836 – I Can’t Live Like This – 5

I hurried to my destination when I heard that my pet had bitten a person.

The captain of the guard said he was catching a pickpocket, but we don’t know if he caught a pickpocket or made a normal person into a pickpocket. He could have disguised a civilian as a pickpocket to save face.

So, you have to see this for yourself. You have to see with your own eyes whether you really caught a pickpocket and how ‘little’ the bone is broken.

‘What the heck is this?’

I sighed repeatedly as I moved to the guard headquarters.

Although the saints had animal bodies, their intelligence and perception were no different from those of humans, so I was at ease. They could even communicate smoothly with humans, so I thought there would be no problem.

But what is this? That belief has led to such a disaster. Even if the guys who went out today are a combination of birds of prey and wild beasts, isn’t it too much for them to beat up people?

‘Please be a pickpocket.’

That’s why I prayed earnestly in my heart.

Please, please, let’s hope that the citizen caught by Vitality and Patience is not an innocent citizen, but a pickpocket. Let’s hope that a minor skirmish occurred simply because of the body of the bear.

‘…He must be a pickpocket.’

Actually, it’s a shame that those guys hit people, but I don’t think they would hit innocent civilians.

It’s not a belief that ‘those guys would never beat someone up!’ because they are former evil spirits. It’s a belief that they know that if they cause an incident like this, they will only suffer. It’s a belief that arises because it’s a matter of practicality, not morality. They are not stupid enough to throw away the freedom they have finally obtained with their own hands.

I arrived at the guard headquarters with such hopes and expectations,

“Master, master! You’re here already! There was no need for the master to come in person!”

The liveliness of the people walking around the floor with anxious expressions welcomed me.

He’s a special guy. He waited at the front gate because he heard that the owner was coming in person. He’s like a child waiting for his father to come home from work.

The problem is that it’s no different from going to work, rather than leaving work.

“Patience?”

“That, patience now.”

When asked about the state of patience, Hwalgi rolled his eyes from side to side, as if he was contemplating whether he should say this.

“Dig the ground and go inside.”

Fortunately, he opened his beak quickly, but a rather impressive answer came back.

“You dug the ground?”

I asked back because it was something that was difficult to understand.

What on earth does hitting a person have to do with digging the ground? If there’s even the slightest connection, I’ll be convinced.

“Well, Patience is a little upset that he lost the money, so he thinks he’ll calm down if he’s alone in a place where there’s no one…”

And then the following explanation of the liveliness erupted into laughter. It wasn’t a hibernating bear, it went underground because it wanted to be alone.

‘Are you okay?’

Thanks to that, I feel relieved. It seems like the worst has been avoided.

Even though he beat up the pickpocket with the bear’s overwhelming power, his anger did not subside. This means that his patience’s anger had reached its peak.

At the same time, he was so angry that his eyes rolled back, but he punished the pickpocket with only a slight fracture. If the angry bear had been sincere, he would have turned humans into humans.

‘There is at least a modicum of reason.’

If Patience still has the rationality to discern right from wrong, the chances that the pickpockets that Patience beats are innocent civilians are extremely low.

Fortunately, it may not be the best, but we definitely avoided the worst.

“Master, we have been wronged. If that guy hadn’t been greedy for our money, this tragedy wouldn’t have happened. Besides, that money wasn’t ours, it was the master’s.”

But the laughter seemed to be a sign of an explosion, and they started talking nonsense and complaining about their grievances.

The appeal was so desperate that I couldn’t bring myself to cut it off. If I stopped talking here, I felt like all my energy would just burst into tears.

“And patience is only what I have lost! Patience is not a sin! If there is any, it belongs to the one who is greedy for money!”

‘oh.’

This time, I was surprised in a different way than when I first heard the news of the assault on the citizens.

I can’t believe these guys are standing up for each other. They’re raising their voices for the other person’s safety, not their own.

Of course, the excuse is not ‘It’s my fault for losing the money!’ but ‘It’s the fault of the b*stard who touched the money!’, but that doesn’t change the justification for the assault of patience.

“stop.”

As I opened my mouth with a more calm mind than before, the beak of energy closed tightly.

“You’re a fan of pickpockets, right?”

“Oh, that’s right.”

“The opponent isn’t dead.”

“The bone is broken, but other than that I’m fine! They said that bones can be healed quickly with magic!”

“Okay then.”

He gently patted the head of the boy who was flapping his wings in protest.

“Be careful in the future. This time I was lucky and only broke a bone, but if you guys get in my way I could die.”

“My, my master…!”

“And you’re good at managing your money.”

After saying those words, he walked away with energy in his arms.

Now that we’ve arrived at headquarters, we should talk to the captain and find out who the hell stole the eagle and bear’s money.

The claim of vitality and the captain’s explanation were not very different.

“At first, he thought the money he had lost had been picked up by a pickpocket. So he ran to get his money back, but the pickpocket ran away and there was a small fight.”

“Is it okay if I say the broken bone is small?”

“If you’re not a knight and you run into a bear and end up with a fracture, that’s fine.”

The answer is that energy and patience were not for no reason, but were punishment for the pickpocket who struck first.

“So, why is he like that? It would be easier to deal with ordinary citizens than with talking eagles and bears.”

“It was said that the standard for pickpocketing is to target people who are excited about traveling. Even if they are animals, not people, there is no exception… “

The information that the pickpocket who targeted energy and patience was a b*stard who was not prejudiced at all.

He was crazier than I thought, so I ended up laughing out loud. Of course, it would be easier for pickpockets to target people who are excited about traveling rather than locals, but they are not people, they are animals. Birds of prey and wild beasts, to be exact.

‘The future of the empire is bright…’

Even a single criminal has such an open mind and no prejudice. How open-minded must other citizens and nobles be? It brings tears to my eyes.

“Master, can we go back now?”

And these complex and subtle emotions were quickly broken by the voice of vitality.

“Well, if I have to go back, I will.”

As I watched quietly, Hwalgi shrank back and continued speaking.

It’s a sad sight. They cry out that they are innocent, and even though it’s been revealed that they are innocent, they still look at me. How anxious must they be inside?

“Okay. It’s not dinner time yet, so go ahead and play.”

So I put down the vitality that was still in my arms on the head of patience.

They are the kind of guys who are so anxious and watchful that it’s almost sad. They would never cause an accident unless they were the first to get caught, like in this pickpocketing incident.

Then what can we do but let them continue to play? It would be cruel to take away their freedom simply because they got involved in an incident.

“You too, come and have fun.”

“Go, thank you.”

Patience nodded as he patted Patience on the head.

These guys have definitely lost a lot of their venom, perhaps because they’ve been playing with kids for years. Now, I can’t even think of them as former evil spirits.

Well, I’d rather have a gentle and obedient pet than a disobedient and cranky one.

I think I’m going to get this disease.

“Tea or vodka. Which do you like better?”

“By car… please.”

“That’s right. In fact, Jim also had his vodka confiscated by the Empress. She said she couldn’t give it to him even if she wanted to.”

He was summoned by the emperor again.

I’m going crazy. This situation where I have to see the Emperor’s face as soon as something happens is so tiresome and horrible.

If it were normal, I would think this would be my destiny, but right now I have temporarily stepped down from my position as minister. I am not in a position to run like a dog to the emperor’s call─

“They say the Count’s pet caused a commotion in the island.”

Surprisingly, I was in a position where I had to run.

“That, that.”

“Oh, of course I heard the details. You caught a pickpocket, right? I’m not blaming you for that.”

The emperor waved his hand as if telling me not to worry, but his gaze fixed on me made all kinds of worries rise up.

“Even if it was self-defense, wasn’t it an attack on a civilian by unauthorized beasts? It’s difficult to just let it go.”

Soon, the worries became reality.

A perfect reason that cannot be refuted. A justification that an emperor should be concerned about. How can one be confident after hearing such words?

‘The noble’s pet beat up a citizen of the island.’

If you leave out all the other factors and just list the facts, you can summarize it in one sentence. It’s a reenactment of the tyranny that only history books can show, where a wild beast raised by a powerful person harmed citizens.

It doesn’t matter that the citizen of the system is a pickpocket, and that the pickpocket stole the pet’s precious allowance first. What matters here is that the energy and patience that has no power to arrest or judge has imposed private sanctions.

“If the Count had subdued the pickpocket, there wouldn’t have been any problem. People still think the Count is the minister. To be honest, if you pickpocket in front of the Minister of Inspection, you’ll die a natural death even if you get your head cut off.”

“How can you get the death penalty for pickpocketing…”

“That’s what they say, that’s what they say.”

The emperor, with a faint smile, picked up the teapot and personally poured tea into the teacup in front of me.

“count.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Among the many titles and positions held by the Count is the position of Knight of the Order of Lissizariune. Do you remember?”

“How could I forget it? It is such an honor and an embarrassment to me.”

“And a knight may properly have squires.”

Those words made me flinch and shake my shoulders.

You little punk, no way.

“The Count’s pets. Just keep them as squires. Then, if something like this happens again, there will be no problem in terms of legitimacy.”

“Your Majesty. Is it really okay to have animals as the squires of the glorious Knights of Lisizarione?”

“The laws regarding the Knights of the Risijariune are more lax than you might think. There is no law against taking animals as seed.”

Of course not. Where would you find a madman who would treat animals as seed?

The unfortunate thing is that my name is about to be recorded among the first madmen. If the Emperor himself had brought up the subject, it would have been more of an order than a suggestion.

“Count. They need to have the title of squire so that they can quickly handle any accidents that occur. Well, if the Count is going to handle it himself every time something happens, then he doesn’t have to do it.”

“…We will hold the seed appointment ceremony within tomorrow.”

“I guess so.”

The emperor nodded as if he had thought it through well, to my surrender that was not surrender.

I hate him. I hate the emperor who made me a knight of beasts.

***

I felt sorry for the Count who was drinking tea with a bitter expression on his face.

Why can’t he rest even though he was relieved of his ministerial post? Why is he at the center of the incident even though he is an outsider?

‘If anyone saw me, they’d think I was doing it on purpose.’

It was not my will that the Minister sent his pets to the system, nor that the pets that were sent to the system caused any accidents.

It’s just something the minister and his pets brought upon themselves.

‘This too must be fate.’

The Count, who was freed from the title of Minister, began to use the title of Knight of the Order of Lissizariune.

At this point, one wonders how far the Count will go in his suffering.