Imperial Guard - Chapter 9



Only Noblemtl

Episode 9

Traitor Elf

Jangle- jangle-

Rael, standing awkwardly in front of the cash register, lowered his gaze.

In front of Reina was a mountain of northern boar meat.

“Customer, you are missing three fairy tales.”

“Hmm. Wait a minute. There must be a fairy tale there.”

Flutter- flutter-

Reina was emptying out her worn-out wallet and taking out coins.

But if you empty your wallet, you won’t find any coins.

As time passed, the gazes of the customers looking at me from behind became more and more fierce, and eventually, the employee whose patience had reached its limit said with a trembling smile.

“The guests behind you are waiting, so please come out for a moment…”

“Oh, dear. Did I receive the wrong payment? Ouch. Wait a minute. Uh, what should I deduct···?”

Reina looked at the pile of meat with an expression as if she had lost the world.

I need to buy a lot of meat during a sale like now… I was on the verge of tears thinking about having to cut out meat that I could eat for several days if I saved it.

“ha···.”

Rael let out a deep sigh.

I knew he didn’t have money, but I didn’t know he would have such a hard time.

This is so sad, it’s pitiful.

‘Why does this child have such a hard life?’

Cheap meat would be enough for a guard’s salary, but there seems to be some circumstances.

“Excuse me. How much is missing? Three coins would be enough?”

Rael finally took out his wallet.

Looking at the situation, it seemed like if I left it like this, I would be treated as a traitor.

“Yes, sir. Just give me three fairy tales.”

The employee then looked at me as if he had finally found salvation, and I took my wallet out of my pocket and handed him three coins.

It was a small amount of money that could be thrown to a beggar, so I could easily give this much to avoid embarrassment and embarrassment.

But to Reina, that small touch felt like God’s salvation.

“You. You···! Rael! You really are a good person. I’ll admit that you’re the next good person after Yuri.”

“Please be quiet and let’s go. I’m embarrassed.”

This is not zone 5, it’s zone 2.

It is a place where nobles roam, and where he has built up an image as the captain of the guard.

I can’t afford to ruin the solid image I’ve built up just because of a crazy elf.

Rael covered his face with his hands and left the store.

As we waited outside for a moment, we saw Reina coming out, struggling, carrying a huge basket in both hands.

Rael approached her, watching her.

“Ugh, ugh. Save me···.”

“Reina. Don’t you have a magic space pocket?”

“I sold it last month because I didn’t have enough money to buy meat···.”

“···.”

Even though the magic space pouch is expensive, you can buy it with a month’s salary of a security guard.

What kind of life am I living?

“That’s right. Thanks for giving me the money. I usually buy exactly the amount I brought, but today was a sale so I must have miscalculated. I’ll definitely pay you back later.”

“It’s okay. It’s okay to do that with colleagues. Just pay me back later.”

“Yeah. So, Rael, as a colleague, help me move to my house.”

“This crazy elf···.”

I saved him from the water, but he asked me to hand over my bundle.

Is there such a thing as a robbery?

“I bought a lot of meat because of the sale, so I’ll grill some for you too. Don’t do that, but help me out. Okay?”

“··· If you give me free food. But is your house clean? Judging by your personality, I think your house would be dirty too.”

Rael is from an orphanage and is sensitive to free stuff.

I instinctively nodded at the words free food.

“It’s okay. Our house is new. We take good care of it.”

“Really? Then I’ll lend you my magic space pouch. Let’s go together.”

Well, elves usually have a clean image.

Since you grew up in the forest, you’d probably keep your house clean.

“Meat, meat. A wild boar meat predator-.”

“Shouldn’t that song be sung by orcs, not elves?”

Rael glanced at Reina, who was humming next to him.

He looked like any other elf, but I couldn’t understand why he acted like this.

“By the way, what’s with that bottle of alcohol? Did you buy alcohol even though you don’t have money?”

“No. I got some expired alcohol for free. If you sprinkle it on meat before grilling, it will reduce the gamey smell.”

“Oh, so there was a way like that?”

Reina had a familiar beggarly scent.

As we walked down the street chatting, we suddenly saw a familiar building.

It was the Imperial Academy.

“··· The Imperial Academy.”

“Why the Academy?”

“The Academy is the most heavily fortified place in the Imperial Capital. Actually, I wanted to be a guard at the Academy.”

Again, this novel was an academic piece.

It means that once you are attached to the academy, you will fall into the trap of falling beans.

‘I might catch the heroine’s eye by chance… or the main character might notice my talent…’

I briefly thought about such a happy story.

But the Academy’s guards won’t accept anyone unless they’re nobles. Those crazy discriminatory bastards.

In the end, there was no chance to receive the bean curd, and Rael took the iron rice bowl test with tears in his eyes.

“People tend to want what they don’t have. It’s not a strange dream.”

“···.”

Rael hurried his steps, glancing at Reina.

There’s no way an under-socialized elf pup could understand human dreams.

‘The protagonist will soon graduate from the academy.’

As soon as the protagonist graduates from the academy, he is revered as a warrior and commands the empire.

Of course, this has nothing to do with Rael. Rael devoted his youth to the guard.

Thanks to that, I haven’t even seen the main character’s face yet.

‘Well, you guys will figure it out. I just need to think about how to deal with it before the Demon King goes berserk.’

Rael deliberately did not interfere with the novel’s storyline.

I know a lot about the main character’s circumstances, but I didn’t touch any of them.

I’ve finally become a guard, so I can’t let the butterfly effect ruin the empire.

“That’s right, Reina. Are things hard for you these days? How come you don’t have a penny in your wallet?”

“Ah… As soon as I get my paycheck, I spend it right away.”

“Do you have any debt?”

The color drains from Reina’s face at the word debt.

I remembered my father’s face, worried about living expenses as the house loan was almost gone.

“······Just a little? Not a lot.”

“You really do have a debt? What’s going on?”

“It’s just a personal matter. It’s embarrassing, so don’t ask too much!”

Ugh.

Rael kept his mouth shut.

Even in the most conceptless medieval fantasy world, it would be rude to ask any further questions.

“Reina, I’m sorry, but I have to ask you this. Did you borrow it on interest?”

But this question was unbearable.

Even in this world, the magic of welfare must be used with caution.

“Welfare? What’s that?”

“Ha, this is fucked up.”

Rael covered his face with his hands.

What should I do with this stupid elf who borrows money without knowing the interest rate?

Reina opened her mouth without knowing Rael’s feelings.

“Why? What’s a fugu? Is it like a fugu fish? Fugu poison?”

“··· Even if I explain, I don’t have the confidence to make you understand. Let’s just go see the debt collectors tomorrow. The world is so scary these days. Tsk.”

In a medieval fantasy where human rights are ignored, there can be no regulation of usury.

If we leave Reina alone like this, her debt will snowball.

‘I was so scared of those guys in my past life…’

The cute characters sing songs to promote loans. When I was young, I used to sing along happily, but as I got older, I started shuddering when I saw the interest rates written below.

I guess that’s what it means to be an adult.

As an adult, Rael must help the little elf.

“Really? You’re such a nice person. I’ll cook all the meat for you. It’s your first time cooking meat for someone else, so you should be happy.”

“Yes. Thank you very much.”

Still, it’s fortunate that he’s not a completely shameless elf.

There are many people in this world who repay good intentions with enmity.

It may be hard to believe, but Reina, who gives away free food, can be considered a fairy.

How long did it take to walk like that?

Reina stopped walking in a residential area in District 2.

“The house isn’t bad. The vines on the wall look natural and nice.”

Rael nodded, looking at the neat building.

The vines that naturally climbed up the walls of the building were very elven, if anything.

It’s not a nice house, but it’s not bad for what it is.

“What are you talking about? My house is a little further in.”

“Not here?”

Reina squeezed her way into the narrow alley between the buildings.

Rael followed behind with an anxious expression.

At the end of the alley, a house stood precariously on the verge of collapse.

“what’s this?”

“It’s home. Is this your first time seeing a home since you’re an orphan?”

Ignoring Reina, who was criticizing others’ weaknesses with an innocent face, I observed the house closely.

This is even more evident because Rael grew up on the streets.

This house is trash. The more you look at it, the more you can tell it smells bad, from the materials used to the finishing touches.

‘How on earth did you find a house like this in District 2?’

If the construction is of this quality, I can’t help but think it was made out of trash on purpose.

Have I been scammed?

“This building is new?”

“Huh? Of course it’s new. It hasn’t even been 100 years since it was built. I’m lucky. In the Elven Forest, the standard age is 3000 years.”

“······ ha.”

I felt a headache as I looked at Reina laughing and closed my eyes tightly.

Oh my god.

Why are you putting me through this ordeal…?

How am I supposed to deal with this life-size elf in the future?

“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to come in?”

“··· Let’s go in. We should eat the free food before we go.”

No matter how poor a house is, it deserves to eat free food.

If it weren’t for the free food, I wouldn’t have come to a place like this.

‘It’s amazing that there’s a place like this in District 2.’

Although there was a large open space in front of the house, it was surprising that anyone paid money to buy a house like this.

While Reina searched her pockets for her keys, Rael looked around.

‘No one would come to a corner like this.’

I was looking around the vacant lot without thinking much, but suddenly I became strangely interested in my surroundings.

Feeling somewhat uneasy, he perked up his senses and was quickly able to figure out what was troubling Rael’s nerves.

‘··· Footprints?’

Footprints were visible all over the vacant lot.

The multiple footprints were in a chaotic direction, as if they were dancing.

However, Rael’s senses told him that the footprints belonged to more than one person.

‘This… is an erased trace.’

It was such an elaborate cover-up that it would have been impossible to detect it if it weren’t for Rael’s intuition.

Rael, who was staring at the footprints, found the place where the scattered footprints were targeting.

That’s right, it was Reina’s house.

“Wait a minute! Reina! Don’t open the door!”

“huh?”

Squeak-

The door to Reina’s house opened.

At the same time, a chill ran down Rael’s spine.

Rael’s senses cried out for danger.

“What the fuck···!”

Rael’s hands moved faster than his head.

He immediately grabbed Reina’s nape and pulled hard.

“Whoa!”

Kkwaduk-!

As Reina fell to the floor, a sword emerged from inside the house.

A black sword with a strong murderous intent crushed the place where Reina had just stood.

And then, the elves who had been hiding in Reina’s house came out one by one.

“I was tired of waiting in this garbage place, but you finally came.”

“This is the perfect home for a traitor who has abandoned elven pride.”

“Ugh. That ends today, though.”

They looked at Rael and Reina with an ominous air.

It wasn’t a surprise party, to anyone’s eyes.

“The whore who spread her legs for the devil has finally shown herself. Huh?”

The one who appeared to be the leader of the elves walked up to Reina and smiled bitterly.

A sarcastic insult that turns the mischievous Reina into a polite elf.

It seems that elves are generally not cheap.

“··· You’d better disappear from my sight right now. Today is a good day, and I don’t want to waste my energy on trash.”

Reina, who had raised her body, crumpled her expression and unleashed her magical power.

Her sharp murderous intent threatened to cut all the way to Rael’s nape.

But the elves who were fit to live only smiled bitterly.

“You’re bluffing, Reina. Do you think I don’t know that it’s been half a year since you last made contact with the branches of the World Tree?”

“··· What the hell are you talking about?”

“You’re the only elf who can obtain branches of the World Tree through illegal means. It wouldn’t be difficult to cut off the supply. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be showing ourselves to you, you traitor.”

“These little pieces of trash···.”

Reina bit her lip.

As he said, Reina, who was banned from entering the elven forest, was unable to touch the branches of the World Tree for a long time.

Naturally, the natural blessings that had been embedded in her body were also weakened.

‘If I paid the money tomorrow, I could have received a branch of the World Tree…!’

It was just one day.

A moment of carelessness put me in danger.

“All nobles have coarse mouths.”

At that moment, Rael, who was behind, opened his mouth.

Reina realized his presence too late and stood in his way.

“··· Rael. Run away right now. This is not something you should interfere with.”

“I’m sorry, Reina. I thought you were a different breed of elf, but it’s just a characteristic of the elf race. You must have learned that kind of thing because you were raised among beggars. I understand. I grew up among beggars, so I became a foul-mouthed person.”

“Rael! Get out!”

Rael still doesn’t understand the situation.

I know he’s quite strong, but the elves before me are honorable warriors of the elven race.

Now that Reina has lost her powers, she can kill a human with the ease of twisting a child’s wrist.

“Who is that human? Reina. Are you going to spread your legs to humans now? It’s nice to see you clinging to such a short-lived, incompetent being.”

“······ Kelln!”

Reina bit her lip.

It was a blow to her pride that she had shown herself like this when Rael was around.

“A short-lived, incompetent being… Well, I get the general idea of ​​the situation.”

At that moment, Reina was glaring at the elf.

Lael, who had been watching the situation from behind, stepped forward.

I knew that Reina was a traitor to the elves, but this was the first time I heard about the branches of the World Tree.

Lael approached the elves who were splitting the kilkil with a friendly smile.

“Keln? You’re Keln?”

“Who are you?”

“Don’t you know me? It’s Rael. Not long ago, your mother asked me, the captain of the Imperial Guard, to take care of her son who was working in the Empire, and she did it for free. Since the hot memories of that night still linger, I’ll let you go now.”

“무슨 개소리······. 이, 이 개새끼가!”

Kelen, who understood Rael’s words belatedly, blushed and drew his sword.

I thought only Reina was stupid, but it seems all elves are stupid.

“I am Rael, captain of the Third Imperial Guard. To oppose me is to oppose the Empire. How many nobles can handle this?”

“If I kill that whore here and kill you too, what will the Empire do?”

“Hmm, that’s right. If you were going to listen to me, you wouldn’t have drawn your sword. Animals only listen when you hit them.”

There are beasts, whether elves or humans, that have not been able to socialize properly.

Fortunately, Rael was an excellent trainer. That must be good luck for the elves before us.

“You’re bluffing, human. Are you fooled by Reina’s looks? Heh heh.”

“Don’t worry. I’m an expert at converting beast babies into humans. If you get hit, they’ll come to their senses.”

Rael turned his shoulder and glanced back.

Reina was looking at her with an anxious expression she had never seen before.

“Wait a minute, Rael. This is my job. I appreciate your help, but…”

“You’re wasting your time! Kill me!”

Sling-!

The elves surrounding Kellen simultaneously drew their swords.

They had no intention of letting Rael go anymore.

‘··· I have to get out of here somehow.’

Reina forced herself to release the small amount of magical power remaining in her body.

I couldn’t let Rael get caught up in the fight.

But at that moment.

“Stay behind me. Don’t get stabbed in the eye by the sword.”

The magical power that was blooming in Reina’s body was forcibly dispersed.

Because Rael grabbed her wrist.

“You, you···.”

Reina swallowed her breath in surprise.

It is an extremely difficult magical manipulation to disrupt the magical power within the body simply by grabbing the wrist.

This means that it is difficult for Rael, who has just turned 20, to use.

But what was more incomprehensible than that was Rael’s behavior.

Reina couldn’t understand.

She couldn’t read his mind as to why Rael was doing this to her.

‘Yeah. There’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Reina, you didn’t bring me here on purpose, did you?’

Meanwhile, Rael, standing in front of Reina, was suspicious of Reina.

That’s what free food meant to him.

‘Still, I should stick to the next emperor’s confidants rather than some unknown elf.’

The spirit of the elves, who were exuding life, rose fiercely.

I was hoping they’d be assholes, but they seem to be pretty good at it.

Well, should I have expected that you would come to capture Reina?

‘There’s nothing more frustrating than losing while holding on to something…’

If only he hadn’t been picking on me for just sitting still, he would have put Reina on his waist and run away before anything annoying happened.

But if you run away after being cursed at, you become a loser.

That’s the rule of the street and life.

‘Seven elven warriors… that’ll be enough to loosen up.’

This is why men must learn to bend their pride.

Of course, it’s already too late for him, so he has no choice but to win.