Chapter 139 – Papillon (1)

“There is nothing eternal in the world,” Crockta muttered. He knew that the world would change one day, but he couldn’t help being in a bittersweet mood. “The world and the people will change.”

He turned away from ‘Where are my Brothers?’ and towards his accommodations. He bought some cheap beer from the street stalls and slowly sipped on it. Then he whistled and staggered through the back alleys.

“Mister is right,” someone said. Crockta turned his head and saw a drunk man with flushed cheeks blowing his nose.

“There is nothing eternal in the world.”

Crockta’s intoxicated eyes looked at him. There was a star on his forehead and decent clothing. A high-level user who couldn’t be ignored. Perhaps he was even more than that. Crockta had already become too strong, so all users seemed low level to him.

He approached Crockta. “Mister Orc, were you betrayed by someone?”

“Betrayal…”

He thought the Information Guild would maintain that wonderful atmosphere. He never doubted that the pub would be a shelter for men. But in the end, the pub’s deficit had continued. Now there were no traces of the old days.

However, it couldn’t be called a betrayal. Life was unpredictable. He wasn’t betrayed. He just passed through a section of his life. He wasn’t a child disappointed because his expectations were betrayed. He was an adult who knew how to view the world in a calm manner.

“Did someone betray you?” Crockta asked instead of replying. He waited. Drunk people often talked to strangers because they were looking for someone to listen to them.

“Yes. I was betrayed,” the man replied. “When I was laughing, people laughed with me. However, when I fell into hell, nobody would be around me.”

Crockta nodded. It was a familiar story of an ordinary person’s regrets…

“I thought she would pick me up if I fell, but she kicked me away. A false love.”

Oh, a story of a broken heart. Crockta sighed.

“Color is empty, a person with no…” The man bowed his head and murmured something. “And I can’t hate her…”

“Be strong.” Crockta wanted to comfort him but he didn’t know what to say. So he said the most common but nonsensical things possible to someone suffering from a broken heart. “There are many females in the world.”

Even Crockta thought it was ridiculous. The man laughed and stumbled, losing his balance and falling against the wall.

“Ah, I feel like becoming drunk.”

“I think you are already drunk enough.”

“Do you want a drink?” The man asked.

Tiyo and Anor would be sleeping in the inn by now. Crockta considered for a moment before nodding.

“That would be nice.”

He wouldn’t fall asleep easily anyway, since he was drunk. When visiting the ‘Where are my Brothers?’ pub, he thought he would drink all night with the men there. However, there was no longer a place for him, so he decided to drink with this man.

The two of them walked shoulder to shoulder in the darkness of the alley.

The man was surprisingly sober.

***

“Kuooooh…”

Crockta groaned as he opened his eyes. It was a strange ceiling. There was a rough ceiling and exposed concrete walls. He raised his body and recalled yesterday’s memories. He remembered drinking with a man that he met. But what happened after that? It was hazy.

He drank a lot of alcohol. After that, he didn’t remember clearly until he opened his eyes in this place.

It was a strange prison.

“……”

Crockta calmly sat on the bed. Steel bars were blocking his way.

Crockta touched his chin. Bare hands. His precious Ogre Slayer couldn’t be seen. The Demon’s Mouth was still on his waist, but apart from that, everything that could be a weapon had disappeared.

He closed his eyes and searched for the final memory. He continued drinking with the mysterious man. The man had talked about his old lover, how pretty and cool she was, then showed off the typical drunken behavior at her abandonment.

Crockta had listened to his sorrows while drinking. Then the man invited him. It was late to return to his accommodations. He should go back with the man and drink some more.

Crockta followed him. After that, he couldn’t remember well.

“I’m an intelligent oak. Now, let’s think about this.” Crockta muttered. Talking helped to organize his thoughts. “Did he approach me yesterday to deceive me?”

No. His attitude was the truth. It wasn’t possible to for all of that to be acting. The man had repeatedly called out to the old lover who left him, then vomited before reminiscing again. It was the stubbornness of someone who really had their heart broken.

“Then was I kidnapped on the way to the man’s house?”

He looked through his memories. In his faint memories, there was a scene where he and the man bumped glasses together. It was in a room. The man said that although he lost his woman, he was glad to have such a wonderful orc brother.

It was clear they had reached his house. Then something happened after that. A surprise attack. Or…

Crockta approached the bars. He adjusted his angle to view as much of the surroundings as possible. There was the shaking of a shadow in the hallway. A guard was over there. Crockta opened his mouth.

“You over there!” Crockta shouted. “I just woke up so explain this! Cough!”

His throat was dry. The scent of alcohol was coming from his mouth. He must’ve drunken a lot of alcohol yesterday. The man was fine.

The sound of footsteps neared. Crockta returned to the bed and sat down. He didn’t know the situation but he had to seem relaxed in front of the opponent. Rather, he wanted to rebuke the opponent.

“Your steps are slow.”

Of course, he actually was very calm. This was interesting. Anyway, right now he was Crockta, the warrior who rose to the Hero rank. The great chieftain of the north. This situation was too lacking to be hard for him.

“I’m sorry.”

“……!”

But this time, Crockta was surprised. He was completely off the mark. The person standing in front of him. It was the man he was drinking with last night, the one who called him brother and blamed his ex-lover. He stood outside the cell with a group of users.

“It is regrettable.” Then the man opened his mouth.

It was a face without any expression. A cool and businesslike attitude. What was the truth behind this man? Crockta grinned. The man had performed as a weak and drunk person, but his eyes were rather cold.

He examined Crockta before nodding. “It was a great coincidence.”

“Did you forget your girlfriend?”

“……”

Crockta’s words pierced him but he didn’t shake.

“You are Crockta.” So that’s what happened. Crockta guessed the situation. “Northern Conqueror Crockta was drinking in an alley. That reputation is in vain.”

Now he wasn’t anonymous like he used to be. There were all sorts of videos about him, and his fame had risen due to the system messages about the NPC who helped Shakan open the north and the one who killed the crazy chieftain.

Kenzo didn’t know Crockta’s name, but he was an unusual case.

“If I hadn’t memorized your face as a clan member, I would’ve thought you were just a drunk orc.”

“You know it is me, but you are locking me up?”

“Of course.”

The fact that they imprisoned him despite knowing he was Crockta meant one thing. They were users with a hostile relationship to him.

“I caught you as a warning to those ridiculous Rehabilitation Brothers.”

The Rehabilitation Brothers was a group begun by Crockta. He enlightened three users and after becoming a new person overnight due to Crockta’s efforts, they tried to change the world of Elder Lord.

So this was a clan that they didn’t have a good relationship with. And speaking of hostile clans, he had one as well.

“Anyone who is a target of the Heaven and Earth Clan will eventually become like this.” The Heaven and Earth Clan, the self-proclaimed strongest clan, used their armed forces to sweep away any disobedience. “I should return to the introductions. “I am Edgar, responsible for the Maillard branch of the Heaven and Earth Clan.”

“What? I thought you were Edgar, the woman whiner?”

“……”

The expressions of the clan members standing beside Edgar changed. It seemed like they had never seen Edgar like that. Edgar’s face distorted before he regained his composure.

“It is meaningless to talk about this with an NPC like you. You will be executed as soon as possible, just wait. I will send your neck to your rehabilitated friends.”

Crockta shrugged and asked. “NPC? What does that mean?” The people who are cursed by the stars always call us NPCs.”

“There is no need to know. You are just a fake. It doesn’t matter if you die.”

“No caring if I die. How terrible.”

Crockta got up from the bed and headed to the bars. The clan members stepped back, but Edgar stayed in his spot and gazed straight at Crockta. Crockta looked down at him and laughed.

“As you said, I am Crockta. Do you think you can afford to hold Northern Conqueror Crockta?”

“……”

“These bars are nothing.”

Crockta grabbed the bars with both hands. Then he used his strength. His muscles swelled. The faces of the clan members turned speculative. Crockta gradually started forcing open the bars.

Overwhelming power! Crockta bent the steel bars with his great strength. Due to his strength, he managed to widen the bars by one centimeter. Truly, a monstrous orc warrior.

“….Oooooup!”

Crockta used more strength. He used all his power but only managed to spread it open 0.5 centimeters more. The fearsome Crockta had opened the bars by 1.5 centimeters!

“T-T-This is my limit. Are you surprised?”

Crockta rubbed his hands against his thighs and asked. Edgar nodded and acknowledged his strength. “Amazing. This bars were strengthened with magic, so that not even an ogre can open it. I will acknowledge your power.”

“If I try harder, I can open it another two centimeters, so treat me politely if you don’t want me to exit.”

“Be careful, these steel bars are precious. Please be patient.” A clan member whispered something in Edgar’s ear. He nodded. “Something has happened. Then, I’ll see you later.”

Edgar and the Heaven and Earth members walked away.

Crockta stood in front of the bars until their shadows completely disappeared. Then Crockta sat down again on the bed.

He muttered in a low voice, “If only I had a blade…”