I Became a Slave to a Mythical Shepherd

Episode 11. Blacksmith (2)

“No, but how come you are so late?”

“Sorry, sorry. I have to pass through the center of the city to go to the mansion of the person my father needs to meet, but something else happens near the temple of Poseidon.”

“What is it?”

“Some idiots stole the offerings from the temple. What?”

My body stops and stiffens. My father looks at me as if asking why, and then proceeds to say it without thinking.

“It looks like you touched the seafood that was presented to Poseidon. Well, it seems that the problem has been resolved now.”

What. How else was it ‘solved’?

“Is everyone dead?”

“yes.”

“Did the temple priests kill you?”

“There was no need for that.”

My father patted me on the shoulder as if nothing really happened.

“Poseidon took care of it himself.”

It happened that we were passing through the center of the city.

“Look, fellow citizens! The blasphemers finally met this end! See the wrath of the One who rules all the waves and tides of the world, and engrave the result in your heart!!”

···wow.

“Is that the corpse of those idiots?”

“Perhaps. Let’s turn around and go. The line to hang it here is… I usually hang it on the outer wall. I’m sorry. You should also tell your mother. You must be very scared…”

A human body, as if it had been taken with a trident, uh… there are scars in the shape of fish fins…

I turned my head.

age of savagery. The brutal killing ritual wasn’t just a problem in our village.

The city was not a safe zone either.

“go home.”

this crazy world.

Let’s just live happily in the country life.

***

After giving up on escaping, I felt a bit uncomfortable, but my heart felt rather at ease.

Maybe it was a futile attempt.

If you think about it, the Roman Empire did not eat only human flesh, but human sacrifice was common sense, and the situation was similar in the Aztecs, where the development of civilization was delayed due to the lack of productivity in the New World environment.

So what could be better now, more, more, more, ancient than ancient Rome? Now, burial burials are being carried out on a large scale in the central plains and on the Korean Peninsula as well. So, in line with the common sense of this era…

“Ahhhhh!

“Are you okay?”

“The fortress nightmare seems to be getting worse. Even if it’s medicine in the temple, a towel…”

“are you okay. I am perfectly fine.”

okay. I am normal. Cancer, cancer, if you touch a sacrifice to the gods, you must die. Those blasphemous bastards did wrong first. How petty and temperamental the Greek gods are, but fearless.

After self-hypnosis brainwashing and local culture synchronization, I answered my parents with a smile.

Only then did my parents, who had been looking at each other with bewildered expressions, lay down again and I was lost in thought for a while.

Since I went to the smithy, nothing much has happened in the past few days.

He was never arrested as a blasphemer by the soldiers in the middle of the city, and he shouted hard at the status window, but nothing came to mind.

‘I wonder if it was a delusion…’

It is unrealistic to be reincarnated as a hagisa, but even so, there is no guarantee that you will become the main character in a novel or get involved in some great incident. Hey, isn’t there such a thing as everyday objects?

Although it is an era with ‘a little unique belief’ and ‘a little harsh punishment system’, wouldn’t it be possible to live peacefully if you just close your eyes and get used to it?

Natural disasters or wars are the only disasters that will befall farmers or nomads who account for 99% of the pre-modern population.

However, in this era, the population density itself is low, so it is not common for people to die in groups due to bad harvests.

Also, the country I live in seemed moderately strong and safe, so there seemed to be no threat of war.

In this field, although the topics that can be known about the subject of the slave boy of the shepherd are limited, there are some facts that can be inferred with the knowledge of modern people.

In an era when iron is rare, chariot races are held every festival with chariots with iron axles.

Quite a lot of iron ingots are awarded to the winner of the running competition.

The nearby land is also quite fertile, and they trade along the coast.

Evidence that military technology has developed and there is a high possibility that the economy will not be bad.

Even if there is a war, only free people are conscripted, so I, a slave, can safely watch an exorcism and eat rice cakes.

“Okay… if I stay still, nothing will happen. If only I could stand still…”

A peaceful life, a smooth life is no longer a dream.

Lifetime jobs (slaves), rent-free houses (owners), nice towns to live in (pseudo-violence) and good neighbors (murderers)…

“I can just live like this.”

Of course, the anxiety and shock at the time of meeting the followers of Dionysus… is not. let’s not think

As my worries grew longer, I woke up in the morning with my eyes open before I knew it.

My father left for the smithy, saying that the appointed date was over.

“Would you like to go somewhere with me?”

The blacksmith I met last time came to my house as if he had been waiting for me and kidnapped me.

***

Am embarrassed.

“Hey, can you tell me where I’m going…”

“Come to think of it, you don’t even know my name. I am Skleos Call me like that.”

“Forward? My father···”

“Don’t worry, your father will be able to persuade my colleagues at the blacksmith’s shop.”

“Uh… I haven’t finished persuading you, but did you bring me? It’s a bit different from what I said to my mother earlier…”

“It is because the situation is the situation. Your father and mother will understand everything after hearing the circumstances.”

…I don’t think that persuasion will work.

Why are you in such a hurry before anything else?

Judging from the fact that he had already put on a long, ankle-length cloak for going out, it seemed that he had been determined to take me from the start.

“To answer the question you asked earlier, we will go to the blacksmiths’ temple. I promised to take you there. But your rich man arrived later than expected. I’m sorry for rushing you.”

Unsuitable for his calm and firm appearance, Uncle Skleos did not slow down even as he fired his words like a multiple gun.

Who the hell did you make an appointment with?

There couldn’t be many people in this age who could make a blacksmith rush like this.

Those who are good at metallurgy are strategic assets of each country, and as metals are precious, what they touch are various luxuries for royalty and citizens.

As this is a trading city facing the coast, they are precious in their very existence. But who…

There were many questions, but the blacksmith also looked nervous and walked faster, so there was no time to ask questions as he was chasing after him with the stride of a child.

The blacksmith eventually picks me up on one arm as I struggle to catch up and starts running. Looking up at the movement of the sun, the only clock in the ancient world, shows nervousness.

“Arrived.”

Saying that, Skleos put me down.

Looking back, I saw a familiar landscape. Looking back, it was the forge at that time. Then my father, surrounded by blacksmiths, saw me and came running with a puzzled expression.

“son!”

“Oh, father?”

“Scleos-sama, isn’t this a different story? If you recklessly bring your son like this, my wife will be very worried.”

“You are such a sweetheart. Don’t worry. You won’t do anything to harm your son. Because there are people who want to see this child.”

‘The one who wants to see’.

Skleos’ words made both my father and I nervous.

Blacksmiths during this period were quite high-ranking. There are those who are equivalent to nobles, and even if not, it can be said that it is a position worthy of respect for ordinary citizens. What I had imagined became a reality.

If such a person is the subject of ‘minute’… it is not something that a slave would refuse.

“By my River Styx, I will send your son home safely. preferably within today. Can I do this?”

“That, that’s…”

In addition, when Skleos brought out the last bastion of ancient Greek society, the Styx River, his father sighed deeply and took a step back.

“Son, if something happens, tell me later.”

“···yes.”

Still in a bewildered mood, I took Skleos by the hand and was led away from the smithy.

“It doesn’t go far. No, you could say it’s very close.”

As he said, Skleos only walked for a few minutes right next to the smithy. So, a temple in close proximity was revealed.

White marble pillars stretched out under the red-tiled roof, standing on top of the brick steps with densely carved patterns.

Skleos wiped the sweat from his forehead. “This… it’s not worth taking a bath.” He grumbles the same thing, then takes my hand and walks up the stairs.

Each of the towering marble pillars was as thick as an armful. If you look closely, you can see that the worshipers who prayed while throwing coins or silver coins were scattered around.

Through them, Skleos and I stood in front of the main gate of the temple. The splendid bronze doors embossed with erupting volcanoes and hammering giants are covered with silver and gold decorations everywhere.

It’s a temple next to the forge…

Who the owner of this temple was, I was able to guess without difficulty.

-Kiyiyi profit.

Soon, the thick bronze doors open, revealing an interior lavishly decorated with tiles made from colored stones and tapestries incorporating scenes from myths.

The pillars lined up on both sides became narrower and narrower, and at the end of the path between the pillars, a huge statue of a marble god sat on a throne with presumptuous dignity.

With a hammer in one hand and tongs in the other.

Skleos, who brought me in front of him, knelt down and whispered.

“Forgive me for being late. I brought the promised child.”

“I don’t think it’s a promise…”

“Shh, he is coming.”

Was it a pact with God?

It gets dizzy. Indeed, the level of fanaticism in this world is impossible to adapt to…

[It’s okay to be late.]

. . I heard a voice I shouldn’t have heard.

I heard it in a way I shouldn’t have heard it. The solemn sound was permeating not only through the ear holes, but also through the pores in the eyes, nose, mouth, and skin.

As if tasting with the eyes and smelling with the ears, the senses of the whole body are disturbed in an instant.

This is a voice that shouldn’t exist on earth.

A being that mortals on earth should not dare to face.

It’s hot.

“Huhhhhh”

“Are you okay? Where is the uncomfortable place…”

[Because I’m a child, it’s probably a little difficult if you see me for the first time.]

choking

The field of view narrows to a single point. It is swallowed up in darkness from the edge.

The limbs, the whole body, do not obey my words, and each vibrates, twitches, and twists separately.

“Keah… kuhhhhh.”

[It must be hot.]

A huge volcano seems to speak to me in flames. Even though that voice must have been nothing more than a formless sound, it burned hotly as if molten iron had been poured into my ears.

[Be patient though.]

“Uh, uh, how…”

[Feel the wind go in and out of your chest to your throat and nose. Think you are alive.]

“Phhhhh!!”

barely breathing

[Right. Now, start moving your fingers. Hold firmly to the thought that your body is yours…]

The spasm in the limbs gradually ceased. The heat that enveloped my whole body disappeared like an illusion.

When I came to my senses, I was half-prostrate on the floor after all my tears and mucus had been spilled…

[Are you okay now?]

Someone was looking down at me.

Huge body, skin-to-skin heat, lameness, a hammer in one hand and a staff in the other, an ugly face.

I struggled to turn my head to look at the new statue, then looked up again at the face of the strange man.

…they look the same

no way.

Even though I knew, I didn’t know, and even though I knew, I pretended not to know.

no. this can’t be real It’s a nasty dream. There’s no way someone would approach me tyrannically like this, tearing away all my common sense, daily life, and the entire world around me.

The being in front of me smiled very kindly for a ‘god’. Other than that, it’s like trying to reassure a child.

I couldn’t turn away from him any longer.

[I heard you invented it.]

As he puts down his staff and snaps his fingers, the space contorts like a haze before something familiar pops out.

scissors.

[Tell me your story.]

He didn’t even have to introduce himself to me.

i knew him

I knew very well.

“Heh, Hephaestus…”

***

As I struggled to get up, Skleos, the blacksmith who had brought me in, grabbed me by the shoulders with a worried face and helped me balance. Only then could I look around straight ahead.

All scenery was the same as before.

Beyond that closed door, you could still hear the murmur of the worshipers, and beyond the pillars and walls, the temple maintainers whispered and walked slowly.

A calmness that gives peace to the mind.

But everything was different from before.

Because of the existence of a single person…no, God.

[I guess I need to adjust a bit too. . . Now, how about now?”

The buzzing in my head and the hot banging on my eardrum have gone, and now I hear a voice like a normal person.

However, the huge presence surrounding him still did not go away.

Obviously, he looks no different from a normal person. Rather, the gilded marble statue behind him was much more dignified and seemed to have the dignity of a god.

A body full of hard-working muscles and an appearance that is worse than an imitation.

But even if he were hiding among tens of thousands, I would be able to pick him out without hesitation.

“…Hephaestus.”

“sir.”

“Hello Hephaestus, how are you? I, uh, I…”

“There is no need to introduce yourself. Because I know everything.”

“ah···.”

what? Did you release narcotics in the air at the temple?

“Mister, can you tell me what the person in front of you looks like?”

“He is tall and holds a hammer in his right hand and a staff in his left hand.”

oh my god.

Unless I use Skleos and telepathy, the hallucinations cannot be the same.

If so, it means that what just happened right in front of your eyes is real…

“Hey, are you okay?”

“Are you the original lacking child?”

“no. I think it’s just because I was surprised, but I think it’s probably the first time I’ve seen God since I was born.”

“…Hagishi, if that’s the case, then that’s the only way to do it.”

When I couldn’t shut my mouth in shock, Hephaestus approached me, bent down, and met my eyes.

“$@^#. Can you see this?”

“···yes.”

What Hephaestus held out in front of me was the pair of scissors.

“You made something interesting. Something similar to a pair of tongs but with blades attached to it that cuts things instead of picking them up.”

“It’s Gwa… Chan.”

“It is not like a child to speak. Very interesting.”

I recalled all the myths about Hephaestus in my head.

I was a young man in my late 20s in Korea.

In other words, it means that he spent his childhood in the heyday of the learning comics market.

In particular, who would have known that the work that hit all-time hits was a cartoon from Greek and Roman mythology that would be the most valuable asset today?

‘Thank you, Mr. Hong X Young…’

As a newcomer to blacksmithing, he seemed unable to hide his interest in the new technology I had ‘invented’: scissors.

He turned around and made a ‘Chak-Chak-Chak’ sound, and cut off the thread at the end of his clothes.

“It will be much more comfortable and safer than a knife. My people will be greatly reduced from getting hurt, and they will be able to work comfortably.”

After commenting like that, this time Hephaestus turned his gaze towards me.

“…and it’ll be a lot easier to cut wool or something.”

It seems that he already knows that I am a shepherd.

The eyes that looked at me closely and evaluated me, like when I looked around for scissors.

“It’s still young, but it’s a good limb shape for muscles to attach to. You think too fast.”

He circled me around me, limping on his cane.

He lifted one of my arms to examine it, and tousled my hair.

“…you’re handsome.”

“Thank you, Hephaestus.”

“Looking at the lack of response to compliments, it seems that there are other things in your head besides the scissors? yes?”

Hephaestus’ eyes sparkled. To be precise, I could see sparks popping out of my eyes.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“It must be difficult to take her to Olympus…”

“···yes?”

“There is another way, Skleos.”

“Yes, Hephaestus.”

“Take this child. Welcome to your workshop, and call me often.”

Hephaestus looked at me with eyes that sparkled with anticipation and, on the other hand, with sad eyes.

“Make this child your disciple.”