Chapter 138
Chapter 138
Episode 138
“There’s no need to be ashamed of being beaten, Alexios. You should be ashamed of acting without thinking.”
“Just get lost, you lunatic. This guy keeps screaming in pain but won’t stop talking.”
“And you keep talking back, so you must be doing well enough, huh?”
“Crazy bastard……”
It seems like I'm having a good time teasing Alexios, but the situation isn't actually good.
I already knew that Janus would definitely be stronger than the original Oz.
Still, I never imagined that Alexios, of all people, would be so utterly defeated without even a fight.
He was even given magical artifacts that he wouldn't normally use.
Even without his biggest weakness, he still lost.
From Janus’s subtle tone, I could tell Alexios landed a blow, but if it was just one blow for ending up like that, it's not good.
Alexios laid back as if he had nothing more to say, but then cautiously asked me,
“……That guy. Is he stronger than you?”
He still had his pride, it seems.
I don't even need to use [Contemplation] for this. The reason for such a question is too obvious.
“He’s stronger than me.”
He's a monster who uses the power of the key in addition to the original Oz. He must be several times stronger than I am right now.
I don't care about such things like Alexios does, so it doesn't matter to me.
I don’t know if this will restore his pride, but at least it can provide a benchmark, can’t it?
“Next time, I’ll win.”
Kid, seriously, with his pride.
“Well, that’s your business, so do as you please. Did you get any information from being beaten like that?”
“……I wasn’t really beaten.”
“Seeing that your mouth is still alive, you must have been hit less.”
“……”
I had clearly warned him.
He ignored those words and got beaten, so I hope he feels a corresponding level of humiliation.
That way, perhaps he'll think twice before acting next time.
This guy is one of my most powerful acquaintances. I hope he doesn't die from showing off and reduce our combat strength.
“Lena was there.”
“I suppose so.”
Considering Alexios's original objective, it's a natural point. How he ended up meeting and fighting Janus, I don't know.
“I fought Lena first. And trampled her.”
What…? Why is he saying such crazy things as if they’re obvious?
“……What a harmonious family.”
Is he bragging about that? Of course, I also landed a magic spell.
But for me, it was merely a means of survival.
“Lena was strong. Someone who shouldn’t have been strong became strong. She handled numerous weapons as if accustomed to them.”
Alexios spoke with a devastated expression.
“I don’t know what she did to become like that. I don’t know what means she used. I just……. I couldn’t know anything except that her driving force was resentment towards us.”
Alexios sighed.
It was an expression filled with a mix of regret, self-reproach, and various other emotions.
“Hey, Oz. What were you thinking when you abandoned us?”
“……I don’t know.”
It's hard to say for sure.
I can no longer define Oz, and it's hard to tell if he's even a good person.
But I chose to believe.
Even at this moment, as my own self is being erased, I chose to believe in Oz. He is a good person.
So if it were him. Yes, if it were him, a good person, then certainly.
“He would have hoped for everything to turn out well.”
That must have been it.
“I wished for that too.”
“You were young.”
“Yes, too young. You, me. All of us were too young.”
That’s why we’re in this state.
No matter how mature they seemed, children were still children.
Their thoughts weren’t deep, and they were easily distracted by what was right in front of them.
“The choices we made were wrong. Especially mine, even more so. I already knew what it was like to be abandoned, yet I made the same decision as you.”
“So what? What do you want to do?”
Alexios slammed his head against the ground as if reproaching himself.
This guy is crazy again. Is his head harder than a stone floor, or what?
“What, are you going to die for Lena? Are you an idiot? In that time, rushing in thoughtlessly as usual would be several times more constructive.”
Alexios, who had been banging his head for a long time, lifted it.
This guy is easily swayed. He's a human who's easily influenced by others.
If so, then it's simple from now on.
“……Don’t you regret it?”
“We’ve come too far to regret it. So, from now on, all we can do is try to make things better.”
“What difference will it make, even if we try now?”
“Yes, it will make a difference. At least if we move, something will change.”
I reached out. I was confined, but not really restrained. It's not even a prison.
It's just a regular cave with makeshift bars.
In the first place, the kind of imprisonment the federation can do is only at this level.
Magical devices cannot last long due to the federation's yokai energy. It means that investing in manpower is more constructive than spending money on imprisonment.
"So, I'm going to break out of here right now."
"Are you crazy? Why is that your conclusion?"
Alexios chided me, looking dumbfounded.
“Then are you going to stay imprisoned unfairly like this?”
“No, it’s not even unfair……”
That's also true. This guy was caught red-handed for trashing the forest, wasn't he?
He's not a guy who has any right to feel wronged. What a heinous criminal.
"But I feel wronged."
"Even so, where did the idea of breaking out come from?"
"It's an idea born from a wizard's free way of thinking."
Intermediate Magic
[Storm Blade]
After concentrating and using magic a few times on one spot, the iron bars broke.
Although it’s just intermediate magic, using it multiple times definitely yields formidable power.
“No, no matter what, such a reckless method is a bit……”
“Don’t talk to me, you heinous criminal bastard.”
“This guy, he’s truly insane.”
How dare a criminal. If you're not going to help, then shrink back there.
I have no time because I have many things to resolve from now on.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
[Goblin King] Bihyeong was eavesdropping on the conversation between the two from outside the cave.
Honestly, even though he had forcibly captured him, he couldn't help but feel doubts about Oz.
'Are they really not the same person?'
Bihyeong moved the moment Oz appeared.
It was an action taken to prevent the opponent from playing tricks, having already experienced humiliation once.
He had smelled the same scent as the one who had caused trouble in the forest earlier.
He definitely thought it was the same person.
However, it was funny for the one who launched the surprise attack to say, but the opponent was captured too easily.
There was no vigilance.
It made no sense that there was no vigilance even after causing such a ruckus.
"Ah, geez... Did I really make a mistake?"
Bihyeong scratched his head, agonizing. It was true that he had acted without thinking.
But he was so threatening that he didn't hesitate.
But what if it was a misunderstanding?
His reputation would be in tatters. And to top it off, he heard the opponent was a prince of some country.
He acted too emotionally. Even if he had listened a few more words before throwing a punch, it wouldn't have been too late, but he was impatient.
"Should I release him now?"
Bihyeong nervously shook his leg, deep in thought.
If his misunderstanding was correct, he should release him immediately.
Already, complaints were pouring in from the guests who had accompanied him.
However, there was no evidence to the contrary either.
But if he released him and another commotion broke out, his dignity as a leader would be damaged. How humiliating would it be for a goblin to be tricked by a human?
Bihyeong was not confident he could endure such humiliation. He was a surprisingly delicate goblin, just like his muscles.
So for now, he could only wait for Baekyang to wake up and provide objective proof, or wait for the [Goblin Forest]'s own investigation results.
“Master’s enemy! Die!”
“No, but this girl has been… from earlier, really……”
Bihyeong blocked Eleanor, who was swinging her sword at him, muttering as if wronged.
He hadn't actually killed Oz. Although the subjugation process was somewhat violent, he had merely imprisoned him.
However, the silver-haired girl, his companion, kept harassing him.
He had reasoned with her several times, but she stubbornly refused to listen and only spoke her own mind, which was worse than a goblin.
“I can’t hit the child who came as Baekyang’s friend……”
“Heheh! I’m Baekyang’s best friend, you know? Just try touching me! I can’t guarantee how much Baekyang will resent you, old man!”
“……You certainly seem like you would be close with Baekyang.”
Even if it wasn't Baekyang but another goblin, they would have liked Eleanor's humanity.
Her narrow-minded and petty way of thinking surpasses even that of goblins.
But Bihyeong shuddered at Eleanor’s blatant cowardice.
He had to judge first as the leader of the group before being a goblin.
“Release Master!”
“Child. You seem to be too young to understand this, but this could be considered an international issue. If you keep acting like this, nothing good will come of it.”
“What do I care! I already got Baekyang’s permission to cause a ruckus!”
“What kind of person is she to give such permission and cause trouble?”
Bihyeong frowned.
Baekyang, strictly speaking, belonged to the high-ranking officials of the [Goblin Forest].
She also had considerable authority. But that didn't mean she could mess with Bihyeong, the [Goblin King].
"And I'm not exactly young, you know?"
“……”
Bihyeong briefly examined Eleanor.
She was wearing a saekdongjeogori, which could be called a child's hanbok.
Her actions were also like that. Anyone could see she was nothing but a mischievous child.
But regardless, Eleanor continued her assertion.
“Even though I look like this, I’m old enough to know everything. I’m acting like this because I know that unlike how you look, you care for Baekyang, old man.”
“You’re truly malicious!”
Bihyeong was overwhelmed by this unfamiliar, spicy taste of the western regions, unable to collect his thoughts. He began to wonder if it was he, not Baekyang, who needed to experience the wider world.
“No, but wait a minute……. Did she wake up? Then why isn't she coming out immediately?”
“Baekyang said she had somewhere to go and I could go first!”
“Hah, honestly. I can’t even get angry about this.”
Bihyeong scratched his head and sighed. It was inevitable.
Baekyang must have gone to look around the Samdo River. He knew she had collapsed because of it this time, but she wasn’t the type to listen even if he tried to stop her anyway.
She periodically wandered the Samdo River, searching for someone who would have died long ago.
The outcome of guilt.
'Today's a bust.'
It was none other than Bihyeong who taught Baekyang how to walk a little more leisurely.
He was worried that the young one was going in and out of the Samdo River too hastily, so he intended to lighten her burden.
That advice did help to some extent, but…….
Considering her walking speed, it would be fair to say she probably had no intention of coming back today.
Still, he had received Baekyang's word, so to speak.
If she had informed Eleanor, the girl, about the location, then the testimony was as good as secured.
“Then, shall we at least prepare to confront him soon?”
“Release Master!”
“No, I mean, I’m preparing for that, so……”
“What if I were to alleviate some of that preparation for you?”
“……”
Bihyeong turned his head at the sudden voice.
“What is this guy doing escaping on his own again……”
Black hair and sky-blue eyes.
He was clearly the prince of some country called [Spellerge] or something.
"Because it's a value that one must prove one's own innocence."
"And such a person attempts a prison break?"
In the first place, the prison wasn't designed to hold anyone. How could it be, given the nature of those who needed to be confined?
To imprison such skilled individuals, corresponding facilities are required.
However, the [Goblin Forest] had no such facilities, nor did it have anyone capable of creating them. Even if they were acquired from outside, they wouldn't last long in the [Goblin Forest], where yokai energy is dense.
Therefore, the prison was merely a formality, and what truly bound them was the siege of elite goblins guarding outside.
Especially in the case of dangerous opponents, Bihyeong himself sometimes monitored them, making it quite a tight security.
“Goblin King, Bihyeong. I know what you’re worried about. You must be suspecting me as the one who fought that hooligan, Alexios or whatever.”
“Even that hooligan didn’t escape, so is your word choice really correct?”
“Since that fellow did something wrong, wouldn’t he not escape?”
“That makes sense……!”
Unfortunately, Bihyeong was not smart.
It was enough to make him agree with Oz’s plausible nonsense.
But he was still the leader of the group. Even if it sounds reasonable, it's one of his few habits to ponder it once more.
"Hmm..."
Bihyeong bent down to examine Oz. The scent was certainly the same as the troublemaker's, but the atmosphere was different.
This one felt a bit milder.
"Hmmmm..."
After much thought, Bihyeong came to a conclusion.
“Follow me. Don’t even think about any tricks. I need to discuss this with everyone a bit.”
He had intended to have a conversation anyway. However, he simply thought it would be better to hear many people's opinions while he was at it. That would make it easier to make the most accurate judgment.
More importantly.
‘It’s good for distributing responsibility.’
If things went wrong, it wouldn’t be Bihyeong’s fault as the leader, but everyone’s fault.
Why? Because they all chose it together.