episode_0118

After annihilating all the bandits.

I searched the arms of those whose heads were missing.

For a thief, they have pretty shiny faces and they make quite a lot of money.

It may not be a lot, but you should be able to cover enough travel expenses for about a week.

“What kind of woman’s panties is this guy carrying around? Are you a pervert?”

“Hey, over there!”

“Lady! You must not talk carelessly! He is dangerous enough to slaughter over 50 thieves alone.”

The soldier was talking about me as if I was great, but this incident was just a fluke.

If only the leader is killed, the bandits become a ragtag group and are reduced to wild animals that are easy to defeat.

There was no one who looked like a deputy chief or staff member, so they were easily defeated.

Of course, even if I explain it in such detail, they will be wary of me.

Because he was a murderer who killed over 50 people without hesitation.

“What kind of rude nonsense are you saying to your benefactor!”

“Hmm?”

“Even though we passed by without seeing him, he was a benefactor who stepped forward and helped us in an unusual situation! You’re pointing a knife at me when saying thank you isn’t enough? Are you crazy?”

“Sin, sorry! I’m just worried about the young lady’s safety… … !”

“I won’t listen to excuses! And the person you are apologizing to is wrong!”

“Yep! I sincerely apologize for showing rude language to my benefactor!”

“““““I apologize!”””””

All the soldiers who were watching me put their swords away, knelt down, and prostrated themselves in front of me.

It didn’t stop there, the woman who had tried to sacrifice herself also bowed down to me.

“On behalf of everyone here, I would like to apologize again.”

“It’s okay, I didn’t really care.”

When she was treated casually and informally, the soldiers flinched and tried to reach for their swords.

However, when Yeosik turned her head with wide eyes, they took their hands away from the sword.

‘That’s bold.’

Unlike other arrogant noble children, the woman in front of me had a straightforward personality.

A female leader who does not tolerate injustice and knows how to sacrifice herself.

I didn’t hate it, but it was also annoying and I didn’t want to get involved with it too much.

“And there’s no need to say thank you. Because I didn’t mean to help you for free.”

“I also believe that I cannot let you go without any compensation! If you just looked at the situation, you would know that I don’t have any money right now.”

“That’s okay. I was planning to send the compensation I received from this work to my family back home. I’ll tell you where to send it, so when you have money later, you can send it there. The amount is… … I believe they will take care of it and let it go.”

Sending less money means proving that the lives of oneself and the soldiers are light.

Since she was a thoughtful woman, I believed she would let me go without any regrets.

Anyway, since I was promised compensation, there was no reason to stay here any longer.

It was at that time when I turned my back and was about to leisurely leave.

“Now, please wait a moment!”

“Do you have any more business left?”

“It’s no different, it’s because I didn’t hear the name of the person who was my benefactor.”

“… … Do I need to tell you my name?”

“If you are sending a large sum of money to your family in your hometown, wouldn’t you feel uncomfortable receiving it if you don’t know who the sender is?”

What if it was a family obsessed with money? I would have accepted it, but my family was not that type of people.

This was the kind of family that worried about me first every time I sent money, and earnestly prayed for them to return to their hometown while farming and living safely.

However, farming was not enough to feed his parents and seven younger siblings.

So, I ignored my parents’ earnest requests and wandered the world, earning money through requests.

In the meantime, if a large sum of money is paid in an anonymous name, the parents will definitely refuse to accept it due to their nature.

I didn’t think there would be any trouble if I told them the name.

“Shin Seo-jin. Is that enough now?”

“You are Seojin. That’s a good name! By the way, my name is Hiyori!”

“There is no need to try to flatter. Because after today we will never meet again.”

“Well, no one knows that, right?”

“It’s a stupid question that’s not worth answering.”

I turned around and got out of there.

Behind the scenes, the soldiers were making fun of me, saying I was arrogant and had no manners.

However, looking at the fact that it quickly died down, it seemed like Hiori had calmed the commotion.

The person was truly genuine, but it was a shame that he didn’t match my personality.

***

“Hehe, hello! We met again?”

“Grunt… !”

Hiyori is smiling brightly while looking at me.

On the other hand, the eyes of the private soldiers who surrounded her to protect her were stinging.

There was a high probability of meeting them in the village that was their previous destination, so they took the trouble to come to the village across the street.

However, for some reason, the target of the escort request I received as soon as I arrived in the village was Hiyori.

“Didn’t you clearly say last time that you don’t have money? I have serious doubts about the client’s ability to pay remuneration?”

“There were funds left in the previous village! You don’t have to worry because you can pay whatever amount Seojin asks!”

“Even 100 gold coins?”

“Of course!”

Is this a bluff?

100 gold coins was enough to build a separate house in a village with good land and live off it for 10 years.

It is impossible for such a large amount of money to be in the hands of this elegant woman.

However, looking at the way he answered immediately, it felt strangely trustworthy.

“You look like you don’t believe it. Shall I take it out and show you?”

“That’s it. You will only feel a sense of relative deprivation.”

“… … Seojin is a unique person.”

“What?”

“If other men know my identity or my wealth of over 100 gold coins, they will try to seduce me somehow.”

“They are idiots who don’t know how to see reality. Idiots who have no intention of being pricked by a rose’s thorns.”

“Does that mean I am a rose?”

“Think whatever you want. Anyway, since I received the request, I will focus only on my work.”

After a brief meeting with the client, I got on the lead horse.

And then I promised myself not to look back.

I came to protect you, not to be your companion.

Anyway, that’s how our journey began.

‘Was it a secret operation at first?’

As many more private soldiers were added than when they first encountered it, the procession became incomparably larger.

It was easy to be discovered by other forces, but the probability of being targeted was low.

More than 100 warriors were deployed to protect one person.

Unless you’re a guy whose liver doesn’t come out of your stomach, you won’t be able to attack him easily.

Until the 6th day, it was very smooth as there were no attacks of any kind except wild animals.

But the long-awaited 7th day.

As I was passing through a quiet forest path, a bloody wind blew without any warning.

“Kaaak!”

Starting with the screams of the guards in the rear row, the cries of warriors were heard everywhere.

People who are dying even though there is no sign of them at all.

I realized that a skilled assassin was attacking me.

“Do not leave and stay in place! If you keep an eye on the enemy’s actions, you will be able to stop them!”

Unlike the guy who previously commanded the private soldiers, the new guard captain did not panic and had complete control over the warriors.

Thanks to this, the warriors who were helpless at first began to respond little by little.

Although they were still being pushed back, they seemed to be able to stop them safely due to the large number of them.

‘Maybe that’s why it’s even more strange.’

A group of extremely ordinary assassins like now cannot annihilate us.

Nevertheless, the attack went ahead and although it succeeded in causing moderate damage, targeting the target was expected to fail.

“Just looking at it, it’s a smokescreen.”

“Hmm? What did you just say… … .”

“Aaagh!”

In a battlefield filled with men who boasted a 100% gender ratio, a woman’s screams were suddenly heard.

A murderer infiltrated the carriage Hiyori was riding in, wrapped her around his shoulder and fled into the forest.

“This… !”

“Ah, lady!”

When the guard was kidnapped in front of their eyes, the formation was disrupted and the assassins stabbed that part.

The situation is that the ankles are tied without movement due to the assassins’ interference.

However, as I had anticipated this situation in advance, I went into the forest without any trace.

The assassin who kidnapped Hiyori followed closely behind.

“A rat caught up with me. It would be better to deal with it here.”

“It’s unpleasant that normal people are treated like animals.”

“To me, you are nothing more than an animal.”

These are not empty words.

The level of the opponent can be felt just from the outside.

On the other hand, I am Naburang, a swordsman known for fighting dirty.

Considering the difference in power, facing him alone would have been suicidal.

“Seojin, run away!”

“Ho? The priestess uses an honorific title for a guy like you, so it seems like they aren’t an ordinary relationship?”

“You made a mistake. It’s an ordinary relationship between an employer and an employee.”

“Let’s hear that gradually from the priestess’s mouth. The road I have to go now is urgent!”

“Huh!”

Cheaeng-!

Even though it only blocked one slash, it was heavy enough to make my arms tremble.

As expected, he is a formidable expert.

If we treat them the same way as the minor soldiers we have been fighting so far, we will not be able to recover even their bones.

‘are you okay. Still, it’s not to the point where I can’t win.’

Having experienced war since before I had thick bones, I have crossed the firing line countless times.

I became sensitive to life and learned to be vicious without any means.

I took a small sphere out of my arms and threw it toward the floor.

“Smoke?”

Pow-!

The sphere that fell to the ground spewed out a thick smoke.

“You fool! Don’t you know that a smoke screen is meaningless to a sprayer?”

“I know. Sprayers also use smoke screens. Is there any way it would work?”

“You used a smoke screen even though you knew?”

“Yes, I expected that you assassins would definitely come inside the smokescreen. So, I played a little trick inside the smokescreen.”

“What?!”

Acid poison was injected into the smoke screen.

Sanggong poison is a poison that scatters the internal energy drawn from the dantian.

It was a poison that did not cause any harm to ordinary people without internal strength, but it was a fatal poison to experts, like the current Salsu.

“Guys like you are famous for only believing in your own skills and being picky. Let’s see if we can win with pure swordsmanship without any internal skills!”

“Don’t compare me to those stupid people!”

Cheaeng-!

He held his sword against the assassin’s sword and blocked it.

Much lighter weight than when I first blocked it.

The strategy prepared for fighting Go Soo worked well.

‘But we can’t let down our guard just yet. Even if they don’t have any internal skills, assassins are also learning arm techniques in addition to swordsmanship.’

As expected, all kinds of daggers flew out of the smoke.

As he calmly struck them down with his sword one by one, he put his hands into the pockets on his waist.

“Do you think you will fall for the same trick this time?”

“Ugh!”

As if he saw me trying to take out another tool, the assassin stabbed me in the shoulder with his sword.

The pain of cold steel cutting through flesh hit my brain.

After clenching my teeth and enduring the pain, I swung my sword and made the killer pull it out.

As the distance widened, I turned my back and ran away without hesitation.

“This guy! Where are you running away!”

Cheeek-!

The sound of a burning wick.

Salsu, who had finally heard the sound, looked down at his feet.

A mana bomb brought from a continent beyond the sea.

It was my strongest weapon, airlifted at a great cost.

“This rotten… ! Are you okay after doing that?”

“Realist.”

Kwaang-!

With an explosion that shook the heavens and earth, trees in the surrounding area disappeared without a trace, and the smoke screen dispersed.

I wrapped my body around Hiyori, who was thrown to the floor far away just in time for the explosion.

The back of my body was burning hot in the aftermath of the explosion, but there was nothing I could do about it.

If the bomb’s firepower is weak, it cannot reliably defeat the expert.

“The performance is certain as it is expensive.”

“Seojin?”

“Why?”

“Uh, why… !”

“Why did you help me so much?”

Meanwhile, Hiyori, who seemed to be overflowing with emotion, made a noise and nodded.

I laughed and confessed my true feelings to her.

“Because of money.”

I had worked hard for the past seven days, but I couldn’t stand to see my employer disappear to pay my bills.

“Foot!”

“Why are you smiling?”

“I had no idea that I would have a debt that I would have to repay for the rest of my life!”

“Is that so? Then you can expect good compensation, right?”

“Yes! I promise you a reward that will never disappoint.”

I was crazy about money, and even when I saw Hiyori blushing, I was happy thinking about conservatives.

On the other hand, ‘I’ was noticing.

How does she feel about me… … .