episode_0075

LXXI.

Alfonso’s southern region, which is prosperous with a warm and temperate climate all year round, is one of the ‘four cornerstones’ that allow Alfonso’s empire to remain an empire.

The ruling power of the Alfonso Empire.

The three ducal families in charge of military power.

The Invisible Hand, the emperor’s direct unit.

The breadbasket of the south.

The imperial family’s dominance seems to have been put in place just for convenience, but the remaining three were recognized by everyone on the continent.

In fact, the food coming from the southern granary area of the Alfonso Empire not only feeds the entire Alfonso Empire, but is also exported to the northern Kingdom of Nubernia, so it can definitely be called the cornerstone.

The southern part of Alfonso’s Empire is richer than any other region of Alfonso’s Empire. It is also a place where you can indulge in all kinds of extravagant pleasures if you have the money.

In addition, even if it was not a pleasure, if you had a certain level of status and wealth, it was an atmosphere where enjoying life was considered a virtue.

Therefore, for wealthy nobles, the southern part of Alfonso’s Empire is a good place to live comfortably for the rest of their lives.

There is no shortage of food, and the warm and mild climate reduces the incidence of minor illnesses by more than half. As a result, the number of people dying decreased, so the lord who ruled the territory did not need to squeeze the people too much.

Because there are a lot of things that come out in the first place. Of course, they are less, but Alfonso’s nobles are the trash among trash, so there is no such thing as a dream where the common people laugh ‘hahahoho’.

The only difference was that we could barely survive without starving.

Cleton, a city located in the southern center of Alfonso’s empire, is a place where many merchants and nobles come and go, and is famous for its hot springs.

In a fairly good location near the inner walls of the Cleton estate, there are a series of carefully built two-story houses.

The house had a fairly small yard and a two-story structure, and considering the fact that it was Cleton and that it was located inside the castle, it was a house that would have been expensive.

If I took a picture of the house, it seemed like I could hear the constant warm food and laughter of the family in a close-knit home.

“Bring alcohol! Alcohol!!”

“I told you no more alcohol!!”

The sound inside is a woman’s sharp, cracking voice and a man’s voice, which is not affected at all even when it clashes with the shout, as if competing to see who is higher.

And the end of this kind of confrontation is always,

Wow!!

“Aaaah!!”

There is a scream accompanied by the sound of something breaking and breaking.

It used to end with the man getting angry first and leaving the house screaming, but today, unexpectedly, the owner of the scream was a woman.

Still, the family around the house expected that the noise would soon stop and become quiet as usual.

“You, you, you! To mom now!!”

“What are you doing mom! Until now, thanks to someone, I have been blessed! If you keep blocking my path like this, just die! Go out and die!”

However, unlike usual, the sounds of fighting did not stop as time passed, as did the woman’s scream today. It was so bad that my next door neighbor, with whom I didn’t have a good relationship, opened the window and looked out anxiously.

“You, you, you!”

“Shut up! What kind of mother are you that just drinks without doing anything! I don’t have even 1 silver to give you, so go in quietly and sleep!! Just breathe!”

Once again, a ‘wajangchang’ sound is heard, followed by the sound of something breaking. And a house immersed in silence. Only then did people, one by one, take their eyes off the always noisy house. Thinking it was no big deal.

Some time has passed and silence and darkness have fallen on the streets.

Despite its peaceful appearance, the door of the house, where there were constant fights all day long, opens with a ‘creaking’ sound. Perhaps because the shadow of the magic light that illuminated the street was covering the door, the ‘creaking’ sound sounded strangely and eerie.

“Ha… … .”

A middle-aged wife. The face of the woman who comes out on the street at night is full of gloom, which does not match the luxurious clothes she is wearing. The door closed, the woman turned her head, took a look at the house, sighed, and walked away.

And even when daybreak came, the woman did not return. The next day, and the day after that. The woman did not return home for more than fifteen days.

“Where on earth did you go!!”

After 15 days, the boy, who was worried about whether he would be able to walk due to his bloated body, searched the area for a woman.

I spent several days and couldn’t find it, so I looked for the city’s information guild. Maybe the man wanted that because of his bloated body.

Since the price was quite high, the man thought he would look for it on his own again, but he shook his head as his whole body began to scream in just a few days.

“This information must be true!!”

The face of the man who kicked out the door was distorted like a demon.

Among the characteristics of Alfonso’s empire, there is a saying that ridicules other kingdoms and empires.

‘There are slums in every city in Alfonso’s empire.’

No matter how rich the southern part of Alfonso’s empire was, the slums were larger than other regions due to the warm climate.

Sometimes, when the lords feel like it, they clean up the slums. Here, cleaning refers to driving out all the poor people in this place, called a slum, out of the castle, killing them, or making them slaves.

In addition, they are used as meat shields in territory wars, or they are conscripted and sent to fill the number of troops needed for wars at the level of the Alfonso Empire.

Nevertheless, seeing that the size of this slum does not decrease may be proof that Alfonso’s empire’s policy was wrong.

Anyway, there was a slum in Cleton, a tourist town famous for its hot springs.

The man was now running like crazy, not suitable for his bloated body.

Toward the slums.

I was out of breath as if I would run out of breath at any moment.

This is because the information obtained from the information guild said that his mother was here.

When I entered the entrance to the slum, where there was a nauseating smell, there were people who started an argument without even knowing the man’s urgent feelings.

The man didn’t say anything at all. He simply held out the ring he was wearing on his hand and recited the trigger word.

“Fire Ball.”

When did the poor see magic?

The putrid stench of the burning flesh of the gangsters from the slums who flocked to the slums mixed with the stench flowing through the slums to create a smell that could not be described in words.

A smell that makes you vomit just by going near it.

However, whether there were screams from those around him or whether someone died or not, the man lowered his raised hand and ran again.

A bloated man with a face distorted like a hideous, evil man running out of breath as if he were about to die.

Even the poor people of the slums, who were at the end of their lives, were so fierce that they opened the way on their own.

In the innermost part of the slums, the man stopped in front of a hut that was so shabby that it looked like it would collapse even when it rained, and took a deep breath.

As if to express his hasty feelings, the rough hand of the man pushes back the hut and enters, and the hut collapses with a ‘sss’ sound.

Dust and straw rained down on the man’s head, but the man did not move from his spot, as if he had been turned into a stone.

No, it looked like he couldn’t move.

There was a woman inside a pile of pouring dirt.

A scrawny and skinny woman.

The woman’s rag-like clothes were torn in all directions, and she even had bruises all over her body.

“Uh, uh, mom!”

She is the man’s mother.

The man’s mouth, which seemed like it would never open, opened, and when the word ‘Mom’ came out, the emotions that had been suppressed for so long burst out.

“Ugh, ugh! Aaaaa!!”

The woman, who was called mother by the man, had become a cold corpse.

What if you started looking just a little bit, from the first day, no, three days earlier?

What if you went to the information guild a little earlier?

No, what if you didn’t negotiate at the information guild and had someone come running straight to you?

Could it be that my mother wasn’t dead? Could it have been alive?

Guilt consumed the man.

Why did this happen?

How did this happen?

He simply did his best after being selected as a candidate.

okay.

What that guy named Gray said might be right.

Maybe he wasn’t trying hard enough.

But does everyone have to be as crazy about training as that crazy guy?

Is it so wrong to do my best?

After my strength was taken away, I worked really hard.

To bloom the lost divine power core.

To regain lost strength.

At the same time, I also had regrets.

―What would it have been like if you had tried so hard back then?

I mean regret.

However, his younger brother and his mother hated him and his mother to the point of disgust. As if being chased like that, the whole city is here in Cleton.

Still, I tried to start over again.

The divine power core disappeared and the divine power disappeared, but I still remembered the feeling of swinging the sword.

I thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to become a mercenary or a knight.

However, before receiving the gift, his body had no talent and was extremely cursed, gaining weight just by breathing and drinking water.

Maybe that’s why God chose him.

This is because he was a man who had a desire to become a knight despite having such a body.

But the result was like this, and even though I tried harder than before, my skills were still poor.

I shouldn’t have said such harsh words back then.

I should have left the family alone.

rather,

rather… … !

The man’s thoughts went in an increasingly gloomy direction.

Then, in the end, as I had seen and grown up in, I started looking for someone to blame for this hellish situation rather than my own.

okay. Gray, it’s because of that bastard!

no. Mechamil, that bastard is worse! Still, I’m the older brother!

Godfather, that bitch is a bitch too! I’ll curse you!

As he was chanting one by one, looking for the object of his resentment, a deep male voice came into the man’s ears, no, in his mind.

-Everything is the fault of God, who gave and then took away.

“God… … ?”

―It was God who chose the candidate in the first place and then took away the power given to the candidate!

“… okay. that’s right. god… … .”

The moment the man mumbled the word ‘God’, a strong wind spread around the slum in a large circle centered around the man. In the aftermath, shabby huts collapsed or swayed, and screams came from all over.

“All are gods. It’s because of them.”

-Do you want power? Do you want revenge?

“Power? What power?”

―The power to kill Gray who ignored you! The power to kill your half-brother and the countess who tormented your mother! And the power to hit God in the back!!!

“Power… . strength… ? strength! okay! I want it!!”

-How badly do you want it? Even if I kill everyone in the vicinity?

“Of course! Those scum must die!”

-That karma will weigh you down! Can you bear it?

“I want it! I want it!”

It looked like they were talking to someone with bloodshot eyes, but the people in the slums who could only hear the man’s voice were hesitating and retreating, probably due to their unique survival instinct.

However, their actions felt a little slow.

The black fog that began to spread rapidly around the man took only about 5 seconds to cover the slums.

In addition, black fog covered a wide area in the area located on the outskirts of Cleton and adjacent to the slums.

-Desire power more earnestly. Then you will gain more strength.

“I want it! I want it!”

-Overcome the pain inflicted on your soul. Then you can gain greater power.

“Aaaa!!”

The man was feeling so much pain that he couldn’t even hear the sound buzzing like a mosquito in his ears.

But the man continued to crave strength, like a goldfish that eats food when it sees it, not even knowing it is full. I longed for it, I yearned for it.

The black cloud that spread around him grew larger in response to his desire. And all living things that touched it began to dry up.

People, dogs, horses, cats, mice and even trees.

As the voice said, actions that violate the law pollute the soul due to the reaction of ‘karma’ or ‘karma’.

The pain the man is experiencing now comes from that very place.

As the soul becomes polluted and clouded. And the indescribable pain that comes from being bound and tightened by karmic chains on the soul.

And the more you crave power, the more intense the pain you feel.

“Power… second… !”

But the man didn’t give up.

It may be a bit difficult to say this, but from the man’s point of view, seeing his mother die miserably was a great help.

When the black cloud gradually turned blood-red and red like blood, we began to quickly narrow the range.

And the destination was the man in the center of the black cloud. Not long after all the blood-red clouds were absorbed into the man’s body, the man opened his eyes.

His eyes resembled those of a reptile. The long, vertical eyes look around and smile full of satiety.

Even though his mother’s corpse, which he had been complaining about a moment ago, was absorbed into him and disappeared like other living things.

-Go to Heian County.

“Heian County… … .”

-There is someone there who will lead you to a higher state. There is someone who can help you get revenge.

“Huh? High level? It is a higher level than now, stronger than the highest level of master… … .”

Although he did not reach the level of a semi-superhuman, he was fully able to feel the power of having one foot against the wall, capable of beating the highest level master.

‘Even if you are a semi-superhuman, you can still win if you gain enough time or are lucky.’

The power gained by twisting this cause and effect was powerful and strange.

And then the man thought.

Perhaps, as the voice said, he might be able to sort out the Count Johannes family from which Gray and himself came with his own hands.

No, you can do that!

-okay. Be careful of the Caligo Church bastards and move.

“Sure.”

The man stood up.

Previously, a man with a bloated physique had lost all the fat that made it difficult for him to breathe, and in its place were muscles as hard as stone.

Also, with a height of well over 2m, it looked like a half-ogre or half-orc.

-There will be happy people there. Hurry up. The first candidate, Benjamin.

“Not looking forward to it.”