Chapter 58
Chapter 58
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Translator: Silver Dragon
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: Reunion!
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"Duke, what do you want to be when you grow up?"
"Haha! Hey, Lumiel. This guy probably just wants to be a shepherd, right?"
"Balcar might think that. But Duke looks like he'll become someone important."
At that moment.
"What? Help people? Heh, Duke. Since when did you have that kind of personality?"
"That's cool! Then can you clean my house today?"
"Look at Lumiel slipping her feelings in right there."
"Why?!"
To you kids from our childhood.
If you hadn't given those answers.
"Ah... then I'll come with you."
"Haha! Let's clean up and head to the ranch together!"
If you hadn't dreamed the same dream as me—
"Arrrgh!"
Kim Deokgu, who had been forcing himself to sleep, snapped his eyes open. He tried to sit up, but his thick belly fat pinned him down, refusing to budge.
The time was 6 PM.
After getting back from the concert, he'd immediately pulled the covers over himself, but he'd only slept for 30 minutes.
"Huff! Hah!"
He strained to roll onto his side and finally hauled himself off the mattress. The half-eaten cola was already lukewarm and flat, but he gulped it down like medicine.
This world was great.
Everything delivered instant pleasure straight to the brain.
"Hah, hah."
But today was different.
Whispers from the past clung to his mind like sticky residue on the floor mats under his feet, refusing to let go.
"Ah, now that I've followed you, I'm gonna die young."
"Think we'll go down in history as amazing holy knights?"
His two childhood friends grinning ear to ear.
As they sealed the demon, the pair turned to Ducarion at the center.
"Hey, Duke. Why the long face?"
"It's a shame. But it was fun being together. And we did something meaningful."
"Lighten up. Why ruin it with such an ugly face at the end?"
"Don't cry, Duke. You're ruining your handsome looks."
Wrapped in their holy power, the two faded away.
Ducarion couldn't grant their final wish to the end.
He just cried like an idiot until the last moment.
"How... how could I..."
He should have died.
He was supposed to die right there.
Then the three of us—childhood friends and legendary holy knights—could have ended it together.
But he couldn't.
There was only one reason.
Ducarion had surpassed them both.
His friends Balcar and Lumiel couldn't withstand their own holy power in the end and vanished.
But he remained in that spot.
"Sniff, I should have—"
Fat teardrops splattered down as Kim Deokgu forced the words rising in his throat out into the open.
"Please... take me with you."
Sizzle!
That evening after the concert.
We were having dinner at a pork belly joint.
"I could've sworn I said I'd only treat Kim Yang..."
I tried to appeal while grilling the meat, but Reneah and Maria just gaped with mouths wide open, staring at the pork.
"Can a nun eat meat?"
"Aside from a few types of chicken, lamb, pork, beef, horse, and magic beasts, I eat pretty much everything."
At that point, she wasn't a nun—she was a food fighter.
"And Reneah?"
"You wicked pig! You dare eat grass, grains, and fruits, which are part of nature? I, the former Elf Queen, will never forgive you in nature's name!"
What a load of crap.
I wanted to ask what she ate while living in the forest.
'Should've taken her to an all-you-can-eat buffet.'
Last time with the beef, Yoo Ye-na had shown up out of nowhere and covered the bill. This time, I was stuck paying.
"Sigh, fine. Eat up."
Might as well go all in since I'm treating once.
Whatever, let's just enjoy it.
My stocks had gone up lately anyway.
"For real? Auntie, give us some flower sirloin—"
"No, just a bottle of beer!"
"......"
All three of them stared at me.
I ignored them, took the beer, and poured myself a glass.
In the end, dinner turned into a full pork belly feast.
The grandma hunting for flower sirloin, the nun new to a grill house.
Once they tasted the pork, they lost their minds and chowed down.
As the heat from the grill and the meaty aroma warmed up the mood naturally, Kim Yang piped up slyly.
"B-Boss. Wh-What're you gonna do?"
"About what? Soybean paste stew or cold noodles?"
"D-Don't play dumb."
"......"
I quietly set down my chopsticks.
I'd already explained everything to Seo Ha-jin.
You don't have holy power. One of your fans does instead.
She was pretty disappointed.
Maybe even shed a few tears.
She seemed to want something more special and meaningful beyond just being an idol.
But if holy power just magically appeared and let people do amazing things overnight, wouldn't that be the weird part?
"Whew, Maria."
"Yes?"
Maria, who had been stuffing her face with meat, jerked her head up at my call.
Truth be told, I'd agonized over this on the way here.
Because Kim Deokgu's unwilling face kept flashing in my mind.
I didn't know what happened, but for a great holy knight to end up that broken, something must have gone down.
'A demon breaking its seal is a bigger problem.'
For the greater good.
Sorry, but it looked like I had to reveal the truth about Deokgu.
"Listen carefully to what I say from now on."
Holy Knight Ducarion was still alive.
The next day.
Kim Deokgu drew the curtains while watching the sun rise outside the window.
Energy drink cans from his all-nighter, chicken boxes from late-night snacks.
The place was a mess, but that's exactly why he left them there.
Sometimes the urge to clean hit him. His body moved on its own.
Every time, Kim Deokgu reined himself in.
Ducarion could do that.
Clean, maintain his sword, work tirelessly.
That was Holy Knight Ducarion.
But I'm Kim Deokgu.
Fat piling on, no cleaning, no work—just sitting around every day.
This life was a kind of self-hypnosis.
Even walking was exhausting with all that flesh weighing him down, so today Kim Deokgu gamed until dawn as usual.
Tap tap tap.
'Whew, you get it by now, right? Holy Knight Ducarion.'
Tap tap.
His fingers tightened on the keyboard.
'It's all out in the open. We need you. Arhelac is right now—!'
Tap tap tap!
'Ducarion!'
"No—!"
Bam!
He slammed his fist on the desk, sending empty cans tumbling across the floor.
The voices echoing in his ears layered over one another.
'Hey, Duke. Take a break already? You'll wet the bed again.'
'Sheesh, Balcar! Quit teasing. How many years you gonna drag out that time I peed at five?'
'Lumiel teased me about it with you until last year—!'
"Hngh!"
His throat clenched tight.
He hastily donned his headset and cranked up a song at ear-deafening volume.
It was Prism's song.
"Huff! Hah!"
Hand on his belly, he steadied his breathing. As their voices filled his ears, his heart began to calm.
"Hngh."
His eyes slowly closed, drifting toward sleep naturally.
Thud thud thud thud!
The shaking door knocked the headset loose. Kim Deokgu jolted awake in surprise.
As he froze, wondering what was up, the door pounded even harder.
Thud thud thud thud!
'L-Landlord?'
He wasn't behind on rent.
Kim Deokgu, planning to hole up at home all day, shuffled over and opened the door—
There stood a blonde nun who looked freshly turned adult, gazing up at him.
"......!?"
Kim Deokgu staggered back, nearly tripping, but grabbed the shoe rack to steady himself without making a scene.
"Ah."
But—
Something even bigger was happening.
"It's... it's really you."
Tears welled in her eyes.
Her hand clamped over her mouth.
Maria stepped toward Kim Deokgu one foot at a time.
"Sir Ducarion. You're really... really alive."
"......!"
How did she know he was here?
Deokgu found the answer quick.
Meracle Marriage Agency.
He'd filled out his address during the interview.
He wanted to rant about where they'd sold his personal info, violating privacy laws.
But more than that, the terror of the Rajesta Continent's church learning he was alive petrified him.
"Sniff! Hngh!"
Maria sobbed like a ticking time bomb about to blow.
On instinct, Kim Deokgu grabbed her shoulders and pulled her inside.
Thud!
The moment the door shut.
"Waaah!"
As Maria buried herself in his massive gut, Kim Deokgu froze stiff.
The warmth of another person—long forgotten.
No time to reminisce about how it'd been.
"H-Hey! D-Don't touch! I-I stink!"
"Waaah! Sir Ducarion! I missed you so much! I really missed youuu!"
"D-Dirty! Huff! I haven't showered!"
"Nooo! I'm not letting go! Sir Ducarion! Sir Ducariooon!"
Wetness seeped into his belly.
Gazing down at Maria rubbing her tear- and snot-streaked face against him, Kim Deokgu felt deep turmoil in his mind.
This little girl was trying to drag out the self hidden in his vast flab.
The problem was—
"Please stop—"
He knew this girl too.
The kid he'd saved from a demon attack in a burning village.
The one who'd trailed after him every time he returned to the cathedral base afterward.
"Don't... please, let go."
But Maria clung like a spider with arms and legs locked tight.
His arms couldn't even reach her back, just his sides—but she held on fiercely.
"No way! I won't! Waaah! Don't go! Pleeease!"
'Hey, Duke. Doesn't that kid like you?'
'Yooo? Duke's popular.'
No, no.
Balcar.
Lumiel.
Don't talk to me like back then.
Don't remind me of those days.
Thud thud thud thud!
Suddenly, the knocking shattered Deokgu's hallucination.
This time harder, rougher than before.
"Hey!"
A gruff male voice from outside—one he'd never heard.
"G-Get off for a sec."
"No! No! I'm never letting go!"
Because of Maria plastered to his belly, Deokgu awkwardly cracked the door—and a cop flung it wide open.
"P-Police?"
"We got a report of a girl being forcibly dragged into this room. And we heard crying."
This fast?
As he gawked blankly, the landlord peeked his head around.
"No, Deokgu got this girl showing up out of nowhere, and it looked suspicious, so..."
Fair enough.
From the outside, it must've looked like a big guy hauling a girl inside against her will.
Maria caught on and hopped down in a hurry, shouting.
"No! This man's the one I respect most! It's a misunderstanding!"
Thanks to Maria's quick defense, the mix-up cleared up—
"......Haa."
But Kim Deokgu's vision went dark with despair.
"Hope it went okay."
While handling work at Meracle, I glanced at the clock.
Lunchtime soon.
Maria should've reached Kim Deokgu's address by now.
Maybe because it was lunchtime, I got a reply from Yoo Ye-na, whom I'd contacted.
- Yoo Ye-na: Hard to move things from the Hunter Association side.
- Yoo Ye-na: Pretty swamped here lately.
- Yoo Ye-na: Don't worry too much. They can handle it on the Rajesta Continent.
About the demon resurrection—truth be told, I didn't need to care this much.
Still, I'd reached out to Ye-na just in case, but she was busy.
'Well, all I can do is make the introduction.'
Maria hadn't paid, but I'd granted her miracle anyway.
Even if it didn't feel that way to Kim Deokgu.
"B-Boss."
As I pondered, Kim Yang approached.
"L-Lunch. What?"
"Lunch? Oh, hold on. Reneah's covering the convenience store shift today, so she's bringing discarded bentos for lunch."
"......"
Kim Yang shot me a glare.
But what could I do?
Had to recover from that pork belly binge.
As I waited, Reneah came in grinning with stacked bentos.
"Behold, I have arrived! Specially saved you a precious hamburger steak and spaghetti!"
A random thought crossed my mind as she proudly unpacked them.
"......"
"Reneah."
"Hm? What is it? Craving the hamburger steak and spaghetti? Rock-paper-scissors, then—!"
"No, eat that. Uh, the demon at Silos Church, right?"
"Mm! Yes. Maria left home and it's lonely, but we found a holy power user, so it's solved."
"Yeah, right."
But that wasn't what I wanted to ask.
"Could you kill a demon, Reneah?"
"Oh?"
She'd one-shot that Azure Dragon last time, after all. With her firepower, it seemed possible.
Even if the demon could split into thousands—right now, it was sealed.
Reneah puffed up proudly and nodded.
"Of course! I can! I've slain three demons in the inter-floor wars myself."
"Whoa, wow."
Kim Yang in genuine awe.
Honestly, even I was surprised.
That many?
"Then you could kill this one too?"
"I can! Totally! I'm super strong! That's how the kids talk these days! Learn it!"
More like kids' talk from decades ago.
"Can't you just go blast this one too?"
"Sure. But—"
"But?"
"If you don't mind the church—and everything around it—going up in smoke?"
"......"
Reneah scratched her head with a grin.
"I'm getting on in years, so I can't control my power anymore. Truth be told, last time I leveled villages all around too—"
As I stared in disbelief, Reneah bonked her own head with her fist and laughed.
"Oopsie!? My bad! This is the trendy thing kids do now—!"
Pretend I didn't hear that.