Chapter 83
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[Tag (2)]
Teru Kingdom recently Strange rumors began to circulate.
“Did you guys hear that? “There is a rumor that the saint’s carriage came and went from the next village.”
“what? A saint! when!?”
Inside the bar. Other customers also listened to the stories shared by regular drinkers.
The words ‘saint’ and ‘chariot’ caught their ears.
The man, who felt that attention was focused on him, spoke with his shoulders tense.
“A few days ago. “My wife went to her brother’s house and saw the saint!”
Rumble.
Soon people gathered around it. Various questions were asked to the man who spoke for the first time.
“Then you got to see the saint’s face in person!”
“What about the saint? I heard that her beauty is out of this world…”
“What does the carriage look like! “I’m most curious about that!”
The saint of the chariot.
The protagonist of a rumor that has recently been spreading among the people of Teru Kingdom.
It was said that once his carriage came, the poor village would become rich, the sick would be cured, and the surrounding thieves and monsters would die out.
Of course, due to the nature of rumors, many were greatly exaggerated.
For example,
“I heard that the saint gives you a gold bar even for just one meal! “You don’t even get change!”
If you ask the person involved, they will reply, “It was because I didn’t have any change.”
“How about suppressing all the bandits around the village?”
It just killed the guys that attacked first.
“They say you can cure any disease!”
While testing an artifact stolen from a gambling house, I accidentally used [Healing Power] extensively.
“I heard that he helped raise a crippled person not long ago!”
It has never been like that.
“Oooooh!”
At this level, it was almost like deification.
The people in the rural village were talking excitedly about the story, which would have been shocking for the person involved.
The story of the magic carriage, which is said to bring wealth and luck in a world where life is difficult and harsh, made everyone feel good.
People were so excited that they kept talking about rumors they had picked up here and there.
“I heard the carriages are all gold. Is that true?”
“huh? “I heard it’s red.”
“I heard it looks exactly like a large pumpkin?”
“They say the carriage is pulled by a huge ox!”
There were so many rumors and so many different ones that there was little agreement.
However, as rumors were mixed, processed, and reproduced, various stories continued to be created.
I didn’t even know that most legends were created this way.
At that time, someone in the bar muttered.
“I wish he would stop by our village too…”
Everyone had similar thoughts.
And there were those who chased after the truth of the rumor.
***
Today again, Zeke glanced at Daein.
It became the boy’s daily routine after escaping from the gambling den.
At first, Zeke thought of Daein like this.
‘There must be something planned. ‘There’s no way he would do us any good for no reason.’
Daein was a benefactor who saved himself, his younger brother, and many children who became test subjects.
But I couldn’t completely believe it. Zeke thought that Daein must have some purpose.
From the beginning, Zeke didn’t trust adults.
Their parents beat and abused their siblings since they were young.
The siblings had to go out and beg or do anything to survive, and when they returned home, they hugged each other and prayed that they wouldn’t get hit that night.
They thought it was better when their parents sold them somewhere. No matter where you go, it will be better than home.
But that was a mistake.
Ever since I was taken to the lab, every day has been a real hell.
Therefore, on the night he escaped from the gambling house, Zeke gathered the children together and spoke quietly.
‘You can’t trust adults. Let’s take the opportunity and run away ourselves.’
”Yes!”
Until then, all the adults the children had seen were no better than devils, so even if they were their benefactors, they couldn’t completely trust them.
That’s how our uncomfortable companionship began. Zeke secretly observed Daein, looking for an opportunity to escape.
But as time passed,
the children began to follow Daein like their father.
“Owner. “Here, bring me the most delicious food for two people.”
Wherever Daein went, he bought everyone the most delicious food and said,
“Oh, the smell. Let’s take a shower first. “I just bought some clothes, so change into whatever you want.”
They let me wash with warm water and bought me expensive-looking clothes and shoes.
“what? Are you sick? “Where does it hurt?”
An expensive potion was poured like water on a child who was sick.
Eventually, he said,
“Hey! “It’s annoying, so go over there and play!”
The children who were asking to play – mainly the youngest ones – waved their hands as if they were annoyed.
An atmosphere where no one cares whether someone runs away or not, let alone surveillance.
“…….”
Rather, The Zeke missed the timing to run away.
‘Even if I tell myself to run away now, I don’t know how many people will follow me…’
Still, Zeke didn’t let his guard down. Because I don’t know what purpose he has.
During Zeke’s turmoil, his younger sister Hannah became best friends with Lily.
The two girls, who shared the pain they experienced in the laboratory at a similar age, quickly became close friends and stuck close together.
And one day, Lily, who found out that Zeke was suspicious of Daein, came and said this.
“fool. “Your hobby is doing good things!”
“…….”
Zeke didn’t believe that.
‘There’s no way in the world there’s someone with such a strange hobby.’
So, when I was staying at the hotel, I secretly asked Youngshin Jang. What kind of person is the landlord?
Jang Young-shin answered in Gaia, which was still poor.
“…Mr. Good man. But…”
Seeing the hesitation of the usually quiet boy, Zeke expected that he might be able to hear some hidden secret.
“but?”
After a while, Jang Young-shin looked alternately toward the room where the girls were and then toward the room on the other side where Daein was alone.
“…rival.”
The boy’s expression looked very solemn, but Zeke couldn’t figure out what that meant.
The last person to ask was the black-haired elf Mordrea.
“…….”
Zeke couldn’t even speak properly because she was so pretty.
And the trip continued.
As the carriage moved west, it stopped at many villages and cities, and wherever it went, the great man spent a lot of money.
At some point, people started calling great people saints.
“What is a saint? “I will give you water.”
The man grinned and gave a generous tip.
We had so much money that even if we stayed for a day, we always ate only the best and enjoyed only the best.
Then, he dropped off the children who rode in the carriage with him one by one.
Separated family reunions took place whenever the children arrived in their hometown or nearby village.
“mom!”
“zone!”
The parents, who were hugging their child, repeatedly bowed their heads to the adult.
“thank you! Thank you, saint!”
The great man said as he handed some gold coins to his parents.
“Never lose a child again. “Grow it well.”
Whether the parents sold the child or there was some other complicated family situation – most likely it was about money – the child sent away a child who said he or she wanted to go home.
And I didn’t forget to add a brief explanation to the parents.
“Where has the child been all this time…”
The fact that the child was captured by an organization and subjected to experiments was a huge shock to the parents. The marks on the children’s bodies proved that fact.
And above all,
“that organization might come looking for the kid later.”
“yes? Then what should we do…”
Daein suggested a solution to the parents and child who were shaking in fear.
“I will write a letter of introduction for you, so please go to the elf forest. Of course, I’m not forcing it, so it’s okay if you don’t need it.”
After hearing that story, I thought, ‘I don’t need a letter of introduction.’ There were no parents who said that.
“Please!”
“Please write a letter of introduction!”
Daein wrote a letter of introduction to the parents.
Most of them left their original village and headed to the elven forest.
Zeke heard Daein mutter as he watched a family leaving the village.
“The Great Elder will lift the curse. “The old man will give you training. It would be nice to see you again later.”
The moment Zeke heard those words, all his doubts about Daein were eliminated. And as much as I had doubted, I came to believe in him.
The great man said.
“Then shall we leave again?”
“yes!”
Before we knew it, the boy had become the driver of a carriage.
*
*
*
Tap, tap, tap.
The carriage continued to run.
There was a bit of a delay because I had to drop off the kids, but I continued to run towards my destination.
Now the only children left in the carriage were Zeke and Hannah.
The great man asked.
“Aren’t you going to go home?”
The siblings shook their heads at the same time. I didn’t want to go back to a house that had nothing but bad memories.
“Then shall I take you to the elf forest when you return?”
“yes!”
“…yes.”
Hannah smiled broadly and nodded to Daein’s question. Zeke nodded silently next to him.
‘He’s a good person as expected.’
This was the conclusion Zeke came to after watching for over 15 days. Although he acted indifferent, Daein always cared about other people.
I could feel that Lily, Youngshin, and even the silent Mordrea trusted him.
Zeke thought it would be nice to continue to be with these people.
At that time, Daein looked at the map, then turned his head to Lily next to him and said.
“If we go one more day at this rate, we’ll reach the village where you used to live, little one.”
“Yeah…”
Lily had a complicated expression. It seemed like I was excited, but it also seemed like I was afraid of something.
The great man glanced at Lily and said.
“Let’s camp here today.”
After a while, the carriage stopped in the middle of the forest.
Zeke, who had become skilled at doing odd jobs by coming here, took the lead in preparing the camp, and the other children helped.
The great man, who was the last to come out of the carriage after checking the refrigerator, said.
“We’ve run out of convenience food, so let’s make it today. It’s been a while since I…”
At that moment, the children jumped up at the same time.
“no!”
“no, I do not want!”
“I will do it!”
There was fierce opposition and unanimously it was decided that Zeke would be on duty as the cook.
There was only once on the way here that Zeke was convinced of his suspicions about Daein.
The moment I ate the food he cooked for the first time,
I thought, ‘Villain! ‘You’re finally showing your true colors!’
I thought it had to be torture if it wasn’t human experimentation. It took quite a long time for the misunderstanding to be resolved.
Of course I know now.
Daein is a good person.
But I can’t cook.
…I really can’t do it.
The great man clicked his tongue and grumbled.
“I heard kids have picky tastes.”
The situation was the same when there were adults in the group, but they seemed to have already forgotten about it.
Zeke quickly prepared to cook.
I took the meat out of the refrigerator, soaked it in water to remove the blood, skillfully trimmed the ingredients, and made the seasoning. His skills were much better than most adults.
However, one thing was disappointing.
‘It would be nice if there were more ingredients…’
There were no ingredients to control the fishy smell. There is no big problem with cooking without it, but I wanted to serve delicious food to everyone if possible.
At that time, I remembered the laurel tree I had seen on my way there. Just picking a few leaves was perfect for getting rid of the unpleasant smell.
“Hold on a minute. “I’ll be back soon.”
Zeke left the position to his younger brother and went into the forest. The eyes and five senses, which were brightened through human experiments, were able to distinguish objects in the forest using only starlight.
Whick! Swish!
Zeke crossed the forest in an instant and soon found a laurel tree. I picked a few leaves, put them in my arms, and turned to go straight back.
Slurp.
It was at that moment that a red light flickered in the darkness.
Startle.
The Red Goblin walked out in front of the boy who took a step back in surprise.
“Who who…!”
“Shhh.”
Red light shimmered from the eyes inside the mask.
The light slowly eroded the boy’s consciousness.
[Mental control] It was magic.
“There is something you must do.”
“Ugh…”
Zeke felt his mind becoming increasingly dazed. The goblin approached him and handed him a pea-sized pill.
“It’s a very simple thing. Put this in your food.”
‘no!!!’
Despite his will to refuse, Zeke nodded.
From then on, it was not of his own will. Zeke returned and finished cooking and added the pills given by Red Goblin to the food.
Everyone said it was delicious. Zeke nodded with his usual expression, but inside he screamed.
‘no! It’s an enemy trap! ‘You shouldn’t eat that!’
However, the meal continued, and after a while, people began to collapse one by one.
“I’m sleepy…”
“Ugh…”
Slurp, flutter, flutter, flutter.
…dump.
Finally, the Great Man fell and the Red Goblin walked out of the darkness.
“Good work.”
The Red Goblin, who greeted the fallen Zeke, squatted down in front of Lily.
The moment I saw the girl’s face, an uncontrollable laugh leaked out from behind the ugly mask.
“Hehehehe!”
Red Goblin cupped Lily’s face with both hands.
“found! I finally found it! child of fire “If you take me back just four years, I’ll be back too…!”
At that moment, a grumbling voice came from behind him.
“young. “He didn’t come for a long time, so he was doing something to just lie down from afar.”
“!!”
The Red Goblin, with his eyes wide open, stood up and turned around. At the same time, the magic power was greatly increased.
But all he could see was the fist that had already filled his field of vision.
“I’ll see you for the first time.
-Baaaaagh!
The Red Goblin fell to the floor with a harsh sound.
[Tag (2)] End
ⓒ Ganjjajang