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‘It’s over!’
Snoc placed his hands on his knees and felt relieved. A refreshing air that contrasted the suffocating atmosphere inside the mine softly caressed his body. He couldn’t have felt happier to see the silverish moon or hear the chirps of nameless bugs outside.
“You have done well.”
With those careless words, Drew left and went down the mountain by himself. Drew let out an aura like he didn’t want to talk, so Snoc didn’t say anything and absentmindedly watched as Drew disappeared out of view.
“…Ow.”
He felt pain all over his bruised and wounded body. Snoc sat down and touched his injured areas.
Koo?
“Huh?”
It was a familiar cry.
Snoc stopped paying attention to the mole when he tried to focus on his mana control, so he didn’t realize that the mole had followed him outside of the mine.
“What? You followed me all the way here?”
He tried placing his hand on the mole’s face. Most moles would have scrambled away at a human’s hand, but this one rubbed his face on Snoc’s hand.
“You don’t have a family?”
Koo.
“Are you alone?”
Koo.
He continued to talk to the beast who probably couldn’t even understand him. The mole let out a small cry after every sentence, but Snoc didn’t think that the animal was answering him. However, he had to admit that the mole was adorable. The mole that had no family and clung to a stranger also reminded him of himself.
“Do you want to come with me?”
Snoc stopped patting the mole; he turned his hand and placed it in front of the mole’s feet. The mole poked the edge of his finger with his nose. Then, he crawled onto Snoc’s hand.
“Haha! Oh, you must have wanted to come with me!”
He felt a small amount of warmth in his hands. Snoc’s body was all bruised up, but at that moment, he didn’t feel any pain. He hugged the mole tightly to his chest, and the mole, which poked his head out from the edge of Snoc’s shirt, sniffed around and situated himself in a comfortable spot.
“What should I call you?”
While tightly hugging his unexpected, new family member, Snoc went down the mine.
* * *
There wasn’t a human presence in the mine, and a dreary silence encompassed the area. It was late, so the site’s empty appearance was typical for its time. But soon after, the silence broke and a figure came into view. Surprisingly, it was Drew, who had left Snoc to go down the mine alone. He stared at the path that Snoc had taken and said, “It’s going all according to plan.”
His low tone sounded evil like a demon reciting his wicked plans.
“Are you satisfied now?”
Who was he talking to? Drew looked strange while talking to himself in an empty mine.
“Yes.”
He heard an answer inside the mine that was completely covered in darkness. A figure came out of the darkness and appeared into view. Anyone who saw the figure would probably have the same thought: ‘He looks suspicious.’
The person didn’t have a distinct characteristic or feature; he wore a dull, dark robe that made his face and physique look like a sack. Only his low voice indicated that the person was a man. Inside his robe that seemed to signify darkness, the man spoke to Drew.
“Thank you for your work. As expected of Drew, who is famous even among the adventurers. Your talents are outstanding—”
“Get to the point.”
Drew spat on the ground; he didn’t seem happy about the compliments aimed towards him.
“I don’t want to hear your heartless flattery. I know you don’t even think that. I know more about adventurers than anyone else.”
They were morally ambiguous humans, right on the border of becoming bandits or thugs; and among them, Drew was the worst type of person. Of course, Drew didn’t feel guilty about this. If he did, he wouldn’t have fallen this low.
“I just want one thing.”
He reached out his hand.
“Money.”
It was the absolute truth that moved and would always motivate Drew.
“Don’t tell me that you can’t give me the money right now. I won’t accept that kind of bullshit.”
Bloodlust pierced the robed man’s back. This intention displayed how obsessed Drew was about money.
“Of course. I truly meant my compliments about your skills. And it’s not like I won’t give you what I promised.”
The man rummaged through his belongings and took out a pouch. It looked very full and heavy.
“Take it.”
Drew caught the pouch. As soon as he opened it, he heard a loud clink! With just the dim moonlight, bountiful gold coins showed off their brilliant light. Most people would have stared at the scene in awe, but Drew didn’t do that. Since he had been an adventurer for a long time, he knew not to let his guard down.
“Wait.”
Drew increased his distance between him and the robed man. Then, he placed one of his knees on the ground and began to count each gold coin. He didn’t forget to check the man’s movements from time to time.
“…It’s right.”
After counting the last gold coin, Drew pulled the pouch strings and sealed it.
“You didn’t believe me?”
“So, are you disappointed?”
“Not at all. Trusting a totally suspicious person like me is foolish rather than kind. As expected of you.”
Why was it? No matter how many times he heard it, the robed man’s words didn’t feel like compliments but mockery to Drew. Yet, Drew didn’t pick a fight for a reason like that. Since the man gave him a fortune for a small deed, (even with the worst personality ever) Drew didn’t hold malice towards the man but just wariness.
“Anyways, I guess you don’t have any more reasons to hang around that gullible fool who admires adventurers. Do you plan to continue your act as a teacher?” the man asked.
Drew sneered, “Why would I hang out with that trash?”
“Oh, dear. Didn’t you at least bond with him a little?”
“He’s thickheaded. You can just tell by how long it took him to just open up his mana. If I have to keep looking after him, I might kill him out of annoyance.”
“Not because he has talent?”
Drew glared at the man.
“Ah, oh my. I was joking. I just thought that you might have not wanted to take him in as a disciple because you are jealous of his talent.”
“…Hmph! I will admit that his mana is rare.”
Drew was shocked when he first tried to free up Snoc’s mana.
“But the rarer the mana is, the more restrictions there are. I am not so lacking to be jealous of that much.”
“I see. I beg your pardon.”
The robed man bowed to his waist, but his slow movements made Drew feel even more unpleasant. Drew didn’t want to talk to the man any longer, and he turned around without a farewell.
“Thank you for your help. If something comes up again, I will search for you.”
Drew heard the man’s voice from behind, but he ignored it.
* * *
On the day they were resting after fighting monsters, an incident occurred. Zich was taking Hans out for some fresh air, and they were wandering around the marketplace to kill some time.
They saw a person run across the road while panting and gasping. The man looked alarmed as sweat dripped down from him, and his breathing was rough. As the man got closer to them, Zich and Hans slightly moved to the side to get out of his way. The running man was about to pass them when his eyes met Zich’s.
“Ah!”
The man suddenly stopped and approached Zich. Then he gripped Zich’s shoulders tightly.
“You were here! Thank goodness that I was able to find you!”
Was the man someone he knew? Zich scrutinized him.
‘Wait, he’s the miner who was with Sam.’
“Did something happen to Sam?”
That was the only reason why the man whom he had conversed once over some drinks would look so urgently for him. Zich’s guess was spot-on.
“Yes! Sam ran to the Monster Exterminator Building first thing in the morning! He said he had to place a complaint on the guy who taught Snoc!”
“That’s foolish of him.”
Complaints didn’t work on people like adventurers. Unless one possessed military might, wealth, or authority, adventurers would wield violence towards a person even if they were in the wrong.
“You didn’t try to stop him?”
“I did! But he didn’t listen to me! They really are brothers! Like Snoc, Sam is so stubborn once he puts his mind on something!”
“But what is the complaint about?”
“It seems like the guy threw away Snoc!”
“Are you saying that the adventurer isn’t keeping Snoc as his disciple anymore?”
“Yes!”
“Isn’t that good? I thought Sam didn’t like the idea of Snoc becoming an adventurer.”
“I don’t know what that guy said when kicking Snoc out, but Snoc shut himself inside his house. It also seems like that guy took all of Snoc’s savings while acting as his teacher! And that bastard won’t give it back!”
That was possible. It wasn’t surprising that an adventurer would commit fraud.
“Because of that, Sam blew up and ran out!”
“So, you came to ask for my help?”
“Yes, aren’t you also strong enough to exterminate monsters? I thought you would at least be better than us, so I have been searching for you everywhere!”
It was by pure luck that the man found Zich and Hans.
“Please! Didn’t you say that you were Sam’s friend? I am so worried that something might happen to him!”
Zich became lost in thought. He would have simply ignored the matter if the person involved was a complete stranger. However, while he was in the city, he had maintained a considerably close relationship with Sam.
‘He is my friend, and I told him that I would avenge him if something happened to him. I also think that this is within the boundaries of a kind act too.”
“I understand. I will go.”
At Zich’s answer, the miner’s expression brightened up.
* * *
Zich, Hans, and the man who introduced himself as Crysin ran to the Monster Exterminator Building. It was unlikely for Sam and Drew to meet each other. Even if Sam came to the place in rage, Drew didn’t live or work in the Monster Exterminator Building. The building was simply a place where people got money in exchange for monsters. However, like the saying, ‘If you are lucky, you could get struck by lightning even under a clear sky and crack a nose from the fall,’ an incident occurred.
“Ah, hey! You came right on time!”
After running out of the building, Paul Chenu spotted Zich and rejoiced.
“Priest! Please call a priest!”
“What happened?”
“A person might die at this rate!”
Zich’s expression hardened. He pushed Paul Chenu aside and went inside the store. After he opened the door and went inside, he caught a faint waft of blood. That wasn’t strange. In a place full of monster corpses, there would always be a thick smell of blood. However, this smell wasn’t from a monster.
“…Sam.”
In the middle of the venue, Sam was lying on the floor. He was in a dire state: his bloody face was so swollen that his features were ruined beyond recognition. His nose was flattened so that it whistled every time he took a breath, and half of his teeth were gone. His right arm and left leg were twisted in strange directions, and after lifting his top up, Zich saw that there were bruises all over his body.
‘His ribs are probably broken.’
“Sam! W-What happened!”
Crysin ran to Sam’s side in a hurry. He was hesitant to place his hand on Sam’s body. Sam’s body looked like such a mess that Crysin thought he might worsen the wounds by mistake.
“Hans.”
“Yes!” Hans answered, feeling nervous. He also thought that the situation was serious.
“Go to our quarters right now. There are potions in my bag. Bring me the whole bag.”
“Yes!”
Hans disappeared like an arrow; his movements were extremely fast with the use of mana.
“P-Potions? Such a valuable thing?”
Crysin and even Paul Chenu, who stayed quiet, were surprised.
“They’re not that valuable to me, so it doesn’t matter. Anyways, is Drew the one who made Sam like this?”
“Ah, yes,” Paul Chenu answered. “He came into the store enraged, saying he had something to settle with Drew. I told him to go to the Magistrate instead since I knew what adventurers were like, especially guys like Drew. Even though he was emotional, I could still talk sense into him. After I kept persuading him, he understood and was about to leave. So, I thought the matter was resolved until…”
“That bastard came in.”
After it was confirmed that Drew was the perpetrator, Zich immediately used the title, ‘bastard’ to describe Drew. Paul Chenu didn’t deny it since he also thought that Drew was definitely a bastard.
“His ears must be sharp because he knew the situation before he came into the building. I tried to let this man go, but Drew provoked him first.”
“What did he say?”
“Because of everything that went on, I don’t remember exactly what he said but it went something like this, ‘I just gave a piece of trash a taste of a hopeless dream. Rather than getting insulted, I should be thanked. Considering what I did, I should have gotten more than the pocket change I got from that piece of trash. I actually suffered a loss.”
The ‘piece of trash’ must have meant Snoc, and in short, Drew claimed he didn’t do anything wrong.
“Hm. Is that so?”
Unexpectedly, Zich’s voice was indifferent. Paul Chenu, who thought Zich would jump up and down in anger, tilted his head in surprise. He could also spot the slightly upturned corners on Zich’s lips. If they had known Zich in his Demon Lord days, they would have definitely gotten on their knees or ran away with everything they had.
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know. He just left after making someone like this.” Paul Chenu complained, “I know how bad adventurers’ personalities are, but how can they leave a person in this state!”
Paul Chenu possessed common sense like normal people, but to Zich, this amount of violence was nothing to fuss over. Although Sam’s body was broken, it wasn’t like he was split into two, and he was still alive. The important part was not the level of the violence, but who the target was.
‘He dared to attack a person who I consider my friend?’
With this, the story changed; it made Zich highly involved in this case. Before his regression, Zich would have picked fights for any reason, but things were different now.
‘Moreover, isn’t he a bad guy?’
He conned somebody, took someone’s fortune, and used violence on the person who tried to bring forth a complaint about him.
“In other words, it means that even if I beat him half-dead, I won’t be doing a bad deed.’
‘Beat him half-dead.’
An icy smile appeared on his lips.