"Huh? You bastard, are you seriously just kidding around here?"
"......"
A sharp voice rang out from somewhere.
At that voice, Richmond—once a mighty merchant and the notorious wholesaler of Daparachia—shrunk his shoulders.
And he turned toward the direction of the voice.
"What are you looking at?"
"....."
Just as expected.
A demon from the farming corps was frowning fiercely. The demon's gaze directed at him—it was anything but friendly. No, it was the kind of gaze that would devour him alive if only given permission.
"Not going to answer? I asked you what the hell you're doing here."
"Ah, well… I was just…"
Richmond scrambled to his feet and stammered out an excuse.
"I was just… taking a short break."
"Taking a break? A short one?"
"Uh, yes…"
"Who told you to rest?"
"...."
"I told you, didn't I? Today is potato ridging day. From here to over there. We finish together and rest together. Didn't I say that?"
"Y-yes, you did…"
"Then what the hell are you doing now?"
"It was just… too tiring…"
Richmond hung his head.
It was an honest answer.
He was just too tired.
The farm work he was doing for the first time in his life—digging up soil, scooping it out, covering it again, all of it—
It was all so unfamiliar.
He had spent his whole life sitting at a luxurious desk, staring at documents. He was used to meetings for socializing with the powerful.
"Besides, I… that is, I'm old…"
"Old?"
"Yes."
Richmond quickly nodded.
"Actually, by human age… I'm over fifty. My stamina, well…"
"Who asked you that?"
"…What?"
"Get a grip. You're not human anymore. You're a low-ranking demon and a farming corps grunt. And farming corps grunts prove themselves with the sweat they shed in the fields. Got it?"
"......"
"Answer."
"Y-yes, understood…"
It was heartbreaking.
How did it come to this?
He, who once monopolized agricultural distribution in a region, who once wielded commercial power like a tyrant… how had he become someone who got chewed out by a low-ranking demon grunt in a potato field no one even knew the name of?
'Maybe… maybe I should just die…'
If he had to live this miserably, dying would be better. It was a thought he had dozens of times a day. He had even tried throwing himself off a cliff of the dead several times.
But he had failed.
Not by his own will, but because of others.
The demons here wouldn't even allow death. They monitored him 24 hours a day. Thanks to that, there wasn't even a chance (?) to die.
The whispers behind his back were just a bonus.
"Hey, did you hear?"
"Hear what?"
"That old human bastard—apparently he did some serious bad stuff in the human world."
"Bad stuff?"
"Yeah. He stockpiled food and grain he couldn't even eat by himself and hid it."
"…Huh? Hide it? Why?"
"Dunno. But if he did that, other humans who needed food had to pay way more to get any."
"What the…?"
"Anyway, that's how he filled his belly."
"So basically, he made others starve so he could live well?"
"Exactly. Nailed it."
"That guy, he deserves to be ripped up piece by piece and eaten alive."
"Hey, hey. Stop that. We can't kill him. Don't forget the Demon King's direct orders."
"…You mean the one about not killing that human no matter what?"
"Yeah. Can't kill him secretly either. Can't make him die by accident either. We have to monitor him properly."
"Then what if we just snap off one of his fingers and eat it?"
"Tsk. Not allowed."
"That wouldn't threaten his life though."
"There was a specific order not to touch him even in that way. You want to be summoned by the Demon King?"
"…Tch. If it weren't for the Demon King…"
"Yeah, seriously."
Murderous whispers filled the air.
Glares stabbed from every direction.
"......"
Kim Jangcheol, was this the punishment you spoke of?
All day long, reeking of compost in the fields, covered in dirt from head to toe, drenched in sweat… and on top of that, hated by everyone, living like a peasant slave.
And still, not even allowed to die at will.
Was this the punishment you gave me?
...Drip.
Tears flowed.
Was it sadness that brought them? Or despair?
He couldn't tell.
So he simply cast a resentful gaze. Toward Kim Jangcheol, far away beyond the potato field.
Of course, even such a gaze wasn't something easily allowed to him.
"Hey, you bastard. You gonna keep looking off somewhere and goofing around?"
"...N-no, sir!"
The moment he got distracted, a furious scolding flew his way.
Richmond hastily resumed his digging with the hoe.
Tears continued to fall.
'Ugh… how did it come to this…?'
With a pitiful look, he slumped forward into the potato field.
***
Thud!
Did I… fall?
So then, how?
"......"
The loyal trio serving Artanis.
Among them, the second-born—Veloce—felt confusion. He looked down at the hands he'd braced on the ground.
It was truly strange.
Just now, he had used these hands to strike the barrier. The barrier blocking his lady's path. The wretched barrier that had humiliated his lady. He had tried to smash it with resentment and indignation.
But then—
'…My hands… passed through it…'
He hadn't struck the barrier.
They had just… passed through.
Like grabbing air—right through.
An outcome he hadn't even imagined.
So in that moment, he lost his balance. He staggered, and his steps faltered clumsily. As a result, he collapsed pathetically to the ground with a dull thud, palms catching the dirt.
"......"
Veloce slowly lifted his head.
And then, he felt the stares of everyone around him. Especially, the current Demon King and the Four Heavenly Kings who followed him, were staring at him with eyes wide as saucers.
Right up close, at that.
So that means, I…
'…crossed the barrier?'
Chill!
A spike of dread shot up his spine!
If he stayed inside the barrier like this, his instincts screamed that he might get ambushed!
"...Uweh-ehk!"
With a strange, involuntary noise, Veloce scrambled to his feet. Then, like a spring, he popped backward, out of the barrier.
So naturally.
Without any resistance at all.
As if simply passing through air.
Tat-tat!
"Whew!"
He was safe.
Only after returning to the side of his twin brothers did Veloce let out a breath of relief.
Then, he suddenly noticed.
The way his two brothers were staring at him from both sides—those eyes were anything but ordinary. Even their lady was looking at him with comically wide eyes.
"......"
What is this?
Why is everyone looking at me like that?
He was confused.
That was when—
Sliiide.
In the silence, Kim Jangcheol raised one hand. Toward the barrier. Slowly. But without stopping. He pushed his hand into it.
Sliiiiiide.
His hand passed through the barrier.
Just as expected—so naturally.
Without any resistance.
Truly as if simply passing through air.
"......."
The silence deepened slightly.
Within that silence, Kim Jangcheol took a step forward. His body passed through the barrier.
Once again, naturally, effortlessly.
And so, everyone thought:
Wait a second.
Could it be?
With such thoughts and glances, Kim Jangcheol kept moving. This time, he stood half within the barrier. His left side was outside, his right side inside.
He walked, straddling it.
Side by side with the barrier.
Without resistance, step by step.
He even moonwalked backward with slippery grace.
"......."
Everyone who saw that began to move.
Unconsciously, they reached out their hands.
They touched the barrier.
But they couldn't feel it. Instead, they watched their fingers, wrists, and forearms pass through it, so naturally.
And in that moment, they all clearly realized:
"..."
Ah.
You can only touch the shattered fragments of the barrier. The intact barrier itself can't be touched.
So, none of us are affected by the barrier…
But our lord is…
And that woman…
"....."
All at once, every gaze turned to Artanis.
And so, with her arm still stuck in the barrier, Artanis felt… the peak of her lifelong fury.
"...!"
Why?
Why just me?
Why am I the only one like this?
What on earth is the reason?
...Whooosh!
Her chain dress reacted to her emotion. Like the wild hair of a vengeful ghost, dozens of chains rose into the air. They trembled, just like her shoulders.
And so—
Kim Jangcheol couldn't help it. He burst into laughter.
"...Pff, pfft!"
The shaking of the chains grew fiercer.
Artanis lowered her head.
Kim Jangcheol had to desperately control his breathing to stop the laugh about to explode.
"Pfftt! Hhngh, hoo, hoo… hiccough! koff! Huff…!"
He mustn't laugh.
Even if the situation was hilarious, he had to hold it in.
Even if the clarity of the realization had slammed into his prefrontal cortex, even if it struck his humor center, now was not the time to laugh openly.
That woman—she was clearly furious. Laughing obliviously in front of someone like that would be foolish.
So…
He mustn't laugh…
"...Pfftt! Huff, Huff!"
His desperate efforts were in vain.
The suppressed sound escaped anyway, wheezing out like a fart. He was sorry, but there was nothing he could do.
As a result, Artanis's face flushed even redder. The trembling of her chains intensified.
The loyal triplets who followed her were no different.
"....."
They all felt shame and humiliation.
That must have been why.
Why they couldn't suppress their emotions. Why they snapped at the sight of Kim Jangcheol struggling to hold back laughter.
"...... How dare you!"
One who dared to insult their lady—
A sin that could only be repaid with death!
Fwoosh!
"You stand beside our lady! Did you forget?! That we are here! That the barrier does not affect us?!"
Shouted the eldest, Largo.
The second, Veloce, stomped the ground.
The youngest, Andante, launched himself forward.
The triplets charged toward Kim Jangcheol.
Each of them drew their weapons.
Kwaaa—!
Largo's trombone slammed down like it would split the earth.
Veloce's violin bow gleamed, aiming for the throat.
Andante's harp strings unraveled, sweeping out in every direction like a net of blades.
Shwiiiing—!
The deadly attacks of the triplets poured toward Kim Jangcheol. They rushed in. As if to crush him. As if to slice him. As if to shred him.
They flashed—and were blocked.
CLANG—!
What stopped Largo's trombone was a thick, armor-like forearm. What knocked aside Veloce's bow was a serrated sword tangled with veins and tendons. What severed Andante's net of strings were six chilling ice blades.
".......!"
Largo glared at Baal, who had blocked him.
Veloce's eyes twisted toward Asurat.
Andante bit his lip while staring at Sirgi.
Then it happened.
From the seat of the Four Heavenly Kings, the Archduke of Fog, Hartok, delivered a low warning that rang through the brothers' eardrums.
"You three… have you forgotten that we, the Four Heavenly Kings, stand by the Demon King's side?"
"......"
The triplets' gazes grew fiercer.
Baal, Asurat, and Sirgi's eyes sparkled, unwavering.
The previous generation's Four Heavenly Kings and the current ones.
The loyalists of the past and the diligent vassals of the present.
A deadly aura began to rise between them.
[T/L: I am not getting any support from webnovel platform, so please support me and read ahead chapters on my ko-fi page "RevengerScans" : https://ko-fi.com/revengerscans ]