My villains episode 269
interlude. His Lovers (1)
It was one day in early summer. The night sea was frighteningly cold even though the weather was gradually getting hotter.
She suddenly realized that this was the first time she had ever thrown herself into the sea like this.
She was weak from birth. I didn’t have any particular illness, but I suffered from high fever and colic at night and cough and dizziness during the day.
It was her parents’ decision to leave her hometown with her grandmother and uncle and move to a port city in the far south. The view of the endless sea brought her peace. High fever, colic, cough, and dizziness disappeared. It was like magic.
As a child who regained her health, when she tried to dip her toe into the shallow waves, her parents jumped up and stopped her. They acted as if the blue wave would take their daughter away.
She questioned the oversensitive reaction, but her parents didn’t open her mouth to the end. I just said that when I grow up, I will tell you why.
Parents failed to keep that promise.
Before she reached adulthood, her mother died of an infectious disease and her father was stabbed to death by a robber.
Left alone, Daria was taken in by her father’s friend, the good-hearted owner of the Boathouse Inn.
I had dipped my feet in the sea a few times after my parents died, but it was really the first time I had been submerged under the surface like this.
The red mist that bloomed from her thighs rolled over on the waves. Daria watched him blankly and reached out her hand. A few blood-stained petals landed on my palm in a small whirlwind.
At that time, the frost awl that broke through the surface of the water passed in front of my eyes, exhaling bluish anticipation.
Daria, startled and foaming, quickly turned and swam away. Even though it was the first time she had fallen into the sea, she was as skillful as a mermaid.
Daria had hope. The hope of returning to the knight who was waiting for her at the inn.
It was a bundle of long tentacles that swallowed that hope. Daria opened her mouth, but all that came out was foam, not screams.
“You are not an ordinary bald man.”
With a boiling voice, a certain In-young came right in front of me. No, to be precise, Daria was dragged by a bundle of tentacles.
“...Yes, if this is it.”
It was the ‘priest of the deep sea’, a monster who had lost all his men and was hiding in the waters off South Harbor.
The hideous monster, which looked like a mixture of an octopus and a half-human, headed for the den with Daria wrapped around it.
Daria, who had lost her senses, woke up in an unknown narrow space. My senses were dull and my head was heavy.
She crouched down and hugged her knees. The narrow, dark space was filled with an unknown liquid.
Is it because of lack of sleep? I felt an unknown comfort. It was as if he had returned to his mother’s womb.
After blinking for a while, she realized that her left hand was caught somewhere. The left hand, protruding out of the tough, soft membrane surrounding it, was holding something....
And through that connection point, something flowed into her body. Just as she received nutrients from her mother through the umbilical cord, she received magical energy from the coral through her left hand.
“coral?”
The mysterious knowledge that has been stored in one side of the head as if it were natural. Even though she was bewildered, she remembered ‘coral’.
Coral, as huge as any continent, was the cradle of the ‘sleeping god’. As a base where countless lives have nurtured new ones, Daria herself has also gained a new life here.
“iced coffee.”
The legacy left by her distant ancestors has endowed her with a lot.
Magical power, knowledge, life, and...
calling.
Accepting them fully, she finally tore the curtain. He rose from the pile of bones of those weighed down by the gifts left by the sleeping god. And he opened his mouth.
“Ah ah-”
Numerous shadows attracted by the song swam toward her.
One day in the middle of winter, when a cool breeze blows with the force to push the sea breeze over the horizon.
The witch of hymn muttered with a blank face and reached out her hand towards Atalanta. The witch’s left arm was stained black up to the elbow, as if it had been painted with ink.
“A familiar scent.”
While the witch’s face was gradually dyed with a faint light, Atalanta looked at her with a puzzled expression. And he opened his mouth.
“Who are you?”
“......me?”
The witch of hymn blinked and looked down at her left hand.
The left hand stretched out in front of me was all black, but only in the middle of the palm was a white and red pattern engraved. It also seemed to have a faint floral scent.
“I...
The witch was deep in thought with her red hair hanging down, but she couldn’t come up with an answer.
Meanwhile, all sorts of monsters crawled out of the sea. The liver, a sea bass, and the sea giant were basically all bizarre creatures, such as a sea snake with hook-like feet, a jellyfish golem the size of a house with a dragon’s head, and a turtle’s slimy, slimy skin.
“......okay.”
Atalanta watched the monsters march for a while, then drew strength from the void passage nestled in the pineal body.
“You must be a monster too. It only looks like it.”
Following the dazed muttering, Atalanta’s golden eyes radiated a visionary light.
The witch of hymn, who was immersed in confusion, soon came to her senses and raised her magical power.
“Ah ah ah ah ah-!”
The white and purple spears of Atalanta began to dance against the background of the strange song.
Lately, Longville has been dusty with soldiers in training and laborers moving lumber and stacking stone. Because of its busyness, Longville attracted a lot of attention from the surrounding estates.
The newly appointed keeper of Longville was also the subject of talk of many pundits. His name is Amias, and although he was a Korean-American mercenary, he has recently emerged as one of Dionea’s closest aides.
In addition to the position of a sergeant who commands the most important troops in the current territory’s army, he also held the position of a gatekeeper, equivalent to the garrison leader of a large territory. Thanks to this, even at a young age, it is known that his rank is second only to three or four old vassals of the Anig family.
Also, Amias, the gatekeeper, was famous for always carrying a large ax over his shoulder. Rumors that even a ferocious orc could be cut in two at once from his ax were already spreading around the area.
Because of his square jaw and upturned nose, Amias has a stern look. As bloody rumors followed him, all the merchants and soldiers under his command who came and went to Longville were afraid of Amias.
Adding a little exaggeration, the atmosphere of the territory changed completely depending on whether the ax spear towering like a flag was near the castle gate or near the training ground.
But even Amias
was afraid of someone.
Amias, who was summoned, stood in front of the large oak door and cleared his throat.
“Hmm, Mrs. This is Amias, the water gatekeeper.”
When a small voice called ‘Come in’ from beyond the door, Amias carefully opened the door.
It was none other than Dionea who greeted him in the office.
In Longville this fall, Baron Mallory was assassinated by his brother. After that, his wife, Lady Dionea, became temporary lord.
In fact, Dionea’s wife had no right to succeed, but surprisingly, almost no one was dissatisfied.
She is credited with successfully protecting the territory on behalf of her husband who had previously disappeared, and it is all thanks to the fact that Dionea, the son of the deceased Baron Mallory and the only descendant of the Anig family, was growing in Dionea’s stomach.
Dionea’s wife checked the territory’s defense posture right after taking the real power. It was only natural for a woman who suffered the death of her husband after defeating a group of vicious monsters and her master’s army to be interested in the fence.
Thus, in just two months, 72 new soldiers were recruited, and about 200 farmers who had finished harvesting in the poor autumn, plus about 150 workers hired from outside, began to repair the outer wall.
Seeing Lady Dionea taking control of the territory as if they had been waiting for it, the residents of the territory did not have any suspicions, but the old retainers of the Anig family gave her suspicious glances.
“Welcome, Gatekeeper.”
“Did you call, ma’am?”
Of course, it wasn’t Amias.
He was already an confidant who shared a deep secret with Dionea, and was devoted to the woman in front of him for survival, success, and loyalty.