To Protect (4)
One or two minutes was the time needed to cut down the heathens. Yoon-seok even slew the ones that tried to escape. Then, he calmly scanned the area to see any survivors before slowly returning to the carriage and his companions.
“Who…who the hell are you? How can a human possibly do this?”
It was Wellington who spoke. He unwittingly stepped back when he saw Yoon-seok approaching, but when Yoon-seok stopped in his tracks, he realized he’d made a mistake and bowed.
“…I’m sorry. I asked you a strange question. That’s not what I’m supposed to say right now. Thank you for saving us.”
He still couldn’t get used to this kind of greeting, not even when Jong-Il had done so. Yoon-seok turned his eyes away.
“…Then let’s go.”
That’s all he has to say after doing something close to a miracle…? Was this routine for him? He was casual as if he only did what he had to. On the other hand, Wellington was starting to fear him, but it also made him feel reassured.
“…I will.”
Wellington, who seemed to sense what kind of personality Yoon-seok had, didn’t say much. He just nodded and climbed up to the wagoner’s seat once more. When Yoon-seok climbed on the roof, he drove the wagon while avoiding the bodies littering the ground.
Yoon-seok just silently guarded his surroundings, while the others didn’t talk much anymore. In a completely different atmosphere than before, the wagon rolled through the forest.
“…”
It was only after they had been traveling that Yoon-seok broke the silence and talked to Wellington. Of course, it was far from small talk.
“Do you think there will be more heathens?”
“…Maybe not. It would’ve been a huge risk for them to cross the border with a force that large.”
“I see.”
Coincidentally, Yoon-seok’s prediction matched Wellington’s. However, unlike his, it wasn’t based on realistic probability. Since this was a mission given by the Tower, he just thought there might not be more enemies since he’d destroyed the heathens.
Gallop. Gallop.
The wheels of the wagon rolled peacefully. One, two, three, four days…
It was a mystery. Every night felt like the calm before the storm for Yoon-seok.
“Mr. Rick! Mr. Rick!”
Yoon-seok opened his eyes to hearing his alias name. Opening the running wagon window, Elle was sticking out her upper body to call out to him. Perhaps Kanna was tired of trying to stop her from doing that, as she didn’t make any move to stop her.
“What’s going on, Miss?”
“Seriously! Can you not speak comfortably?”
“…This is comfortable.”
In response, Yoon-seok smiled awkwardly. He didn’t insist on honorifics because of age but out of respect. Even though it was back to her childhood days, he still found it uncomfortable to drop honorifics when she was the same ‘Elle.’ Yoon-seok naturally changed the subject.
“Anyway, what’s going on?”
“Look ahead! It’s the ocean! Ocean!”
Maybe because she was only in the wagon, but the ocean was in sight since a few hours ago. But Yoon-seok felt like it’d be annoying to hear, so he didn’t say anything.
‘Two days from now…’
It had been exactly forty-three days since he’d come to this world, and Wellington said they would reach Jarisman Harbor in two more. After meeting merchants heading inland ten times a day on the sloping hills, they would finally reach their destination after just a bit longer.
Yoon-seok felt a strange sentiment welling inside him.
‘It feels like a graduation ceremony.’
After the day he wiped out the heathens, the group was wary of Yoon-seok, except for Elle. But, they slowly got to know Yoon-seok and let their guard down as time went by. They now spoke without hesitation, and Yoon-seok enjoyed talking with them. Thanks to that, it gave him a deeper understanding of how the culture and society worked in this new world, and he also had the opportunity to learn about Elle’s unfortunate past. He also confirmed James Hambledon was the ancestor Ragna talked about.
Even if that wasn’t the case, he still enjoyed it. When Elle and James started bickering, there were a lot of times where Yoon-seok couldn’t hold it in and laughed. Wellington’s bad sense of humor occasionally made the atmosphere awkward, and Kanna always served bizarre dishes, unlike her mother-in-law-like image…
Yoon-seok didn’t find it unpleasant. They couldn’t get any friendlier because of their personalities, but he enjoyed their company.
‘We won’t see each other again, but…’
They were very much alive and breathing, but they were just fictional recreations by the Tower. The moment the mission was over, it would all disappear. Suddenly, a sense of emptiness washed over him, but Yoon-seok wasn’t overwhelmed by it. He wasn’t soft enough to forget his goal, even though he felt comfortable around them for the first time in a while.
‘…Let’s concentrate until the end.’
Yoon-seok also managed to relax without realizing it. He shouldn’t let his guard down until the end of the mission. Elle knew about Yoon-seok’s level, but she seemed reluctant to let him come here.
‘There’s no way things would end like this.’
It was an admin’s wish to clear the only difficulty level on the eighth floor. Nevertheless, this mission remained uncleared for such a long time. In other words, it was reasonable to think that there was something more to this than just the heathens.
As he was thinking…
Rattle.
The carriage stopped. He didn’t sense anything, so why? Yoon-seok instinctively reached out to his sword. And then…
The wagon door opened, and Elle and Kanna disembarked. Elle looked to the roof and shouted enthusiastically to Yoon-seok.
“I’ll be back to pick up some flowers!”
It was slang for going to the bathroom. Yoon-seok nodded, and Kanna took Elle to the bushes beside the slope. Yoon-seok used his energy to cover his ears as a courtesy. However, this was the trial given by the Tower.
Yoon-seok belatedly realized that such consideration was a life-threatening act.
「There is a special challenge within a radius of 200m.」
Suddenly, a phrase appeared in front of him. Yoon-seok immediately opened his sense and raised it to the limit.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!”
A sharp scream that sounded like a woman came from afar. It was estimated to be about two hundred meters away due to distance, which the challenge confirmed. Was it a coincidence?
‘No way.’
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