A Stuffed Cheonma in my Head - Chapter 19



Only Noblemtl

Episode 19. Eat Well and Go

* * *

Early morning.

As soon as I woke up, I went down to the first floor.

“Are you awake?”

Fabio, who was nodding off on a restaurant chair, greeted me with bleary eyes.

“What’s up, kid? Are you such a diligent kid?”

“sure.”

The owner came out from inside and asked indifferently.

“Would you like something to eat?”

“Please give me as much as you can. I have to leave quickly.”

The owner nodded.

“It will be done soon, so please wait a moment.”

I sat down across from Fabio, took the mercenary badge out of my bosom and fiddled with it.

I got it back yesterday after paying the extra cost.

I felt at ease because it felt like something was touching my hometown.

I looked at Fabio, fiddling with the mercenary badge.

“Hey, kid.”

“yes.”

“Did you wake up early because I said I was leaving early yesterday?”

“No. I usually wake up early.”

“My eyes are full of sleep.”

Fabio said, trying to open his sleepy eyes.

“Where are you going?”

While we were chatting and giggling with Fabio, the food soon arrived.

It was a hearty breakfast with warm soup, bread, boiled eggs, bacon and milk.

I quickly finished it off and got up from my seat.

“Master, I’ll eat well and go.”

The owner nodded with a blunt face.

“Come again.”

I said a quick hello and left the inn straight away, heading to the mercenary guild.

Fabio followed me.

As I opened the door to the mercenary guild and entered, the sound of snoring was loud inside.

“Ugh. It smells like alcohol.”

Some mercenaries were lying around, sound asleep, as if they had been drinking all night.

A guy who sleeps face down on the table. A guy who sleeps on a few chairs lined up. A guy who sleeps on top of the table. A guy who sleeps on the floor.

It’s also diverse.

As I walked past the familiar sight and toward the reception desk, I saw not Colin, but a young woman dozing off.

I sat in front of her and stared blankly at her.

When I looked closely, it looked familiar.

It was the woman who had come with a wooden sword when Colin took the grade test the day before.

“Cool… … .”

“… … .”

I sat down and stared at her.

She nodded, then lowered her head once, then opened her eyes half-asleep.

Our eyes met.

I smiled and said hello.

“good morning.”

“Whoaaah!”

Boom!

She was the one who screamed and fell backwards.

“… … Aren’t you too surprised when you see a person’s face? It’s embarrassing.”

“Ah, ah. Sorry. I was a little surprised.”

She got up in a hurry and apologized.

“I don’t think it’s a little surprising.”

I asked her as I watched her wiping the saliva from her mouth and diligently fixing her hair.

“Where is the branch manager? I came to receive the mercenary badge.”

“Oh, please wait a moment. I’ll call you right away.”

After a while, she brought Colin, who had built a magpie nest on his head.

Colin greeted me with sleepy eyes.

“You’re here early. What time is it? It doesn’t seem to be up yet.”

“The sun has already risen. Open your eyes and let’s talk.”

Colin grumbled.

“Why are you in such a hurry? Are you being chased by someone?”

I said this while looking at our branch manager yawning with his mouth wide open.

“You don’t know that. Just give me the mercenary badge.”

I took seven silver coins out of my pocket and placed them on the counter.

The receptionist took the silver, and Colin pulled something shiny out of his desk drawer and handed it to me.

“I barely finished it at dawn. You kept nagging me so much that I stayed up all night.”

“You’re not even making a mercenary pack, so why did you do that?”

“I was watching over the technician who made the mercenary badge and harassing him so he wouldn’t run away.”

“That’s great.”

I took the silver mercenary badge Colin offered and examined it.

The mercenary badge had several intricate engravings that proved it was an official mercenary badge issued by the mercenary guild, but the actual writing was simple.

Silver grade

Ashvan

I took out the mercenary cards I originally had and compared them side by side.

If the one issued by Maya was closer to an elongated rectangle, the one received this time was closer to an elongated ellipse.

As I was looking at the two and comparing them, Colin rubbed his eyes and looked at my original mercenary card and said.

“What is that? It’s a form I’ve never seen before. Can I take a look at it?”

I obediently handed over the Maia Mountain mercenary badge I was holding.

Colin’s eyes widened as he examined the mercenary pack.

“… …! Sherwood Mercenaries?”

Colin looked back and forth between the mercenary group and me with wide eyes.

“Was it really from Maya… …?”

“That’s what I said.”

At the mention of the Sherwood Mercenaries, Fabio, who was loitering nearby, and the receptionist who was counting the silver coins, both opened their eyes wide. The gatekeepers didn’t recognize him, but he definitely had the qualities of a branch manager.

Colin looked at me with admiration.

“This is really waking me up. The Sherwood Mercenaries… … There’s a reason they were so strong.”

I was actually more embarrassed by their reaction.

“Are the Sherwood Mercenaries really that famous?”

“Then. Isn’t it the mercenary group that has Guston the Great Sword?”

“That’s true, but… … .”

As I scratched my cheek and answered, Colin handed me back the mercenary badge and said,

“I heard that every single member of the Sherwood Mercenaries is a monster.”

“Well, that’s true.”

‘Except me.’

I swallowed the words that came out of my mouth.

I simply nodded my head, as it was an undeniable fact that they were monsters.

Colin asked.

“What brings you here from the Sherwood Mercenaries?”

“Just. I have something to do.”

“I don’t know what you’re up to, but I hope it works out well. It’s been an honor to meet you, fellow Sherwood Mercenaries.”

“What is glory?”

I immediately got up from my seat and walked to the door, waving my hand roughly.

“Then let’s go, Mr. Branch Manager Colin. Let’s have a drink next time we get the chance.”

“Okay. Let me take a look.”

Having achieved my goal, I left the mercenary guild without any regrets.

Then I looked blankly at Fabio, who followed me.

“How long are you going to follow me?”

Fabio looked up at me with a determined look on his face.

“I want to follow that old man.”

“As you wish.”

I rejected it outright.

“Speak sense, kid. I can’t afford to protect you too.”

“It’s okay. I learned how to fight from those other mercenary guys.”

Then, with a very serious expression on his face, he threw his fist the size of a soybean into the air, saying, “Huk huk!”

I chuckled and flicked my finger at Fabio’s forehead.

Exactly!

“evil!”

Fabio sat down, clutching his forehead.

He looked at me with tearful eyes as if protesting.

“Why are you hitting me all of a sudden?”

“Are you sick?”

“It hurts, then.”

“How can you take a crying little kid with that? It’s just a straight shot now, but in real combat, you’ll be hit with a blade that cuts flesh and splits bone. You won’t last a week and you’ll be killed by the sword.”

“… … .”

Fabio lowered his head and looked at the ground, then raised his head again.

“Then… how can I become a strong mercenary like you?”

“You want to be a mercenary? Arthur.”

“Why? You’re a mercenary too.”

“I struggled to survive because this was my only way out, and that’s how things ended up like this. You have a much better future ahead of you.”

“What is that?”

“Your father’s inn.”

I said, placing my chin on Fabio’s head and my hand on his.

“You take over your father’s inn and make a living by diligently running a business. That’s much more difficult than being a mercenary, but it’s also more rewarding.”

“Is working at an inn more difficult than working as a mercenary?”

“I only have to take care of myself. So if I meet a piece of shit, I don’t have to endure it. I just cut him down and that’s it. Either I die or the other person dies. The winner gets to enforce his own justice. But your father can’t do that. He has to raise you.”

“… … .”

“It’s the hardest to live an ordinary life. How can it be easy to run an inn as well as your father? There aren’t many inns with such delicious food. If you’re a mercenary, you’re a gold-class man. Your father is a much cooler man than a mercenary swindler.”

“… … Really?”

“Yes. So, don’t think about anything else and help your wonderful father run a wonderful inn. It’s something to be thankful for just being able to choose. Do you understand?”

“… … .”

The little boy stared at me blankly without answering.

Suddenly, I felt envious of the little boy in front of me.

The boy had a solid father.

I tapped the little boy on the forehead, then turned around with a smile.

“Then, mercenary Naburangi, go. Live well.”

I walked toward the east, looking at the rising sun.

* * *

“Me too.”

Colin stood leaning awkwardly against the doorway of the Mercenary Guild, watching the farewell between a man and a child.

A black-haired mercenary who turns around without any regrets and a little boy who looks at him with longing eyes.

It was a common story.

Fabio, that guy, was a guy who dreamed of becoming a free mercenary while watching travelers looking for an inn.

It is often said that mercenaries are free spirits, but there is something missing from that statement.

It means that life is also free.

Colin’s honest opinion was that the life of a mercenary was an extremely dangerous life, where one could be stabbed to death at any time or place.

So, he was sick of that kind of life and decided to settle down here.

Lying on the cold street at night is a daily occurrence, and you never know when you will be able to eat and drink the food you are eating and drinking again.

That’s why mercenaries are a group of fools who eat, drink, and laugh as if tomorrow will never come.

That’s why… … Fabio’s father didn’t want Fabio to become a mercenary.

So, I was displeased with Fabio, who hung around the mercenary guild whenever he had the chance.

but…….

“You shouldn’t say that.”

Colin looked at the rising sun, watching the man walk away and the little boy staring at his back.

Fabio continued to watch the man’s back until it was out of sight.

The man warned him not to become a mercenary, but it backfired.

“… …Friend. When you say that, the boy’s dream burns even brighter.”

Colin realized that Fabio’s dream had been solidified from this moment on.

As I was about to enter the guild with a sigh, a soldier came running out of breath.

“Chief Colin! Chief Colin!”

Colin stared blankly at the soldier running towards him in the early morning breeze.

“But what is going on?”

The soldier ran up to Colin and spoke, panting.

“The Ghost thief has escaped from prison!”

“what?”

Colin’s eyes widened.

“It disappeared overnight!”

The role of the Mercenary Guild is to connect mercenaries and clients.

So Colin immediately handed over the bandit Muyeong who Ashvan had caught the day before to the guards.

I warned you repeatedly to be careful while passing it off like that.

“You idiot! Your opponent is a shadowy thief. You should have kept a close watch on him.”

“I did! I locked him in solitary confinement and watched him closely, three at a time. But somehow he disappeared without a trace. This is something that would make a ghost cry!”

“ha…….”

Colin sighed.

The soldier said urgently.

“I need your help with the search. Of course, I will make a formal request later. You probably haven’t gone far yet. We don’t have much time, so please hurry… … .”

Colin shook his head.

“Give up.”

“yes?”

“Give up because you can’t catch it. If I could have caught it, I would have caught it a long time ago.”

“Then, if I ask the person who caught the Muyeong Phantom Thief again… … .”

“He’s already left.”

“ah…….”

Colin muttered, looking east toward the rising sun.

“The road might be tiring.”