Chapter 54: Hero Party, Harpy

Baekdu Mountain.

Once a part of the Gaema Plateau, which underwent a great upheaval, three figures were climbing Baekdu Mountain.

They were strangers who had come to the Gaema Plateau long ago.

A hero’s party from another world, who had defeated the Demon King, but unintentionally committed a crime, forcing them to cross worlds.

They had traveled across the vast Mongolian plains and returned to the cold northern region of the Korean Peninsula, to Baekdu Mountain.

“Why are we back at this mountain again?”

“Yeah, we decided to return, but I didn’t expect we’d end up back at this mountain.”

It felt like they had gone in circles.

Maybe it would’ve been better if they had just kept going forward across the plains.

“We came back because the mountain is high. We need to get a better sense of direction before we move forward.”

“So we came all the way back from the plains for that?”

Maria, the mage, spoke with a weary expression.

But that wasn’t the only reason.

“Do you want to go all the way back again? Anyway, since we crossed over the same way as the Saintess, we can’t be far from our destination.”

Technically, it wasn’t exactly the mountain, but the plateau at its base.

Still, from here, we could at least figure out the direction to take.

“Wouldn’t it have been better to ask the people we met earlier?”

“You mean those people with the strange, slurred accents?”

That was when we had left the mountain and headed north.

We didn’t know the exact location, but we had encountered people with black hair.

People with black hair that we had never seen in our original world.

Maybe because they lived in such cold places, they dressed in odd clothing, and we couldn’t understand their language.

“Every country and people have different languages and scripts. You can’t be too judgmental about that. But since we couldn’t understand each other, they attacked us out of nowhere.”

Yes, they had even attacked us.

Judging from their behavior, even though we couldn’t understand their words, it felt like they were bandits.

“True, their clothes might have been different, but they certainly gave off a bandit vibe.”

“What about those people who looked similar to us?”

They hadn’t only met people with black hair.

As they headed east, they had also encountered blond, white-skinned people.

“Those blond people didn’t speak our language either.”

“The ones we met after the black-haired people—although they looked somewhat similar—also spoke a different language.”

Perhaps there was a slight difference in their appearance as well.

“This world has many inconveniences. That’s why we can’t act recklessly. We have to find another way. How’s the tracking spell?”

“It’s still pointing south.”

Or to be more precise, it pointed south and then slowly circled back.

Of course, the direction would change if the owner of the hair moved, but this was constantly shifting.

“Did we not head south before?”

Come to think of it, they hadn’t gone south before.

Maybe there were places to live in the south, too.

Judging by the people they had met earlier, it was clear that civilization was more advanced here than in their homeland.

The Saintess would likely be living in such a place.

The people who resembled the Saintess seemed to be somewhere to the east.

But going back that way was difficult, as Karina spoke a different language.

It needed to be a country where people resembled Karina and also spoke the same language.

But when they met those white people, they didn’t understand each other’s language either.

“Shall we give it a try?”

They had already come this far; what’s the harm in trying to head south?

If they failed, they could just come back.

It wasn’t the best approach, but in their current situation where they couldn’t find Karina, it seemed like the best option.

Rumble!

With the sound of thunder and lightning, the sky darkened.

The weather was already cold, and now wind and rain were rolling in under dark clouds.

Nothing seemed to be going right since they arrived in this place.

Well, at least they weren’t treated like criminals here as they had been in the previous world.

“But what’s that sound?”

“Isn’t this where we killed that weird dragon before?”

Yes, they had defeated a snake-like dragon before.

It had claimed to be the strongest.

“That snake-like dragon?”

“Yeah, that one.”

Could it be that the snake-like dragon had returned?

A bad feeling crept over them, and Erin pointed with her finger.

“Hero! Look over there! It’s them!”

The hero squinted in the direction Erin was pointing.

Previously, they had seen a massive black snake appear atop the giant mountain.

But this time, it was a blue snake.

And behind the blue snake was the black one.

They were sure they had defeated it.

Had it not died?

As they stared, the massive blue snake turned its gaze toward them.

The huge serpent glared at the hero’s party with clear hostility.

“Blue Dragon! It’s them! They’re the ones who peeled off all my scales!”

“Grrrrr… So it was you who tormented our Black Dragon?”

It seemed like the blue dragon had come for revenge.

The Saintess had said…

“It never rains but it pours.”

She was right—things couldn’t be worse.

They had barely managed to deal with one last time, and now there were two.

“What the heck is that giant lizard?”

“The Saintess’s world has some bizarre creatures.”

Having lived in such a world, it made sense that the Saintess would be so aggressive.

Come to think of it, what exactly was Torris?

They had heard the Saintess was from that place.

Whatever it was, they were curious.

“How dare you call us strange! Do you think so little of us, the guardians of this mountain?

This won’t do. You shall not go unpunished for tormenting the Black Dragon!”

With those words, the enormous blue dragon, seemingly a companion of the Black Dragon, unleashed a breath attack from its mouth.

“No matter where we go, it seems like our battles never end.”

“How insolent! To think mere humans dare challenge a divine beast of the East!”

What could a creature that had already lost to mere humans once possibly say?

“But weirdly enough, I can understand their language.”

“Yeah, right? In that case, they might know something about the Saintess.”

There was a good chance.

“Oh, yeah, you’re right.”

“Alright, let’s take this guy down first and then ask.”

The hero tightened his grip on his sacred sword and charged forward.

The battle between the hero’s party and the Black & Blue Dragons shook Baekdu Mountain and even caused tremors across the Gaema Plateau, but in the end, the hero’s party emerged victorious.

“Ugh… to think I was defeated by mere humans!”

“Stop whining and just tell us what we want to know.”

“Tell you what?”

“Do you know anything about a woman named Karina?”

The Blue Dragon was baffled.

It had descended to this world after a great upheaval, but no human had ever come looking for a woman before—most sought its dragon pearl.

“Who’s this Karina? Wait, are you telling me you attacked us just to find a woman?!”

In its disbelief, the Blue Dragon’s memory began to distort.

These insane people before it had beaten up the sacred beasts of the East just to search for some girl.

This absurdity made the Blue Dragon tremble with anger.

Humans were truly despicable, wicked creatures, weren’t they?

This could not be forgiven.

“I don’t know who this Karina woman is, but I’ve learned enough about who you are.”

“What?”

“You dare attack the divine beasts of the East! I shall banish you from this place!”

With a mighty roar, a brilliant light engulfed the hero’s party.

And then…

The hero’s party found themselves in England.

***

What is chicken, you might ask?

Usually, it’s considered fried chicken, right?

But in Korea, it’s treated like a god-tier food.

I recall it being called “Chineunim” by many.

Moreover, Koreans love experimenting with various seasonings and sauces for their chicken.

Why am I even talking about this?

Because of the chicken leg in my hand right now.

“Oh, Harpy, your mom’s chicken is really tasty.”

I said, evaluating the flavor as I bit into the leg.

They said this was traditional chicken fried in a cauldron, with only two choices: plain or seasoned.

Even the pickled radish was made the old-fashioned way.

Ah, the blissful aroma of fried oil.

Who would’ve thought I’d be savoring the taste of fried chicken again after being stuck with dry bread and oatmeal for so long!

Though, to be fair, I had some not too long ago.

Still, you can’t ignore 30 years of tradition.

“Right? My mom fries up the best chicken.”

Harpy said proudly, flapping her wings.

That’s right—this chicken was brought in thanks to a bulk order from the Heavenly King Guild, and Harpy had personally delivered it to us.

It’s strange seeing her, a mix of a chicken and a human woman, with wings instead of arms and oddly cute legs.

Her feet would probably make great chicken feet soup…

No, no, I can’t let Harpy’s charm fool me.

So, that’s why her relatives plucked her feathers before, huh?

“But don’t you feel like we’re sort of related?”

It’s like the relationship between humans and chimpanzees, or monkeys, maybe?

I mean, I can’t speak for other places, but if someone tried to serve me monkey meat, I don’t think I could eat it.

It probably has something to do with them looking a bit too human.

“Well, not exactly. It’s like how mermaids and fish are different.”

She’s not wrong.

“Then again, the Mermaid Princess hated spicy fish stew.”

Harpy is something else entirely, huh?

Honestly, she has black hair, but the middle part looks like a red rooster comb.

“But chicken’s delicious, right?”

“Ah, that I can agree with.”

Still, hearing her talk about how tasty chicken is with that head of hers is a bit unsettling.

“Hey, but you guys are doing pretty well, huh? Even monopolizing the market with the Celestial King on your side.”

It’s nothing to be surprised about.

After all, this whole thing involves a 10-billion-won deal.

Using the Heavenly King to our advantage wasn’t a bad move either.

“Well, it just kind of turned out that way.”

“Who would’ve thought the dwarf was actually a pixie? I mean, I’m not siding with the cheating wife, but with a husband like that, it kind of makes sense.”

That’s a bit harsh, isn’t it?

I glanced over to see the pixie’s reaction.

She was gripping a chicken wing and breast meat in both hands—it looked rather out of place.

Actually, it was kind of cute.

“What the heck? If your husband turns into a kid, you’re just going to cheat right away, huh?”

The pixie, her mouth slick with chicken grease, shot a sharp retort at Harpy.

Judging by her pointed gesture, she seemed really angry.

Is she about to get caught in one of Harpy’s pranks?

“No, that’s not what I meant!”

“Both of you, stop fighting!”

A fight almost broke out again.

This girl is way too aggressive.

If she had been born in the past, she would have made a fine general.

“Harpy, do you have any special abilities? What did you do in your previous world?”

“Me? In my previous world… if I compare it to Korea, I guess I was like a mail carrier.”

A mail carrier, huh?

So, she didn’t exactly have a glamorous role in her previous world either.

Since she’s a harpy, I thought she might’ve been part of the Demon King’s army or something like that.

“So, you delivered letters?”

“Yeah, but somehow, a war broke out between humans and demons. I was accused of being a rebel and got shot, which is how I died. But when I woke up, I was here.”

“Still, it looks like you weren’t fully dead.”

Who even came up with the concept of returnees?

How can they keep appearing every few years?

And the methods of return are so varied.

“Yeah, I guess that’s what happened.”

“Do you have any other abilities?”

I mean, something that could help us climb this tower—maybe not crowd control, but flying to scout out enemy positions or some wind-based powers, perhaps?

It would be ideal to have a pure-blooded elf for that, though.

“My wings are strong enough to knock off competitors, and I’ve used wind to push other harpies away before.”

Oh, that’s actually pretty impressive.

“Interesting.”

“Hey, stop talking. You’ll get yourself into trouble!”

“What trouble? What’s going to happen to me?”

I tilted my head slightly, making myself look cute.

What trouble have I gotten into so far?

If they can’t explain it properly, I’ll smash their heads in.