Raising A Hero – Chapter 14

Ch 14: Mint Hero

When the light disappeared, Hero Elraim felt an extreme sense of terror.

…I’m going to die.

In the pitch-black darkness, she hardened like a statue, unable to move an inch. Her teeth chattered.

Am I going to die like this? So meaninglessly? Without even being able to resist?

Ah, aaaaaㅡ.

The fairy ran first. She ran blindly. She desperately squeezed her memory and ran like crazy to where the passage was. Then, she tripped over something and tumbled forward. But she sprang back up like a coiled spring and ran again.

She really couldn’t see anything. She could only hear her panting, her heart pounding like crazy, and the squishing sound of liquid splashing under her feet.

She ran and ran again. Then she bumped into a stone wall. Ackㅡ. Her mind momentarily became hazy. She staggered once. Then she began to walk quickly, feeling along the wall.

Please, please, please, please.

Then, someone called out to her.

“Hero, Heroㅡ!”

Someone was still alive. But she didn’t answer. If she answered, the demon might find her. Unfortunately, she was planning to use the living person as bait and escape.

I have to live. I have to live. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die.

She only thought of having to live. She didn’t want to die. The hero continued to move, desperately feeling along the wall.

“Heroㅡㅡ!!”

Elraim thought the demon hadn’t killed that guy on purpose. To play with her. To watch her struggle. …No, maybe he was even now watching her with a chilling smile from the side.

“Hero, it’s Bella. Where are you? Heroㅡ!”

Ahㅡ.

Bella was also alive. But the hero didn’t answer. The enemy was a demon. A mean and cruel race.

The hero was walking along, feeling the wall for a long time, when suddenly something grabbed and pulled her arm hard.

“Aaaackㅡ!”

The hero was startled and struggled to shake it off.

“It’s us. It’s usㅡ! Hero, Heroㅡ! …Get a grip, you damnㅡㅡ!!”

“Let go, let go quicklyㅡㅡ!!”

“The demon is dead. The demon is deadㅡ!”

“No, no, no.”

She thought she could see the demon watching from somewhere. The hero finally shook off the hand that had grabbed her arm and started moving busily again. Then she finally confirmed that the wall was turning. It was a passage.

I f, found it…!

She went inside. And she moved her feet at a faster pace.

The sound of the rain started to get louder. A faint light could also be seen. She ran towards it like crazy.

Swooshㅡ.

The rain poured down like a torrential downpour. The fairy tumbled out of the cave and onto the muddy ground.

Hah, hah, hahㅡ.

The sense of relief that she was alive spread through her chest. Her whole body was trembling. But she wasn’t completely out of danger.

She forced herself to get up and walked again without looking back. Her legs were shaking so much that it was hard to move. Still, she kept walking. She was completely soaked in the rain, but still, she had to walk.

When she got a certain distance from the cave, she couldn’t hold on and fell down again. And she kept panting.

Then suddenly, someone grabbed her shoulder and pulled her hard. Ackㅡ! She was startled and fell flat on the muddy ground.

Someone was standing there. With something on their back.

Ah, ahㅡ.

The blurred focus from the shock returned. Looking down at her was a human male covered in blood.

Seeing that, the hero’s strength drained away. She hung limp with a stupid face.

“He, ro….”

What called to the hero was the healer Bella on his back. She, too, had a half-dazed expression.

But the hero couldn’t answer. She just lay there and took the pouring rain with her whole body.

…The rain kept pouring.

· · ·

Ughㅡ. The fairy barely opened her eyes. Her body was trembling so much that it was cold. She instinctively curled up. When she came to her senses, she was naked, and her clothes were off.

The hero got up with a start. It was still dawn, and the forest was twilight. Fortunately, it seemed the rain had stopped.

Ugh.

Bella was beside her. She was also completely naked, and she was curled up like a silkworm, shivering a lot.

The hero’s mind was momentarily blank. It felt like her memory had suddenly been cut off in the middle. …But the terror she had felt in the cave the day before was still alive in her heart. It ached, as if she had a severe burn. It remained in her heart and still throbbed. It seemed like it wouldn’t be erased from her memory for a very long time.

…That, man?

The fairy quickly looked around. The human wasn’t there. She suddenly became frightened. Then she heard the sound of footsteps, clop, clop, from afar. The hero instinctively looked around. Was there anything that could be used as a weapon? …For now, she grabbed a stone.

And soon, someone came into her view. It was the human male, Gang Ji-hyuk. He was walking towards her, holding something in his hand. …Naturally, he was stark naked, and his big penis was hanging limp between his legs.

Ah. The hero subtly averted her gaze. No matter how she was, it was a little embarrassing to look at a male’s penis openly.

“…You’ve woken up.”

Ji-hyuk approached her without being embarrassed at all, even though he was completely naked. And he sat down in front of her and showed her what he was holding in his hand. It was a limp snake. He had cut off the head beforehand, so there was only the body.

“We have to eat something. But I don’t think we can make a fire, so we’ll have to eat it raw… Is that okay?”

“It’s okay. I’m not going to eat it.”

“You have to eat. Something. This isn’t the time to be picky. You know, Hero, that you’re also in a serious situation.”

He shook Bella, who was still sleeping, to wake her up. Ughㅡ. She barely opened her eyes, wrinkling her face. And she looked at him with dazed eyes, the one who woke her up.

“Get up and eat this.”

“…Huh? Ah, aaackㅡ!”

Bella jumped up, seeing the dead snake dangling. Then she was surprised once again when she saw a long, snake-like thing dangling from Ji-hyuk’s groin.

Ahㅡ.

She turned her head quickly in surprise. Then, realizing that she was also naked, she was startled and covered her breasts with her hands, her legs drawn up.

But Ji-hyuk shook the dead snake once with an indifferent expression.

“This isn’t the time to be shy. The situation is serious.”

“…Ah, yes….”

“You eat this too. You have to eat something now. You know how much stamina was consumed yesterday.”

“But, I, I can’t eat that.”

Bella shook her head, looking at the snake with a truly disgusted expression. Ji-hyuk looked frustrated.

“The rain came, so we can’t get any other food, right? …We’re very lucky to have found this too.”

Bella averted her gaze and couldn’t answer, stammering when Ji-hyuk said that. Eventually, the hero took the initiative first.

“Okay. …Let’s eat.”

Ji-hyuk peeled off the snake’s skin, pulled out the innards, and cut it into three pieces with a dagger. Then he shook it in the puddle and washed it clean.

The hero received it and chewed it roughly. It was soft and not good to eat, but as he said, she had to eat something now.

Since Hero also ate it, Bella reluctantly closed her eyes and chewed and ate the raw meat. Ughㅡ. As soon as she chewed it, she almost vomited from the strange taste, but she somehow chewed it and swallowed it down her throat.

The three of them finished their meal, stuffing the snake meat into their stomachs like that. Soon the surroundings became a little brighter. But the cold was still there.

Haa, haaㅡ.

Bella clasped her arms tightly around each other and huddled her body as much as possible. It was colder because she was naked. But she couldn’t wear her clothes, which were all soaked.

“Let’s walk for now.”

Ji-hyuk suggested they start walking slowly. The hero nodded in agreement. Bella had no choice but to follow their opinions.

They started walking, each holding their own wet clothes. The only weapon was the dagger Ji-hyuk was holding. …They could only hope that no monsters would appear.

All three intentionally avoided talking about the witch’s cave. Because it was a horrible memory.

But the hero couldn’t understand how all three of them managed to escape safely from there. The demon wouldn’t have been such a kind being.

“Are you curious about what happened?”

Ji-hyuk, who was walking ahead, suddenly asked as if he had read the hero’s thoughts.

Bella, who was walking next to the hero, glanced at the fairy. She was staring at Ji-hyuk’s back.

“…Do you know?”

“Yes.”

“How? …You couldn’t see anything.”

“I only know until right after the light disappeared. I came out fumbling.”

Ahㅡ.

The hero was a little embarrassed. Thinking about her own unsightly behavior.

She had abandoned these two and left. Even if it couldn’t be helped, she couldn’t get rid of her strangely embarrassed heart.

“How…, did it happen?”

“I told you then…. Don’t you remember?”

“…I don’t remember.”

From the moment the light disappeared until they escaped the cave, she didn’t remember what he had said. She only remembered struggling to survive.

“I killed it.”

“…Killed it?”

She couldn’t understand. How could you kill a demon?

“How…? You couldn’t see anything.”

“Just before the light disappeared at the end, I hit the back of it. It wasn’t paying attention.”

“…Really? Really? Did you really kill that guy?”

“That’s why we came out like this.”

The hero couldn’t easily believe it. But she couldn’t not believe it either. They really came out alive.

If the demon was still alive, he wouldn’t have let them go kindly. …It was honestly a story that didn’t make sense that they had escaped by luck.

“So, what are you going to do? Are you going back in?”

“No. I can’t go. I’m not going there.”

The hero was startled. Bella refused like she was going to have a seizure.

“I can’t go either. I’m not going there. I’m definitely not going.”

Ji-hyuk gave a little laugh.

“Then we’ll have to go back as we are, but we’ll have to suffer a little because this is all we have.”

He showed the dagger in his hand. If it wasn’t for the one he had put on his thigh for emergencies, he almost couldn’t get this either.

“It doesn’t matter. Let’s just go back.”

Even if they had to suffer, it was better than going back there. …Moreover, they couldn’t go in there right now. Then there had to be fire, but they couldn’t make a fire to dry their clothes right now.

“Understood.”

They walked. But their feet were swollen from their wet shoes. The healer Bella quickly got tired.

They sat on the moss and rested again. Bella took off her shoes and squeezed out as much water as possible. Her toes were numb from the cold.

No matter how I looked at it, they didn’t seem like they could walk any further like this. For now, it seemed better to rest today, drying their wet bodies.

If only there was a fire magician.

Ji-hyuk was a little disappointed about that. They would have suffered much less if there was one.

In the end, he dug a very deep and large hole in the ground. Then he tore off a lot of moss, squeezed out the water, and spread it as thick as possible. Then he spread their clothes and let the two women lie on top of it. Ji-hyuk also lay down close to Bella so that their flesh touched. Then, he covered the hole with several layers of large, long leaves like banana leaves.

Bella, at first, was embarrassed that a strange man’s body touched her bare skin, but as she felt the warmth, she forgot her embarrassment and clung even more tightly. The terrible cold made them forget their shame, too.

The three of them’s warm breaths slowly warmed up the hole. The two tired women fell asleep again.

Of course, Ji-hyuk didn’t sleep. Even though the monsters all went into their own nests because of the rain, there are always exceptions.

…Still, it was good that they were saved.

Most died, but still, the hero Elraim survived, so he could endure this suffering. She, who would later reach A-class, was a force to be reckoned with. It was a little regrettable to lose her here.

…How did he solve this before?

That was so curious. …But now there was no way to find out.

Well, anyway, it was good that he had saved her. …Yes, it was good that he had saved her.

Ji-hyuk interpreted this suffering in a positive way.