A Stuffed Cheonma in my Head - Chapter 28



Only Noblemtl

Episode 028. The Village of Hermits

* * *

Suddenly I raised my head and looked at the sky.

The sunlight streaming through the tree branches and the leaves hanging from them is dazzling.

Although it’s only the first day, the journey is going more smoothly than expected.

We didn’t go back down the rough, deserted road or hide in particular.

I walked confidently along the road.

He pretended to be blind, wearing a black band over his eyes, using his scabbard as a cane to feel the ground, and his frail younger sister walked while holding onto one of his arms. It was impossible for anyone to find out who he was.

Of course, the Thieves Guild’s information operation would have also played a part.

This is exactly what is meant by darkness under the lamp.

“Haha, hello! The weather is nice.”

“Oh, hello. Are you two traveling together?”

“exactly.”

“Oh my, you must have had a hard time. Here, it’s nothing special, but please have some.”

“Oh my. What the heck.”

“As you go, there are some rough sections of the road, so please be careful.”

“Thank you! Have a nice day!”

Whether our appearance aroused sympathy or not, we gave something to every passerby we met before leaving.

The Blake Kingdom seems like a nice place to live.

In Maya, you’ll be a target right away.

As the kind-hearted passerby walked away, Shushuruta poked me in the ribs.

“Stop saying hello! What are you going to do if you get caught?”

I answered, lifting my blindfold slightly.

“Why are you being so sensitive? It would be more suspicious if you just kept your mouth shut and let it go.”

“Who doesn’t know that? Moderation is the way to go. Moderation.”

“This time, they gave me some biscuits. Do you want some?”

“… … Want to eat?”

I was watching Shushuruta eating biscuits like a squirrel, and then I suddenly became curious and called out to Shushuruta.

“Shushuruta.”

“Something.”

“Is there no demon here? I don’t think I’ve seen one since I’ve been here.”

“It’s not that there isn’t any.”

Shushuruta answered, munching on a biscuit.

“But compared to the Kingdom of Maya, it’s as good as nothing.”

“okay?”

“Not only do demons not appear in large numbers in the first place, but even if they do, they are not particularly dangerous. Even if they do appear, they are only C~D grade. Even then, they are hunted down by mercenaries and knights as soon as they appear. This is because demons are rare and are sold for a high price.”

“… … That’s amazing.”

Compared to this, Maia was like a playground for demons.

Cheonma asked in a curious tone, wondering if the story of the demon had piqued his interest.

[Demon? Are you talking about wild beasts?]

‘No. They are bigger, stronger, and more cunning than wild beasts. Wild beasts attack for food or survival, but demons don’t do that. They just kill whatever they see.’

I answered like that, recalling the images of the demons I had seen one by one in my head.

Cheonma opened his mouth as if he was interested in seeing the demons in his head.

[Wow… What hideous monsters. It would be fun to fight them.]

‘I guess that’s stupid.’

After that, we continued walking along the street, occasionally greeting passersby and receiving something from them.

After walking like that for a whole day, we arrived at a village around sunset.

I looked at the village in the distance and asked Shushuruta.

“Can I go into the village? Isn’t it going to be difficult in many ways?”

Shushuruta nodded toward the village and answered my question with a question.

“Do you know what town that is?”

“No. What village is it?”

“That place is called the village of hermits, or the village of fugitives.”

“A village of hermits?”

“They are all those who have fled from the secular world to live out the rest of their lives in peace. This is where those who have lost interest in the world gather and live in hiding. Even if you take off the bandage that covers your eyes, no one will recognize you.”

“Oh, really? So there’s a place like that?”

“But don’t loosen your belt.”

“check.”

I took down the blindfold I had briefly raised and walked toward the village.

To be honest, I had no intention of revealing my identity to everyone in the neighborhood, but I also had no intention of hiding it like a shadow.

Why would I act like the master of the dagger?

It started out as a way to save Hans’ family, but that was already accomplished.

Now there is only one goal left.

Growing up by beating up strong guys.

It’s about becoming stronger by swatting away the blind moths that are rushing at you with their daggers.

“Hmm. They’re guys who turned their backs on the world and ran away.”

Then wouldn’t there be a few strong guys among them with unfortunate circumstances?

‘Master. What do you think?’

[It wouldn’t be a bad thing. There were hermits and outsiders in the place where I was.]

‘A hermit? A new master? What is that?’

[To put it simply, it means a group of strange people who live deep in the mountains and hone their martial arts skills.]

‘Oh.’

[As it turned out, there were a lot of guys with unique martial arts skills. Some of them were quite strong. I often went to find those guys and fight them.]

‘why?’

[Because it’s fun.]

‘hmm.’

[It was fun to watch the unique martial arts, and it was also fun to steal the useful ones.]

‘You’re stealing it?’

[It’s not difficult. You just have to understand the principle and reproduce it.]

‘Oh.’

[It’s especially fun to fight the master with the martial arts you stole. Do you know what kind of expression he makes when he’s defeated by his own martial arts? He glares in disbelief… … .]

Cheonma laughed heartily, just thinking about it made him feel good.

When I thought about it, I couldn’t help but laugh.

It was so refreshing just imagining it. Should I try it too…?

“Haha. That was good.”

“What do you mean good?”

Shushuruta looked at me with suspicious eyes.

It seems like my thoughts were spilling out into words without me knowing.

I answered shamelessly.

“It’s nice to discover the village before the sun has completely set.”

“I didn’t know you had such a positive personality.”

“I’m glad you know now.”

“… … .”

Shushuruta gave me a strong order.

“My identity was almost revealed in Scarab. Please restrain yourself.”

“hmm.”

“Do you understand?”

“hmm.”

I gave a vague answer and then strode briskly towards the village.

Shushuruta followed along, sighing.

* * *

It was a small town.

It was no different from other villages, but overall, there was a quiet atmosphere.

Contrary to my expectations of a gloomy town, the village was calm and peaceful.

Also, surprisingly, people were friendly.

There was a preconception that they would all have gloomy faces because they had turned their backs on the world and fled, but that wasn’t the case.

People welcomed the poor blind man and his brave younger sister kindly.

But there was one problem: there was no inn. How could there be a town without an inn?

When asked the reason, an old man sitting on a roadside chair watching the sunset laughed heartily and answered.

“Who would come to this boring, empty, remote village? Just as we have turned our backs on the world, the world has turned its back on us.”

The old man looked at our behavior and asked:

“Are you a traveler?”

“That’s true.”

“Hmm. There aren’t many places worth going through here.”

Shushuruta answered obediently, as hiding the destination was more suspicious.

“I’m going to Mount Parbat.”

“Mount Parbat? What are you doing there?”

“I have family living nearby.”

“Aha. I see.”

The old man nodded.

“There is a small town there. It’s quite a long way to go.”

“That’s kind of it.”

Suddenly I felt the old man staring at me.

“What is it?”

“That’s strange. How did you know when you couldn’t even see ahead?”

“There is a feeling. When your vision is blocked, this kind of feeling develops.”

The old man looked at me as if he found me curious.

“Hoo… … So that’s why, even though you can’t see in front of you, you move quite naturally.”

I answered shamelessly.

“They say that if you become a knight for three years, you can learn how to use a sword. Once you get used to it, it becomes quite natural.”

The old man laughed heartily.

“So, how are you going to spend tonight?”

“What else can I do? I’ll have to sleep on the street or something.”

The old man shook his head.

“You can’t treat a guest like that when he hasn’t visited you in a long time.”

Then, he called out to someone passing by.

“Hey, brothers of death!”

‘… … Brothers of the Dead?’

The name itself gave off a strong vibe.

At the old man’s call, two middle-aged men approached with frowns.

“Sir, I told you not to call me that.”

The old man said with a grin.

“A guest has come to town, but we have no place to stay, so things are difficult. You have an empty room, right? Please let us stay here.”

At the old man’s words, two middle-aged men looked me and Shushuruta up and down.

Shushuruta hugged my arm tightly and looked up at the two of us with her sparkling eyes as if to elicit sympathy.

I also tapped my waist while leaning on my cane (scabbard).

“Oh my, my back… … .”

The middle-aged man said, clicking his tongue.

“Follow me.”

We laughed heartily and waved our thanks to the old man who said, “Consider this your home and make yourself at home.” We followed the two men.

Let’s follow, we came across a surprisingly intact two-story house.

It looked a little shabby, but where was this?

As long as you have a roof, you’ll be fine.

The middle-aged man said.

“You can use this floor. It’s a bit messy because it used to be a warehouse.”

“It’s okay. It’s a hundred times better than the cold street.”

“Have you had dinner?”

We shook our heads.

“What have you been doing up until this late without even eating?”

“Tsk. Wait a minute.”

The two of them grumbled and prepared our meal.

The table set was more abundant than expected.

Warm soup and bread, boiled eggs and bacon, and even wine to go with it.

“I don’t know if it’ll suit your taste, but these are all I have.”

“What are you talking about? I will enjoy the meal.”

We sat down to eat with two middle-aged men.

We naturally announced our names while eating.

We used the names written on the fake ID cards, and the two men’s names were Heben and Legard respectively.

It wasn’t easy to tell the two apart.

Because their voices and appearances were so similar that I thought they might be twins.

I couldn’t hold back my curiosity, so I asked right away.

“Excuse me, you two. Are you twins?”

“exactly.”

“Ah, I see. The voices are so similar.”

Then the two people responded in an unpleasant tone.

“Are you saying I look like this guy?”

“Who has anything to say.”

The twins were right.

The two twin boys were not very talkative.

No questions were asked about our story or where we came from.

They only asked us where we were going, and other than that, they just ate in silence and gave short answers to our questions.

It seemed like he wasn’t particularly interested.

Or maybe it’s like saying, ‘We won’t ask, so don’t ask either.’

‘hmm.’

I was sure.

After exploring the two people while eating… … .

The interest rates were high.

Whether it was the atmosphere or the well-organized flow of mana, it was clear that he was a master.

At least… … mana users.

I asked quietly, stopping to munch on my bread.

“Come to think of it, the old man called me by a strange name earlier.”

Stop.

The hands of the two people who were eating stopped.

Shushuruta, who was eating bread, groaned as if he heard something.

“… … .”

A cold silence fell.

Only the lonely cough of Saredlin Shushuruta echoed.

Shushuruta pinched my thigh while coughing.

But who am I?

He is a blind person who cannot see ahead.

As I couldn’t see ahead and couldn’t even read the mood, I pushed away Shushuruta’s hand that was pinching my thigh and asked shamelessly.

“Do you know what I mean?”

“… … .”

“Haha, I have a disease where I can’t control my curiosity.”

“… … .”

The atmosphere suddenly froze.