A Stuffed Cheonma in my Head - Chapter 17



Only Noblemtl

Episode 17. The Ghost Thief Shushuruta

* * *

I crashed into the ground with the Muyeong Phantom Thief.

A cloud of dust rose.

“Hahaha! I finally caught you. How do you feel, Mr. Phantom Thief?”

I quickly grabbed the struggling guy’s two arms behind his back and subdued him.

“Cough! Cough!”

The guy was coughing in the thick dust.

“Oh, you’re a phantom thief with bad respiratory tract. You’ve had a hard time, phantom thief. But prison might be a little better.”

I said, giggling.

“Just stay still.”

I subdued the thief, who was struggling without rest, by perfectly bending his two arms behind his back.

Honestly, I was expecting a ground battle after being dragged down to the ground, but this guy was so fast that he couldn’t even put up a proper fight.

“Put this down! Can’t you put this down?”

The voice was still echoing throughout the forest, so I turned the guy over and examined the back of his neck.

A necklace was visible.

It seemed like a necklace enchanted with a magic that made voices resonate.

“That’s noisy.”

I grabbed the necklace and ripped it off without hesitation.

Knock knock.

Then a new scream rose up.

“Yaaaah! Do you even know how much that costs!”

“huh?”

I blinked in embarrassment.

It was because the voice was thinner than expected.

Come to think of it, your hair is long too.

I held the guy’s two wrists together behind his back with one knee, then grabbed his hair to check his face.

A thin, pure white face was glaring at me with a venomous look.

“Let go of it! I said let go!”

I muttered with a blank expression.

“… …was it a woman?”

“What if you’re a woman! Huh? You beast of a man! Can’t you get your filthy hands off me right now!”

I thought about that for a moment and then shrugged.

“Well, it won’t make much of a difference.”

I grabbed the slender wrists of the Ghost thief and lifted her up, draping her over my shoulder.

It was much lighter than I thought.

So that’s why you were squirrel-like in the tree.

I carried her on my shoulders and went back to where my luggage was.

On the way, the bandit Muyeong kept saying things like, “Do you know who I am?”, “If you don’t want to regret it, you’d better put me down right now!”, “Do you want to be found as a cold corpse tomorrow morning?”, etc.

“Lulu~”

I hummed, took out the rope, and tied the bastard up tight.

His arms and legs were tied tightly two or three times.

Even the demon that fell off the cliff with me wouldn’t be able to move if tied up like this.

“You beast of a man! Can’t you do it gently? Won’t all your flesh be worn away?”

“Ahem ahem~”

After I tied up the Muyeong Phantom Thief tightly, I put the sword on my waist and packed up all the luggage I had put down.

“Ugh.”

Then he put the Ghost Blade back on his shoulder and headed towards the village, humming a tune.

It didn’t matter to me whether the Ghost thief was a man or a woman.

The only thing that matters is that it’s 50 silver.

‘Hmm. But this time I have to go in through the hole. How do I push this thing in?’

As I was walking with that thought, the Ghost thief started to wiggle his body and spoke urgently.

“Hey! Hey! Are you really going to hand me over? My ransom isn’t even that much.”

“It was 50 silver.”

“If you let me go, I’ll give you double that.”

“Oh really?”

“Of course! Of course! Now I can finally understand. Let’s put it down and finish the story.”

“That’s a bit difficult.”

A promise with a thief is as vain as the ashes left behind after a bonfire.

If you blow on it, it will just fly away.

I took a step forward without any hesitation.

Then, the bandit Muyeong attempted to bargain in an urgent tone.

“Three times! Four times! Oh, no, ten times!”

Towering.

I stopped walking.

Then the guy asked cautiously with a bright face.

“How about it? Ten times. That’s a whopping 500 silver. That’s 5 gold. Are you feeling a little more appetizing now?”

“… … .”

“Haha. You too are a helpless human. Just put it down. It’s not too late. Show me mercy—”

“It’s really noisy there.”

Kung!

I slapped the head of the guy who was hanging on my shoulder and chattering away.

“Yanyak!”

“Who would believe a promise made by a thief?”

The guy glared at me with his eyes wide open as if he was going to kill me.

“Hey, you stupid bear!”

The bandit Muyeong was so upset about getting hit that he was swearing wildly.

“Ouch, it’s noisy.”

Kung! Kung! Kung!

But that was only for a moment. After feeding him chestnuts several times, he finally became a little quiet.

“Lulu~”

The journey back home after successfully completing a mission is always enjoyable.

This is especially true for higher difficulty requests.

I walked along, humming a song in excitement.

“High mountains, deep valleys~ Silent~ mountains and rivers~”

How long did it take to walk like that?

I was bored of singing alone, so I glanced at the Ghost thief.

The guy had a sullen look on his face and his mouth was shut.

“I’m bored on the way here, so I’d like to hear your story. Should we start with our names?”

The Ghost thief glanced at me and replied curtly.

“If you were me, would you do it?”

“If you tell me, I’ll let you go.”

“… … Really?”

“then.”

The Ghost thief seemed to think for a moment, then opened his mouth.

“Shushuruta.”

“Shushuruta?”

“Yes.”

“What a unique name.”

“I told you, so now let me go.”

I said with a grin.

“Our Shushuruta is really stupid. Do you believe that?”

Shushuruta opened her eyes wide.

“You look like someone I should throw into this fire pit! You look like someone I should push off a cliff! You… … !”

A variety of creative curse words poured out of Shushuruta’s mouth.

I walked away, picking my nose with my other hand.

It was fun to tease him because he reacted spontaneously when I pointed him out.

I don’t understand how a legendary phantom thief can be so foolish.

After a while, Shushuruta seemed to have finally succeeded in objectively understanding his position, so he spoke to me cautiously, changing his tone.

“You— no, what is your name?”

“Ashvan.”

“Ashvan? Tea, what a wonderful name.”

“That’s right. It’s dozens of times better than the weird name Shushuruta.”

“… … .”

I chuckled as I watched Shushuruta tightly shut his eyes as if trying to suppress his anger.

After a while, Shushuruta, who had successfully suppressed his anger, opened his mouth again.

“Do you have any questions?”

“suddenly?”

“I run a thieves’ guild. All sorts of valuable information that you can’t get for a thousand dollars is in my head. Just say it. Opportunities like this don’t come easily.”

“Oh. Then let me ask you something.”

Shushuruta’s eyes sparkled.

“Ask me anything.”

“Why do you speak so old-fashioned?”

“… … .”

Shushuruta closed his eyes tightly again.

“Not that kind of thing… … . Like the location of a precious treasure hidden there, or a place where ancient ruins are hidden, or the secrets of famous nobles. Things like that… … You punk!”

Shushuruta, who had been speaking quietly, suddenly shouted as if he had failed to control his anger.

“Oh my, that’s a surprise.”

F*ck!

I gave him another chestnut, and Shushuruta closed her mouth with tears in her eyes.

“You’re hitting me again… … Are you truly the devil?”

“Maybe so.”

“… … Don’t you really want to know? Do you know who the owners of the Nine Great Swords are? I know them all.”

“not really.”

“Then what about the ancient treasure that is said to have sunk to the bottom of Lake Meirin?”

“well.”

“Then. Then… … .”

As I showed a blank reaction, Shushuruta continued to speak to me with a longing heart.

It was so pitiful to look at.

But who am I?

Ashvan is a heartless city man, a cold traveler who ignores the sticky stares of many women and passes them by, a lonely wolf, a lonely wanderer who looks up to a stray dog ​​named Bangul as his teacher, an Übermensch who travels the world with a single sword.

Such petty things don’t work on me.

As I continued to show an indifferent reaction, Shushuruta bit her lips and said.

“I didn’t want to say this, but… … I actually knew who you were.”

“hmm?”

Shushuruta said, slightly raising one corner of his mouth.

“A member of the Sherwood Mercenary Corps of the Kingdom of Maia. A silver-ranked mercenary named Ashvan. Isn’t that right?”

“… … !”

I opened my eyes wide.

When he finally got a valid response, Shushuruta thought this was the moment and continued to move his mouth.

“You couldn’t get through the security checkpoint at the gate, so you went in through the hole on the side? You left the mercenary group in the ‘Hungry Gypsy’.”

“… … .”

“This morning, I went to the Akhenaten branch’s mercenary guild and gave a ranking test to the branch manager, Colin. During the process, I knocked Colin down, which caused quite a stir.”

“… … .”

“You must have been desperate for money, right? You took on the request without any fear, even though you were called the Ghost thief.

“Are you trying to raise money to pay your mercenary registration fee and leave the village in a hurry? Is someone chasing you?”

“you…….”

I looked at Shushuruta.

Shushuruta’s black eyes, shining with a different light than before, looked at me.

“I still don’t know how you came here from the Kingdom of Maia, or why, but it’s only a matter of time. If you release me, I’ll erase all your information from the world. How about it? Are you finally ready to talk?”

“… … .”

I glared at Shushuruta, who was smiling meaningfully… … and raised my hand and struck her head.

F*ck!

“Yuck!”

“Hey. How dare you threaten me? Do you want to taste some honey?”

Shushuruta snapped at me, sobbing.

“I told you not to hit me again!”

“Who threatened you like that? Threaten me one more time and I’ll show you hell.”

“… … .”

“What’s the big deal? Even if you dig around my back, I won’t be fooled. Where can you find a man as confident as me?”

Shushuruta muttered, “This isn’t working either… … .” After a while, a good idea came to mind and he opened his eyes and spoke to me.

“Oh, this is some really hot news that just came in. Are you interested?”

“does not exist.”

“No. I’m sure they’d be interested.”

Shushuruta said confidently, laughing like a villain.

“That’s right, the dagger of Ophiuchus. There’s news that a new master has appeared for that monster!”

“what?”

Towering.

I stopped walking and looked at Shushuruta.

“You’ve heard of it, right? The Dagger of Oposis, which you’re thinking of right now. That’s right. It’s a major event that has been quiet for decades and has finally surfaced.”

“… … .”

I stared blankly at the excitedly chattering Shushuruta.

“It is said that the original owner was Hans, the last hidden disciple of Oposis… … but somehow, an unknown swordsman became the owner.”

“… … .”

“Have you heard that the Baron of Barranquilla’s castle has been reduced to rubble? It seems that he tried to steal the Dagger of Oposis from a strange swordsman. In the process, not only the Baron’s men but also the Baron himself were killed. He is a complete lunatic. He killed a nobleman in the Blake Kingdom. He must have found Hans in the same way and killed him to steal the dagger. He is a cruel man without any blood or tears.”

“… … .”

“The news hasn’t reached the royal family yet, but they will soon dispatch a knight. We must hurry to catch him.”

“… … .”

“The culprit is… … . Oh, can I say this? It’s really valuable information that only I know in this area.”

“… … .”

“Well, it’s good. I feel good. Think of it as an investment. Let’s chase after him together. He’s nearby, and you seem to be a strong enough swordsman to take down Colin. Even if I let my guard down, you’re still quite agile enough to catch me. If you add my wit to that, there’s no way I can’t catch him.”

“… … .”

“Then I will take it that you agree. The culprit is a ruthless devil. I have information that he uses terrifying black magic.”

“… … .”

“People call him the Red-Eyed Demon. And for good reason, he is a swordsman with blood-red eyes… … .”

Shushuruta stopped talking with his mouth half open.

“… … .”

“… … .”

Shushuruta and I looked into each other’s eyes for a moment in silence.