Chapter 49
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: Dishwasher
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Dishwasher
“You sons of bitches! Get ‘em! Get ‘em, I said!”
“Hey—grab him!”
The festival raging inside the alley was even louder than the one outside.
The sounds of things breaking and men shouting filled the air.
‘These bastards will fight at the drop of a hat. Bunch of simpletons.’
I clicked my tongue and slowly twisted my waist. The festival had left my body a bit stiff, and I needed to loosen up.
A proper warm-up was the most important part of any exercise.
“What are you doing?”
Berman asked, his eyes wide.
“Warming up.”
“Sir?”
“Warming up.”
“Yes, sir.”
Berman answered curtly and began to stretch along with me.
*Crash.*
“Aaargh! These bastards!”
“Get him!”
“Kill him! Kill him!”
The heat inside the alley was steadily rising.
I twisted my waist and stretched my legs.
“Stretch your legs a little more.”
“Yes, Jojang.”
Without a word of complaint, Berman followed my lead, stretching his legs wide to the left and right.
“Hoo.”
Once I was satisfied with how loose my body felt, I headed into the alley.
A truly picturesque medieval scene was unfolding within.
More than ten men were tangled together, trading blows, some of them even wielding clubs and hammers.
‘They’re really enjoying the festival.’
Just then, one of them was shoved back and fell at my feet.
I recognized him.
The shirtless punk from the carpenter’s workshop.
Still bare-chested, the kid was getting up in a fury when his eyes met mine, and he froze.
He blinked, then swallowed hard.
“A… Aron?! Aron!!”
He screamed my name, drawing it out.
“Aron?!”
At his scream, the fighting stopped.
Ska’s crew, the ones in the flat caps, shot their hands into the air.
The men they’d been fighting still swung their fists, but Ska’s guys didn’t resist, simply taking the blows.
‘Well-trained.’
I nodded in approval and opened my mouth.
“Alright, friends. If you’re all done playing, it’s time for heads down.”
I even clapped my hands encouragingly as I spoke.
At my words, Ska’s men quickly planted their foreheads on the ground.
I’d disciplined them a few times before, so their form was excellent.
Fortunately, there were still some who hadn’t been educated.
“Ha, what’s with these guys? Scared of a mere guard? I know this is the frontier, but to think guys like this were running things.”
One of them, the one who’d been scowling so intensely last time, spat on the ground and kicked the man next to him who had his head down.
The man who was kicked stumbled, then looked up at me, his eyes bright and alert.
I gave a slight nod, and he quickly put his head back down.
“Everyone, stop. They’re still guards, after all.”
The man who seemed to be their leader last time stepped forward. There was red blood on his knuckles and around his mouth.
Behind him, I could see Ska awkwardly getting his head to the ground.
Ska, who had been trying to look busy by cracking his neck, met my gaze and promptly slammed his head down.
“I thought I told you not to cause trouble.”
I said lightly, rolling my wrist.
“We paid you the silver coins, didn't we? Does the guard in this castle really get involved in such petty squabbles?”
The man’s attitude was different from the low posture he’d adopted last time.
His face was still contorted with the heat of battle, and his words were rough.
‘Now this is more like it.’
I nodded, pleased with his proper attitude.
“Oh, dear… oh, dear… you really shouldn’t do that…”
Ska’s voice was filled with a deep sense of pity.
“Yep.”
“What?”
“We get involved.”
“Ha… This is why you frontier bumpkins…”
At my firm answer, the man let out a disbelieving laugh and shook his head.
Seeing his confidence, Ska again let out a sound of, “Oh, dear…”
“You must not know because you’re from the frontier, but meddling this deep will get you in big trouble. You must think we’re a joke too, after dealing with softies like these…”
He swung the hammer in his hand through the air as he approached me. Then he stopped right in front of me and pointed at me with the cocked hammer.
“Oh, dear… that’s going to cause big trouble… oh, dear…”
Ska’s muttering sounded like background music.
“You’ll be in for a world of hurt if you think we’re the same as those clumsy oafs. A world of hurt.”
Watching the man tap my breastplate with his hammer, I couldn’t hold back my laughter.
A flicker of confusion appeared in his eyes.
The men with their heads down straightened their postures even more.
“Frontier punch.”
My fist instantly erased the question from his face. I grabbed the collar of the falling man to hold him up.
His eyes, which had glazed over for a moment, stared at me, filled with confusion.
I smiled brightly and fed him another fist, and the men around him shouted and charged.
*Oh, dear… why would you do such a thing…*
Ska squeezed his eyes shut and sighed.
***
Benhar hid at the entrance of the alley, quietly peeking inside.
He had often heard stories of Aron the Mad Dog, but this was the first time he had seen it in person.
Even during his first encounter with Aron, he hadn’t had the chance, as the mercenaries had fled the moment they saw him.
As soon as Aron entered the alley, the men from Ska’s side promptly put their heads to the ground, which made Benhar tilt his head in confusion.
Ska’s family all worked at the carpenter’s workshop, so every one of them was built like a beast, yet they did nothing and just planted their heads on the ground.
*Aaaaaaaargh!!*
A long, tearing scream sent a jolt through Benhar.
He knew it instinctively.
This was the moment his teacher had spoken of.
Benhar stared into the alley, not even blinking.
“S-Save me…!”
“Please…”
Benhar swallowed hard, witnessing for the first time in his life such overwhelming violence.
‘Mad Dog.’
What an apt nickname.
“Never look down on the frontier again.”
Benhar’s body trembled as he watched Aron, his face smeared with blood, grin and mutter playfully.
‘Ah… This is inspiration.’
And then the merciless violence continued.
Watching from his hiding spot, Benhar clutched his guitar tightly.
A melody came to him unbidden.
“Ah, in Casedic Castle, there is a mad dog more fearsome than any demon…”
His heart burned with such passion he couldn’t bear it, so Benhar began to sing softly.
Of course, his skill was still dreadful.
***
*Knock, knock.*
I woke up.
Got annoyed.
Worked out.
Went to work.
I muttered a curse under my breath as I headed to the castle gate with that bastard Kel.
After my workout, while receiving treatment, I’d found myself unconsciously reciting the prayers along with them. The smile that had appeared on the Abbot’s face had thoroughly soured my mood.
I went to the gate, took over the shift, and began inspections as usual. Word must have gotten out, because the wagoners had returned, bringing life back to the gate for the first time in a while.
They all seemed to be trying to make up for lost time, their wagons loaded to the brim.
“Ahem… the bottom of the wagon…”
“Oh, come now, Jojang Aron, why do this?”
I was able to enjoy my usual little pleasures again.
My pockets were full of gold coins, so this chump change was meaningless, but it was a tradition of the guard.
And tradition, of course, must be preserved.
As I was watching the inspections, a beggar came limping toward me.
He was a proper beggar, barely clad in tattered rags, his hair a matted mess.
‘The moment a few people show up, the beggars come crawling out.’
I was clicking my tongue when the beggar spotted me and hurried over. He reached me, fell to his knees, and looked up.
“Your humble servant! I have come as summoned! *Sob*…!”
His voice was so solemn, you’d think he’d just returned from completing a royal decree.
‘What the hell.’
Our eyes met, and his seemed strangely familiar.
Then I remembered where I’d seen him.
“Karzan’s Washing Machine?”
“Yes? Yes! I am Sherhan, a mage from the city of Karzan! As you commanded, I have brought my all with me!”
“Your all?”
The beggar had nothing on him except the worn-out rags barely covering his body.
“Ah… due to various circumstances… Karzan is in an uproar too… But it’s fine! For a mage, the most important things are all in here.”
The man named Sherhan confidently tapped his head with his index finger, a broad smile on his face.
However, given his beggar-like appearance, it didn’t look very impressive.
‘Still, his performance was good.’
I grabbed a wagoner and asked him to take this guy to Hana’s place.
The wagoner, kind enough to give me a silver coin, smiled and nodded readily. The corner of his mouth seemed to twitch for a second, but it went back up right away, so it must have been my imagination.
The beggar-slash-washing-machine-mage followed the wagoner inside, and the inspections continued.
Thanks to the long-absent wagoners, watching the inspections was entertaining.
Just then, a rather large carriage approached.
It was emblazoned with a white leaf.
‘The White Leaf Guild?’
It was the mark of a rather famous information guild on the continent.
‘What are they doing in a backwater like this?’
My eyes narrowed automatically.
I raised a hand, stopping the carriage.
The carriage door opened, and a young man with wide eyes peeked out. He had a vacant look about him.
“Gillian, 5th-grade informant of the White Leaf Guild.”
The man said in a bossy tone, scowling.
“Get out.”
I replied, beckoning with my finger.
“You must have misheard. We are the White Leaf Guild…”
“I said, get out.”
“In a backwater place like this… Yes? Ah, yes.”
The scowling man glanced inside the carriage, then nodded and disembarked. A woman followed him out.
Our eyes met, and the woman narrowed hers, not looking away.
“What brings the White Leaf Guild all the way out here?”
“We plan to open a branch in Casedic Castle and are here for a preliminary investigation.”
The young man was about to answer my question, but the woman raised a hand to stop him and replied instead. All the while, her eyes never left mine.
“Why, am I too handsome?”
I said slyly, watching her reaction.
“Yes, I can’t seem to look away.”
The woman replied, the corners of her mouth lifting into a smirk.
I offered a friendly smile in return, which she mirrored with unnerving ease.
It was the complete opposite of the man beside her, who flinched noticeably.
‘She’s no ordinary woman.’
The woman was the first to offer silver coins. Three of them, no less.
‘A good woman.’
I waved them through.
Even as the carriage passed, the woman’s gaze remained fixed on me.
‘Being handsome is such a hassle.’
I stroked my beard and cleared my throat with a self-important ‘Ahem…’
“Calling the Jojang handsome, what a strange woman. Ouch!”
I smacked Kel on the back of the head to shut him up for his useless chatter during duty hours.
“…But for an information guild to set up shop here, Casedic Castle must be on the rise.”
Kel muttered, rubbing the back of his head.
‘An information guild…’
It didn’t have a very pleasant ring to it.
It seemed I would have to pay them a visit separately.
“Next!”
I nodded and waved my hand.
“Good day, Jojang Aron!”
It was John the wagoner, a face I hadn’t seen in a while.
As before, he had two grim-faced mercenaries flanking him.
He skillfully pressed a silver coin into my hand and started talking.
“Jojang Aron, have you heard the story? A knight from Bolt Castle was murdered in a most brutal fashion.”
“…Bolt Castle? A knight is dead?”
A strange sense of déjà vu washed over me as I pocketed the coin and asked again.
“Yes, some huge fellow just up and cut off the knight’s feet, then chased him down like prey, singing all the while. From the front gate of Bolt Castle all the way to the back.”
John said, shivering as if telling a ghost story.
A huge man, a knight…
‘The Knight Hunter?’
I remembered the man I’d sent away with the wisdom of a modern man. The description fit him perfectly, but I was still uncertain.
‘Bolt Castle is to the right, isn’t it? I definitely told him to go left.’
The direction I’d given the man was toward Count Beihart’s Politun Castle. It was a mystery why he’d headed to Bolt Castle, in the complete opposite direction.
No matter how bad his sense of direction, he couldn’t possibly confuse left and right, so he must have had some urgent business that made him change course.
“The guards and soldiers tried to stop him, but the man swatted them all aside like children. But strangely, only the one knight died; the rest just ended up with injuries…”
‘So he really is a Knight Hunter.’
He didn't kill the others, only the knight. It seemed he was a man committed to his concept.
“They say the blood of that legless knight left a long trail from the front gate of Bolt Castle to the back.”
“But even if the first knight was caught off guard, what about the others?”
The Penell family had four knights in total.
Even with Ben here, there were still two more.
“One knight was sleeping in a brothel and didn't know, and the other knew but didn't intervene. So Bolt Castle is in a complete uproar right now. I made a quick escape myself.”
John shook his head as if utterly disgusted and patted his bulging wagon.
‘Well, that’s knights for you.’
Casedic Castle was one of the better ones, relatively speaking.
And Ben was hardly a typical knight.
“Ah, the dead knight was Petrun, the Mad Dog of Bolt Castle. So now the Five Mad Dogs of the Beihart Earldom have become the Four Mad Dogs…”
John said, glancing at me cautiously.
‘Five Mad Dogs, my ass.’
My face crumpled, and a startled John hastily handed over another 50 coppers.
“Alright. You two there.”
I nodded and called out to the two mercenaries beside John.
“You should smile. Walking around with such grim faces will scare the residents.”
My words brought peculiar expressions to their faces.
After a moment’s hesitation, they followed my lead and lifted the corners of their mouths.
***
When I returned to the inn, the refrigerator, the mage, the weasel, and Hana were sitting with serious expressions, deep in conversation.
“Aron! Come here, quick! Quick!”
Hana spotted me and waved her hand urgently, beckoning me over.
I took an empty seat at the table.
“You’ve returned.”
The mage must have washed up, as he looked intelligent again, like he had before. Of course, his clothes were still tattered, making him look more like a smart beggar than a mage.
Next to him sat the refrigerator, the corners of its mouth turned up and its chin raised as high as it could go.
‘Why all the fuss.’
The weasel and Hana looked on with tense faces, glancing back and forth between the mage and the refrigerator. Their atmosphere was similar to that of parents who had accompanied their child to a university entrance exam.
“What is it?”
“Just a moment. Sherhan, would you please tell Aron?”
“Yes. Ahem…”
Sherhan cleared his throat, setting the mood.
The weasel nodded and swallowed hard, while Hana clasped her hands in front of her as if in prayer.
“In my judgment, this one, Kan…”
Sherhan began to speak slowly.
Just then, the weasel shot up from his seat, interrupting Sherhan.
“Our little purple one is a genius! Boss!”
The weasel’s vile face was filled with an uncharacteristic amount of emotion.
“Haven’t I been telling you all along! Our purple girl is a genius! *Sob*! A genius purple girl!”
“I knew Kanna wasn’t ordinary. Kanna is just so cute.”
The weasel and Hana made a fuss, showering the refrigerator with boisterous praise. In response, the refrigerator’s chin rose even higher, so much so that I could see its nostrils.
‘…She’s a genius?’
I didn’t know what the standard for genius was among mages, but I found myself looking at the refrigerator with new eyes. To think it wasn’t a mini-fridge, but a luxury model.
“Our purple girl! Our purple girl!”
“Kanna! Kanna! Kanna!”
Hana seemed to have been infected by the weasel’s enthusiasm. The two of them stood beside the refrigerator, clapping incessantly. At that, the refrigerator shot to its feet and spread its arms wide.
At the sight, Hana and the weasel fell silent, and Sherhan nodded.
The short arms didn’t make for a very impressive pose, but I tried my best to focus.
“Show him what you learned today.”
“Okay.”
At Sherhan’s words, the refrigerator gave a small smirk, nodded, and began to move its hands in a dazzling display.
The tension mounted, and everyone focused intently.
Finally, the refrigerator threw its hands in the air—
And the large beer mug right in front of it was instantly sparkling clean.
‘…?’
The sudden addition of a dishwasher function made me choke back a cough.
However, unlike me, the other two’s reactions were extremely enthusiastic.
“Waaaaah! Our purple girl used magic! Waaah! She’s a genius! Boss! Did you see that! Our purple girl used magic!”
“The… the beer mug became clean in an instant. Kanna! That’s our Kanna!”
The weasel cheered like a madman, while Hana expressed genuine admiration.
And next to them, Sherhan, who had been clapping along awkwardly, sneakily glanced at me.
“Washing machine?”
“Yes, yes.”
“Have you ever taught another mage before?”
“No! This child is my first!”
‘Then how does he know she’s a genius?’
The question rose to the tip of my tongue, but I swallowed it down at the sight of Hana and the weasel cheering, and the refrigerator’s shining eyes waiting for praise.
“A gen…ius.”
I forced an awkward smile and patted the refrigerator’s head.
The refrigerator smirked, and as if that were a signal, the weasel and Hana lifted it into the air.
“Genius purple girl! Genius purple girl!”
“To think we won’t have to wash dishes anymore! Kanna, you’re amazing!”
Watching them from the side, my feelings were quite complicated.
‘Well, I guess it’s good to have more functions.’
Soon, I joined in the applause, and the refrigerator’s dishwasher show began.
The fact that the refrigerator, excited by the praise, used its dishwashing magic on the weasel, nearly drowning him, was a very minor incident.
“A gen…ius! Purple girl! A genius!”
After that, the weasel’s cheers became a little quieter.
***
Gillian, a 5th-grade informant of the White Leaf Guild, was thoroughly annoyed.
‘Why am I in this backwater—’
Of course, the guild had given the reason that recent problems had been frequently occurring in the area, and they wanted him to check it out before establishing a new branch, but this was clearly a demotion.
Gillian wasn’t foolish enough not to realize that.
Even the house the guild had procured for him was shabby and squalid, much to his displeasure.
‘At least I didn’t come alone.’
Gillian glanced sideways at Razvet.
He was at least relieved that he had come with Razvet. She was renowned for being one of the most competent among the 3rd-grade informants.
With her here, he thought, maybe it wasn’t a demotion after all.
‘And she’s pretty, as an informant should be.’
Gillian smirked.
“I’ve definitely seen him somewhere before.”
Just then, Razvet muttered to herself, and Gillian, who had been lost in his own thoughts, jumped in surprise and stood up.
“What?”
“That man at the checkpoint earlier. I’m sure I’ve seen him somewhere.”
Razvet replied curtly and opened a box she had brought, rummaging through it. Countless papers spilled out, instantly making a mess of the house.
“Nah, that can’t be. A huge build, colorful armor, covered in scars. He has so many distinct features, if he were famous, there’s no way we wouldn’t recognize him.”
Gillian shook his head.
The man’s characteristics were so pronounced that if he were a famous person, there was no way he wouldn’t have recognized him.
“No. I’m sure of it. Those eyes… I’ve seen those eyes before.”
Razvet said firmly, continuing to sift through the papers.
With Razvet being so insistent, Gillian couldn’t just stand by. He took a bundle of papers from the box and half-heartedly mimicked her actions.
‘They said she gets crazy when she latches onto something. It’s true.’
Gillian sighed softly as he skimmed through the papers.
How long had he been reading?
Gillian, overcome with the fatigue of the journey, began to doze off.
In his dream, Gillian had become the branch manager of a city branch, ordering his staff around with a single finger.
The staff danced amusingly at Gillian’s command, and he laughed heartily—
“Ack!”
He fell forward.
His face hit the floor, jolting him awake.
‘If this were the city, I’d be sleeping in a soft bed. A bed made of straw…’
Gillian grumbled, rubbing his smarting face.
Sunlight streamed through the cracks in the door; it was morning. As he rubbed his aching back from sleeping in a chair, he saw Razvet.
Amidst a mountain of paper bundles, Razvet was holding a single yellowed sheet.
‘Did she stay up all night? She’s really something else.’
He had thought himself lucky to have come to the frontier with a beauty, but seeing her like this, it didn’t seem so fortunate after all.
Worried about his future, Gillian cautiously approached Razvet, picking up a few fallen papers from the floor.
“Find anything? There was nothing on my end.”
He asked, not bothering to hide his fatigue, but Razvet didn’t answer.
Gillian craned his neck to see the paper Razvet was holding.
On it was a sketch of a man.
There were no scars on his face, but his build and unusually deep-set eyes were very similar to the man he’d seen at the checkpoint earlier.
‘He’s handsome?’
It was amazing that this handsome man could give off a similar impression to that other man.
He checked below the sketch to see who the man was, but there was no information, only a single line.
‘Upon discovery, take no action and report to headquarters.’
It was even written in red ink. Red meant that this order came directly from the Guild Master.
“W-Who in the world is this man… for there to be a red-letter notice…”
Gillian trailed off, taken aback by the unexpected situation.
Every person with a red-letter notice was famous enough to be known throughout the continent by name alone. And the phrase “report to headquarters upon discovery” meant that their fame was of the notorious kind…
“L-Let’s go to the Karzan city branch immediately! They have birds there that can connect directly to central…”
“Be quiet!”
The loud shout from Razvet made Gillian flinch and cover his mouth.
“We are not filing a report.”
“…What?”
“Filing a report won’t get us anything back. A red-level notice means someone is looking for him… and the price would be beyond imagination.”
He had no idea what this woman was talking about, but the clear desire in her expression stopped him from asking any more questions.
“This is an opportunity.”
As Razvet whispered, caressing the paper like a treasure, Gillian recalled her nickname.
Razvet, ‘Blinded by Ambition.’
And Gillian, who ‘Eats Two Loaves for Breakfast,’ began to think that perhaps he really had been demoted after all.