129 – What??? (5)
Lorton’s tomorrow was definitely going to be quite a good day.
Not only was it the day he could forcibly take over the mercenary guild Mila had built, which was a thorn in his side, but it was also the day he could legally extort money from Larutania’s lord by signing a contract.
Although it was said he couldn’t swallow all the money earned in Larutania after taking Mila’s place, it was practically confirmed that his position within the guild would be much higher than before with this deal, which made Lorton smile.
A high-ranking position in a mercenary guild on this continent was valuable enough on its own.
So, having finished his conversation with Kim Hyunwoo, Lorton returned to the mercenary guild, looking forward to only tomorrow, and soon saw a white shimmer.
And then, he was summoned to this place.
…Summoned to this place.
Splash!
He was submerged in water.
“Blub-! Blub blub blub!”
Lorton struggled to get out of the water, flailing his body, but his efforts were in vain.
His body was tightly bound with ropes in the first place.
“Glug-! Grrrugh!”
So, by the time Lorton’s breath was about to give out, he could do nothing but bite his whole body.
As his breath was about to run out, his body was pulled out of the water.
“Kahaaah! Hah-! Hah!”
Lorton gasped for air as he emerged from the water.
His eyes filled with unmistakable fear, his gaze fixed on the saintly woman looking at him with golden eyes.
“Why on earth are you doing this to me! Why on earth!”
Rothan’s face, as if questioning with an incomprehensible expression, truly bore a sense of injustice.
A face that genuinely couldn’t fathom why he was in this predicament.
“I am neither a demon nor anything of the sort! It’s a misunderstanding on your part! I am human!”
Desperately, he asserted his innocence.
Though Rothan endured torture and heard none of it, having spent decades rolling with the guild.
Knowing full well who stood before him, he shouted in an attempt to assert his innocence, but the golden-eyed girl, Kiman, who stared right at him, simply replied,
“Yes, I know.”
“W-what… do you mean?”
“I know. Marlan Rothan, I know you are human. The issue at hand is very well understood by Melang here beside me.”
“Then why! I-I have never conspired with demons!”
“I know that too!”
“Then why!”
Facing Rothan with a mix of anger and injustice now, as if sincerely not understanding the reason, Amelin replied,
“It’s a decree.”
“What do you mean?”
“Exactly as it sounds, Rothan, we have received a decree from the heavens. It’s about purifying your heart, tainted with malice.”
“That’s absurd!”
Trying to speak against Amelin’s words with a furrowed brow.
However.
“…Are you dismissing the decree as absurd now?”
Gulp!
With a gaze filled with anger, Amelin silenced Rothan, who had just been speaking moments ago, leaving him speechless.
Looking at Rothan in this state, Amelin smiled again and approached him, who was now hanging his head, and said,
“Don’t worry. You won’t die.”
“Our Lord is very forgiving.”
“If you can realize what you’ve done wrong today and need to correct, then repentance today should be sufficient.”
“W-what exactly did I-“
“That’s something you need to think about, Rothan. Don’t worry. I will assist you in recollecting.”
Splash!
Along with Amelin’s words, Rothan was thrown into the stream.
Watching him, Amelin said,
“The water knows the answer, so ask it.”
With that, she chuckled.
####
The plan in Kim Hyun-woo’s mind wasn’t as grand as one might think.
Eventually, if he proceeded with the plan that had popped into his head, there would inevitably be some hostility with the mercenary guild.
However, within Kim Hyun-woo’s calculations, including leaving a debt to Mila and giving Rothan a hard time, he deemed it a good enough plan, which is why he intended to execute it today.
Intended to, but…
“…So, I came this morning, and this is the situation?”
“Yes…”
At Mila’s response, Kim Hyun-woo glanced at Lorren.
His appearance seemed unchanged.
The scars crisscrossing his arms and legs were still there, and there was no sense that he had gone bald or been through some kind of ordeal.
Likewise, there were no suspicious marks on his face.
But still.
“I… I was wrong… I was completely mistaken. Completely!”
Kim Hyun-woo held onto his sleeve, looking bewildered as Lorren sought forgiveness without any warning.
“…No, what exactly did you do wrong all of a sudden?”
“I did everything wrong. I am a sinner! I have repented! I have repented!”
“Um, can you hear me?”
“I can hear you…!”
“…By any chance, what happened yesterday?”
“Nothing happened at all, I swear to God, nothing happened at all!”
Kim Hyun-woo’s confusion deepened as he watched Lorren insist that nothing happened yesterday, even going so far as to have a resolute expression. At least from yesterday’s encounter, he had gathered that the Lorren he saw yesterday would never speak in such a manner.
No one changes overnight like that, so Kim Hyun-woo, puzzled, hesitantly spoke up.
“Loria.”
[Yes, my lord.]
“Did anything happen to Lorren yesterday?”
[We didn’t confirm with the mercenary guild, but there weren’t any significant events within the territory.]
“…As expected, right?”
[Yes. If there had been an issue, I would have reported it immediately.]
Nodding slightly at her response, Kim Hyun-woo glanced at Mila with a questioning expression, but she too seemed perplexed.
‘What on earth is going on.’
Kim Hyun-woo could only look at him with a puzzled expression.
And about 30 minutes later.
“I… I don’t need anything… I’ll be going then!”
With Lorren fleeing like he was escaping, disappearing from the Lartania territory, his carefully thought-out plan quickly turned into a useless endeavor.
‘Well, in the end, it was a plan that would have caused me loss, so not using it is much better than using it.’
As Kim Hyun-woo gazed northward with a slightly confused expression at Lorren’s hasty departure.
＜p class=”a”＞From Noble mtl dot com“Um, thank you.”
Mila, who had been leaving with Kim Hyun-woo just a moment ago, expressed her gratitude.
She seemed quite moved by the situation, with her eyes slightly reddened as she bowed deeply.
It seemed like she had mistaken something Kim Hyun-woo had done, but he hadn’t done anything at all.
Since Lorren, who until yesterday had been contemplating how to make a move in Lartania, suddenly lost interest.
“…”
Therefore, pondering over this matter, Kim Hyun-woo.
“…No.”
Though he felt a slight pang of conscience, in this situation, responding with “Huh? But I didn’t do anything?” might make the situation a bit odd, so he naturally nodded and answered Mila.
At that moment.
Amelin, who was watching Lorton approach from the direction of Lartania, stretched out with a refreshing expression and spoke.
“Hmm… This should be handled well, Melang?”
“It seems to have been handled well, Your Holiness.”
“Then let’s head back now. Those demon fellows are still causing trouble, giving us a headache.”
Amelin immediately turned her body around.
To that, Melang spoke.
“…Do we really need to visit Lartania’s territory, Your Holiness?”
“Hmm… Although I’d really like to go just out of curiosity…”
After briefly gazing at the distant Lartania territory, Amelin, who had turned her body, chuckled and said.
“Well… It’s a bit premature for us to go when that person hasn’t revealed themselves yet, isn’t it?”
“Indeed, that seems reasonable. Your Holiness is correct.”
“In that case, let’s meet later. Whether we meet before or after seeing that person doesn’t matter.”
With those words, Amelin smiled and turned away from the Lartania territory.
“…Still, I am a bit curious about when they will reveal themselves.”
With that, Amelin and Melang once again set off towards the Norba territory.
And as time passed, at a point around three weeks later.
[The Red Merchant’s shop has opened!]
An alert window appeared in front of Kim Hyunwoo.