## Chapter 1674 – Sword, Magic, and Foreigner – Celestial Demon Constellation

“So, what brings you here?”

Copson said that with his signature, good-natured homeless-guy smile. This bastard… he really hasn’t changed. He hasn’t even aged. He looks even younger, probably because he’s been living the good life, just coasting along.

“What else, you jerk? I came to see what this bastard’s been up to.”
“Oh my! Does the barbarian really like me that much!”

Crazy bastard!

“Chop, chop, chop. Stick out your chin, you jerk. You wanna talk shit?”
“Have some mercy.”

—Pout.

With that, Copson stuck out his chin in a prim way. His chin jutted out so far, I thought for a second a backhoe was sticking its bucket out. I thought there was a traffic accident, damn it.

Daring to stick a bucket at a person? He’s clearly lost his sense of safety.

“Hehehe! You crazy bastard! Augh!”

—Thwack!

I lightly flicked his chin, and Copson screamed.

“My chiiiiiiin!”
“Don’t exaggerate, you idiot. I didn’t even hit you hard.”
“Hmm? Now that I think about it, it doesn’t hurt?”

He stroked his chin, looking amazed.
I almost thought I’d actually hit him hard.

“For a barbarian who can crumble mountains with his fingers to pull off such a trick!”
“You can’t use your strength against a dwarf.”
“Dwarf! The barbarian is just huge, it’s not that I’m small!”
“Yeah, you’re all dwarves to me.”

The height difference between this guy and me is really enormous.

—Creak.

While roughly talking like that, I grabbed a chair and sat across from him.

“Hey, you jerk, so what have you been up to these days? Huh? Tell me something.”
“You really do ask about my life every time we meet.”
“Just tell me, you idiot.”
“Ugh… well, I’m doing fine, normally.”

Copson crossed his arms and spoke as if he was pondering something. So, he’s been living a normal life, huh?

“This bastard. Have you finally gotten over that shock from back then?”
“Who said I was shocked! I’m not the kind of person who gets shocked by things like that! You’ve got the wrong person!”

His face turned red, probably because he was embarrassed.

Back in the day, he had a lot of acne, so I would have teased him for looking like a strawberry with his skin turning red, but it’s not that serious anymore, so I’ll skip it.

“Hehehe, bullshit. What was your childhood friend’s name again? Elma? How many kids did she have?”
“Geeeeeeek!”

Copson made a sound like his soul had been struck and looked like he was about to vomit blood! This won’t do!

“Hey, hey! I get it! I get it! I’ll shut up!”
“Ugh…! Don’t torture me! How can a barbarian who’s spawned a bunch of kids say such things to me!”
“Ah, sorry. I’m really sorry.”

I thought I was going to kill him, damn it.

“Hey, so. You’re really doing well these days? Your face does look a bit brighter, though?”
“… “

A brief silence.

“Didn’t I say I was doing well?”

He said he was doing well, but.
I can sense something.

“This bastard? Something’s not right. What is it? Want a raise?”
“A raise?! Barbarian! What did you just say!”
“Want a raise?”
“Thank you!!!!”

Copson’s face immediately brightened, and he praised me.

“Hehehe. You bastard.”
“Ugh! You really are a barbarian!”
“So, what is it?”

—Fwoosh.

I immediately surrounded the area with my barrier.

—Whoosh.

I opened a small gate and took out beer and snacks from inside. Copson stared blankly at me.

“That looks incredibly convenient?”
“You have no idea. It’s so damn convenient, it’s ridiculous.”
“Teach me that technique.”
“You want to learn? Well, since we’re friends, I can teach you that much.”
“Really!!!”
“Look. Swish.”

—Whoosh.

I made another gate and took out more snacks.

“Easy, right?”
“No, I have no idea what’s supposed to be easy about that!”
“Hehehe.”

I teased him like that and grabbed a beer glass. A really cold glass. The surface was covered in condensation.

“I always think this… but nothing tastes as good as the beer the barbarian brings. Seriously. Is this even beer! The cup is very luxurious and cold!”
“Hehehe, it’s qualitatively different from what you have here. Well then, cheers.”

We simply toasted, chugged our beers, and then I grabbed a well-fried coconut shrimp and dipped it in sweet chili sauce.

—Crunch.

Ah. Shrimp is so good. So, I opened the snack dimension again and took out tempura to dip in soy sauce.

“Ugh!”

—Thump!

Copson, who finished his 500ml glass even faster than I did, let out a refreshing sound and put down his cup.

“That’s so good!”

I naturally refilled his beer and said,

“So, what’s the problem?”
“How did you know I had a problem?”
“I can tell just by looking at your face.”

When Copson is full of confidence, the edges of his chin, the very tips, are raised upwards, but when he’s not, they droop down.

“Well, it’s not a particularly big problem. Ah, this shrimp is really good!”
“Just tell me, you idiot.”
“Alright.”

—Crunch.

Copson, who ate a plump tempura dipped in soy sauce, grabbed his beer glass again and said,

“Actually… I’ve become a bit more popular these days!”
“What?”
“Women talk to me more often, and I end up drinking with them!”
“Ooh! So!”

This bastard, something like that happened to him? But why is he worried?

“That’s great! See! Your luck turned after getting burned by that Elma!”
“But that’s…!”
“Why.”
“It’s not exactly… good!”

—Glug glug!

Copson, who chugged his beer again, exclaimed while catching his breath.

“I’ve become popular, but not with young women!”
“What? Then who?”
“Single mothers with kids!”
“Huh?”

What…?

Single mothers with kids?

“Single mothers with kids are trying to seduce me! Damn it! I don’t want that!”
“W-What the hell are you talking about?”
“It’s exactly what it sounds like!”
“Single mothers are seducing you? Are they crazy? No. Damn. Why all of a sudden?”

I guess I haven’t been paying attention to Copson lately. This was the first time I was hearing about this. He’s become popular with single mothers with kids?

—Whoosh.

I immediately opened the snack dimension and took out plump tandoori chicken legs and buffalo wings to eat. For reference, if you put prepared dishes into the snack dimension, time flows incredibly slowly, so you can maintain the freshly made state for a very long time.

It involves a similar technique to creating the Bogeyman dimension.

“Ugh! So, I feel good about it, but at the same time, it feels weird! That’s been bothering me a lot lately!”
“No, so why? What’s the reason?”

—Swish.

The moment I shoved a chicken leg into my mouth and scraped it with my teeth, all the meat was cleanly separated by the Celestial Demon Power, leaving only the bone. The same goes for the chicken wings. As for the drumsticks, only the meat remains when I put them in my mouth, and only the bones and cartilage come out.

This greasy chicken flavor… I can’t resist it.

—Glug glug.

And I drink a lot of beer too. Because after hearing this guy’s story, I couldn’t stop eating.

“Ugh!”

Copson also picked at this and that, drank beer, and responded to my words.

“Give me some more snacks!”
“Alright.”

—Whoosh.

This time, I took out beef tataki and tuna tataki. Eating them one by one, the juices burst in my mouth.

“Just tell me already, you idiot.”
“Alright. Well… how should I put it? It’s a bit difficult. Actually. Actually, you see. After that incident, I told various people about what happened back then.”
“Elma?”
“That’s right! Like I was having a consultation while drinking! Like I was letting go of the wounds of the past, I just went around telling everyone!”

Copson, the tragic male lead.

When he returned to his hometown, the villagers tried to set him up with a single mother with kids. That single mother was his first love.

The story is simple, but it must have been quite a hit because of Copson’s characteristic boastful exaggeration and tone.

“So?”

—Whoosh.

I take out freshly fried hash browns, dip them in mayonnaise and ketchup, and take a bite while listening to the story.

“That rumor spread!”

Rumor?

“What. Hey. Wait a minute. Hold on. So, what’s the problem? It’s a story about you dumping a single mother, so why would they cling to you?”

Even if the rumor spread, it would have been a rumor that Copson dumped Elma, so why did he become popular with single mothers?

“That’s the thing. I don’t know who the damn bastards are, but the rumor got distorted!”
“Distorted?”
“I…! I!!!”

To summarize Copson’s story that followed:

Copson, the tragic male lead, and a single mother with kids.

The villagers deceived him, but he hasn’t forgotten his love. So, Copson. He sweetly promised to take responsibility for Elma’s life, as well as raise all the children.

So, that single mother, Elma, has become a powerful figure in the village and is living very well.

“It’s a bizarre rumor, a bizarre rumor!”

That kind of rumor is rampant.

Among the single mothers in the capital, Copson has become a figure who can’t forget his love and is kind to other people’s children.

“That bizarre rumor is circulating in the capital! So, all the single mothers with kids are being kind to me! They keep asking me to meet them!”

Screaming.

“Ugh… Isn’t it obvious what they want!”

Copson seemed angry as he said that, but despite that, the corners of his mouth were twitching at the fact that he had become popular.

There’s nothing I can do.

“So, on the one hand, you feel good, but on the other hand, you feel bad?”
“Exactly! You really are a barbarian! The only being in this world who understands my deepest feelings is the barbarian!”
“Hehehe, you damn bastard. Stop talking nonsense.”

So, that’s what happened?

It’s a story that’s very Copson-like.

“So, what about the young women? They’re not interested at all?”

I think I heard that he had a good reputation among the female employees when I saw him last time. They said they felt good seeing him looking relieved.

“That… I don’t know. Ugh! Anyway, give me some more alcohol!”
“Alright.”

I kept taking out alcohol and snacks like that.

What am I going to do with this bastard?

He has a lot of money and a high position, but he doesn’t have a woman.

“Hmm.”