Death King Karnak Novel - Chapter 3

1. Something’s Wrong (2)

A small inn at the entrance to Darha Village. Several peddlers were eating lunch on the first floor, which also served as a lodging and dining room. But few of them focused only on eating. It was because there were two strange people among the guests.

“Um! Uuuum!”

“Um, it’s so yummy!”

“Keuugh, so that’s what ‘taste’ is!”

“Yeah, that’s what ‘boiled’ meat tastes like!”

Two adult men ordered at most two loaves of barley bread and a bowl of mixed stew, looked at it reverently as if they were holding a ceremony, and made a fuss with each bite. Of course, in the eyes of others, they could only be perceived as people with serious mental issues.

‘Those guys, what’s with them?’

‘Why are they making such an uproar?’

‘Did they starve for three whole days or something?’

‘For them to be eating that crazily, they would’ve to be starving that much at least. Why are they putting up a show like that every time they take a bite?’

The eating of the two young men did not end even while the other guests were whispering. After a while, when the inn lady brought two glasses of beer, they even started to shed tears.

“Heook! Young Master, look!”

“It’s beer!”

“Kueugh! I wonder if I’ll pass out just by smelling it?”

It’s not some kind of legendary pearl. It’s just beer brewed at the village brewery. Even the good quality ones were already delivered to the lord and left over. Their reaction after inhaling it was indeed a spectacle.

“Kuaaa!”

“Ah, I think I could risk my life for this cup…”

“Would you really do that, Young Master?”

As the two trembled after a sip of ale, the guests drew their conclusions.

‘They’re fucking crazy.’
‘Let’s just ignore them.’

No matter the reaction of the people around them, Karnak and Barros was just as happy. It was the best food they had tasted in decades. Every time they took a bite, it seemed like they drowned in overwhelming pleasure. They truly had no greater happiness than this.

…or so they thought!

“Okay, here’s your dish!”

It seemed there was a dish of stir-fried chicken with a fantastic aroma on the table right next to theirs!

“Hey! Do you cook chicken here?”

“Is it a high-end restaurant?”

No matter how active trade is in a street corner village, precious meat from cows and pigs can only be seen during festivals, and it is usually impossible to buy even if you have money.

On the other hand, an old one is within an acceptable price range. Just breed them in your backyard and twist their heads regularly. Of course, it’s not cheap enough to eat at any time you’d like.

The fact that chickens are for sale here means this village is relatively prosperous, and many people are coming and going.
Yes, as long as they can pay……. The two started whispering.

“Drinking beer with such a chicken dish would be great!”

“How much is it? That one?”

Clearly, it was not food that could be bought with ordinary coins. Perhaps those guests are quite high-status travelers. The clothes he wore looked unusual, and Karnak’s eyes swung around momentarily.

“Kill all the parks and extort them?”

“Be human! Think like a human being, young master.”

Honestly, even if they gave up on their resolve to live like human beings, it was impossible to do that.

Barros pointed it out calmly, “What kind of power do we have to kill all these people? We will rather be beaten to death!”

“Y-You’re right, yes.”

They were no longer the Commanding King who ruled the world, nor were they the strongest Death Knight. With his shoulders drooping, Barros opened the guard pouch. It was to count the food he had eaten so far.

‘Oh, if only I had money…….’

It was right then.

“Eh?” Suddenly, Barros’ eyes widened.

“What’s the matter?”

“Young Master, do you feel something strange?”

“What?”

Barros took out his hand out of his pocket after looking around carefully. Now, Karnak’s eyes were also full moons.

“Eh?”

Why was there a silver coin shining brilliantly between his aide’s fingers?

“Why is it in there?”

Quickly putting the silver coin back into his pocket, Barros lowered his voice, “There are more.”

Then, he showed Karnak the inside of his pocket so that no one else could see it.

“There are more silver coins than normal coins.”
“Seriously?” The shocked Karnak also looked inside his pocket.

It was true. There were also many coins, but more than half were silver coins.

“No, did you not know until now that the pocket’s contents had changed? Didn’t you ever open it?”

“’It was obvious what was inside, but why did you only check it now? Did I?”

“Since you’re an attendant, you should’ve checked that much!”

“I was Necropia’s second-in-command until this morning, right? I was a servant only 100 years ago.”

He wondered if the pocket itself had changed, but it wasn’t. The family crest was embedded at the front of the pocket. It’s just that the contents were different from their memory.

Both of them whispered while looking at each other.

“How much exactly did we have for our expenses at this time?”

‘Though it was over 100 years ago, can you still remember?”

“I definitely have a memory that I used it sparingly because I was so poor.”
Memories of hardships are not so easily forgotten.

“How in the world could we have this much money back then?”

“I only said about saving hard on the outside.”

“……you lied about saving any money.”

No matter how much he saved, the coins wouldn’t evolve into silver coins. It’s not just about having a lot of money. Something must have gone wrong.

‘What did I do wrong? Didn’t I return to the past? No, did the space-time magic even work properly in the first place?’ His thoughts were immediately cut off by Barros’s continued questions.

“Hey, Young Master?”

“What?”

“Can we eat chicken now?”

It was between the chicken in front of his eyes and the fear of uncertainty. The weight of the scale tipped in favor of the obvious.

‘Eh, let’s eat now and think later!’

Karnak shouted loudly, “Take order from us!”

They took a bite of the oily chicken.

“Uhuhu!”

And immediately drink wine.

“Uhuhu!”

Eat and drink, eat and drink again.

“Uhuhuhuhu!”

The two of them enjoyed the ecstasy as they emptied the plate without hesitation. When the meal was finally over, Barros murmured leisurely like a bear about to hibernate.

“Wow, you sounded really crazy.”

“I know. Was the taste of chicken always this good? I think the pleasure is even greater than doing drugs.”
“I actually tried it, but it didn’t feel this good, right?”

“Because we were both dead then.”

The case of an undead getting beaten and haunted didn’t exist even in the continent’s long history.

“Anyway, that’s good…….”

Leaning back in his chair, Karnak murmured languidly.

Dead.
It’s awesome.
I’m going crazy happy.
It was a pleasure worth giving up all that authority, power, and splendor.
But you can’t just stay like this.

“Now, let’s calm down and think.”

He looked at his guard pocket after adjusting his posture.

“How did it happen?”

Barros also became serious, “Are our memories wrong?”

“It’s possible for me to mistake 9 coins for 10 coins. But could I so easily mistake 10 silver coins for 10 coins?”

“Then is the young master’s magic wrong?”

“How could space-time regression magic go wrong so that coins can be turned into silver coins?”

“…… did the space-time magic mess with the coins in our pockets and filled them with silver coins?”

Karnak asked as if he was the most pathetic, “Do you think it makes sense?”

Barros responded in a way as if he was even more pathetic, “That’s for you to think about. What do you want from an ignorant swordsman?”

He was right. Karnak kept his mouth shut without making a single sound.

Barros continued with his soothing talk, “Let’s head back to your parents’ house. After that, it won’t be too late to figure out the situation, right?”

“That’s right.” Karnak leaned back in his chair.

The thought of going back was frightening. It would take well over three days to get from Darha Village to his hometown, Jestrad Mansion.
“It will be a tiring journey, oh dear. I wonder about the time to walk such a long distance…”

Barros suddenly tilted his head at Karnak’s nagging, “What?”

“What now?”

“Come to think of it, don’t we have to go back on foot? This is also a post town. Let’s borrow a horse, a horse.”

Post towns rent horses for a fee for messengers or peddlers who are in a hurry. To buy a horse itself, you need to find a large market, but it is possible to rent it.

Though the amount required to move from one post office to another post office is considerable…

“What’s wrong? You have so much money!”

Karnak threw a punch as he felt terrible.

“Are you still worried about where the money came from?” Barros asked while shaking his head.

“Will this worry of yours go away if we don’t spend it?”

“That’s not…….”
“You can then think while writing! Wouldn’t it be relaxing for your body to do so?”

Karnak blinked for a moment.

“When your body is comfortable, your mind is comfortable, and when your mind is comfortable, your worries will be resolved!”

He thought it was just pathetic, but after listening to it, the logic seemed plausible, “Well, aren’t you surprisingly persuasive today?”

After a lavish meal, Karnak and Barros headed for the post office to the west of Darha Village. The Darha Station was a relatively large facility with a two-story wooden building and a large stable.

A middle-aged man approached them with a smile when they reached there. It was probably the post office manager.

“Oh, you’re back!”

For an instant, the two froze in place.

‘Back?’
‘Did we?’

When someone says you’re back, don’t they mean they’ve been here before?

The man groaned and continued, “The horses you two have entrusted to you are well taken care of.”

“Did you say we entrusted those?”

“Did we?”

Even in the midst of being dumbfounded, the two of them tried to maintain a calm expression. And so, a middle-aged man guided the two toward the stable. About a dozen horses were tied up, and among them, two brown steeds saw the two of them and began to play.

Neigh!

Neigh!

The man soothed his words with a hearty smile, “These guys are happy to see their master again.”

Karnak and Barros had confused expressions. The man looked really happy to see them. He looked like an old acquaintance.

‘It’s the first time we’ve met.’
‘It was quite troublesome because he was so happy to see them.’

After handing over the reins, the man continued to talk with a friendly tone, “As you instructed, I mixed beans with good quality fodder and fed them. Both of them will have plenty of strength.”

He had a friendly and humble attitude all the time. He seemed to expect something just looking at him, so Barros winked at him.

‘This, is that it?”

Karnak also noticed. “That’s it.”

“How can I?”

“Try it, and you’ll see the reaction.”

When permission was granted, Barros took out a silver coin and handed it to him arrogantly.

“You’ve done a lot of work. This is a small token from my young master.”

Far from being surprised when he saw the silver coin, he accepted it as if he had waited too long and bowed his head, “Thank you very much! I’ll then bring the harnesses you left with me right away!”

Looking at the back of the middle-aged man running towards the post office building, Karnak murmured.

“That much?”

“Doesn’t it mean you gave him this much before?”

“We gave him a full silver coin.”

“Did we?”

He was so dumbfounded that he couldn’t even speak. Didn’t this depict the behavior of an aristocratic young master who had a lot of money and didn’t know the ways of the world?

“How did this happen?” Even Barros became worried at this point.

“I don’t think it’s something you’ll like.”

“Ugh, did you really understand now what I was talking about?”

Karnak was troubled. Did he really come back in the past? It seemed right. It was a world that mostly matched his memories. However, a lot of things were wrong.

‘I must return home. That’s my top priority for now.’

Meanwhile, Barros was still worried, “How do I call them? Hey, what’s your name?”

Neigh!

Neigh!

“……I’m an idiot for talking to a horse.”

[To be continued.]