Weapon-Eating Bastard [EN]: Chapter 110

Weapon-Eating Bastard – Episode 110

It’s been over two weeks since I arrived at the Goblin Village.

I didn’t just spend my days goblin wrestling.

“Haaap!”

Koo-oong!

Just now, I lifted a decaying residential tree (essentially, a house in the Milky Way Village) that was blocking the village path and moved it to a secluded spot.

In any case, the Mystic Species, being living creatures, needed to eat and sleep, so there were quite a few mundane tasks piling up in the Milky Way Village.

So, I often helped them with their work.

“You’re so strong! To do this in one go…”

“Goblins hate working, so we’re incredibly grateful for the help.”

The elves who had asked for my help watched from behind, their eyes wide, clapping like seals.

“It would have taken us a long time to break it up little by little and move it.”

An elf who looked a bit older handed me a towel and smiled.

I wiped the sweat and replied with a smile as well.

“It’s nothing. I have to earn my keep.”

“It would take us elves three days to move this. We’re so lucky to have you.”

Elves could do things that humans couldn’t, but they were much weaker than humans in terms of raw strength.

So, I started helping out when there was work that required strength.

Originally, it would be the goblins’ job, since they were strong and had good stamina, but what goblin would do the work diligently?

“Is it okay to just move it here? I can break it down if you want.”

“Hmm? Could I ask you to do that? I feel like I’m overworking our guest…”

“It’s okay. It’s not much of a hassle.”

I approached the blackened tree and drew Mujin.

‘Lightning is too flashy. Let’s go with the feeling of spreading the power of Sookpung [a technique or energy] evenly.’

I quickly came up with a way to use magic that suited the situation.

Then, I swung Mujin, which I had transformed into a large hammer.

Crack!

Even though I swung the hammer filled with aura with all my might, a loud sound didn’t come from the tree.

Rather, it crumbled from the inside, breaking into small pieces and silently falling to the ground.

“Oh! Amazing! Humans are amazing after all. It’s not like you used spirits or magic, but how do you do this?”

“It’s nothing.”

I changed Mujin back into a ring and looked at my palm.

‘I never thought Goblin wrestling would help in this way.’

Goblin wrestling, which I thought was just for training my mental strength, had unexpected benefits.

It was the expansion of thought.

I don’t know if I should say my mental strength has improved or my imagination has increased, but I felt like my view of the world had become more concrete and my thinking speed had increased.

And as a result, the level of magic and martial arts unexpectedly increased exponentially.

‘Until now, the variations and modifications of lightning that I used only moved within the Gukyul [a set of rules or framework] that I made with my aunt. Now, I don’t think I need to do that.’

It felt like I had a calculator in my head that processed complex thoughts in an instant.

Now, I think I can use Sookpung as a wide-area attack like lightning, and conversely, I can use lightning as a personal skill.

In the desired form, in the desired way.

It feels like the frame of thought is breaking and the shift in ideas is happening quickly.

“But I think I broke it down a little too much. Wouldn’t it be difficult to clean up like this?”

“No. This is good. The dead tree will become fertilizer and give birth to another life. It’s not about throwing it away, but recycling it. More than that, I’m sorry if I’m overworking you too much…”

“No. It’s helping me train.”

It wasn’t just empty words, but helping with the village’s work was really helping my training a lot.

By utilizing the aura according to the given situation, I was seeing a different effect than when I was fighting or training alone.

I felt the skeleton being built and the flesh being added on top of the solid foundation laid in Cheonwisan [a place, likely a mountain or training ground].

-Every moment is training.

I don’t remember which weapon I read it in, but I’m experiencing that content these days.

“Then, was the next one near the entrance?”

“You just finished working, and you’re going again? Why don’t you take a break?”

“It’s okay. This isn’t too difficult.”

“Then, let’s cool off your sweat and go. Have some of this.”

The elf handed me a liquid in a canteen.

It was a drink that the elves called ‘Dew of the Dawn Tree’.

I thought it was just a sweet drink, but as I drank it, I felt like I was taking a panacea, and my fatigue disappeared and my head became clear.

“Thank you. I was actually looking forward to it.”

“Tell me anytime you need it. While we’re on the subject, I’ll have a cartload delivered to your house.”

“Then, I’d be very grateful.”

I smiled and drank the drink.

I was a little thirsty from sweating, but I felt a sense of refreshment spreading throughout my body with just one sip.

“Then, shall we go now?”

“Haha, then please do a good job.”

Lee Cheol went to the entrance and did the village work without any fuss.

And there was one person watching Lee Cheol’s figure from afar.

“The picky Jang tribe is handing over something to drink.”

It was Lyeo, the village chief.

To be honest, it was annoying and tiring to think about the afternoon wrestling, but Lyeo looked at Lee Cheol, who never complained, and smiled warmly.

The elves, who didn’t even approach him when he first came here, were now accepting Lee Cheol as if he had been a member of the village from the beginning.

Moreover, they were nonchalantly sharing drinks.

Koo-oong!

Around that time, Lee Cheol finished his work, pulling out a large rock that was stuck in the entrance floor.

Lyeo smiled and approached Lee Cheol.

“You’re working hard.”

“Ah, am I a little late? I was going to go to the training ground soon anyway…”

For some reason, Lyeo came to find me first.

Lyeo shook his hand with a smile.

“No. I just came to talk on the way.”

Lyeo glanced at the elves.

“If you’re done with work, can I take him?”

“Well, it doesn’t matter. But Chief, originally, the goblins were supposed to do this work…”

“Ah! I can’t hear you! I can’t hear you!”

Lyeo patted his ears with both hands and quickly left.

The elf just sighed, and I greeted him with a sullen expression and followed Lyeo.

* * *

I slowly followed Lyeo.

The village was full of energy.

I thought it would be endlessly quiet and mysterious because it was a village of mystic species, but it was not much different from a village where humans lived.

“Hey! Thanks for today!”

“Thanks for helping with the roof repair! Thank you!”

“It’s nothing. I’ll help you next time. Please call me anytime.”

Every time I passed by, the elves greeted me.

-Heehee! Human cheeks are funny.

-It stretches! Stretch, stretch, stretch!

The fairies, who didn’t even approach or talk to me at first, were now flying around me and playing pranks.

They kept pulling on my cheeks, but it didn’t hurt much, so I didn’t bother chasing them away.

Lyeo smiled as he watched me.

“You’ve already become very close? You’re taking care of the village work.”

“I didn’t do anything special. As you said, they approached me first. And the work… I have to earn my keep.”

Personally, it was good training, and it wasn’t very difficult, so it wasn’t difficult to help.

“The Jang tribe doesn’t accept humans easily, unlike our goblins. But they gave you dew… Do you know what that is?”

“I felt like my mind was clearing… Is there any special effect?”

“It’s a panacea that clears the head and scatters the turbid energy of the mind. That’s why your mental strength, which was consumed while wrestling, is recovering so quickly.”

“…Wasn’t it just a drink?”

“It takes a week to receive the energy of the spirit to make it, a month to mature it, and you have to grind magic herbs that have grown for over 10 years, so it can’t just be a drink.”

I felt refreshed every time I drank it, as if I was drinking a panacea, but I just thought it was relieving my fatigue.

I never thought it would be something like that.

“But don’t feel pressured. They’re giving it to you because they really consider you a friend.”

“Yes, I understand.”

I walked around the village with Lyeo for a while after that.

Lyeo broke the silence and continued in a subtle tone.

“You were curious about why we live together like this, but you didn’t ask first?”

“I expected there would be a reason. If you didn’t tell me, I didn’t think it was right for me, as an outsider, to ask.”

Lyeo’s eyes widened for a moment at my words.

Then, he laughed heartily and nodded.

“It hasn’t been long, actually. Was it a hundred years or two hundred years… I’ve been busy lately, so I don’t remember exactly.”

Whether it was a hundred or two hundred years, it was a considerable amount of time for humans.

But I remembered one great war that swept the world around that time.

A great war that would never happen again in the human world.

“Is it because of the Great War?”

“Is that what humans call it? Hmm, that’s good. Yes, the Great War. That’s when it started.”

The Great War.

In that war where countless races and ideologies clashed, the mystic species must have suffered as much damage as anyone else.

And that damage was definitely…

“It was because of humans.”

“You know it well. I won’t deny it. Those guys were all refugees anyway.”

If the mystic species are a race that lives in harmony with nature as part of nature, humans are beings that pioneer and overcome nature.

If the mystic species cultivate, humans destroy.

It was a worldwide phenomenon that the mystic species, who used to live in harmony with humans in ancient times, hid their appearances as if they had made a promise after the Great War.

“We accepted many of those who were running around during the Great War in our village. The Jang tribe and the Danshin tribe (a short race, like dwarves) also came in at that time. Ah, the Danshin tribe is helping the elders now, so you won’t see them often in the village.”

The Danshin tribe, the race called dwarves.

I’ve never seen them in person, but it seemed that other mystic species lived here as well.

I had nothing to say.

Apologizing wouldn’t be sincere, and ignoring it meant that I was the same human after all.

“Don’t worry about it, it happened long before you were born. I didn’t bring it up to make you uncomfortable, hehe.”

Lyeo smiled as if he saw through my thoughts.

“I don’t know what you think, but the villagers have already accepted you as a member, not a guest.”

“Is that so.”

I gave a faint smile.

I hadn’t done much, but I was grateful that they had accepted me like that.

At that time, I suddenly felt Lyeo’s expression stiffen slightly.

When I was puzzled, Lyeo came to his senses and opened his mouth.

“Ah, that’s right. I remembered something I had to do. Would you like to go ahead and wrestle with the kids?”

Lyeo stopped in his tracks and said.

It felt like he was hiding something.

“Yes, I understand. Then, I’ll go first.”

“Okay, good work.”

I was curious for a moment, but I bowed my head and left.

Lyeo, who was left alone, was waving his hand with a slightly stiff expression.

* * *

Lyeo, who said he had something to do, arrived at a place a little away from where Lee Cheol and the trio were wrestling.

After watching them wrestling for a while from afar, Lyeo turned around and looked behind him.

“What brings you here? Elder.”

“…”

A giant goblin with a hammer was standing there.

His eyes, silently closed, were fixed on Lee Cheol.

“Did you bring in the human I chased away?”

“I don’t know. I brought in a human who saved the children to repay him. We can’t kick out a human who was born a goblin and owes us a debt, can we?”

“Humans are despicable. They may have made the goblin owe them a debt to get something in return.”

The goblin slowly approached.

With Lee Cheol sitting in the middle, Lyeo and the goblin faced each other.

“You know better than anyone else. This human is not that kind of human.”

“…”

“He plays with the children even in the midst of such hardship, and he helps the other neighbors in the village. It must be annoying and difficult, but he doesn’t complain. If he had made them owe him a debt, he could have asked for strange conditions to repay it, but he just asked a few questions and brushed it off.”

The goblin didn’t answer Lyeo’s words.

His expression was still not visible because of the hair that hung down and covered his face.

“And isn’t it the elder who promised that person a long time ago to have him take the test?”

“…It’s an old promise. And I didn’t decide when to keep the promise.”

The goblin continued in a still stiff voice.

“So, chase him away. I have no intention of allowing humans to enter my territory.”

“If you didn’t allow it, why didn’t you chase him away yourself?”

“I already chased him away once.”

“He’s been in the village for two weeks, couldn’t you have chased him away again in the meantime?”

The goblin, who was looking at Lee Cheol, slightly turned his head and looked at Lyeo.

“You’ve gotten old too. You’re talking back impudently.”

“…Hoo.”

Lyeo sighed.

But it wasn’t an annoyed sigh.

Rather, it was a deep sigh of pity and sympathy for the ancient goblin in front of him.

“If you hated humans so much… Why are you still trying to protect them?”

“…”

Lyeo continued in a soft voice.

“Look at these children and humans getting along. Don’t you remember what happened a long time ago? The time when you played with humans, talked and had fun. Of course, humans may be despicable, but some humans cared for us more than we cared for ourselves.”

The goblin didn’t answer those words.

He just turned the words around in a still heavy voice, as if spitting them out.

“Humans… cannot mix with us.”

A race that likes to get along with humans and loves humans was denying humans.

It was a word that was hard to believe that a goblin had said.

“You know. It’s the limit now. We need human help.”

Lyeo didn’t back down a single word.

The eyes of the goblin holding the hammer didn’t easily leave Lee Cheol.

“The seal has loosened.”

“…!”

He didn’t say what the seal was, but Lyeo’s expression twisted in an instant at those words.

“Chase the humans away. When that time comes, humans will run away unconditionally, as they always have. They don’t shed blood for things that aren’t their business.”

Lyeo couldn’t say anything to these words either.

Once again, the goblin scattered and disappeared into the air like fog.

Lyeo, who was looking at the sky in surprise, slowly lowered his head and looked at the human.