Chapter 8

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Translated by Sylph

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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‘Daughter. Last time Daddy said he was a super, super strong holy knight, right.’

‘Mm-hm!’

‘Actually, Daddy used to have as many as twenty subordinates too.’

‘Eh……? That’s not very many.’

‘It is many! Twenty super-strong subordinates are way better than a hundred weak subordinates, you know?’

‘Then were all Daddy’s subordinates legendary rank? Like legendary Tanipang?’

At that time, Daddy stared at Tie, then burst out laughing and said,

‘Of course, they were all really strong. The person closest to Daddy among them was Hammer Mister.’

Hammer Mister.

That person who had lost his family in an accident in his hometown, Banana Village, and then became Daddy’s subordinate after living alone like a wanderer!

Tie looked at Basto in disbelief.

‘To think Mister Basto was Hammer Mister.’

The fact that he had come from Banana Village.

That he used a hammer as tall as himself, that he was strong, and that he had a lot of beard,

‘After reducing your family to that state……’

And lastly, that his family was no longer by his side, it was all the same.

Tie hurried back to her original seat.

Then she started sipping her chocolate again as if nothing had happened.

Mister Basto and the grandfather tilted their heads, but soon went back to talking.

‘Tie met Mister Basto first.’

Tie looked at the two of them over her cup.

Was this what Kkamangi had meant when he said they had gone back to the past.

To think Tie would discover someone who would later become Daddy’s subordinate first!

At the same time, he felt sorry that he had misunderstood Mister Basto.

‘Mister Basto had been a good person from the start……’

Tie remembered Hammer Mister’s story clearly.

In fact, ever since crossing into this world, it felt as though memories of the past were becoming even more vivid instead.

‘Hammer Mister wasn’t originally Daddy’s subordinate. He was the vice-captain of a mercenary company called Death Hound.’

‘Deth Hound?’

‘It means death doggy.’

‘Death doggy……!’

The Death Hound Mercenary Company was a mercenary company based in Banana Village.

Its commander was Karl, and its vice-captain was Hammer Mister.

She remembered how she and Daddy had laughed and laughed, saying what kind of people’s names were Hammer and Karl.

‘But daughter. Hammer Mister was a good person, but Karl wasn’t? Hammer Mister’s family died because of Karl.’

‘Gasp…… why?’

‘Because Karl worked Hammer Mister to the bone all the time. He stayed in Banana Village and rested, while he told Hammer Mister to go out and destroy the surrounding magic stones. Every single day.’

Hammer Mister and Karl had been close friends before they were vice-captain and commander.

So Hammer Mister did not refuse Karl’s request.

Instead, he asked Karl for just one thing.

‘It seems he asked him to look after his wife and daughter in Banana Village. Because he didn’t know what might happen while he was away from the village.’

‘Karl said he’d do that?’

‘Of course. He said not to worry about the wife and daughter and just go. Hammer Mister believed those words.’

But one day, when he returned to the village after finishing a mission.

The village had been devastated.

Inside a house that had turned to ashes, Basto found them.

His wife and daughter, who had left for heaven while holding each other tightly.

‘Tie. If we ever get to go back home later, you absolutely have to remember this. Sometimes there are days when monsters move around during the day too.’

‘Mm-hm. Daddy told me.’

‘It just so happened that that day came while Hammer Mister was away on a mission too.’

That day, the peaceful Banana Village turned into chaos in an instant.

The people who had barely survived the monsters went to find Karl.

Because he was, in his own way, the commander of the mercenary company that protected the village.

But Karl had been drunk out of his mind since broad daylight.

‘They said that bastard told the villagers this. To go back home and wait quietly for now. Then after he looked at the situation, he’d evacuate them.’

‘And then……?’

‘Everybody went back to their homes. All of them expecting that Karl would come eventually. Hammer Mister’s wife and daughter were among them too.’

‘H-how……’

But Karl did not come back.

He simply stole the few horses there were and fled Banana Village with his subordinates.

As time passed, the monsters began finding the people in hiding.

And so everybody died.

Horribly and cruelly.

Hammer Mister made a grave for his wife and daughter at one edge of the ruined village.

Then he vanished into the forest as if disappearing into thin air.

After that, he began conquering magic stones alone.

They said that whenever he survived a brush with death, rather than feeling relief, he blamed himself.

This time, he could have followed his family.

This time, he could have met his beloved wife and daughter.

Even in the meantime, Karl kept tormenting him stubbornly.

Brazenly, Karl followed him around and told him to come back to Death Hound.

But when he was repeatedly refused, he gave money to wicked holy knights and had Mister’s identification card erased.

‘Gasp, come to think of it……’

He remembered Mister Basto’s mercenary identification number that had supposedly disappeared.

And also what the knight guarding the entrance to the imperial capital had said about Death Hound and Karl Warben.

Tie pursed even her lips as she racked her memory.

What did Daddy say happened after that?

Daddy had definitely told her.

‘Then did Hammer Mister get his identification card back?’

‘No, he didn’t. They said Karl was such an evil and meticulous bastard that revenge was difficult. If you don’t have an identification card, you can’t get into the imperial capital. Karl had also spread false rumors about Hammer Mister, so he couldn’t get another identification card either. But then.’

‘But then……?’

‘After suffering for a few months, he met this Daddy.’

Tie’s eyes grew wide.

Right, Daddy had definitely said that.

‘At the time, Daddy was basically an up-and-coming star, you know? With his super-strong power, he could very quickly get Hammer Mister a new identification card.’

‘Wow! By making him a subordinate?’

‘Of course. This means Daddy was number one in the whole continental ranking back then.’

‘Do holy knights have rankings too?’

‘Huh? Uh, well…… yes.’

Daddy.

If he found Daddy, he could get Mister Basto’s mercenary identification number.

Then they would be able to enter the imperial capital too.

But there was a problem.

That Daddy was currently inside the imperial capital.

In other words, it was a situation where neither this nor that could be done!

Fidgeting, Tie set down the chocolate cup.

It seemed like she needed to think carefully about how to solve this situation.

* * *

The next day.

Tie went to the refugee market following the inn’s owner grandmother.

The market was crowded with people, just like the markets she had seen in the Republic of Korea.

Just one thing.

Except that flies and bugs swarmed over the stalls, and the people were very shabby.

“Hey.”

At that moment, one of the merchants grabbed Tie by the wrist without saying anything else.

“Won’t you have a piece of candy? It costs only 20 iron each. Hmm?”

The merchant’s eyes were fixed on the pink bag Tie was carrying.

“You little bastard! Let go right now!”

Her grip was so strong that if it had not been for the owner grandmother, who happened to see the scene right then, Tie would have been dragged off by the merchant helplessly.

Clicking her tongue, the grandmother firmly took hold of Tie’s hand.

“Child, stay right by granny. In a place like this, if you lose focus even for a moment, something terrible can happen.”

With a frightened face, Tie nodded.

When she timidly looked around, people with deathly dark faces were walking through the street.

Every last one of them had gloomy expressions, and their arms and legs were skin and bones.

“It’s because all the newly formed magic stones lately are large ones. The manpower to conquer the magic stones can’t keep up.”

Tie felt she could vaguely understand those words.

Large magic stones only produced scary and strong monsters.

So that was probably why there were this many refugees.

But the imperial capital only protected the rich……

“You crazy bitch!”

At that moment, a frightening voice sounded right in front of her.

Over the grandmother’s shoulder, two figures standing alone in the middle of the market came into view.

A fat man and a small, skinny girl.

“You dare put your hands on my wallet?! Do you know who I am!”

“What are you talking about! I already told you earlier! We only brushed against each other while passing by! Why would I put my hand on your wallet……!”

Smack-!

In an instant, the girl’s head was violently whipped to the side.