Raising A Hero – Chapter 30

Ch 30: Samura Gorge

“I respect your choice.”

Master Aizel trusted her disciple. Although he was doing something outrageous by choosing a 100-point mission, she had a vague feeling that Ji-hyuk would somehow pull it off. …In any case, nothing would change even if they talked more about it now. Then, it would be better to encourage him instead.

“I can’t lend you my strength anymore, you know that, right?”

“Yes.”

“Okay…, I’ll be waiting at home. Visit me when you finish the mission. Got it? Definitely.”

“Yes, I will definitely go, Master.”

Aizel smiled contentedly and gave her disciple a tight hug. And then, she quickly turned around and walked away. Ji-hyuk watched her back, which was getting farther and farther away, for a long time. She didn’t look back at all.

The master soon disappeared from the disciple’s view forever. He slowly turned his body. Princess Elizabeth was watching him from a distance with a very displeased expression, arms crossed. Of course, he pretended not to see her and started walking towards the lodgings.

The princess, unable to bear it any longer, approached Ji-hyuk and stopped him.

“You… do you even have a clue what you’re doing?!”

Ji-hyuk gave the princess a casual once-over, as if annoyed.

“What does my choice have to do with you, Princess?”

“…It’s just so absurd, so absurd. I’ve never seen anyone like you.”

“You should take care of yourself, Princess. Even 20 points won’t be that easy….”

100 points and 20 points. The princess felt strangely embarrassed. So she raised her voice.

“I’m the normal one. You’re the abnormal oneㅡ!”

“…I hope you complete your mission and become a hero. See you then.”

Ji-hyuk didn’t want to chat with the princess any longer. He tossed out a suitable farewell and turned and went on his way. D*mn itㅡ. Of course, she didn’t stop him as he left either.

Ji-hyuk, who had returned to the lodging alone, packed his bags. With a duffel bag slung over his shoulder, he glanced at the room where his master had stayed for a moment and turned away. He left the lodging building.

Eyes were watching Ji-hyuk from all over. The 100-point mission was, of course, a big topic of conversation at the academy. The rumor seemed to have already spread among the trainees.

Ji-hyuk completely left the academy. And immediately headed to the rendezvous point. His companions would be waiting for him there already.

The day was brightly lit. The main road was already bustling with people coming and going. Ji-hyuk walked along the main road and turned into an alley.

A little while later, he arrived at a place called Dalmuri Inn. Opening the old wooden door and going inside, he saw a group of people huddled together in the hall. They were the companions waiting for him.

“Captain, over hereㅡ.”

Bald Gid quickly recognized him. Ji-hyuk walked over there with a stride. He glanced over the outfits of his companions. Everyone seemed to have prepared thoroughly for the expedition.

“Did you eat?”

“Just ate.”

“Okay? Then let’s leave right away.”

“Already? Doesn’t the captain need to eat?”

“I ate roughly. Let’s go quickly.”

The four stood up from their seats. Ji-hyuk took the lead, and the other four followed him.

Ji-hyuk immediately went to the moving carriage stop. He found a carriage headed west and boarded it. With three of them being so large, even though only five of them were seated in the carriage, it was full.

“Iratㅡ.” The carriage started to run. They passed the capital after a check at the front gate. Ahㅡ. Ya-el was gazing at the capital, which was getting farther and farther away, for a long time. Ji-hyuk, seeing that, opened his mouth.

“Have you ever traveled far?”

“Huh? Ah, yes…. This is the first time I’ve traveled this far.”

Gid, carefully watching the situation, quickly joined their conversation.

“Even if there’s no place as big as the capital, there are many sights to see.”

“Ah, is that so….”

The drug addict magician smiled awkwardly. She still seemed to have difficulty getting along with them. …Well, she had always been socializing only with the neat and intelligent academy students, so how could these mercenary bastards be appealing?

At least Gid was trying to talk forcefully, but the rest of the Orc guy and the Lizardman were too taciturn, even for Ji-hyuk to see.

“By the way…, where are we going exactly, Captain?”

The Lizardman opened his mouth after a long time. Ji-hyuk answered kindly.

“Gudrak.”

“Gudrak? If it’s Gudrak….”

Gid’s expression became a little subtle. He seemed to know where Gudrak was at once, as if he had traveled a lot around the continent.

“It doesn’t seem like we’re going to the West Demon Realm, though?”

“That’s right, you know exactly.”

“I have been there once a long time ago. …But why are we going there? It’s such a backward place.”

Ji-hyuk glanced over his companions’ faces and answered.

“There’s something to get there.”

“Something to get?”

“The legend of Gudrak…. Has anyone heard of it?”

Gid didn’t seem to know about it either. The Orc guy and the Lizardman seemed to be in a similar situation.

The drug addict magician made a face as if she knew something, and then ahㅡ, and made a small exclamation.

“I think it was about a hero and a demon.”

“Right. That’s it.”

Gid tilted his head.

“What’s that about? Hero and demon? …It’s not a city that fits with those things at all.”

“It was a long time ago. Roughly speaking, well…, in Gudrak, a hero and hundreds of warriors fought and died with a demon.”

“So, it’s not that a ghost comes out, right?”

“That’s the kind of thing people do when they’re scaring kids.”

It felt like important content was about to come out. Everyone listened to Ji-hyuk’s words.

“There’s a place called the Tomb of Warriors in Gudrak.”

“You mean the one with the weapons stuck in it?”

“Right. That one.”

“We’re not just going to see that, are we….”

Everyone looked curious. Ji-hyuk smiled faintly.

“There’s an important item there.”

“An important item? …I’ve never seen one like that before?”

Gid shook his head lightly with an expression that it was the first time he had heard of it.

“You’ll find out when we get there.”

Ji-hyuk wouldn’t have known about it either if another hero hadn’t found it.

━It’s a Cursed Holy Sword. It is said that it was made by mixing the flesh and blood of demons in order to catch demons.

━From the moment you have this, h*ll begins.

━It’s not really good to be hated by demons.

The Cursed Holy Sword changed owners several times after that. The misfortune seemed to be passed on to the owner as well.

Ji-hyuk needed that for the mission. Although it was an item that would be discovered much later, it was the easiest to obtain among the holy swords he could get now. …Of course, there would be side effects.

━You shouldn’t kill too many demons. Then, you’ll become a demon yourself.

The hero who said those words took his own life.

· · ·

If you go straight northwest from the Empire, you’ll find the Jaren River, and if you follow the road toward the mountains you see there, you’ll find a city. That was the small city of Gudrak.

This city, with a population of barely five thousand, didn’t see many outsiders coming and going. If you were going to pass the mountains, you would go to the metropolitan city of Parcia near the gorge, not to Gudrak.

Sometimes, there were tourists who came to see the scenery, but other than that, there was nothing to do. It was so peaceful that it was a terribly boring place. That was Gudrak.

Of course, Gudrak wasn’t without anything to be proud of. The Tomb of Warriorsㅡ. It was located on the east side of the city.

Even though it was called a tomb, it wasn’t a place where actual corpses were buried, but where swords, axes, and spears that the warriors used were densely stuck. It was to commemorate those who fought and gloriously died with the demon army here.

Of course, it wasn’t very flashy or anything. It was just rusty weapons stuck in the ground. So the mercenaries who came expecting a lot from the Tomb of Warriors were often disappointed and went back.

And exactly in that city, a group of five people arrived. As soon as they got off the carriage, they stretched and loosened their creaky bodies.

“Ugh, s*it. …It’s still like this here.”

Bald Gid looked around and admired the rural city, which still seemed to smell of chicken droppings. Ya-el, who had suffered so much to get here, was also looking at the city with a look that said, “So there are cities like thisㅡ.”

She, who had always lived in the capital of the Empire, thought the city looked old. It was even hard to find a building made of stone. Almost everything was built with wood, so it felt somewhat shabby.

“It’s a peaceful place.”

That was the Orc healer, Gorsh’s first impression. A peaceful placeㅡ. It was really only peaceful. The taciturn Lizardman didn’t open his mouth and only licked his tongue once.

Ji-hyuk took them to a nearby inn first. The old innkeeper’s face brightened at once when five guests suddenly came to the place where only flies were buzzing. He stopped twisting the straw and received the guests.

“Oh my, welcome.”

It looked like they had remodeled a house. There were only two tables. Even the tables were piled with various items. The old man quickly moved them to the corner.

“Elena. Elenaㅡ!”

The old man called for his granddaughter. The granddaughter, who had been working in the kitchen, came out. She was a country girl with freckles on her face.

“Guests are here.”

“Ah, yesㅡ!”

There was of course no menu. She said she had soup and ggeppang right now. Ji-hyuk asked for anything.

“Would you like milk too?”

“…Are you going to drink it?”

Ji-hyuk glanced at his companions. No one said they would drink it. The country girl, who felt she was being rejected the city’s pride, offered it one more time.

“Try it once. It’s Gudrak’s pride.”

“…Then just one for me.”

“Yesㅡ!”

Ji-hyuk ordered only one cup because he didn’t want to cause a fuss about whether he was going to drink it or not. Only then did she step back.

Ya-el wrinkled her forehead slightly, sniffing, because of the musty smell in here. Gid, with his good-naturedness, laughed and said that he felt like he had come to his hometown.

At that moment, Kayak, who had been silent since they arrived at the city, opened his mouth for the first time.

“Captain, are you going to leave right after this job?”

“I should. There’s no reason to stay here anyway. I’m going straight to Parcia. We have to cross the gorge.”

Soon, the girl came out with soup and ggeppang. She put the warm soup in front of each person. It smelled delicious.

“Eat heartily. …Is there no mutton?”

“The mutton is out. My grandfather just went to buy it.”

Ji-hyuk nodded. And he picked up the ggeppang in the basket and dipped it in the soup. The savory taste was mixed with the sweet soup, and it tasted quite delicious.

Good skill.

The ggeppang disappeared in an instant. Ya-el ate it up ravenously, as if it suited her taste for a long time.

After filling their stomachs, they took their luggage and headed to the room.

“There’s one bed here, and two beds there.”

Of course, the room with two beds was a bigger room. Gid, Kayak, and Gorsh were going to use that room. The small room became the place for Ji-hyuk and Ya-el.

“I’ll sleep on the floor.”

“You don’t have to. We can sleep together on top. I think it’s big enough.”

Ji-hyuk said it nonchalantly. Of course, Ya-el was embarrassed because she had never thought of a man and woman sleeping in one bed. Ji-hyuk, who was unpacking only a few important things, looked back at Ya-el, who was hesitating.

“Are you embarrassed by that? …It would be better for you to change your mind quickly. You’ll experience even worse things later.”

“…Okay, I’ll do that.”

Ya-el replied like that. Still, the captain she had seen so far was a man to be trusted. She believed that nothing would happen, like him suddenly changing and molesting her.

Ji-hyuk, finished unpacking, went out of the room, saying he was going to go out for a while. He met the innkeeper’s granddaughter in the hallway.

“Where are you going?”

“Out for a bit.”

“The meat is being boiled right now. I’ll let you know when it’s ready.”

“Okay.”

The busy girl passed him quickly. Ji-hyuk walked again. And he was about to leave the building, when suddenly, Bald Gid followed right behind the captain.

“Where are you going?”

“For a quick errand. Why?”

“Are you going there?”

“Sort of.”

“Can I come with you then?”

“Follow me, then.”

Gid laughed like a fool. The two walked side by side on the country road.

The bald man had a wistful look in his eyes as he looked at the side of the road.

“I came here once ten years ago, and it’s the same now as it was then. …I’m the only one who seems to have aged a lot.”

“It’s not easy to change a place like this. Unless you find a silver mine or a gold mine.”

There were also quite a few cities that had been transformed in an instant by accidentally discovering ore veins near their territories. Of course, there was almost no chance of that happening here. If there had been something like that here, which has a fairly long history, they would have found it and dug it up long ago.

They headed to the eastern district. Of course, the scenery was similar everywhere. They saw the shabby-looking guards, but they looked more like country lads who had come from working in the fields than trained soldiers. They yawned as they looked at the two of them, and they didn’t even care.

Anyway, the two soon arrived at a place called the Tomb of Warriors. It was the only place in the city that was well-decorated. It was a place where there were a few living trees, the only trees in the city, which grew nothing but edible vegetables. There was also a fence around it and a stone monument. Of course, the only people looking at it were the two of them.

“S*it, I can’t read…. What’s written?”

“Tomb of Warriors. …The bottom is just nonsense.”

Ji-hyuk’s eyes were glancing over the rusty weapons. …The fierce battle with the demons was remembered so wretchedly like this.

His gaze, which had been wandering here and there, soon became fixed and would not move.

Cursed Holy Swordㅡ.

That sword, which had been weathering in the sun and rain and wind for a long time,

Was stuck right there.