A Stuffed Cheonma in my Head - Chapter 177



Only Noblemtl

Episode 177. You’re All Grown Up

I stared blankly at the silver sword in my hand.

The silver sword, which had a faint light despite its overwhelming power, was cleanly split in two.

[It flew away cleanly.]

“… … .”

I stare at the broken silver sword in vain… … .

I glared at the captain standing calmly across from me.

“You little punk. Do you know what kind of sword this is… …!”

The captain asked, scratching his cheek.

“Was it a sword with a story?”

“Do you know what kind of sword this is? It’s a one-of-a-kind silver sword that Hans, the last disciple of Ophiuchus, made just for me!”

The captain, who was leaning against the dark greatsword, answered vaguely.

“I’m sorry about that. Who would have thought it would break so loudly?”

“That’s not all. It was a truly glorious sword bestowed upon his knight by the rightful owner of Blake’s one and only throne!”

In fact, it wasn’t all that glorious, but I exaggerated it to make this ignorant bastard feel guilty.

The captain snickered, making my efforts seem meaningless.

“… … Are you laughing?”

“I can believe everything else, but I absolutely cannot believe that. You’re the king’s knight? Even a passing bell would laugh.”

“Shut up, you fucking devil!”

Masoo shrugged.

“I’ll believe you for everything except that you’ve become the King’s Knight. It was a sword worthy of that. No, I should say I can’t help but believe it. It was a pretty heavy blow. Did you really go to the afterlife? You’ve become stronger than I thought.”

It was a compliment I hadn’t heard from the captain in a long time, but it didn’t really reach my ears.

I cried out, hugging the broken silver sword.

“Bite my sword, you punk!”

“… … .”

Although it was a full-fledged attack, it wasn’t enough to defeat the monster.

Is a toothless tiger still a tiger?

“Master. Was my attack really that sloppy? So much so that the sword was shattered into pieces?”

[It wasn’t that sloppy.]

“Then why did it break so miserably?”

[It must be because the gap is so big.]

“Ugh… Assassin Captain Joya. I have no face to face with you.”

The tiger looked at me and said.

“Anyway, I have to work as an employee for the next few days as promised. A promise is a promise.”

“The world’s red-eyed devil is a worker at a restaurant in a remote area where business is poor? What would Bok-sil say if she heard that?”

“Stop talking nonsense and go to bed. You have to get up early to start business in the morning.”

That was when.

rustling-

When I turned around at the sound of footsteps, a pure white fox was staring blankly at me under the moonlight.

The guy had red eyes and gave off a strange vibe for a beast.

The fox looked at me blankly and muttered softly.

“… … Ashvan?”

Talking about beasts.

I could tell who he was the moment I saw him.

“Here comes the real demon. Long time no see, demon.”

[A demon? Is that little guy a demon?]

The moment I was about to answer Cheonma, a white cotton ball suddenly rushed at me.

“Ashvan!”

“100 million.”

The cotton ball rushed towards my face and sniffed at me for a long time, holding the broken silver sword as I fell.

I said, pushing away the guy who was sticking his nose in my face.

“Stop taking it. It’s me.”

“What?”

The fox was startled and looked at me like a ghost from a distance.

“Ashvan. You’re not dead?”

I sat up and answered.

“Does this look dead?

The fox came closer again and sniffed, saying:

“The smell of blood has become stronger than before, but I cannot help but recognize your scent. It is indeed that weak Ashvan. You have the vitality of a cockroach. You survived even after falling from a cliff. But why are your eyes red?”

“How would I know that?”

“… … If you don’t know that, who will?”

“Ah, I don’t know.”

At the moment, I was in a state of physical and mental injury, so I didn’t feel like answering each and every question.

Since I had to work as an employee for the time being anyway, I decided to pick up the remains of the broken silver sword and go down the mountain.

I said this because the captain was just standing there blankly.

“This damn devil. The enemy of the Silver Sword. Aren’t you going?”

“Miho and I will go first. I want to go after warming up for the first time in a while.”

“… … Tsk.”

I passed the captain and headed towards the village.

On the way, this little fox followed me and kept talking to me.

“Hello, Ashvan. What the hell is going on? Explain.”

“Shut up. I have a headache, so I’ll tell you tomorrow.”

“Don’t do that.”

“Even if I tell you, you wouldn’t know? This devil.”

“I told you it’s not a demon. It’s a spirit.”

“That’s funny.”

I escaped the midnight forest with the fox that kept bothering me.

* * *

Only after Miho and Ashvan had left did Guston take a deep breath and look around.

The whole area was completely blown away.

Just before blocking Ashvan’s sword attack, the sword energy escaped to the side and cut down dozens of trees, creating a path.

The ground around where the swords collided sank into a hemisphere.

It goes without saying that the surrounding area was turned into scorched earth by the aftermath of the explosion.

That means the shock was that great.

Guston lifted his arm, which was leaning on his greatsword.

He was still shaking slightly from the shock.

Guston looked at his tingling hands and muttered in disbelief.

“… … You crazy bastard. How did you get so strong?”

* * *

As soon as the sun rose, the captain woke me up early in the morning without any mercy and ordered me to clean the dining room.

The red-eyed devil is cleaning the restaurant.

But the Red Witch was also preparing to open her shop without saying a word, so I couldn’t complain.

Eventually I decided to delegate the work to other guys.

Shushuruta was the first to come down the stairs, staggering slightly as if he was still drunk.

“Hey, cat burglar.”

“huh?”

“Come here and help me.”

Shushuruta looked at me with her eyes wide open.

To be exact, I looked at the guy who was at my feet.

Until then, Miho had been following me around, but then the cat and the fox made eye contact and became very wary of each other.

Shushuruta carefully came down the stairs and stared at the fox. The fox didn’t avoid his gaze either.

The cat and the fox, upon meeting for the first time, circled around with their eyes fixed on each other.

After a while, Linda came down and joined the circle.

Bang bang.

“… … .”

I couldn’t help but sigh when I saw the thieving cat, the mutt puppy, and the fox circling around.

I watched the scene, leaning awkwardly on the broom that was sweeping the floor.

“What are they doing?”

Cheonma laughed quietly.

[It looks like the beasts are greeting each other.]

The important thing is that two of them are people.

Scarlett, who was wiping the table, saw this and laughed.

“You’re cute.”

“… … Where are you going?”

After finishing all the cleaning, I opened the store.

Indeed, there were guests.

Are there any guests in this rural place?

There weren’t that many, but there were quite a few who seemed to be regulars.

People would greet the Captain and Scarlett in a friendly manner, but then look very embarrassed when they made eye contact with me.

Because I was beaten by the captain the day before and my beloved sword was broken, so I wasn’t in a very good mood.

I couldn’t be a friendly employee.

The judging is twisted here and there.

I couldn’t help but speak rudely.

“What are you looking at?”

He stood there awkwardly and responded, then got hit again by the captain.

Since I couldn’t just take care of it myself, I gave the work to Linda and Shushuruta as well…

Linda kept tripping over something unseen and throwing food in customers’ faces, and Shushuruta greeted customers with such a high-handed tone that the number of unfriendly waiters only increased by three.

I got scolded by the captain again.

It was Linda and Shushuruta who were at fault, but I got the blame.

I’m dying from this injustice.

Even during that time, Miho kept following me around.

We weren’t that close to each other to begin with, so why does he keep following me around like this?

Although customers came, it wasn’t so many that the store was full, so whenever I had time, I sat on a chair and chatted with my older sister.

How have you been living all this time, where are the other guys and what are they doing… … .

“I don’t know either.”

Scarlett spoke in a languid tone, puffing smoke from her long pipe.

“Aren’t you curious, Sister?”

“Well, do I need to wonder? I’m busy with my research.”

Are wizards originally like that?

Scarlett seemed coldly indifferent to anything that wasn’t her area of ​​interest.

It wasn’t that strange of him to see that, since he usually just stayed in his room and studied.

“Sister. I don’t know if you know, but the mercenary group has disbanded.”

Scarlett looked at me and smiled faintly.

“If you think about it, they weren’t kicked out, they just fought and left on their own. Don’t worry.”

“You said you had a big fight.”

“Yeah, we fought a lot.”

My sister exhaled smoke.

“No one said your name out loud, but everyone knew why. You guys were all clumsy. It was hard for you to accept your death. You guys only knew how to fight, so that was the only way to express it.”

“… … .”

I kept silent for a moment and then laid out my plan.

“Sister.”

“huh?”

“Mercenary Corps. Let’s rebuild it.”

Scarlett looked at me through her cigarette.

I looked into her green eyes and said.

“Like before.”

Scarlett looked at me blankly.

“How are you going to bring the other guys?”

“We have to find her somehow. Even if it means kidnapping her if necessary.”

Scarlett took a deep breath of smoke and looked up at the ceiling for a moment before smiling broadly.

“That sounds fun.”

Smoke billowed out of her mouth like fog as she answered.

“Would you like to join us? Sherwood Kidnapping Group.”

Scarlett shook her head.

“Unfortunately, I’m busy with my research. I can’t help you.”

“… …Research?”

“Yes. Since this research is related to you, I can make a formal request later when I create a mercenary group.”

“It has something to do with me?”

Wasn’t it you who thought I was dead?

Are you saying that you were trying to revive a lion?

… … Isn’t that forbidden magic?

At my questioning expression, Scarlett laughed and playfully poked my nose like when we were children.

“It’s a secret, but I knew you’d come back with red eyes.”

“yes?”

“I saw the future you.”

“… … When?”

“In the distant past.”

“What is that… … .”

You saw your future self in the distant past?

What on earth are you talking about?

If the person speaking wasn’t my older sister, I would have hit her on the back of the head and told her to stop talking nonsense.

Even if that’s true, why were you so surprised that you cried when you met?

As if she had guessed what I was thinking, my sister brought her cigarette to her lips again and muttered.

“How does what you know compare to what actually happened? I was also very confused when you fell off the foggy cliff. No matter how much I thought about it, I didn’t think you could survive a fall from there. I couldn’t count the number of times I wondered if I had seen things wrong.”

“… … .”

“But seeing that you came back alive like this means that what I saw was right after all. The research will be successful. Soon.”

My head feels like it’s being tangled.

I often get this feeling when I talk to my older sister.

Are all wizards like this?

Maybe that’s why I treat my older sister with respect.

I’m more scared of my sister’s mental attacks than the captain’s physical attacks.

I quickly changed the subject before my mind got any more confused.

“Then what about the captain? It doesn’t make sense for the Sherwood Mercenaries to not have a captain.”

Scarlett opened her mouth with a puff of acrid cigarette smoke.

“Ashvan. Have you seen the village?”

“I saw it.”

“Hasn’t it gotten bigger since you came last time?”

surely.

When I came here before, it was a really small village with only a few people.

Now, the number of houses has increased and there are quite a few people walking around.

This means that now it has taken on the appearance of a village where people live.

“We gathered here because of the captain.”

“Because of the captain?”

“After you fell off the cliff, the captain stayed in this town for a while, killing all the demons in this area like a madman. After the mercenary group was disbanded, he even set up a shop. People heard rumors that the Great Sword Guston was staying here and gathered here. He became a kind of guardian deity of the town.”

“… … .”

“What would happen if the captain suddenly left the village? Wouldn’t the people be anxious? I came here because I heard that the Great Swordsman Guston was here, but if he’s not here, it wouldn’t have been worth coming all the way here.”

I thought about it for a moment and then asked.

“Then… even if I raise Sherwood again, he won’t come back?”

Scarlett smiled softly.

“Ashvan. What is Sherwood to you?”

“… …family.”

“Yes, that’s true for me too. Do you really need to join the mercenary group to be a family? I think differently. Wherever we are, we are connected by the name Sherwood. Just like your second name.”

“… … .”

I was at a loss for words.

I always end up being an immature child in front of my older sister.

I muttered, as if I was complaining.

“I don’t know where they all went though.”

Scarlett let out a small laugh.

“Ashvan. Even if you re-create the mercenary group, it won’t go back to how it was before. Many things have already changed. That’s just how the world works.”

“… … .”

“You know that, right? Everything is bound to change. That’s why it’s all the more precious.”

“Then… are you telling me not to do it?”

“It means don’t dwell on the past that has already passed.”

Scarlett playfully blew the smoke from her cigarette in my face.

“But there’s nothing more enjoyable than meeting an old friend. And it’s even more so when an old friend you thought was dead comes back to life.”

I could see my sister’s smile through the spicy smoke.

“Do you know how happy I was when I saw you again? I was so happy that I cried.”

I smiled back and said.

“me too.”

“I don’t see any tears.”

“I held it in. I’m an adult now.”

My sister smiled and placed her hand on my head.

“You’re all grown up.”