Chapter 286 – Suspension.

Hehe, haueuk!”

A woman’s moans echoing in the back alley. The boy blankly leaned against the wall and listened to the sound. The sound of wet skin touching like the sound of splashing water. He could confirm the identity of the sound by simply moving her head to look between the alleys, but he just stared blankly ahead.

“Huh!”
“Keuuu, that’s good.”

There, another man’s voice was gasping for breath.

“Huh, Hick!”
“Take it well this time too!”

How much longer did the moans echo through the alley? A man’s voice signaled the end.

“Because I don’t have a pussy like you.”
“Thank you.”
“Kick-kick, yes. This is the food we promised.”

Tumbling, the sound of footsteps approaching over the wall, and soon it was a tall man who came out of the alley. He grinned when he found the boy leaning against the wall.

“Didn’t you have a good sister? Kayaba, be nice to your sister?”
“…”

Even though the boy didn’t respond to his words, he smiled and pressed his head, then warmed up as if feeling refreshed and walked off somewhere. The boy confirmed that he was gone and looked into the alley. Then, what I saw was the back of a woman exhaling exhaustedly at the end of the alley. It was also lying face down on the black floor, with the upper body leaning against it, two white hills and a crack full of white liquid between the legs were clearly exposed, and the two widened legs were supporting the body that had collapsed with difficulty.

“Huh.”

With her trembling hands, even moving her arms, she props herself on the black floor and lifts her body up. The curve drawn by her slowly rising back. The line went up and down in several curves as if her hand was shaking while drawing it, and it was only when she reached the two hills that her feet pressed down that she drew a proper curve again. However, it was only for a moment that she could capture that figure in her eyes. Soon, she puts on a blanket that is embarrassing to even call it her clothes. Eventually, when her skin reflected in her alleyway shrunk, the boy finally opened his mouth.

“Sister.”

Then she lifted the two bowls in front of her and smiled back at him as she usually did.

“Kayaba. Let’s go home now.”
“Huh.”

It was everyday like always. The way back home wasn’t too far. It’s a place where you can’t be sure that it’s someone’s house that didn’t even have an owner anyway. It was their home because they were used to living there. After returning home, I am busy eating the food in the bowl I brought with me. Even knowing what it cost me, I had to eat to live. After such a meal, there is not much to do for them.

“Sister, tell me the old days.”
“Kayaba must really like the sky.”

Actually, I didn’t like old stories that much. All I could hear anyway was the endless sky over that dark ceiling, the shining stars, and the food that was said to be overflowing enough to keep me from starving.

“They say the shining stars above always illuminate the land.”

A story that would be troublesome to memorize and tell. But she always laid his head in her arms and spoke in a friendly voice. There was her voice, which grew muffled as she waited, burying her face in the soft feel of her own face. Eventually, the faint breath that begins to blow is a signal to wake him up. He carefully slipped out of her arms and pushed her over. And what you see is her sleeping figure with her eyes closed after all.

“Sister, are you sleeping?”

Her boy sat her still and asked towards her. Even though she knew it meant nothing to her, the questions she threw were not for her, but only in preparation for what was to come.

“…”

Seeing her fall asleep without answering his question, the boy raised her hand and grasped the worn hem of the cloth. If you lifted it, you would be able to see underneath it. However, the hand holding the hem of the cloth did not move any further. Even if someone grabs his hand, he just holds it without lifting or lowering the hem of the cloth. What caught the boy’s eyes was not the bottom of the hem, but the thin legs that stretched underneath it. He finally put down the hem of the cloth, got up, and ran out of the house. Farther than far.

I forced myself to swallow the smell that was about to pour out over and over again and walked away from the house. Because he couldn’t bear to do it. Because she didn’t want her to see herself, just in case. The boy who got away from home like that finally sat down and bowed his back.

“Wow! Weeek! Keck!”

A sour, astringent and strange taste flows out of the mouth and spreads all over the ground. The tears came together and mixed together, making it impossible to know what it was, and the pieces that stuck together were revealing everything that was inside of them. It was really strange, disgusting, and dirty, but funny, it was even more painful that it was no different from what he usually ate. That was then.

“Oh no, kid. Even if you throw up, it’s best to do it where I was before.”

The boy raised his head curiously and looked at the owner of the voice that had been heard. There, a knight clad in full-body armor, who seemed to come out of a vaguely remembered fairy tale, was looking down at him as if he was absurd. It was nothing special, but it was his first meeting with Master, which was more special than he thought.

“Cardinal! It’s a big deal! Residents of the underground!”

Bang! The boy, Cardinal, woke up from his dream at the sound of a knight opening the door violently and shouting. It wasn’t a very good memory, but it was a nostalgic dream, so he was uncomfortable with his sound sleep being disturbed.

“It’s noisy. What’s the point of loudly telling what we already know?”

The knight looked at the owner of the voice. There, a knight in a red cloak, Cardinal, was sitting on a chair, showing his back. In a room illuminated by light from all sides, he calmly gazed at the scenery outside without turning his head at the words of the knight, as if he had nothing to do with the commotion outside.

“I wonder why you are looking for me now.

Hearing the chilly voice flying from him, the knight continued to speak while swallowing nervously.

“We’re having a hard time suppressing them. The paladins and knights who came out first have no news or are collapsing.”

A crackling sound echoed through the room. It was the sound of his fingers tapping the armrests of his chair.

“What about Boaz and Arun?”
“The news has been lost with Rachel-sama.”
“Rachel?”

Then the tapping on his armrest stops.

“Yes, not only Kane-nim and Mold-nim ​​were also injured and fell down.”
“What about the other Paladins?”
“You’re going to suppress it, but…”

The knight’s muted voice didn’t convey the good news, so Cardinal stood up.

“I can’t help it. But you better remember. Who was it that told me I didn’t have to step out?”

At his words, the knight simply bowed his head.

“This should be enough.”

Clank clap clap, every time he moved his steps, the sound of ironclaps clashing overlapped for a while. He stood in the center of the room.

“Bring the spear.”
“Yes.”

The knight followed his words and pushed the cradle that was inside the room and brought it to his side. There were several sharp spears made of iron erected on the stand, and Cardinal picked up one of them and looked down at the floor as if to judge it.

“How many intruders?”
“One knight and two children.”
“…I can only see two of them.

Pajik, along with a resounding sound like iron snapping, a pale flash colored the window.

“Tsk, what are Rachel and Kane doing? Have the underground guys come all the way up here already?”

Another paladin stood in front of Krikaliev and Usher, who continued to run. Since they were the paladins he encountered several times while climbing this building, which was unknown how tall, Usher could tell how to tell them apart. If the armor of ordinary knights is basically a form of plate mail connected with simple brown leather and chains, the paladins were connected to plate mail with colorful cloth. Right now, in front of them, Lee was wearing purple armor like that.

“It should only be once or twice to disappoint the saintess.”

I couldn’t see his face properly, but I could tell from the voice that echoed through the helmet that he was quite old. The sword held in one hand with a large round shield looked similar to Usher’s weapon, but it was different in details.

“Still, where can you see the skill that has come this far…?!”

He wanted to say something more, but Krikaliev was already swinging his sword, and he couldn’t finish his sentence, so he tried to block his sword.

“Keugh, I don’t know who this kind of chivalry is because I’m afraid it’s not an underground guy!”
“That word is not going anywhere. Grandpa.”
“What…!”

He tried to block Krikaliev’s sword by pushing his shield against it, but Barisada didn’t hit it this time. Barisada descended quickly as if about to strike down the shield, then suddenly slowed down and collided with the shield. Soon after, Krikaliev, holding the barisada that had rotated around the shield, put the cross guard on top of the shield and pulled it, turning his shield upside down as if opening a lid. Of course, the old man did not stay still.

He tried to stab him with his free sword, but Krikaliev walked inside his leg, knocked him off balance, grabbed his sword, and threw it away. Krikaliev, having lost his weapon, continued to run past him. Usher watched the scene and finally asked the questions he had accumulated so far.

“Where did you learn swordsmanship, Mister?”

It was possible to know that his skills were excellent without thinking deeply, but it was true that it raised questions even more. The basement where he lived with him for a while wasn’t a place that was so active in fighting. To put it mildly, the place that sold swords was only for decoration.

“I learned it because it was in an old book.”
“A book?”

Usher didn’t know whether to believe him or not. He had heard that there was such a thing as a swordsmanship book from Donar, but he had heard that swordsmanship is a skill that uses the body after all, so it is meaningless unless you learn it yourself.

“Someone asked me to learn a sword… Tsk! Got caught!”

Krikaliev, who was answering Usher’s question, abruptly cut off his words and spurred on the ground and changed direction. At the same time, it was as if a sound of something collapsing was heard in the distance.

– Kurleung!

With the sound of thunder ringing in my ears, I could find a line of daylight light crossing my eyes. Usher didn’t realize what it was at first, but when he looked up along the empty space where the line was, he saw a black hole that could fit a few fingers through it. Because of that, if you lower your head again to the bottom where the line was connected.

“Window?”

A long iron spear with traces of charred burning was pierced into the ground with the end crushed, and it was discovered that the surroundings were bursting black. There was no time for Usher to inquire about its identity.

“Come again!”

Krikaliev shouted and ran on.

– Kwareung!

Another ray of daylight passed by them.

“What the hell is this?”

Usher was horrified at the sight of the lightning-like spears aiming at their place one after another.

“A paladin again!”
“Who doesn’t know that and asks?!”

Even looking at it, I could tell it was the magic of a paladin, but unlike the paladins I had met so far, I hadn’t expected that it would throw a spear from an invisible place and attack from upstairs. I wouldn’t have been surprised if it was something like an arrow or a sling, but cold sweat flowed from the javelin, which left only afterimages as it was pierced at them, regardless of the floor and ceiling of the building. If Krikaliev hadn’t noticed in advance, they would have been skewered with that spear at once.

“Did you avoid it?”

Cardinal was still looking down. Perhaps the reason he stayed on the top floor, and the reason he was able to stay still, ascertaining the appearances of those who had escaped the attack, he gripped his spear again and dyed it a pale light.