Became a tyrant of defense games - Episode 124
◈ 124. [Side Story] Gold Mine
“Cough, Cough!”
Curled up under the blanket in bed, Junior coughed..
Every time I coughed, blood constantly leaked from the inside of my dry throat..
“Haha, whoa…….”
Junior glared at the blood-covered handkerchief in his hand..
After using magic violently, I always suffered from aftereffects like this..
‘Besides, this time… … I think it hurts more because I got hit so hard.…….’
Junior's magic was helplessly canceled due to the reverse calculation of the vampire lord's magic spell..
Although he didn't show it, the process itself was quite a blow..
‘Thanks to you, I learned a lot.’
The vampire lord's dispel contained a simple but deep magical secret..
‘If you research, you can make it yours.’
A new realization was at hand. Junior felt his magic approaching the next level..
but.
‘……Even if it's mine, how much more can I use in the future?.’
Death, not far away, was also approaching..
Junior held the blood-soaked, soggy handkerchief tightly in his hand..
- Don't even think about learning magic.
The voice of the person who said that... … It seemed to shimmer in my ears..
If you haven't learned magic. Then how much longer could he live?.
10year? Maybe 20 years?
‘useless thoughts…….’
That was when Junior shook his head..
smart.
There was a knock on the door of the inn, followed by a familiar voice..
“Junior? Is it inside??”
The commander and lord of this front line. It was Ash's voice..
Surprised, Junior quickly got up from the bed and went to the door..
“Ah, Your Highness… … Are you here? Cluck, cluck!”
As soon as I opened the door, blood came out inside. Junior covered her mouth and coughed violently..
“haha. This damn hemoptysis is coming out all the time, hehe.…….”
When Junior finally stopped coughing and raised his head.
In front of her was Ash, who looked embarrassed... … Jupiter was standing.
I looked at my granddaughter coughing up blood with a broken face. In her hands she holds something she has carefully wrapped, as if to give it to her granddaughter..
Looking at Jupiter like that, Junior muttered awkwardly..
“……grandma.”
The grandmother and granddaughter stared at each other in silence for a long time..
- Even if you don't learn that, your grandmother can feed you for the rest of your life..
Suddenly, the scene from a long time ago when we had that conversation…….
It passed through Junior’s mind..
***
10years ago.
Everblack Empire's Eastern Front. A rural village with a view of the sea.
“grandma!”
A small hand shakes the body.
“Wake up, grandma! It's morning!”
“Mmm?!”
Jupiter, who had fallen asleep sitting in a chair, suddenly opened his eyes..
When I turned my head and looked to the side, I saw a small girl with a stern expression..
The bright morning sunlight falls on my face..
“wake up! Time is running out. I have to eat and then go to work.!”
A girl covering the burns on the left side of her face with her hair. Jupiter's granddaughter, Junior..
Junior tilted his head as he looked at his grandmother who was looking at him blankly..
“what's the matter? I had a bad dream again?”
“……No, no. just…….”
Jupiter soon yawned profusely and sank back into his chair..
“Please take a look... … Yesterday, I had to leave work in the middle of the night to respond to an emergency. Whoaam.”
“Then I won't go to work.?”
“No, that's not it again…….”
Village guard duties.
Even though it was hard work, Jupiter's work was the only means of livelihood for this family..
I wanted to skip it for a week, but I couldn't..
“Then get up quickly and get ready for work! I made breakfast on the table. Don't be late and starve again..”
Jupiter opened his mouth wide while looking at his granddaughter who was nagging her..
“Grandma's tired. You can't spoon feed her, Junior.?”
“Again? You always act like a fool, grandma..”
“I'll be a good grandmother who works hard at work, right? Spoon-feed me.”
Junior put his small hand on his waist and sighed..
“Ugh, I can't help it..”
After a while, Junior brought the bowl and scooped up the oatmeal with a spoon and put it in Jupiter's mouth..
“Ego~.”
“ah~.”
Junior asked the muttering Jupiter carefully..
“how is it? delicious?”
“no. It tastes awful. My granddaughter can't cook well..”
“Ah, there it is again! Then grandma cooks rice!”
“Grandma doesn't know how to do that.…….”
I lived my whole life on the battlefield. The meal was made up of jjambap prepared by subordinates..
Jupiter had no ability to live at all. She didn't know how to cook, clean, do laundry, anything..
“What do you know how to do, grandma?!”
“Just magic, whatever.…….”
It seems like a complete disqualification for a grandmother..
Junior grumbled as Jupiter thought, but continued to feed him oatmeal..
Jupiter took it in stride..
After the meal.
“Then I'll come back.”
Jupiter said as he roughly put on an imperial military coat over a shabby shirt..
I glanced inside the house and saw that the other grandchildren were still asleep..
Only Junior, the eldest, woke up early in the morning to make breakfast for the family..
“Wow, my granddaughter is amazing..”
“Ouch, get off! stupid grandma!”
Junior, who was startled when Jupiter suddenly hugged him, quickly pulled away and held out his hands..
Jupiter closed his only eye because he didn't know what to say..
“why? What is that hand gesture??”
“Ask for money, grandma! money! Living expenses are all gone!”
“what? Just now? You gave it to me a while ago..”
“How many people are there in this house? I think we can live on that little money.?”
Junior's harsh words left Jupiter with a bitter taste in his mouth..
The total number of surviving children he collected that day was eleven..
Even if you deduct the money spent on treating the aftereffects of being hit by magic, the money was running out of money just to feed and clothe yourself..
The money I had saved ran out a long time ago, and the only thing I could do was make ends meet with the security captain's salary..
Jupiter frowned as he calculated the balance..
“There's still a long time left until payday..”
“Anyway, the living expenses are all gone! Earn it or steal it, do whatever it takes!”
Junior, who saw his grandmother off at the door, rolled his eyes sweetly..
“Make money!”
***
Outskirts of town. guard post.
“I'm here, guys.”
As Jupiter wandered off to work, the soldiers with tired faces inside the guard all stood up and saluted..
“loyalty!”
“Loyalty! Are you here?.”
“Yes, loyalty… … . You idiots. How many times do I tell you to do something roughly? There's no one watching. rest!”
Immediately the released soldiers spread out onto the chairs again. Likewise, Jupiter, sitting comfortably in his seat, gestured..
“Well, nothing much happened.?”
“yes. Captain. Nothing happened except that bastard I caught yesterday..”
The soldier gestured inside the guard post..
Inside was a poorly constructed detention cell, and a young man was trapped inside..
It was the smuggler we arrested last night..
He was caught by security while trying to bring in smuggled goods from a nearby country to the village dock..
“If you want to do it, do it in a different, larger town. What kind of smuggling are you doing in this small village?…….”
As Jupiter grumbled, the smuggler leaned against the bars of the holding cell and shouted..
“No, the guards. Think carefully! If you just close your eyes, I'll give you 40% of the money I sold you for this, no! I'll just give you up to 50%. yes?”
“…….”
“It's obvious even without looking at the salaries of security guards in these rural areas. What if you think about starting a small side job? huh? How nice. I'm happy because I work sincerely, you're happy because you get free money, and my customers are happy because they get products. Everyone becomes happy!”
Jupiter, who had been listening quietly, slowly got up and went to the front of the detention room..
The smuggler kept talking excitedly..
“Especially the guard captain! I don't know why a wizard like you is here, but think about it! Right now it's just a small smuggling business, but if the wizard helps, it could be a much bigger business.-”
flashing!
Lightning struck.
Jupiter snapped his fingers and the thunderbolt heated up the iron bars of the detention cell. The frightened smuggler fell backwards..
“Hehehe!”
“Watch what you say, you criminal..”
bang!
Jupiter raised his military boots on the iron bars and growled fiercely..
“I'm Jupiter. My name is Lightning Jupiter, who was once the leader of the 2nd Division of the Imperial Magic Corps. Even if you don't have money, you'll starve. Would you turn to smuggling?.”
“Hee hee hee…….”
“Hey, I'm out of luck.”
Jupiter spat on the floor and turned around..
“Keep an eye on that bastard. They say an investigator is coming from the capital tomorrow..”
“yep.”
“I'm going to patrol the village or take a walk around the village..”
“Come visit us.”
“Come visit us!”
Jupiter left the guard post after being seen off by his subordinates..
Normally, I would just have my subordinates patrol and I would just sit down and doze off, but I didn't feel like that today..
The village along the coast was much more chaotic than before..
The eyes of the fishermen on the fishing boats going to and from the port were fierce. Is it because of the many corpses that drifted in not long ago?.
‘The security is getting increasingly worse..’
5Even a year ago, it was a very peaceful rural village..
The empire's war of conquest gave rise to countless war refugees, and the shaken security at the border was having repercussions even within the empire..
‘I just need to be quiet until the kids grow up.…….’
The money is running out, and my job as a security guard is becoming impoverished..
Jupiter suddenly became desperate for a cigarette..
But it's been a long time since I quit because I live with my children and my pockets have become poor..
‘Even Jupiter in the world is dead..’
When I thought about myself in my prime, I thought it was quite funny how I looked now, not being able to smoke because it was too expensive..
‘……It's a cigarette.’
Jupiter suddenly thought.
‘Come to think of it, were there tobacco leaves among the confiscated contraband?……?’
It was then.
“huh?”
Grumble…….
Dark clouds gathered quickly in the distant sky.,
flashing-!
A thin bolt of lightning struck..
It was not normal weather. It was obviously an artificially created lightning strike..
‘Magic?’
And the lightning was falling on the outskirts of the village, towards Jupiter's house..
Kuwagwanggwang!
“……Holy shit.”
Taat!
Jupiter immediately kicked off the ground and ran home in a huff..
As soon as I arrived home, I saw the charred bodies of a man and woman lying on the front door..
The two were holding kitchen knives and clubs in their hands..
And Junior was trembling in front of him..
“Junior?! Are you okay?!”
“Ha, ha, grandma…….”
Junior stuttered with tears streaming down his pale face..
“These people suddenly opened the door and came in and said they would kill us all if we didn't give them money, so I was so scared that I didn't even realize it.…….”
Inside the house, the other grandchildren were looking at us with horrified faces..
Did Junior, the eldest child, step out to protect his younger siblings and awaken his talent as a wizard??
Jupiter hugged his granddaughter tightly..
“It's okay, Junior. are you okay. are you okay.”
“Cough, Cluck!”
“junior?”
Jupiter, who was trying to calm his granddaughter, felt something was not right and looked down at Junior..
Junior was vomiting blood from his nose and mouth..
“Hey. Are you okay? Hey.”
“grandma…….”
Junior's eyes opened and he fainted. Blood was now flowing from her eyes and ears..
Jupiter quickly got up and hugged his granddaughter..
“Oh my, damn it……!”
***
village temple.
The priest who was also the doctor for Jupiter's grandchildren took his hands off Junior..
Junior, who received the healing magic, looked much better..
“This is a temporary measure. There is no cure.”
The priest said coldly, wiping the sweat from his forehead..
“The magic power is flowing back from the magic scar left in my heart. It's more of a problem because he has talent as a wizard. Because of the scars, he can't handle his magic power..”
“…….”
“The kid is dying. You won't live long.”
Blood seeped out from Jupiter's tightly bitten lips. The priest glanced at me..
“You knew that, right? All those kids over there won't live long..”
“……To save.”
Jupiter asked quietly..
“I want to live a little longer?”
“We should take them to the big temple in the capital. If you show it to the central priest, you will be able to receive the highest level miraculous healing magic. Money... … It might cost a bit more.”
Jupiter gritted his teeth and swept his forehead..
“Where do I get the money for that?…….”
“Well, he's going to die soon..”
“…….”
“Anyway, I don't think he will live long, so let's feed him something delicious. He's just bones and skin, what.”
I saw the child's old clothes and skinny limbs..
“…….”
Jupiter thought.
He was only collecting these children, but in fact, he was gradually killing them, wasn't he?.
They were unable to provide proper treatment and were left suffering from the hardships of living in poverty.…….
‘money…….’
Jupiter's fists were clenched as he looked at his granddaughter's sleeping face as if she had fainted..
‘Damn money……!’
***
Late at night when all the guards have left work..
The smuggler, who was dozing in a dark detention cell, heard the guardhouse door slam! I woke up to the sound of it opening..
“What, what what what what?”
Has the investigator from the capital already arrived? Is this really the end? The smuggler trembles as he thinks about it..
Jeez. Jeopuk.
Eventually, what came to the front of the detention center was… … The guard captain here was Jupiter..
“Hey, trash..”
In one hand, he was swinging the key to the detention cell lock, and in the other hand, he was rolling and burning a cigarette taken from confiscated contraband..
Jupiter sucked in the smoke and slowly exhaled..
“Talk about the smuggling thing you mentioned earlier in detail..”
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