Ch.210210. Society of Revenge

One day, as I gazed down at the landscape of the Dawn Empire, I suddenly felt the desire to observe up close the lives of those living there.

I’m not sure if this was some long-lost dawn emotion from decades ago, but regardless, such a desire was genuinely blooming within me after a long time.

So, at what would be approximately 9 PM by modern standards, I decided to conceal my identity and take a tour around the city.

For my avatar, I chose the wolf form, which makes hiding my identity easier. Specifically, I decided on a recently created avatar with a simple appearance.

My existing wolf form isn’t bad either… but that one has speech filtering, and above all, its appearance is too eye-catching.

From flawless skin and beautiful hair to bright red eyes and a face so exquisitely sculpted it borders on excessive—none of these can be ignored.

While the general perception of wolf beastmen within the Empire isn’t negative, that might actually draw more attention my way.

As someone who wants to quietly enjoy this beautiful city without attracting attention, I think something closer to a generic character might be better.

The red ears and tail of the wolf avatar would still catch people’s eyes, but that’s easily solved with some dye.

Wolf beastmen aren’t common in the city, but they’re not rare either. With a decent disguise, hardly anyone would recognize who I really am.

So I dyed my blood-red hair, ears, and tail to an ashen gray, changed my glowing crimson eyes to a beastly gold, and finally, switched my attire to that of a complete adventurer.

With a cowhide cloak and linen clothes, plus a small backpack and a sword at my waist.

The end result was a wolf beastman male with modest attire but an appearance so gaunt it eerily reminded one of a skeleton.

If I were still human, using a different body like this might have been uncomfortable, but my transcended divine mind accepted it with indifference.

Anyway, now that all preparations were complete,

I finally decided to descend into the city.

Unlike my brief activities as a messenger, this time I might need to operate with a physical body for several days.

So I possessed this wolf avatar into a “possession doll” that I had hidden in a secret space beneath the central temple of the city.

“…Phew.”

The next moment, I was on the surface.

“Ugh…”

*Crack*

Perhaps due to being stationary for so long.

After stretching my stiff joints, once I felt my body was reasonably functional, I opened the door and stepped outside.

Since the central temple was located on high ground, my view encompassed the entire cityscape.

Of course, given that the current time was just after 9 PM, what actually entered my vision was a night view twinkling with lights.

And this night view of the city from a human perspective…

“…”

I’m embarrassed to admit it, but it was enough to evoke what could genuinely be called a touching emotion.

Purely in terms of scenery, the night view of my divine realm would be dozens of times more beautiful, but this night view under the starry sky… had something moving about it.

The civilization humans had built, though within my grasp, had blossomed fully, symbolizing a magnificent flower in full bloom.

This scenery, which the original humanity might have had to wait thousands more years to see, seemed like proof that everything I had done so far wasn’t wrong.

So after being lost in thought while gazing at the city landscape, it suddenly occurred to me that it might get even later if I lingered.

Only then was I able to gradually make my way downtown, even as my eyes remained fixed on the city view.

※ ※ ※

The first place I headed was the bustling downtown area, still crowded with people despite the late hour.

It was the night market street, what could be called this era’s hotspot.

Countless licensed street vendors lined the streets with their stalls, and numerous shops remained open until this late hour.

Thanks to the abundance of magical lighting, the streets were as bright as day, and the aroma of food being prepared at the stalls wafted pleasantly in all directions.

And what shone brightest in this splendid fantasy-ancient night market were the happy expressions of the people strolling through this magnificent downtown.

Though some expressionless or slightly timid faces were mixed in, fundamentally their expressions all contained hope for the future.

The prosperity of the streets, which could be seen as the result of an infinite certainty that the future wouldn’t be negative, combined with the underlying infinite trust in Bjorn and me.

This naturally became the catalyst that lifted my mood.

“…”

As a result, suddenly in good spirits, I walked through the downtown with a slight smile on my lips, when one particular street vendor caught my eye.

It was just an ordinary stall selling skewered beef sprinkled with spices and grilled over a brazier—nothing special by local standards, but…

‘…That looks delicious.’

Perhaps due to having taken a material body after so long, my eyes rolled back at the essential hunger rising from within me, and as if entranced, I approached the stall and took out my wallet.

“Welcome! What would you like, sir?”

“…One pepper flavor and one garlic seasoning. Both on skewers.”

“That’ll be 7 copper coins!”

To the energetic young vendor—a female dog beastman—I handed over 7 copper coins from my wallet, and then suddenly had a thought.

Come to think of it, the currency currently used in the Dawn Empire is largely divided into two types.

One is the commonly used precious metals like gold and silver, but the other is the coinage of the Rom Empire, like what I just used to pay.

Well, even if they’re Rom Empire coins, gold and silver coins have the value of precious metals, but what I find uncomfortable is specifically the copper coins of the Rom Empire.

These copper coins are essentially like having minting rights transferred to the private sector—anyone could be making them and we wouldn’t know exactly who.

Typically, the cost to mint 10 Rom Empire copper coins is about 6 copper coins worth of materials, and that’s considering only the copper value, which could be several times cheaper.

So from my position, rather than these uncontrollable copper coins, it might be far better to establish a central bank—

“Your order is ready!”

My thoughts were cut off there.

*Munch, munch*

Taking the two skewers with large chunks of beef, I returned to the street and bit into the pepper-sprinkled beef skewer first.

The beef, made from beef fruit grown on meat trees, was not only of good quality, but the skill of the person who grilled it was also extraordinary.

The surface was evenly cooked while the inside remained juicy, and the ratio of pepper and salt sprinkled on the outside was perfectly balanced.

Momentarily forgetting even my concerns about a central bank, I was electrified by the shockingly excellent taste of the meat fruit, and then stared intently at the garlic-seasoned skewer in my other hand.

It was a typical Western sauce based on garlic with liberal use of onion, but somehow its aroma strongly stimulated my palate as a former Korean.

Unable to resist the rich garlic aroma, I opened my mouth and was about to put the delicious-looking beef skewer right into my wide-open mouth when—

“Get lost!”

*Thud!*

*Splat!*

At that very moment, an incident occurred.

Some thug suddenly pushed me from behind, and with my strength limited to a low level, I fell straight to the ground.

Of course, this much couldn’t cause even the slightest injury to my body, but the real problem lay elsewhere.

‘My, my skewer…’

The garlic-flavored beef skewer that I was about to enjoy with a pounding heart had fallen and crashed to the ground because of that thug.

“Hey, what’s wrong with you?! Why didn’t you move out of the way earlier?”

But before I could even mourn the beef skewer that had met its demise before I could eat it, the thug who had collided with me was actually getting angry at me?

So, enraged to the point where I could no longer tolerate this situation, I crushed the stick of the finished pepper beef skewer in my hand and—

‘You enemy of my garlic beef skewer! I won’t forgive you!!’

With my strength appropriately controlled, I drew the short sword from my waist and struck the thug’s head with the scabbard still on.

It was summer.