”
Even if Mason catches it a little, he looks fifty, so I didn’t think it was a lover, not a spouse.
Blaming my own stereotypes, I laughed awkwardly.
“Are you dating someone for a long time? I carry portraits like this with great care.”
“no. Have you been on five dates so far? It’s been a while since we met.”
“… .”
Big! I cleared my throat and asked cautiously.
“Still, it seems like a very precious relationship. How did you meet?”
《I had to go to a party with a married couple during my mission, but I was in trouble because I had never held a woman’s hand in my life. I found a service that allows you to play a fake lover for a fee.”
“… .”
《Even after that mission, we often met with good feelings.》
“… pay?”
《They won’t meet you if you don’t.》
“What the hell are you doing, man!”
This isn’t a romantic relationship… … It’s something more gloomy!
However, Mason nodded with a serious expression.
“The two of us are sincere in our feelings. Before coming down after receiving this mission
!
“cow… He even held my hand!
”
It’s okay if the person in question is happy, but it’s so out of my imagination that I wake up scared! I’m a sucker too, but this man is so much better!
《… I’ve been supporting my family all my life.”
Mason murmured, looking across the drain with empty eyes.
“I didn’t have a personal life. Even until I left this mission, I had to spend every penny of my last penny to move my family and friends into the ecliptic.》
“… .”
“So this time I said I don’t have to meet you because I don’t have money, but she came out to see me off on the day I left…” … I gave you that portrait. Think of yourself when you’re having a hard time.”
Mason paused for a moment before continuing slowly.
“majesty. I will die soon.”
“… .”
《I was severely injured while coming here due to the excessive stacking of wild beasts, and I was forced to recover. You won’t last long and you’ll die. It will probably never see the light of day again.”
“So?”
《If you see that woman in the ecliptic… … Please return the portrait to her.”
Mason smiled shyly, his face becoming that of a beast.
“Isn’t it too beautiful to rot like a guy like me?”
“… Why are you asking me to do that?”
What a good relationship we have. Do you think I’ll accept such a troublesome request?
Then Mason shrugged.
“What do you want? The only person I can ask for right now in this hell is Your Highness.》
“… .”
“I’m just struggling to catch a straw.”
I silently took the pocket watch in my arms.
“Do you have anything to say to Fernandez?”
“No.”
Mason shook his head.
“I have completed my mission. His Highness Fernandez said that all you have to do is deliver the words to the Demon King. If I can’t return, you’ll understand that the Demon King refused.》
“… .”
《His Highness Fernandez absolutely believed that I would succeed in my mission, and I succeeded. Nothing more is needed.”
Silence passed.
I was about to say something more while glancing at the profile of this hairy government official who couldn’t tell what was going on.
Took.
Suddenly something cold fell on my cheek. I raised my head and looked up. Mason looked up as well.
Tuk-du-duk-tuk-dududuk –
Raindrops started pouring from the sky.
“This… .”
I put my palm forward.
The color of the water in his hand was black.
“… black rain.”
I jumped up.
In the meantime, I saw the water pooling on the floor slowly flowing towards the sewer. I clenched my fists tightly.
The time of the flood at last.
The time has come to return to earth.
