438. Secretary of the Immortal (11)
Martha was always powerless in the face of violence. He was quite accustomed to being exposed to absolute violence that he could not fight against with his own strength alone.
People who have experienced complete despair become numb. Martha had no choice but to learn this herself in an unpleasant way during her lifetime.
But here, in the realm of rest, things were different. Every soul could rest as much as it wanted, and even while asleep, absolute safety was guaranteed under the protection of its master.
Martha was still insensitive to violence, but this was not a reaction from despair as when she was alive, but from a strong sense of stability. That’s why, even when a commotion breaks out that shakes her world, she can remain calm, unlike before.
Whirling-
dump! Fluffy!
Bodies swept away by the explosion fly like fallen leaves. Then, he was violently thrown to the floor along with the broken tombstones.
Ah, rest! Fortunately, those fragile souls were still safe and in a peaceful sleep.
However, if the commotion continues, eventually their rest will be interrupted and they will wake up. It was never a desirable phenomenon for the conflict between the two to continue.
[…] They will soon appear now.]
Martha held her breath and waited for the giant spirit to appear a moment later.
Now, half-baked souls like Hayes and Belinda are fighting each other, claiming to be superior, but as far as Marta knows, there are truly strong servants of the master. Each one of them is a tremendous amount of power comparable to that of a low-level demon lord.
They usually fall into a deep sleep like their owners, but when there is a disturbance in their realm of rest, they return from rest and easily organize the situation.
Like right now.
Woooooo… … .
With a bone-piercing sound, a skinny corpse of a giant slowly rises.
The old-fashioned lace wrapped around an arm like a dry old tree had faded to gray, as if to indicate the passage of time. Next, a muslin dress covered in dust and a swarthy face covered in white powder are revealed.
Beneath the rotting flesh here and there, hardened muscles and waxy dried fat can be seen. A gloomy and horrifying appearance, as if it were the embodiment of death itself.
Sigh.
The giant rolled his dry eyes, looked around for a moment, and then clumped his bony hands together.
Knock-!
At that moment, tremendous pressure came from above and below at the same time.
[…] … !]
[…] … !]
Hayes and Belinda’s souls were crushed flat. Then he was buried among the broken tombstones and fell into silence. He was unintentionally placed on forced rest.
Perhaps it will take some time for them to wake up. By then, both of them will have cooled off a bit.
[…] I think it’s finally become a little quieter.]
Hehehe… … .
With a sound like a huge steel frame collapsing, the giant’s body slowly lies back on the floor.
[Leave the fuss over this miserable old woman at least. Perhaps because part of his soul is constantly being summoned somewhere, this old man never feels refreshed even when he sleeps.]
It was a majesty that was far from miserable, but no one could refute those words.
[…] … .]
Marta, who watched for a moment, whirled her soul and flew in front of the gigantic woman. She was proactive because she was guaranteed absolute safety by her owner.
[Who are you?]
[Hmm?]
[Until now, I have often seen the brave Wolf King and the wise Orc King here. But today is the first time someone like you has woken up.]
Then the giant corpse woman raised her wrinkled eyelids slightly.
[Oh, human! Seeing that your body has been preserved intact, you are most likely a soul that flowed in from the original world! Are you a human from the Delcross dimension?]
[Yes, that’s right.]
[It’s truly bizarre. Innocent and pure souls like you are extremely rare to find here. Could you please tell me your name?]
Although her tone was old-fashioned, to say the least, her thoughts conveyed deep goodwill toward Martha. It’s as if Martha senses a subtle tenderness from her gaze, despite being obscured by her ugly clouded corneas.
[of course. Great man. My name is Martha.]
[Martha! It’s nice to see you like this. This insignificant old man is called Hexenjava.]
Hexenjavat.
As Martha repeated to herself, a bitter sound came from the giant’s corpse.
[Unfortunately, my true name could not survive for a long time and crumbled into nothingness like dust. All that remains now is the bloody name that made everyone tremble with fear even after his death.]
[Does this mean Hexenjavat is not your real name?]
[No, no. Something that isn’t that pretty doesn’t really suit me, does it?]
The corpse seemed to be squinting playfully at Martha, but the darkened eyes only created a more gloomy effect.
[That’s why the owner of my soul often calls me ‘remorse.’ If you don’t like that ugly nickname, you can call me that too.]
The woman who had said that far laid her head on the floor and slowly closed her dry eyelids.
[Ah, what a pity. I want to talk more, but I think my meeting with you will end like this. I need to rest again now. I can feel the cruel yet merciful breath of rest approaching my ears.]
[…] … ?]
Martha looked puzzled and approached the rotting woman’s face.
The souls here are free to rest as much as they want. That’s what Martha knew until now.
But for some reason, that giant is talking as if he is forced to rest.
[Could you please give me a moment? Tell me about yourself, about this place, and about our master.]
It was only after her death that Martha began to realize for the first time that this passion was latent within her.
[Even though I have escaped the bondage of the flesh, there are still many things I do not know. I’ve crossed the wall, but there’s another wall blocking me. So, I want to learn more things now and overcome my limitations someday.]
Then the giant looked down at Martha with a gentle gaze. What came back was a euphemistic rejection.
[That seems impossible. I am a criminal imprisoned here, and therefore I cannot freely resist the ‘rest’ that has been sentenced to me.]
[sinner… Is that it?]
Martha was quite taken aback by the unexpected information.
[That’s right. I, and the wolf king and orc king you met earlier, are people who committed terrible crimes long ago out of a desire to become immortal.]
[…] … .]
[So, ‘rest’ is rest for my soul, but it is also a prison for my sins.]
I could feel the giant’s consciousness gradually sinking deeper. Even though she is already a dead body, her soul falls deeper and deeper into death and turns white. Like a huge ghost ship sinking into the deep sea.
——————
faqwiki.us
Join our Discord for new chapter updates!
https://discord.com/invite/xr7SxG5T6V
——————
As Martha stroked the giant’s eyelids, feeling an inexplicable affection, thoughts, much fainter than the first, came into her mind again.
[But don’t worry about me, gentle soul. The merciful rest said that it would save even us. He said there is room for sympathy because our sins are simply due to fear.]
[…] Fear?]
[is it so… … .]
A final thought was conveyed like a sigh from the giant who was slowly falling into sleep.
[That’s right. It’s fear. How can our souls be so fragile? … .]
* * *
-How can the soul be so fragile?
The image that resembles the body is truly nothing more than an illusion, but at the same time, it exists and is bound by the body as if it had substance.
However, the body cannot serve as a perfect wall for the soul. This is because the body has no choice but to eventually decay, and the soul can never avoid the wounds suffered by the body.
What would it be like if the soul escaped the shackles of the body?
If only we could build a stronger material to surround the soul, a stronger protective shield that surpasses the body. If only I could anchor my soul to that strong fortress, and even more so, completely attune my body to it!
Ah, if only I could do that, having an immortal body would not be a vain dream!
Seongjin, who was roughly turning the pages, looked at the worn-out book cover with a slightly disgruntled expression.
–
I couldn’t help but laugh. You like the secretary. Since I don’t remember seeing it on the list of banned books, it’s probably a general miscellaneous book that isn’t even properly handled by the Holy Church.
‘Why did the status window give me a quest to obtain something like this?’
The reason Seongjin received this book from Owen was because he was very bored. There is a limit to how much a person can meditate. How many days have it been since I was bored in the wagon?
-So, newbie, do you want to read this? No, you can just keep it.
-what? You say it’s an important quest item? Why are you giving me this?
-Anyway, it seems like all the recent quests revolve around you. So I think it would be best for you to just keep this.
-?
Still, it was a book taken from the evil wizard’s laboratory.
I was hoping that there might be something interesting about it, but this is just a list of nonsense about the composition of the soul and the limitations of the body.
“hmm… … .”
However, Seongjin closed the book without any regrets for a moment before fiddling with the old cover again.
If you sit on a wobbly cart all day, you will develop an addiction to printing that you never had before.
[What? What is it about?]
In the end, when Seongjin opened the book again, the demon king who was acting as a stand next to him flickered his flame wildly as if he was curious.
He was probably more frustrated than Seongjin. She can’t fly freely and has been stuck in a lamp for days.
Seongjin kindly explained the contents to the boy who could not read.
“I don’t know. “If you build a strong wall to protect your soul, you can obtain an immortal body.”
[What? Is that real?]
It was clear that ‘immortality’ was the most interesting topic regardless of time and place. The devil’s lamp suddenly comes to life and shines brightly.
[so? How on earth do you build that wall of the soul?]
“To prepare it, it is necessary to first grow special flowers… … .”
[flower? A flower?]
“huh. It is said to be a flower that rarely grows naturally in cold regions. After drying it well, grinding it well with sachet of raccoon raccoon, angelica leaves, and a few herbs… … .”
[Hmm? Is that the way to build a wall of the soul?]
“That’s right. But what comes next is more important. After mixing it well with glue and aging it for 240 days using a special recipe, a very delicious decoction is created… … .”
[Umm… … .]
It is visible that the Demon King’s interest cools down in an instant. After all, it’s rare for the lamp’s flame to dim like that.
[That sounds like a nonsense folk remedy, doesn’t it? Does it make sense to strengthen your soul by taking decoction?]
“Well, effects aside, it doesn’t have any advantages at all. “First of all, it’s delicious.”
[What do you know! No matter how delicious it is, I don’t want to eat a sachet from an animal I don’t know!]
“That’s right.”
As Seongjin was shaking his head, someone cautiously intervened in their conversation.
“Perhaps the contents of that book are not true. “Master, you are prepared.”
It was Giacomo Milo.
He was still tied up, but unlike before, he seemed to have regained some of his sanity.
“It’s not true? “How do you know that?”
Despite Seongjin’s blunt question, he still bowed his head in a humble manner.
“That’s right, that secretary is something I personally prepared in exchange for the elixir.”
flight. An item that could have almost brought a great disaster to the continent.
Seongjin carefully fumbled with the small medicine bottle he had kept in his pocket for a while.
“This is an old book that was kept in Miloga’s library for generations until a deal was made with the wizard of Furiano. So there is no one on this continent who knows that book better than me.”
“okay.”
Sensing that this might be a slightly sensitive story, Seongjin glanced around to see if there were signs around him.
Fortunately, the driver driving the cart was dozing off, holding the reins loosely. It looks like they completely trust the mule, which has a history of traveling between bases.
Owen is also connected to Pangea Chronicle to procure food.
And Sir Martha-
“… … .”
He was breathing evenly and was truly in a deep sleep.
Of course, it was Seongjin who volunteered to be on guard first, but no matter what, he never thought he would fall asleep so obediently with the prince around.
Suddenly, a sentence I had read casually from the secretary passed through my mind.
-How can the soul be so fragile?
fantasy,
