Fwoooosh!
They soared into the air.
Each time the massive wings of Asurat the Pelican stirred the air, the ground shrank further and further away.
With every flap, tears welled up in the eyes of Richmond.
'S-Someone, please, just someone… explain what's going on…!'
He wanted to scream.
Why was he flying through the sky on the back of this suspiciously enormous pelican? Why was he caught in the midst of a group of lunatics cheering for a successful takeoff?
It made no sense.
Was he having a nightmare?
It didn't feel real.
And yet, the harsh reality surrounding him was something he couldn't simply deny.
'What the hell are they… huff, huff! What are they trying to do to me!?'
Terror surged through him.
He crouched low on the pelican's back, which was swaying from all the flapping, just to keep from falling off. At the same time, he prayed.
Please, don't let these barbaric brutes eat me alive.
Of course, Kim Jangcheol had no such intentions.
"...Hoo."
Asurat flapped his wings diligently. Firmly gripped in his two talons was the alpaca, Sirgi, rising into the sky with them. Next to him, Zephyros and Baal wore soft smiles.
Seeing all of them safely airborne finally made it feel real.
They had escaped.
From him.
"....."
Kim Jangcheol's gaze naturally drifted downward.
To the ever-dwindling mansion.
No—a mansion that was in the middle of collapsing.
In the front yard stood people, looking up at them. Shouting cheers for reasons unknown.
Among them, he spotted Aged Kimchi.
Staring intently this way.
So intently that even from this distance, their gazes still felt locked. They could feel each other's presence.
"......"
Aged Kimchi stared up at Kim Jangcheol.
The distance between them had grown too vast.
And yet, if he really wanted to, he could close it in an instant.
'...Should I grab him?'
The thought briefly crossed his mind.
It wouldn't be difficult. He could hurl a blast of energy to knock the pelican unconscious, or just leap up and land beside Kim Jangcheol.
There were plenty of methods.
It would be too easy.
And yet, when it came time to act, he couldn't bring himself to do it. Because, deep down, he didn't want to.
It was strange.
Absurdly strange.
And bitterly so.
'I suppose this is where our connection ends. That must be what you wanted.'
He realized he couldn't force someone to stay. That thought made him feel lonely. A strange emotion crept in.
"......."
I clearly chose to go against the summon of duty, to stray from its guidance. That was the decision I made upon facing my twentieth life.
But then why… why does this parting from you feel so sorrowful? And why… why do I already look forward to our next meeting?
What am I waiting for?
What is it I hope for?
I have no idea.
And yet I wait.
What will we look like when we meet again? Where will it be, and what roles will we be playing?
'I hope you stay safe until then.'
Aged Kimchi sincerely wished so and raised one hand.
A small gesture of gratitude for Kim Jangcheol, who had guided him countless times, helped him grow, and was now letting him go freely.
Kim Jangcheol gasped.
'...Hiiik.'
Chills ran down his spine.
That guy—did he just make eye contact with me? And then smirk with one side of his mouth and wave?
'That really happened, didn't it? I didn't imagine that, right?'
It had to be real.
He pointed directly at Kim Jangcheol and raised his hand.
What could that mean?
"......"
Probably something like, "How dare you run away like this? When we meet again, I'll split you in two."
'Yep. That's it. Definitely.'
A cold sweat trickled down his back. A moment later, and things could've gone terribly wrong. Or if that guy had realized a little sooner…
If he had suddenly launched a blast of energy to make Asurat crash? Or leaped over to land on Asurat's back?
They would've been caught instantly.
And then, that damned devil, would've punched him in the face, saying killing him was the right thing to do.
"......"
Good thing none of that happened.
Good thing they managed to take off just in time, and put enough distance between them to be safe.
Kim Jangcheol let out a breath of relief. He looked again at the shrinking estate, and the people gathered out front.
Now so far away.
They looked like toys now.
"...."
They'd never see them again.
Not that mansion.
Nor those people.
Yes—
Even those people.
"....."
Time to let go of this strange feeling. I'm not even human right now. At least not on the outside. So no point in indulging these useless emotions.
Resolving himself, Kim Jangcheol tugged on the crest of Asurat's head.
"All right, let's head northwest!"
Let's go.
To my home.
To the Demon King's Castle, where I am awaited.
They changed course. Flew farther away. The cheers of the people in the mansion's yard gradually faded. They turned their gazes toward the collapsed mansion and let out sighs of relief.
"...."
If not for that person just now—if not for his grace—what would've happened to me? To all of us?
We would've died.
Crushed beneath a golem.
Or buried under the collapsing ceiling.
If not that, then entombed in the rubble of the crumbling mansion.
"But seriously… what just happened? I felt a tremor from underground, and then suddenly everything…"
Among them, Reivaj couldn't believe what had occurred.
All he had done was keep watch over Richmond in his bedroom.
Then suddenly—boom boom—something shook underground. And people began pouring out of the secret stairway. Over a hundred of them. Covered in dust, with hair like wild birds' nests.
"........"
And now even the mansion had completely collapsed. To make it worse, Kim Jangcheol flew off with Richmond to who-knows-where.
"Don't tell me… did Sir Kim Jangcheol just leave?"
It certainly looked that way.
Reivaj asked, and Aged Kimchi silently nodded.
"Most likely."
Perhaps realizing that wasn't enough of an answer, Aged Kimchi added a word after a moment of silence.
"He just went back. To where he originally belonged. Where he was meant to be."
"What do you mean, 'where he was meant to be'...?"
"And I think he left us both a task and a gift."
After saying so, Aged Kimchi gestured with his eyes.
Behind the mansion that had not just collapsed, but seemed to have sunken into the ground. What used to be the backyard—the spot where Kim Jangcheol's group had taken off. There stood a familiar cart.
The chuno cart Kim Jangcheol had been dragging all this time.
"Oh!"
The first to recognize the cart was the young master's servant. Dyoll ran over to it with his signature potato-like expression.
He pushed through the crowd, passing by Secretary Ruslan—who, at that moment, was getting thoroughly beaten for having his cover blown.
Dyoll yanked off the tarp covering the cart.
"Oooooh! Young master, come quickly and see this!"
Reivaj hurried over as well.
And that's when he saw it.
"Chuno is…"
Nearly half of it remained.
On top of the chuno pile, there was also a neatly folded note.
"....."
Most likely, it was a message Kim Jangcheol had left for him. Perhaps a request, or a plea to deliver the remaining chuno to His Majesty properly.
Reivaj carefully unfolded the note.
What he found inside read:
***
'Aigooo, my precious chuno—!'
Just thinking about it brought tears to his eyes.
And why wouldn't it?
He had to leave behind nearly half a cartload of chuno.
In the end, his sorrowful lament and misplaced resentment(?) were directed at poor Asurat.
"Hey, Asurat."
"Mmngh?"
"Why is your beak storage so damn small?"
".....Mmmgh?"
Startled by the unexpected scolding—or rather, blame—Asurat, who had been flapping with all his might, blinked wide-eyed. He shot a wronged look at Kim Jangcheol.
"What's with the guilty look? It's your fault I had to leave so much chuno behind since your beak can't hold any more. Isn't that right?"
"....."
No, the thing is.
You were the one who insisted on taking as many other crop seeds as possible, so we had no choice but to leave some behind.
'So why am I the one getting yelled at?'
It felt unfair.
But he couldn't argue.
Because right now, his lower beak was still packed with various seeds and chuno.
"Ehh, tch!"
Kim Jangcheol reluctantly let go of his chuno regrets.
And comforted himself.
This trip, all in all, was a huge success.
'It was chuno I intended to sell anyway, and I managed to keep half of it. On top of that, I got a ton of seeds that'll form the basis of future farming, for free.'
He even got away safely from Aged Kimchi's clutches(?).
If this wasn't a success, what was?
"......Well then, time to land. Landing formation."
Tap tap!
Kim Jangcheol slapped the back of Asurat's long neck.
Asurat shifted posture.
The so-called landing formation.
…Sssslide.
Asurat lowered the legs he had folded back for the entire flight. Still dangling from his feet, Sirgi woke from her nap. She asked,
"My Lord? Are we landing?"
"Yep! Get ready!"
"...Understood."
How did I end up being this guy's landing gear? Did Asurat even wash his feet properly? No, more importantly, why—
"Why can't you land on your own? Huh?"
"....Mmmph?"
"Don't mumble. Useless bird. You can't even land by yourself with that stupidly huge, disproportionate head and beak you call a disguise."
"...."
"What? Got something to say?"
"....."
It wasn't fair.
Why is everyone picking on me today?
Asurat nearly teared up.
But there was no time to argue.
The ground was getting close.
"Landing gear down! Brace!"
"......"
Voooom... ↘
Tucking away the sorrow in his heart.
Now was the time to focus on landing.
Asurat spread his wings wide and extended his legs. Sirgi, still grasped in his talons, lit up with determination.
As the ground approached—
The impact of landing!
BANG, dadadadadadada!
As soon as his four legs touched the ground, Sirgi absorbed the impact of Asurat and the party's weight on her back and broke into a full sprint.
"Puha! Prrr!"
Kwa-du-du-du-du-du!
And so, the whole party landed safely!
Having finally returned to solid ground, Kim Jangcheol stretched out his stiffened limbs. Then he looked at his companions and gave a command.
"Alright then, Baal? Sirgi? Time to drop the disguises."
"Uh? Znggh?"
Asurat's eyes widened.
…Huh? What about me?
Why didn't you call me?
Kim Jangcheol looked at Asurat and replied.
"Hmm? You're staying disguised."
"Mngh?"
…Why?
"Why? You gonna spit everything in your beak out here? You want to carry it all by hand? We don't even have a cart."
"....."
"But, my lord. Why are we removing the disguises? Don't we still have to pass through that gate?"
"Oh. Good question, Zephyros."
Not far from their landing spot to the northwest, stood a double-layered gate blocking off a narrow coastal cliff. The city of fortress Magrat, which separated the abandoned lands from the human realm, the same place they had passed through before.
Gazing toward it, Zephyros asked,
"If it's as you explained previously, my lord, then that place cannot be crossed through the sky or sea. So if we intend to pass through on foot like last time, we'll need to stay disguised…"
"Mm, no need for that anymore."
"Pardon?"
"We won't be going that way again."
That's right.
They now had plenty of seeds. There was no longer any need to venture into the human world, where Aged Kimchi was lying in wait.
Besides, that gate was only heavily guarded on the abandoned lands' side...
"So now, there's no need to keep up these exhausting disguises."
"Huh? Then, you mean…"
"Exactly."
Kim Jangcheol gave a sly, fierce smile.
"We're breaking through. With force. In one go. Before they even go 'huh?', straight through the gate. Bam."
[T/L: I am not getting any support from webnovel platform, so please support me and read ahead chapters on my ko-fi page "RevengerScans" : https://ko-fi.com/revengerscans ]