Chapter 225 Who're You
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Translator: JayM
Chapter: 225
Chapter Title: Who're You?
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"Tell me, Skar, how is it?"
Bendrick, the king of Lionel, asked Jeong Yoo-shin.
"It suits you well."
Jeong Yoo-shin replied with a nod.
Bendrick's appearance had changed from before.
His brilliant blond hair had turned brown.
His handsome face had changed to a hooked nose and a protruding goldfish mouth.
"Did you use a magic tool?"
"I did."
Two days had passed since Bendrick arrived at the inn.
With two high-ranking people staying at the inn, even the bold Jeong Yoo-shin had to be careful with his behavior.
Jeong Yoo-shin scratched his head.
He didn't know why the king had suddenly disguised himself.
Or why he had sent most of his royal guards back to the inner castle and was walking around with only one guard.
"By the way, why are you in full armor?"
Bendrick asked.
"I'm going to the smithy to get my equipment repaired. It's a hassle to carry it, so I put it on in advance instead."
"Hoh. Is that so? But you have a lot of swords. Three of them."
"I do."
Not only Beatrice…
The bastard sword from the Jereus Workshop.
And the blue longsword made at Boron's smithy.
Two swords were strapped to his back, and Beatrice was hanging at his waist.
Beatrice had insisted on being at his waist.
Every time he walked, the scabbard would slap against his butt, and he suspected that Beatrice was doing it on purpose.
"Skar, let's go together."
"Pardon?"
"I should see the city too."
"Yes. Well, do as you please. But you have a meeting at the inner castle soon, aren't you preparing for it?"
Bendrick shrugged.
"Why should I? The detailed work is for the people below me. And I've already prepared everything before coming here."
"Then why is Ingrid-nim so busy?"
"It's a tribal alliance, isn't it? They have to coordinate because everyone has different opinions. She must be very tired right now."
No wonder she had been going out so often lately.
"She could do it at my inn."
"She probably wants to keep it as a place to rest. Handle work outside and rest comfortably inside."
"Are you close with Ingrid-nim?"
Bendrick grinned.
"She's one of the pillars of the Eastern Alliance. Of course, we've met several times at meetings. We go way back."
"Is that so? What was Ingrid-nim like in the past?"
At Jeong Yoo-shin's question, Bendrick rubbed the back of his neck.
"She was a great warrior. She was terrifying, swinging a huge blade in one hand and a dagger in the other. She had leadership skills at a young age, was cool-headed yet thoughtful, and was even quite beautiful, so all the beast-people looked up to her."
Jeong Yoo-shin imagined it…
…Ingrid fighting while swinging a huge blade and a dagger.
"She was a flower on a cliff."
"She was. And she still is, even after losing her husband."
"Ahem!"
A cough was heard from behind them.
Ingrid was standing there with a stiff face.
"Bendrick, your compliments are excessive for the morning."
"I just stated the facts. It must be quite troublesome for you these days. I hear that there are many tribal chiefs proposing to you."
"I have no interest in them. They're all just a bunch of people trying to grab some power."
Ingrid finished speaking and looked at Jeong Yoo-shin.
"Skar, are you going to the labyrinth?"
"No. I'm just swinging by the smithy to get my equipment repaired."
"Is that so? Have a safe trip. I think I'll be late today too."
Bendrick smiled slyly and waved his hand.
"Ingrid, good luck. I'll take a walk with Skar. See the city while I'm at it."
"...Do as you please."
Leaving behind Ingrid's strangely sharpened gaze…
Jeong Yoo-shin, Bendrick, and the female swordswoman who served as his guard left the inn.
"Skar, are we going to the Western District?"
"That's right. The smithy street is over there."
Bendrick walked while taking a deep breath of the chilly autumn air.
Jeong Yoo-shin scratched his head.
To think that he was walking the streets with the king of a country.
It felt unreal.
Moreover, this man called a king was looking around the streets with a gaze full of interest.
Beast-people and elves, dwarves and humans.
It was a street with an occasional monster mixed in.
'He'll be shocked if he goes to the Eastern District.'
Beatrice muttered with a voice full of laughter.
Jeong Yoo-shin stroked Beatrice without answering.
"By the way, may I ask who the riffraff who were spying on me a few days ago were?"
"Do you have no idea who they were?"
"I have a guess, but I'm asking just in case."
"I'll tell you after the walk is over."
"Yes. I understand."
As they entered the western street, Granny came running up.
"Skar-nim!"
"Mm? What is it?"
"Ah! I didn't come for any particular reason. I was on my way back from delivering furniture to the Fire Spirit God's temple when I saw you, Skar-nim, so I came to say hello. By the way... who’s the person next to you?"
Granny asked cautiously while looking at the smiling Bendrick.
Jeong Yoo-shin stepped forward.
"He's an acquaintance. I'm showing him around the city."
Granny nodded.
"I see. If he's an acquaintance of Skar-nim, then he's no stranger to us. Welcome. Um..."
"Call me Ben."
"Yes, Ben-nim."
"So you're young, but you sell furniture for a living?"
"Yes, I mainly make furniture for the elderly."
"A fine young man."
At Bendrick's compliment, Granny scratched the back of his head shyly.
"It's only natural as the clan leader of the Grandma’s Love Clan."
"..."
Bendrick closed his mouth and blinked.
A moment of silence passed.
Bendrick opened his mouth again.
"Grandma what?"
"Ah! The Grandma’s Love Clan. I’m the clan leader, Granny."
"Hah..."
Bendrick put his hands behind his back and looked up at the sky.
Clear and high. It must be autumn.
"The young man has fallen in love with late autumn. A tree shedding its leaves, so to speak."
"It's just the outer appearance. The inside holds an overflowing life force."
At Granny's answer, Bendrick nodded without showing any emotion.
"I see. The glory of young men is their strength, and the splendor of the old is their gray hair. A young man with a deep aesthetic sense."
As expected of a king, his expression was quite elegant.
Granny smiled brightly.
"You really know something. Ah! Skar-nim, I made an emblem to symbolize our clan. Would you like to see it?"
When did he even make something like that?
Jeong Yoo-shin hadn't even come up with a name for the small and medium-sized clan alliance yet.
"Should I step aside?"
At Bendrick's question, Jeong Yoo-shin shook his head.
"No. It's alright."
Granny took a neatly folded cloth from his pocket and unfolded it.
The picture embroidered on the cloth was familiar.
Jeong Yoo-shin's eyes widened.
"A sickle... and a hammer?"
"How is it?"
On the cloth that Granny unfolded, a picture of a sickle and a hammer crossed over each other was clearly visible.
Moreover, the color of the cloth was red.
Bendrick admired the picture embroidered with a sickle and a hammer, then tilted his head.
"Looking at this emblem... for some reason, my heart is stirred."
Jeong Yoo-shin was silent.
Bendrick was right.
Where did he get such a red picture?
'What's wrong?'
Beatrice asked, but Jeong Yoo-shin didn't answer.
Granny took it a step further.
"I also came up with a name for the small and medium-sized clan. Would you like to hear it?"
"...What is it?"
"Most of our clan members are people who work and explore at the same time, right? So I was thinking of naming it the Workers' Alliance Clan."
"Workers' Alliance?"
"Yes."
Jeong Yoo-shin also put his hands behind his back and looked up at the sky for a moment.
The season of high skies and plump horses.
The autumn sky…
Was as high and clear as Granny's ideals.
"Granny."
"Yes. Just say the word and I'll immediately…"
"First, let's calm down and think carefully. We have plenty of time."
Granny's expression darkened.
Jeong Yoo-shin had thought that Granny was a clear and simple young man, but was it just his own illusion that the man seemed somewhat formidable?
Jeong Yoo-shin felt a strange fear and patted Granny's shoulder.
"It's an emblem with high ideals. You've worked hard."
"I understand. I'll come back better prepared than before."
Granny neatly folded the emblem, put it in his pocket, and left.
Bendrick watched Granny's retreating back and then stroked his chin.
"Are these the people who live in Labyrinth City? I feel like my perspective has broadened."
"There are many unique people here. Haven't you heard about it?"
"I've heard rumors about unique imprints, but seeing it in person is different. I heard that a mage who calls everyone an 'idiot' recently entered the kingdom's academy, and the students' expressions are all grim because of it. I should have gone to see him before coming here."
Jeong Yoo-shin found himself laughing.
He thought of the old mage with the ‘Hates Everyone’ imprint.
He had been in a reject party with him before.
How was he living these days?
"That mage, is he doing well?"
"I heard that he's meticulous and good at his work, so there's no worry of him getting fired. Let's go."
"Yes."
Jeong Yoo-shin headed to Boron's smithy.
Einhorfer seemed to be working separately, as there was a clanging sound coming from a room in the smithy.
Only Boron was sitting at the counter.
The dwarf saw Jeong Yoo-shin and waved his hand.
"Yo. Master Skar."
"It's been a while, Boron."
"Congratulations. I heard you became the head of the small and medium-sized clan alliance this time."
"Yes."
"I saw the duel too. You fought really well."
"You're too kind."
"By the way, who are these people?"
"They're acquaintances who came out to see the streets."
"Is that so?"
Boron looked intently at the sword of the female swordswoman standing next to Bendrick, then turned his head away.
"What’re you here for?"
"To get my equipment repaired and to see Einhorfer."
"Alright. You came wearing your equipment. Take it off."
Jeong Yoo-shin placed a bottle of alcohol on the counter and took off his equipment one by one.
While he was doing that, Bendrick and the female swordswoman spent their time looking at the weapons hanging in the smithy.
Boron looked over Jeong Yoo-shin's equipment and clicked his tongue.
"Tsk. You've used it roughly. There are scratches here and there."
"Are there any parts that need special repairs?"
"No. Not that much, just need to replace the armor straps. And sharpen your swords. Didn't I give you a whetstone?"
"I'll sharpen them from now on."
Boron stacked the armor and two swords next to the counter and glanced at the inner door.
"Einhorfer’s working. Want to see him?"
"Of course."
Bendrick stepped forward.
"May I watch too?"
Boron shrugged.
"Do as you please."
Jeong Yoo-shin, Bendrick, and the female swordswoman entered the room.
It was a room filled with the heat of a bellows fire.
Einhorfer was hammering inside.
Clang!!!
Clang!!!
Claaaaang!!!
Jeong Yoo-shin admired Einhorfer's hammering.
A skillful appearance, unbecoming of a dwarf with a hand tremor imprint and a stamina-draining imprint.
As expected, Einhorfer didn’t neglect his efforts, just like Jeong Yoo-shin himself.
He felt relief and gratitude at that sight.
At that moment…
"Oops."
Einhorfer's hammer slipped from his hand and flew toward Bendrick.
Whoooosh!!!
Before Jeong Yoo-shin could reach out, the female swordswoman stepped forward and knocked the hammer away.
Clang!!!
Bendrick blinked and opened his mouth slightly.
"Was that an assassination attempt?"
Jeong Yoo-shin's heart sank.
What a terrible thing to say.
"N-No. Einhorfer has a hand tremor imprint, so he sometimes loses his grip on the hammer."
"Ah. Is that so? I misunderstood. Hahaha."
Jeong Yoo-shin and Bendrick looked at each other and gave an awkward laugh.
Einhorfer turned his head.
"Skar?"
"It's been a while. Have you been well?"
"Of course. I saw the duel in the central plaza. It was impressive."
Jeong Yoo-shin smiled brightly.
"Thank you."
Einhorfer's compliment made him happier than anyone else's.
Einhorfer saw the woman who had drawn her sword as well as Bendrick, and he understood the situation.
"Sorry. The hammer sometimes flies out of my hand."
Bendrick waved his hand as if it were nothing.
"It's fine. Don't worry about it."
"Einhorfer, I bought a bottle of alcohol. Would you like a drink?"
"Sounds good."
Jeong Yoo-shin, Einhorfer, Boron, and Bendrick's group.
They gathered in front of the smithy counter and opened the bottle of alcohol.
Bendrick looked down at his cup with a dazed face.
"Why are you drinking alcohol in the morning?"
Boron's eyebrows furrowed.
"Morning? It's lunchtime now. If you don't want to, don't drink."
"No. It's not that."
Trickle.
Dwarven hard liquor was poured into each cup.
The female swordswoman took a big gulp first and then nodded.
"It's fine."
"Well. To think I'd be squatting in a smithy and drinking in the daytime. Am I dreaming?"
Bendrick muttered with a strange expression, then he raised his cup and took a big gulp.
Boron smiled slyly.
"Day drinking is the spice of life. Pal, you've lived your life in vain."
Bendrick let out a warm sigh and raised his cup again.
"Hoo. You're right. Pour me another one."
"Sure."
People took turns emptying their cups and chatting about this and that.
Bendrick also enjoyed the conversation with a much more relaxed expression.
Before they knew it, it was evening.
Bendrick stood up.
"Let's call it a day and go back."
"I understand."
Boron also stood up and waved his hand.
"It was a good drinking session. Stop by often."
"I will."
Jeong Yoo-shin bowed his head slightly to the two dwarves.
"Boron, Einhorfer, I'll be heading back first."
"Alright. Come again later."
"Take care. You can come and pick up your equipment in a few days."
Jeong Yoo-shin and Bendrick left the smithy and walked slowly through the evening streets.
Bendrick's face was red, as if he was quite drunk.
"I'm having a lot of different experiences today."
"Yes."
Jeong Yoo-shin didn't have much to say to that.
Bendrick had volunteered to accompany him. He had never forced the man.
"You seem quite drunk, would you like to go back? I'll guide you to the inn."
"No. There's still one place left."
At Bendrick's words, Jeong Yoo-shin inwardly tilted his head.
"Where are you thinking of stopping by?"
Bendrick, who had been walking in silence for a long time, slowly opened his mouth.
"My son."
"..."
Jeong Yoo-shin immediately understood.
The reason why Bendrick had hidden his identity and settled in Dalmong's inn from the beginning.
Quietly.
To see his eldest son without anyone knowing.
There might have been other reasons, but Jeong Yoo-shin couldn't know them.
"Are you going to see Brother Iron Mask?"
"Iron Mask. Yes. I've figured out roughly where he is. Want to come with me?"
"Alright."
The female swordswoman silently took the lead and walked…
…To the place where Iron Mask was staying.
It was a place past the smithy street where houses were gathered close to the labyrinth.
The group passed through an alley and stood in front of a worn-out wooden house.
The female swordswoman knocked on the door.
Knock, knock, knock.
The noisy sound from beyond the door subsided, and then…
Someone threw the door open and jumped out.
It was a naked dwarf wearing only his underwear.
It was Kubo, the priest who served the Fire Spirit God.
The dwarf stared blankly up at the standing Bendrick and then asked.
"Who're you?"
"Uh... that is, we... No, I mean… Well… Is this right?"
Bendrick Lionel, who had never stuttered even in front of countless subjects…
Seeing the naked dwarf's belly fat and plump thighs, he just…
Stuttered and revealed his inner thoughts.
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T/N - Lol, classic Kubo. I swear, the MC has the best friends, almost all of them are unique in one way or another.
Also, damn, that old mage was Kelton from the earlier chapters, right? So he’s doing well at the academy though he still hasn’t removed his imprint. His poor students.
Lastly, damn! The king needs to be careful with Granny. Next thing he knows, Granny will stage a revolution to seize the means of production. 😂