“They said it was an immortal corpse?”
“Does something like that really exist in the world?”
Erne, who was about to sit down on the empty chair, froze when Ken's voice, like an iron fist, brushed past his ear.
“What kind of corpse is this?”
“Huh? Ah, an incorruptible corpse?”
A corpse that doesn't rot.
Erne wanted to press him to tell him where the body was right away, but it would look strange if he got excited.
Erne asked lightly, pretending to be calm.
“Is there such a thing as an immortal corpse?”
“It’s there so it’ll come up for auction.”
"Auction?"
“Oh, I don’t know about our new recruits.”
The owner of the arena also ran an illegal auction house, and he often hired players from the arena as escorts for the auction house.
Ken also used to work at the auction house often, and he said that he heard a story about an immortal corpse while having a drink with the auction house manager he became friends with.
“I heard it’s up for auction this time.”
“How do I get into that auction house?”
“As a guest?”
Ken scratched his head as Erne nodded.
“They said you need an invitation, but I don’t know how to get one.”
“Even if we knew, how could people like us survive?”
Ken and the other players snickered among themselves, saying that they would never be able to enter the auction house as guests unless they were reborn.
“The only way we can get into the auction house is to get a job there, rookie.”
“No, no.”
As Ken was teasing Erne, another player snapped his fingers and chimed in.
“Hey, skinny guy, if you win this time, it’ll be your 5th win in a row, right? There’s a tradition where if you win 5 times in a row, the boss buys you a drink.”
"However?"
“But what’s the big deal? If you win five games in a row and get a drink with the boss, tell him you want to go into the auction house. Maybe he’ll let you in once.”
Just one more win would make it five in a row. For now, this was the most likely path to an immortal corpse.
An immortal corpse. Is that corpse also the work of the followers? Perhaps if they follow the source of that corpse, they can find the followers' stronghold.
Even if it doesn't go that far, he may find out why his body doesn't rot.
Of course, that would be the case if it were a real, immortal human corpse. So I had to see it with my own two eyes.
The next day.
“You skinny guy, do your best this time too.”
“How long will I be this skinny, ha, that’s enough.”
Erne shook his head and entered the stadium. Outside the stadium, the announcer shouted for them to hurry up because the betting was about to end.
Erne, leaning against the corner pillar of the stadium, scanned the crowd with his eyes. He saw a head of chestnut-brown hair tied tightly into a ponytail.
The little head was weaving between the bigger men and placing bets. As he was looking at the back of the head excited at the thought of making money, the referee clapped his hands.
“Get ready, get ready, get ready.”
When he came to his senses, the opposing player was already warming up in the opposite corner. Erne also lightly turned his shoulder but suddenly stopped when he heard a loud noise.
"What?"
His gaze turned to the entrance of the arena. The noise was getting louder and louder, and he could now guess what it was.
“The sound of horse hooves...”
Erne wasn't the only one who heard the sound. Several quick-witted people stopped, lost their composure, and exchanged glances.
“All of them, it’s a crackdown!”
When one of them shouted out in thought, the room shook. Soon, the rough sound of horse hooves and the sound of things breaking and breaking could be heard nearby.
“Hey, jump out!”
Someone's shout became a signal and everyone, regardless of age, started to rush out the back door. In an instant, the place became noisy with people tangling together and falling over.
Erne urgently looked for Judith.
“Where the hell are you?”
Judith was running against the crowd of people who were running away haphazardly. She was on the verge of falling as she was hit by the desperate people running away.
“Where is that thing going?”
Damn it!
“Don’t even mention the word ‘to’ in the arena. That’s when it really becomes a divorce.”
Erne would tremble at the sound of the arena. It seemed that he had been hit with a sense of shame after running away from the police and running into Henry.
“Think about working hard and making money.”
“I don’t think that’s what Erne should be saying.”
Who has been playing around until now?
“You need to straighten your eyebrows, otherwise you’ll get wrinkles.”
When Judith glared at Erne, he reached out and gently pressed her furrowed eyebrows to smooth them out. Judith pushed his hand away and asked.
“But Erne, didn’t you say you were going to see the immortal corpse today?”
The plan almost went awry for a moment, but Erne managed to sneak into the auction house safely.
It was thanks to Steel Fist Ken that he got a job at the auction house.
So when Erne explained the whole story and said that he had to go to work, Judith was delighted.
“Am I finally going to have a husband who receives a salary?”
“I’m only going out for one day.”
“Tch, it would be nice if you could keep going.”
Who cares, keep going. Judith was briefly delighted at the news that Erne had found a job.
But strangely, this time, for some reason, he didn't want to do what Judith wanted.
It was more interesting to see Judith's pouting lips as she replied, "Why should I get paid when you're going to feed me?"
Anyway, Erne got the position of auctioneer escort, which allowed him to see the auction items up close.
Before the auction began, the auctioneer took Erne to the warehouse to personally inspect the auction items.
After looking at a lot of strange and expensive items, Erne finally reached 'it'.
“Now, the highlight of the day! The immortal corpse.”
An old wooden coffin that showed the passage of time. As the excited auctioneer clapped his hands in front of it, two laborers lifted the coffin lid.
Kikkikk-
The coffin lid opened with an unpleasant sound. It wasn't opened in a hurry, but dust rose up inside the coffin.
“Oh, dust.”
The dust was so pungent that Erne, who covered his nose and mouth with a black cloth, coughed several times.
Only after the thick, early morning dust had settled could Erne see into the coffin.
“Does something like that really exist in the world?”
Erne, who was about to sit down on the empty chair, froze when Ken's voice, like an iron fist, brushed past his ear.
“What kind of corpse is this?”
“Huh? Ah, an incorruptible corpse?”
A corpse that doesn't rot.
Erne wanted to press him to tell him where the body was right away, but it would look strange if he got excited.
Erne asked lightly, pretending to be calm.
“Is there such a thing as an immortal corpse?”
“It’s there so it’ll come up for auction.”
"Auction?"
“Oh, I don’t know about our new recruits.”
The owner of the arena also ran an illegal auction house, and he often hired players from the arena as escorts for the auction house.
Ken also used to work at the auction house often, and he said that he heard a story about an immortal corpse while having a drink with the auction house manager he became friends with.
“I heard it’s up for auction this time.”
“How do I get into that auction house?”
“As a guest?”
Ken scratched his head as Erne nodded.
“They said you need an invitation, but I don’t know how to get one.”
“Even if we knew, how could people like us survive?”
Ken and the other players snickered among themselves, saying that they would never be able to enter the auction house as guests unless they were reborn.
“The only way we can get into the auction house is to get a job there, rookie.”
“No, no.”
As Ken was teasing Erne, another player snapped his fingers and chimed in.
“Hey, skinny guy, if you win this time, it’ll be your 5th win in a row, right? There’s a tradition where if you win 5 times in a row, the boss buys you a drink.”
"However?"
“But what’s the big deal? If you win five games in a row and get a drink with the boss, tell him you want to go into the auction house. Maybe he’ll let you in once.”
Just one more win would make it five in a row. For now, this was the most likely path to an immortal corpse.
An immortal corpse. Is that corpse also the work of the followers? Perhaps if they follow the source of that corpse, they can find the followers' stronghold.
Even if it doesn't go that far, he may find out why his body doesn't rot.
Of course, that would be the case if it were a real, immortal human corpse. So I had to see it with my own two eyes.
***
The next day.
“You skinny guy, do your best this time too.”
“How long will I be this skinny, ha, that’s enough.”
Erne shook his head and entered the stadium. Outside the stadium, the announcer shouted for them to hurry up because the betting was about to end.
Erne, leaning against the corner pillar of the stadium, scanned the crowd with his eyes. He saw a head of chestnut-brown hair tied tightly into a ponytail.
The little head was weaving between the bigger men and placing bets. As he was looking at the back of the head excited at the thought of making money, the referee clapped his hands.
“Get ready, get ready, get ready.”
When he came to his senses, the opposing player was already warming up in the opposite corner. Erne also lightly turned his shoulder but suddenly stopped when he heard a loud noise.
"What?"
His gaze turned to the entrance of the arena. The noise was getting louder and louder, and he could now guess what it was.
“The sound of horse hooves...”
Erne wasn't the only one who heard the sound. Several quick-witted people stopped, lost their composure, and exchanged glances.
“All of them, it’s a crackdown!”
When one of them shouted out in thought, the room shook. Soon, the rough sound of horse hooves and the sound of things breaking and breaking could be heard nearby.
“Hey, jump out!”
Someone's shout became a signal and everyone, regardless of age, started to rush out the back door. In an instant, the place became noisy with people tangling together and falling over.
Erne urgently looked for Judith.
“Where the hell are you?”
Judith was running against the crowd of people who were running away haphazardly. She was on the verge of falling as she was hit by the desperate people running away.
“Where is that thing going?”
Damn it!
Erne swallowed a curse and ran out of the stadium. Pushing through the crowd and rushing out the back door, he reached Judith and grabbed her arm.
“What are you doing? Come quickly.”
“Wait a minute, over there, my money, it’s over there.”
Judith stamped her foot as she pointed at the man running away with his money pouch tucked under his arm.
“Is money important right now? If you fall here, you won’t even get your bones picked up.”
It was not a metaphor, it was literal.
“Wait a minute, Erne, my money, my help!”
Erne almost lifted Judith's waist as she struggled. She tried everything in life.
He felt a sense of shame belatedly, thinking that he was running away from a crackdown while playing in an illegal arena.
“Fuck!”
Erne carried Judith under his arm through the back door, put her down, and dragged her in the direction the security forces had burst in.
If he pass by confidently as if he were a couple walking hand in hand with Judith, they might be able to avoid suspicion.
“Fold your arms. Take a deep breath and walk as if nothing happened.”
As Erne lifted Judith's arm and wrapped it around his own, a horse blocked their path.
“Hey, stop. I saw you coming out of the arena earlier. Put your hands up and turn around.”
Erne, who was planning to throw the man off his horse after taking his reins, stopped when he heard a familiar voice.
Judith, who was tucked in next to him, also slowly raised her head as if she recognized the owner of the voice.
“...Sir Henry?”
Judith smiled awkwardly as she met eyes with Henry, who pulled out his sword from his horse.
“Countess? Erne?”
Henry rubbed his eyes and looked again. They looked like they were running away from an illegal dumping ground. Erne and Henry's eyes met in the air. There was silence for a moment.
What was only a fleeting moment felt like eons to Erne.
No matter what, I'm going to get caught by Henry. Why, of all people, by him?
Erne was left speechless as a wave of self-loathing and shame washed over him.
“No, really.”
Erne, it wasn't enough that you died and came back to life, so you're doing all sorts of things. Henry, who was at a loss for words in another sense, sighed, washed his face dry, and waved his hands.
“Go quickly, go quickly.”
Erne, who was speechless, ran away without saying a word, holding Judith in his hands. Henry's eyes looking at his friend were extremely complicated.
“...I spent gold coins to buy it. Gold coins.”
“You have to put your lips in.”
A few days later, Erne clicked his tongue as he saw Judith suddenly pouting while saying she was fine.
He pressed Judith's lips, which were sticking out, with his own hands. Erne pressed them a couple more times, feeling as if the soft lips were being crushed.
“Then, you might end up cutting off your finger.”
“Can you bite it? Don’t do that and just forget about it.”
“How can that be, we broke up without even being able to do anything.”
“You should speak straight, Miss Harrington. We didn’t break up, we lost something, and it wasn’t a loss.”
He was right. She lost the stake at the end, but it wasn't a loss considering how much she had earned. She was able to pay three months' worth of interest, living expenses, and enough to buy materials for her research on incense.
But when Judith thought about the money she had bet at the last minute and never got back, her heart ached like someone who had been heartbroken.
Even while eating or cleaning, she would think about the money that had been wasted.
She would have liked to take Erne to another arena, but...
“What are you doing? Come quickly.”
“Wait a minute, over there, my money, it’s over there.”
Judith stamped her foot as she pointed at the man running away with his money pouch tucked under his arm.
“Is money important right now? If you fall here, you won’t even get your bones picked up.”
It was not a metaphor, it was literal.
“Wait a minute, Erne, my money, my help!”
Erne almost lifted Judith's waist as she struggled. She tried everything in life.
He felt a sense of shame belatedly, thinking that he was running away from a crackdown while playing in an illegal arena.
“Fuck!”
Erne carried Judith under his arm through the back door, put her down, and dragged her in the direction the security forces had burst in.
If he pass by confidently as if he were a couple walking hand in hand with Judith, they might be able to avoid suspicion.
“Fold your arms. Take a deep breath and walk as if nothing happened.”
As Erne lifted Judith's arm and wrapped it around his own, a horse blocked their path.
“Hey, stop. I saw you coming out of the arena earlier. Put your hands up and turn around.”
Erne, who was planning to throw the man off his horse after taking his reins, stopped when he heard a familiar voice.
Judith, who was tucked in next to him, also slowly raised her head as if she recognized the owner of the voice.
“...Sir Henry?”
Judith smiled awkwardly as she met eyes with Henry, who pulled out his sword from his horse.
“Countess? Erne?”
Henry rubbed his eyes and looked again. They looked like they were running away from an illegal dumping ground. Erne and Henry's eyes met in the air. There was silence for a moment.
What was only a fleeting moment felt like eons to Erne.
No matter what, I'm going to get caught by Henry. Why, of all people, by him?
“No, really.”
Erne, it wasn't enough that you died and came back to life, so you're doing all sorts of things. Henry, who was at a loss for words in another sense, sighed, washed his face dry, and waved his hands.
“Go quickly, go quickly.”
Erne, who was speechless, ran away without saying a word, holding Judith in his hands. Henry's eyes looking at his friend were extremely complicated.
“...I spent gold coins to buy it. Gold coins.”
***
“You have to put your lips in.”
A few days later, Erne clicked his tongue as he saw Judith suddenly pouting while saying she was fine.
He pressed Judith's lips, which were sticking out, with his own hands. Erne pressed them a couple more times, feeling as if the soft lips were being crushed.
“Then, you might end up cutting off your finger.”
“Can you bite it? Don’t do that and just forget about it.”
“How can that be, we broke up without even being able to do anything.”
“You should speak straight, Miss Harrington. We didn’t break up, we lost something, and it wasn’t a loss.”
He was right. She lost the stake at the end, but it wasn't a loss considering how much she had earned. She was able to pay three months' worth of interest, living expenses, and enough to buy materials for her research on incense.
But when Judith thought about the money she had bet at the last minute and never got back, her heart ached like someone who had been heartbroken.
Even while eating or cleaning, she would think about the money that had been wasted.
She would have liked to take Erne to another arena, but...
“Don’t even mention the word ‘to’ in the arena. That’s when it really becomes a divorce.”
Erne would tremble at the sound of the arena. It seemed that he had been hit with a sense of shame after running away from the police and running into Henry.
“Think about working hard and making money.”
“I don’t think that’s what Erne should be saying.”
Who has been playing around until now?
“You need to straighten your eyebrows, otherwise you’ll get wrinkles.”
When Judith glared at Erne, he reached out and gently pressed her furrowed eyebrows to smooth them out. Judith pushed his hand away and asked.
“But Erne, didn’t you say you were going to see the immortal corpse today?”
***
The plan almost went awry for a moment, but Erne managed to sneak into the auction house safely.
It was thanks to Steel Fist Ken that he got a job at the auction house.
So when Erne explained the whole story and said that he had to go to work, Judith was delighted.
“Am I finally going to have a husband who receives a salary?”
“I’m only going out for one day.”
“Tch, it would be nice if you could keep going.”
Who cares, keep going. Judith was briefly delighted at the news that Erne had found a job.
But strangely, this time, for some reason, he didn't want to do what Judith wanted.
It was more interesting to see Judith's pouting lips as she replied, "Why should I get paid when you're going to feed me?"
Anyway, Erne got the position of auctioneer escort, which allowed him to see the auction items up close.
Before the auction began, the auctioneer took Erne to the warehouse to personally inspect the auction items.
After looking at a lot of strange and expensive items, Erne finally reached 'it'.
“Now, the highlight of the day! The immortal corpse.”
An old wooden coffin that showed the passage of time. As the excited auctioneer clapped his hands in front of it, two laborers lifted the coffin lid.
Kikkikk-
The coffin lid opened with an unpleasant sound. It wasn't opened in a hurry, but dust rose up inside the coffin.
“Oh, dust.”
The dust was so pungent that Erne, who covered his nose and mouth with a black cloth, coughed several times.
Only after the thick, early morning dust had settled could Erne see into the coffin.
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