Chapter 125
Chapter 125
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 125
Chapter Title: Omen
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“War! War!! It’s war!!!”
Knight Bayona slammed his sword into the table and bellowed the word three times. His booming voice cut through the chaotic din inside the tavern, plunging it into an unnatural silence for a moment.
“War?”
“War, you say?”
Soon, murmurs rippled outward as everyone whispered to the faces in front of them. But no one raised their voice to shout.
It was just a low buzz of muttering.
Luna, Malco, and I exchanged glances, wondering if what we’d just heard was some kind of joke, searching each other’s expressions for confirmation.
“Hassan, they’re saying it’s war.”
“Strange. There shouldn’t be anywhere near Sodomora worth starting a war over.”
I didn’t know much about wars myself, so I just stayed quiet and listened. But one of the chattering patrons couldn’t hold back his curiosity and shot to his feet.
“War with who? Where and who’s fighting!? Damn it, you gotta lead with that!”
Voices chimed in with agreement—yeahs and right-ons—growing louder.
These were tavern regulars, faces flushed with drink, standing their ground against noble knights. It was reassuring in a way, but it also made me deeply uneasy.
What if the pissed-off knights flipped the whole place?
I watched with bated breath. Then, surprisingly, Knight Bayona—the one who’d stabbed his sword into the table—responded in a calm tone.
“You asked who’s fighting who. Our enemy isn’t a neighboring city or the kingdom’s foes. This war is between the living and the dead…! Between humans and monsters!”
“Living and dead? You mean war with the Pluto cultists?”
“Exactly! Tomorrow at dawn, we’ll form a subjugation force and raid their mountain stronghold! I’ll call out the conscripts now. Unless you have a valid exemption, everyone stand up!”
The knight unrolled a scroll with a rustle and began reading off the names in a loud voice.
“First: men over twenty! Anyone who can hold a weapon! On your feet!”
Over twenty? That meant me. Horribly enough, I fit the bill perfectly.
To be precise, most of the guys drinking in this tavern did.
Chairs scraped back—drk, drrrk—as men rose with grim, dissatisfied faces from all around. Conscription. It was so horrifying I felt like puking. Damn it…!
The tavern turned chaotic in seconds as people stood. The knight’s eyes, visible under his helmet, swept over the crowd.
“Good, most of you are up. Now, from this group, we’ll select who gets the honor of joining the subjugation. If your name’s called, you can sit back down! First: anyone without citizenship!”
Citizenship?
Sodomora citizenship, probably.
That didn’t apply to me.
I was Hassan, an illegal immigrant from outside Gaia continent, with no proper status! Damn it, being a foreigner saved my ass!
“Hassan, looks like you don’t have to go to war. Lucky!”
Luna clapped her hands toward me, still boldly seated. Our palms met with a smack.
Malco, though, still standing, glanced around uneasily.
“Shit, this is bad.”
“Second: only sons! Third: family heads supporting eight or more dependents—! Fourth—!”
Exemptions for war service piled up—about fifteen in total. Now, all but four or five of the tavern’s standing patrons had sat back down.
But Shit Malco hadn’t.
Soldiers approached him.
“Name?”
“Malco, sir…”
“Malco? Is there a Malco on the list?”
“No, Malco.”
“Ah, Malco… Let’s see, somewhere here… Malco. There you are. Good, Malco. You’re joining the glorious city defense operation! Everyone, applause!”
The seated crowd cheered and clapped for the conscripted Malco. I gave my friend a solid round of applause too as he headed off to the army.
“That bastard Malco’s in for it now.”
Shit, a wandering bard getting drafted? Hilarious. Malco himself seemed stunned, asking the soldiers,
“Uh, sirs. I’ve never even held a weapon.”
“Then you’re lucky. Your first training will be real combat!”
“No, not combat-like training—actual combat?”
“Shut it!”
The man cracked Malco over the head with his club-like baton. Malco let out a short “Gek—!” and flopped to the floor.
Then several soldiers dragged him off by the limbs. The whole thing happened so fast we were all stunned, hands twitching toward weapons.
“Anyone else who wants to get dragged off, ask away.”
Knight Bayona’s heavy voice quelled the mood. After seeing Malco hauled away mercilessly by authority, none of us dared speak.
“Good, quiet now. Besides the conscripts, we’re taking volunteers for anyone who wants to fight.”
From the corner, the innkeeper—arms crossed, watching the commotion—spoke up.
“What’s in it for volunteers?”
“Participating in the glorious duty of sharing the city’s fate is reward enough—too old-school? Lady Enya has prepared rewards for all veterans.”
Rewards?
The tense tavern atmosphere loosened at the word. This Knight Bayona knew how to play the crowd.
“First reward: citizenship for all veterans! Second: any prior convictions wiped clean!”
“Damn it, I’m in!”
“Shit, me too!”
Men shot their hands up everywhere. Everyone suddenly volunteering for the army—it was unimaginable to me.
And among those raising hands was Luna.
“Citizenship! Record expunged—!!”
Luna lit up at citizenship and record wipe. She wasn’t from this continent either—from Ideophe Island outside—so craving citizenship made sense.
But why the record wipe interest? Did she have a criminal past? Shit, this was dizzying.
Anyway, the tavern erupted in chatter again.
* * *
“Sir Hassan, Lady Luna. I’ll rest here at the inn. It’s hot… need a break. Gotta book a room too…”
Out on the street, soldiers roamed even late at night, recruiting conscripts and volunteers.
The city air definitely felt pre-war now.
We cut the afterparty short and headed home. No fun drinking with Malco dragged off to the army.
“Ended up not volunteering after all.”
Luna smacked her lips, seemingly regretting not going to war.
They took volunteers regardless of gender or status, but the soldiers who checked the roster rejected her enlistment.
No reason given. Maybe because she owned land back home…
“Wanted that citizenship.”
I asked Luna, who muttered regretfully to herself.
“What’s so great about citizenship?”
“Benefits galore! You can open a bank account! Join guild insurance for cheap clinic fees—tons of perks!!”
Similar to what I knew. Proper status, more benefits. Of course, duties like taxes and conscription came with it.
Still, as we’d seen, everyone craved citizenship.
“You can buy it with a donation, but it’s over ten gold coins for approval.”
“So citizenship’s worth about ten gold in reward?”
Luna nodded, smacking her lips again. Ten gold for one war. Decent payday?
For rough, scarred thugs, a big score. Plus the record wipe perk.
Record wipe.
“Hey, Luna. You got a record too?”
I recalled her reaction to the phrase. I knew she wasn’t capable of major crimes, but curiosity won.
“A—a record?”
Luna flinched at my question, glancing sideways slyly.
“…Why ask?”
“Just wondering. But your reaction says yes. What’d you do?”
“Nothing big. Just… uh, yeah!”
She dodged, unwilling to say. My curiosity and suspicion grew. Something off.
What life had she lived before partying with me?
We’d talked a lot, but her past felt like the deep sea—secrets bubbling up. Should I pry?
What if it was some huge crime? Could I treat her the same?
“Hassan, your forehead’s wrinkling again. Thinking weird stuff!!”
“No, uh, what? Come on, what crime?”
“Y-You really wanna know? Might hate me. If you insist…”
Her grave face drained the blood from me. Two choices:
Listen. Don’t.
But not listening meant lifelong suspicion alone.
“Tell me. Won’t hate you.”
I boldly chose listen. Luna sighed deeply, then hemmed and hawed.
“It was right when I arrived on the continent. So, so hungry… I caught and ate a rabbit…”
“Ate a rabbit?”
I knew she’d survived gnawing bark and roots.
But eating a rabbit a crime? Adventurers snag those in woods all the time. Good for hats, socks from the hide.
“That a crime?”
“…It was a temple rabbit. From the temple garden, hopping around… Starving or not, eating a temple rabbit. Blasphemy. Hassan, I committed blasphemy…”
Luna teared up like she’d done something terrible.
“That big a deal?”
“I ate! A temple rabbit! Huge sin!”
“O-Okay? Calm down.”
People glanced at her yelling, so I soothed her with back rubs until her breathing steadied.
“…But it was so good. Still crave it sometimes.”
“Y-Yeah? Let’s hunt another next time.”
“Yeah! Random question, but why didn’t you volunteer, Hassan?”
Her mood swings still threw me. Probably always would.
Anyway, her sudden question made me recall why I skipped the perks.
“Don’t wanna go to the army.”
Shit, no desire for army life. Not just army—real war.
Hacking in mud, might actually die!
Smallfolk like me and Luna had our hands full prepping a shack shop, doing our jobs.
Low-rank adventurers scraping by in slums fear no gigs tomorrow more than cultists.
“What’s this stuck here.”
Heading inside to rest, Luna spotted a small note on the door and read it slowly.
“Official notice. To Hassan of Samaria. You are appointed glorious defender of the faith for the upcoming subjugation—ex? Ex? Weird writing. Cultist purge is a Sodomora citizen’s right and duty—”
Her stumbling read puzzled me. Why my name? Not for her?
“What’re you reading?”
“…Says warrant… Hard to make out. Squiggly handwriting…”
Warrant? Shit, what? No way.
Trembling, I snatched the paper and scanned it.
As she said, sloppy scrawl hard to read.
Only the last paragraph clear:
Henceforth, upon mobilization order at midnight, you are assigned to the newly formed 2nd Company, 2nd Battalion under Deputy Count Enya Sardici. - Border Count Hawkins Sardici (seal).
“Oh shit.”
“Shit? What? Good news? Count’s name’s there. Reward money?”
“They drafted me.”