Player Who Became A Constellation [EN]: Chapter 51

51. The Player Who Became a Constellation (51/250)

“……?”

There was a man.

He looked vaguely familiar, but his appearance was terribly shabby.

His eyes were dead, and his chin was covered with sparse, unkempt stubble. His face was pale, and his cheeks were gaunt, as if he hadn’t eaten in days.

“…Who are you?”

Loki asked, genuinely puzzled. He didn’t remember him at all.

To Loki, unless someone was truly remarkable, they weren’t worth remembering.

The man looked at Loki, tears welling up in his eyes, and shouted.

“It’s, it’s me! Yuan! Yuan, the general store owner! Not long ago, I escorted you to the monastery where Alex the Monk resides, remember?”

Only then did Loki vaguely recall.

It was the general store owner who had guided him to the monastery.

But what was he doing here…?

“You’re safe! Thank goodness! Thank goodness!”

Yuan grabbed Loki’s hand and wept pitifully.

***

Yuan, Loki, Ash, and Celot headed to the only inn in the Harma Territory.

The inn, like the territory itself, was shabby and run-down.

As they entered, they saw a counter and a round table.

A single candle barely illuminated the interior, leaving everything else in shadow.

Unlike the other buildings around it, the inn had two floors, but there were only about four rooms at most. There seemed to be no other guests, just one or two locals drinking and lamenting their lives.

As Loki stepped into the inn, the rotten floorboards creaked.

It seemed like a strong man could break through the floor simply by stomping on it.

The innkeeper, surprised by the sudden arrival of guests, cautiously led them to a table. He, too, seemed to be struggling due to the lack of business.

They ordered a simple meal, but all that arrived was wilted vegetable soup and bread that had changed color so much that it was questionable whether it was spoiled or not, especially considering the price.

Loki picked up a piece of bread, shook his head, and handed it to Yuan.

“Eat up.”

“T, thank you!”

Loki had held a romanticized view of inns, but his expectations were quickly dashed.

He had imagined scenes like in games, where numerous adventurers gathered to share stories or laugh and drink, but there were no adventurers, only a few territory residents chatting quietly. It was more gloomy than lively.

“…Pathetic.”

As he voiced his thoughts, Yuan said with a bitter smile.

“Well, everyone is having a hard time.”

Yuan, Loki, and Celot took a seat at the round table, while Ash went up to the assigned room.

Yuan wiped his reddened eyes with the back of his hand. Then, he crammed the food Loki had given him into his mouth and chewed.

It seemed like he hadn’t eaten in days.

Loki became curious at the sight.

The Yuan he had seen before, the general store owner, was thin, but not this shabby.

Even after being robbed of everything but his underwear by bandits, he had laughed it off, but now he was looking at Loki with anxious eyes like a depressed patient.

“Um, excuse me… Could I possibly take the leftover food with me…?”

He was begging like a beggar on the street. He had no pride or anything left. His eyes were filled with the fear and despair of starvation.

Loki nodded at Yuan.

“Thank you! Thank you! I will remember this favor forever!”

Yuan bowed repeatedly.

‘…What happened?’

What on earth had happened to turn such a positive person into this state?

Loki hesitated, but asked anyway.

“Did something happen?”

At Loki’s words, Yuan, who was packing the food, trembled.

He clenched his fist and slammed it on the table.

“…Hic.”

And then he burst into tears. Celot, who was sitting next to Loki, was flustered and fidgeted.

Yuan slowly opened his mouth in a sobbing voice.

“The village… burned down.”

The village burned down?

“How…?”

Yuan, his face etched with fatigue, let out a long sigh.

“I, I don’t know either. After leaving the village with the merchants, I went back with my wife because I had forgotten something… but it was all burned down. All that was left was ashes. All the villagers….”

Yuan covered his head with both hands and clutched it.

“…Died. It seemed like bandits had attacked. All the valuable items in the village disappeared.”

“…Bandits?”

Just bandits?

The monk Loki had seen could have easily repelled dozens of bandits. But bandits, not a plague? Not the Worm Fest [a hypothetical festival], but bandits? It didn’t make sense that they had lost to bandits.

‘…It’s not really my business.’

Still, it bothered him somehow.

“What happened to the monk?”

“…….”

Yuan trembled as if in anger. He showed a murderous look that didn’t match his usual demeanor.

“Alex the Monk has raised me since I was an orphan. These days, he would lead those who had lost their way in the ongoing East-West War of the Ronia Kingdom to the village and even provide them with a place to live. He was a kind and respected… truly wonderful person. Those bastards…!”

Yuan gritted his teeth.

“They beheaded him and hung his head on a wooden pole. And they even wrote ‘I am a cultist’ with his blood. Those rotten bastards! May they be cursed by heaven!”

“…….”

“Those bastards! Sons of bitches!”

Celot looked at Loki as she watched Yuan curse.

“That old man. Is he dead?”

“…….”

Loki did not answer her question and continued his conversation with Yuan.

“So, that’s why you came here?”

“…Yes, the only place I can stay with my circumstances is this Harma Territory. I came with my wife… but I have no idea what to do in the future.”

“Your wife?”

“She’s with an acquaintance right now.”

“I see.”

“Do you know anything, traveler? About… why the village burned down!”

At Yuan’s words, Loki shook his head.

It happened right after he left, so there was no way he could know. Besides, even if he did know, it wouldn’t do any good to tell the man in front of him.

“Is that so? I have to send the mail that the monk asked me to send, but I never thought it would be his last will….”

Yuan took out the letter, and Loki looked at it and asked.

“Send?”

“I’m sending it to the Holy Order [a religious organization]. I don’t know much, but he said he was going to settle everything.”

“…….”

Yuan got up from his seat.

“I’ve been rambling for too long. I will repay this favor someday! Then, traveler, be careful.”

“…Good luck to you too.”

Yuan left the inn.

Celot, who had been listening to the two’s conversation, stared at Loki.

“……?”

“That old man, what happened….”

“…Go to your room first. Thank you for helping me.”

At those words, Celot bowed her head. She knew that Loki was reluctant to talk about it.

‘That old man, is he dead? Still… he was a good man.’

Celot was walking to her assigned room on the second floor with a sulky face. Just across from her, Ash was walking towards her.

His face and hair were wet as if he had just washed up. However, Ash’s hands were quite noticeable to Celot.

Ash’s hands, which had been clean before coming to the inn, were covered in blue bruises.

“That hand…?”

Ash looked at his hand and said as if it was nothing.

“It’s not something an Ain [a member of a specific race or group] should care about.”

His tone was strangely irritable.

Ash himself seemed to realize that, and he closed his mouth.

“…What?”

‘I was just worried and asked…!’

Celot was about to pass him with a surge of anger.

Ash looked at Celot and said.

“S, sorry. Ain.”

Celot stopped without looking back.

“…I’m not an Ain, I have a name, Celot.”

“Yes, Celot…. Um…. Are you not thinking of converting [to a different religion]? That Nord [a person from the North] seemed to have converted. If you convert, your treatment on the continent will be different.”

That was something Ash didn’t know.

Celot knew very well that Ains were not treated as human beings in the first place, regardless of conversion or anything else.

Celot turned around and looked at Ash.

“No.”

Celot stuck out her tongue with just one word.

She headed to her room at a fast pace after saying that.

Ash made a disappointed expression at the sight.

“Too bad. I was going to accept her because she’s quite a talented person…. Is an Ain really just an Ain…?”

Her medical skills would be very helpful to him. Maybe she could cure his father, the King of Ronia, of his dementia.

“It would be okay to keep her as a concubine or slave later.”

It’s dangerous to keep an Ain by his side as is. He could incur the wrath of the Holy Order.

But if he kept her as a concubine or slave, even if it was just a formality, they would let it go.

‘But that’s only if I can clear up the misunderstanding with the Holy Order first.’

Ash smiled as he looked down at Loki at the counter below the stairs.

“He’s just a Nord. There’s a difference in status between me and him, so that Ain will follow me as well.”

The continent is a dangerous place for Ains.

So, he could protect her more safely than that Nord.

Ash slowly approached Loki.

He ordered alcohol from the innkeeper at the counter and sat next to Loki without permission.

He was planning to win Loki over.

Not just the Elf, but this Nord is also quite a talented person.

If he could get both of them, it would be very reassuring in the current situation.

“Nord, I have something to say. Let’s talk… Ugh?!”

But before he could finish his words, he was blocked by Loki’s hand.

Loki’s hand not only blocked his mouth but also squeezed it as if to crush it. And he glared at Ash with murderous eyes.

“Hey, kid.”

“……?!”

Ash was terrified by Loki’s eyes. His heart was pounding, and cold sweat was running down his spine from the chilling feeling.

Loki’s grip was increasingly pressuring Ash.

The innkeeper at the counter was startled and dropped the glass he was pouring alcohol into, and the territory residents who were enjoying alcohol at the inn were startled and looked at the two of them.

Regardless of the surrounding reactions, Loki tilted his head as he looked at Ash.

“I don’t care if you run your mouth. Or if you evaluate others. But keep in mind that if you talk about my party like that, I can make it as if there was no deal with you.”

Ash’s eyes widened.

It was as if he had heard his own thoughts.

“If you like her, think and act from an equal standpoint.”

‘How?! He heard what I said on the second floor…!’

He felt ashamed that even his inner thoughts had been exposed.

It was like feeling love for an object.

That’s what it was like for royalty to have feelings for an Ain.

And anger surged.

He was just thinking of protecting her. What was wrong with that!

“Disrespecting my companions in my presence is the same as disrespecting me. Keep that in mind.”

Ash nodded his head several times with a trembling face at Loki’s low voice.

Only then did Loki release his hand.

Ash stroked his chin to check if there was anything wrong and glared at Loki.

“That’s too much. Even if there’s a mistake, I’m a nobleman. Treat me a little better….”

“…Shall I crush your jaw so you can’t speak?”

“…….”

Ash closed his mouth without realizing it. And he stood up from his seat, feeling resentful that he had been intimidated.

“…I’m tired. I’ll go to sleep.”

Ash gritted his teeth and went up to the second floor.

“Pathetic.”

The guard’s words on the frozen lake were correct.

Not all, but some of the nobles were looking down on those lower than themselves.

Loki shook his head as he looked at Ash’s back.

***

Crack….

Chew….

The sound of bones breaking and raw flesh being torn could be heard.

The young man had a terrified expression on his face.

Despair, frustration, fear, and pleading. The young man, filled with all those emotions, was stuck in the ground with his neck cut off, looking ahead.

What the young man, who had become a corpse, was looking at was the sight of refugees being hunted and killed.

Numerous luggage and carts were scattered on the ground. Corpses were scattered everywhere.

And the corpses were….

Becoming the prey of Wights [undead creatures].