Player Who Became A Constellation [EN]: Chapter 26

26.

“The Holy Order?”

“I’m referring to the priests there. They don’t like the Nord people. Perhaps… they need money.”

Money? Why the sudden talk about money…?

Loki looked puzzled, and the soldier provided an answer.

“Be careful not to cause friction with the priests. And if it happens, pay them for a baptism. If you receive a token, even if it’s just for show, they won’t bother Hoon-nim [a term of respect] without a reason.”

“…I don’t understand. Is this about religion?”

“Yes, they call our Nord race ‘heretics’ for worshiping other constellations. If you just take the superficial appearance of being baptized and ‘converting’ and give them money… you should be able to pass through safely afterward.”

Is it something complicated?

Loki pondered, watching the soldiers’ subtle expressions.

Come to think of it, conflicts and wars caused by religion have often occurred throughout history.

Even in the Middle Ages, those who didn’t believe in God were called heretics and faced terrible punishments.

“I see. Thank you. Then…”

“Be careful.”

Just as the soldiers were about to bow again, Loki looked at them and said,

“Ah! And one more favor.”

“……?”

“Don’t tell anyone you saw me.”

“That’s…”

The soldiers were perplexed. Everything that happens on this frozen lake, no matter how trivial, is reported to the higher-ups.

“Even if Aum Linia asks, pretend you didn’t see me. You know my position is higher than Aum’s, right?”

At Loki’s words, the soldiers flinched and bowed their heads.

“…Understood.”

“Good.”

Loki nodded and waved his hand in the air.

He took out one of the potions stored in his inventory and threw it to the soldiers. The soldiers blankly accepted it, stunned.

“It’s a bribe. Don’t take the bribe and then talk nonsense.”

“…Yes.”

The soldiers, seeing a figure who should be setting an example committing corruption, sighed deeply, wondering whether to be happy or sad.

***

“Ahhh! I can’t go any further! No! I can’t!”

The knight, Lapilta, collapsed onto the ground, exhausted.

The splendid full plate armor he was wearing was covered in dust.

Lapilta, who was nearing his thirties, had experienced all sorts of hardships.

But after days of not washing or eating, he reached his limit.

He had spent a week in the monster-infested Kelt Mountains.

From the first day, he was chased by monsters and lost his food, and on the second day, he got lost, and the hardship began from the next day.

Without water and food, he had to cut the bark of nearby trees and eat it, or even grill the larvae inside.

When he needed water, he had to drink whatever was available, whether it was stagnant or rotten, and endure the pain in his stomach.

Although he had a strong stomach, eating only tree bark, larvae, and rotten water all day made him long for real food.

He was once again in the red orcs’ sanctuary, the Kelt Mountains, and he sighed deeply, throwing the longsword he was holding onto the ground.

He collapsed as if he had no strength left in his legs.

“Damn it! Why do I have to go through this?!”

“Hey! You! Lapilta! A knight can’t just lie around like that!”

Next to him was an old man who looked to be in his seventies.

He had a wrinkled face and a shabby appearance, but unlike his face, the armor he was wearing was flawless full plate armor.

It was a piece of equipment that looked even heavier and bigger than the burly Lapilta.

Lapilta looked at the old man and shouted.

“Elder Alber! Say something that makes sense! What knight are you talking about? We’re mercenaries now. Ahhh! I shouldn’t have come! If we stay like this, we’ll either starve to death or be eaten by monsters!”

Lapilta hugged his head and groaned.

“Just bear with it a little longer. According to the map, if we go this way… uh… really? Or is it that way…?”

A boy who looked about 16 years old, wearing a tattered, wide-brimmed conical hat like something out of a fairy tale, was fumbling with a map on a rough wooden staff.

“Paul, do you know you’ve said the same thing for the third time today? You said the same thing just an hour ago! We’re stranded!”

Lapilta clutched his head.

“Ugh! What’s so great about that rumored omnipotent potion! That’s all just superstition!”

Lapilta, Alber, and Paul were currently on a quest as mercenaries.

It was to find the ‘omnipotent potion’ that was said to be somewhere in the Kelt Mountains.

To be exact, it was said to have come from around the Kelt Mountains, so surely the legendary alchemist must be living here as well.

“Are you sure it’s really here? Huh?”

“…It’s not exact. Who knows? Maybe it’s not in the Kelt Mountains but in the frozen lands beyond?”

Alber, who had accepted this request, avoided Lapilta’s gaze.

In fact, they were working as mercenaries to find traces of the ‘omnipotent potion,’ and the current request was also accepted to obtain information.

So, they came to the Kelt Mountains to find some hints, but….

All they could see were reddish cliffs and red maple trees.

“Don’t tell me… you’re planning to go to the frozen lands?”

At Lapilta’s desperate voice, Paul reacted this time.

The boy with the appearance of a child was startled and trembled, looking at Alber.

Surely you’re not really going to go…?! [He thought.]

“Ugh! If we have to go, we have to go!”

“……?”

“If it’s there, we have to go find it!”

“…Good heavens! He’s finally gone senile! No wonder he trained so hard he was willing to die? He’s finally gone crazy… Ugh! Don’t swing your sword, please!”

Lapilta was horrified to see Alber’s sword stuck between his legs.

“Don’t worry. As long as you have both hands and feet, you can always hold a sword.”

“Before that, a man’s dignity disappears!”

“It’s okay. It might be good to cut it off this time! To get rid of 잡념 [japnyum – distracting thoughts] and focus only on training!”

“Hey! Are you trying to make me a eunuch?! Is this senile old man trying to start something?!”

Lapilta also drew his sword and confronted Alber.

“You, you’re both too sensitive! Okay, take a deep breath… uh? What’s this smell…?”

“……?”

“Doesn’t it smell like something delicious?”

Paul sniffed and sparkled his eyes.

“Meat smell?!”

“R, really?!”

“No way!”

At Paul’s shout, Lapilta and Alber asked for confirmation.

And their eyes lit up at the savory smell that stimulated their sense of smell.

“Meat smell!”

“It seems like there are mercenaries nearby who have received the same request as us!”

“Let’s go find them!”

They used their sense of smell to head to where the smell was coming from. And they found a place where torches were visible and ran with all their might.

And there were the mercenaries they were looking for.

However, the problem was that they were all dead and being roasted as chunks of meat.

“…Orcs.”

“It’s orcs.”

“It’s a red orc, known to tame ogres.”

That was the reaction of Lapilta, Paul, and Alber.

In front of them, orcs with red skin and muscular bodies of about 2m were sitting around the torch, looking friendly.

Leather clothes and clubs made of monster bones, swords, spears, and shields that seemed to have been obtained by attacking nearby humans.

There were things that looked like human bones scattered around, and on the torch, a human with his skin peeled off was being roasted on a crude wooden skewer.

The orcs widened their eyes in surprise at the sudden appearance of the human group and smacked their lips.

“…Delicious human.”

“Let’s catch them!”

The orcs leisurely got up from their seats.

Their mouths were filled with blood, dripping thickly, as if they had bitten off and eaten raw meat that was not properly cooked.

Seeing such orcs, Lapilta despaired on the spot.

“It wasn’t meat! No, it is meat, but human meat!”

“…It still looks delicious.”

“Paul, are you eating human meat? Even if there are many eccentric wizards, you enjoy eating human flesh…”

“No! I’m a normal person…! But… wouldn’t orc meat be okay?”

“…You’re quite eccentric too.”

“What are you going to do?”

At Alber’s question, Lapilta shrugged his shoulders.

“Let’s fight. Aren’t they just orcs anyway? Green orcs or red orcs, they’re all the same.”

“Hmm… Paul, what about you?”

“I think the same way too. I can handle orcs well enough! There are only four of them. However….”

Paul’s face suddenly turned blue, and he pointed his finger behind the orcs.

“It would be a different story if there was an ogre.”

Right behind the orcs, a monster with a huge body suddenly popped out of the bushes as if by magic.

Fangs protruding teeth, a hideous distorted face, a muscular body all over like steel, and a bulging belly, a massive monster over 4m tall.

The king of the forest, an ogre.

Even the equipment of the orcs was overshadowed by the equipment covered with iron plates all over its body and a mace in its hand.

No matter how you look at it, the equipment is too excellent to have been tamed by orcs.

“Those guys, they seem to have pushed only that guy [given all the best equipment to the ogre].”

-Kuaaaaaaaa-!

Lapilta, who looked up at the ogre’s majesty, slowly lowered his sword and opened his mouth.

“…Shall we run?”

“We have to run.”

“Let’s run.”

Alber and Paul looked at each other and nodded.

-Kuaaaaak!

At the ogre’s cry, Lapilta, Paul, and Alber turned around and started running with all their might. At the same time, the earth vibrated.

The ground shook violently as the ogre moved.

“Damn it! Why am I going through this…!”

“Don’t complain and move! Do you want to become meat?!”

“H, how do we do it? The ogre is too fast!”

“I, it’ll be okay! The ogre is big! There are many obstacles in this forest, so it’ll be difficult to move and won’t be able to gain speed!”

At that time, something fell in front of them.

“……!”

Paul immediately bowed his head, and Lapilta and Alber jumped over it.

It was a ‘log’.

They looked at the ogre chasing from behind.

The ogre, staggering its massive body, was smashing trees and throwing them.

“Rather, we have a throwing weapon that can hit us?!”

As Lapilta shouted, Alber yelled.

“Lapilta! It’s a good opportunity! Show the sacrificial spirit befitting a knight!”

“Huh? Is that what you should be saying? Besides, our current status is mercenaries! It’s been a while since I quit being a knight! At times like this, someone who has lived their life should sacrifice for the young!”

“More than that… I’m tired! I’m a wizard! I’m different from knights and mercenaries who have trained their bodies!”

It was when they were screaming to live.

Something shadowed appeared in front of them.

A person wearing a large crow mask was leisurely looking around.

“What?! A monster?”

“No! It’s a human! Just wearing a mask…!”

“R, run away! The ogre is coming!”

The man in the crow mask tilted his head at the three people’s shouts and discovered the ogre chasing behind him. And he touched his forehead as if he was in trouble.

The three people were colored with pity at the sight.

Because that action was close to giving up, as if saying, ‘Ah, it’s the king of the forest, an ogre! I’m dead now!’

“Ugh! Lapilta! The first rule of a knight is…!”

“…Help those in need!”

At Alber’s words, Lapilta chimed in and grabbed the man from the left and right and started running.

Inadvertently, the man was caught and hung by two knights.

“…What’s going on?”

The man who was suddenly kidnapped tilted his head.

Alber and Lapilta looked at the ogre chasing with their bodies caught and immediately fixed the crow mask.

It was too relaxed a voice, but Lapilta was sweating profusely because he had no time to care about such things and shouted.

“Can’t you see?! An ogre crazy about human meat is chasing us!”

“…An ogre… I see. But just an ogre…?”

“J, just! It’s the king of the forest! Do you know how many clumsy knights and adventurous adventurers have been eaten by that monster?!”

“Is it dangerous?”

“Of course! If I were only 10 years younger, I could handle it alone… but I’m already old!”

Alber shouted, panting.

Seeing him wearing heavy equipment and even talking, it seems he still has some physical strength left.

“Ah! I agree too! If I wasn’t just hungry, I could take that guy down in one shot!”

Lapilta’s shout.

“That’s enough, what are you going to do! I’m tired!”

It was Paul’s shout.

The man in the crow mask tilted his head and put his hand inside his loose robe. And an object of a size that cannot be explained logically was pulled out, ignoring the law of spatial mass.

“What’s that…?!”

“A crossbow?”

“But there’s no way you can catch it with that… but how is it so big?!”

It was an absurdly large crossbow, about 2m in size.

Lapilta and Alber staggered at the sudden heavy weight, but barely managed to balance and run.

“What?! Where did you get that?!”

“Young man! It’s heavy! Throw it away!”

“Please stay still.”

The masked man said so and aimed the crossbow at the ogre.

“Hey! Don’t do meaningless things! It’s an ogre! That thick skin can’t be pierced easily….”

The crow man pulled the trigger.

Bang-!

With a loud explosion, Lapilta and Alber fell forward due to the recoil. But the crow man landed naturally and looked at the target.

Stopped!

…Gone?

It was gone. Half of the ogre’s head had disappeared.