A Stuffed Cheonma in my Head - Chapter 73



Only Noblemtl

Episode 073. Proposal

* * *

“Oh, I have held the person who just woke up for too long.”

Count Starvanger looked at me blankly and then got up from his seat.

“I guess you must be out of your mind. Please rest comfortably. There is a servant waiting outside, so if you need anything, please let me know.”

The count nodded briefly, closed the door, and left.

Click.

“… … .”

I stared blankly at the ceiling for a moment… … .

I recalled his words, his expression, his eyes, and the atmosphere.

His attitude was very different from that of the Baron of Barranquilla.

The Baron looked down on me as a commoner and tried to kill me secretly, but the Count saved me from the bitter cold and even treated me.

At first, I thought he was someone I could trust.

If I was going to kill you, I would have killed you a long time ago.

But… … there was something more important than that.

How am I alive?

Immediately after I plunged my sword into the cold chest, I was engulfed in ice that had spewed out from under my feet.

All that comes to mind is the feeling of cold death engulfing my entire body.

That was all I could remember.

But… I survived.

I thought the Count had somehow negotiated a deal with the cold, but that wasn’t the case.

The Count said that I had defeated the cold.

The count’s eyes did not waver as he spoke.

Instead, he looked at me with a strange look.

As if to ask why you don’t know that.

It seemed as if he really believed that I had defeated the Knight of the Cold.

“……what?”

I stared blankly at the ceiling… … .

I heard a happy voice.

It was the voice of someone who knew the truth of this situation.

[Are you awake?]

“… … Master.”

[You ugly bastard. How much do you sleep? You lack training.]

Cheonma replied in his usual blunt tone.

“What happened?”

Cheonma said nonchalantly.

[Nothing happened. It’s just as you remember.]

“The Count said I defeated the cold?”

[Didn’t you put your sword into that guy’s heart? That must be what you thought when you saw that.]

“Oh, really? The cold?”

[After being stabbed by your sword, he staggered and ran away.]

“… … Really? You look fine.”

[It seems like it wasn’t actually okay.]

“Aha. Then that’s right.”

How can a person be okay with a sword stuck in their heart?

I pretended it wasn’t like that, but it actually seemed to have had quite a bit of impact.

I couldn’t help but laugh as I pictured the cold weather staggering away with its face frozen stiffly like a statue.

“Haha.”

[… … .]

“So. And after that?”

[It’s as you might guess. The Count took you away after you collapsed.]

So, let’s organize it based on the Count’s words and Cheonma’s words… … .

Hans, who received news that the royal knights were chasing me, went to see Count Stavanger and asked him to help me, and the Count hurried to find me and witnessed the battle with the cold.

The bitter cold quietly retreated, leaving me trapped in the ice, and in the meantime, the Count appeared and rescued me from the bitter cold and ice?

“hmm?”

… … Something is strange?

I don’t know what’s strange, but something feels strange. It’s unsettling.

It feels like the puzzle pieces don’t fit together properly.

I looked at my still aching body.

I thought it was just a side effect of bringing about a bloody world, but I started to think there might be another reason.

My keen intuition pointed to Cheonma.

“Master.”

[What is it?]

“What did the master do?”

[What is this seat doing?]

“Well, I don’t know either.”

[If you have time to talk nonsense, instead eat breakfast instead.]

How dare you change the subject.

Suspicion grew stronger and stronger.

I decided to have a lucky breakfast as Cheonma said.

“I’ll go ahead and check.”

Of course, it’s best to do it sitting down, but it’s also possible to do it lying down.

The only downside is that you might fall asleep while eating breakfast.

I started my morning routine lying down with my eyes closed.

First, I checked my internal energy.

Things weren’t going well.

Most of that internal energy has been consumed.

The remaining internal energy remained, clinking at the bottom of my danjeon.

‘hmm.’

It wasn’t unexpected.

Because I fought with all my might.

It is natural that I also poured in my internal energy.

‘hmm?’

There was something else strange.

The blood vessels that had never been used were roughly opened.

It’s like looking at a river that has swollen rapidly after several days of heavy rain.

The inside was abnormally swollen, as if the passages of the blood vessels had been forcibly opened.

That’s why my body was so sore.

“hmm…….”

Given the circumstances, it seemed like Cheonma’s work.

The situation is getting more and more suspicious that Cheonma has done something.

As my arrows of suspicion were pointed at Cheonma, he laughed quietly.

[You’ve become quite perceptive.]

Doubt grew into certainty.

“As expected. What did the master do?”

Cheonma answered nonchalantly.

[I borrowed your body for a moment. The curtain is about to fall.]

As expected, Cheonma saved my life. Although the method was a bit unexpected.

I was grateful to be honest, but I’m not a very honest guy, so I grumbled.

“No, why are you possessing someone else’s body without permission and causing a fuss? I thought you were just a stuffed animal in my head. Did you rent my body?”

Cheonma snorted.

[Do you know who wanted to go up on stage? What should I do when you guys are too sloppy and almost lose?]

“Then teach me other martial arts as well.”

[Tsk tsk. I rescued him, but now he’s asking me to hand over my luggage.]

“Hand over your luggage.”

[It’s impossible until you master the Night Sky Moonlight. Just practice.]

“… … Tsk.”

Since it was important to first recover my internal energy, I grumbled and started to eat breakfast without any other choice.

As I focused on eating breakfast, sleep gradually came over me and surrounded me.

I had no choice but to raise both hands and surrender.

* * *

A few days passed.

A priest who was said to be good at internal medicine also visited.

The priest poured warm light over my entire body one by one.

I asked in admiration.

“Oh. Is this the protection of the mysterious goddess of the night, Lady Ketel?”

The priest answered with a stern face.

“No. I am a believer in the god of the midday sun, Hope.”

“Oh, really?”

“yes.”

“… …Hope is good too.”

“… … .”

Anyway, thanks to that, my physical condition has improved a lot.

The pain was still there whenever I moved, but the intensity had greatly decreased.

However, his left arm was still not free.

I lived with a splint on my arm, a piece of cloth tied to it, and wearing it around my neck like a necklace.

I am a man with a wanderlust by nature.

I felt suffocated just staying inside, so I came out of the building.

But it didn’t go far.

It was because the Count had strongly warned me not to reveal my identity.

If the fact that the Red-Eyed Demon is here leaks out, it will cause trouble in many ways.

However, the annex where I was staying was quite far from the Count’s large main house, so I didn’t have to worry too much about it.

What did you do when you came out after a long time?

“Oh, that’s not how you do it.”

“Then what do we do?”

“We have to make the flowers visible! The flowers are the key.”

“Hey, do you know how easy it is to do something with one hand?”

I sat in a sun-drenched field with Joy and made wildflower bracelets.

In my opinion, it was a reasonable choice.

Because my arm was in this shape, I had to give up swinging my sword for the time being, and I also had to recover my internal energy.

Qi (氣) is basically the energy of nature.

Therefore, it is more efficient to go outside and be surrounded by nature than to stay locked up at home.

For example, sitting in a field with lush green grass, under the warm sunlight like today.

However, it is a bit unsettling to sit down here and really concentrate and start practicing the morning routine.

So, I recovered my internal energy through the exercise method while making the wildflower bracelet.

So I’m playing with Joy for a very practical reason…

It was quite fun.

What can I say? It felt like I had a bad dream.

After struggling with demons in a swamp of blood, I find myself in a sunny field with an innocent little boy, groping among wild flowers.

My heart was being healed. Peace was coming to my tired and withered body and mind.

After a long time, I was free from the pressure of being chased by someone and played with Joy and wild flowers.

I felt quite refreshed and smiled faintly in the warm sunlight.

“Hehehe.”

Then, one of the knights who had been glancing this way flinched and trembled.

As he looked at him, the knight averted his eyes and glared intently elsewhere.

“… … .”

Joy and I weren’t the only ones out in the field.

He was with the knights of the Starvanger family.

They were on high alert, surrounding me and Joey from all sides as if they were escorting us.

He was wearing shiny armor and a sword that looked good, and he was glaring at everyone with sinister eyes… … .

It wasn’t that threatening.

Because they had bracelets and crowns made of wild flowers on their arms and heads.

It was the skill of this little boy who was weaving wildflowers with his tiny hands in front of me.

I looked at the wildflowers hanging like key rings on the scabbard of a nearby knight.

The knight noticed my gaze and spoke.

“Your Majesty Ashvan. If you have anything to say… … .”

I nodded to the wildflowers in the scabbard.

“You are beautiful, Lord Walpole.”

Walpole smiled sheepishly.

“Oh, yes.”

Walpole looked younger than I, and was one of the few knights who was very friendly to me.

I heard that you volunteered to be my escort.

Most of the knights were wary or afraid of me.

When I felt a little better, I walked around the mansion.

I often encountered the knights guarding the mansion, and they gave me some rather unfamiliar looks.

I later realized that the emotion in those eyes was awe.

… … What on earth did Cheonma do to my body?

“mister.”

“huh?”

Joy said, touching the wildflowers.

“Where did the bracelet I made you before go?”

“Oh, that? It was on my left arm… … .”

I quickly pulled back the bandage and examined my left wrist.

“It was there?”

“Not now.”

“hmm.”

It looked like it had frozen and broken while fighting against the bitter cold.

“This guy named Hakhan woke up. I’ll get revenge on him later.”

Joy looked at me blankly, then turned her head away and answered in a very angry tone.

“No need.”

“uh?”

I blinked in confusion and looked at Joy… … .

He asked for help, jabbing Walpole’s leg with his elbow as he watched with excited eyes from the side.

You know how to beat up bad guys, but you don’t know how to appease a kid.

While Walpole and Joey were exchanging opinions through their mouths, Joey continued speaking.

“… … I’ll make as many bracelets as you want. Just don’t seek revenge.”

As she spoke, Joy came up to me and placed the tenth wildflower bracelet on my arm.

“all right?”

Joy looked into my eyes and spoke as if confirming.

I wanted to slap him in the face and declare, ‘No, your opinion doesn’t matter. I will repay you someday, Hakhan,’ but I couldn’t bring myself to say anything when I saw Joy’s round eyes.

So I just nodded.

“……okay.”

Then Joy smiled brightly.

When I saw that smile, my dark heart melted and scattered.

Why am I weak to kids?

It is common sense to return what you have received.

It was difficult to weave a bracelet with one hand, so instead I made a small wildflower ring.

“hand.”

I roughly put a ring on Joy’s tiny finger.

“How is it? Is it pretty?”

Joey answered, fiddling with the shabby ring on his finger.

“Not really. Let’s make the flowers a little bigger.”

… … This kid.

Joy looked up at me blankly.

“mister.”

“what.”

“You put it on your fourth finger.”

“So you’re not satisfied?”

When I heard it, it was like that.

I just put it in roughly and the fourth finger won.

Joy said with a grin.

“A ring on the fourth finger means you want to marry me.”

“what?”

Joey jumped up and ran towards the mansion.

“Hehehe! The old man proposed to me!”

“Hey! That’s not what I meant!

“I have to brag to Mom and Dad!”

“Hey, Mom! Don’t stand there!”

I tried to get up in a hurry, but my breathing got tangled and I fell down.

“100 million.”

I could only stare blankly at Joy’s back as she ran excitedly to the mansion, laughing “Hehehe!”

… … This Hans is going to kill me.

Lord Walpole, who had been staring blankly at Joy’s back from the side, spoke to me.

“How, even if I were the officiant… … .”

“Be quiet.”

“yep.”

Walpole answered with a chuckle.

Looking around, I saw other knights licking their lips, then making eye contact with me, then coughing and glaring intently somewhere else.

“Hey, what kind of useless customs are there in this neighborhood?”

The sound of the laughter of the Heavenly Horse in my mind sounded very annoying. Why don’t you be quiet?

As I was muttering and picking at some wild flowers to vent my anger, I heard footsteps.

When I looked up, I saw someone approaching from the main building.

“uh?”

But, that face was quite familiar.

Chew!

The knights who saw him saluted in unison.