59. Are You Aiming For It?
The basement where the dwarf and the great taoist were imprisoned was closer than I thought.
It was a place where I could see the Duke’s castle right away.
“He must’ve been crazy to be so bold.”
He was the knight king who even his past colleagues hated because he was a thief. How dare he do something like this in the front yard of such a duke?
‘If I get caught, it won’t end with just death.’
Rather, it might have been fortunate for him to be caught by Jooyeon.
At least he could die cleanly.
However, there was no need to spare Edmer’s status.
Jooyeon had already gone out and handed over the gambler to the knights of Duke Edmer, who were waiting.
“Not only is he running an illegal gambling den, but he also dared to kidnap a colleague of the knight king. Take him away and show all the rascals making a fuss in this land a lesson. Show them that this place is the land of the knight king.”
“We will follow your orders.”
The knights bowed their heads with cold eyes.
‘You will never be forgiven in the territory of the righteous knight king.’
‘We will torture you thoroughly and make you confess all your sins.’
The gambler, who sensed the atmosphere, trembled.
“P… please spare me….”
“Shut up! You will pay the price for trying to tarnish His Majesty’s honor.”
Jooyeon waved his hand at him and turned around.
‘Anyway, that takes care of the gambler.’
Now it was time to meet the great taoist.
Jooyeon slowly headed to the basement.
When Jooyeon entered the basement, his eyes widened.
As he had heard, a short dwarf and a disheveled old man were waiting for him.
Judging from the stained bloodstains, there were plenty of traces of torture.
‘Yet, their eyes are so mysterious, like those of an enlightened monk.’
However, the surroundings were in an uproar.
“Oh my god… is that really the great taoist?”
“How could they do such a thing to the hero who saved the continent with the previous duke…?”
It was because of the sight of the great taoist, whose arms had been cut off.
“Could it be that the so-called disciple cut off the great taoist’s arms?!”
“What a terrible bastard! I’ll tear him to pieces!”
No, no, it was the devil who cut off the great taoist’s arms?
Jooyeon scratched his cheek as if he felt a little guilty.
In fact, in the battle against the devil, each of the colleagues had to do a specific trolling action. It was the devil’s debuff.
Among them, the great taoist was hit with a debuff that made him kill his colleagues. So I knew that his wrists would be cut off by the devil’s attack… but I just pretended not to know…
‘Ahem.’
In other words, it was something he had intended, but there was no need to tell the truth.
Anyway, he had to make the gambler look as bad as possible.
Instead, he looked at Daedo suspiciously.
“By the way, Needles, were you really in prison all this time? Not just lazing around?”
Haken looked at Jooyeon with a sense of wonder.
“What are you talking about? Just look at the clothes you’re wearing……”
“Those guys have chubby cheeks and glistening skin?”
“Wh…… What?”
Haken, who looked at them both carefully, was also puzzled.
Now that he thought about it, it was true. They looked as relaxed as if they were on vacation.
Daedo didn’t even think about hiding it.
“Well, I’d sometimes go out and get some fresh air. That damn disciple of mine only gave me black bread. There’s no way this old man could eat something like that.”
The black bread that Jooyeon ate in the labor camp was also black bread.
It was not only tasteless but also so hard that it was difficult to even chew.
“If you had just given me some white bread, I wouldn’t have gone out like that? Hey, you gave me something that even a dog wouldn’t eat.”
Jooyeon was taken aback by Daedo’s grumbling.
This old geezer?
He secretly escaped from prison because he didn’t like the food and went out to eat?
He even packed food to take care of the Dwarf?
Haken and Special Agent John’s mouths hung open.
“As expected…… Daedo Cheonsugwanin!”
He wasn’t just a warrior’s companion.
If the previous Duke was the strongest knight on the continent, Daedo was the greatest thief on the continent, unmatched by anyone.
Before the Demon King appeared, he was one of the leaders who ruled the underworld.
Even the warrior is said to have said something like that.
-Daedo’s footsteps cannot be stopped by anything.
As a former thief who grew up listening to his heroic tales as a child, it was only natural for Haken to admire him.
At that sight, the dwarf laughed, patting Daedo on the back.
“You see. I told you he couldn’t be trusted. It’s not child’s play.”
Chuckle.
Daedo and the dwarf seemed to have become friends in prison.
However, that was not important to Jooyeon.
“So. How did you escape from prison?”
Daedo lifted both feet while sitting down.
“Even if I don’t have hands, I still have toes, don’t I?”
“……!”
His blackened toes wiggled.
“Just because I don’t have two arms doesn’t mean the prison door is flimsy enough for me not to open it.”
When his eyes flashed coldly, Jooyeon secretly admired him.
‘Daedo is truly Daedo.’
It was truly unimaginable.
‘No, wait, he can pick ＜locks＞ with his toes?’
The game had never been attempted even once.
Of course.
Since there was no way he would have the experience of trying to open a door with his toes because he had no arms.
But right then, a bolt of lightning struck Joo-in’s head.
‘Wait a minute… If I can use my hand skills with my feet, then… Can’t I use ＜Reflection＞ in a different way?’
With a skill proficiency as high as Daedo’s namesake, other methods should be possible.
For example, he could cast it on his party members as well as himself.
Or perhaps, he could cast ＜Reflection＞ on everyone, not just himself.
What if he could cast ＜Reflection＞ on an opponent?
If he could deflect an enemy’s attack before it even hit?
New ideas came to his mind non-stop.
The limitations of his thoughts about Reflection had disappeared.
But something was strange.
…He could unlock the prison door, but he didn’t escape?
‘Was this bastard a pervert?’
So he got himself tortured on purpose?
No, that wasn’t one of his characteristics…
Joo-in suddenly recalled some of Daedo’s characteristics.
[Sharp Mind]
[Pragmatic Results]
[Stubbornness]
[Wanderer]
[Item Obsession]
At the same time, Joo-in had a bad feeling.
“You don’t mean… You’ve been waiting for your disciple to make you hands, have you?”
“……!?”
Everyone’s eyes widened in surprise.
But Joo-in was sure.
‘I knew there was something strange.’
Gamers are good-for-nothings who only know how to gamble.
No matter how much the demons helped, a mere gambler like him wouldn’t be able to handle the ‘Great Way.’
The name of the Great Way Cheonsu Gwan-eum itself says it all.
A man with a thousand hands.
A Buddha who saves the forsaken.
However, his comrades had another nickname for him.
[Invisible Ghost]
It meant a ghost that couldn’t even be seen by its shadow.
From Noble mtl dot com
He may not be able to win a fight, but if he set his mind to escaping, he was an existence that could never be caught.
At that point, Joo-in looked at Daedo half in awe and half in disgust.
‘I see, he figured out the purpose of his disciple, the gambler, and got himself caught on purpose.’
He even told me about people who can pretend to be tortured and secretly make something.
Dado’s eyes sank.
“For fifty years, I’ve tried everything, but I couldn’t make a hand, but my disciple can?”
Joo-yeon narrowed his forehead.
The guy who imprisoned his teacher and even stole his vision wouldn’t have given him a hand out of goodwill.
“Why is he trying so hard to revive that hand? Did he steal something and try to appease it?”
“He didn’t steal anything, but he asked me to take something out.”
Dado said he might as well tell him everything now that he knew and plopped down on the floor.
His gambling disciple must have gathered the ingredients.
It was annoying to borrow the hand of a demon, but he had no reason to refuse.
“I thought I could just kill him once I got my hand back, so I decided to put up with it for now.”
The demons were the enemies of mankind.
Not only the demons, but also all those who joined hands with the demons.
Moreover, the warrior Ryu-jin was special to Dado.
To think that he had to endure using the guys who killed him.
‘With that personality, he endured it well.’
The gambler and the demon would have eventually died at Dado’s hands.
That too, very cruelly.
However, there were unavoidable victims for that.
“No matter how much you make a hand… I did something sorry to my friend.”
“hahahahaha. Didn’t I say it was okay? This is all a trial. A trial to make a hero’s weapon!”
The dwarf burst into laughter despite his painful wounds.
“It’s more honorable to be on trial with a hero who protected the continent!”
This dwarf has also gone crazy.
Joo-yeon frowned.
But come to think of it, that was a characteristic of the dwarves.
[They love alcohol]
[But they love heroes more]
[They go crazy when a hero uses their own weapons]
‘Perverts.’
“So what was it that your disciple wanted to take out while fixing your hand?”
“Well…”
Dado, who was looking at Joo-yeon, soon made a subtle expression.
“By the way, who are you?”
“Me? I’m a disciple of the king of knights…”
“No. Didn’t we meet somewhere?”
“……!”
Joo-yeon looked at Dado as if it was unexpected.
Well, if it’s an acquaintance, it’s an acquaintance.
He was in the warrior’s party as the player ‘Sieg’.
No, to begin with, the one who led that hero’s party and took down the Demon Lord was me, you punk.
Including the hero, I’m the one who raised you guys.
‘If you really want to get technical, I’m the 9th member.’
As a support-type character, I raised the hero’s party as their party leader. However, this body isn’t Zeke’s. There’s no way the Great Sage would recognize him.
However, the Great Sage glanced at Jooin as if he were a strange being.
“Why? Why do you look so familiar?”
Jooin shrugged as if it didn’t matter.
As a player, he couldn’t explain it anyway, and with Thousand Hands Guanyin’s personality, she might hold a grudge for the rest of her life for losing both of her arms.
Rather, what was important right now was creating his own weapon.
“Let’s go to the forge first.”
“The forge?”
Jooin laughed.
“Why do you think I sought out the Dwarf King? To have him make me a weapon.”
At those words, Haken gasped in surprise and whispered to Jooin.
“Are you sure? The Dwarf King hasn’t even given his permission yet?”
Dwarves are very picky.
They have a discerning eye for the heroes who will wield their weapons.
‘He probably won’t even let you into his castle unless you’ve accomplished something amazing.’
In fact, the Dwarf King looked at Jooin with doubt.
“I heard from him that you dealt with the demons in the Duke’s Castle. However, just being favored by the King of Knights isn’t enough to earn my respect.”
“I’m the new Great Hero. I need a weapon as a hero. It’s not a bad deal. I have materials you’ll like…”
“What are you doing there? You need to make a weapon for the hero who saved me! Hurry up and come over here! My hammer’s getting tired of waiting!”
“……”
That sure killed the mood.
The Dwarf King was already running towards the forge on his short legs.
‘Did I play the game a little too strangely?’
For some reason, he felt like he was surrounded by nothing but weirdos.
* * *
Clang, clang, clang!
“Can’t you hold it properly? This is a weapon for a hero who will defeat the Demon Lord!”
“Yes!”
At the Dwarf King’s command, the blacksmiths moved busily.
‘He’s truly worthy of being second only to the Dwarf King in skill.’
Even the people in the forge were surprised.
“How is it that he’s in such perfect condition…?”
“What’s wrong with those people? Why isn’t the master crying and working normally?”
It seemed that his usual behavior was quite problematic.
Perhaps he wasn’t feeling well because he didn’t have a hero to make weapons for, rather than because of the perfume.
After all, the only hero nearby, the King of Knights, had cut off contact with the outside world to train.
However, that was a good thing for Jooin.
“Heroic one, huh!!”
‘Well, one slave is confirmed.’
Dwarves were rare in the ‘Valentino Saga.’
But a master blacksmith with royal-class abilities was even rarer.
No wonder he had such a hard time meeting the dwarves’ demands when setting up the facility in the Edmer estate.
But something was strange.
It was because of the greatsword that was comfortably resting nearby.
“I may have the materials for the demon’s weapon, but I can’t make your hand.”
“Right. There weren’t any materials in the gambler’s vault, were there?”
Haken nodded as well.
Joo-yeon had searched the gambler’s vault while making the greatsword’s arm, but there were no materials.
Not even the manager knew where the other vaults were.
Even so, Daedo didn’t seem to care and dragged him to the forge.
That’s why he said,
“Making your arm would require more than just some materials. And I can’t exactly ask the demon who ran away.”
“But don’t you already have the materials?”
Joo-yeon flinched at those words.
Surely, this thief didn’t?
“Just so you know, you can’t borrow mine. I’m also running low.”
It was only enough to upgrade the demon’s wings and the divine-class weapon.
He needed this to clear the achievement.
But to those words, Daedo smirked and replied,
“Of course I already stole the materials beforehand. Do you think I’m called Daedo for nothing?”
“Huh…”
It seemed he hadn’t just gone out for a drink. After all, thieves have always been first-rate when it comes to handling information.
‘Did he see a thousand li while in prison?’
He was worthy of being called Daedo after all.
When it comes to stealing, even the knight king or a hero would be helpless before his abilities.
“As expected of the best of thieves.”
“What!?”
“It’s true. You stole it well, like a true thief! What was it?”
“……”
It wasn’t wrong, but for some reason, it didn’t feel like a compliment.
And he felt like he had heard those words somewhere before.
But that wasn’t important right now.
“So, what was your disciple after? Why couldn’t you talk about it outside?”
“It’s nothing. He was after the weapon I had and the items in the subspace.”
“……What?”
“To be exact, the demon with him was after them.”
Joo-yeon’s face hardened in an instant.
There was only one weapon that this guy could have.
[Divine Weapon]
Those bastards were after Joo-Heon’s stuff.