A Stuffed Cheonma in my Head - Chapter 34



Only Noblemtl

Episode 034. The Lost Saint

* * *

In the dark forest.

A woman and a man were running away frantically.

“Gasp! Huh!”

And then a demon chased after him.

-Krrrrr! Boom!

It had the shape of a wild dog, but for a wild dog, it was very large. It was almost as big as a grown man.

Those sharp teeth were so vicious that they looked like they could bite off a person’s limbs in an instant. Greedy saliva was dripping from the corners of its mouth.

The demon chased after the two men, letting out a terrible roar.

There was quite a distance between the two people and Han Ma-su, but unfortunately, it was gradually closing in.

The man realized that the heavy breathing of the woman was getting closer and closer and shouted at the woman ahead of him.

“Faster!”

“Huh! Huh!”

The woman ran without even having time to answer.

The only hope was that the village was not far away.

The two people ran like crazy, thinking that if they escaped to the village, something would turn out well.

The two ran breathlessly, filled with both hope and fear.

“Whoa!”

But unfortunately, fate was not on their side.

There were two possible reasons for this.

First, the moon was unusually hazy today, and second, the forest path, which was not particularly flat, was covered with fallen leaves.

The woman stumbled over a rock hidden in a thick layer of fallen leaves.

“Prescilla!”

The man who had been running behind her stopped immediately and quickly helped her up.

“Ugh!”

But the woman named Prescilla fell and hurt her leg, so she couldn’t straighten up right away.

A short but long time passed by without a trace.

-Krawn!

The demon quickly closed the distance and charged.

“Huh!”

The man had no choice but to turn around and leave his wife behind.

He took out a crude sword from his waist and held it out to the charging demon.

“Hey, go away!”

But the demon struck the sword with its foreleg as if it found it ridiculous.

Boom!

“Ugh!”

His arms were thrown back like toys.

The sword that I was holding onto with trembling hands tore through my grip and flew away with such ease.

The sword disappeared into the darkness of the forest. The man’s bewildered gaze followed it.

The demon sniffed through his nose as if mocking the man, then charged at him without hesitation.

The hunt was over, it was meal time.

-Kwang!

The demon’s sharp teeth glowed blue in the faint moonlight.

That was when.

Bam!

The demon’s head jerked to one side.

I was hit squarely by a rock that flew from somewhere.

-Bang!

The demon, who had been struck by an unexpected blow, shook his head in confusion as if shaking off the shock, then stared into the darkness where the stone had come from.

-Hehehe!

The devil’s ears perked up.

I thought I heard a creepy laughter coming from somewhere.

Far in the distance, a pair of blood-red eyes appeared in the darkness.

-Hehehe!

The demon flinched for a moment.

Grrrrr—

He then let out a threatening, low growl and ran into the darkness, chasing his attacker.

The man who barely managed to escape with his life lost his legs and collapsed to the ground.

The man stared blankly into the darkness where the demon had run.

-Krrrrr! Krrrrrr!

There was a sound like a demon was scraping the ground and rushing at someone.

The next moment, a “bang!” was heard, followed by a murderous sound like the beating of a drum.

Pubbubububububu!

And silence.

“… … .”

The forest was enveloped in a cold silence. The woman and the man stared into the darkness, holding their breath without realizing it.

The man stared into the ominous silence for a moment before summoning up his courage and opening his mouth.

“Hey, is there anyone there?”

“… … .”

No answer came.

The man swallowed hard and stared into the darkness with trembling eyes.

And after a while, footsteps were heard.

Thud. Thud.

“Who, who are you!”

The man, who was startled, picked up a stone from the ground and stood up to protect his fallen wife.

Thud. Thud.

The sound of footsteps drew closer.

A moment later, a man with black bands around his eyes appeared under the dim moonlight.

The man who appeared from the darkness spoke.

“I am a traveler passing by.”

The man was holding the scabbard like a cane, and the scabbard was covered in blood.

Not only that. Blood was splattered on his face, but no matter how he looked at it, he didn’t look safe, but rather more dangerous than the demon chasing him.

“omg.”

The man took a deep breath without realizing it.

“hmm?”

The man tilted his head, then chuckled.

It was an eerie smile. It made the blood in my whole body feel cold.

“… … !”

Slap.

The man’s legs gave out and he collapsed on the road.

Gulp.

The man’s groin became soaked with yellowish fluid.

* * *

I ran in the direction Shushuruta pointed out, with the wind of the rain covering my whole body.

What he found at the end of that path was a demon that resembled a dog.

When he ran towards me, I quickly threw a rock that I had infused with my internal energy to distract him.

I was so angry after being hit with a stone that I grabbed the devil who was rushing at me bravely with my sword and struck him down… … .

“… … .”

[… … .]

We looked down at the blood-soaked horse for a moment in silence.

Cheonma muttered in a gentle tone.

[This is… … a demon?]

I said, scratching my head.

“It’s true that the devil is right… … .”

Cheonma clicked his tongue.

[Tsk. How sloppy. How is it any different from a wild animal?]

I protested. I never thought that one day I would have to protest against the devil.

“Master. This is a D-rank. He’s a sloppy guy.”

But Cheonma shook his head as if there was nothing more to hear.

[I am so disappointed, my disciple. Are you calling these guys monsters?]

“Oh, no. There are so many bigger and more terrifying demons in Maya.”

[Yeah. I can picture it without even looking.]

“Ah, Master, you should have seen the guy who killed me.”

I muttered in frustration, but I couldn’t help but feel like this was also an excuse.

Cheonma muttered indifferently, as if he was not satisfied with it at all.

[It’s trivial.]

“no…….”

At that moment, the sound of leaves rustling could be heard, and Shushuruta landed gently next to me.

“What are you mumbling to yourself?”

I welcomed her with a warm feeling of having gained strong support.

“Oh, you’re here? Hey, Shushuruta. You tell me.”

“What do you mean?”

I pointed to the demon that had become a rice cake.

“This guy. He’s a bit sloppy for a master, right? Am I right?”

Shushuruta confirmed the demon’s corpse.

“Hmm… … I guess it would be around D-rank. It might be threatening to normal people, but a D-rank isn’t that strong of a demon.”

“See, Master.”

[hmm.]

Shushuruta looked at me with a strange look.

“Who do you keep calling master?”

“There it is. A stuffed master in my head.”

Shushuruta stared at me intently, then sighed and shook his head.

“Oh my… … How did it end up like that… … .”

Even if I told her the truth, she strangely understood.

At that moment, a voice was heard from afar.

-Hey, is there anyone there?

It was only then that I realized that I had forgotten something.

“Oh, right. They were there.”

Shushuruta looked at me as if she was dumbfounded.

“Didn’t you come to save me?”

“Of course I came to save you.”

“… … .”

I put a black band over my eyes and walked towards where the voices came from.

“Who, who are you!”

When asked, I introduced myself.

“I am a traveler passing by.”

“omg.”

The man trembled as if he were terrified.

“hmm?”

I tilted my head.

Come to think of it, I think some blood spurted out while I was fighting off the demon.

Well, that might seem scary enough.

I tried to smile as warmly as I could to reassure her.

Shh.

“… … !”

The man flinched, then collapsed, his groin area stained yellow.

I was dumbfounded.

‘No, why are you suddenly urinating in the street?’

While I was witnessing the man’s sudden physiological phenomenon, Shushuruta appeared from the darkness and secretly grabbed one of my arms.

“She’s my younger sister.”

“ah.”

Only then did the man’s expression soften, as if he felt a little relieved.

Then, realizing belatedly that he had been bitten, he hurriedly covered his groin.

Shushuruta asked in a whisper.

“Ashvan. Why is the author tired?”

“I don’t know. I thought it was scared, so I smiled warmly, and it immediately started marking its territory.”

Shushuruta nodded as if he understood.

“So that’s what it was.”

“No, I just smiled gently to make you feel at ease.”

“Take a look in the mirror later. See how you smile. People don’t call you the red-eyed devil for nothing.”

“… … It’s so unfair.”

Cheonma, who had been watching, intervened.

[I don’t have a very good impression either, but you’re a bit too much.]

“… … Is that all?”

[You should be thankful that your eyes were covered. If you had seen the look in his eyes, you would have fainted.]

“… … .”

[Take this opportunity to learn how to hide your prayers. And live a better life.]

While I was getting scolded by Cheonma, I discovered a woman lying behind a man who had peed himself.

She was lying on the floor like a battered old woman with a broken leg, and as soon as she saw me, she got really excited and screamed, then she quickly bowed down and banged her head.

“Oh! Agent of the cold night… …! I have been waiting for you!”

“… … Huh?”

Shushuruta and I looked at each other with bewildered faces.

* * *

The woman’s name was Prescilla.

She limped us into town, supported by a urinating man.

As we followed her into the village, the villagers came out holding torches as if they had been waiting to greet us.

Presila explained to the villagers:

“These two are precious guests sent by the goddess of cozy nights, Ketel!”

“Oh… … !”

The townspeople were astonished.

Prescilla continued speaking.

“I have received the oracle of Ketel, the goddess of the cold night. She said, ‘I have sent you a man with my will, so welcome him with great magnificence. He has lost his light, but he can see more than those who have their eyes open. If you welcome him warmly like my night, you will avoid trouble, but if you drive him away coldly like my night, you will never escape trouble.’”

When the villagers heard that, they were shocked as if they had been struck by lightning, and they fell to their knees, shedding tears.

“We didn’t even know that!”

“Oh my, saint! We were so foolish!”

“We were foolish and did not recognize the saint… …!”

“Please have mercy… …!”

I looked around at the residents who were crying in front of me with tears of repentance and their hands worn out.

Surprisingly, these were the same people who had just shooed us away.

It was as if I was witnessing a secret worship service by fanatics.

“… … .”

As they stared blankly in amazement, despair descended on the villagers’ faces.

“Ah…! Ah…! …! The lost saint!”

“Please don’t abandon us!”

“Please, please save us!”

“Please forgive us for our shortcomings!”

If I left it alone, it would crawl back and grab onto my trouser leg.

… … I guess you must have mistaken me for someone else. Because I am a fake blind person.

But since the atmosphere wasn’t one where I could just say those words, I swallowed them inside.

After thinking about it for a while… … .

I came to the conclusion that I would have to pretend to be a false prophet if I wanted to get through the night safely in this town.

I couldn’t help but clear my throat, then grabbed my weight and spoke in a solemn voice.

“Get up. What sin have you committed? If there is any sin, it is foolishness.”

“Ahh… … ! Ketel… … !”

“O ignorant ones, if you listen to my words, you will be spared from disaster, but if you do not, you will receive an inevitable punishment.”

“I believe! I believe!”

The villagers bowed down to me in groups and bowed their heads.

“… … .”

Shushuruta looked at me with a bewildered face.

I shrugged and whispered.

“There is no other way.”