Ch.32Street Methods (4)

“Ugh…”

I opened my eyes.

I clearly remembered slitting Evelyn’s throat and roaring, but after that, my mind was completely blank.

I must have collapsed from the aftermath of my injuries, and honestly, it was a miracle I was still alive.

After all, I had been struck by lightning and flames in succession.

“Where am I?”

An unfamiliar ceiling.

It’s definitely not the captain’s inn, but I’m not sure exactly where I am.

My clothes have been changed to new ones, and judging by the smell of medicine and the bottles filling the room, it seems to be a hospital…

The door swung open!

“Oh. You’re already awake?”

“Seriya.”

The one who entered was Seriya.

She wasn’t wearing her armor, so for a moment I was confused about who she was.

“How long have I been lying here?”

“Three days.”

“Huh.”

Three days… If Pedro or the other executives had changed their minds, I would have been dead long ago.

But in the end, they trusted me and admitted me to this proper hospital.

Indeed, even in this harsh world, a contract is sacred.

Thanks be to Logos, the God of Wisdom!

“Viktor. Take this.”

“What’s this?”

“Just take it quickly. It was really heavy to drag here.”

Clink!

Seriya handed me a heavy money pouch.

It contained 1,000 silver coins, which was equivalent to exactly 1 gold coin.

However, since gold coins were too high in denomination, I had specifically asked for silver for easier use, and the fact that they honored even this request suggested that the executives had no intention of breaking our contract.

“And this too.”

“Huh?”

Seriya tossed me another money pouch, which was slightly more than half the size of the one containing 1,000 silver coins.

“Money I owe you. 600 silver coins. 400 silver is enough for me.”

“Hmm…”

As I opened my spatial storage and put both pouches inside, Seriya looked at me and said:

“Viktor. I have something to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“I don’t think I can adventure with you anymore.”

“…”

When I heard those words, I couldn’t say anything.

Not because I was shocked, but literally because I didn’t know what to say.

“You said it yourself. You don’t mind killing people.”

“I did.”

“I can’t accept that about you. So let’s part ways here.”

“…”

Right.

So that was it.

She, too, couldn’t overcome the instinctive aversion to one person killing another.

I don’t blame her.

I know that I’m a twisted person, fundamentally different from others, and her words were beyond ordinary—they approached truth.

After all, no one would want to adventure with a killer who turns people into mincemeat without any hesitation.

“You know what, Viktor?”

“What?”

“I’ve seen more dead people while being with you than in my entire 200 years of life.”

“…”

“In just over 14 days, you’ve committed more murders than all the deaths I’ve witnessed in two centuries.”

My throat itches.

I feel like I should say something, but I can’t find the words.

“You said you wanted to adventure.”

“Yes.”

“Then you need to understand why people fear death, and why they fear killers. If you don’t realize this, you’ll drown in the pool of blood you’ve created. Before you even leave this continent.”

“Is this… karma?”

When I said that, Seriya brushed her hair back.

“I’m not a psychologist, but… I know you’re different from others. It’s something innate that can’t be changed through education or reformation. You know that much, don’t you?”

I nodded.

Though she wasn’t a psychologist, the counsel of an elf who had lived for 200 years was certainly worth listening to.

“Viktor. What does adventure mean to you?”

“…Hope.”

To me, adventure was hope.

It was the lifeline that pulled me through each day, the only thing that made me believe there could be a ‘better future’ for me.

That was adventure.

When I said that, Seriya asked me with a gloomy expression:

“Then you found no value in the world of humans.”

At those words, my heart sank.

I am human.

But what does it mean that I couldn’t find any value in a world made up of humans?

I vaguely understood, but that’s precisely why I didn’t want to know.

Because the moment I acknowledged it, I would think of myself not as a human, but as a monster wearing a human shell.

“You once said that you have no lover, no friends, no family.”

“I did.”

I was completely alone.

Like a lighthouse shining solitary on top of rocks.

It might look impressive to others, but just as a lighthouse doesn’t welcome the waves, wind, and storms it must face alone, neither did I.

Being able to endure doesn’t mean wanting to endure.

As I silently looked at her, she suddenly embraced me tightly, tears streaming down her face.

“What a pitiful child…”

The tears rolling down her cheeks fell like dew on my neck.

“You learned harshness before a man’s strength, viciousness before a woman’s kindness, immaturity before a child’s innocence, and madness instead of an elder’s wisdom—how can your wounded soul ever be healed?”

“Haah…”

I took a deep breath.

Each word she uttered felt like a dagger piercing my lungs.

Perhaps I had been wrong.

She might be fragile, but she was by no means immature.

“When others felt warmth, you felt heat; when others felt coolness, you felt cold; when lovers whispered love, you held your breath alone; and when children were being spoiled, you had to go to work to earn money.”

“…”

“For you, adventure is more than just hope. It’s a catalyst that hardens will into resolve, an additive that transforms belief into conviction, an adhesive that changes weakness into strength. That’s what adventure means to you.”

If others heard her tone, they might say she spoke like a mother.

But I couldn’t say that.

Because I never had a mother… so I don’t know how a mother speaks.

“Until I met you, I thought lack and deficiency meant the same thing. But spending time with you, I realized they’re not the same.”

She said this, then pressed her forehead against mine.

“How can emptiness be called loss? Just as a field cannot collapse, I now understand that your lack of suffering is because you have no heart.”

No heart…?

Me?

If what she says is true, why is my heart pounding like this, why is my breath faltering, and why does my mind constantly replay the past?

“Having never received love, you cannot give it; having never been acknowledged, you cannot bestow acknowledgment. Can you ever move beyond mockery and ridicule to feel jubilation and joy, can you ever understand compassion and love beyond permission and sanction?”

“…To understand that, I have no choice but to embark on an adventure.”

She wiped her tears and nodded.

This adventure is not a journey to commemorate someone’s spirit.

It’s a long pilgrimage of atonement for my wish, for my soul.

“Then go on your adventure. I can no longer follow you. Travel from coast to coast, city to city, village to village, field to field, forest to forest, mountain to mountain. Just as the emperor of the ancient empire who first created adventurers wanted.”

“…”

“Slaughter for the Blood God, love for the Lust God, seek knowledge for the Wisdom God, and accumulate achievements for the Abundance God. Viktor. Like all adventurers do.”

She then stood up, spoke to me in an ordinary tone, and as she grasped the doorknob, said one last thing:

“If you keep moving forward, perhaps someday you’ll understand the lives of ordinary people.”

We parted ways like that, and I never saw Seriya again.

*

A day later, I was discharged from the hospital, retrieved my personal belongings, and had a brief conversation with Pedro who came to see me off.

“You look good. That wood elf has left the city. No longer a party, huh?”

“Well, that’s how it turned out. Did she say where she was going?”

“Said she was going to Parcival. Didn’t tell me anything beyond that.”

“Parcival…”

My hometown.

Thinking about it, a longing wells up in one corner of my heart.

This must be what they call homesickness.

“Where will you go now? You’re an adventurer, right? Seems like you’ve seen all there is to see in Rascal.”

At Pedro’s question, I thought for a moment, then asked him, figuring he would know the local geography well:

“I think I need to buy a new spatial storage. Do you know any good cities for that?”

“Spatial storage…?”

He stroked his short-trimmed beard at my question, then answered:

“In that case, I recommend a city called ‘Ortus,’ about a week’s journey from here. It has three magic towers, making it a good place to buy artifacts.”

“A week…”

That’s a forced march of ten days one way.

It took three days one way to come to Rascal, so this would be three times that duration.

But an adventurer doesn’t shy away from long journeys.

“Then I’ll head there. I hope your business goes well.”

“Yeah. I hope you can go all the way.”

“Hmm.”

I mounted my horse and headed for the Adventurers’ Guild.

*

“Lucky me.”

At the Adventurers’ Guild, I was able to accept a request to deliver a letter to someone in Ortus.

Next, I purchased enough water and food to last ten days, filling my horse’s bags, and copied maps at the city library to familiarize myself with the geography.

Once preparations were complete, I entered the captain’s inn and ordered my last meal in Rascal.

“What’s the most popular dinner item?”

“For dinner, steak and fried onions are the most popular.”

“Then I’ll have both of those with a large mug of dark beer. And I’ll be staying tonight, so prepare a room and a bath.”

“Yes. That will be 1 silver coin.”

I placed a silver coin in the server’s hand and began to savor the food that arrived.

Is this taste due to skilled craftsmanship, or the proper use of spices?

No matter how hard I try, it would be impossible to recreate such flavor in the middle of nowhere.

I thought this as I dipped the fried onions in the steak sauce, washed away the onion smell with dark beer, and greased my parched throat with beef.

If the me who lived in Parcival saw this, he would have foamed at the mouth and convulsed, saying there was no greater extravagance.

But now, I was living this leisurely life, and tomorrow I would set off on another adventure to a different city.

And in Ortus, I will definitely find a healer.