historical

Chapter 66 Things To Keep (1)

Kanna, Elle, Wellington. They were a kind of NPC reenacted by the Tower, and mission-focused challengers didn’t treat NPC as characters.

‘If they were also challengers, they wouldn’t have done that openly.’

Everyone watched from the side, even though one of them might be able to step up. Yoon-seok didn’t find that strange. In the early days, there might’ve been people who condemned their actions and acted heroically. But if the same thing was repeated several times, the good deed returns a debt with interest..

There wouldn’t be many people who wouldn’t be discouraged. In addition, it was a comfortable environment to rationalize. They weren’t real; they were just something created by the Tower. In other words, saving them at the risk of personal loss was meaningless.

It was unusual for someone to be stupid enough to repeat such meaningless actions. However, there was something that Yoon-seok felt strange about.

「Please guard Pontiff Kanna Blitz for 45 days. The mission fails when the target dies.」

The eighth-floor mission was to guard Kanna Blitz, but there was only one condition of failure. Only when the target was dead would you fail. That was why the challengers were able to do such a thing boldly.

‘But even if it’s not for that, you can fail with a single word...’

He didn’t understand. They were veterans who reached the 8th floor, but they reacted as if it was the first time they had experienced a failure like this. How come this had never happened before? Come to think of it; he had a few hypotheses.

Either it was the first guard mission hired in the form of “mercenaries,” or new conditions increased depending on the floor. This didn’t make any sense. The Tower wasn’t very kind to challengers, but that didn’t explain everything.

The Tower’s way was more like pushing challengers down a cliff and asking them to find a way to climb up on their own. Of course, there was a possibility that the victims, suppressed by them, were terrified and couldn’t rebel. Without Yoon-seok, the results wouldn’t have changed much. Even if Kanna tried to cancel the request, they had the power to force her to reverse it.

“..”

Flop.

As he was thinking about this and that, Kanna sank into the bushes. She’d confidently shouted that she would terminate their requests, but was it very hard on her mentally? That was what he’d thought for a while.

It was soon apparent that her legs were weak for a completely different reason.

“Where..where did they all go?”

It was different from the challengers disappearing on day one. They all disappeared in a flash in front of their eyes.

“Are they wizards? I mean, then why the hell would they do mercenary work..?”

Kanna muttered in a confused voice. It was inevitable. Notifying them of the termination of the contract meant to split ways. Whether they returned to the castle or headed to another city, things must go on. But disappearing suddenly?

He didn’t even think of this.

“..”

Yoon-seok felt a headache coming on. How could he convince her of the current situation? Would she agree if he said that all of them were secretly wizards? It wouldn’t be so easy.

So, he chose the best method after much agonizing consideration.

“I don’t know. That’s strange.”

He spoke as naturally as he could, but it sounded as stiff as a new theater actor. But fortunately, Kanna paid no mind to the details of his speech.

“I suppose so..there’s no way I’d know it was you...”

She nodded her head blankly. Then, a young voice popped out from behind.

“God, he’s angry.”

“..?”

It was Elle, who was hiding in the carriage. He suddenly thought that the present scene wouldn’t be good for a child’s emotions, but..it was unfounded. Elle continued without batting an eye at the sight of dozens of bodies lying on the floor.

“They have forfeited their duties. Duties of a mercenary, duties as a person with the right power, and even duties as a human being. That’s why God is angry.”

Was there a big difference between innocence and savagery? There was a strange sense of incompatibility between her attitude and appearance as an early teen. He wondered if the child was the same person who called Yoon-seok a devil just two days ago.

“But he’s different. I can tell.”

“..?”

“He’s not one to throw his duty away because of money or anything that would defile his soul.”

Yoon-seok tilted his head at her words. Aside from being a good judge of him, he felt that the conversation was heading south.

Yoon-seok soon realized what it was.

“Just to confirm, do you think those mercenaries attacked the wagon for money?”

“What? Is it not?”

Elle asked innocently. Only then did Yoon-seok find out that Elle was a little unique, and she was acting to her age. However, now wasn’t the right time to start sex education, so Yoon-seok just nodded.

“Yes, that’s right.”

Kanna, who cast an absurd look at Yoon-seok, soon came to her senses and sent Elle back into the carriage.

“Elle, would you like to go in? I need to talk to him for a moment.”

“Yes.”

Yoon-seok and Kanna settled a few steps away from the wagon. She seemed to have many questions for Yoon-seok, but Yoon-seok quickly beat her to the punch.

“What are you going to do in the future?”

Their purpose was to get to Jarisman Harbor, but he didn’t mean to stop her if she said she would go back to the city where they’d started and reorganize. Yoon-seok’s guarding mission was until the 45th day anyway. As long as Kanna didn’t offer to break the contract with him, it was none of his business.

“I can’t stop here. We have to keep going.”

Kanna said firmly. There was no room for compromise, and her eyes were as desperate as a person driven to the edge of a cliff. He could sense that there was a hidden reason behind it.

She caught her breath for a moment and continued.

“I can see that you’re not an ordinary F-class mercenary. I won’t ask you why you hid your power. Instead, I would like to ask you one question.”

“Anything.”

“Rick Gerssey. No, I don’t know if that’s a real name..do you have the power to protect us from the heathens?”

“..Yes.”

Yoon-seok answered after thinking for a while, and Kanna asked again.

“We will give you all the reward that was due to be paid to the mercenaries. Will you protect us?”

What was the use of money to him, but it would be even weirder to refuse. Yoon-seok nodded and added.

“Instead, there is one condition. What’s her real name?”

She was a bit taken aback by the condition. Kanna opened her mouth with her shoulders drooping as if she had relaxed.

“I don’t know why you keep caring about her, but..Elizabeth Lorwen. That’s the child’s name. Elle is a nickname.”

Elizabeth Lorwen. Yoon-seok engraved the name in his mind.

While Kanna returned to the carriage to put Elle to sleep, Yoon-seok cleaned up the bodies around him. Then, he sat roughly next to the carriage, and guarding its surroundings, Kanna Blitz carefully opened the carriage door and came down.

“..It’s as if nothing happened.”

She sat next to him as she looked at the organized surroundings and spoke her sentiments bitterly before going silent. It seemed like she had a lot on her mind.

In the end, it was Yoon-seok who continued the conversation.

“How’s Lord Wellington doing?”

“He’s past the critical condition, but I guess the knife was poisoned. He’ll come to his senses by tomorrow, but I think it’ll take me a few days to heal him.”

“That’s fortunate.”

He thought so sincerely. Wellington was the only one who knew the way to their destination, so if he died, they would be in a lot of trouble.

“Aren’t you going to ask more?”

“What do you mean?”

“Who we are, why we left our safety to the mercenaries, and why we are escaping.”

“Is there anything I need to know to protect you?”

Yoon-seok asked rhetorically, and Kanna hesitated for a while before deciding to reply.

“..Yes, it would be helpful to know.”

“Then can you tell me?”

“The heathens are not after me. They are after Elle, the kid.”

“..?”

That was an unexpected answer. Even so, the mission was to protect Kanna Blitz. Frankly speaking, Elle seemed quite friendly, but he could only see her as a child servant.

“Who is that kid?”

“..Elle is their Heathen Lady. They believe that the child will liberate them.”

Lady and liberation..

His last doubt was lifted by those two keywords.

Elizabeth Lorwen. Yoon-seok was finally convinced that Elle, the admin, and Elle, the child, were the same person. It felt awkward to think of Elle saying duty earlier and emphasizing it so much.

What the hell happened to her? Why did she dream of freedom and hate duty so much in the future? Maybe..

He might find answers in this mission. What Elle wanted from him, and whether he could trust her.

It was when they were talking about their future schedules and the heathens. Suddenly, Yoon-seok flinched.

A notification had suddenly appeared in front of him.

「There is a special challenge within a radius of 200m.」

Yoon-seok stood up instantly. He’d wanted to complete a challenge the moment he’d learn about them..

He was about to give up after today’s incident. Of course, his top priority was to complete the mission. He thought he couldn’t afford to go around looking for challenges since he had to protect the group alone.

But it came to him on its own.

“Arghhhhhhhhh! H-help me!”

The radius of the phrase displayed gradually narrowed, and before long, a man who was being chased by something from afar came into view. From far away, he seemed to have come all the way here after seeing the bonfire.

「Rescue James Hambledon and listen to his request.」

Yoon-seok first sent Kanna back into the carriage. Then, he set the area as a non-aggression site through Lady’s Commandment. With that, the minimum safety measures were complete.

The man who was running toward Yoon-seok threw himself over and grabbed the nape of his neck. Then, he leaped backward on the ground. The man was being strangled by his collar, but it was clear that he thought it was better to choke than to have his neck cut off.

Whooooooooosh!

Something translucent cut through the air keenly. Upon landing on the ground, Yoon-seok looked at the figure that appeared in the dark.

‘So this is how you compete for the challenge...’

Just like the mythical creature from Kilian, who was at the raid..

He wasn’t an Orc, Lizardman, or Demon. Long horns were jutting from their forehead, but huge wings stood out on their back, unlike a Demon.

‘A mythical species not even Mission challengers had ever seen. It’s surprising.’

Their exact identity was unknown. However, he clearly remembered that a few parties rushed in during the previous fierce battle and only tied down one foot of that species. Its physique was close to four meters tall. The mythical creature, who was generally humanoid in shape, looked at him arrogantly.

Yoon-seok also had a smile around his mouth.

“So there are two bugs.”

“The reward has increased into two.”

b Predation} was a Unique Skill that maximizes efficiency with stronger enemies. Excluding Yoon-seok, this species of mythical creatures were the strongest beings in this trial.

‘Enhanced Speed.’

Yoon-seok expressed his power and stood in front of the creature. He looked quite surprised, as if it was his first time experiencing this.

There was another surprise left in store, however. Yoon-seok smiled and waved his hand instead of a sword.

And..

Slap!

The moment his left-hand hits the devil’s cheek.

「A duel has been established.」

「Get ready. The duel will begin soon.」

The two opened their eyes in a new place, not in the woods. It was in the middle of an arena Yoon-seok was ever familiar with.