episode_0023

I looked at the montages she pulled out. Among the montages she handed out, not a single one was male. Most of them were young women.

“What is this?”

“These are missing people requested by the guild from villages around Kalita.”

“I see. But all the missing people are women… Did a mass kidnapping occur?”

“A mass kidnapping incident, how can you say such scary things…!”

“…”

“…Of the missing people, only women were taken out.”

“Yes.”

I looked through the montages one more time and put them together neatly. I handed it back to Orr.

“I’m sorry if I’m asking you to find someone.”

I turned away from her.

“Wait a minute! Just a little bit, just a little bit is all it takes! Please listen to the story!”

Orr desperately caught me as I was about to leave.

“I understand. What if it’s just a story…”

“Thank you! Then let me explain.”

Ahem. Orr cleared his throat slightly and started talking.

“Do you know how goblins are born, Mr. Yoosung?”

“They will be born through reproduction.”

“That’s right. They are born through reproduction. But you know what? The fact that female goblins do not exist!”

“Oh, I see.”

“…Your response is weaker than I expected. I thought it would be a little surprising.”

“Yes, well…”

It wasn’t particularly surprising because it was an obvious setup that I had seen many times somewhere. I could roughly predict what was going to happen next.

“The story goes that the goblins in the abandoned castle kidnapped the women pictured here. That’s why I’m asking a favor from someone who often goes to the abandoned castle.”

“Not all.”

Orr nodded his head furiously. I looked again at the montages I had neatly collected.

“What are the numbers written here?”

“Compensation. You can receive it if you find a missing person and bring them to the guild.”

“I see.”

The rewards listed in the montage ranged from 30 copper to 100, 300, and 500 copper. I looked at the high-reward montage a little more carefully.

“By the way. The women of the villages around Kalita are ultimately residents of the territory who pay taxes, but in this case, shouldn’t the lord himself take action? He’s forming a punitive force…”

While watching the montage, I asked Or something I was curious about. She answered with a wry smile.

“In fact, the monsters living in the abandoned castle have already been subdued several times.”

“Yes? Then the goblins living now…”

“These are the newly established guys. Even if you subdue it, new monsters keep settling in, so at some point…”

This is a story about letting go.

It’s probably because the results aren’t comparable to the cost of setting up a punitive force. I understood it to some extent, but I couldn’t help but feel sorry for Young Ji-min.

After all, it is dangerous outside the city.

* * *

Blue Wolf Head Inn, 2nd floor, 5th room.

Cerys and Kara looked at each other. Kara said with a worried expression.

“Sister, are you really okay?”

“Are you okay? What do you mean?”

“Sister, I feel like I’m blaming myself a lot these days for not being able to kill the goblin. Today too, you didn’t say a word while looking at Yoosung oppa.”

Cerise’s eyes widened at Kara’s words and then she smiled kindly. I never thought there would come a day in my life when I would be worried about Kara.

It was strange, but it wasn’t a bad feeling. Rather, she loved and was grateful for her younger sister.

“Thank you for your concern. But you are mistaken. Have you ever noticed Yoosung?”

Cerise gently stroked Kara’s head. However, Kara’s next words made me tremble.

“But Yoosung oppa was also worried.”

“…Yuseong?”

The benevolent smile relaxed and the corners of the eyes trembled slightly. Kara didn’t miss that small change. I held my sister’s hand and asked her seriously.

“Sister, by any chance… did something happen with Yoosung oppa?”

“No, nothing happened. I’m just a little tired.”

“Don’t lie. Something happened.”

“That’s because I said no.”

Kara looked at Seris and made eye contact with her. He said, holding Ceris’ hand tightly.

“Did your brother confess to you?”

“Kara!”

Cerise shouted. Kara was startled and pulled back. Then this time Seris held Kara’s hand.

“Mi, I’m sorry, I was surprised, right? I shouldn’t have shouted, but you were embarrassed too… I’m sorry…”

Cerys, who shouted, actually became restless.

“Uh, yeah, it’s okay. So you’re saying you didn’t receive a confession?”

“That really never happened.”

“I see.”

thank god. Kara muttered very softly. She looked a little relieved.

“Kara?”

“It’s nothing. Rather, sister, I thought about it…”

Kara hesitated without speaking. What are you trying to say by taking such a long time? Seris waited until Kara spoke.

“Well, don’t you think she’s not suited for adventurers..?”

“…Huh?”

“You’re so kind that you can’t even kill goblins carelessly, right? I can see that he is having a hard time because of that.”

“Kara That’s…”

“So, why don’t you quit being an adventurer now?”

“…What?”

Seris was greatly shocked by Kara’s words. Last time she declared that she wanted to become independent, but now she’s telling her to quit being an adventurer. Do I really want to be separated from my sister?

Cerys Whether she was shocked or not, Kara continued talking.

“What can I say, you didn’t become an adventurer because you wanted to? Just because my brother and I were doing it, it feels like we just happened to do it… It’s better than suffering by doing something that doesn’t suit our inclinations…”

“Kara.”

“…Huh?”

“Unni will continue to be an adventurer. I have no intention of quitting.”

Seris said firmly.

Kara couldn’t say anything more due to that firm attitude. I just nodded.

“Ugh, yes. I understand.”

“I have to go early tomorrow morning too, so I’ll go to bed first.”

“Okay. Sleep well, sister.”

“Kara, you too.”

Cerise lay down on the bed.

The night deepened, but she tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.

* * *

-Let’s take it slow. Because there’s no need to rush.

-are you okay. I’ll be able to do it someday.

-Are you hurt anywhere?

The words that Yooseong comforted Seris every time she failed to kill a goblin.

They were all kind words.

Every time Ceris heard those kind words, her heart warmed, but at the same time, she was afraid.

I’m afraid those kind words will one day turn cold.

‘Why is Mr. Yoosung helping us…’

If you think about it, Yoosung was friendly to them from the moment he met them. Not only that, but he even took risks to save them.

How heartbreaking it was to see blood dripping from his torn clothes on the mountains around the village.

During Alvis, how sorry I felt when I saw Yoosung’s trembling hands.

Whenever Cerise tried to pay off even a little bit of the debt, he always waved his hand. He said he did it because he wanted to do it.

His unconditional favor.

It put Cerise’s mind at ease, but it also made her anxious.

‘Because Yoosung is not family…’

Seris has already experienced unconditional favor once before. Right from her adoptive parents. Although she was happy at the time, she was never anxious.

The difference between his adoptive parents and Yoosung was whether they were family or not.

‘I don’t know anything about Yoosung.’

All she knows about him is his name, Han Yu-seong. I don’t know anything about his past, his likes, his dislikes, anything.

Even if you ask, they won’t tell you.

It felt like building a wall, and it worsened Cerise’s anxiety.

‘It would be better if Yoosung liked me like Kara said…’

But she knows.

The fact that Yoosung does not see himself as the opposite sex.

Sometimes he stared at her.

However, his gaze was fundamentally different from that of Lian and other village men. It wasn’t sticky and, above all, it wasn’t unpleasant.

“Ugh…what should I do…”

How should I act so that Yoosung doesn’t leave them and stays with them?

Cerise covered her face with a pillow and thought about it. But nothing came to mind. I turned my head. I saw chain armor shining softly in the moonlight.

A whopping 20 silver armor that Yoosung gave her to use in a dangerous role.

Looking at the armor, she made a decision.

“Tomorrow, definitely..!”

Let’s kill the goblin first.

* * *

“Good morning!”

Seris spoke in a fighting voice. It was a completely different attitude from yesterday, when he was stuck in the inn with his shoulders slumped.

But I couldn’t rest assured. Because she’s like that every morning. If I don’t kill the goblin again, I’m sure a lot of people will die.

“Good morning. Did you sleep well?”

“Yes! I slept well and I think I can do it today!”

“Yes, I will definitely be able to do it today. But why does Kara look like that? Didn’t you sleep well?”

Kara, standing next to Seris, looked a little sullen. When I asked, she smiled brightly as if she had never done that before.

“No, I slept well! Then let’s go catch goblins today too!”

We headed to the abandoned castle like any other day. Arriving near the abandoned castle, I wondered where I would settle down today.

If you stay on one side, you run the risk of being noticed, no matter how much of a goblin you are. I had to go to a different place than yesterday.

‘I waited near the scar goblin yesterday, so today I’ll go toward the bald goblin.’

In order to hunt the bald goblins, you had to turn right from the castle gate. I went through the forest, found a place with thick bushes, and hid.

From what I felt, roughly 5 hours had passed. The goblins did not appear.

“It seems like it doesn’t come up much these days…”

Kara, who was watching, complained.

“It’s because we’ve killed too many people.”

The number of goblins we caught in one week was over 40. At this point, no matter how stupid the goblins are, they will be reluctant to go outside.

‘Should I soon stop hunting goblins?’

The reason I started hunting goblins in the abandoned castle was to prove my skills. And I’ve had enough of that over the past week.

The receptionist also said that this was enough. I was rather surprised because I didn’t know he would do it this much.

Nevertheless, the reason I’m doing this here now is just to increase Sister Cerise’s experience. In addition, I also get karma.

‘I wanted to finish it after Seris killed the goblin.’

There is nothing you can do if you hide like this. There is no choice but to postpone Cerise’s first killing until later.

‘What kind of request should I receive?’

If possible, I should get something that will give me as much karma as possible.

Currently my remaining karma is 133

The price of the skill I want to purchase is 200 karma.

67 Karma is not enough.

To fulfill that karma, you need to kill about 40 goblins alone.

I can’t help but sigh. Still, there is hope.

‘Right now, the speed of earning karma is slow, but it will improve a lot later when we get back on track.’

After you become strong enough, you can collect karma by robbing goblin dens. Until then, it’s just a little hardship.

“Huh? It’s finally here!”

Kara’s voice rose slightly, probably because she was happy about her first discovery in five hours. I stood next to Kara and looked at the goblin she had found.

“Let’s see. Huh?”

There were a total of five goblins that Kara found. They were sitting in a circle and talking.

‘Five is a bit much.’

Usually we only dealt with two or three. Because it was less dangerous.

However, if I just ignored it, I became concerned about the sack placed in the center of the goblins sitting in a circle. The sack kept moving as if something was struggling inside.

-town! Eup!!

A woman’s voice was heard from the sack.

“Uh…? Mr. Yoosung, could that be…?”

“…It’s Bossam”