Chapter 323: Reorganization (8)

Chapter
323: Reorganization (8)

The
Puppeteer’s sudden appearance instantly stirred up the camp.

“The
conference is still days away…!”

“Could
it be, a surprise attack?!”

Some
of the less experienced knight order members chattered with
expressions of confusion.

“If
they were going to launch a surprise attack, they wouldn’t just be
floating in the sky like that.”

As
I watched a knight order member who seemed to be a senior officer
calming down his confused subordinates, I also looked up at the sky.

A
woman with black hair and black eyes, with the beautiful impression
of a sickly girl.

As
one of the knight order members said, the woman was indeed in the
sky.

The
woman standing against the blue sky and the sun looked like a solar
eclipse.

The
woman’s hair was long enough to reach her toes, and it naturally
covered her naked body, which was bare of even a single thread.

No,
it was a bit of an overstatement to say she wasn’t wearing a single
thread.

Creak.
Creak…

The
woman’s body.

At
first glance, it looked like the body of an ordinary human woman, but
there were gaps like doll joints in various places, and threads of
Mana connected between the doll joints were moving the Puppeteer’s
body.

[It’s
not a ‘linked’ one, but the main body came. ]

According
to Bunny, that was the Puppeteer’s main body.

At
least, she wasn’t like Denshi, who was linked to the Puppeteer by the
curse of the puppet.

But
strangely, I was overcome with a strange sense of incongruity as I
looked at the Puppeteer’s main body.

‘That
girl… she resembles her.’

Although
the detailed features were not exactly the same.

There
were aspects of the Puppeteer’s doll body that resembled my younger
sister.

For
example… the curves of her body.

Ideal
breasts that were neither too big nor too small.

An
atmosphere that evoked a desire to protect, emanating from the
fragile and pathetic lines of her body.

[I
really can’t understand that girl’s taste. I heard that she lost her
real body in the battle with the Mother Earth Goddess and barely
survived with a doll’s body, but she made a doll modeled after the
body of the girl who almost killed her. ]

“…”

I
listened to Bunny’s voice and gripped her handle tightly.

Unless
I held onto something tightly, I wouldn’t be able to calm my heart,
which was fluctuating as I got closer to the truth.

[Ugh…
what’s wrong? Why are you suddenly holding me so tightly? ]

“…No.”

I
shook my head at her question as to why I was suddenly acting up and
looked around.

There
were few who were so flustered that they forgot their roles and
wandered around.

The
royal knight order members, the elite of the elite, gathered in front
of their lord, Celsia.

None
of them acted rashly, waiting for their lord’s orders to be issued.

Some
of them glanced at me, who was standing next to Celsia, but few
complained.

‘It’s
because my skills were proven in the sparring match with Idelbert.’

Even
if they felt a sense of inferiority and a desire to improve from
seeing someone stronger than them holding an axe as if protecting
their lord, there was no idiot here who would openly express their
dissatisfaction.

“Master!”

“Denshi?”

When
I turned my head at the voice calling me, I saw Denshi, who had
prepared a dagger and crossbow for battle, approaching me and caught
my eye.

“Is
there anything wrong with your body?”

“No.
I don’t feel ‘linked’.”

Denshi
nodded immediately and knelt down to me, offering the collar around
her neck.

It
was an appeal of her harmlessness and that she was not being
controlled by the Puppeteer at the same time.

“It’s
okay, get up. A battle might break out, so load the crossbow with
bolts, and what about Master?”

“He’s
watching the Puppeteer’s movements from the top of the aid station
building. He told me to report the situation and respond to Master in
case there are any signs of an attack.”

I’m
glad I healed Idelbert as soon as the sparring match was over.

Idelbert,
the most outstanding force in this camp, was the most flexible card
to respond to in case of an emergency.

“Okay.
Celsia.”

“Yeah.”

Celsia,
who heard the conversation between me and Denshi, nodded and glared
at the Puppeteer.

“Puppeteer.
You’ve brazenly shown yourself first.”

Celsia
spoke to the Puppeteer in a cold voice.

The
calm yet angry voice was not that of a shut-in or a shy person…

It
was the voice of a princess angered by a terrorist who had broken her
promise with the late king and committed atrocities once again.

Perhaps
it was in response to that chilling voice.

The
person who wreaked havoc in the lawless zone looked down at Celsia.

I
pulled Mana from the hand holding the axe in preparation for
anything.

And
at that moment, the Puppeteer’s gaze turned to me.

Smirk.

Her
lips drew an arc.

“It’s
the first time we’ve met face to face, isn’t it?”

The
knight order members, who seemed to be of high rank, muttered quietly
at the friendly voice.

“…Was
that just said to the princess?”

“After
turning so many people into mindless idiots and thugs, she’s so
nonchalant when she talks to us…!”

“As
expected, she’s a demon. They don’t respect humans at all and just
use them as they please…!”

Their
voices were mixed with hostility and fear towards the demon.

The
reason why cold sweat was flowing from their foreheads and their
trembling lips were tightly clenched was probably because of the
clear demonic energy felt from the Puppeteer.

The
thought of a solar eclipse when I saw the Puppeteer was not just a
simple illusion.

The
demonic energy flowing from within her drew the shape of a black
sphere and surged around her.

It
wasn’t just a blurry aura, but the Mana that flowed out even as she
breathed was affecting reality.

–The
Demon of Greed, who was resurrected during the late king’s reign,
possessed complete power. We quickly formed a subjugation force, but
enormous damage was expected.

I
understood the late king’s actions of accepting the non-aggression
pact without subjugating the Puppeteer.

If
we were to engage in a full-scale war with that, hundreds, even
thousands, of sacrifices would follow.

Not
just explorers of the average Joe level, but the royal elite knight
order members and upper-middle-class explorers.

While
gauging the Puppeteer’s power, I was making eye contact with the
Puppeteer.

‘She’s
not talking to Celsia.’

This
was not an overestimation of my self-consciousness, nor was it
intuition, but a clear fact.

The
Puppeteer had been watching me since Denshi ran to me.

The
words that it was the first time we had met face to face.

And
now.

–The
hero’s, brother.

The
words she conveyed, only moving her lips.

All
of them were said to me.

“…”

Squeeze-!!

I
gripped Bunny’s handle even tighter.

[……]

Bunny,
who was staring at the Puppeteer with me, was also enveloped in
silence.

Could
it be that the Puppeteer mistook me for someone else?

‘No.’

I
immediately shook my head at the question that briefly arose.

She
doesn’t even know what I think about the hero, so there’s no way she
would suddenly say something like that.

I
guess what the Puppeteer said was pure truth without any room for
falsehood.

‘In
other words, the Puppeteer has evidence in her hands that I am worthy
of being called the hero’s… Mother Earth Goddess’s brother.’

I
don’t know for sure whether it’s an object or a memory.

Moreover,
the Puppeteer’s words were consistent with the assumptions I had
vaguely held.

The
Mother Earth Goddess who sealed the demons in the labyrinth.

The
hero who ended the great war hundreds of years ago.

The
existence that many people now call a fairy tale legend and a hero
is…

‘Soeun…’

It
was my younger sister.

“This,
you fucking bitch…”

Clatter-!!

Even
though I clenched my mouth to keep the curse words from coming out, a
fierce sound flowed out as my teeth gnashed.

My
head heated up in an instant, and it became difficult to control the
overflowing anger.

‘What
responsibility does that sickly girl have…’

My
younger sister, who had been sickly since she was a child, carried
the heavy burden of being a hero.

Did
she have to fight against beasts that scattered ugly desires just by
facing them?

‘What
sin did she commit, the girl who showed a pure smile for her brother
who worked hard every day…’

How
much pain did she go through, and how many trials did she endure
before she could seal the demons?

I
couldn’t even imagine what my younger sister had gone through.

The
only thing a brother could do for his younger sister was to be angry
on her behalf.

Drip.
Drip.

Blood
dripped from the hand holding the oversized axe.

Even
though the skin on the axe’s solid handle was crushed and a faint
bloody scent spread, I had no time to worry about such things.

The
moment I got the answer to what my younger sister had gone through,
my head immediately became complicated.

What
should I do.

What
should I do?

What
can I do in the first place?

Is
there any point in being here anymore?

What
value is there in a brother who couldn’t even protect his younger
sister?

I’d
rather just die—

“Master.”

Squeeze.

The
moment I had an extreme thought in my mind.

Denshi
grabbed my wrist.

She
looked at me, who was dripping blood from the handle of the axe and
trembling with anger.

And.

“I
am by your side, Master.”

She
patted her chest with a confident expression.

…No
way.

Did
she think I was scared of the Puppeteer?

“…Ha!”

Why
is that?

The
moment I saw the confident yet brazen appearance of my slave, a burst
of laughter erupted.

At
the same time, I felt as if my mind, which was filled with
complicated thoughts, was blown away.

Right.
What was I thinking?

Now
there’s more to my life than just my younger sister.

People
who protect me.

And,
people I want to protect.

It’s
not right to think about death on my own when they’re here.

Don’t
be stiff.

Once
you recognize and accept the situation, just move forward again.

“Thank
you, Denshi.”

“Hehe.”

Clang!

When
I pulled her collar with a smirk, Denshi grinned and stretched her
lips.

After
patting her head wildly, I turned my gaze to the Puppeteer in the sky
above.

‘That
expression…’

The
moment I heard that I was the hero’s brother and showed an extreme
reaction, the Puppeteer’s lips curved into a crescent moon and
reached her ears.

—I
heard she was deeply infatuated with a woman. Later I found out that
it was the hero.

—The
guy who plundered everything around him and greedily filled his belly
suddenly stopped plundering and jumped into every battlefield the
hero participated in, and I thought he had finally gone crazy.

—I
also heard that he infiltrated the hero’s base camp alone and
collected her dead skin cells and hair.

—The
Greed’s obsession was abnormal. It was as if all his desires were
directed towards the Mother Earth Goddess.

If
I recall the Puppeteer’s appearance that I heard from Bunny before,
the Puppeteer was fanatically obsessed with the hero.

‘Not
only do I need to solve Denshi’s curse, but I also need to get more
information about the hero.’

The
Puppeteer is a demon who has been obsessed with the hero for hundreds
of years.

She
must know what happened until the hero became the Mother Earth
Goddess.

I
had to know and feel everything my younger sister had gone through.

Because
that’s a brother’s responsibility.

‘And,
I have to go to her, who is still in the depths of the labyrinth.’

To
do that, I had to first sort out the situation in front of me.

I
had a lot of thoughts about what to do and say to the Puppeteer, but
my head was so complicated that I couldn’t speak well.

“Come
down to the ground. You bitch.”

The
surroundings froze coldly at the words I spat out.