My Demons - Chapter 10
Only Krnovel
My Villains Episode 010
4. South Harbor (1)
After finishing the meal, I started doing some light exercise at the back of the inn.
I asked Ellen to go with me and she said no. What, you want to meditate?
I was a little worried about leaving him alone because he was a superfluous person who couldn’t do anything… … .
Ugh. I’m not his babysitter, so there’s nothing I can do about it. And through that meditation, you might be able to acquire the skills I gave you.
Anyway, after stretching hard, I did push-ups and sit-ups.
Even though I was wearing heavy armor, it didn’t take much effort. You can easily do 120 per minute, right?
While I was giving up, I also tried the ‘planche’.
The planche is a type of bodyweight exercise. To put it simply, it is a series of static exercises in which you lift your feet from a push-up position. When Kim Seung-su was in good shape, he could not get out of the frog pose, but Poinix’s body was able to do a proper planche very easily.
Not only was he strong, but his flexibility and athleticism seemed to be on a different level.
Next, we ran around the harbor like we were the main characters in Rocky.
I passed by the dockside, the plaza lined with street vendors, the pagoda where the lord of the castle resides, and took a long circle near the castle walls.
Due to the combination of Poynix’s superior leg length and the fact that South Harbor is not a very large city, the run was over in less than ten minutes.
I ran at a decent pace, but I wasn’t out of breath and my body felt brisk.
I felt like I would have to run at least a half marathon to really train my body through running.
The physical examination that continued throughout the morning was a truly special experience.
Until a few days ago, I was an ordinary office worker, but now I have the physical strength of the national Olympic team or better.
A completely different level of pleasure than the satisfaction I felt while washing my body yesterday made me thrilled.
Did you say that a healthy mind resides in a healthy body?
It may be a bit over the top, but I felt confident that I could accomplish anything.
By the way, there was a bathhouse on the way back to the inn.
Of course, the public bathhouse was not as great as the public bathhouses in Korea.
The bathhouse was a building that looked like a whitewashed thatched house, and there were several piles of firewood piled on the exterior walls.
And on one side of the yard, a woman and several children were sitting around doing a huge amount of laundry.
He said it was a public bathhouse, and it looks like he also does laundry.
Despite my conscience holding me back, I peeked inside through the small wooden window through which steam was escaping.
In the corner of the building, a large cauldron was hanging to boil water, and in the remaining space, people were soaking their bodies one by one in wooden barrels that were as high as their waists.
But my goodness, aren’t men and women washing in the same space without any curtains or partitions?
I even saw several barrels with a man and a woman in them together.
As an ethics man with a 50 point score on the College Scholastic Ability Test and a Confucian scholar with a minor in Oriental philosophy, I have engraved in my heart the saying that men and women are equal for seven years. I’m losing my mind.
Still, I thought I would give it a try to get used to the new world and wash off my sweat – but as expected, money was an issue.
The fee to use the bathhouse was four pennies, but since I needed to save money now, I decided to come back to the bathhouse next time.
… … It’s a shame.
After returning to the inn, I tried using the skill.
Here I learned something a little annoying: unlike in the game, you had to bleed to use the skill.
If you reach level 15 and acquire the passive skill ‘Hot Blood’, you will be able to use blood that is not yours as a skill material, but not now.
Well, even if there was ‘hot blood’, there are no enemies around now, so I would have had to give my own blood.
In the end, after hesitating for a moment, I bled my palm with the multipurpose dagger.
I made a big decision and cut myself a long wound, but it felt a little odd because it felt like I was hurting myself. No, it’s not the same thing, it’s self-harm.
With the money I paid, I used the three active skills, namely ‘Blood Blade’, ‘Blood Shield’, and ‘Thirst’ in that order.
‘Blood Blade’ was a skill I had already experienced. As I used it, the blood that flowed from the palm of my hand lingered and wrapped around the pulse.
In the game, it was just a skill that strengthened attack power, but in reality it was a little different.
Of course, it feels like the knife has become a little sharper… … Actually, I don’t know. I can’t even draw my body.
In any case, in reality there was a slightly different imposition effect.
The blood covering the knife felt like a part of my body. So, if I concentrated my mind, I could change the shape of the blade little by little.
The only way to change the shape was to slightly extend the length, but it seemed like it could be quite useful once you got good at it.
How difficult would it be for the enemy if the blade suddenly became longer by about 30 centimeters during a fight?
‘Blood Shield’ was a skill that covered the shield with blood, but it had a very different feel from ‘Blood Blade’.
Perhaps because I only scored 1 skill point, I didn’t feel any particular sensation. I couldn’t change its shape, and the shield didn’t feel like a part of my body.
‘Blood Shield’ was a skill that required investing quite a lot of skill points to learn the essential skills of a Blood Knight, such as ‘Iron and Blood Armor’ or ‘Red Ice’.
If you take pictures later, something will change.
Lastly, ‘thirst’ was a slightly unusual skill.
In the game, it was a buff skill that consumed vitality to increase attack power and accuracy, but in reality it was of course different.
When I used the skill, I literally felt thirsty. No, it’s not thirst, it’s just… … It was a feeling that was difficult to explain, like feeling like I was lacking something or like my desires were rising.
I felt like my senses were becoming clearer along with a strange sense of stress, but it wasn’t a very dramatic effect.
I think this is because I invested only one skill point.
‘Thirsth’ was a skill that had to be filled with 10 skill points at some point, even if it was a little lower in priority. Things will change when I film this too.
By the time I tried using all three active skills, I could also feel the effects of the passive skills.
In a normal case, the wound on my palm that would have lasted over a week had healed in no time.
I quietly looked down at the dried scabs on my wounds drying and crumbling.
I felt strange again.
Is this body human?
I ate the duck eggs and sparrow skewers I bought on the way and talked to the waitress who worked at the inn.
The waitress was a young woman named ‘Daria’ who appeared to be in her early to mid twenties with red hair and moderately tanned skin.
I liked her small waist and voluptuous breasts, but what I liked most was her friendly attitude in answering my questions.
“You didn’t even work, did you just run and sweat all morning?”
“huh. “Isn’t it refreshing and nice?”
“Puh-huh, you’re a bit of a weird guy, aren’t you?”
“I hear things like that sometimes.”
Daria continued to laugh even at my trivial stories. It was a look that I really liked.
If it were Kim Seung-su, it would have been ridiculous kimchi soup, but it was different now. Poinix’s eyes were a little sharp, but he had a handsome face no matter who looked at him.
In my personal opinion, among the Dark World series characters, the most handsome and pretty are the male and female blood knights.
Anyway, the purpose of my chat with Daria was not to seduce this girl, but to get some information.
The situation in South Harbor was not much different from the game, but I wanted to know the details.
I collected information by writing notes on pieces of cloth with a borrowed quill.
Daria seemed a little surprised that I knew how to read, but she didn’t ask any questions.
Based on the setting, is Poynix a fallen nobleman or a bastard of a noble family? Anyway, that was it.
Maybe that’s why Phoenix was an elite who could speak and write Milano and Ghelan, and could also read and write Spakht.
For example, in the case of Earth, you can assume that you know French and German, and that you know how to read and write Latin.
•••This is a complete scam.
“So, the city is not under attack right now?”
“Well, that’s a little ambiguous.”
“It’s ambiguous?”
« O ”
flaw-
Daria nodded and continued her explanation.
“I heard that the last time the bandits directly attacked the city was 15 days ago, and that they have been hiding in the reed fields since then. “It’s the same with pirates, they say they’re circling around the city and plundering people who come and go.”
“So does this mean that magic bandits and pirates are the same gang?”
“Maybe so?”
Ah, that’s not why I skipped the story.
It seems like there is some connection between magic bandits and pirates… … I don’t remember if it was because we were in a cooperative relationship, or because we were all in the same gang.
In the game, I was too busy just running and destroying things.
As far as I can remember, the leader of the magic bandit side is the ‘Robber Baron’ and the leader of the pirate side is the ‘High Priest of the Deep Sea’.
“Hmm… … Are you planning to dry up the city and kill it?”
“Maybe so, maybe not. “But I heard there are so many supplies in stock that we won’t have to worry for a while.”
“Ohh” –w •
I continued to ask various questions after that.
What kind of person is the governor of Seongju, what is the atmosphere of the city like, is there anything for a mercenary to do, etc.
Suddenly, it occurred to me that the reason I fell into South Harbor, Chapter 2, might have been arranged by someone (Trickster or Transcendant).
This is because the situation in South Harbor was so exquisite.
South Harbor was under siege, but it was not immediately destroyed.
But what if the player, or rather I, doesn’t do anything? The city would either wither away or be destroyed by thieves’ attacks.
This is because the scenario of Chapter 2 was to crush the crisis that would befall the city.
In short, I am now in a situation where I have to do anything to save my life.
What would have happened if I had started in Eyland, Chapter 1?
Did they face off against a pack of direwolves that attacked the grazing land? Did they take out the goblin tribe and save the village? Was he on a ship heading to South Harbor?
well. I can’t guarantee, but there’s a high probability that it wouldn’t have happened. I probably spent the time shivering while stuck in the ranch, which was the starting point.
“are you okay? “My complexion is not good.”
Hmm, I guess I was making a rotten expression without realizing it. I raised my eyebrows and said as if it was nothing.
“hmm? Oh, just… … Because it’s a little hot. “Can I use the well?”
“of course. “Since you’re not here at the moment, I’ll let you use it for free.”
“Oh really? thank you.”
After all, he is handsome and something to see. Good luck, Phoenix!
I felt better for a while, but even as I went out to the backyard and pulled up well water with a bucket, a part of my heart felt heavy. It felt like I was holding an invisible time bomb in my hands.
“Are you finished talking?”
“Miss, I’m surprised.”
Suddenly, I was startled by a voice coming from behind me, so I lost my bucket.
“what? “Why are you so excited?”
What suddenly appeared was Ellen, wearing a beige shirt and thin cloth pants.
I pulled up the bucket again and glanced at her.
“Are you surprised or not surprised when someone suddenly jumps out from behind you?”
“What happened all of a sudden? I’ve been here since a while ago
“It was.”
“•••okay?”
I guess I was lost for a moment.
As I splashed well water on my face with a puzzled expression, Ellen leaned against the wall of the inn with her arms crossed and asked,
“Have you ever fantasized about harassing the farmer?”
“You’re such a cheap talker – what is a cropper bitch, a cropper bitch?”
“I guess I got it right?”
“Don’t start a fight for no reason.”
I suddenly frowned and looked back at Ellen.
“Were you watching me talking to Daria?”
“Did you just see it in passing? “Are you going to put your face in my cleavage?”
•••I don’t remember, but I feel like it really was like that, so I have nothing to say.
“You say you meditate? “Why are you here?”
As I said that and took off my top, Ellen slowly turned her head and said.
“•••Meditation every day makes a difference.”
“Yumma. Whether it’s studying or exercising, you have to be consistent to improve. I’m young… … “Ugh, no.”
I stopped talking because I felt like I was being rude.
When I stopped talking and closed my mouth, he muttered quietly.
“If everything increases consistently, there will be no one in Middle World who can’t use magic.”
Well, that guy must have been learning magic and meditating at La-Palais Palace.
Since I couldn’t use magic while doing that, admonishing me about consistency and all that was ridiculous.
Sighing and muttering incoherently stimulates a sense of guilt.
But that was only for a moment, and Ellen smiled faintly and spoke in an excited voice.
“But I felt something different today. Perhaps my spiritual senses were stimulated by coming to an unfamiliar environment… … “Kyaak!”
Wow, I’m surprised. Why are you screaming?
Instead of taking off my pants, I looked around in a hesitant posture.
“what? why? What?”
“You pervert, why are you taking off your pants?” “what?”
What, were you surprised because of me?
“No, uh- did I do something wrong?”
“Ugh, you crazy pervert!”
Ellen, with a red face, said that and disappeared into the inn.
Crazy, what is it? Since the inn rooms are mixed-use and the bathrooms are mixed-use, I thought this place was open-minded in terms of sexuality.
Ellen, that guy is so ridiculous. If he’s at the well with his top off and drawing water, doesn’t he naturally want to wash up?
If you don’t want to see it, get out of the way!
But you were just standing there blankly, right? Of course, I thought it was the national rule not to pay attention to each other in times like this.
So, to be honest, I was a little embarrassed to take it off, but I forced myself to take it off naturally…
“Hey, I’m so annoyed.”
After grumbling and washing my body, I asked Daria this question.
“Are you really a strange person?”
“… … “Am I weird?”
“Hahaha, of course!”
But he also says that I did something strange.
I had forgotten for a moment, but the cone-shaped tent by the well was set up for guests to go in and wash up. Even here, it was embarrassing for men and women to show each other naked bodies.
Ha, for some reason, while I was washing up, people passing by looked at me scared.
Am I, who was an ethical man and Confucian scholar, a perverted exhibitionist in this world? What created the same situation was the bathroom that misled me.
It turned out that the public bath wasn’t a mixed bath – it was something different.
I don’t know if this city is strange, or if Middle World is like that… It’s not just about taking a bath in the bathroom.
I cursed under my breath and went up to the second floor of the inn to find Ellen.