༺ Omen (3) ༻
“Carry out all the supplies!”
The very next day, the nearly restored headquarters of the Mars Guild was bustling with the noises of the gathered adventurers.
“When will the other priestesses arrive? I need to receive prayers before going to war!”
“Yeah! At this rate, it will take the whole night to get through this process!”
Due to the upcoming eradication campaign against the cultists, many people were visiting the Mars Guild, or to be exact, the Temple of the God of War, seeking victory in the war ahead.
Luna and I were also present today, not as guild members of the Mars Guild but as individuals coming to visit the temple of Mars to pray for success in the war ahead.
Among the never-ending crowd, I spotted Hippolyte, wearing her usual armor with a long red, draping robe attached to the shoulder pads. She was busy anointing people’s shoulders with a sword as though bestowing a perpetual blessing of fortune.
“I, Hippolyte, the priestess of Mars, pray for the protection of the War God’s blessings upon you, Thormus…!”
The long queue in front of Hippolyte was enough to make me feel frustrated just by looking at it.
“Hassan, let’s join the line over there too!”
I was considering turning back and retracing my steps back to the cabin, but Luna urged me to wait in line. Thus, I was left with no choice but to stand at the back of the queue and wait for my turn.
It was like having to wait in long lines while visiting popular restaurants after getting a girlfriend. I wondered if this situation had a similar vibe to that kind of thing.
Then, was Hippolyte like a popular restaurant here? Even if it was my own analogy, it felt somewhat strange and obscene, and my lower body started twitching involuntarily at the thought.
But it wouldn’t be appropriate to think about other women while being next to Luna, so I started looking around and asked her as I focused all of my attention on her.
“But there are so many people. Does this really have any effect?”
“It’s state rule for those going to war to offer prayers at the Mars Temple or the Minerva Temple.”
A state rule, huh? I almost laughed at the word that came out of Luna’s mouth. She found the words I often thoughtlessly blurt out fascinating and occasionally mimicked them.
Starting from my “holy shit” and now even the “state rule.” Luna was like a sponge, absorbing words from my hometown. Of course, she probably thought it was just a dialect or a regional accent from the wildlands of Samaria.
“What effect does praying even have?”
“Preparing and getting ready for battle is better than going into war without doing anything!”
“Well, yeah—”
I thought about the eradication campaign that would take place the next day.
War
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Military.
Shit!
Even though my memories of when I lived on Earth were slowly fading away, there was still one memory that I would never forget until the moment I die. And that was the tough and challenging experience that I went through during my time in the military.
Gangwon Province— a land of cold and heat, ice and fire.
Honestly, while I could vividly remember those days of horror, I didn’t really want to recall them. Living in that place also felt like I was experiencing a whole different world. Fucking shit! Where else in Korea does it snow until May?
After finishing my tough military life and returning to school, one day I found myself falling into this world and becoming a slave of Elfriede, spending the rest of my youth in servitude.
Mobilization warrant.
I still couldn’t believe that I had to go to the military all over again even after coming to another world.
Damn! War was really a terrible phenomenon.
I was not even a resident of this barbaric world. I was the outlander— Hassan.
They were even conscripting the residents from foreign regions of this world in the upcoming war of conquest that would take place tomorrow.
This was a shocking turn of events. Was the state of the city really that chaotic?
The possibility of a real battle happening made the future look bleak and uncertain to me.
This time, it was not going to be the usual simple adventurer’s work like bashing goblin heads or exploring dark underground labyrinths anymore.
As I thought more and more about the war, I could feel the tension building up inside me and my mouth getting drier by the second. The anxiety I had ignored all this time was starting to make my legs feel restless.
Just as my legs were relentlessly shaking, chasing away all the good luck I had, Luna murmured to me.1This is related to Asian superstition. Shaking your legs is associated to losing all your luck and wealth, leaving only bad luck.
“It would have been nice if Ideope had a Mars or Minerva Temple. Maybe our men would have returned alive if we prayed for protection before participating in the wars.”
“Ah—”
Now that I thought about it again, I remembered hearing that the population of Ideope was significantly low compared to other regions due to the ongoing tribal wars. So, most of the population there was women, and the male children were regarded highly on the island.
Anyway, Luna hadn’t been able to finish making the amulets and protection totems even though she had worked on them from the moment I received the draft notice last night until early morning. So she was now showing her dedication by praying at the temple of the god of war instead.
It somehow felt similar to when mothers would put extra effort into their children’s education, trying every possible thing when college entrance exams would be getting closer.
But of course, I couldn’t stay still either because of the anxiety I was feeling inside.
This damn battlefield of uncivilized barbarism… It must be filled with unimaginably dirty and filthy mud puddles.
During the time when I was a slave living in the city of Kalkata, I’d seen soldiers returning from wars against the neighboring cities.
They were covered in bandages all over, with body parts wounded at best and missing at worst. Even though they had been victorious, they still returned with tired faces, dragging their bodies along the way to go towards their home with visible difficulty. That miserable state of those soldiers was why that scene left such a vivid memory in my mind.
As I recalled those tired and lifeless eyes I had seen back then, Luna started tapping my shoulder with her fist.
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“Hassan, it’s almost our turn.”
When I returned to my senses, I realized that only a few teams were left in front of us, as the line that had been stretching out in front had now shortened considerably.
In contrast to our usual encounters during missions or personal meetings, seeing Hippolyte’s face in such a public matter somehow made me feel strange and unsettling.
“Belucamoni, daughter of Temona. I wish you burning passion and the blessings of victory—!”
And thus, the woman who was kneeling in front of me rose from her kneeling position. I soon stood before the clearly exhausted Hippolyte.
Hippolyte, wiping away the sword being used in the ceremony with a white cloth, soon asked me the same question she had asked the others before me.
“Brave warrior, who has joined this war, what is your name?”
“I am Hassan of Samaria.”
“Hassan of Samaria, kneel and take a seat here… Wait, Hassan, Hassan? What, Hassan!?”
Ziing—
My ears were muffled by Hippolyte’s sudden exclamation, and I had no choice but to stagger back ever so slightly.
It was said that the God of War, Mars, occasionally roared loudly toward his enemies, causing them to lose their courage. It seemed that Hippolyte, who was claiming to be his daughter, also had strong vocal cords like Mars.
“Ahem, I mean… Hassan! Why the heck are you here?”
After clearing her throat, Hippolyte asked in a calmer voice. However, she still couldn’t hide the astonishment that was plastered on her face at seeing me here.
“I will join the war that will take place tomorrow.”
“Oh my, you’re joining the war. What does a person without citizenship like you think you’re doing? Quit right now. You’re really going to die otherwise.”
The priestess of the God of War, Mars, started dissuading me by telling me that I was going to die before I had even set out for the war. Damn, although I was generally inclined to not believe in any superstitions, something really felt off this time around.
“I don’t want to go either but I received draft notices. They said that I couldn’t stay in the city if I refused to join.”
“Show it to me.”
At Hippolyte’s words, I took out the draft notices that arrived last night from my pocket.
There was one more in addition to the first one I had read the last time, so it was two draft notices in total.
The contents of the second one were written in fairly elegant handwriting. It, among other things, instructed me when and where to join the military unit at tomorrow’s war.
Kill all the cultists. The cultists are our enemies. Our Sodomora has been developing for decades but some cultist bastards had invaded it.
This letter seemed to be using the citizen’s desperation for the subjugation of the cultists as a source of motivation.
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Of course, the main content I carefully examined was written further down.
All conscripted participants will be granted citizenship and the right to participate in the council assembly. – Enya Sardich.
Hippolyte returned the draft notices to me after reading them for some time.
“Samaritan, I thought you weren’t interested in things like citizenship.”
“… Of course, it would be nice if I could get it.”
Citizenship.
Despite me, Hassan of Samaria, working as an adventurer, I was still only at the bronze tier, so the social systems that were available to me were quite limited.
For fuck’s sake, I couldn’t even use the bank.
I had to carry around a heavy purse of coins, clinking and jingling as I walked through the streets because I couldn’t create an account at the bank.
Alternatively, I could hide them in a secret place, but I’d be too worried about the possibility of it being stolen, and would surely disturb my activities.
My work getting disrupted would probably warrant comments such as, “This guy can’t even do his job properly.” Eventually, all the negative events would pile up, leading me to lose my job and lose the money anyway.
This damn citizenship.
It would grant me not only bank services but also rights such as being able to use the medical facilities at a more affordable price or being able to seek help from the guards of the city in case of emergencies.
I didn’t think I’d be able to get citizenship before at least reaching the silver tier. Perhaps my participation in this war of conquest would be a golden opportunity to achieve a comfortable life.
Of course, that would only be possible if I were to survive the battlefield.
“I can see why you ended up participating. That foolish Enya must have devised a plan. Minerva’s great warriors and the likes always resort to such dastardly tricks.”
“Hippolyte, hurry up, bestow your blessings upon Hassan already!”
“Hmm, uh, ah, okay. By any chance, are you participating too, Knoxdotty…?”
“No, I’m not. Are you planning to participate?”
“I wanted to… But I lost the draw, so I have no choice but to stay and protect the city.”
Hippolyte wouldn’t be participating, my morale instantly plummeted after coming to that
No, seriously, if a warrior as powerful as her, who could literally send sword auras flying at the enemies, wasn’t participating in the war, then who the hell was?
“Well, don’t worry too much. If the Margrave’s beloved daughter herself is taking command, then your chances of survival will slightly increase, Hassan.”
“Is that so?”
“But still, the probability of you dying is over 50%. Our target this time is the Cultist Warlock, Anxious, who has been located in the mountain ranges near Sodomora. That guy is dangerous. He is a mage who dabbles in the arcane magic of hell. Dreadful, isn’t it?”
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At the mention of the Cultist Warlock, Anxious, I recalled the day when I sneaked into the gathering of the Pluto cultists.
Among those gathered, there were four people in total. Schizo, Somnia, and Anxious, the mage wielding a long staff, and another guy known as the Captain.
Could that mage, Anxious, really be hiding in the mountain range?
I was well aware of the prowess of mages. After all, Elfriede, who had been my master and made my life a living hell for the past two years, was one herself.
“A powerful mage is equivalent to an entire battalion of trained soldiers. Even though Anxious has fallen from grace, he used to be an assistant professor at the Magic Tower. The fact that he has been delving into forbidden knowledge makes him even more dangerous.”
“So, what should I do then?”
“Death will be the only result here.”
“I-I see.”
“Or you can run away. Hassan, I, Hippolyte, can probably at least erase your name from the list of participants.”
She could erase my name from the list of participants? Was this like one of those backdoor deals of the high-ranking officials that I had only heard of? Was this my golden opportunity?
Could there be a more genuine blessing from the God of War than this chance?
To achieve victory without even fighting! Hippolyte seemed to be the true daughter of the God of War, Mars. Hippolyte’s heart was so majestic.
As I envisioned the big heart that she contained beneath the sturdy armor, I was deeply touched and trembled with emotions. So this was why people fussed over lineage and connections, huh? I made the right choice by joining the Mars Guild, after all!
“Miss Hippolyte, I am deeply grateful for your words—”
“However, I know a fiery Samaritan like you wouldn’t flee from the battlefield. I apologize for saying something pointless.”
“…Well, why not give it a try?”
“Futile words only cause pain to the speaker. Samaritan, I can already see a longing for the battlefield in your eyes. Indeed, I shouldn’t have said I would erase your name from the list. It was a negligent thing to say on my part.”
“W-What—?”
“To have such a thirst for the battlefield, you immediately remind me of my father, Lord Mars. Your eyes resemble a lion’s, searching for a blood-boiling battlefield. The bloodshot hue inside of those black eyes looks quite impressive.”
I wondered just what kind of expression I had on my face for her to say something like that, so I touched my face. I didn’t get much sleep last night as Luna and I had to stay up to prepare for the war.
Hippolyte seemed to have a strange interpretation of my expression due to that.
At that moment, a clamor erupted from behind me.
“You’re wasting our time! Just hurry up and finish your turn already!”
“We still have many things to do! Like sharpening our rusty weapons and having armor tailormade!”
Perhaps due to the lengthy conversation I had been having with Hippolyte, the patience of the people waiting behind us seemed to have worn thin.
Hippolyte cleared her throat a few times by coughing lightly.
“Hassan, I shall grant you my blessing as well. I-It’s a slightly special blessing, and I need some time to prepare for it, so please come back later in the evening.”
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