Raising A Hero – Chapter 10

Ch 10: Mint Hero

Why is this damn b*tch here?

Ji-hyuk thought about why this Hero-b*tch was here. However, so many incidents and accidents happened on the continent that it wasn’t easy to immediately recall exactly what it was about. Besides, it was a long time ago…

His thoughts gradually expanded from this Eretria to the surrounding cities. The eyes that had been briefly closed flashed open.

Still, it was a life regressed over a dozen times. Although things were mixed up, if he calmly sorted them out one by one, he could eventually find a clue.

…Is it because of the incident in Helladium?

Helladium Mass Disappearance Incidentㅡ.

It was an incident that Ji-hyuk hadn’t experienced directly yet. He only knew the superficial details because he had only heard about it in incident collections or stories, but it was still mentioned occasionally, so it was in his memory.

To put it bluntly, it was an incident committed by witches. If only one or two people had disappeared, it might have been overlooked, but since the number exceeded a hundred, the city couldn’t just ignore it.

Of course, the Baron initially tried to resolve it, but even after several months, there was no sign of the problem being solved.

While the matter was dragging on sluggishly, a big incident finally happened. The Baron’s youngest son had also disappeared. The Baron frantically searched for his son, but he couldn’t find him anywhere.

So the Baron eventually requested help from the Empire, and that’s why Elraim has been dispatched hereㅡ.

Ji-hyuk didn’t remember whether the Baron’s youngest son had died or survived at that time. …Still, a lot of time had passed since he disappeared, so it was doubtful whether a witch who ate humans would still keep him alive.

Anyway, that’s what it isㅡ.

He needed money to go to the Imperial Capital anyway, and this was the perfect job to earn money. Moreover, a nobleman wouldn’t skimp on money when his youngest son’s life was at stake. Even if he only found a skeleton, he would receive ample compensation.

He could also build a connection with the Hero beforehand. He had to avoid just blindly competing with other Heroes like before. Even if they weren’t in a mutually beneficial relationship, he had to create at least a minimum level of goodwill. …Of course, he didn’t know how much that would work with that damn Fairy-b*tch.

Ji-hyuk looked at Elraim. The Fairy was sitting on a chair, tapping her crossed legs and receiving various questions from the trainees. He quietly got up from his seat and went outside the auditorium.

He immediately went to find Instructor Andrei. The Instructor greeted him happily, wondering what brought him here.

“I have a favor to ask.”

“A favor? Sure, tell me anything.”

“I’d like you to write me a letter of recommendation.”

“A letter of recommendation?”

Andrei’s eyes widened slightly. Then, the corners of his lips subtly rose.

“…Well, you’ve thought it through. It’s good to join a guild first. It’s not easy to start from the bottom. Of course, you’d do well, but there’s no need to go through such hardships. …There’s a guild I know well, shall I introduce you there? It wouldn’t be bad for a short stay.”

“It’s not for a guild.”

“Not a guild? …Then?”

The Instructor’s smile completely disappeared. Conversely, a smile spread across Ji-hyuk’s face.

“A mercenary recommendation letter.”

· · ·

The long eight weeks passed, and the trainees finally faced their last day at the Academy

Although it was graduation day, it wasn’t much different from usual. They just listened to Lallop’s speech once and then went their separate ways.

“Well, take care.”

The remaining four, except for Ji-hyuk, all settled in guilds. In particular, the Buffer Ungorap joined a guild that everyone knew by name. Everyone was envious, saying that he had already made it.

The five Humans all left the Academy without any regrets. They smiled and greeted each other before leaving, but no one looked back after turning around. …After all, it was a fleeting connection that would fade away. It would be even more ridiculous to have regrets about it.

Ji-hyuk walked leisurely alone with a backpack slung over his shoulder. No one paid attention to him. Right now, he was neither a Hero nor anything else. Something felt light in his chest. He felt comfort in this complete indifference.

Should he just leave like this? Should he go somewhere and never come back?

If there was a paradise somewhere on this continent, he would have really put this thought into practice. However, unfortunately, there was no such paradise on the continent.

The continent was a seething h*ll. Monsters came out, Evil Beasts came out, Minds came out, Demon Kings came out, and later even the Great Demon King appeared, a terrible h*ll that wouldn’t be strange if it collapsed right away.

D*mn it, it’s a f*cking worldㅡ.

Ji-hyuk put dried meat in his mouth and chewed it, letting out a self-deprecating laugh. It was a damn world where even if you wanted to live peacefully, the surroundings wouldn’t let you.

“Oh, Oppa, come and play. I’ll treat you well.”

A prostitute with half her breasts exposed and heavy makeup was already soliciting customers with a lewd smile from broad daylight. He hadn’t touched his d*ck for weeks, to the point where it only smelled like piss, so he was quite horny.

But the problem was that he didn’t have money. He had brought some money with him, but that was for the carriage fare. If he subtracted living expenses from that, there was almost no spare money. It was a shame, but he had to go now.

Ji-hyuk first headed to the Mercenary Guild. The building was crowded with mercenaries looking for work. The foul smell from not washing relentlessly stabbed his nose.

Ugh, damn, the smell of noobsㅡ.

He waved his hand around his nose and waited for his turn.

“Next.”

The employee called Ji-hyuk. He went to the counter and handed over the recommendation letter. Normally, it would be troublesome to register as a mercenary for the first time because there were many things to prove, but with a recommendation letter, it was all solved easily, so it was very convenient.

Moreover, if you registered with a recommendation letter, you could receive Silver Rank instead of the same rank. There was no need to start with unnecessary hardships, that’s what it meant.

“Here you go. Next.”

The employee quickly finished the registration, handed over the Silver Badge, and called the next turn. Ji-hyuk tucked the badge into his chest and quickly got out of the smelly place.

He immediately headed to where the carriages were gathered. Using a merchant guild was the most convenient and best, but it was hopelessly short even if he used all the money he had now. And it was difficult to time it perfectly. He had no choice but to transfer several times.

As expected, the carriage was full of people who looked like they didn’t have money. It smelled of poverty. Besides Ji-hyuk, there was an Orc, a Goblin, and two Humans.

“Hey, d*mn it, just load up enough and leave already.”

The Orc frowned fiercely and spoke savagely like that. The timid Goblin avoided eye contact with the Orc.

When no more passengers were found, the coachman also started driving the carriage. Hyahㅡ. The carriage carrying five people shook once and left the city of Eretria.

Ji-hyuk looked at the city walls that were gradually receding behind the dust trail rising up. The scenes he had seen countless times overlapped in his head.

This time, he was leaving like this.

The city soon disappeared from his sight. Another carriage stuck to their tail.

Ji-hyuk busily looked around at this and that, but soon got tired of it and closed his eyes.

As his vision disappeared, the sounds became clearer.

However, that too soon disappeared into the darkness.

· · ·

Ji-hyuk finally arrived in the city of Helladium after ten days.

The size of the city was similar to the City of Beginning, Eretria, but the number of people was clearly smaller than that place.

The city looked peaceful on the surface. However, the faces of the people passing through the main street had something dark about them. Since the disappearance incident was still ongoing, that anxiety was being revealed in their expressions.

He filled his hungry stomach first and then headed to the Mercenary Guild.

This place, which was once so crowded that there was no room to set foot, was now only buzzing with flies. It was because the mercenaries who had been frantically searching for the Baron’s son had now given up and left. There was no need to stay in this place where there was no work that made money anyway.

Ji-hyuk glanced over the mercenary building. It roughly had the appearance, but it couldn’t hide its shabby state. Since it was a place that didn’t generate much profit in the first place, he couldn’t expect much.

It was so empty that there was no need to stand in line. He went straight to the counter. The female employee kindly asked what brought him here. A Mercenary Guild employee being kind. It seemed like business wasn’t going well.

“I was wondering if there was any work.”

“Ah, of course there’s a lot of work.”

While saying that, she rattled off the jobs. Listening to what she was saying, it seemed like they were even taking on menial tasks because there were so few mercenaries.

“No, not that kind of thing.”

Ji-hyuk took out the Silver Badge from his chest and showed it. Only then did the employee’s eyes change slightly. It was a sign that he wasn’t just some stray dog who had been rolling around carelessly.

“Work that makes money.”

“There is, but….”

“I’ve heard something about it.”

Of course, there wasn’t any. But he threw it out there once. Just in case it was something they were secretly recruiting for.

“Um…, I don’t have the authority. Would you like to go up and meet the Branch Manager?”

The female employee told him to meet the Branch Manager. That’s rightㅡ. It seemed like he had come to the right place after all. If it wasn’t a big deal, there would be no need for the Branch Manager to step out. It was an affair involving a Hero, so they couldn’t do it carelessly.

Ji-hyuk nodded in agreement and went up the stairs next to the counter. There was a burly Orc guard in the center of the hallway. Ji-hyuk pointed to the stairs with his thumb and said that the employee told him to go up and meet the Branch Manager.

“The badge?”

Even though he was an Orc, he was quite meticulous. Or he had been well-trained.

Ji-hyuk took out the Silver Badge from his chest and showed it. Only then did the Orc nod his chin, telling him to go. He passed the guard and stood in front of the Branch Manager’s office at the end of the hallway. And he lightly knocked on the door.

━ Who is it?

“I’m here about a job.”

━ Come in.

Before going in, Ji-hyuk glanced back once. The Orc was staring intently at him with his arms crossed. He went into the room and slammed the door shut.

It was decorated quite nicely, considering it was the Branch Manager’s office. Ji-hyuk glanced around the inside once and looked at the Branch Manager. He was a man who looked to be around 40 years old. His eyes and lips were thin, giving him a quite sharp impression.

“What is it about?”

“I heard there was an important job.”

As Ji-hyuk said those words, he took out the Silver Badge and showed it. The Branch Manager nodded.

“This is a job that requires confidentiality. The moment you hear it, you can’t refuse. Or you’ll be locked up in prison until the job is done. …Is that still okay?”

“Yes.”

“Alright then…, this.”

The Branch Manager opened a drawer, took out a piece of paper, and slid it towards Ji-hyuk. He slowly approached the desk. It was a written oath.

“Write your number and name there.”

Ji-hyuk wrote his mercenary number and name in the empty space at the very bottom of the paper, which had something written all over it. And he showed the badge to the Branch Manager again to confirm that the number written there and the number he signed were the same.

“…Good.”

The Branch Manager took the oath form back and put it in the drawer. And he rested his chin on his hands after placing both arms on the desk.

“It’s a job related to the disappearance incident. It seems the Hero-nim needs mercenaries with Silver Rank or higher.”

As expectedㅡ. His prediction was spot on.

“Keep in mind that His Excellency is very sensitive about this issue. He hasn’t given up on his son yet.”

“…I see.”

“The reward is 30 gold coins as a base. Additional money can be paid depending on the performance.”

“Can I get some advance payment?”

“It’s possible. Then you know that there will be more fees, right?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“How much?”

“10%.”

The Branch Manager wrote out a payment slip and handed it to Ji-hyuk. The advance payment was 10% of the reward, three gold coins. Instead, the fee increased by 2% to 5%.

“Even if you can’t find all the personnel by the deadline, the job will start. There are three days left.”

“I understand.”

“Including you, there are four, so keep that in mind.”

He waved his hand, telling him to leave now.

Ji-hyuk came out of the Branch Manager’s office.