56
In your house caravan
After letting Apophis and Isquis into the caravan, Yeon Ji-ho first spread out the chicken he had bought on the table. When he opened all the lids of the chicken boxes, steam poured out in a rush.
“Ah, hot!”
As Isquis clumsily tried to touch it and pulled his hand away in surprise, Yeon Ji-ho laughed and told him to eat a little slower.
“Hup, huk, wow, delicious! Appo! Appo! This is so good!”
“Hey, you idiot, you’re spitting…”
“Is this Galus?! Galus doesn’t taste like this!”
Isquis was drooling meat juices while calling Apophis by the nickname he only used when he was happy. Finally, unable to bear it any longer, Yeon Ji-ho tore off some foil, wrapped a piece of seasoned chicken, and handed it over, saying:
“This is chicken. It’s a fried bird a bit smaller than a Galus. I bought a lot in case it wasn’t enough, how is it?”
“It’s delicious! No, it’s delicious, sir!”
Isquis started devouring it with such enthusiasm that it made Yeon Ji-ho’s heart swell. His skill at picking the bones clean was improving rapidly with each piece he ate.
It would be nice if Isquis was the only one eating so vigorously, but there was one more person eating silently. Shango was eating at a rapid pace, crunching and swallowing even small bones that got stuck in his mouth.
“Mr. Ji-ho, did Shango also go somewhere and starve for a long time?”
“No, he ate three meals a day well…”
Only Yeon Ji-ho felt wronged at the suggestion that he might have starved them. He had never let them go hungry, thinking they might have used more energy as patients. However, looking at Shango now, he was eating as if he hadn’t eaten for at least three days.
The chicken was gone in no time. Only after Apophis and Isquis’s late dinner was resolved could the five people have the conversation they hadn’t been able to have until now.
“First… while Your Excellency was away, we found the whereabouts of the other two beasts. Chronos and Baal.”
“Let’s hear about Chronos first.”
Chronos.
As he was the only one among Gorgon’s beasts described as an old man, he remained in Yeon Ji-ho’s memory. He was a peculiar figure who had a child’s body and didn’t grow.
“It seems he’s hiding in his hometown, the village of the little people. We should look into the location of the village.”
“That sounds like Chronos. Is he safe?”
“Yes. Fortunately, it seems he’s living without any problems.”
Set nodded at Apophis’s calm explanation. Chronos, the most resourceful man among Gorgon’s beasts, was expected to be doing well somehow.
However, when they actually tried to go to his hometown village to meet Chronos, there was a problem. His hometown, the ‘Village of Time’, often moves its location to prevent outsiders from finding it.
“…Then what about Baal?”
“Baal, well…”
As Apophis showed signs of difficulty in answering, Isquis interjected from the side. He suddenly opened his mouth towards Set.
“The imperial underground prison. Your Excellency, Baal is imprisoned in the imperial underground prison!”
“…In prison? Surely he wasn’t caught while escaping?”
“‘That’ Baal would never do such a thing!”
Isquis firmly denied it. Of course, Set didn’t think Baal would have done that either.
Baal, the sharpest horn of Gorgon.
If there was anyone among Gorgon’s beasts who took up a significant portion besides Set, it was Baal. He was the one with the most outstanding combat ability, but his mind wasn’t entirely sound, so he was always in charge of ‘slaughter’ on the battlefield.
There was no way Baal, considered the second strongest among the beasts, would have been caught while trying to escape. Set asked in a low voice with a hardened face.
“Don’t tell me, he went in voluntarily?”
It was natural for Set to predict this. Baal had a mental defect, and because of that, he had a tendency to follow Set almost fanatically.
Before coming to this world, Set had spent over two weeks imprisoned in the imperial underground prison and was eventually burned at the stake in the center of Asterra’s capital.
The news of Set Gorgon’s death would have spread gradually, so it was perhaps natural for Baal to head towards the imperial palace on his own after hearing the news. Apophis answered with a miserable face as he listened to the question.
“It seems so, Your Excellency. If it were Baal, he wouldn’t have quietly accepted Your Excellency’s death…”
“He would have resisted fiercely while being captured, so he’s probably not in good condition.”
“Yes… It seems they’ve tied up his limbs since he would try to escape if he could move at all.”
Apophis spoke vaguely since Yeon Ji-ho was also listening, but in reality, they wouldn’t have just tied up his limbs quietly. It was likely they had tortured him in various ways and then imprisoned him without even giving him food or water.
Set closed his eyes tightly and then opened them at the fact that one of the beasts was trapped in the imperial palace. It was what he had hoped wouldn’t happen, but it had happened in the end.
“We’ll gather the rest of the beasts and then go to the imperial palace. Where’s the last one, Ganesha?”
Now there were a total of seven surviving Gorgon beasts. When the novel ‘Hadad’s Star’ began and Set joined the Gorgon Knights, there were thirteen of them, but by the end of the novel, they had been reduced to seven.
The last mentioned, Ganesha, was also the one whose story was least resolved. Because of this, Yeon Ji-ho didn’t know much about him either, but fortunately, Apophis added an explanation.
“That guy… didn’t he lose his tail in the war?”
“Yes. It was when we lost the last war.”
“It seems he’s gone to get that tail treated again. If he knows we’ve gathered again, he’ll probably find us on his own.”
Now that they had a general idea of the locations of the remaining three people, they immediately began to make plans. The place they needed to head to right away was Chronos’s hometown village.
“I heard that the Village of Time is now at the northernmost end of Asterra. We were already heading there, so if we go diligently, we should be able to arrive within five days.”
“If we’re late, they might have already left by the time we arrive.”
The rough plans for what they needed to do immediately were all set. Except for Set and Apophis, who were busy making plans, the rest of the people cleared away the chicken they had all eaten, and the conversation was coming to an end.
Finally, Apophis glanced around the interior of the caravan and asked about something he had been curious about all along.
“Um, Your Excellency. But this strange carriage…”
“It’s not a carriage. Ji-ho calls it a ‘caravan’, or a ‘trailer’.”
Set gave a slight glance to Ji-ho. Then Apophis also looked at him with a curious face. He seemed to want an explanation about the caravan.
“Well… It’s a caravan from my house, and it’s designed to be hitched and pulled from the front like a carriage. It has beds and basic kitchen utensils inside, so it’s good for living while moving around.”
At those words, Apophis clapped his hands together with a very pleased expression.
“You had such a nice carriage?! I’m still using the ‘tent’ you gave me last time very well…!”
It seemed that Apophis and Isquis had made very good use of the ‘tent’ given by Yeon Ji-ho while he was away. Apophis, who was usually only calm, praised the usefulness of the tent while spitting slightly.
“Of course! It seems the tent is twice as convenient for storage and rest compared to the temporary barracks we used during the war. I wonder why our world hasn’t developed such an item yet…”
Apophis subtly licked his lips, expressing regret. From what he heard, it sounded like tents would sell very well if they were made and sold here.
“Ah. You’re still using the tent? That’s good. Actually, it’s too much for five people to sleep here. Someone will have to sleep outside…”
“Everyone except me and Ji-ho will sleep outside.”
“What? Uh… huh?”
Set slowly turned to look at the three people sitting at the table inside the caravan. His eyes were glinting strangely.
“Surely you’re not daring to sleep with me?”
“I, I like sleeping with my wings spread out! I’ll sleep on the ceiling of this carriage!”
“…I still find the tent more comfortable.”
Apophis and Isquis tactfully said they would go outside. Set’s gaze finally fell on Shango.
Shango, who had been silently enduring that gaze, turned his head just slightly to avoid eye contact, and said quietly:
“…It’s not cold yet, so…”
And so everyone’s sleeping arrangements were decided. Set turned to look at Yeon Ji-ho with triumphant eyes and took a deep breath.
True to their alias as Gorgon’s beasts, they were a strictly hierarchical group.
