◈ Episode 333. Why

Kaw-kaw─

Kichi rolls her eyes.

“Raising your voice for what?”

Toward the Shadow Raven, the spirit animal of the Shadow Mercenaries.

“How many times do you think you’ve come up empty, birdie?”

I’ve followed Shadow Raven’s memories to this point. I can’t believe I’m relying on you to get me around…… The self-proclaimed ruler of the underworld is a joke.

“huu.”

But it was the only way.

As of now, what we know about the whole story of ‘that day’ on the continent.

Because that raven will be the only one there.

“Eat up, we’re running out of time.”

A spirit is a reflection of the group to which it belongs.

If the Akshan wolves possessed the Akshan’s unyielding spirit in the face of any enemy, the Shadow Raven was even more thorough in its dealings with the Shadow Mercenaries.

seuleuleu─

As Kichi flicked her long black hair out of her face, the shadow raven flew toward the nape of her neck and began pecking at the back of her neck with its beak.

“……suck.”

I can’t get used to this dirty feeling.

Since the raven is a disembodied spirit, it leaves no wounds. Instead, it takes life force in exchange for a bargain. Kichi brushes her hair back into place.

“You, try to fake it again this time.”

Maybe I was wrong to trust a bird, or maybe it’s because the Underworld hasn’t lost its focus while the Arcana continent has been turned upside down. I hadn’t gotten anywhere for days now.

“Damn it …….”

In the end, it was all in vain.

After clutching her head in frustration, Kichi glared at the crow.

It was obvious that the bird was making fun of her.

“You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?”

Kichi asked, self-conscious.

“What, because you don’t like me?”

Maybe I’m the most un-Shadow Mercenary leader the Shadow Mercenaries have ever had……. Perhaps it’s odd that the Shadow Raven, the spirit animal of the Shadow Mercenaries, should be so pleased with me.

The corner of Kichi’s mouth turned up crookedly.

“If that’s the case, you should have said so.”

Sreung!

Kaw-kaw-?

The raven flinched and stomped its feet as Kichi pulled out his secret weapon.

But Kichi’s dagger wasn’t aimed at the shadow raven.

It was the nape of her neck, or more precisely, a long strand of hair.

Snip.

Kichi’s touch was gentle.

Without hesitation, she cut her black hair into a short bob.

She tossed the clump of hair in front of the shadow raven.

“Life force is a paltry thing that regenerates in a day, even if you accept something in return that isn’t valuable to the other person, it can’t be a proper transaction, right? It may seem odd, but he is the general manager. Thanks to you, I know well the twisted mentality of the shadow mercenaries.”

The Shadow Mercenaries are a nasty organization.

Why, one need only look at their past client books to see that. They’ve done a lot of things for nothing but evil……. Kichi had given the raven what it wanted, a chunk of her most precious hair.

“I grew it out for years…….”

Kichi’s eyes came alive.

“Eat it without shedding a single strand, and speak straight.”

Kaw-kaw-!

“Where are the auction pigs hiding?”

kogkogkog─

The shadow raven swallowed all of the hair and flew off with a flourish. Kichi thought. Clever bird, I should pluck all those feathers and fry them.

The good news is.

‘What are you doing, Wolf?’

Wolfe, who would have taken over his leadership, hadn’t called on the Shadow Raven once in all this time. As a result, Shadow Raven still considered Kichi to be in charge.

Kichi reached to run a hand through her hair out of habit, but her fingers faltered in emptiness.

‘Because it’s expensive, the price of that bird is.’

More than a hair’s worth if it was a troupe member.

If it knew I was a runaway who couldn’t even make the troupe…….

Maybe the price would have been decades of life.

Kichi shrugged.

‘In that sense, I’ll cut you some slack.’

She’d already forgotten about the hair she’d cut off.

‘If you can find it.’

However, I have been looking for it for several days.

Although I still had regrets about ‘different hair’.

Kichi had to laugh to herself.

“……It’s not the time to talk to others. What are you doing?”

The Orc Auction.

As the name implies, the auction house is run by orcs, the rulers of the Underworld. Kichi knew better than anyone what it was like to be an orc in the Underworld.

Orcs’ strength is dozens of times greater than that of normal humans, and their life force is more tenacious than a weed in a wheat field. You could chop off a forearm and a new one would grow back in a matter of weeks.

Also, contrary to popular rumors, they are no less intelligent than humans, as evidenced by their ability to run an auction house.

The only problem is that they have a major disadvantage: they are ugly enough to make you forget all about their superiority.

But as I said, orcs were clever.

They didn’t try to blend in on either side of the Arcana continent, but instead played to their strengths in the underworld, expanding their power by any means necessary.

By any means necessary.

“That’s why you bought it without fear.”

Kichi checked the transaction ledger.

The “other hair” she was looking for hadn’t been sold to someone at a public auction. It had been bought outright by the organizer, Oak Auctions, just before the auction began, at a value of a thousand times the starting price.

That’s what drew Kichi to Oak Auctions.

“You’re hiding in the wrong place, boys.”

Money shouldn’t have been a problem for the commission-based orcs.

The amount of gold floating around in the Underworld is beyond imagination. It’s no wonder that the Arcana continent has more dirty gold coins than clean ones.

No wonder they’re hiding so tightly.

‘There’s no reason to go out there.’

The orcs were already wealthy, and more than capable of protecting their wealth. They had no reason to go out and defend the Arcana continent. It was a wise decision to build an underground city and stay put.

Except for one thing.

“However, it was a mistake to touch that hair.”

kkaaw─.

The mine was unremarkable from the outside.

If it weren’t for the green-skinned orc guarding the mouth of the mine.

Kichi started to approach, but stopped short.

Geez, maybe we need to refrain from making a fuss right now……?

Jump and run.

It was a sound that was hard to hear in a fairly remote area. Kichi turned her head toward the source of the movement and was surprised. Why would someone like that be wandering around a neighborhood like this alone……?

A face covered by a veil.

Long, white robes.

The figure was unmistakably that of a priest.

Judging by her veiled face, she must be a sister of the Church…….

She’s either fearless or overly devout.

Wandering the Arcana Continent alone like this.

Kichi quickly shook her head.

‘Of course, it’s none of my business.’

Kichi held up the dagger in her hand.

“I’m thin, frail, drunk, and overly emotional, and I have to enter a mine full of vicious, rampaging orcs all by myself.”

A joke that a member of the Shadow Mercenaries would not have snorted at.

There was no convincing Kichi.

Of course, it seemed like there was no intention of persuading Kichi either.

Tut-tut-tut.

No sneaking.

No sneaking, just a straightforward approach to the mine.

“!!”

The wary orcs reacted immediately.

Thud!

They raised their weapons and looked at Kichi’s face in surprise.

“Are you……. You’re Captain Kichi of the Shadow Mercenaries?”

With the utmost respect.

Orcs who control the underworld of the Arcana continent.

The Shadow Mercenaries were a force to be reckoned with in the Underworld and beyond, and Kichi, the leader of the Shadow Mercenaries, was approaching them with a trick up her sleeve.

Kind words are bound to come out.

“I, I apologize, your appearance is noticeably different from before, and I did not recognize you immediately. I apologize again!”

“Are you saying you’ve grown old in my absence?”

“Oh, no, it’s just that your hair has gotten shorter……!”

“Ding. That’s also wrong.”

“……!!”

She’s not in a good mood.

I don’t think there will be any benefit in mixing things up any more.

Let’s get to the point.

The orcs quickly lowered their weapons and opened their mouths.

“If you have a message for us, we’ll take it upstairs!”

“Tell Ulrich that he has what we’re looking for.”

“The auction is currently closed, but……. I’m sure Mr. Ulrich would appreciate your request, and I’ll be right back with word.”

“Oh, can you add a word?”

“Of course.”

“I’m afraid I won’t be able to give you a single gold coin for some reason.”

“……Is it because you are short of money?”

“No, it’s because of his pride.”

……What is pride?

The orc’s face seemed to turn even bluer at Kichi’s words.

Orcs, they are what they are.

The only thing they trusted in the world was gold coins.

Even though you said you were looking for something, you couldn’t hand over a single gold coin.

Now he understood why Kichi was so eager to show off her weapon.

‘There’s no way the old man Ulrich can stay still…..’

The orc soldier squeezed his eyes shut.

‘Damn, this is going to be a bloodbath.’

*

Goddess Church.

Belongs to the tribe of the Second Coming of the Goddess.

Saint, Freyja.

Freyja never stopped walking toward the source of the darkness.

The landscape of the Empire was unfamiliar.

Perhaps it was the passage of time.

But Freyja’s vacant eyes were not fixed on anything, only on the darkness that engulfed the Arcana continent, the unfathomable sorrow that she would purify in the name of her goddess.

“…….”

The only familiar sight came into view.

Antonium, the capital of the Empire.

Freyja clasped her hands together in prayer.

“The Goddess has guided me here.”

Freyja took a small, deep breath.

The darkness seemed to begin in Antonium.

Antonium must not be okay.

The emotions flowing out of the darkness were not at a level that a single human could handle. The people of Antonium, who would have been exposed to deeper sorrow at a closer distance, by now…….

Freyja spoke.

“Goddess, watch over the poor.”

Freyja tightened her grip on her pendant, which bore the octagonal symbol of the Goddess Church. As she neared Antonium, she could never be sure where the source of darkness would strike her. She had to be ready for judgment at any moment.

Then, something strange happened.

“Open the gates!”

A booming voice rang out from the citadel of Antonium.

It was the voice of a guard.

Not a hint of sadness or exhaustion.

“Oh, aren’t you a sister of the Goddess Church, wandering the continent on your own now that even the Muon isn’t intact? I’m glad you’re safe, though!”

Freyja was led into the Antonium by a guard.

And then she faced it.

The landscape of Antonium was so different from her expectations that it was almost disconcerting.

“You must be from the countryside, or you don’t know what’s going on in the world.”

“Well, if it’s a village, it’s a village, right? If it’s lacking…….”

“No, no, It’s not that there is a shortage, but where in the world are there people who give gold coins for food for three people! It must be in the west of the continent……. And where did you say you came from?”

“Maxima’s estate.”

“Yes, Maxima! I envy the merchants there, wherever they are. Two days of trading there, what’s a month, and they’ll make enough to feed and entertain commoners like us for a lifetime.”

Bustling beyond lively.

It’s not hard to see how an outsider, a non-resident of Antonium, could fit in.

It’s not unlike the Antonium she remembers from the past.

Rather.

“Anyway, I don’t have the change to change gold coins, now or ever, so you should probably just go, but I can at least change silver coins, and you can come back when they’re changed to silver.”

“Isn’t that a trauma? It’s not going to cause any trouble…….”

“Of course not, even my dog would laugh if I told him I didn’t have enough gold coins to pay for my food and that you knights with your armor made of gold were taking it.”

There was a strange gentleness in the air.

It was hard to believe there had been so much darkness.

But Freyja didn’t have time to look for a reason.

“……!”

It was getting closer and closer.

She could see it coming.

The source of the darkness.

kkuug─

Freyja clutched the pendant in doubt.

Then, she faced the darkness.

Its form was hard to make out.

Her veil shielded her eyes.

But somehow, the source of the darkness had revealed itself.

Instead, she heard the people cheering.

Freyja chanted.

“Goddess. Do not lead me into temptation.”

Do not let me be confused before the judgment.

She prayed.

Soon, the pendant transformed into the goddess’s mace.

The source of the darkness that would one day plunge the continent into deep sorrow.

In the name of the Goddess, I must judge.

Why……?

The pendant was unchanged.

It did not contain the power of the Goddess.

The Goddess had not answered her prayer.

With trembling eyes, Freyja looked beyond the veil to the source of the darkness.

No, to say it is darkness itself.

A man radiating an excessively brilliant light.

.

.

.

I’m afraid.

To your goddess.

I think she likes me better than you.

[Friendship with religion, Goddess Church, has reached its maximum].

-“I don’t believe in God.”

-“Because there is no solid evidence that it exists.”

-“But there’s also no solid evidence that God doesn’t exist.”

-“Because a little demon can’t be proof.”

Making a big show of being irreligious.

An update on the Muon who led the Paladins of the Goddess Church with sophistry.

A summary of my actions.

The highlight video has a whopping 2.14 billion views on NetTube.

‘I wonder if it’s profitable, but…….’

Anyway, this is how that shame is starting to pay off……!