7 (EP-7) Flower Aira #7

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007 – Evil Flower Aira #7

It was a common occurrence when you thought about it.

People I didn't know, or the bottom dwellers that I was only seeing for the first time, threw around my name to increase their own prestige.

These guys would then go on and commit evil deeds under my name.

Hence, no matter how hard I tried, my reputation never went up.

"Come! Let's eat some food and drink some tea. We will live happily together!"

"Keu, please stop! My arm hurts!"

"I'm Wright Hand, Gardener Tae-oh's right hand man! Do you know what will happen to your family if you disobey my orders!?"

"… Geueueu-"

Oh, so, what would happen? I'm curious too.

"Come here!"

"I don't want to…! You, you are ugly! Kkyaak!"

The commotion gradually grew bigger and louder.

━Anyone, someone please stop him! Who knows what will happen if she gets dragged into that guy's house!

━Last time, he was also like this at the inn next door!

━How would we deal with that bastard, Tae-oh's lackey? If even a spark of flame gets on us…

As expected, the public's arrows were still aimed at me even though I did nothing.

Someone impersonating one of my men was forcefully assaulting a woman.

It was these types of people that were hammering the lid of the coffin and pushing me into waving a death flag.

I took a leave of absence from work today and specifically didn't want to do as much work as possible.

But if I left this alone, the people's anger might be directed at me.

I thought it was better to solve the problem quickly, so I got up and slowly cut through the crowd, approaching the scene.

"Alright, I'm going to stop you there."

"Who are you?"

The man frowned.

"Who dares tell me what to do? Didn't you hear who I am?

The collector, who identified himself as Wright Hand, never thought he would be stopped in such a messy and disorderly back street tavern.

"You say that you're my right hand man, but you couldn't even recognize your Master's voice?"

"What—?"

I removed the hood that was covering my face.

Sheuk-

Now that I had revealed my identity, from now on, it was the end of me being able to sneak into the tavern. I could no longer gather information this way. But, it couldn't be helped.

━What? Who is that guy?

━I don't know. What is going on?

I felt a great stir around me. It seemed that not everyone understood the situation. Maybe it was because many people didn't know that I was Tae-oh?

Most of the people here were ordinary citizens who had never seen the face of a high-ranking official in their lives.

Unfortunately, it seemed that the collection officer in front of me was the same.

"What the hell are you doing, you bastard? I have never seen you before. Do you know who I am? Huh? Look, you got a scar on your face, want me to make another one?"

Swish-

The collection officer pulled out a knife he had hanging around his waist.

It was like a letter knife that was used to rip the seal off of an envelope, but it was still quite sharp, so it was more than enough for a weapon.

Seureureu-

I suddenly got chills.

I wasn't going to die here, right?

"If you don't want to get hurt, go away!"

"...."

I distanced myself from the man and thought about a way to handle this. Maybe using the bodyguards on standby?

No, then that man would literally be slaughtered.

「Tae-oh slaughtered a man in a tavern.」

I was certain that what happened here would be chopped up. That kind of rumors and articles would be served and spread everywhere…

Let's ask a question first.

"If you are the right hand man of the Court Gardener Tae-oh. Do you know what he looks like?"

"Of course. Tae-oh eats dinner with me. We are like brothers! Even though I'm only a Rank 9 Collector, sooner or later, I'm going to the Royal Palace!"

The man then said with a dark expression.

"So, if you don't want to see me get angry, scram, you little punk!"

No, what?

I even started to feel like I was the one lying because of how confident the man was.

Was he completely befuddled by this character that he created? Did this man have Ripley Syndrome?

What kind of method did you think would work well for someone like this?

There were many that came to mind, but the most effective solution against a person who asserted authority was to assert authority as well.

Sreuk, sreuk-

I rummaged with my arms, then took out a small piece of iron. It was kind of a badge. One could call it a brooch.

It was a chess piece knight-shaped brooch made of platinum.

After that, I threw it at the collector.

"What is this?"

Wright Hand easily caught the brooch, and wrinkled his brow. As he inspected it, his expression seemed to be getting paler.

"Ho, hoooo…"

He flopped down on the floor, sounding like a deflating balloon.

"If you're my right hand man, of course you could recognize what this is, right? Since you are a tax collector, even if you're at the very bottom, you should know the hierarchy."

It was a Knight brooch, signifying a Royal Retainer, and it was platinum – the highest rank. There was only one in the kingdom.

Even in the vast Angmar, this was a rank created only for me.

"Th, this, this, this isn't guaranteed to be real…. It's just an elaborately crafted fake. Yes, it's fake! I heard there are a lot of impersonators!"

"Then would one be crazy enough to impersonate and fake such a thing?"

I slowly walked towards the man on the floor, then whispered as I removed the iron Pawn Brooch that hung proudly on his shoulder.

"—YOU seem to be pretending. Ain't that ridiculous. What? Did you think the Royal Family's ears wouldn't be able to reach this mess of a place? About you using MY name? I already know everything!"

Of course, that was a lie. This was our first time seeing each other.

"Hieek!"

During this process, the man who appeared to be in his early to mid 40s suddenly aged drastically. He became so old that it would not be strange to say that he had passed his 60th birthday.

It was at this time.

━Ah- That man is Tae-oh! Teo Gospel! It's Tae-oh Gospel! It's really him! I, I've seen him before!

━Oh- It's true! Last time I visited the center of Monarch City, I saw him too!

Someone shouted from behind me. Perhaps some recognized my face.

Akin to a stone being dropped and causing waves in the water, that loud cry eventually caused commotions.

━Is that the Queen's secret lover?

━He looks younger than I thought. He's about the same age as my son entering the Academy this year.

Perhaps hearing such a story, the tax collector Wright Hand, who was lying in front of me, began sweating like rain and started weeping.

"Ji, it's real? No. Why would Tae-oh be at this filthy tavern? That's ridiculous. It's a lie. I just like the girl. Ah…"

Did he lose his mind because he was under a lot of stress in a short period of time? His mouth was watering while both of his hands and legs were wildly shaking.

That was not pitiful, though.

Evil bastard.

I bent my knees and whispered quietly in his ear.

"How dare you use my name? A scum like you is my right hand man? You will be on the barrier row."

Then something very surprising happened. The face of the man, who looked so powerless to even lift a spoon, was distorted in horror.

"Cha~, I would rather take the death penalty! Not the barrier row! If I go there, who knows what they will do!? Please, I'll lick your shoes!"

Then he fell down at my feet, stuck out his tongue, and really started to lick my shoes desperately.

That said, going to the wall (barrier row) was akin to having your human rights expunged and becoming a lab rat. The treatment was worse than just being executed in the guillotine.

"Please, please forgive me!"

I was uncomfortable. This man just threatened me with a knife moments ago. Now, he was bawling his eyes out and begging.

"What's this? If you didn't want to attend the barrier row, you shouldn't have done this in the first place."

"I'll be your dog! I'll do whatever you tell me to do. Please, please, just not the barrier row. Please!"

"How about you start a new career as part of the expedition team instead of management? You have good knife-handling skills. If you can hold out well, you will be able to get to a higher position."

"Hii, hiiik! Long live the Queen! Surrounded by rocky mountains~ The beautiful kingdom of Angmar~ Ah, ah- Beautiful mountain stream, my hometown~ Clear ditch water~🎶"

He suddenly began to unsightly sing Angmar's national anthem. He was appealing to me with patriotism and asking for mercy.

At that sight, Lee Seong-eum's human heart, not Tae-oh the henchman, was shaken a little.

However, I could not forgive this man.

If I let this slide, there would be more people who would dare do such things.

By then, I might inherit the bad karma and hatred from things I did not commit, which would get me executed.

"Somebody please take this man and leave him with the guards in the name of I, Tae-oh Gospel. They will understand what to do if you ask them to send him to the barrier row."

Chok, chok, chok-

Only when I gave orders did the rice cakes in the tavern, who were waiting among the crowd, stepped forward and dragged away the collector.

"Geuaaak- Forgive me! Not the barrier row! Hieeek!"

Watching the collection officer being dragged out screaming with a near-bursting throat, I wondered if I had made a harsh judgment.

It wasn't my fault, it was that bastard's.

It was not me who should feel guilty, it was him.

Why should I feel guilty about being in the demanding position, seeking proper punishment?

No matter how much one thought about this, it was wrong for the victim to feel sorry for the perpetrator's punishment.

I shouldn't weigh myself down with that feeling. At this time, I could hear small murmurs going around.

007 – Evil Flower Aira #7

━Serves that bastard right! He's nothing but a low-level civil servant, yet boasts and acts as if he is the sky. I knew this would happen someday!

━Something was definitely fishy about a Rank 9 Tax Collection Officer saying that he knew a Court Official! Look, what did I tell you?

━Speaking of which, the fox is now gone, but the tiger came… Is he really Tae-oh Gospel? Why did he come to such a shabby place?

━He must have come to catch impersonators. There are many liars here…

I strongly felt the people's eyes scrutinizing me from top to bottom.

There wouldn't be anything good if I continued to stay here like this.

I reached out to the waitress, who was lying on the floor.

"Heu, heuiii-"

However, as the waitress girl seemed afraid of my hand, I stopped and just talked to her.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, yes…. But, did you really save me just now?"

A doubtful expression appeared on the waitress's face. I then heard from the surrounding people.

━She's a virgin. Tae-oh must be aiming for the waitress' virginity. Otherwise, there is no way he would do such a good thing, right?

━Then, this might be what Tae-oh had been aiming for?

━Now that you mentioned it, maybe it is. If this continues, the waitress's innocence may be soiled by Tae-oh!

What the fuck, what nonsense were you all saying?

"Heu, heueueu-"

Hearing the numerous people talking around her, the waitress was on the verge of tears. So, I straightened up and shouted.

"If you find more people impersonating the Royal Family or other high-ranking Officials, please report them immediately!"

I ended with that.

There was nothing more to say. If I spent too much time here, bad rumors about me might pop up. So, I just pushed open the tavern's door and walked out.

Would what happened here today spread as a good story?

Nah. It would probably be about Tae-oh Gospel asking for the virginity of a waitress. This was what would appear on the news, thanks to those bastard reporters.

As I was putting on my hood and thinking about suppressing the press…

"Court Gardener!"

Someone suddenly called me. I turned around and saw a luxurious carriage led by two black, demonic-looking horses on the street.

From the engraved Spider Seal, it should be the carriage sent by the Royal Palace.

The coachman in black said.

"Tae-oh-nim, the Queen is urgently looking for you."

"How did you know I was here?"

"There are many eyes and ears in Her Majesty's city. Anyways, please get on the carriage."

* * *

I hurriedly headed to Queen Aira's private quarter.

Today, I said that I would take a leave of absence, and Aira also approved of it.

Nevertheless, there must be an important reason why she suddenly summoned me this evening.

Knock, knock-

"Your Majesty, this is Tae-oh. Tae-oh Gospel has arrived."

I knocked on the gold painted oak door and waited. Soon, I heard some movements inside before a voice called out, "Come in."

After checking over my look one last time, I entered the room.

Unlike the tavern, the Queen's private quarter was an artistic hall-like space with a red carpet and various Italian-style furniture, as well as a gorgeous chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

In this space full of beautiful artworks, I soon found the supreme being and bowed my head.

"Your Majesty, did you call? Why did you suddenly summon me at such a late hour?"

"It's important. Very important and urgent work. Otherwise, would I have called for you, interrupting your first vacation in three months?"

"Yes, I suppose so."

I bowed once again and tactfully looked around. It had been some time since I entered the Queen's bedroom, but little had changed.

There didn't seem to be any type of emergency.

As I was thinking about what was possibly going on, Queen Aira said, without hiding anything.

"In that sense, Tae-oh, I will entrust you with a very important task. Much more important than the Barbarian subjugation mission I had Elga doing—"

Was there anything more serious than subjugating the Barbarians?

What immediately came to my mind was the Commander of the wall that blocked the Northern Rift. She wasn't asking me to go to that hellish mountainous place, was she?

No. Aira wouldn't keep me that far away.

Then were we going together?

After Aira complicatedly shook her head back and forth, she said.

"Tomorrow, I'm going to go out to town. I don't know which stocking to wear. Tae-oh, you have to decide. Please choose between these two."

Aira pulled out some soft things from the closet. They were see-through black fishnet stockings.

They both had the same color and also looked the same…

"Come on, Tae-oh. Carefully pick one, it's important!"

This was the important thing?

Did she just summon me, from my vacation, just because of this? Well, for Aira, it could be important.

Her common sense was strange.

Sometimes a cat's life was more valuable than a human's. There were also times when the color of tomorrow's stockings was more important than an expedition to subjugate Barbarians.

In fact, wasn't most of Aira's actions caused by the defect of her common sense?

By the way, Elga would probably grind her teeth in anger if she heard that choosing stockings was more important than subjugating the Barbarians…

Seueuk-

I looked at the black fishnet stockings.

Same color. Same shape. I even thought they were the same size. Although it was a waste of time, I must decide.

During my first month, I learned that there were various types of black; such as ivory black, lamp black, mas black, vine black, nymph black, etc.!

But these two… No matter how I looked at them, I couldn't tell the difference.

This was the biggest crisis of my life…

Fuck… Come on, what was the difference?

I felt my armpits sweating. But, I knew what to say at times like this.

"As expected of Queen Aira. You have a great eye for color. To me, they just both look black."

"There is nothing for you to be ashamed of. I'm great at telling the difference between the two."

I said towards Aira, "Yes. Indeed, you are amazing." I concluded appropriately.

It seemed terrible, but the point was that there was no malice in these words.

"Ja. Well then, I have decided to wear this."

Aira picked out one of the same-looking stockings. If she was just going to choose that, why even called for me? Then, the reason quickly came to my mind.

There was a hint in her words.

"No, wait. You're going out to town?"

"No, seeing you has changed my mind. I'm going now. So, can you change

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