77 – Escape Ninja of Another World (2)
– hehehe~!
With a mysterious laughter, a knight dressed in a red armor like chili paste revealed himself.
Red Tomahawk-Unicorn-Pegasus.
Elementals exclusive to the legendary grade of Yoo Geomgyeong.
And the woman with platinum hair, wearing a short bob, on top of it… Of course, it was Agasa.
“…Escape ninja.”
Agasa, with a complicated expression, narrowed her green eyes.
“Long time no see.”
Seeing this guy after 60 years (perceived), it was nice. He gently shook her hand.
“Are you awake?”
I asked briefly about her well-being.
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Seeing that she didn’t rush at me screaming, “Kill, kill, whale, whale,” like before, it seemed like my physical therapy had worked well.
“…I didn’t know Aileen was that kind of person. I thought she would be someone who trained harder than anyone else and had a straightforward heart.”
“Even real bastards live diligently. They are filled with thoughts of killing people with even more vigor.”
The young Shogun Jade, full of sorrow, had short legs and a frail body, but he was talented and hardworking.
He must have been excited to display his skull collection in the underground of his mansion and worked hard to improve himself.
“…I realized that too late. It’s disgraceful.”
Yoo Geomgyeong, descending from the elemental horse, bowed his head and apologized to me.
But forgiveness doesn’t come easily. Because of this guy, I almost missed catching the queen bee that I had worked so hard to catch for two years.
“-Then, strip naked and lie on the fire pit.”
“…What?”
“Just kidding, that’s enough if you know.”
Actually, it’s just a light joke. It’s already over, so there’s no need to worry about it.
“Well then, are we colleagues now?”
I nodded cautiously in response to Agatha’s question.
“You can say that.”
After shaking hands, we cleanly concluded.
“Agatha, long time no see.”
The Hwangum Sword that had been observing our conversation with Orpheus greeted Agatha.
“Oh, senior? The rumor about you joining was true then. What about Kang Gumgyeong?”
“Yeah. They’re here. Bbyong looks to be in good shape.”
“It’s not Bbyong, it’s the crimson flash.”
The Hwangum Sword reached out its hand to Agatha’s Red Flash – Unicorn – Pegasus.
– Fwoosh~!
A spirit horse that emitted steam like a steam locomotive, blowing out steam before her hand could touch it.
Its horn shone like an alarm, as if it were about to shoot laser beams.
Danger, caution for the virgin.
“You still don’t like me. I’ve taken care of you so much.”
“It’s because you’re not a just and faithful woman, senior.”
“You’ve become quite arrogant since we last saw each other, haven’t you?”
“Don’t be too sad. There are few who can touch the crimson glow, even among my knights. It’s because the standards for loyalty are high.”
Agatha chuckled and stroked the mane of her spirit horse.
“Look at him. Isn’t he well-behaved? He recognizes my sincere heart.”
But from what I could see, that wasn’t the case.
“That’s just because the commander hasn’t met a man before and is clueless-“
“Kate, shut up. Don’t annoy the commander.”
Before Kate, one of the knights (I remembered her name because she had sparred with Orpheus), could commit defamation by realism, Deputy Commander Leona intervened.
The knights, excluding Agatha, seemed to know the truth about the unicorn.
“Yugyeomgyeong, we were indebted to the Evergreen Village.”
Orpheus shook hands with Agatha.
“Oh, um… Orpheus, right?”
Agatha suddenly acted as if she were dealing with a difficult person.
“Just call me Orpheus.”
“Uh, okay.”
Behind the awkward Agatha, Kate shouted.
“Oh, seriously! He should have joined our knights. His exit route is so off… Isn’t it?”
“Shut up, it’s noisy.”
Leona and Kate, a lively duo. They quarreled like sisters.
As I slowly moved my body to go somewhere else, my eyes caught sight of the “Soul Devourer” hanging from Agatha’s waist.
There was no nostalgic light or sound effects, perhaps because it had not been summoned yet.
Could it be a sword that devours souls, just like its name suggests?
…Maybe?
I activated the new skill, “Soul Vision,” and aimed at her sword. It was a name given to the ability I obtained by killing the Showgun of Despair.
– Kkiiiiii…
– Kill me… please…!
I could see the goblin flames sticking to the sword.
It seems that it really is a true soul devourer.
“Yeah, that’s right! Why don’t you test your ‘faithfulness’ too?”
Agatha, who was awkwardly conversing with Orphe, pointed at the Spirit Horse.
“When you’re in trouble, you still rely on your Poryong. I’ll go check it out.”
“Because of the red flash.”
The Fairy Sword, or rather, the Spirit Sword, trembled and changed positions.
“I’ve always wanted to ride a Spirit Horse.”
Orphe approached the Pegasus-Unicorn-Pegasus without knowing anything.
Well, the outcome was obvious.
– Buhahahahaha!
“To think that the red flash would be so delighted…! I guess bloodline cannot be deceived after all!”
It’s not surprising that the Unicorn didn’t like Orphe, who used to be a dark elf.
The instructor who messed with the candidates was not in the Ninja Village.
They had actually prohibited “that act,” saying it should be raised as a cold-blooded weapon.
There were even couples who couldn’t control their impulses and ended up in a state of unconsciousness after being hit by the bald instructor’s iron fist.
Are any of the candidates still alive?
A sudden longing to see them…
“567!”
Damn, what a surprise!
I turned my head towards the direction of the voice after jumping up.
A man with the same design of clothes, a woman wearing a couple t-shirt, and a man with a lion’s head were coming towards me, smiling.
“Hey, you haven’t changed at all.”
The man in the couple t-shirt, pretending to be close.
“I knew it was you as soon as I heard the rumors. There’s no one else who asks to be called a ninja. ‘Wazaboi!’ and ‘Nin-nin’ too.”
The woman in the couple t-shirt, pretending to know.
“When I see you, I remember that cave again. If it wasn’t for you, we would all be dead. Thank you once again.”
The man with the lion’s head, expressing gratitude.
Seeing them call me 567, I feel like a tail candidate of the Sakal, but I have no recollection of who I am.
“561, 562… up to 547?”
Just when I was scratching my head, the savior Orpheus appeared.
“Who is it?”
I whispered quietly to her.
“561 and 562 were famous as lovers. They were caught in the act of, uh, expressing their affection for each other.”
Ah, are these the guys caught by the bald instructor?
I didn’t remember their faces, only the incident.
“547 was the next candidate after you and me.”
I really don’t know this person.
If I’m third after Orpheus and me, what does third place mean in a world that doesn’t even remember second place?
“Nice to meet you.”
But I was worried about maintaining my reputation as an escape ninja if I pretended not to know.
I accepted their words while pretending to be friendly.
“We’re adventurers. We’ll get officially married once this war is over.”
“I work as a mercenary. I’d be quite famous as ‘Golden Mane’ Jess. Oh, I have a painting of my wife and daughter. Do you want to see it?”
“No.”
Wow. What kind of guys are they, only spouting lines full of death flags?
If I keep being with these guys, I might even lose a war I was supposed to win.
“Anyway, I’m busy. I’m leaving.”
“567, no, Robin! Thank you for giving us a new life! We’re really living our lives to the fullest!”
“I may not fight for justice as much as someone without a face, but I can fight to protect the people who are important to me. I’ll live proudly as a good father and a good husband. That’s why I’m here. Let’s do our best together!”
Ignoring the guys screaming behind me, I left my seat.
Once again, I had to entrust it to Orpheus.
But my escape route was not long.
Because someone grabbed my shoulder as I was about to leave the Square of Encounter.
“Who’s this? The righteous adventurer Robin, no! Should I call you a fugitive ninja now? Anyway, nice to meet you!”
“Boss! I’m here! Sharkhead Zone reporting! Do you remember me?”
“Lennard? Sharkhead?”
This time, I recognize these faces.
“Since I’ve received a lot of help from you, shouldn’t we also contribute to our guild funds?”
“Joanna, the Baroness, and Trent, the Lord, couldn’t come because they have to protect their territories. They send their regards.”
Lennard looked younger, as if he had received some skin whitening treatment, and Sharkhead had bulked up and become more solid.
“Is the Unicorn here too?”
“The Unicorn? Ah, you mean my wife, Eunice? Well, she got pregnant a while ago…”
Sharkhead laughed foolishly, and Lennard smiled proudly.
His pregnant wife. This is also a death flag.
“sh*t.”
It seems I’m already screwed when it comes to an easy victory. I should have fought alone.
Orpheus… It’s all because of you.
***
Late at night.
It was when I was lying in bed, exhausted from the stress of the death flag.
“Tired?”
Orpheus, dressed in light clothing, gently opened the door and entered.
“A bit.”
Actually, I’m f*cking tired, but if I show it, I’ll look weak.
I have to endure.
“What’s the matter?”
“Just bored. That’s all.”
Orpheus came in because he was really bored and started talking to me about trivial things.
“…Starting tomorrow.”
He’s talking about marching to the headquarters of the Matap while avoiding areas with many streetlights or Matap branches.
“I’ll have to f*cking walk again.”
Even just walking aimlessly is stressful. I could just run there alone and arrive in less than a day.
“Robin.”
Orpheus, who had stopped talking and was deep in thought, finally spoke up.
“Do you remember what you said before touching the sealed artifact? The one about me being your favorite person, the one you could entrust your life to.”
“Hmm, I don’t know.”
“Yes, you said I was your favorite person. That you could entrust your life to me.”
Orpheus suddenly stammered.
Did I say that? Maybe the impact of the Kakashi Copy jutsu was too strong and I forgot.
But that was just something I said without any real meaning to quickly move past the situation.
Could it be… that I mistook it as confessing to him?
While trying to understand the situation, Orpheus suddenly started unraveling his own past story. It was quite a cliché story.
Because my mother was not a legitimate wife but a concubine, I was confined alone in a spacious house, spending my time with books instead of people.
My sister, who treated me well, was busy with her training every day and I couldn’t see her often. And my birth mother was too preoccupied with indulgence and pleasure to pay attention to me.
During that time, I was attacked by Yakuzas and survived alone thanks to my sister’s sacrifice.
With the help of a magician who was my mother’s relative, I changed my hair color and lived in the countryside as if I were dead. But I ended up caught in the tail of Sagal, who kidnapped children.
It was a story of a twisted fate, but not a very interesting one.
“You’re the first one to say that to me.”
Orphe, whose face turned red, slowly approached me, perhaps feeling embarrassed about talking about the past.
“Robin.”
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No.
“If not today, there won’t be another chance.”
Wait a minute, something feels off.
I feel like I’ve seen this situation in a movie, drama, or novel before.
“This is my answer to what you said.”
No way.
“You may be aggressive and unpredictable…”
Really?
“But you’re also honest and passionate.”
Oh, f*ck-!
“I think I like you too.”
f*ck, this is messed up!
This is why being perpetually single is no good.
It was clear that my thoughtless words were mistaken for a love confession!
No, it was my oversight to not realize that Orpheus, being bored of the opposite s*x, was one of those perpetually single individuals who would consider having three children just from someone briefly talking to them.
And now, as a result, in addition to the couple’s marriage, family pride, and wife’s pregnancy, another flag has emerged that I will definitely die on the battlefield.
The fourth conversation that should never be had before a war.
A love confession!
And not just any love confession, but one that I personally heard, not one that a comrade was experiencing!
“Because it might be the last, I wanted to say it.”
Orpheus embraced my stiffened body. I haven’t given an answer yet…
Can we win this war?