Player Who Became A Constellation [EN]: Chapter 48

Chapter 48

It was such a simple question.

But Sallet was stunned, unable to answer.

Come to think of it, she had never asked him before.

And she realized that he hadn’t asked her name either.

‘Does he really think of me as nothing but baggage?’

That thought made Sallet anxious.

She felt her self-esteem gradually eroding as she stepped back.

“Hey, answer the question-.”

And instead of answering Ash’s question, she chose to run away.

She ran into the forest that Ifrit had pointed to.

Breathing heavily, she scanned around to find him.

Finally, she located the source of his voice.

“I see.”

Passing through the dense trees, she arrived at an open space and saw Loki not far away.

‘Yes, let’s ask him directly.’

‘I can still find out now!’

It was only a brief companionship, but still… she wanted to know him.

Because he was the only one who had saved her and shown her kindness when she was wandering alone on this continent.

Her face brightened as she tried to approach him.

“Who… is it…?”

Someone was next to Loki.

The figure, visible from a distance, wore a tattered leather hood.

It seemed intentionally torn and riddled with holes rather than just old and shabby.

The figure was kneeling as if to support Loki, receiving a rolled-up scroll that Loki handed over.

‘What is it? Who is it that’s….’

…acting like that?

It was very similar to the way the courtiers treated her father when she was in the palace.

“Deliver this to Aum Linia.”

The figure bowed its head and stepped back. Its entire body turned transparent, and it disappeared, emitting a black aura.

‘Disappeared?!’

It was a very surprising sight for her, as it was her first time seeing a Skeleton Assassin, an undead specialized in stealth.

“…What’s going on?”

Loki tilted his head and spoke, and only then did Sallet, who had come to her senses, look around, flustered. Then, she came up with an excuse and opened her mouth.

“Ah… I was asking where the human we picked up yesterday was….”

Elves can’t lie. That’s just a rumor on the continent. The truth was different.

“Is that so? I’ll be right there.”

Loki approached Sallet.

“How many herbs do you have?”

At Loki’s question, Sallet opened the leather bag she was carrying on her back.

It was also given to her by Loki, but unlike the others, it was just an ordinary leather bag with no special functions.

“Well… a little… no, there’s plenty left.”

It was what Alex had given her and what she had collected in her spare time.

“Is your leg okay?”

“Huh? Ah… yes!”

Sallet was happy that he was showing interest in her.

She nodded vigorously.

“If you have no use for the remaining herbs, can I borrow them?”

“…It doesn’t matter. It was a gift in the first place.”

“Thank you.”

“……”

Was it her imagination that her heart felt a little full at his words?

Maybe she could be of some help to him.

“I also need some supplies, so let’s go to a nearby territory. I’ll have to pretend to be a herbalist there.”

“…Pretend to be a herbalist?”

“It’s better to have some kind of identity, even if it’s fake, than to be mistaken for just another node [a being of immense magical power].”

Still, being a herbalist would be better than being mistaken for just another node.

“Ah, okay.”

As Loki was about to walk away, Sallet grabbed his sleeve.

“……?”

“Name.”

Sallet swallowed hard and mustered her courage to speak.

“What is your name?”

“…Right, I didn’t ask that. My name is Loki.”

Loki….

Sallet repeated his name.

“What is your name?”

“I am Sallet.”

Loki stroked Sallet’s head once and headed to the campsite.

***

“…Heading to Harma Territory?”

Ash looked at Loki.

Harma Territory was currently without a lord, in other words, an unclaimed land. Therefore, the knights were managing the territory instead.

The reason why there was no lord was simple. The previous lord had died of illness, and a civil war had broken out before the next lord was appointed.

Since there was no lord, it was nominally a neutral area, but it could be a ‘dangerous area’ for the First Prince Ash.

‘Can I trust the knights there?’

Many knights were blinded by merit.

In particular, Harma Territory was located at the end of the kingdom, adjacent to the frozen lands.

The Celt Mountains were located to the side, and the frozen lands were above, so there were many monster invasions and the weather was cold.

Because of this, it was not a very good place for knights who dreamed of honor. Most of them wanted to somehow gain merit and escape that remote place.

The best way to succeed was to gain merit. Therefore, there was a high possibility of catching the ‘traitor’s’ forces, especially the ‘prince’ at the center, and gaining merit.

Ash knew this, so he couldn’t recklessly enter other areas and ask for help.

So….

“Wouldn’t you go somewhere else?”

He wanted to bypass as much as possible and head to Roden Territory.

But….

“Isn’t passing through this Harma Territory the fastest way to reach Roden Territory?”

The fastest route was only through this Harma Territory.

“……”

Ash wanted to get to Roden Territory faster than anyone else.

Besides, as someone who couldn’t reveal his identity, he was not in a position to give orders to Loki.

‘If I don’t get caught… it’ll be okay.’

“Alright.”

“Then, let’s go to Harma Territory.”

He decided to follow Loki’s opinion.

***

The frozen lands of the North.

The newly formed nation of Asgard was over three years old. As they, who lived in tribal life, were united into one, many things changed.

First of all, in order to stabilize the country, the nodes had to be controlled, managed, and managed.

Basically, laws were made to control them, managers were assigned to control them, and a management system was established in each region to serve as a city.

What about that? Since a new country was born, a new class system was also created.

Asgard’s class system was different from the class system used on the continent.

At the top was the Constellation of Sin, Loki, and then the healer Hoon, the node’s representative shaman, Aum Linia, and Hans, followed by Kudan Ragna and Per Linia, and those who were the chiefs of the tribe were equally placed as ‘elders’ without distinction.

However, unofficially, Cancun is also in the top power class.

The reason why this unique power system can be achieved is because of Loki’s absolute power and the small number of nodes in the frozen lands, and the nodes’ high loyalty to Loki.

Usually, the local lords of newly formed countries were prone to corruption the moment they gained power.

They were fascinated by the newly acquired power and did not hesitate to trample on the weak to show their dignity.

In the early days, Asgard was not much different.

From the beginning, they were hot-tempered and quick-tempered, so when the country was established and they gained power, they often became distorted by greed.

In particular, the tribal tendencies that flaunted power in this unique power system were combined, and unofficial fights often occurred.

However, as a result, even the chiefs called ‘elders’ were immediately beheaded and hung somewhere at the word of the ‘constellation’ [Loki], or faced high penalties that required them to be exposed to the frozen lands for more than a month and drink only water.

They have been properly controlled in the face of brutal punishment and divine power, and no major friction has occurred.

A country with little corruption and no friction is extremely peaceful.

But, even so….

Leading a country was not easy.

“…Has the next task come in?”

The shaman unfolded the parchment.

There was a lot of work content packed there, and the eye muscles of Aum, who was sitting on the throne and acting as a ‘proxy’, twitched.

There were dark circles under his eyes, and his hair had been dry and dry for a long time.

“…How much is left?”

A pen made of feathers was in Aum’s left hand, and a seal specially made by the dwarf Ruran was in his right hand.

He was currently sitting in the top power class, taking over the work in place of the vacant Loki, but he wanted to leave this position more than anyone else because of the hellish life of working 20 hours without rest, sleeping 4 hours, and working 20 hours again.

In Loki’s case, fatigue does not accumulate even if he does not sleep, but Aum was human, and despite being a node, he had no choice but to feel the limits of his physical strength because he did not have the monstrous physical strength like Kudan.

“……”

The shaman pointed to the entrance of the Daejeon [a grand hall] with his finger without saying a word.

There, piles of documents were piled up.

Aum burst into laughter.

Ha, hahaha! Is this, are you trying to do it once?!?

As he went mad, spewing out madness, the door of the Daejeon opened and Kudan and Per brought a board containing the next document.

“…And these are letters sent from each tribe. I hope you check it.”

The feather pen that Aum was holding broke at that moment.

“…What happened to Hans?”

“Did you forget? He collapsed from overwork yesterday. He was treated with magic, but he is still unconscious. He will probably wake up soon if he takes a little rest.”

“There is a lot of work, so the shaman will help.”

“…I can’t see.”

It’s a lie. I’m sure! Otherwise, there’s no way he wouldn’t be able to point his finger exactly at that pile of documents and avoid his gaze?!

When Aum looked at Kudan and Per, they also avoided his gaze.

“I’m not that smart. Especially in politics and economics….”

That was what Kudan said.

“…Brother, don’t you know? I just learned to write.”

It was Per’s words.

Aum covered his throbbing head.

‘That’s why nodes are a problem!’

In this frozen land, the newly born Asgard, there are excellent warriors, artisans who are superior to any technicians on the continent, and enormous resources and wealth.

These are things that any country would envy, but the disadvantage is that there are very few intellectuals.

No matter how strong the national power is, how good the blacksmith is, and how much wealth there is, what is the point? If you can’t manage it properly, it’s better not to do it!

Most nodes lived a life of plunder and starvation, so education was lacking. As a result, there are not enough intellectuals to manage the country.

At least, they used refugees from the continent to teach the elders to write, but it was still too lacking to manage the country.

As a result, there were very few people to entrust management to.

‘Can’t I just entrust it to strangers from the continent? This… I’ll have to ask Loki to pick out intellectuals from the refugees later. It’s unsettling, but if I leave this much work unattended, it will only cause more chaos!’

It was when Aum was shaking his head.

A black aura flowed out right next to him, and an undead wearing a hood appeared.

“……?”

It was Loki’s servant. It was also a skeleton that could not be found in Valhalla Palace at the same time as Loki’s runaway.

Aum was puzzled when such a skeleton suddenly appeared.

Unlike the etiquette he had taken to Loki, the skeleton did not take any action towards Aum.

He did not feel the need to pay courtesy to humans because he was not in front of his master.

The skeleton took out a piece of parchment from his arms.

“This is…?”

The skeleton conveyed its meaning using sign language.

“Loki sent it?”

The skeleton nodded and disappeared.

It was good news for Aum, who was looking for Loki’s whereabouts.

Is he coming back by any chance?!

Aum read the contents with a happy heart. His bright expression gradually hardened and he crumpled the letter.

‘…He’s still wandering around the continent. But did you find some clues? The underworld… I’ve heard of them. Certainly, they have better information than us… But the final destination is Roden Territory, and now they are heading to Harma Territory?’

Aum read the text.

At the end, there was a phrase that said, ‘If you have any information about the plague, please send it.’

“…Huh, this is true.”

In the end, he has no intention of returning.

“But he’s asking me to send what I found out… but I don’t have any information I found out.”

It was when Aum Linia was crossing her arms.

One of the node soldiers opened the door of the Daejeon and bowed his head.

“…I greet the node’s representative shaman and Aum Linia!”

“What’s going on?”

“It’s a letter from the continent.”

This time, it was a letter from a node who was dispatched to the continent to dig up information by Loki.

Aum received the letter and read it.

There didn’t seem to be anything special. However, there is one thing that stands out.

[Approximately 1,500 Worm Fest infected people are currently heading to Harma Territory.]

…It was a phrase.