Episode 9. Anoitus
It’s been quite a while since the festival ended and we returned to our daily lives.
The people who were full of excitement, whether in the city or the countryside, quickly returned to the details of life, and the food that was spread out and the people who were spread out were now immersed in their respective affairs in their respective homes, waking up.
But there were also those who did not.
“I… then cut off the head of the biggest of the wolves with a single sword!”
Those who were too intoxicated with excitement strayed from their original place and caused trouble to others.
Now that’s why we gather at the town hall to help some idiot.
What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of ancient Greece? Hercules, Perseus, Theseus, Jason, Achilles, Oedipus, etc… are heroes.
Heroes in mythology usually wander for reasons such as being cursed by a god or having their throne usurped.
Anyway after that? Either defeat the monster and become a king or get married and live in peace. If you’re unlucky, you’ll be cursed by God, or you’ll meet a miserable end somehow.
Stories like these are perfect for a wandering singer to get food and a place to sleep while singing to poor shepherds like us. More noblely, in the city’s grand theater, actors gain fame and popularity by acting for the citizens.
It is no exaggeration to say that there is no one who does not admire the hero in Greek mythology, from slaves to nobles. Even a hero is usually a child of a god, so it’s good to substitute oneself for anything from an orphan or a slave without parents to aristocrats with grandparents.
Among them, of course, there are idiots who say, ‘Maybe I am too?’
“Oh, Mr. Anoitus. Thanks to Anoitos, our village has become peaceful.”
“How fortunate are you that you are out of danger now?”
It is not at all strange if such an idiot has an unfortunate incident that reaches our village without any luck.
“Keuheum, it’s nothing.”
It wasn’t really anything.
After some time, they asked to deal with the pack of wolves that were waiting to be chased away, but since shepherd dogs are no different from wolves in terms of size and strength, and shepherds are not easy enough to double as hunters, the village can handle it.
In addition, the villagers only wanted to cry because the wolf fur or meat, which could be a side income, was cut into pieces so that they could not be used.
‘You look like the son of a rich family, but why did you come all the way here…’
In our village, a few elderly people who play the role of a village head live together, and their houses play the role of a village hall.
And me, my family, and all of my neighbors are now gathering in that house and watching that idiot.
After the festival, they suddenly came in and said, “There are no monsters here! Or even a hero! I must have seen the stars and received a revelation that a great monster would appear here!!” He is an amazing person who is not ashamed to say the same thing. It’s obvious that no one wants to run into it.
But… why are we paying attention?
“Anoitos, the spear is very nice, but can you unleash such an ugly object at a party like today?”
“Heroes never let go of their weapons. As an honorable warrior, I must always be on guard against the wicked…”
Because he was fully armed.
“Not one or two brave men died while laying down their weapons. A true warrior never lets down his guard!”
I worry about the end of the heroes who let go of their weapons and careless, but I don’t worry about the end of an insignificant guy who is ‘sucked’ by the villagers while messing around in a shepherd’s village. If that’s not the boundary, what is it?
At that point, it is said that the stupidity of that human being is completed. In one way or another, it is a typical human figure.
“Anoitos, how fortunate is it that even an old man like me can walk around safely?”
As the burning of planes around him continued, Anoitos, full of self-consciousness, twitched his chin and spoke to the easygoing people around him.
“Little boy, how are you?”
“…you mean that?”
The winner this time was me.
Did you mistake it for some kind of yearning look when you saw that he was glaring at you? How ignorant can a person do that?
Anyway, I was suddenly dragged out and pointed out…
“How cool! I want to be like the hero when I grow up!”
I have no choice but to give you that much lip service.
The corners of ‘Anoithos’ mouth twitched in satisfaction. Up until this point, I thought I had coped well.
“Is that so? Then guide me around this area for a few days. I will catch all bandits and beasts of prey somewhere here.”
“thank you. I don’t know if I dare to follow you, but…”
“Guy, you’re shy.”
Until he came to me and put his hand on my shoulder.
“name is?”
“…$#@$#.”
Syllables that I didn’t know, that I couldn’t understand, came out of my mouth.
“When I find the monster’s head, I’ll buy you freedom and make you rich. All poets remember you…”
···As it happened, the answer to the truth came back to me.
When that man named Anoitos left the hall, taking advantage of a moment when he was distracted, Theo slowly followed and walked out.
“Ha, it hits the goal.”
“…you are suffering a lot.”
“How about Uncle Phillips?”
“Could that ignorant, hot-tempered man just watch that? Right now, Uncle Yorgos is visiting and comforting you.”
“…Hagi, that person only listens to his own wife.”
i envy you. I’m usually bad-tempered and I don’t notice.
It’s unfair to be called like this when I’m only a seven-year-old child (with about 10 years of experience in social life).
As I shed bitter tears, someone put a hand on my shoulder with a chin.
“Ah, bro. Crunchy… get rid of this…”
“boy! Let’s go on an adventure together!”
f*ck.
‘I’m not your Pikachu,’ I said to the idiot who didn’t know where he had taken that age, holding down the words that came up to the tip of his chin.
“Hero, I’m so excited!”
“yes? You too will join the hero’s adventure!”
Just as the sun goes down
…Originally, this was supposed to be a really cool scene.
***
“That’s why you haven’t been playing with me!!”
“why? Did you think it was an excuse?”
“huh! He didn’t want to play with me, so I thought he was playing with that flashy idiot…”
“Shhhhh.”
“Isn’t that fool around right now?”
“How do you know that?”
“For the nearby fairy sisters to talk to me!”
…After hanging out with this girl named Ino for a long time, I knew how to properly interpret the content of her words.
A fairy seems to roughly mean a vagabond.
So, the fairy sisters are probably other street children who take care of themselves.
“Where do you think you are now?”
“Near your house! It seems to be going to your house and looking for you? I guess I’m going to explore again like last time!”
“Ha… that’s a headache.”
That madman really thought that there were things like Drakons and Harpies living in the cave.
Even yesterday, I had been wandering in the tunnel with that idiot for half a day, and my limbs were all sore.
The day before, he was desperate to find the reanimated corpse soldiers from the rubble of a nearby collapsed wall.
The day before that… let’s not think about it any more.
Yesterday the person said “hahahaha! Compared to the journey of Hercules, this is nothing!!” As I ran while shouting something like that, the straps of my sandals came undone and my skull was almost cracked by a stalactite.
I should have just broken my head then.
I don’t know which city he’s from, but there’s a strong possibility that the thing that’s bothering people is that he’s been educated the wrong way.
“boy! Are you there? I’m going to go exploring today! Are you excited? Yesterday, I couldn’t find Drakon, so I go into the cave that is rumored to be infested with snakes! What is a Drakon, since it’s a big snake, shouldn’t it be in a place where there are a lot of snakes?”
“···driving me crazy. You never follow me.”
After being assured by Ino, I quickly ran out and put myself in front of that madman.
“Girl oh oh oh! Girl oh oh oh oh!!!!”
“Here it is!!”
As if remembering the social life of the past life, the back is automatically bowed toward the idiot and the tone becomes polite. It’s a sad instinct.
Anoitos eventually dragged me to the cave in question.
“Is this… the cave where Draco comes out?”
“okay.”
“Haven’t you heard of snakebite bodies coming out?”
“A snake. Will a snake bite and kill only those whom the goddesses of fate protect?”
Saying such things while wearing hiking pants, or a guy wearing sandals with his legs exposed in these days when there was only a skirt, boasts like that.
An idiot, holding a round bronze shield in his left hand and a short spear in his right hand, took the lead.
“If a monster appears, step back, but don’t run away. You will have to testify after seeing me defeat the monster.”
Isn’t it usually the virtue of a hero to let a child run away when he encounters a monster?
Whoa, whoa, it’s okay. After going around with this human, I’ve gotten used to situations where ‘common sense’ is gone.
“Through this adventure, I will become a true hero!”
He seems like a guy who needs to become a human first before he can become a hero, but what can he do?
I just want to live and see my parents again.
So we slowly walked into the cave.
The sound of dripping water can be heard from all directions.
The floor was very slippery with mud over rocks. I knew it would be like this because snakes appear often means it’s damp, but… I feel like a beggar after experiencing it.
A cool hiss… hiss… I could hear something passing by, but I held it in.
Thinking about whether it would be better to die from a snakebite or to be stabbed by a madman’s knife.
From nob le mt l. co m
Looking back at how much time had passed, the aisle to the outside had already narrowed to a point.
“for a moment.”
At that moment, the idiot grabs my shoulder and stops the march. When I heard it, wondering if it was going back, I saw an idiot kneeling down and staring at the floor.
“Look here. These are the scars of a Drakon horn.”
“…”
I don’t know if such a thing actually exists, but I nod my head when I say it is. When I reacted, he became even more elated and began to step forward as if he were going to cut down Drakon at any moment.
“Finally… even my father didn’t like me. That I, who was a good helper on the way up, lives only in heroic poetry, that I live in the ‘fantasy’ of stories of great heroes.”
Somehow, I let the family affairs recited by Anoitus through one ear and nodded my head with a deliberately serious expression.
Something, mumbled by his father, who was a successful merchant, muttered that he was loved and trusted by everyone, but something was missing in his heart, muttered that he would now leave his greedy uncles and parents to do his own work…
If it is typical, as the typical narrative unfolds, I wonder if this human is actually the main character of a mass-produced novel and I have been reincarnated as an extra.
Then, after a pause, Anoitos took out a dagger from a small scabbard in his waistband and spoke.
“Do you know what this is…?”
“I have no idea.”
“That’s right. You won’t be able to read and you won’t be interested.”
A short phrase engraved on one side of the dagger, painted in gold, radiates yellow light even in the dark.
“It is written like this. ‘That of Hercules, son of Alcmene’.”
“···yes?”
If it’s Hercules, ‘that Hercules’?
“It was found in the basement of our house. It seems like a remnant, but isn’t the fact that this glorious dagger came to me is a sign that the gods are trying to make me a hero? Although Hercules is our great enemy…”
what does that mean…
-Kurrr…
Cries are heard.
Sounds like hundreds of tiger cubs shouting in unison echoed from inside the cave.
It feels like listening to the sound of a giant’s burp in the giant’s esophagus.
“I, I, out! This monster…”
“…it’s like a lion. You have to run away…”
“A lion? It’s definitely Drakon. It’s called Drakon! I have to catch Drakon and cut off his head to show my father…”
[Be terrified.]
voice. that voice. A voice that scared me like a worm in my ear, as if it whispered directly into my skull.
It makes my head dizzy, melts my mind, confuses me, knows me better than I do, controls me better than I do, just like the laws of physics, voice voice voice voice voice voice…
“Uhhhhh!!”
“Why? No matter where it hurts…”
Suddenly the ground starts to vibrate.
It is as if the cave starts peristalsis and moves its contents deep into the ground to be digested.
“hhhhh!!”
It feels like making the emotion of fear into an extract and pouring it into your eyes and ears.
It is scary to breathe in this space. It’s terrible. offended have to get out I feel like this space is constricting me.
That feeling seemed to have passed on not only to me but also to Anoitus. He shook his hand and nearly missed the dagger, but managed to thrust it into the scabbard and hugged the fallen me.
And he himself can’t walk properly and almost crawls.
– Iron puck. iron puck.
-Sssssss.
Its mud starts to slide under your feet. Something long and thin wriggling between them.
Venomous snakes that feed on human flesh.
Between the shaking ground and the ceiling, broken stalactites fall and stalagmites collapse. Stumbling, Anoitos hugs me and walks out of the cave.
And, as part of the floor slowly collapses, it begins to reveal the endless abyss hidden beneath.
A world of nothing… It’s as if the world before the world existed is spreading beneath your feet.
Is this how you die? Coming to the second life, so vain? In the cave where the earthquake occurred, the body was not recovered…
“Little boy!! Little boy!!!”
“Uh… uh uh… yes?”
-bang!!!
A cave that closes behind your back as if you were going to shut your mouth.
…When I turned around, I was almost at the entrance of the cave.
Was the sense of time and space distorted in fear?
When he came to his senses, Anoitos’ legs were damp. I pretended not to know, but Anoitus had a face full of shame and resentment.
“···Are you okay?”
“Uh, ah… yes…”
I thought I was just an idiot until I started selling at the town hall earlier, and it’s true that I was a fool to drag a child into this dangerous place…
At least he was a good enough person to rescue me from a near-death situation.
I greatly raised my evaluation of Anoitus. At this level… do you have the qualities of a hero?
However, Anoitus himself did not think so, and tears were dripping down his face.
“…what, what was it?”
“…”
I couldn’t answer.
Seriously, what was that just about?
Was it simply the cry of a lion deep in the cave? Was it the noise of the snakes underfoot?
If not… why was it so creepy and frightening?
“Boy… No kid, are you okay? Did I… not get hurt because of me?”
“are you okay. I’m fine, so don’t worry…”
I was about to say thank you for saving me, but before he could hear me, he stumbled and walked away quickly.
It is on the opposite side of the village. I thought about what kind of strange adventure the author would go on, whether he would realize something, then I got up too…
From nob le mt l. co m
Legs do not move.
When I got out of the cave, the power that was released didn’t come back.
With no one to ask for help, I was just sitting in a daze when someone walked out from among the bushes.
“…Theo? Did you follow me all the way here?”
“Let’s go back. I’ll pick you up.”
Saying that, Theo silently hugged me. The injured pigeon resting on his shoulder fluttered as if his bandaged left leg was uncomfortable.
“A girl told me where you went.”
“You mean Ino?”
“…Yes, a boy named Ino.”
“Does he have parents or any other family? Is no one taking care of you?”
“Because there is no need for that.”
What do you mean by not needing…
I tried to say something more, but unlike usual, Theo’s expression looked a bit stiff, so I shut my mouth.
When I went back to the town hall, this time the townsfolk were gathering with a look of nervousness. As soon as I explained the circumstances, the hall went into a festive mood.
“went! That idiot is gone!!”
“It’s gone forever!”
“You worked hard too. Seriously, how did that stupid guy not do anything wrong?”
For a while, I became a village hero and was praised by adults. Fruit means fruit, and Jujeonburi means Jujeonburi.
“Ino? Ino…? Where are you?”
After eating only raisins like rice for three days, I felt like my blood would turn purple, so I managed to get out of the house and find Ino.
With a bunch of raisins and beef jerky I was given.
“what? Is it a snack?”
“You eat it all. Do you really have no parents in town?”
“Fairies are parents…”
“···no.”
Ino ate the raisins I gave her and jumped up and down.
Watching it, I tried to recall my memory in the cave.
. . . It appeared to be foggy.
At that time, Anoitos showed me the dagger and said what?
“Ino, I heard you told Theo hyung about my location? good job.”
“…Theo? Who is that?”