Ch.141The Road to Belfort City (6)

“Lord Victor… seems to have been through quite a lot.”

“Hahaha… Well… That’s just what happens when you struggle to survive.”

My mere presence, which had defeated(?) dozens of beggars, had made me a celebrity within the merchant group.

Even before, there were quite a few who revered me as their savior, but now my presence had risen so dramatically that people wouldn’t even dare to meet my eyes.

“It’s not like I’m a baron or a count…”

Speaking of barons, I’m reminded of Sir Keith, who was a knight serving the Marin family.

I wonder what he’s doing now?

The wedding at Faerus Vale must be over by now, and all that remains is whether the Marin family he serves will rise again or not.

Back then, I was weaker than him, but if I were to face him now, could I subdue him?

“Ah… this isn’t right… My thoughts keep drifting in this direction…”

After creating lakes of blood and piling mountains of corpses from killing people like a madman, my thoughts inevitably lead to ‘Could I kill that person?’

Not ‘Could I subdue them?’ or ‘Could I defeat them?’ but ‘Could I kill them?’ It’s clear that I’m twisted in that regard.

“O Sun. Why did you choose me of all people?”

Surely, as the Sun of humanity, you knew what I had done and still sent me a message to make me your knight. No matter how I think about it, shouldn’t I be a being rightfully dedicated to Karil, the Blood God?

As I was agonizing over these thoughts in my saddle, my wife leaned back, signaling me to stroke her.

“Sob… Ishaya. Am I truly insane?”

“Lord Tortor, what does it matter if you’re insane? Crazy or not, you’re my one and only husband.”

“You really do say the sweetest things!”

As a reward, I vigorously stroked her head, which helped dispel my gloomy mood.

Right. What does it matter if I’m crazy or not? It’s this world that’s crazy, and even crazier are those self-proclaimed big shots of Parcifal’s night who were sliced up by me.

“What remarkable resilience. Is there no such thing as post-traumatic stress disorder in your dictionary?”

“Do I look like someone who would be traumatized?”

“Gah…! I can’t argue with that!”

Simon clutched his reins in frustration.

Though he was a sage, even sages find their titles challenged when confronted with all sorts of extraordinary events in this world.

When dealing with beings beyond common sense, no matter how much wisdom one cultivates, it ultimately comes down to experience.

“Think about it the other way. Isn’t it stranger that those gangsters got sliced up by a scrawny 10-year-old kid who could barely eat properly?”

“…..”

Ah! The expression of a sage filled with regret while on horseback!

Doesn’t he look just like a college student who memorized all the passages only to find the exam was all multiple choice?

“Have I lived too long…”

“Stop exaggerating. If you’ve lived long, what does that make us? Undead?”

“That’s right. Don’t act all wrinkled in front of a chrysalis!”

“Oh, woe is me…”

And so, being picked on by everyone except himself, Simon’s wrinkles and gray hair continued to increase today as well.

*

“Only three days left now.”

“It was a journey that felt like an eternity. About time we see the end of it.”

We were sitting around two campfires, having dinner.

Honestly, calling what Simon and the elf sisters made “cooking” seems like an insult to the meals my wife prepares… but an elderly human and child-like elf sisters… I suppose we should be grateful it’s at least edible.

“Still, this is decent enough. Honestly, if nothing had happened for a month, I would have gone crazy with anxiety.”

“Hehe… that’s true.”

The thought of sensing something might be there but nothing happening is truly something I don’t want to imagine.

It would be different if I could confirm there was nothing at all.

I spooned some of the borscht my wife had made into my mouth, while Casia put a spoonful of “I definitely added beans but why can’t I see them” stew into hers.

“Is it tasty…?”

“Do you think it could be?”

Casia retorted with familiarity.

Seeing Lucia and Simon eating without comment, it seems it’s at least not disgusting…

“How much alcohol do you have left?”

“Enough for three more days…!”

“That’s really something.”

How much do they love alcohol to calculate exactly how much to drink each day so they don’t run out?

At this point, shouldn’t their bone marrow be producing alcohol instead of red blood cells to make sense?

“And you still think I’m the crazy one?”

“…The world seems too vast.”

“That’s why we’re adventuring. Have a drink.”

*Clink!*

I took out a bottle of wine from my spatial storage, uncorked it, and downed it in one go.

I’m not usually one to get drunk, but today I felt like letting loose.

“To think there are people literally as numerous as stars who are stronger than me! The 13 continents are too scary!”

“You can say that again, damn it!”

Simon, already tipsy, answered loudly while scraping up the last of his “why can’t I see the cabbage I added?” soup.

When you think about it, isn’t it truly a frightening world?

In that distant city of Parcifal, an illiterate street urchin goes around massacring tens of thousands, while in this world, there are powerful individuals who can kill over a million people in the blink of an eye, walking the earth as if it’s nothing.

This is why, despite benefits like tax exemptions, people don’t rashly choose to become adventurers.

One might accept having their nose cut off with their eyes closed, but having their head cut off with their eyes open is unacceptable.

“I’m curious, what were your childhoods like? Well… it’s funny for me, still a child, to ask this…”

When I asked that, the elf sisters stopped their drinking and stared at me.

In truth, for elves who live forever, the concept of “childhood” is literally relative.

If you’ve lived 1,000 years, then being 100 is young, and if you’ve lived 10,000 years, then being 1,000 is young.

However, since they were “young” elves not even 100 years old yet, they didn’t seem to find my question strange.

“Just… normal, I guess?”

“My father is a lord, and my mother is the CEO of a major corporation.”

“…”

Damn it. How can having a lord for a father and a CEO for a mother be considered normal in any way?

Is this what’s considered normal for elves who have the incomparable advantage of living forever?

Well… if I lived over 10,000 years and was still a peasant farmer, I’d probably want to die too.

When I looked at Simon, he cleared his throat and stroked his beard before speaking.

“I was born in a temple. Among the priests who managed the Temple of Logos. My father and mother were ordinary people… both passed away from old age a few years ago.”

“I guess they didn’t receive life extension treatments?”

“Those are only effective if you get them early… and they’re quite expensive. They were good people. A bit rigid, but well, they were priests of Logos…”

Simon’s eyes reddened as he spoke.

He must be missing his parents after recalling memories of them because of me.

“I was doing okay until my father passed away.”

I already knew about Laisha’s family.

In Faerus Vale, the heart city of the Faerun continent, there were as many as 500 million people living, and Laisha’s family was one of them.

Until her father died, they were a family that managed to make ends meet, but after his death, their fortunes declined.

I’m not sure if I can take that “okay” at face value.

But still…

“So… am I the only one without a family?”

“I guess so?”

“What’s sadder? Having a family and losing them, or never having one to begin with?”

“I wonder…?”

In truth, I’m not too hung up on the concept of family.

I now have the age, wealth, and strength to take care of myself.

Of course, if the people around me were to say they’re my family, I wouldn’t have much to say against that…

“But now that I’ve taken Laisha as my wife…”

“Yes?”

“Why doesn’t it feel like I’ve gained a family?”

“Honestly, are you two even family? You’re just a dildo and an onahole that found each other.”

Lucia’s blunt response left me breathless.

Such clarity, stripping away everything but the basic purpose of male and female existence!

“How can you have sex every day without rest? Are you even human?”

Lucia smiled slyly and looked at Laisha.

Laisha said nothing, hiding her reddened cheeks with her hair, and I began a verbal battle with Lucia to defend my wife’s honor.

“Hahaha! How foolish, Lucia! If I were an ordinary human, I couldn’t have killed so many in Parcifal!”

“Gaaaaah! Show your true colors, you human-like something!”

“It’s not that I’m extraordinary! It’s that you’re all too weak!”

“If you’re going to persuade, at least be persuasive!”