The Lich Makes the Genius Ordinary
The morning was buzzing with flies and thick with the stench of blood. "Ugh—" I gagged the moment I opened my eyes. It seemed the forest animals had thrown quite the party last night. I could see the corpses of the bandits. No, what remained were bloody chunks of flesh and bone that had been bandits only a few hours ago. It didn't take long for a human to transform into nothing more than scattered scraps of meat.
I moved to the pond to wash my face. The feeling of cold water flowing over my skin was pleasant. The blood, washed away, spread across the transparent surface, revealing the bottom of the pond clearly. "Whew." I had killed people. Three of them. I’d done it well, and I felt no guilt. But... even though I thought I had prepared myself mentally, it was still a shock.
I need to get used to this.
I had no regrets. If I hadn't done it, I would have been the one to die. My survival was the top priority. I would kill anyone who threatened my life without hesitation. Still, just for this moment... I wanted to catch my breath. "The water is clear." I sat there for a long time, staring blankly at the pond. If I had just one cigarette right now, it would have been perfect. Soothing my disappointment, I dipped my feet into the pond and spent some time there.
"That's enough. Get a grip." I splashed cold water on my face one last time and stood up. Dragging my reluctant feet, I returned to the gruesome scene. After all, I had to loot.
◈ 2,410 Gold acquired.
◈ Dagger acquired.
I gathered the blood-stained gold coins and took one of the daggers that looked decent from their equipment. Considering it was the reward for subduing three bandits, it didn't seem like too much or too little. Since there wouldn't be many travelers wandering through a forest like this anyway, these guys were probably on the lower end of the income bracket for bandits. One of them had a key in his pocket. Is this the key to their hideout?
I returned to the shack I had seen the day before. The door was still chained shut. Knock, knock. I knocked first, even though I knew it was meaningless, and then went inside. The musty smell of dust and the sour stench that pierced my nose made me frown. The inside was a total mess. Bowls with leftover food scraps stuck to them. Broken liquor bottles rolling around. It was all trash, fitting for a shack where three ugly men had lived.
Nothing to see here.
I had assumed there wouldn't be much to gain from searching, so I was about to leave when a bulky shape covered by a blanket in one corner caught my eye. I had a bad feeling. I stood in front of it and hesitated for a moment before pulling the blanket away.
"Ah..." A sigh escaped my lips before I knew it. It was a woman. Tied up with rope, unable to move. I didn't check for a pulse. There was no need.
"..." I closed my eyes with a heavy heart. I wasn't surprised. I had expected something like this could happen. If I hadn't managed to take out the bandits, perhaps this would have been my future.
"Bastards." A heavy, foreign sensation, like a stone lodged deep in my chest, took hold. I didn't know whether to be angry or sad, so I just clenched my fists. I looked around. Nearby, there were scattered clothes and a small bag. Must be her belongings. The colors were too bright and delicate to be the possessions of those bandit bastards. I opened the bag and found an empty lunchbox. And a letter.
"May I read this?" I asked the woman. Naturally, no answer came back.
—To my brother.
By the time you read this letter, I'll be on the carriage heading home. You might say this: "Why write a letter when you could have just said it when we met earlier?" But you know how people's hearts are. There are things you can't say face-to-face because you're shy, but you can say in a letter. You don't understand? That's why you don't have a girlfriend yet.
... ... ...
Please, take care of yourself. Returning home in good health is the greatest gift you can give our family. Oh, I only packed the food you like in the lunchbox. Eat well and stay strong. Always cheering for you, Yuria.
This woman must have been the younger sister of a soldier working at the Garden frontier. Unfortunately, the letter and the lunchbox never reached her brother. Is this a random quest?
In Nine Stars, besides the main quests, there are countless quests generated anew in every game. Find Yuria's brother at the Garden frontier and deliver the letter. The quest content would probably be something like that. Would there be a reward? If you only look at the difficulty, it's a simple quest... I stopped that line of thought. I felt terrible. The sight of me calculating quests and rewards while facing a tragedy was pathetic.
I carefully tucked the letter into the secret pocket of my Golden Horn's Cloak. "Hey there, Yuria," I said, speaking as casually as if I were talking to a friend. "I don't know if this will be any comfort, but those bandit bastards? They're all dead. And they died very painfully." I brushed my palm over Yuria's eyes, which she hadn't been able to close even in death. I saw a small, golden sun-shaped necklace around her neck. She was a follower of Justia.
The Goddess of Justice, Justia, never forgives absolute evil. Looking only at the results, perhaps I, Estelle, was the punishment Justia dealt to those heartless bandits. But...
Funny. Justia even hates the followers of evil gods.
Lich Frostwind is one of the most loyal servants of the Goddess of Death. Yes, a follower of El, known as one of the three great evil gods. It doesn't make sense if you think about it in terms of divine will. But I don't know. Forget that; I just did it because I wanted to.
Survival is the priority, but after that, I'll just do whatever the hell I want. I don't know, screw it. What does it matter?
Of course, I don't have a "hell" (referring to the male anatomy) anymore, but you get the point. I grabbed a small shovel and left the shack. Thud, thud. I dug the ground behind the shack until the sun went down. By the time I had dug a hole big enough for a person, salt-crusted sweat was stuck to my forehead, and there was no strength left in my arms. It was exhausting enough to make me want to vomit. But it was what my heart demanded.
Is this enough? I leaned on the shovel handle and gauged the size. "Yuria, sorry. I'm too tired to dig any deeper. I'm out of shape." I laid Yuria in the hole. "Rest here until I find your brother at the Garden frontier." I closed my eyes and bowed my head.
The Goddess of Death, El, praises your merciful act.
I walked for a long time, passing through the forest and crossing the wilderness. I could see the wooden fence stretching along the border of the village. The Garden Western Frontier. It was one of the six starting points you could choose when starting Nine Stars. It was fortunate that the Lich's Mansion was near the Garden frontier. It would have been a pain if I had started in the Northern Barbarian settlement.
Michael, whom I had raised with such care, had started there. It had been a long time since I had cleared all the quests and hidden pieces in the northern region. Whew... The wind blew. My gray hair fluttered. The endlessly stretching horizon and rocky plateau. The forest in the distance where monsters popped out. And the always gloomy weather. Seeing the Garden frontier I had only seen in the game in reality, I felt a new sense of emotion. I stood there for a moment, soaking in the atmosphere, and then started walking again.
Better not stand out too much from here on.
I pulled the hood attached to the back of my Golden Horn's Cloak deep over my head. It was better to avoid unnecessary attention. There might be people approaching with black hearts like those bandit bastards.
As I approached the entrance to the village, a group of people were busy moving about. "Whew, ugh... I'm exhausted." There was a person staggering with a log on their shoulder. "Damn it— this pickaxe is useless. I've been wasting my strength since earlier. Is anyone listening to me?" There was also a person digging the ground with a worn-out pickaxe. Among them, a man who was shirtless and dripping with sweat turned to look at me.
"Ah! Are you a newcomer to Garden?" His tone was exaggerated like a stage actor, and his voice was very loud. The man stroked his sweat-soaked mustache and smiled brightly. "Nice to meet you. I am the Knight Ivan!" Even though his body was covered in dust and sweat from working outside all day, his bright, smiling face gave a good impression.
"Hello. My name is Estelle."
"Estelle! Welcome. Welcome!" I chuckled under my hood. I knew this guy. He didn't have much weight in the story, but he was one of the named NPCs in Nine Stars. "Are you curious about how to enter Garden? I can tell you if you want."
"Um, well... then tell me."
"Aha! Then listen carefully. Unfortunately, it seems you can't just enter this frontier. To get an entry permit, you must complete the Twelve Labors of the Frontier." Ivan continued his explanation kindly. What the Twelve Labors of Garden were, what tips were helpful for each labor, and so on. Ivan himself said he had cleared up to the eighth labor.
"I'm doing well. I'm looking forward to finishing it in about a month."
"That's amazing."
"Haha-! You don't have to praise me so much. You can do it too. If I finish first, I'll help you with your labors."
"You don't really have to do that... but thanks anyway."
"It's nothing. Helping people in difficult situations is a knight's duty." Ivan smiled brightly.
Just like the game.
In Nine Stars, trusting others blindly is a fool's errand. However, Ivan was one of the few NPCs you could trust purely. I went to the guard post Ivan had told me about. Inside the guard post, two guards sitting across from each other at a table were engrossed in a card game. One guard turned to look at me, putting down his cards with an annoyed expression.
"What's your business?"
"I'm here because I want to enter Garden."
"The frontier isn't a place any drifter can just enter because they want to. If you're that desperate—" The guard snapped in a blunt tone. Just as Ivan said, he told me I had to finish the Twelve Labors to get an entry permit. It wouldn't be a wrong method to faithfully perform the menial tasks the guards ordered. However...
It would take at least a month to finish them all.
I slipped 300 gold into the guard's hand. "You guys have a lot of trouble, so have a drink on me."
"Uh, hmm... you didn't have to do this."
"You're a bit more reasonable than I thought." The guards laughed awkwardly and quickly tucked the gold coins away before anyone could see. "Here, your entry permit. Be careful not to lose it."
"Okay." After taking the entry permit, I went inside the gate. Looking back, I could see Ivan, who was mixed in with the people outside the wooden fence, sweating profusely with a bright face. Knight Ivan. His nickname was 'Ivan the Foolish'. He was a good NPC you could trust, but he wasn't much help to the player. Just like now. The guard's labors were just a malicious design by the developers to mess with beginners.
I want to help Ivan...
But even if I told him the method, nothing would change. Ivan would never accept the 'dishonest' option of bribing. He was just a character born with a pitiful fate. I was about to enter the village when I made eye contact with Ivan. Ivan stroked his mustache and gave me a thumbs up. Good luck. With a cheering heart, I gave him a thumbs up back.