835 – I Can’t Live Like This – 4

After Jang Saeng-i’s cheerful runaway show, the Seongsu’s relay outings continued.

And today is the day of energy and perseverance. The Eagle and Bear duo go out.

“Just come back before dinner, or you can come back early if you get tired along the way.”

“Before dinner! Got it!”

“I’ll give you some money, so use it if you get hungry or thirsty. It’ll be sad if you get tired while walking.”

“I will use it well!”

The vitality of flapping wings and the patience of constantly nodding heads.

He was trying hard to answer, but I could see the intense desire in his eyes, so I let out a small chuckle. Those were the eyes that were telling me to stop nagging and hurry up and send him.

Yes, freedom is just around the corner, but what I say will be heard? Even Vitality and Patience are the last of the 11 saints to go out. Although it is only a few days apart, how much must have burned inside them in those few days.

“Then have fun and come back. Don’t go outside the system.”

“I’ll keep that in mind!”

“Only work within the system! Return before dinner!”

My declaration was met with vigor and perseverance, and I ran without looking back.

The determination to enjoy as much freedom as possible until the evening. The determination to never forgive anyone who tried to stop them. Those two emotions were felt without any filter.

‘It runs well.’

Rather, it was an eagle riding on a bear’s back. This time, too, it was a unique and bizarre combination that made me smile.

Yesterday it was a combination of a snake wrapped around a deer’s horn, the day before that it was a turtle on a tiger’s head, that day a fox in sheep’s fur, and the day before that it was a chick hanging from a horse’s mane.

Jang Saeng-i, the first escapee, carried Lisianne on his back, and the escapees who followed after him also showed off impressive figures. It may not have been intentional, but it seems to have become a tradition.

– Kyuuung.

– Kyuing.

As the two saints disappeared like the wind, Mane and Mine, who were at my feet, looked up at me with sparkling eyes.

I thought I knew why they were doing this, so I picked up the two rabbits. It must mean that since their seniors are going out one after another, they want to go out too.

“I will send you too when the time comes.”

– Kyuung! Kyuung!

– Kyuing!

Mane and Mine’s ears began to prick up at my promise.

It felt like I was looking at triplets, so I couldn’t help but laugh. Long ears are inherently cute.

‘…I’m a little worried about sending only these.’

But can we really let these guys out? They’re neither Titi, who has a suspicious intelligence that makes you wonder if they’re human, nor Seongsu, who speaks like a human. I’m worried that if we let them loose for no reason, they’ll end up in a rabbit stew-like ending.

Should I send them all three, including Junie? No, Junie is still a calf, so he won’t be of much help.

‘A calf and two rabbits.’

I’m really worried. What kind of troubles do these little, dumb guys have in the system? Aren’t they just being pushed around and manipulated by people?

But if we don’t send them away, they will be hurt. Discrimination is not only a sad thing for humans, but also for animals.

‘I should send them out together when the servants leave.’

For example, when Yuris and Sophia go shopping. If you send Mane, Mine, and Junie out together, it will be a pretty good walk. If you tell them to play for a few hours, Yuris and Sophia will like it too.

Of course, it might be a shame for Mane, Mine, and Juni not to have a companion, but they can’t send them out because they feel uneasy without a companion.

Although the animals under my protection won’t die or get hurt, they may get stressed out from all the petting because of their cute appearance.

‘I have to worry about these things as I live.’

It’s a bit of a subtle feeling. He’s a nobleman who’s worried about walking his pet, not about running his estate or his family.

There has never been a noble like me in the history of the empire, and there never will be one.

***

The wind is sweet. It’s so sweet that I feel like crying.

“Have I ever been this happy since I was released from the seal?”

“None. At most, maybe when I went to Tilglehen.”

Patience, who had been walking briskly to my muttering, gave a subtle response.

‘hot.’

That almost made me laugh.

I was once called a plague. Patience was called rage. I was the one who spread disease to all beings nearby, and Patience was the one who destroyed everything with uncontrollable rage. It’s amazing that we, who are like that, have the same feelings about the same subject. As we live, things like this happen─

“Where are you going now?”

?

I tried to straighten my wings with patience, but they ended up frozen in place.

“… Didn’t you decide where you were going? I was just standing still because you were walking?”

“I was going to where you were looking?”

At the words of patience, I too fell into silence.

It was a situation where we believed that each other had a place to go and silently supported each other’s progress. But that was a mistake.

‘What is this?’

A disaster caused by trusting someone other than yourself. It was something that would never have happened to us in the past, so I burst out laughing.

“There’s nothing I can do. I have no choice but to decide where to go from now on.”

“By the way, Hwalgi. Jeonggyeol said there was a place that sold fresh fruit. Shall we go there first?”

“Do you sell apples too?”

“I’ll sell it. If you don’t have it, you can eat something else.”

I nodded my head, thinking that was a very reasonable statement.

That’s right. If you don’t have what you want, just eat something else. We came out of the mansion to be free. We came out to do everything as we wished.

And if there are no apples, we can choose other fruits, and we can buy the fruits that we want to eat. We can do all these actions at our own will.

‘That’s the best.’

Now I feel like crying instead of laughing.

Of course, these were not tears of sadness, but tears of joy. They were tears that came out because I was so happy and joyful that I could not control my emotions.

“Active. Una?”

“It looks like you’re crying too.”

“I’m not crying. I’m just sending the pitiful me of the past into memories.”

The words “What the hell are you talking about” rose to the top of my lungs, but I held them back.

I screamed in my head that it was bullshit, but in my heart, I instinctively understood what he meant.

If your heart understands, that’s enough. It’s not beautiful to find fault with something.

Indeed, the store that Jeonggyeol recommended was a great place for that lazy guy to recommend.

“Apples. Do you have any apples?”

“There are apples that are sweeter and apples that are more sour. Which one should I give you?”

“both.”

I am satisfied. A store that offers a variety of the same type of products to suit different tastes. How many stores are more wonderful and honest than this?

“Patience. What are you going to eat?”

“I’ll apologize too.”

“Give me 20 apples.”

“No, that. Five is enough for me.”

“Give me 25.”

I was planning on eating 20 of them. I’m into apples these days.

Thanks to that, my shoulders started to shake. If you try to eat 10 or 20 at a time in the mansion, you won’t be able to eat them because you’ll get a stomachache. As a former evil spirit and current holy beast, I shouldn’t have a stomachache like that, right…?

“uh?”

“Why are you suddenly like that? Calculate quickly and go to the next location─”

“Sir, I lost my wallet.”

“What the heck is this kid?”

As if returning to the days of anger, Patience, who had been carrying me on her back, stood up on both feet and grabbed my body with her hands.

“Calm down! I was sure I had it just a moment ago! I dropped it recently, so I’ll find it right away!”

I opened my mouth in a hurry because it was an unusually evil force.

No matter how strong I am, my opponent is also a former evil spirit. If Patience returns to the days of anger and shows sincerity, I may have to live with broken wings for a while.

“Hey, if you don’t have money, you can just take it. I’ll give it to you as a gift.”

As Patience and I were both shaken for different reasons, the store owner quietly offered us an apology.

Thank you for your kind words, but that’s not possible. Taking someone else’s stuff for free on your first outing? Surely, the news will reach the owner’s ears in some way, and if that happens, there will be no way to expect a second outing for Patience and me. The owner will declare a ban on going out, saying that you committed an unlawful act in his name.

Absolutely, absolutely not. I would rather starve than be banned from going out.

“Just wait. I’ll be right back!”

“You can really take it…”

“I’ll be back!”

“Yeah, yeah.”

After hearing the store owner’s answer, I struggled as much as I could to escape Patience’s grasp.

The anger that comes from losing money can be relieved by finding the money. Patience’s anger must be suppressed for the sake of me and Patience’s happy and free outing.

So money. I have to find the lost money. Otherwise, for a while, my wings will spread to the ground instead of the sky.

‘ah.’

And as if the heavens and the earth knew of my desperation, I saw a human walking along, carrying a familiar pouch.

“Hey, Patience! There it is! That human helped us find our lost pouch!”

“what?”

Patience’s head turned at my shout.

Then, as if he had realized the existence of the pocket like I had, he started to walk on the ground again, on four feet instead of two.

“Hey! Human! Stop for a moment!”

Taking advantage of that gap, he quickly flew towards the human.

I don’t know who you are, but thank you for finding it…!

***

As I was watching the children playing hard as always, the communication device in my arms started to glow.

– Your Majesty, I am the Captain of the Imperial Guard.

It was a call from the captain of the military police, whose face I’ve been seeing a lot lately.

– I have something urgent to tell you, so I am contacting you. I hope I have not bothered you.

“No, it’s okay. If the captain contacted you, then there must be a reason.

I glanced at the children who were playing nicely on their own and then moved away.

The captain’s expression was complex and subtle. It wasn’t dark, but it wasn’t bright either.

If that’s the case, then there’s something complicated to talk about. It’s not something you should be talking about in front of children.

“What’s wrong? Feel free to speak freely without beating around the bush.”

– That’s it.

The captain of the guard, who had been observing for a moment, let out a small sigh.

-Your Majesty’s pets caught a pickpocket.

“…yes?”

– However, during the process, the criminal was gored by the bear, so some of the criminal’s bones were broken.

It was difficult to understand, so I just blinked for a while.

Pickpockets, arrests, bear attacks, fractures. What on earth does this mean? Am I hearing this correctly?

“Why, does that happen…”

After a long silence, he finally opened his mouth.

Why are the guys I sent to tell them to rest now arresting pickpockets?