I’m Being Mistaken for a Blackmailer 8

Chapter 8- The Beggar (1)

 

Year 1 of possession.

I thought I had gotten somewhat used to this harsh world.

Didn’t I handle yesterday’s incident well?

My shoulders were slightly raised with confidence.

Wouldn’t I be considered a real man among real men now?

It’s been long since I cleared away my past of being criticized as an inferior man.

But today.

Evan realized. The true crisis hadn’t even begun yet.

“…You’re saying a dagger flew targeting me?”

“Yes.”

Lapis nodded.

Having just woken up, their hair was still a mess.

Evan was a mess too.

More than his hair, the inside of his head was.

‘No, this is crazy.’

An assassination attempt.

Actually, he hadn’t experienced one since the possession.

Why?

Because there was no reason for his life to be targeted.

Evan was a good-for-nothing.

A terminal case who could die at any time.

Someone who would die on his own if left alone.

There was no need to spend money to kill him.

He had no interest in succession, and only lived deeply immersed in alchemy.

Though the reason he was immersed in alchemy was a bit sad, anyway.

He was currently a worthless person.

But someone had targeted his life.

Could it be because of yesterday’s incident?

“I did well, right?”

Lapis looked up at Evan.

Eyes begging for quick praise.

…Right. Praise is important.

Evan struggled to hide his trembling as he patted Lapis’s head.

“…You did well.”

“Hehe.”

Lapis smiled.

Evan spoke while forcing strength into his face that looked like it might cramp.

“Did you perhaps see who threw the dagger?”

“Umm… I couldn’t see clearly.”

“Even roughly is fine.”

“They seemed quite old. And they were really strong too. But… I don’t think they really intended to kill Evan.”

Didn’t intend to kill?

Weren’t they an assassin?

‘Then they sent the dagger just to deliver a letter?’

The dagger in Lapis’s hand.

A letter was attached to its end.

Looking at it this way, it did seem like the purpose was to deliver the letter.

“They aimed for the head too. But their hand seemed to shake and it flew to a strange place. So I caught it.”

“Could I see the letter?”

“Yes!”

Lapis answered energetically.

She kindly pulled out the letter, unfolded it, and showed its contents.

-Thank you for saving my disciple. 

-I shall visit tomorrow.

A rigid handwriting style.

It was so neat it looked like it had been printed.

‘This seems familiar…’

Someone who wrote letters in this style.

There was one person in memory.

The Wandering Dark King.

He wrote letters in exactly this style.

‘…Disciple? Who? Could it be that person from yesterday?’

The man I let go yesterday was the disciple?

That weakling caught by Lapis?

‘Though it doesn’t seem like it could be someone else.’

The fingerprint stamped below.

That seal that looked like a red headband was only used by the Dark King.

In other words, it was genuine.

‘The Wandering Dark King.’

A legend among assassins, and an active master-level assassin.

He was also a main helper in the future.

‘…But that person was the Dark King’s disciple? Really?’

Evan recalled the person he released yesterday.

Apart from being slightly short on hair, there wasn’t anything special about them.

‘There weren’t any disciples with that kind of face.’

Most of the Dark King’s disciples were notorious figures…

Not in a good way.

Mainly on the villain side.

The type to be stopped by players while plotting evil schemes.

Each time, the Dark King would step in personally to help the player.

Saying he would take responsibility for the disciples he raised.

‘A major character I failed to memorize? Or a MacGuffin? Or… someone like Lapis?’

Could they become a main villain as time passes?

Somehow it feels ominous!

…Hopefully they haven’t harbored grudges from yesterday?

We parted on good terms yesterday.

‘…It should be fine.’

Positive mindset!

Get it together!

Evan slapped both his cheeks with his hands.

Slap, slap!

“Ah.”

That really hurts.

He rubbed his reddened cheeks.

“Are you okay?”

“…Yes.”

…Anyway, let’s think positively about this.

It’s not a death threat, just a thank you letter.

‘They won’t kill me.’

The Dark King was trustworthy enough.

The Wandering Dark King.

He was a decent character personality-wise. Just like a friendly grandfather figure.

His beliefs were good too.

Non-possession.

A life attitude of gaining freedom through emptying and sharing, without attachment to material possessions.

Surprisingly, the Dark King practiced non-possession.

An unbelievable belief for an assassin who covets offerings and brings death.

In reality, he didn’t stay in any one place but wandered.

Using the ground as his floor and the sky as his ceiling.

Right. He’s not a bad person.

There’s a reason Evan took notice of him as another main helper.

Though he had a severe wanderlust, his flaws were almost zero.

‘I should use this chance to get close.’

He said tomorrow, right?

‘I should prepare potions in advance.’

Food wasn’t important. Just filling the stomach would do.

What was important was the potion to cure the illness.

‘The hand tremors were the problem, right?’

It’s not an extremely severe illness.

But for an assassin, it was a severe condition.

Hands shaking? Accuracy decreases.

When they need to kill targets quickly, stealthily, and surely, it’s a fatal flaw.

Not to mention all sorts of other inconveniences…

‘Curing that should work.’

Fortunately, preparations were almost complete.

Just needed one more ingredient.

“No.4, bring me some materials.”

Shaking its head side to side

“…None? No, why?”

Shrug.

No.4 golem shrugged its shoulders.

It pointed to the shelf with its long arm.

The bottle was completely empty.

“…Ah.”

Why did that have to run out?

There wasn’t a specific name for the potion that cured tremors.

Because I couldn’t memorize each and every potion name.

Also, it was modified to have no side effects.

The luminous calming herb that only grows in the forest near Duke Alcart’s estate.

It’s known to be effective in stopping leg tremors.

That’s all Evan knew about its effects.

He had only amplified its effectiveness a bit.

‘Ah, if I ask someone else to do it, it’ll take too long…’

The calming herb was difficult to collect.

The moment it detected danger, it would spray paralysis powder everywhere.

The way to prevent it?

There isn’t one.

It enters through both the respiratory system and skin.

Can’t hold your breath forever, and cloth barriers don’t work.

That’s why golems were the only solution.

Because golems don’t breathe.

‘I still can’t send golems to where those calming herbs are…’

Due to lack of ability, I couldn’t even add shared vision functionality.

“…Sigh. I don’t want to go out. But I have no choice.”

No choice but to go personally.

Evan made a big decision.

Ding, ding.

“Are you awake?”

“Yes! Young Master! Did you call for me!”

Dolph entered as the door opened.

Lapis rubbed her cheek against Evan’s hand while grinning.

Just like a young child.

After watching Lapis for a moment, Evan spoke.

“Dolph. I plan to go out today.”

“…!”

Dolph’s eyes widened.

First outing in nearly two weeks.

His skin had become so pale from lack of sunlight.

“Would you help me? And… Please keep it quiet.”

“Yes!”

For Dolph, this was welcome news.

He had always been worried about his master’s health.

“I’ll prepare right away!”

***

“I will escort you, Young Master.”

Perok gave a polite greeting.

Evan flinched at the unexpected appearance of such an important figure.

‘Why is this person here?’

Perok.

The First Knight Commander and a knight on the verge of reaching Master level.

He was also the knight who had come looking for Evan as a suspect.

Fortunately, that misunderstanding had been cleared up.

‘…Well. This person might be better actually.’

But aren’t there too many people?

Even at a glance, there seemed to be more than 10 escort knights.

Before Evan could ask, Perok spoke first.

“We’ve strengthened security since the incident with Young Master Theodore. Please understand…”

“…I understand.”

Right. Being safe is good.

After this self-rationalization, Evan cautiously asked. “…How is Theodore?”

“He’s staying in his room.”

“…I see.”

After that day, Theodore had locked himself in his room.

As if he were ill.

So Evan lost interest.

He would take care of himself.

‘Fortunately, he’s not showing much interest.’

Perok breathed an internal sigh of relief.

Theodore.

After the running away incident, he had secluded himself in his room.

It was to avoid meeting Evan.

He started believing in gods he hadn’t believed in before, and spent every day trembling, saying he would repent.

Especially when he heard Evan Alcart’s name, he would have seizures.

It was serious enough for the Duke to personally check on his condition.

-Such a pathetic fellow is not my son.

Perok shook his head remembering that time.

Actually, Theodore’s attitude wasn’t the only pathetic thing.

The biggest issue was that Theodore started believing in gods.

It was quite well-known within the family that the Duke was an atheist.

He would even throw harsh words at vassals who believed in gods.

-Divine power? That’s just corrupted mana. Giving power in exchange for faith? 

Human hearts change like reeds in the wind, so how can they dedicate their hearts and souls to gods they can’t even see?

So all his children were atheists too.

Especially Theodore, who respected the Duke even more so.

For that will to break all at once was disappointing.

He was essentially excluded from succession now.

‘Could this have been the aim?’

Perok glanced at Evan.

He didn’t think Evan was the culprit.

However, the fact that Evan had become the object of fear.

Even if not the culprit, he must be involved somehow.

‘I wonder what he’s planning to do, going out this time…’

Could it be that something came up that requires his personal attention?

Or is he trying to obtain test subjects?

Various thoughts ran through his head. But he didn’t show it.

What’s important is the present.

Carefully and safely escorting Evan.

“The preparations are complete, Young Master.”

“…Yes. Thank you.”

Evan politely thanked him and got into the carriage.

Dolph and the girl called Lapis got in too.

‘Is that the child? The new slave.’

A girl with striking white skin and red eyes.

What’s unusual is that she’s quite pretty?

But why?

Perok felt an inexplicable creepiness.

‘…Strange things have been discovered since that child arrived.’

Especially with rumors about ‘chimeras’ spreading.

Could that child perhaps be an experimental subject created by Evan to approach ‘taboos’?

That’s when it happened.

Squirm-

As Perok got into the carriage,

His eyes caught the armor Evan wore like a robe writhing.

The armor moves?

“…..Young Master. By any chance, where did you purchase that armor?”

“It’s my golem.”

That armor is a golem?

Swoosh

The armor wriggled as if it were alive.

When he glanced at its heart, the armor moved. As if to protect.

‘……This is truly absurd.’

Golems are the exclusive domain of alchemists.

However, compared to potions, research progress has been slow.

Firstly, because it’s not profitable,

Secondly, because the difficulty is high.

Golems were difficult to create through alchemy alone.

Energy must spread from the [Core], limbs must move without errors, it must move just by giving commands……

When the form changes, the structure and flow change too, so it can’t be helped.

That’s why all golem forms look similar.

The simple shape that looks like several blocks combined is so well-known it appears in academic papers.

Beyond that, there’s virtually no information.

There was no choice but to research alone.

‘That one has long arms, that one has a thick body, that one is… a dog? But its neck is too long.’

However, Evan was different.

Various types of golems are currently waiting outside the carriage.

All made within a year, they say….

Not just one or two, but enough to fill a room and more.

‘They look… incredibly sturdy.’

A golem that looked like a knight caught my eye.

Its build was so massive that even Perok flinched for a moment.

It looked like even a scratch would be difficult to make without the aura of a Sword Expert.

‘What on earth does he need such golems for….’

Could he be planning to recreate ‘that incident’ from the black market?

It was then that Perok felt fear deep inside.

“……”

Evan stared at Perok.

Seeming to have something to say.

Perok gestured for him to say anything.

Could it be that someone made a mistake?

Fortunately, that wasn’t it.

Evan, who had been staring intently, turned his head.

“……Shall we depart soon?”

“……Yes, Young Master. I will escort you.”

“I’ll be counting on you.”

“Where will we be going?”

“We’re going to the Black Forest.”

Black Forest?

What kind of experiment does he want to do there…

While nodding his head, Perok subtly touched his sword handle.

Could he… stop the Young Master if needed?

“……”

Lapis was staring intently at Perok with mysterious blood-red eyes.

***

Shortly after.

Evan and Perok arrived at the forest.

“We’ve arrived, Young Master.”

“……”

“……Young Master?”

Evan remained silent.

His gaze was fixed outside the window.

Perok looked out the carriage window in confusion.

Snore,

“That person is… a beggar. Shall I remove him?”

“……No.”

Evan shook his head.

The old man was visible outside the window.

He was a beggar.

Greasy hair and shabby clothes.

Even sleeping and snoring under a shaded tree.

He was unmistakably a beggar, but,

Evan knew.

‘No, why is that person here?’

That beggar.

No, that man was the Dark King.

……Surely he hasn’t come to kill me?