Chronicles of the Lazy Sovereign Novel - Chapter 361

**Chapter 361: The Slacker is Startled (1)**

“Have you ever thought about it?”

Wei Jeonghan looked at Jeokmokwoo, who was swirling his wine glass.

Looking at him made him feel dazed. As if he were looking at something unreal.

It may sound strange, but Jeokmokwoo seemed to live between reality and dream. Half in reality, half somewhere else.

Not like a being half human, half immortal.

That was why, perhaps, he didn’t want to delve deeper into him.

He didn’t know his affiliation, age… not even if he was friend or foe. He just called him friend.

‘Maybe it’s not him who is halfway between reality and dream, but me.’

He perhaps used Jeokmokwoo as an escape from the reality that didn’t meet his ideals.

Suppressing his thoughts, Wei Jeonghan spoke:

“What are you thinking about?”

“That we are all puppets.”

These were appropriate words at the right moment. As if he knew Wei Jeonghan’s thoughts.

“Puppets…”

Wei Jeonghan smiled wryly:

“Since you used that name, my opinion doesn’t matter. It seems you already think so.”

“It’s not that it doesn’t matter.”

Jeokmokwoo, with a bitter expression, swirled his glass and drank it in one gulp:

“Bitter.”

Jeokmokwoo put the glass on the table and spoke:

“You may be right. If I think so, the opinions of others don’t matter. But sometimes, the fact that someone thinks the same as me comforts me. Even more so if it’s a friend.”

“Friend?”

“Yes. Friend, comrade, close friend… what else is needed?”

“You and I?”

“Aren’t we?”

“How cheesy.”

Wei Jeonghan filled Jeokmokwoo’s empty glass:

“Alright. I can concede. If it’s about friendship and alcohol.”

“Drinking buddies?”

“Yes, that’s a good description. We don’t need to be friends, but we seek each other out when we need to drink. That’s enough.”

“It’s cold, but not offensive.”

Jeokmokwoo nodded, as if he liked the description:

“It may be the best description of our relationship. When I want to drink, I think of you.”

“Tell that to your wife.”

“Don’t tell me. She scolds me a lot lately…”

“It’s natural to be scolded if you bring your wife to the battlefield. Why did you even bring your son?”

“I have nothing to say.”

Jeokmokwoo smiled uncomfortably:

“Actually, I’m not very interested…”

“I don’t want to know about your private life. Enough.”

“No, it’s that…”

Jeokmokwoo smiled, showing his teeth.

His innocent smile was strange.

Who is this guy?

Sometimes he seems ruthless, sometimes innocent. Is it possible for those two natures to coexist in one person?

Jeokmokwoo’s expression turned bitter.

Wei Jeonghan felt a little sorry. Jeokmokwoo’s bitter expression was also beautiful, but he looked better when he smiled.

“They say that when people are about to die, they want to leave offspring.”

“…I don’t know where you got that from. When people are about to die, they don’t have the energy for that.”

“Well, we are warriors.”

“Bah!”

Jeokmokwoo laughed when Wei Jeonghan got angry:

“You’re a bit naive, aren’t you?”

“Shut up. Before I drown you in alcohol.”

“Said by someone who has a wife in his hometown.”

“Hmm.”

Wei Jeonghan shook his head:

“You were serious at first… you’ve become very cunning.”

“Yes? Then that’s good.”

Wei Jeonghan nodded.

But he was thinking about something else:

‘Is it really good?’

Jeokmokwoo, when they met, seemed cold, but not anxious. Now, he seemed to be running away from someone.

Although he was trying to stay calm, the confusion in his heart was evident to Wei Jeonghan.

“Wei Jeonghan.”

“Tell me.”

Jeokmokwoo called him, but only looked at him.

After looking at him for a moment, Jeokmokwoo spoke slowly:

“What would you do if you were tied with an unbreakable thread?”

“…What do you mean?”

“Literally. Your hands and feet are tied. You can’t break the thread by yourself. Someone is manipulating you. What would you do?”

Wei Jeonghan drank slowly.

Then he sighed:

“Sounds like a nonsensical story.”

“Nonsensical?”

“Isn’t the premise wrong? I don’t understand the unbreakable thread thing, but even if it existed, what does it matter?”

“……”

“The problem isn’t the thread, but the person controlling you.”

Jeokmokwoo’s eyes widened:

“If no one is controlling you, a thread on your hands and feet is just a nuisance. But if it exists, after the thread, a rope will come, then a chain. Isn’t that so?”

Jeokmokwoo nodded without saying anything.

“Then, you must remove the thread from that person’s hands. That’s your job.”

“What if it’s impossible?”

“There’s nothing impossible.”

Wei Jeonghan smiled wryly:

“You’re afraid to try, and you fear the consequences.”

Like me now.

Wei Jeonghan laughed:

He was also worried about not being able to change his situation, why was he saying that?

Dreamer, fool.

That was the best description Wei Jeonghan could give himself.

“Out of fear…”

Jeokmokwoo raised his glass and looked at his reflection:

What would it look like?

“You’re right. Too true, until it’s sad.”

“……”

“You are a coward.”

Jeokmokwoo smiled subtly:

“I have made a decision.”

“Decision?”

“Yes. I can’t have a cowardly friend. The friend of Wei Jeonghan, the Sword of the Righteous Hero, cannot be a coward. The friend of the Sword of the Righteous Hero cannot be a coward.”

Wei Jeonghan laughed bitterly:

“Who said we were friends?”

“Aren’t we?”

“…”

Jeokmokwoo’s eyes were staring at him.

He couldn’t joke with that look.

“Yes. We are friends. Let’s say we are friends.”

“That’s right.”

Jeokmokwoo smiled broadly.

The more he saw him, the less he understood him.

Wei Jeonghan probably would never understand the bitterness behind that smile.

“Then…”

Jeokmokwoo smiled kindly:

“As friends, can I ask you for a favor?”

***

Wei Jeonghan rubbed his eyelids:

‘Damn it.’

He didn’t want to have that dream.

He understood it.

The situation was leading him to that memory. The Demon Cult was activating.

The memories he had been trying to forget were returning with the name of the Demon Cult.

“Huu…”

Wei Jeonghan sighed deeply and got up:

“Are you okay?”

Wei Jeonghan nodded at Han Sangah’s words:

“I’m fine. I just remembered something.”

“Forget it.”

“I should. But I can’t.”

Han Sangah looked at Wei Jeonghan with pity.

That was the reason she hadn’t gone home with her son. Wei Jeonghan, who had always been calm, had been getting worse lately.

He suffered nightmares and was anxious. How could she leave her husband?

Han Sangah took the towel from the bedside table and wiped the sweat from Wei Jeonghan’s forehead:

“Husband…”

“I’m fine, Sangah.”

Wei Jeonghan got up and drank tea quickly.

‘Damn it.’

He felt nauseous.

‘It’s over. Why do I keep thinking about it?’

“Forget it.”

Wei Jeonghan looked at Han Sangah upon hearing her:

“Not for you, but for the children… you must forget it.”

“Yes.”

But it wasn’t easy.

Wei Jeonghan drank more tea and sighed:

‘That damn friend.’

Why did he leave him with such a heavy burden?

“…Friends are scary.”

“Do you regret it?”

Wei Jeonghan laughed bitterly at Han Sangah’s question:

“Wife.”

“Yes.”

“It was the best decision of my life.”

Han Sangah also smiled:

“There is no regret. I have gained more, how could I regret it? I’m just worried about what they will think when they accept the truth.”

“Don’t worry.”

Han Sangah said confidently:

“You couldn’t do your job, but I did.”

“Hmm, is that so?”

Wei Jeonghan looked at the sky:

‘The turbulent era is returning.’

In a turbulent era, everything is mixed. Justice and benefit, courage and fear, life and death.

And… truth and lies.

That’s why he was worried.

If they could recognize the truth in that turbulent era.

Wei Jeonghan wanted to bury the truth forever, but the storm was too powerful.

Everyone would find out the truth.

“I must believe it.”

“Yes.”

Wei Jeonghan clenched his fist:

“Our children are strong. They will not falter before any truth. I… I believe that.”

“Yes, husband.”

They held hands.

But…

A darkness still remained on Wei Jeonghan’s face.

‘But how will they move…’

He had to hide it.

As much as possible.

No one knew what they would do if they found out.

But Wei Jeonghan didn’t know.

That the movement had already begun.

That the great whirlwind that would shake the world was already near.