(EP-24.1) Angmar #4
024 – Peaceful Angmar #4
Theo Gospel was weak.
He got tired easily no matter what he did. Obviously, he was an indoor type of person and had no skill in things such as swordsmanship.
He was simply too sheltered to learn anything like self-defense.
Instead, he had an exceptional memory and was a quick thinker. He also never forgot something after seeing it once.
Nevertheless, I sometimes felt pity for his lack of power.
So how about learning magic? Some might ask.
But strangely enough, I also had no talent for magic.
I had tried many ways to learn it from an Archmage like Aira, but it was difficult for me to even detect ‘mana’.
━In the magical Kingdom of Angmar, there are very few people without such talent. Theo, you might need to investigate your body.
It was to the extent that even Aira felt suspicious.
I couldn’t even talk about learning magic from Aira thoroughly due to the risk of getting discovered. After all, I was a mysterious entity who was possessing this body…
I had neither talent in Martial Arts nor magic.
I was but a being that lived through my tongue.
Perhaps this was the identity of Theo Gospel.
A struggling character that would eventually be executed with a single line of text. That was my destiny.
But now, it felt like I’d found a way to change it.
“If you really are a Half-Nymph, you might be able to accept Angmar-nim’s great blessing!”
I couldn’t believe I could have a Status Window!
That convenient function could be granted to other people?
It was the first time I had ever heard of such a thing. If I had known about this, I would have tried it earlier.
“Is that possible? It’s the first time I’ve heard of this.”
“It’s a secret skill that only Imps could do. Because the main task of the Imps was to evangelize and spread Angmar-nim’s great blessings to everyone!”
This was the first time I met an Imp, so how could I have known?
“It’s not something that anyone could just receive. But you, Theo Gospel, your contribution towards the monsters and labor assistants is as great as that of loyal followers. So, I will do this just for you, my comrade!”
Ooooh!
I stopped any sound from leaving my mouth. While pretending nothing was wrong, I continued to ask some questions.
“Is the method complicated or difficult? Would I get sick or see blood?”
“It’s simple. It doesn’t even take 10 seconds. I only need you to say a few words.”
“It’s that short?”
This suddenly became quite suspicious…
As I frowned, Marmar said confidently while puffing out her chest.
“Lies are complicated and lavishly decorated. However, truths are simple and straightforward. Now, sit on your knees on the floor here.”
Ok, that made sense.
Dugeun, dugeun.
I knelt on the floor with my heart pounding in excitement like a child.
Marmar put her hand on my head.
“You have to follow what I say with all your heart.”
“Follow what you say?”
“For the Lord so loved by the world that he has given a great new order. And whoever believes in it will not perish, and may have a peaceful eternal life—”
What a mouthful.
It felt like an ancient hymn.
This was just like the prayer that the evangelists gave me when I first went to church with my friend, before I was Theo.
Was this a welcome prayer?
I found this similar to the process of becoming a member of the church. In fact, this might actually be a confession of faith…
Whilst I was recalling some old memories, Marmar said.
“Is it difficult because it’s a bit long? Then I’ll tell you again. For the Lord—”
I cut her off
“No, it’s okay. I have already memorized everything.”
“Really? Quite a good head you’ve got there. Now, you need to say it with all your heart!”
“For the Lord so loved by the world that he has given a great new order…”
Would this really give me a Status Window? If that actually happened, then it was not an exaggeration to say that a new order would be created.
“-Whoever believes in it will not perish, and may have a peaceful eternal life.”
It was like walking on a flower path.
With that feeling, I said the last sentence clearly and firmly.
“How is it? Do you see it?”
“No…”
I saw nothing.
Was it all a hoax?
Was I a fool for believing what the Imp said?
While I was in doubt, Marmar gave an explanation.
“You may need a trigger like in magic. In my case, it’s “Long live Angmar-nim!”. When I say this, letters would begin to float in the air. It’s like self-hypnosis.”
“Ah, a trigger?”
I got scared for a second there.
Calming my tense heart, I thought of two words. Were there anything better than these to conjure a System?
“Status Window.”
“So? What do you see? I don’t know if it went well. It is crucial to be reverent and faithful!”
Marmar said to me. But I just stared at the air without saying a word.
If you asked me whether I could see anything.
Then there was indeed something…
But should I say that it was different from what I imagined?
There were no numbers or items that should have been there.
「Sealed. – Cause: Pallagas Jeoksangari Poisoning」
Only this.
This one simple sentence evoked a lot of thoughts inside my head.
Fortunately, my brain wasn’t dull, so I could quickly understand what it meant.
My System was sealed because of this ‘Pallagas Jeoksangari’.
What was it?
I couldn’t recall such a thing in the original novel.
I flipped through the thick encyclopedia from earlier. There might be something related to Pallagas Jeoksangari here.
Eventually, I was able to find it.
「Jeoksangari: A material used to smelt and strengthen magic tools. Because it is a deadly poison if eaten, it was used to execute criminals of the Royal Family in ancient times.
Due to its property of reacting to magic power, even a very small amount can cause fatal harm to the human body. One should see a doctor immediately after accidentally ingesting it.
However, if this is combined with other poisons, it will be difficult to find an antidote, with the death rate being very high.」
It appeared to be a type of poison similar to chongsangari (potassium cyanide){1}.
When did I ingest this?
Then, I remembered something….
Two months ago, a maid tried to assassinate me with poison, which made me very ill. Could I have possibly drunk the poison then?
However, I soon corrected my mistakes.
What I drank back then was a different kind of poison called ‘black arsenic’. Since that was the case, I’d never taken this Jeoksangari…
Pallagas Jeoksangari.
How could I solve this?
A lot of things came to mind.
However, what stood out the most was a scorpion with a hard shell and poison in its tail.
Scorpion…
‘That’s right!’
I was certain that fellow might have an antidote for this!
“Wait, comrade, where are you going? Where will I sleep!?”
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{1} Explanation: “적”산가리 is Jeoksangari, while “청”산가리 is chongsangari which means potassium cyanide. The only difference between the two words are the first characters, which I put in quotations. I used the romanizations Jeoksangari and chongsangari because I couldn’t find an English equivalent for Jeoksangari. This is to make it cohesive.
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