144
My Villains Chapter 144
38. Golden Mire (1)
"Wow."
It's Hee-won. A tall beauty in a loose hoodie and black leggings.
"You're wearing a skirt?"
Hee-won 's gaze towards Soha is filled with surprise and amusement.
"It's too fresh. You should dress like this more often."
Splashing footsteps. A hand smoothing the skirt. An expressionless face. Red lips that catch the eye open.
"Why bother? There's no one to see it anyway."
"Then why today?"
"Brother Seung-soo is here, isn't he?"
The club room erupted with noise. Young people laugh so easily.
It was a bit difficult for me.
"Haha."
The forced laughter sounds ridiculous. I'm afraid my awkwardness will show. Kim Seung-soo wasn't the type to blend well in this atmosphere.
As always, Hee-won was the first to notice my footsteps lingering in the corner.
"Want to go see the stage?"
"Is there anything to see? Didn't they say construction hasn't started?"
"It'll be your first time seeing a round theater, right?"
"...A round theater? Not a small theater?"
"Yeah. We're doing this play with the Theater department."
Theater department.
"Haven't you seen the actors? Half of them are from the Theater department. I heard Jung Soha is taking a few acting classes too."
Theater department actors in a club play.
"...Isn't that like bringing professional players to an amateur soccer game?"
Jingling laughter and a hand patting my shoulder. A fragment of memory.
"It's not that serious! They're just first and second-year Theater students, how can they be pros? Besides, our members are pretty good too."
The chatter continued. Just like a few years ago, Hee-won and I slowly walked.
Small theater, Student Union building, 108 steps, Central Library, windy hill... Familiar scenes are thickly layered throughout the campus.
By the time our footsteps passed the gym and subway to reach the one-room apartment, I felt like I was suffocating from memories.
Finally, I blurted out the words I had been holding back.
"Want to get back together?"
"No."
Even while busy putting on her clothes, her response was quite immediate.
"This is just right for us."
While I was choosing my words, a loud ringtone sounded. Hee-won answered the phone with a stiff face, then smiled brightly.
"Who is it?"
"You don't need to know."
Leaving that familiar answer, she left the one-room apartment.
A purple scent lingered at the tip of my nose. I quietly closed my eyes, and soon the world awoke.
Atalante, facing the setting sun, quietly looked around the clan.
Dozens of tents were spread across the mountainside and plains. It was a light-bottomed village using stretched wagons as fences.
"The wind blows! On the western coast-"
The sound of children singing came from somewhere between the tents. It was heavenly music that made one forget the poverty and hardships of nomadic life.
"Raise the sails, let's go! To our homeland-"
Atalante wanted to join the children. She wanted to laugh, sing, and dance with them.
"The golden sun! Breathes upon us-"
She was very skilled in dance and song.
It was the result of training. If she had been an ordinary child, it would have been a training painful enough to hate the achievement, but Atalante still enjoyed dancing and loved singing.
"Over the rough waves!"
"To our homeland..."
A small murmur scattered in the wind. Atalante quietly rubbed her arms.
'It's almost autumn.'
She hurried her steps.
"Miss."
"Rubio."
As the middle-aged warrior bowed his head briefly, Atalante smiled and asked.
"Where are the elders?"
"They're gathered at the Asun. About your trip-"
Atalante glanced sideways at the back.
Two men in thick leather armor were escorting her with expressionless faces. They were the sacred guards protecting the Asun, called 'Hares Kiss', and the clan's elite warriors.
Atalante's gaze sweeping over them was utterly cold.
'Soulless puppets.'
She whispered quietly to Rubio.
"Tell me later. For now, gather the warriors with Agos."
"...The warriors, you say?"
"Hurry. I'll persuade the Asun."
"Understood."
Passing by the middle-aged man, Atalante arrived at a huge and luxurious tent.
The word 'Asun' referred to both the meeting of clan leaders and elders and the place where such meetings were held.
This massive tent in front of Atalante was the Asun.
"Phew."
Atalante let out a short sigh and knelt in front of the tent.
"Atilia, daughter of 'Al Kadari', requests entry to the Asun."
There was no response from the tent to her words. After a moment, a faint voice was heard.
"Enter."
The Hares Kiss guarding the entrance lifted the green-dyed cloth.
Atalante entered the Asun on her knees. The Hares Kiss who had been escorting her walked slowly ahead of her. Inside the tent, eight figures were seated in a circle. They were the leaders of 'Al Kadari', the largest clan of the 'Nuboia' faction.
"It is an honor to enter the Asun."
The eight leaders gave no response to Atalante's bow. Instead, they listened to the report of the Hares Kiss who had escorted Atalante from the mountain lodge.
When the Hares Kiss finished reporting, the middle-aged man with graying hair sitting in the center spoke.
"Atilia."
"Yes, Clan Leader."
"Why didn't you kill him?"
"...There was no opportunity."
Before she could finish speaking, one of the elders interrupted.
"Lies."
An old man with countless wrinkles on his face wrinkled his nose.
"Lies. Giamo, Atilia is lying."
"It seems so."
As the clan leader Giamo nodded at the old man's words, Atalante quickly shook her head.
"It's not a lie. He's a powerful warrior who wields the power of blood,"
"That's why we didn't give you the poison? A deadly poison that could kill twenty warriors!"
"As you know, such deadly poisons are difficult to handle. A warrior with such keen senses would surely have noticed."
At Atalante's excuse, another elder let out a scoff.
"Ha. I heard you shared a bed with him, did I hear wrong?"
"Answer, Atilia."
"...That's correct."
"Is there an easier target than a man in the midst of lovemaking?"
As the hook-nosed old woman sneered, Atalante pressed her lips tightly and then bowed her head.
"I'm sorry. But to kill him would have required risking my life. I couldn't risk my life for just some gold-"
"Just some gold, you say!"
The clan leader burst out in anger.
"Atilia! The money you left behind was collected by the clan members with their blood and sweat. Money gathered by selling their swords, bodies, and pride! And you call it just some gold!"
At Clan Leader Giamo's stern rebuke, Atalante gritted her teeth inwardly. She was the one who had shed the most blood and sweat in the clan.
Swallowing her resentment, Atalante opened her mouth.
"I too am one of the clan members who shed that blood and sweat."
"You foolish child, are you the same as an ordinary clan member? You are the daughter of salvation, a warrior destined to lead our people!"
As Atalante closed her mouth, the elders each spoke up.
"How can we entrust important tasks to someone so irresponsible?"
"It's unfortunate. To think such a naive thing is the daughter of salvation."
"That's why we need to discipline her well. Atilia is too stupid."
"It's because she focused only on martial arts since childhood. Tsk, we can't re-educate her now."
This time of 'loving criticism' that had been endlessly coming for the past 23 years was quite familiar to her.
Atalante quietly bowed her head.
In moments like this, she used to sing songs internally. By the time she finished two or three songs, she could lift her head.
But unlike usual, Atalante repeated the prophecy instead of singing.
- I become stronger. I kill six. I become the daughter of salvation. Then, I gain freedom.
Repeating the prophecy, she thought of Phoenix.
- I become stronger. I kill six. I become the daughter of salvation. Then, I gain freedom.
She recalled the rough and gentle touch, hot and seductive breath, firm and warm embrace.
- I become stronger. I kill six. I become the daughter of salvation. Then, I gain freedom.
As the elders' criticism approached personal attacks, Atalante quietly smiled.
"You've managed to find such a path." In response to my small mutter, the scribe Beldin answered while breathing heavily.
"I told you, *gasp* the soldiers, *cough* are locals of Longville, *wheeze* so..."
"...I don't want to hear it, so shut up and walk."
"As you, *hack* wish."
"Geez, I said shut up."
Leaving Beldin who closed his mouth with a 'hap', I looked back at the group.
Along the forest path dimmed by twilight, about a dozen or so people were walking. Starting from Utequais at the rear, Amias' gang and Siren's group were moving quietly.
Suddenly, Blue-footed Moses caught my eye and flinched. When I grinned at her, her trembling doubled.
"What's wrong?"
"Huh? Nothing, nothing at all."
Ellen, who was on horseback, casually looked back and asked nonchalantly.
"Were you looking at Simos?"
"...Huh? Well, I guess so."
"Hmm."
The guy nodded silently while gripping the saddle. I, who was acting as Ellen's horse attendant, unnecessarily stroked the horse's head and adjusted the reins.
"Let's hang in there a bit more. We'll arrive soon."
As spotty snorted softly, I took a carrot from the saddle and fed it to him.
Ellen, who had been quietly observing me, suddenly spoke up.
"Do you remember what I said before?"
"...Hmm, which one?"
"What I said on the first night we arrived in Longville. When we first met Amias' gang."
"Wasn't that almost two weeks ago?"
"It was 20 days ago. Today is the last day of August."
"Has it been that long already."
I shrugged while scratching under the temporary helmet I bought.
"What did I say back then?"
"I told you to be careful not to get sick."
Sick?
"...Oh, that time? When you went crazy with jealousy?"
Ellen slightly furrowed her brow.
"It wasn't jealousy, and I didn't go crazy."
"Aren't you talking about when your eyes rolled back seeing me talking with Mira?"
"...My eyes didn't roll back."
"You flipped the tavern with your magic. Your eyes definitely rolled back."
At my words tinged with laughter, Ellen quietly pouted her lips.
"You said you didn't remember."
"I remember now that you mention it. But why?"
"...Just. Remember what I said."
I can't help but chuckle a bit.
"That 'ridiculous thing' and not to get involved with it?"
"Yeah."
"Aren't your standards a bit too strict? Mira and Simos aren't that bad-looking."
Ellen scoffed at my words.
"Don't talk nonsense. Are you saying those aren't ugly faces?"
"If you look closely, they're not that bad, are they?"
"...I should have left your eyes burned when they were. They're useless anyway."
I grinned, finding his sarcasm cute.
"It's harsh to say they're useless, isn't it?"
"For eyes with no aesthetic sense, they are useless."
"Hey, what does aesthetic sense mean?"
Ellen frowned as if I should know this.
"...Are you asking because you don't know? It's the ability to discern beauty."
"Right. So, it's not that I lack aesthetic sense, it's that mine is too good."
"What?"
"Because my aesthetic sense is so good, I can find beauty in anyone."
Ellen was looking down at me with a 'What's wrong with this idiot?' gaze. I shrugged and continued.
"You might not know since you live in a different world, but people like me are necessary in this world."
"...Why?"
"Imagine if everyone in the world lacked aesthetic sense. What would happen?"
"What would happen?"
"Beautiful people would disappear too. Because there would be no one to recognize beauty."
As Ellen made a puzzled expression, I grinned and got to the point.
"Well, you'd be fine. Regardless of aesthetic sense, anyone can see you're pretty."
"...W-what's that supposed to mean."
"But people who are ambiguously handsome or pretty would just become nothing, you know? Isn't that sad?"
Ellen, realizing the implication of my words, blushed and lowered her head.
"So, be a bit more open-minded. If someone who looks like you gets all jealous, people will gossip."
"Really, you only say weird things..."
As Ellen quieted down, the group reached the end of the path. Beyond the thickening undergrowth, the view below the mountain ridge came into sight.
"...Hey, Beldin. What's going on here?"
"I, I don't know either, sir."
The young scribe caught his breath for a while and then grabbed his forehead.
"It wasn't like this when we left."
I silently looked down at the foot of the mountain. Dark brown stains were tightly surrounding Longville.
The archer Cole, who had climbed up a tree, spoke in a small but clear voice.
"They're Anupads."
"I know that too. How many are there?"
Cole was silent for 3-4 minutes before giving an answer.
"It's definitely over five hundred."
I barely swallowed a curse.