episode_0137

“Please buy some of this………”

Shabby clothes, a frail body, wrinkles visible on his hands and face, and only a few vegetables laid out on a straw mat.

Outwardly, he was just a poor old man selling vegetables.

Betzdo’s subordinates must have thought the same.

If not for what had just happened a little while ago.

“What is this? Are you playing games with us?”

Betzdo’s subordinates glared murderously at the old man – no, the masked man disguised as an old man – and spoke.

The old man selling vegetables spoke to them.

It was the same situation as before, and this time, it seemed he wasn’t even trying to deceive them, as his voice was that of a young man.

Therefore, a situation that even a neighborhood child would find suspicious – an old man in appearance, but with a young man’s voice – unfolded before Betzdo’s subordinates.

The reason for his old man’s appearance, young man’s voice, and repeating the same words as when they first met, could only be seen as mockery.

Moreover, Betzdo had just sent a signal, and they were rushing to him!

Among the signals, it was one that commanded all nearby subordinates to gather and come, a signal that had only been used once until now.

“I was going to just go, but then I thought about it, and I still have some vegetables left.”

Over a dozen men growled with murderous intent, but the masked man, who instantly shed his old man’s disguise, spoke leisurely as if this situation didn’t frighten him in the least.

Who in the world was this man?

Who was he, and for what reason was he blocking their path?

None of Betzdo’s subordinates knew.

“If you give me about 50 more gold coins, I think it will be enough for the vegetables……”

‘Just give me 50 gold coins for the vegetables. If you don’t want to, you can play with me a bit longer. By the way, I’m really confident in my ability to escape, you know?’

The same reason as before.

The same price as before.

“What do you all think?”

At the words of the man whose identity couldn’t even be guessed, Tommy, who could be called the representative among Betzdo’s subordinates, furrowed his brow.

Clang! Bang! Bang! Thud! Bang!

Even now, as he deliberated, the sounds of intense fighting echoed in his ears.

Somehow, he even had the illusion that those sounds were forcing him to make a quick choice.

‘If we’re late, Betzdo-nim might die to Mordor. Even if Betzdo-nim wins, if we’re this late, he’ll never forgive us.’

Anyway, what was important now was to get to Betzdo-nim as quickly as possible, even if it was just a little bit faster.

But that didn’t mean they could just give the man in front of them 50 gold coins and pass.

It wasn’t a matter of pride. If they were late, they might all die at Betzdo-nim’s hand anyway, so what would pride matter?

The problem was that the suspicious man in front of them was still obstructing them, even after receiving gold coins earlier.

There was no guarantee that giving him gold coins now would prevent him from interfering again next time.

‘Even now, for some reason, no matter how much we walk towards the sound of fighting, we aren’t getting any closer to Betzdo-nim.’

At that moment, he decided that even if it took a little time here, they had to definitively kill the man in front of them, and he was about to speak to those beside him when…

“Shouldn’t you hurry? Even though it’s morning, the forest is an easy place to get lost. I’m telling you this because if you keep circling the same spot like this, you might not reach your desired destination even by tomorrow morning.”

“Did you orchestrate this too?”

“Well, what exactly are you referring to? If you speak so vaguely, it’s hard for even someone as smart as me to understand.”

The man shrugged exaggeratedly and continued.

“Surely you’re not trying to blame me for your inability to find your way, are you? If you have time to blame me, why don’t you vigorously move your feet and find it yourselves?”

At the words of the man whose identity was unknown, Betzdo’s subordinates realized.

No matter how much they walked in the direction of the sound, the sound remained constant, and no matter how much time passed, Betzdo-nim was nowhere to be seen.

That it was the doing of the man in front of them.

‘But why, exactly?’

What in the world was the man in front of them’s reason for obstructing them?

Betzdo’s subordinates each organized the current situation in their minds.

Betzdo-nim had gone out, called by Mordor.

Then the person Betzdo-nim was currently fighting was Mordor.

‘We are Betzdo-nim’s subordinates, and if we arrive, Mordor will be at a disadvantage.’

One of Betzdo’s subordinates, whose thoughts had reached that point, opened his mouth.

“Are you perhaps Mordor’s subordinate…..”

And those were his last words.

-Thwip!

Red rain briefly fell in the forest covered in green.

The subordinate of Betzdo who had spoken couldn’t even scream, and collapsed with a thud.

His comrades only realized their fellow was dead after seeing the blood gush into the air.

“””!!!!!!!”””

Everyone looked in surprise at their fallen comrade on the ground.

A dagger was lodged in the neck of the man who was already dead.

“Mouths aren’t for spewing trash.”

At the voice piercing their ears, everyone flinched and trembled.

It was the same playful voice as before, but it felt chilling somehow.

‘I definitely didn’t take my eyes off him for a second!’

They hadn’t seen the man pick up the dagger, throw it, or even the dagger flying towards them.

Yet, the dagger was lodged in his neck.

There was no process, only the result had appeared before their eyes.

Tommy gnashed his teeth.

‘I was mistaken.’

He merely possessed a peculiar ability called transformation.

He thought if they all attacked, they could win without issue.

All of that was a mistake.

It was the man, not them, who decided things.

‘If that dagger had been aimed at me……’

Betzdo’s subordinates, recalling a future that hadn’t yet happened but was entirely possible, instinctively stepped back.

“Hahahahahaha! Where are you all rushing off to so quickly? Did you perhaps leave your wallets at home?”

Even at the man’s mockery, Betzdo’s subordinates didn’t get agitated.

Instead, they watched the man’s hand. They didn’t know when he might throw another dagger.

“Ah! Could it be because of this?”

In the man’s hand, a dagger identical to the one that had just pierced their comrade’s neck emanated a strong presence.

“””!!!!!!!!”””

As the dagger appeared in the man’s hand, Betzdo’s subordinates each drew their weapons and enveloped them in black mana.

Then they lowered their stances, ready to move at any moment.

Seeing that, the man slapped his hand on the ground and burst into laughter.

It was certainly comical to see dozens of men flinch and move as a group every time just one person moved slightly.

“Pfft! Oh, I’m sorry. I know it’s rude to laugh… *Pfft*. But I can’t help but laugh. Every time I move a little, all of you flinch and twitch together, it makes me think of flies stuck to a wall, and I just can’t help myself….”

“You!”

Finally, one of Betzdo’s subordinates, unable to bear the provocation, charged forward.

In his hand was a sword enveloped in black energy, which anyone would deem ominous.

‘If it touches, it’s over.’

No matter how strong that masked fellow was, if he was struck by this sword, his skin would instantly rot away, killing him.

Thinking that, Betzdo’s subordinate swung his sword at the man, but a dagger lodged in his neck even faster.

“You surprised me, approaching while yelling like that.”

With a voice devoid of surprise, the man grabbed the face of the fallen man on the ground.

The man’s skin instantly began to rot.

At the familiar phenomenon, Betzdo’s subordinates were startled.

Betzdo’s subordinates looked at the man.

The man’s hand was enveloped in black energy.

“What in the world are you!!!!!!”

“Can’t you tell just by looking?”

The man said that, then pulled out the dagger lodged in the neck of the fallen person on the ground, and the dagger was instantly enveloped in black energy.

The same power as theirs.

That power was one that could only be received from a Necromancer.

A power that allowed mere street thugs like themselves to even defeat knights.

The reason they pledged loyalty to Betzdo-nim.

But for that man to be using that power……

‘Does that mean this man is also a subordinate of the Necromancer?’

But then why was he stopping them?

Judging by his reaction earlier, he didn’t seem to be Mordor’s subordinate either.

Tommy, still wary of the man whose identity remained unknown, asked.

“….Why are you hindering us?”

It implied: both of them must have received power from the Necromancer, so why was he interfering?

“Huh? Hahahahaha!”

The man laughed as if dumbfounded.

After laughing for a long time, the man made a gesture of wiping tears from above his mask.

Perhaps because of the mask. Perhaps because of the man’s exaggerated actions. Or perhaps because of this absurd situation.

All of it felt less like reality and more like an illusion.

“Anyone would think I picked a fight first. I was just peacefully selling vegetables, but you were the ones who attacked first, weren’t you?”

“…….That’s.”

At the man’s brazen words, Betzdo’s subordinates were speechless.

There were many things to argue about, but there was nothing false in the man’s words.

“I don’t have much time either, as I’m scheduled to have tea with a cute lady a bit later. Please choose quickly.”

“……..What?”

“Whether to give me 50 gold coins and let me go, or to play with me more here.”

Hearing that, Tommy, as their representative, deliberated.

But no matter how much he thought about it, there was only one option now.

Even if everyone here attacked, they couldn’t defeat that man.

And if they just stayed here, they would die at Betzdo-nim’s hand later.

Tommy threw a pouch filled with gold coins from his pocket to the man.

“Oh my, thank you.”

“Sigh… So now we can go to Betzdo-nim without getting lost.”

Until now, no matter how much they walked in the direction of the sound, Betzdo-nim was nowhere to be seen, and even the sound itself remained constant.

Now they could go to Betzdo-nim.

The man, who was counting the gold coins one by one, asked again as if he had heard something he shouldn’t have.

“Huh? What do you mean by that? You have to buy that separately, you know?”

“Then the money we just gave you…!”

“Why, that’s obviously the price of the vegetables, isn’t it? Ah! You can take the vegetables on the mat. If you leave them out for too long, they might spoil, so put them in the refrigerator as soon as you get home.”