I Became a Slave to a Mythical Shepherd

Episode 4. arrows (1)

“Turn it off…”

“Leave the strength in your hands. Raise your elbows.”

“Ah, okay.”

“Don’t let your arms tremble!”

“Hey, wait a minute…”

– Pick.

The arrow moves along a weak parabola and falls before reaching half of the distance to the target.

It’s a very insignificant achievement, but my father shrugs his shoulders as if it’s not a big deal and goes to pick up the arrow again.

“It’s much better than what I practiced when I was young. Do you know though? My posture right now is a mess.”

“Yes, yes… ugh.”

My father continues to talk while massaging my right arm.

“By the way, what’s wrong with archery all of a sudden?”

“Anyway, when I get older, I’ll have a lot of things to hunt with my father, so it would be good to do it in advance.”

Of course, I didn’t have to tell my father any more.

So, the last time I was out alone with the sheep, I found a bear and almost died, or while I was running away in a hurry and praying for a painless death, the story that Theo managed to kill the bear with three or four arrows and live… ·

It means omitting those things.

I felt keenly that this is not the Korean Peninsula where wild predators died due to seawater relief projects or the Korean War.

If I go a little farther away, whether it be a wolf, a lion, or a bear, they are always ready to peek at me and greet me. Then shouldn’t I be able to resist, albeit weakly?

“···you! Come back soon!!”

“wait a minute! My son’s archery practice isn’t over yet!”

“I’m very urgent right now!!”

I hear my mother calling from afar. At the word urgent, the father’s expression changes and his father’s hand tightens the sandal straps in an instant.

When I let go of the bowstring for a moment, my father gestures to me to wait for me and runs quickly toward my mother.

‘what? Is there something urgent?’

And soon, mother and father crossed the hill together and returned to where I was. To be precise, the father is smiling and giving the mother a ‘hug the princess’. Oh, you have good power too.

The mother also has an excited expression on her face.

“I thought you were in a hurry, so at least you could get hurt…”

“Why is this person acting like a man in front of my son!”

Uh… I… stop…

When I frowned, my father cleared his throat and put my mother down and spoke solemnly.

“Son, I have to go to the elders’ house.”

“···yes? Is it time for a town meeting already?”

“No, not that…”

Seeing my father pay attention to my mother and my mother counting coins, I guessed the situation.

A slightly excited voice like a child.

A light step that urges the people around you to move quickly.

then···

“I heard there is a market open in front of the old man’s house.”

…It was like this.

***

Slaves, especially shepherds who have little contact with other people, never accumulate money, but when they do, they rarely use it.

At best, they would collect the pennies and come to the city during the festival to buy a lot of snacks or enjoy simple gambling. Those small things are the few exhilarating pleasures allowed to those who live a monotonous life.

However, since there are only two or three festival days a year… other means are needed to keep the shepherds alive.

“Now, the dice count is…1.”

“I’ll just do it this time. This time it’s 4 plus one more…”

“So four plus a coin, four, four, four… three.”

“Ha… This is really the end, so you should know it too! This time it’s 2, 2…”

That ‘other means’ is the wandering merchants.

The scale is not so grand. There were about five or six adults who brought this and that on their backs.

Even those items were much cruder than those sold in the city, such as woodcarvings and cheap trinkets that were only novel on the outside.

The only entertainment provided is simple dice gambling and dog fighting.

But… well, how could anyone want more luxury when their target customers are poor shepherds?

“On the left dog? Are you betting all the stakes?”

“I’m all on the left. Philippos, that friend said everything he bet on is ruined.”

“I told you! If you really pretend, the right side wins? If you look at the forelimb muscles…”

To the extent that the citizens of the city are satisfied with watching the dogs biting and scratching each other while the citizens of the city are enthusiastic about the colorful gladiator fights.

Still, I don’t think this is a good replacement…

“Next thing. This is a keepsake from a certain queen brought from far away Egypt.”

Excluding luxury items.

“In the area where Helios’ chariot skims the ground, people with dog heads live. The eyes are jade mingled with gold dust, and the king of Egyptus and the queen’s father killed the king of their kind, cut out the eyes, and put them in this necklace.

see Doesn’t this radiance speak of the nobility of the old master?”

It’s okay to sell drugs. With old colored glass that seems like it would break if thrown away, what about jade, what about the queen, what about dog-headed humans…

In the first place, Aegyptos is Egypt, the great power of this era, so why are the belongings of the Egyptian queen rolling around in front of the slaves?

Even slaves who rarely see jewels would be suspicious if their tongues were this long.

“…So precious things tumble down on us? Aren’t you exaggerating too much?”

like this.

Then, the merchant with burn marks on his chin answered without hesitation as if he had prepared it.

“Actually, that half-man, half-dog king left such a curse as he was dying. ‘Whoever wears that necklace, Hades will bring down death himself!’ In the end, the king died of gangrene the following year, and the queen who inherited the necklace fell the very next year due to her husband’s betrayal.”

Looking at that witty talk about the heartbreaking history contained in the necklace, I wonder if the actor was more suited to it.

“Since then… the necklace has been said to be missing, but luckily it came into our hands. No one ever lived because of the curse.”

At this point, even if you look at it with sincerity, you think there should be someone to fish it, and usually there is a victim…

“Isn’t it fine if I just hang it around my neck?”

···Oops, is that Mr. Phillips?

“Hey, why? If you look at it, it’s a fake, but are you going to pay that money to buy it?”

“Yes, I know that your pockets are not good these days, but don’t waste your money on that…”

“It looks fine to me, that’s why! That’s true…”

Of course, Yorgos and other kind men try to dissuade him, but Mr. Phillips seems to have already fallen in love with that self-proclaimed ‘cursed necklace’.

“If your pockets aren’t good, you can’t help it. This necklace is not something to be passed on for pennies…”

“Pu, what a pittance? Do you think I will not have enough money to buy that necklace?”

Like this, even things that look really cheap have victims. Usually, the majority of people, like Mr. Phillips, have a strong ego, so if you scratch them gently, money will come out right away.

As soon as the dog-eyed necklace is sold at a ‘low price compared to the glory that this necklace once enjoyed’, that is, the amount of money that a shepherd must save for a year, sales promotion and bargaining begin to heat up.

“The next thing is a cursed statue with Hercules’ blood on it! If you keep this statue by your side, you will be able to use such vigorous power every night…”

“Come on, don’t let your wife know.”

“You are wise. For a beautiful married life, I will bury the secret to the afterlife.”

…In the end, it goes over to Mr. Yorgos, who was standing there politely.

Whether it’s now or in the 21st century, if it’s good for stamina, I can’t understand the men who run at it regardless of fire or water.

How can anyone tell if the red marks over there are gravy spilled while roasting pork or splattered while squeezing grape juice?

Even if it’s human blood, it doesn’t prove that it’s Hercules’ blood.

If they had been properly educated, and if they had lived in a place where there were plenty of things to do and not haggle with these petty vagrants, these poor people would not have been fooled by this.

But there are limits to drug sales.

After holding the sticks for the hogudeul so many times, the level of both the things that come out and the soliciting behavior gradually lowers. At least people like me, who were flocking to the place for the fun of watching, are slowly trying to get out of the group.

“everyone! Let’s blow away your boredom with this one. All the items out today are toys compared to this one!!”

The merchant also pours out comments for the climax, whether he has sensed a crisis or if he wants it to be his last chance to shake it off.

In fact, without comparison, the previous items were clearly at the level of toys, but I stood in front of the merchant again, guided by the stimulation of that comment.

Then, even if you look at it, the merchant who took out a luxurious-looking box starts unboxing with an expression that seems to be expecting a lot…

“…what is this? Isn’t that just junk?”

My father looks at the merchant with an absurd face. And starting with his father’s words, criticism bursts out like a dam.

“The arrow shaft will break if you hit it once with your finger. What about the collar… I didn’t even expect it.”

“How old is this junk? Do you think he’s older than our son?”

No matter how much they are worms that live buried in the mountains, they are the ones who face the beasts and go hunting as if they are eating. It is a story that they are not great people who can be fooled easily even in their field of expertise.

As such, the gathered audience, including me, stared at the merchant with a plaintive expression, as if saying, ‘If you want to try gold lacquer, try it.’

However, the merchant also opened his mouth to reverse the atmosphere without showing any sign of stealing a cold sweat.

“A venerable object naturally exudes antiquity. No wonder it looks old. Wouldn’t it be strange if the things worn by the legendary heroes looked like new?”

“I don’t know if you know it well, but arrows are originally discarded items when they break. Whether it was worn by legendary heroes or a local bully, it’s something that gets thrown away when it wears out.”

“Whether it is old or not, if it pierces the enemy’s heart and kills it in one shot, wouldn’t this item be worth it?”

“Well, yes. If you see the rusty arrowhead, you’ll be hit and you won’t be safe. I’m sure I’ll die from iron poison.”

“Come on, everyone… calm down…”

Merchant’s eyes shine unchangingly. He brought a nearby towel and carefully stroked it from the bronze arrowhead to the sparse feathers.

. . . As the unattractive appearance becomes more evident, the disappointed customers begin to disperse. Nevertheless, the merchant continues to speak with a firmness that can be called a professional spirit.

“As you say, the value of an arrow is determined only once, at the moment of one shot. The moment of whether or not to kill the enemy.”

A grandiose intro compared to the humble stuff. With one corner of my mouth raised, I was getting ready to watch the dice game like everyone else.

However, the merchant looked straight at me. It’s something you can’t avoid. Under the chin and neck, something that I don’t know if it was a burn mark or an incision scar squirmed grotesquely with each breath.

“Dear, have you experienced the moment when you die if you don’t kill?”

I shook my head at the sudden question.

“···no.”

“Imagine. The moment you encounter bandits, wolves, or lions. A situation where there is nothing to protect you, and nothing to rely on.”

Before I knew it, most of the other guests had left and it became like a solo stage for me. Then the merchant brings out more irritating words without hesitation.

“Bandits should be able to strangle you very simply, with a twist of your wrist. You’re young… you won’t be able to resist anything.”

As I look around in a suddenly bleak atmosphere, adults also talk to the merchant as if to restrain something.

“Hey, to your child…”

“at that time.”

Again, the merchant points an arrow wrapped in a towel at me.

“This will protect you.”

“···how?”

“Simple. If you want to kill an enemy and aim for its heart, this divinely blessed arrow will hit.”

I gazed at the rusty bronze arrowhead, possessed, as if touching it would give me tetanus.

For some reason, it seems that I can see the image of the time when that thing was sharp, when the hand of a hero pierced the skin of a legendary beast…

“Now, would you like to buy it?”

“uh, ah···”

Think carefully.

That merchant is a pseudonym, but he’s obviously a piece of trash who sells cheap things at high prices while flirting with slaves…

Is that a good thing?

When I asked the price, it was within my original budget. I said as if possessed.

“I’ll live.”

“Hey, no way! Anyone can see that it’s cheap…”

“Are you paying for this child? Or, kid, are you paying for your money?”

“Hey…here.”

I unknowingly swallowed my saliva and handed over all the coins my parents had thrown me.

Yes, it’s a pittance anyway, so it’s not a business that loses money. Of course, I was going to buy something sweet here and share it with Ino, but…

“Good idea.”

The merchant grabs my coins like a frog catches flies, hands me an arrow and changes his posture like the wind to take out a new item. This time, let’s put up something like deer horns, and people start flocking again.

“What, did you buy that arrow after all? Worth the money…”

“What is the kid? Is this the first time you’ve seen a young guy get caught?”

“I was also handed over a useless slingshot like that. It was destroyed right away, so I don’t even know where it is now.”

People look at me with pity, but I’m starting to like the arrow.

look at me somehow As the saying goes, it looks old-fashioned, and if you take good care of it, it seems like it can be used as it is, right? It’s filthy expensive for a broken arrow, but if you hit the lottery…

…Anyway, I’m a rational consumer. That merchant speaks well. It’s like turning sourdough with some kind of tongue.

As I was wiping the arrow with my favorite clothes, the chapters were scattered before I knew it, and it was time to go back to work.

My father looks at the arrow I bought with disapproval.

Of course, since he himself had bought deer antlers to boost his stamina, he was in a position to ignore his mother’s expression as he stabbed him from behind. Halfway through, my father smirkingly said things like “I bought everything to please you…” and earned a beating.

“It’s late today, so don’t hang around outside for too long and come back early.”

“No, it’s okay to come back late at night…”

“No, it’s dangerous.”

“Write it down… listen carefully to your mother.”

“all right.”

I hurriedly drove three or four goats and headed to the river for the first time in a while. . . . I didn’t think I should bother interfering with my parents any more.

“Ino?”

“Come! You just practice archery all the time and won’t meet me…”

When I hand over the dried fruit that I barely bought with the pennies left over from buying the arrow to Ino, who is sulking, he starts laughing again.

“You practiced a lot, and now you usually wear a bow on your shoulder?”

“Ah… well, that’s right.”

I awkwardly moved the bow over my shoulder.

“I want to do some practice.”

“Training?”

“I don’t know what to say. The last time I met a bear and almost died… I caught a rabbit once…”

“bear!!! How did you survive?”

“That’s another long story…”

Even though I meet Ino and chat briefly, the son-in-law quickly becomes dark. Anyway, it’s because I spent too much time when the market was open.

I stood up and brushed off the dewdrops on my buttocks and said to Ino…

“I should go back soon.”

“hmm? Are you back much earlier than usual? Is the sun still rising over there?”

“The merchants went around today. Then Paris must be nearby…”

“Guys?”

I tell you, a man appears in front of us from afar, a face full of scars and a rough trimmed beard.

“Can I ask for directions? My uncle is on an adventure…”

“Look, it attracts flies.”

A man I’ve never seen before.

I whisper to Ino, and the two of us look at each other full of wariness, and the man hardens his expression. If he’s a good man, he’ll protest, but if he’s not…

I’ll pull out my knife

The cool moonlight slipped into the blade of the sword.

Unfamiliar eyes can be seen even in the bushes beyond.