Raising A Hero – Chapter 16

Ch 16: Te

Elraim, Bella, and Ji-hyuk left the city of Helladium. The fairy’s expression was somewhat sour. It seemed to be due to a lingering sense of unease that wasn’t entirely refreshing.

Ji-hyuk considered giving this girl a kind word but stopped himself. A mere mercenary like him acting presumptuously wouldn’t look good. Moreover, wasn’t the other person that damn fairy? Even if he said something nice, there was a very high chance she’d take it the wrong way.

He looked out the window and exhaled a long breath. Behind the rapidly moving carriage, the walls of Helladium gradually became smaller.

Though there is a parting when meeting, and a departure when coming, the human heart doesn’t always work as one thinks. No matter how much time passes and one ages, this emotion in the heart doesn’t easily fade.

Even the cold-hearted him sometimes felt a feeling of emptiness, because he was a human being with emotions.

“Ms. Bella, were you born here?”

“Yes. I was born on this continent.”

“Where is your hometown?”

“Over there—a small village near Alaramanta on the West Continent. …Why suddenly?”

“No, just, I was curious.”

“What about you, Mr. Ji-hyuk?”

“It’s a place called Earth.”

“Ah…, I see.”

The fairy hero’s gaze, which had been looking out the window, suddenly turned and looked at Ji-hyuk.

“You, were you an Earthling?”

“Yes.”

“…I didn’t think you were an Earthling.”

“Many people say that.”

From the outset, the fixed idea that Earthlings were weaklings was firmly ingrained, so most people didn’t consider Ji-hyuk an Earthling. …No, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that everyone thought so.

“As far as I know, there hasn’t been an Earthling hero before.”

“Then I’ll be the first.”

“…I don’t know where that confidence comes from, I really don’t.”

The fairy looked at Ji-hyuk, who was smiling cheerfully, and shook her head slightly as if bewildered. She was amazing, even if he didn’t know anything else about him. Other Earthlings weren’t like that. …Anyway, it seemed he was especially a special case.

The conversation stopped there. The three fell into their own thoughts.

The carriage ran diligently.

Almost a week had passed since they left Helladium. The carriage left the Baron’s territory and entered the Matan Baron’s territory.

The journey had been smooth up to that point, but the problem was after entering the Baron’s territory.

The atmosphere in every village they passed was very ominous. They said there was a lot of chaos around lately.

“Well, the robbers are swarming during the day, and the ghosts are wandering around at nightㅡ!”

Bella, who had heard the rumor, exclaimed to Ji-hyuk and the hero. The fairy immediately scoffed.

“There are many rumors like that on the continent.”

Ji-hyuk didn’t think much of it either. As the fairy said, such rumors were very common on the continent.

“No, I really did hear them say that….”

“Ms. Bella. There are always robbers far from the city. Especially since there’s a Demon Realm nearby. It’s a perfect place for robbers to hide.”

Only then did she look convinced. The fairy chimed in again.

“And the Imperial flag is on the carriage. Unless they’re incredibly bold, they wouldn’t dare to touch us.”

…It wasn’t long after the fairy confidently said that the carriage suddenly stopped in the middle of the road.

Ji-hyuk glanced out the window. It seemed they were still a long way from reaching the village.

Then, the window connected to the coachman’s seat slid open. The middle-aged coachman called the hero with a troubled expression.

“Um…, Hero, a problem has occurred.”

“…A problem?”

Ji-hyuk had his doubts. However, the coachman’s mouth slowly revealed the contents of his doubts.

“It seems like robbers.”

The coachman said that with a face asking what to do. The hero nodded with a somewhat bewildered expression. Elraim and Ji-hyuk’s eyes met. …They both looked like they hadn’t expected robbers to actually stop the carriage.

“R, robbers. See, I was right? …B, but what do we do, we?”

Bella was initially pleased that her words were proven correct, but then realized that they were in a very difficult situation and became worried again.

“I’ll go out.”

“…I’ll go out too.”

“Ms. Bella, just stay here.”

Ji-hyuk stopped Bella as she tried to leave as well. It was better for her, who couldn’t help anyway, to stay inside the carriage. There was no need to force her to see a rough situation.

The two men and women went outside the carriage. About twenty robbers were spread out in front of them. The atmosphere was ominous, it didn’t look like they would back down nicely.

As they slowly approached the robbers, the one who seemed to be the leader shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Give us everything you have and goㅡ!”

First, the fairy pointed at the Imperial flag on the carriage with her finger. As if, couldn’t you see that?

“D*mn it, are you saying it’s all about the Empire, you son of a b*tch. We’re about to starveㅡ!”

They didn’t charge in without knowing. If that was the case, it seemed they wouldn’t be able to communicate.

Ji-hyuk drew his sword with a sreung sound. It was the sword he had bought for 5 gold coins in Helladium before.

“Let’s kill them and go. It seems like we can’t communicate….”

He didn’t feel the need to persuade them. If they wouldn’t move aside, he would just kill them. They were robbers anyway. If he showed mercy and let them live, more innocent victims would occur.

The fairy also accepted Ji-hyuk’s opinion. She put an arrow on the bow she had brought out. And without the slightest hesitation, she shot the arrow at the leader.

Peeingㅡ, with that sound, an arrow pierced the leader’s head with a tak. The man’s corpse rolled off the horse.

“Leaderㅡ!”

The angry guys rushed at them. But the fight was one-sided. When half of them were instantly killed, they realized something was wrong.

The frightened guys started running away, but the fairy’s arrows shot and hit the heads of those running away as well. Ji-hyuk wiped the blood off his sword on the dead robber’s clothes and pushed the corpses to the side of the road.

The two returned to the carriage as if nothing had happened and got on. Yi-ryatㅡ. The carriage soon started again.

There was a slight smell of blood in the carriage. Bella didn’t seem to know what had happened.

They killed one group of robbers like that and arrived in the next village.

However, there wasn’t a single person in the village they arrived at. There were bloodstains here and there, but there were no corpses. They thought it was the work of the robbers, but surprisingly, the animals were alive and well. They hadn’t eaten for quite a while, so they cried very loudly, asking for food.

“…Let’s go inside and stay for a day.”

The hero said that. Ji-hyuk agreed as well. It was strange to sleep outside, leaving a perfectly good house, even if it was a mass grave.

“W, will ghosts not come out?”

Bella, who was very frightened after hearing the ghost rumors in the previous village, asked Ji-hyuk. He smirked. Whether her personality was severely twisted, she suddenly developed a bad taste.

“They said ghosts were wandering around every night. We met robbers, so we might meet ghosts this time too.”

“Oh, really, don’t say things like that….”

She even started to cry because she was truly scared. He laughed, saying it was a joke. But the anxiety was already filled in her eyes.

“Go to bed quickly. If you want to leave early tomorrow.”

Bella looked at Ji-hyuk and mouthed a few times. She seemed to hesitate, as if she wanted to say something, but then glanced at the fairy’s eyes and just said goodnight and went to her room.

“…Is that fun?”

The fairy, who had been watching, glanced lightly at Ji-hyuk with a look of disappointment. Ji-hyuk just laughed like a rascal.

“Anyway, humans.”

The fairy, who felt disappointed with the human hobby, left a short impression and went into her room.

The surroundings were already dark. Ji-hyuk yawned and went to his room as well. He lay down on a bed he didn’t know who it belonged to.

Deol-keong deol-keongㅡ. The wooden spear shook in the strong wind. He was tired until just now, but when he lay down again, his eyes were bright.

This is also a sicknessㅡ.

He put both hands behind his head and looked at the ceiling. The train of thought that started like that didn’t stop and kept chasing its tail.

Then, someone quietly knocked on his door. It was so quiet that he wouldn’t have heard it if it wasn’t quiet.

━ Mr. Ji, Hyuk.

It was Bella. Her voice was filled with a lot of fear.

━ Mr. Ji-hyuk. …Are you asleep?

“Why?”

━ C, can I come in for a moment?

“Yes, come in.”

Kkiik, the door opened. Bella came in, hiding something behind her back. It wasn’t easy to see because it was dark, but it was clear that her expression wasn’t very good.

“What’s going on?”

“I…um….”

Of course, Ji-hyuk roughly noticed. It was clear that she was scared because of the ghost.

Really, a grown woman….

Ji-hyuk eventually burst into a smirk. Bella, embarrassed, bowed her head and dragged her toes.

“Are you scared of sleeping alone?”

“Y, yeah, Mr. Ji-hyuk, you, said strange things….”

“So, is it my fault?”

“It’s not that it’s…, not at all my fault….”

“But you can sleep with the hero if you’re scared.”

There was an implication that that would be better than a man and a woman being in the same bed.

“W, we, it’s a little difficult to ask for that from the hero….”

“Okay. Come in.”

“Really? …Are you okay?”

“What’s not okay?”

Ji-hyuk moved slightly to the side and made space. Bella approached hesitantly. And she took out the thing she had been hiding behind her back. It was her pillow. She had really made up her mind to come.

“I’m sorry. …I wouldn’t normally do this, but I was suddenly so scared. …And I remembered that time.”

“I know. I understand. I shouldn’t have said that. I’m sorry.”

That time was the memory she had experienced in the cave.

“No, I overreacted.”

“Okay. Go to bed quickly. We have to get up early tomorrow.”

She slowly got into the blanket. The blanket warmed by his body was very cozy. The feeling that the anxious mind was completely washed away in an instant.

“Sleep. Don’t be scared. I’ll watch over you. Hmm?”

“Yes….”

Bella smiled shyly. And she slowly closed her eyes. Ji-hyuk pulled the blanket up to her chest.

“Okay, sleep well.”

“You too, Mr. Ji-hyuk.”

She was tired from riding in the carriage all day, she soon fell asleep. He stared at her sleeping face for a moment.

It was too defenseless, even though they had been sleeping side by side until their bare skin touched. This wasn’t just innocent; it was completely clueless.

What if she suddenly turned around and shoved her penis in….

Ji-hyuk, who had already lived the life of a bad guy, could easily take a woman like this. Of course, he wouldn’t do it now because there was no need to. There was no need to cause trouble with Elraim now, right?

…Yeah, sometimes he would act like he was kind and stuff like that.

Ji-hyuk also closed his eyes and went to sleep.

The wooden spear rattled endlessly in the night wind.