59 – I Will Carry – 4

157.

This was the number of werewolves the self-heal party had hunted while accompanying Gin for a mere hour.

Of course, the monsters were only of Rare rank at best, and since the party had been composed from the beginning of skilled people capable of supporting Gi-jun, they did not struggle or grow tired from just this.

No, on the contrary.

“Um, everyone, by any chance, do you have any wounds…?”

“None.”

“Thank you for your concern, but I am perfectly fine, lady.”

“Hmm.”

Unfortunately for the priestess who was struggling to fulfill her role as the healer, the party did not receive even a single scratch while dealing with the werewolves.

Just as Laura was sending a slightly resentful look toward In, who rolled up his sleeves to show he was perfectly fine while nodding reassuringly,

“Ah, I think I’m hurt!”

“Really?! Please show me the wound!”

He thought it was a bit strange to brighten up and rejoice at the news of a party member being hurt,

As Gi-jun watched blankly with such thoughts, Armilka, the only member who claimed to be hurt, pouted her lips at Laura and spoke.

“I think my lips are hurt here. If our Lau—ra gives me just one kiss, it will be completely healed—”

“Kyaah?!”

Fortunately, before Gi-jun could step forward, In hid Laura behind his back.

With his face hardened, he glared at Armilka and warned her.

“If you do that one more time, I will report it to the guild.”

“It was just a light—hearted joke…”

“Excessive contact without asking for the subject’s consent is sexual harassment—in other words, a crime.”

The moment Gi-jun spoke flatly while looking at the grumbling Armilka, the eyes of the party members gathered on him for some reason.

“What?”

“It’s just unexpected. You are quite delicate, Jun.”

“I didn’t know you could speak like that, Leader.”

“…You all are very rude.”

Conan, the muscular barbarian warrior created by the American novelist Robert E. Howard, who pioneered heroic fantasy, left behind a famous quote: ‘Civilized men are ruder than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their heads split.’

If so, shouldn’t Gi-jun become a savage in Conan’s place and split their heads, if only to instill manners in them?

‘Conan, the great and wise barbarian. Please give me the wisdom and courage to educate these civilized people…’

However, just before Gi-jun’s holy Moonlight Blood Fangs could split the civilized men’s heads to instill manners, Gin, who was walking ahead, spoke in a low voice.

“We are almost there. Just a little further is the village where I live. Please just follow behind me.”

“Oh, but how has that village managed to remain safe until—ah.”

Herbent, who could never tolerate curiosity, stopped questioning mid-sentence and let out an exclamation.

Amidst the thick fog, the mist parted only along the path where Gin walked.

“A special barrier…”

“Hurry and follow me. It will get annoying if those guys spot us.”

“What happens if we stray from the path?”

“You’ll wander in the fog and fall into a trap. This ruin isn’t originally where we lived, so there are many brutal, notorious traps from long ago. Please be careful.”

Armilka, who had been about to stealthily stretch her foot beyond the fog, quietly withdrew it upon hearing those words.

Laura, perhaps frightened by Gin’s words, quietly closed the distance with Gi-jun and grabbed the hem of the cloak he wore over his armor.

“Lau—ra, don’t do that, come to your big sister’s side.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Ah, I got rejected…”

As Armilka hung her head as if genuinely depressed and pulled out a new piece of chocolate, Herbent spoke, dumbfounded.

“Do you happen to know the word ‘karma’?”

“I know the phrase ‘mind your own business’ though.”

“Then you must also know the phrase ‘taking it out on the wrong person’?”

“Do you know… the phrase ‘I’ll kill you’…?”

Ignoring the two growling at each other, they walked through the fog and finally arrived at the village.

It was a structure where trees grew densely all around, almost completely blocking out the moonlight, and the fog enveloping the entire area acted as a further barrier, filtering the moonlight twice.

In that small village dominated by darkness, there were a few houses, and those who looked like ordinary humans had been out, but upon spotting Gin, they approached him with delight.

“You’re safe, Gin! …But who are the people behind you?”

“They are the ones who rescued me. They said they would cooperate in our research to become human…”

“What?!”

Hearing Gin’s words, a woman was startled and thumped him hard on his back.

Even though she looked like a human, she was still a werewolf, so her strength was no joke, producing a sound powerful enough to make the listeners feel the pain.

“Ouch, that hurts! Auntie!”

“Not only did you bring in outsiders, how could you say that! What if they were sent by the Vrykolakas! Ugh, seriously, you’re so naive, just like your father—”

“The leader of the Vrykolakas, Chort, is a fucking mutt!”

Suddenly, Armilka shouted.

While Gi-jun tilted his head at the name that sounded familiar, all the villagers, including the woman who had been hitting Gin, froze on the spot—

Only Armilka poured out words with a calm expression.

“That bastard claiming to be the son of death is actually a liar who has never even looked Chernobog in the face, and though they call him Koschei the immortal, in reality, he is just an ignorant wolf cub who doesn’t even know how to use basic magic!”

“S-stop…”

“Should I go on? The chief who dragged you all here, Quinodon? I’ve never even heard that bastard’s name! It wasn’t given by his master, but rather a name he chose himself, right? A self-given name can only contain one’s own power. That bastard is just an idiot playing king in this narrow prison, not even knowing he’s a prisoner!”

Listening as if possessed to Armilka’s words, which flowed like some kind of diss rap, Gi-jun suddenly realized.

Chort was the name of a demon in Slavic mythology that symbolized ‘doom’ or ‘predestined evil.’

Chernobog was Chort’s father, the ‘black god’ who symbolized all sorts of negative things such as darkness, destruction, and death.

Koschei the Deathless was a famous immortal in Russian folklore, well-known for the tale that he would never die because he hid his soul in the eye of a needle.

In essence, he was like the progenitor of liches, who kept their souls stored in a life vessel.

‘Starting from the Vrykolakas to the Kudlak, in the end, it was all stories from the Slavic culture. It’s interesting how they talk about cultures and legends from various parts of Earth as if they actually existed in other worlds…’

Perhaps, even before the one million heroes were summoned to the tutorial, Earth had already possessed points of contact with other worlds.

While Gi-jun nodded, convinced of his own thoughts, Armilka narrowed her eyes and asked the villagers.

“Is this still not enough? Can you still not tell friend from foe?”

“No, it’s fine. We believe you…”

Whether they still feared Chort even after escaping from the Vrykolakas, the villagers, whose foreheads were beads of cold sweat, hurriedly ushered them inside.

As if her claim of being a werewolf expert was not nonsense, Armilka, who had instantly gained the villagers’ trust, looked back at the party and calmly made a V-sign.

The group silently responded by raising their thumbs.

“But even if we talk about research, in truth, Gin is the only one who has seen even a slight effect from our studies…”

“On our way here, we met quite a few bastards targeting him.”

This time, Gi-jun stepped forward.

“We can protect him. If there are items needed for the research, we can also obtain them for you. In exchange, I want detailed information about these ruins.”

“And the research content too!”

At Armilka’s addition, the villagers seemed to hesitate for a moment, but they eventually nodded and accepted the proposal.

“But we are really just helping out a little. Most of the research is handled by Gin’s parents. That person… Gin’s father is the expert.”

“Instead, as for the information on the ruins, we will quickly organize and deliver it to you.”

“Ow, ow, ow… Then everyone, I will guide you to our house!”

Gin stroked his painful back, which had been beaten, with a crying face, but he still led them to his home. As expected, it was the largest house in this small village.

“Gin!”

Gin and a young woman who looked to be around the same age greeted them, dropping a giant axe she held in her hand onto the floor.

The dropped axe dug deep into the earth with a thudding sound. Seeing the blade flash uniquely white, silver had likely been used.

Watching that, Gi-jun quietly asked Herbent.

“Do werewolves normally use silver well?”

“Just holding it will cause internal injuries at every moment. It will also interfere with their recovery power, so… it must be painful.”

At that rate, it was no different from a cursed weapon.

It meant they were filled with enough vigilance and hostility toward their fellow werewolves to bear such pain.

“Mom!”

Indeed. As he had roughly expected since seeing the uniquely young-looking villagers, she was not Gin’s older or younger sister, but his mother.

Gin, who shouted happily upon seeing her, rushed to her side, pulled the silver axe out of the floor, and threw it far away.

“Don’t overdo it, Mom. You can’t even endure silver well.”

“There’s no problem as long as I can chop the enemy to death before I die.”

After hugging Gin and patting him a few times while saying such chilling words, she wore an expression full of vigilance as she looked at Gi-jun’s party.

“So… who are you all?”

“I didn’t expect to explain this twice.”

“Ah, I’ll do it!”

As Gin explained everything that had happened from the moment he met the self-heal party until now, Gin’s mother bowed her head to thank them for saving her son, but she still maintained a wary expression.

“Why do you covet a research result that merely allowed a werewolf to withstand silver? It won’t be of much help. Moreover, to say you will even help with the research… I cannot bring myself to believe it when outsiders suddenly appear and say such things…”

“Because it’s profitable—mpfh!”

“You misunderstand, ma’am. Privately, this research will help your future, and publicly, it can be of great help to the entire Light Faction. Let me explain simply.”

Herbent, who stepped forward after lightly shoving Armilka aside, explained.

“Think about when you come out of the ruins.”

“Pardon? That is…”

“As Vrykolakas, you will certainly not be accepted by countries belonging to the Light Faction. However, the research records to become human will serve as proof to convince the Light Faction in and of itself.”

“Of course, even then it will be difficult,” Herbent added, mixing in a realistic note, and continued speaking with a serious expression.

“However, if the research progresses further and makes it possible to restore to human form not only your son but also other innocent victims who were simply unfortunate enough to fall into the Vrykolakas’ clutches—that would be a grand achievement for the entire Light Faction to cheer for. You will become heroes.”

For someone who had reacted skeptically at first, the heat in Herbent’s voice was unusual.

Furthermore, the content was so logical and persuasive that even Gi-jun, who had vaguely thought it would be nice to just resolve a quest in the ruins, felt like he was being made into a fool along with them.

“It’s just a delusion. Of course, we started the research with that purpose at first, but in the end, it only drove our son into an even more painful situation…”

“We won’t know until we try. Ma’am, what you and your husband have achieved is already amazing enough. I have no doubt that your efforts will someday bear even greater fruit.”

When Herbent paid his respects in a polite voice, the lady coughed in embarrassment.

Gi-jun looked at Herbent and thought.

‘Is this guy, perhaps, right now…?’

Whether Gi-jun doubted Herbent’s true intentions or not, his sincere persuasion seemed to have worked, and she eventually nodded.

“For us to go outside again… we don’t even dream of such a thing, but…”

Looking back at Gin, she spoke with a hardened expression.

“I want to show Gin the bright sky, the sun, someday. If the probability of that increases even a little… I beg of you, everyone.”

“Mom…”

“What did you do so well to make that kind of face?”

“Ouch!”

“Now, everyone, please come inside.”

Having struck her son’s back for no reason, she finally welcomed the group inside with open arms.

As soon as they entered the house, they saw a man as massive as a mountain sitting at the living room table.

Wearing thick gloves on both hands, he was carefully loading slug rounds thicker than a thumb into a triple-barrel shotgun.

Instead of rifling in the barrels, the rifling seemed to be engraved on the bullets to increase range and accuracy, and the bullet tips glowed pure white, indicating they were similarly plated with silver; above all, the structure of the gun and bullets was slightly different from what Gi-jun knew.

“—Of course they’re different, Contractor. Even if you’ve encountered such items in some civilization, that is a magic tool independently interpreted and created on this Leta continent.”

‘Ah, so it’s similar to a mana bomb.’

—Right! I wondered why I felt a familiar energy, but it seems that black mage made this one too.

‘Directly?’

—Directly.

That man, who appeared to be Gin’s father, and perhaps even the mother, might be deeply related to black mages.

If so, they would naturally possess deep knowledge and magical accomplishments, and only then did Gi-jun understand how research that might change the history of werewolves could be conducted in these ruins.

“Hmm…”

“Ah, a magic shotgun… an excellent means of communication.”

Gi-jun was simply marveling at the very cool weapon and the bullets made with the power of magic, but Armilka, who had been fooling around with thoughts of looking at the research materials, and Herbent, who had been speaking softly to the lady just a moment ago, grew quiet rapidly.

After all, they had no choice but to stay quiet when they imagined that if they were to accidentally provoke that man, those ridiculously large and heavy bullets might fly at them.

“Honey, Gin has returned safely!”

“Hmm?”

The wife’s voice shattered the icy atmosphere.

The man, who had been moving his hands carefully since any slight mistake could injure him, raised his head to check Gin, laid the shotgun down beside him, came over, and hugged Gin.

“I was worried, Gin.”

“Agh, Dad! Agh! I’m sorry!”

The man held his son tight so he could not escape and thumped his back hard several times.

Gi-jun was slightly concerned about whether Gin’s regenerative power would be able to heal his back after suffering that intense three-hit combo.

“Everyone, please come this way.”

The lady guided the group inside as they stared blankly at the scene.

Following behind, Gi-jun suddenly noticed a bitter smile on Herbent’s lips and instinctively opened his mouth to ask.

“Are you alright?”

“Are you worrying about me? Thank you, but it is nothing.”

Herbent smiled as he wiped the bitter look from his lips, and after checking to make sure the others were not listening, he whispered secretly into Gi-jun’s ear.

“However, please remember my words, Jun. A possibility is merely a possibility, so you must not grow too attached to the people here. We came here to conquer this ruin.”

“…”

Unlike his passionate persuasion of the lady just a few minutes ago, his voice was now coldly subdued.

Gi-jun felt as if Herbent was trying to resign himself.

No doubt, he too had gone through various ups and downs that Gi-jun could not know of.

“Herbent, you…”

“Yes, Jun. What is it?”

Facing Herbent, who wore a sly expression as if the conversation they just had had never occurred, Gi-jun swallowed the question that was about to burst out of him.

Just how much did he know before entering this ruin?

Even though he would have no choice but to change his attitude toward him depending on the extent of that knowledge,

For some reason, he could not ask it right now.