episode_0006

“Please come quickly. Thanks to this, the castle gate is now closed.”

As I quickly tied up all the equipment inside with rope and got out, I saw Enin standing on the carriage with his arms folded, looking down at me coming out of the cave.

As expected, Enin was angry because he couldn’t come out even after entering the cave because of an alchemist somewhere.

It’s unfair for me because I couldn’t come out, but it’s a bit difficult to talk about everything that happened inside.

“He kept not coming out, so I couldn’t leave the carriage behind, so I had no choice but to wait. Why are you so late?”

“Uh… I went all the way inside and the equipment collapsed and I was crushed. It took some time to get out while cleaning up.”

Cold sweat runs down my back. I don’t know if it will work or not, but I made an excuse by saying something suddenly occurred to me, but I don’t know if it will be okay.

“Oh! sorry. I never even thought of that possibility. I thought you might have fallen asleep inside.”

“Ah, anyway, how can you sleep in a place like that? It’s bitterly cold, and if you sleep in such a cold place, your mouth will turn cold.”

“I’m really sorry. In the past, you were sleeping whenever you had time, so I thought you might do it again.”

‘What, it looks like you remember everything, even that situation.’

“I guess you were seeing me more often than I thought? I don’t remember anything at all…”

“Oh, no. Because he had been in our village for a long time at that time. I saw it once in passing.”

Enin, who was embarrassed, was making excuses. I guess he observed me more often than I thought.

Well, back then, being tired was my daily routine, so whenever I had time, I just lay down and slept anywhere, which may have been quite noticeable to others.

“Anyway, let’s go back quickly. If you go fast, you might still be able to get there before it closes.”

“Of course. First of all, I have to load only what I brought up.”

The Allied Forces’ base is inside the city, so if you speak, they will open the gate again, but it takes a lot of strength to open and close the large gate. Enin seems to be considerate of the soldiers at the gate.

“When I return, I will have to assign one more soul patient. It’s my first time working as a supply officer, so I didn’t think much about it, but I think we need at least one more person to prevent something like today.”

‘One more person.’

“Comrades in arms, right? So, is the person I recommend okay? Among the people I know, there is someone who is sincere and has a good personality.”

“If it were Lee Rim’s recommendation, it would be fine. Let’s go to the waiting area tomorrow.”

First of all, I think it’s fortunate that there is a way to get Master out. I was thinking that it would be quite inconvenient to be comfortable alone, but I think I can solve it right away.

Thanks to Enin, things suddenly start to work out in various ways.

‘… But it would be better not to talk about meeting Gloria.’

I feel sorry for Enin because he seems to be a good person, but he is still not someone you can blindly trust.

It wouldn’t be good if I reported it to the higher-ups and it got into their ears.

——————————-

The gate closed as soon as we entered. I’m glad it’s not too late.

“I’m glad we finally arrived. Well then, I’ll just leave work for today. Are you going to your accommodation? If you don’t mind, how about having dinner together?”

“It’s good.”

As soon as we went straight into the base, unloaded the equipment, and returned the carriage, Enin made a good offer.

Just because I have a mental illness doesn’t mean I can’t leave the base on a regular basis, but the process was complicated, so I was able to come out much more easily because I had an identity guarantor called Enin.

When I come out after work, I can smell food everywhere.

“Mmm. This is the smell of human food.”

“The food provided at the base is not tasty. Hehe.”

I prefer eating outside rather than barrack food, where the only thing I get every day is soup with meat that smells great, so I go out often even though it’s a hassle.

Having a military unit attached to a village is great in this regard. Since I know that the food served is not very good, there are many places that sell food, so everyone tends to eat dinner outside.

From the county’s perspective, warm food is provided, and from the city’s perspective, it helps with economic activities, so it’s a win-win.

“Of course, meat is the best on days when you spend all day eating dust! Meat!”

“Because meat is cheaper than bread, we only feed meat in the unit.”

Even if bread comes out, it is made from wheat that has been aged for unknown years, so it has no taste and is hard. The bread is so soft that it is difficult to touch it.

“But the meat at the restaurant tastes different because they only slaughter and use delicious monsters?”

“I agree with that.”

But while I was searching my pockets, a problem arose.

‘Oh my. I didn’t bring any money with me. Should I ask to go back?’

We don’t have any money either. They are paid as much as regular soldiers and come out to spend money after dinner.

Most of the salary I receive is put into the bank inside the base, but I was so busy today that I forgot to stop by on my way out.

‘Oh, this is really annoying.’

While adventurers use banks run by their guilds and ordinary citizens go to banks run by the city, we always deposit money at something that looks like a pawn shop rather than a bank.

So, if you don’t take it out right away every time you get paid every week, it will gradually disappear.

First of all, I save, but it’s only been 3 years since I started paying a proper salary, so I don’t know how much I would have saved. I receive it that week and use it all that week. Even at that level, you can’t even touch something like a really good product.

As my steps gradually became slower without me realizing it, Enin seemed to have noticed my situation and stopped.

Then he stood in front of me, crossed his arms, raised his head, and said.

“My immediate senior told me to show trust, reassurance, and magnanimity to those who hire a lieutenant. Just trust me today and eat without worrying!”

“I will follow you for the rest of my life!”

“Don’t worry, we’ll take care of everything from now on!”

It seems as if a halo is suddenly visible due to the generous remarks coming from a small body. In reality, the golden hair reflecting in the setting sun is dazzling.

I’m glad I found a good boss. This is why people should always live sincerely. Only then will such blessings from being a boss come to you.

I feel excited because I am eating quality meat for the first time in a while. The quality of meat that is put into soup in the military unit is different from the meat that you eat at the restaurant.

Because the war lasted for a long time and farmland has decreased, bread is still hard to find, but the monsters are growing more actively, so their meat, which is the main ingredient, is actually cheaper than bread.

‘This would have been unthinkable in modern times.’

However, the meat that goes into making our bodies is a little different. They are mostly made up of leftover pieces of real ‘any meat’ supplied by the Adventurer’s Guild.

‘I heard that many of the ingredients used in the barracks are of unknown origin.’

As a joke among us, there is a rumor that it actually contains flesh from other races rather than demonic beasts, but if it were true, it would be very uncomfortable.

So, even though we eat barrack food, we rarely try to find out its identity. It is best not to do anything that will reduce your appetite.

On the other hand, the meat in restaurants now uses meat obtained from beast-like beasts or properly raised livestock.

Following Enin’s lead, we entered the most luxurious-looking store among the alleys lined with restaurants.

“Welcome. What are you going to eat?”

“I would like a meat dish of the day and two beers, please!”

Since I know the restaurant owner well, it seems like a trustworthy restaurant.

The food came out right away and I started eating.

“Now that I think about it, a new agenda came out this time.”

“What is it?”

After eagerly tearing into the meat on the bone that had just been served, Enin began to tell a story.

“We are in charge of the front lines, and it has been about three years since the Adventurer’s Guild began taking charge of the beasts that appear in nearby villages, right?”

“That’s right.”

Originally, when the war was very severe, the military and mercenaries worked together to fight on the front lines, but after life stabilized to a certain extent, the front lines were left to the military, and the mercenaries created a facility called the Adventurer’s Guild.

Then, he began to take on tasks such as bounty hunting to catch bandits and criminals that appeared around him, subjugating demonic beasts, and eradicating heretics as requested by the church.

From the military’s perspective, they chose to maintain the front line and leave the rest to the adventurer’s guild, rather than spreading out their forces here and there and risking being pushed back all at once.

I heard that adventurer guilds tend to earn a lot of extra income by doing such things, so there are many new recruits other than mercenaries.

In addition to the quests linked to the military or church mentioned above, it is said that if you discover a separate dungeon and explore it first, you can make a lot of money, so it is said that the number of new players is increasing these days, where it is difficult to make a proper income.

“The problem that arises these days is that when the guild successfully completes a request, we are notified, but the military also has to send a dispatch to confirm once more. However, it seems that there have been a few cases of deceiving the inspectors and taking money by pretending that the work was done, taking advantage of the loophole that we were busy and not properly inspecting.”

“They are scammers.”

I guess it’s something that happens every once in a while. Things like taking advantage of loopholes in the system to evade taxes.

Especially this is fraud. The military provides a certain amount of subsidy to ensure security around the city, but they are embezzling it.

“So, I changed it to require at least one soldier to accompany me when making a request. They said that each person from the city security forces was left out one by one.”

“It looks like they are going to crack down hard for the time being.”

“I have a position in the Adventurer’s Guild, so I don’t think it will be like that for long.”

‘It’s because you can legally go outside.’

For me, who happened to get the artifact, it was also an opportunity to test it out.

“Is it okay for me to go there once?”

“Yes? Lee Rim is my lieutenant, so you don’t have to go, right?”

Enin looks at me quizzically.

I came into the supply world where there was no need to fight, but if I said I would walk into a dangerous place on my own, anyone would think it was so strange.

But I must go out to gather my soul.

‘Do you have any good excuse?’

“You know what? If a swordsman puts down his sword even for a day, thorns grow out of his hands…?”

“Aha. By going out to fight once in a while, you won’t forget what it was like on the battlefield! This is the mindset of someone I respect!”

“Yes, something like that.”

I was quick to come up with an excuse, but I’m glad it worked.

This might be a better opportunity than you think. Wouldn’t it be easy to collect souls by following the people of the Adventurer’s Guild and eliminating demonic beasts and other races? These days, there are fewer major wars.

“Then, since this is also official work, it would be a good idea to bring a spare body as well.”

“Ah, that’s right. If you give me permission, I will take it with me whenever I go.”

Inspectors are also public officials because they carry out public duties. If you can, it is better to take all the support you can get.

So what you can bring with you at this time is a spare body.

It is a coffin containing a doll that could be called a spare.

When a soul bottle dies, it is resurrected from its body in the resuscitation center.

However, due to the nature of having to immediately fill the battlefield, if you are competing far away, there is bound to be a distance from the resuscitation cow that can be made only through special work. So, in the case of small-scale expeditions, a separate carriage carrying spare bodies follows.

It is said that they did not resurrect randomly, but used their own magical laws. I don’t know the principle, but if you draw the same sentence as the one on your neck on the coffin containing the almost fully grown body, the body will be reserved.

In short, it is more convenient to think of the neck pattern as a barcode.

When you die, you are resurrected from the side that contains the spare body with that barcode. Therefore, due to the nature of the strategy of this place, which uses spirit bottles to be transferred to the battlefield, there are times when the number of wagons loaded with spare bodies exceeds the number of troops seen during an expedition.

To the average person, the sight of a wagon filled with coffins going out on a mission may seem like a procession of extremely pious martyrs, but I feel really uncomfortable when I think of them as all dolls who will rise after my death.

“Then, when you have time, you can go to the security maintenance building. As the supply manager gets busy from time to time, I will take responsibility for sending it to you at least once a week, excluding those days.”

“I’m really sorry, but thank you. I think it’s a bit too much to ask.”

“I told you so. He is my benefactor and someone I respect. He has such a great attitude, so how could I make him uncomfortable and a hindrance? Just trust me.”

I’m really crying. Where would I ever meet someone who cares for me this much?

Master also takes care of me often, but it feels a bit like taking care of a student and younger brother, and Enin is like a supporter and a long-legged uncle to me, so I can’t help but like him in a different way.

There is a condition instead of “”

“What is it?”

“Please speak informally to me when no one is around.”

“Uh, that’s…”

Enin makes a deal with me with a stern expression.

Was it always bothering him to speak informally to someone older than him?

Since I said that I feel like a benefactor to Enin, it must be quite annoying to keep receiving comments.

“Then why not do that? Instead, understand when others are around.”

Perhaps because he thought he would be rejected again, his slightly tense face instantly relaxed. Seeing them so happy makes me feel good too.

“Hehe! thank you! So let’s drink now! I have a story to tell so far, and I won’t let it go until late today!”

Enin, who was in a good mood, called a nearby clerk and ordered two more beers.

It seems like it’s been a really long time since I’ve had a drink, but since today is a day, it’s the best way to have dinner with drinks and talk.

——————————-

When I opened my eyes, it was the next day.

Whoop!

As soon as my eyelids opened, I could barely hold back the vomiting that came up.

‘I feel like I’m falling behind.’

This time, my head hurts not from the aftermath of resurrection, but from a hangover.

I drank beer and other alcoholic beverages, and although it was good to get it, the cheap alcohol produced by the alliance of kingdoms whose granaries were ruined did not end well.

‘How on earth does a body that doesn’t bleed digest the food and alcohol it eats?’

The body has many mysteries, but it is impossible to suddenly think deeply about the body in the morning because you have left your mind behind in yesterday’s bar.

I somehow managed to get in early in the morning, but it seems like I just closed my eyes for a moment and then came out.

Although I was assigned a separate accommodation for two, I was still alone and there was no one there, so I slept comfortably.

‘For now, let’s just stamp our eyes and head towards the security forces.’

“Ah, Lee Lim, are you here? I drank a really long time yesterday…”

When I went to the supply depot building, I saw that Enin was also lying on his desk, unable to control himself.

“That’s right. I couldn’t even remember how I found my accommodation.”

“I think the last drink I ordered was the problem…”

“What on earth did we drink last?”

“… Shall I ask you later?”

I drank it all the way out as soon as I got out of the atmosphere, and it was a liquor that had a fishy smell.

“… No. It might be better to just not know.”

‘If you find out for no reason, you might end up feeling worse.’

I go to one side of the barracks where the hangover smell is pervasive and bring drinking water in a cup.

I looked around the corner and found a rug with a magic circle that made the cups cold, so I placed the water cups on it and after a while, placed them in front of Enin.

“Ah, thank you.”

“What.”

Gulp, gulp-

The two people’s headaches seem to be getting better after being washed with water and moving down to their stomachs.

“… I guess I should move too.”

“… That should be it.”

I have a bad hangover and I was thinking of just resting in the barracks like this, but since I said that yesterday, I don’t feel like resting since the first day, so I have to go visit him first.

“Then, I will go to the security forces building.”

“Then take this with you.”

Enin opens a drawer under his desk and takes out two orders.

“You can submit one as a daily support document to be sent to your superior in the security forces, and the other as a reserve body application to be sent to the resuscitation center, so you can show it.”

“Thank you.”

He said he was there early in the morning, so I guess he came early to write this. I would have been sorry if I had told you that I would take the day off today, even though I must have had a pretty bad headache.

“And what was the name of the person you recommended?”

“Ah, Master… What was it? It must have been called Hwarim or something like that.”

Since the name was so familiar, I could barely remember the name I had heard before.

“Was it your teacher? It looks like you have a relationship with a priest?”

“Yes. I happened to become close with him, and he has great skills and personality.”

“Are you a woman?”

“Yes. however? Why?”

‘Is there something wrong?’

Enin’s expression looked a little worried, perhaps due to a headache, but he soon smiled again and continued speaking.

“… No. If you know the gender, it will be easier to find. Well, if Lee Rim says so, there is no need to conduct additional research. I will apply under this name, so please come back.”

“Yes. Come and see me.”

“Ah, over there…”

It looks like he has something to say.

“You’re the teacher, right?”

“Yes. That’s right, Master. Swordsmanship teacher. To be exact, I didn’t learn anything like vision, but I only learned how to use simple weapons.”

“Master, only?”

A tone that seems a bit like questioning something.

“Huh? Uh… my status is a soul disease, and I’m a teacher… and there’s nothing else?”

It seems like he’s really worried about his personal life or something.

“Then that’s enough. Please be careful.”

Enin must have been satisfied with my immediate answer and only then smiled broadly and let me go.

‘good. Let’s move quickly.’

Now I have to go and get my mission. I think it would be best to subdue a bunch of monsters.