113 – Then the devil came in through the main gate (7)
According to Sochojang, the ‘mine’ was a fortress and asylum that was expanded and refined from a natural cave by an unknown king and his subordinates. It was the capital. Nobles, soldiers, serfs… It was said that everyone had to be able to live there, so the interior was as spacious and complex as a fortress.
After the era of kings passed and the era of emperors arrived, the mine was hidden among the trees of the Black Forest. Until Roberta discovered this place by chance about 10 years ago.
And now the mine has reached its heyday, even more so than back then.
It wasn’t difficult to find the way. The complex internal structure was obvious to both visitors and residents, so a brief map and current location were engraved next to the torch.
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The problem is, of course, people. The inside was extremely crowded with people crying, laughing, talking, shouting, and beating.
The earl’s soldiers were busy moving things such as sacks and wooden boxes from place to place. It’s common for rolling carts to lose their wheels and block hallways, and swearing and fistfights are common.
In order not to get caught up in the confusion, Maria lifted a wooden barrel the size of a human body, and Cain lifted a wooden box. Both were empty, so they weren’t heavy, but they were a bit difficult to hold due to their size.
Thanks to this, Cain and his party did not attract much attention. A soldier carrying luggage. Because I only saw that much.
The entrance to the mine seemed to be used as a kind of warehouse. It was used to store supplies that the earl’s soldiers and thieves had extorted from various parts of the earldom.
On the way, Cain saw a fat man who certainly didn’t look like a soldier exchanging imperial currency with a soldier with a booklet at his side. When you see the blunt-looking workers carrying sacks from the warehouse, it seems like they are making money through this kind of black market.
But it was not the place the guard said. The group approached deeper.
As I approached the wide, dry hallway, I saw a marking line drawn with white dye. It seems like the area is changing. The inside was also crowded with people, and there were people carrying cargo, so Cain and the others went inside just as they had come.
As I entered the hallway, I saw a wide and tall hall. It was as large as the entrance hall, but since it was inside a cave, it was a little darker.
That’s why it feels more damp. Food was being cooked in ovens installed here and there, and shirtless soldiers were rolling oak barrels. At the round table, the Count’s soldiers burst into laughter, exchanging barbaric jokes.
“Look at that.”
Maria whispered. She pointed to a table a little deeper, in a dark place. The men and women soldiers there were hugging the man and woman in rags next to her. A frightened expression. Deeply puffed cheeks. Clothes that would more accurately be called rags rather than clothes. And the chains tied to the ankles.
It was a plaything. The soldiers laughed lewdly, massaging and molesting the toys next to them as they pleased. Widock called them ‘Redeemers.’ I didn’t say this in a good way.
“Sometimes we take on debt at the village level. Then, you sell out a person with no connections or a person who is not particularly popular in the village. Why do you do that?… “Is there any other toy as fun as people?”
The ones with their eyes turned away dragged their playthings and headed to a more obscure place. There were human-sized wardrobes lined up in a row, as if they were made for that purpose. All that could be heard there were screams, moans, and the pain of being crushed by base desires.
Rebellion only made the soldiers more happy. “Yeah, this is how it’s fun!” Those who throw a sausage between the playthings and fight, those who make each other slap each other and then give a sip of alcohol to the last person standing…
But it was not the place the guard said.
Cain and Mary put down their luggage in an appropriate place. The soldiers there were so focused on their own work that they didn’t pay much attention to their colleagues who came and went carrying their luggage.
Deeper, a silk-covered hallway was visible. It was said that if the open air outside was cheap comfort for soldiers, this silk road was run for special guests.
It is currently locked because it literally only opens in special places, but on the day it opens properly, they say, ‘Literally, you won’t be able to get out.’
But for some reason it is open now. After exchanging glances with each other, the group walked inside, pulling up towels to cover their faces.
Inside, there was a scenery reminiscent of the back streets of a typical city. High ceilings, long hallways, doors built on both sides of the hallway.
In the days of the old king, it was used as a personal quarters for soldiers, but now it is a space for luxurious entertainment.
Servants and maids wearing head scarves were walking around diligently, as if cleaning. All of them were handsome and beautiful, different from the ordinary playthings outside.
People grow old, just like hollow dolls do.
The servants and maids glanced at Cain and his group. But don’t you dare ask them, ‘What’s going on? No one asked, ‘Where are you going?’
When we tried to make eye contact, he quickly lowered his head and walked away. But I couldn’t help but look at them and whisper behind their backs.
‘Is this a place where soldiers should not enter?’
While Cain was worried,
“Hey, there!”
A man with a pheasant feather in his hair approached her from over there. She has a sturdy physique and is wearing something that looks like a ledger on her arm, but she has taken off her top and is wearing shorts.
Cain prepared for her fight, and Maria gently twisted her wrist. He was trying to pull out her wrist sword. Lily stood calmly, but judging by the twitching of her right hand, she looked as if she was ready to cut down her man.
But she was indifferent to the man.
“How much did you drink?”
“What?” Cain asked back after hearing the unexpected question. The man nodded and snapped his fingers at her.
“I see that she understands what she says, so she seems fine. Come help me with this! Well, there are no working bastards. “Oh, what are you doing!”
The three walked towards the man. The servants and maids stood close to their sides just looking at them. Just as nobles stand aside on the side of the road when members of the imperial family pass by.
One private room was open. Cain smelled her familiar scent. The smell of her hardening blood. There were no servants or maids around him.
A spacious room big enough to fit four people. A red candle holder glows softly on a luxurious rosewood table. In the middle of the room, there is a spacious bed that can accommodate three people. But the only person lying down now is a woman. Take off all her clothes. Open your eyes wide. With a dagger stuck in the side of his neck.
“Where did the crazy b*tch get the knife?” Her man stroked her chin and picked up her clothes that had fallen on the floor.
“Oh, what are you doing? I have to wrap it in a bed sheet and get rid of it! “Has it been a while since you came here?”
Cain nodded her head.
“Yes. “I just arrived.”
That was the signal.
Lily kicked her man’s back knee. Maria stuck her dagger between her man’s teeth. The man will no longer be able to even use his tongue. Cain closed the door. She drew her imperial sword and turned towards her man.
“So now I have to have some fun.”
As soon as her man wriggled away from her, Maria put the dagger to the corner of her man’s mouth. Little by little, little by little, she gently grasps her lover’s lapel with her fingers. A disgusting smell filled the room. It’s because her man pissed on her.
“Where are the kids?”
Maria grabbed her dagger and pulled it out. Just as her man was about to grab her mouth, Cain kicked him in the stomach.
“Kids! Where! There is!”
“aaah inside. Stone stairs, stone stairs, below… under. But no. Pond… I can’t go in now… Consciousness. During consciousness… “
“Why did you kill this woman?”
“f*ck you… “The man lamented. “… I also wanted to put it in the area where high-ranking people hit me… f*ck… f*ck me too… Once with a pretty and fresh girl… ! I f*cked him and he tried to f*ck me… !”
Cain took her dagger from the woman’s neck and thrust it into her man’s side. This is a place full of her oil and sloshing around. It won’t be fatal, but it will be painful. Her man couldn’t even scream. Because Cain hit her uvula.
“Ledger. Where is the ledger? A place like this doesn’t operate without books. “There must be something recorded!”
“… Ah… eww… “
Cain twisted her dagger. Her man trembled and howled.
“Ji… Holy of Holies! In the Holy of Holies! Inside… In the deepest place… !”
Cain pulled out her dagger. Her man leaned forward, bleating like a pig.
A commotion was heard outside the door. Lily opened the door. The servants and maids were shocked and pinned her body to the wall. Those who saw Cain’s blood-covered hands and her dagger covered her mouth. Her eyes are wet with fear, but her mouth… I just tremble.
I have been weighed down by fear for too long. She couldn’t even scream. Cain grabbed the hand of a servant who looked a little sturdy. She handed me her blood-slicked dagger.
“Do whatever you want. And run away as fast as possible. Roberta is dead, and Wördem is coming with his men.”
Cain made way for her. The servant, her cheeks quivering, held her dagger tightly. The servant and her five maids entered the room. The rest blocked the door. The sound of crushed humans tearing animals into pieces could be heard inside.
But it was not the place the guard said.
At the end of the hallway were cool stone steps. The cold air rising from the floor made me feel like I was descending into a charnel house. It was dry, and you could hear the wind. It probably means that there is a way for the wind to pass through.
The three people stood close to the wall of the stairs. I went down, being careful not to make any sound. The howling wind grew louder.
‘No. ‘It’s not the sound of the wind.’
Cain focused on the sound he heard. It was not the sound of the wind, but the sound of people talking. The sound of many people muttering, not just one or two people.
Even though I walked down for a while, I still couldn’t see the bottom. Cain thought that at this level, it was at the level of a decent watchtower.
A dark vacant lot appeared.
It is not a wide field under the bright sun. Even the feeble light coming from the landing and the obsessively installed torches and braziers could not illuminate the darkness of the vast, empty space.
Even if you sprinkle a cup of water in the desert, the thirst will not go away.
However, contrary to its name, the vacant lot was not completely empty. Cain, who had become accustomed to the darkness as he came down the stairs, looked at the other side, which seemed to be fifty meters further away.
In front of a stone altar covered in candle wax, small children were repeatedly praying.
This is a sight often seen during the Great Sacrifice Festival, which honors the sacrifice of the prophet of life and death.
On that day, all citizens of the empire go to the chapel and offer mass.
Because there are so many prayers to memorize, people unconsciously rock their bodies back and forth. As if you were beating the beat with your own body. A prayer with a beat soon becomes a song with a melody. What if the pitch isn’t right? Is there anything that matches the beat?
Then something mysterious happens. The experience of my voice mixing with another person’s voice.
It is clear that the words came from me, but they become exactly the same as those of other people, so even though the prayers are uttered by ten, one hundred, or a thousand people, they sound as if they are being recited by just one person.
Everyone speaks like me. Everyone breathes with me. In this place where there are only voices, breathing, silence, and beats, I cannot distinguish between others and myself. No, they should not be separated. This is a place of harmony. Division that breaks harmony is dissonance…
But.
But the prayer continues upward and upward. Prayers that honor God should be like that. But those children’s prayers were not like that.
The children muttered constantly. He was so thin that his stomach and back were tight. There is no distinction between boys and girls.
The same thing happened: the cheeks were skinny, the eyes were bulging, the neck was as bony as a branch, and the head on top of it was too big. Of course, it might be because my body was too thin, but it felt like it would fall off if I even lowered my head.
It was here. The place that Sochojang Vidok mentioned. A place where disobedient children of serfs are captured and imprisoned. Cain recalled Wördem’s statement.
“The kid who passed through here was literally out of his mind. They say they don’t sleep, don’t work, don’t eat or drink, and just pray. Even though my parents cry and laugh in front of me, I say, ‘I committed a sin. “I have to go to my parents.’ If you keep repeating the words, you will starve to death.”
“… “What do you say?”
“The ‘priest’ whispers to the children of the serfs.
‘This is neither heaven nor hell. That middle ground. You did not obey your parents. So you must be punished. If you become a good child, your parents will come looking for you. But if you continue to disobey me, you will have to stay here forever.’
Then, wouldn’t children naturally ask, ‘How can I become a good child?’ Then the priest says this.
‘Pray.’
That is the power of prayer. Isn’t it funny? Huh? Isn’t it funny? How do Count Wördem and Count Roberta rule this large land? The power of faith and prayer… “
Vidok must have sensed an unusual atmosphere and smiled vulgarly.
“Ha. But yeah, it’s probably not true. Yes? There’s no way something like that could happen. “This is just something I heard.”
“Did you participate too?”
Cain growled into Vidok’s ear.
“… I just took him to the entrance and left him there. That’s it. That’s it! I don’t even know what exactly happens inside! “How should I know what they do by kidnapping and rounding up the children of disobedient serfs?”
But all that was true.
“Dreung… Cool… “
From a little distance away. Of course, buried in deep darkness. Priests could be seen falling asleep to the lamentable prayers of children as lullabies. When I squinted, I saw that they were priests wearing black robes.
Cain caught her breath. When she turned her head, she heard a pattering sound. The evidence is there. There is evidence to speak of Wördem’s misdeeds and Roberta’s vices. The three people who quickly exchanged opinions quietly dispersed into the darkness.