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3. First Tower (2)

As I was leading my team to conquer a nearby tower, I climbed a mountain through a forest filled with trees that had been dried up by the tower.

As night fell, we set up a makeshift camp and spent the night chatting with our team members. Then, we saw a large firework exploding in the night sky, a sight that had been going on for several weeks.

Fireworks that are hard to see these days.

If my daughter were alive, she would grab my hand and coax me to come and take a closer look.

I sat by the campfire, drinking a cup of hard-to-find instant coffee, watching the flames burst out, thinking of my daughter who had already left my hands.

A loud voice was heard.

” Uncle Doosik, are you watching fireworks again? ”

A girl who looked like she had just become an adult with long brown hair tied up in a ponytail approached me.

This child’s name is ‘Kang Ara’. She is the daughter of Kang Han-cheol, the leader of the Mokdong settlement.

” I don’t know who shot it, but it’s not common to see something like that in the night sky. Hahaha! ”

” That’s true, but since it’s been like that for a few weeks now, wasn’t it your uncle who told you to be careful because you couldn’t hear any sounds of demons or outlaws moving around? ”

” Ahem, well, that’s true. ”

” And it was nice at first. Now it’s just noise pollution! I can’t sleep, really! ”

She sat down next to me, looking so angry, and thrust her cup at me as if asking for coffee too.

” I can’t, I have to wake up early tomorrow. ”

” Hey~ Is one glass okay? I want to try it after a long time too~ ”

Since she is as close as my daughter, seeing her for a long time reminds me of my daughter.

” Oh, just one drink? ”

” Yay! Uncle is the best! ”

” Don’t say things you don’t mean… ”

So he took the coffee and had a drink.

” Yeong-i really liked fireworks, no, she just liked anything that was loud and lively. ”

I just looked at the sky in silence and listened to her story.

” I got the info this time. The location of those guys. ”

At those words, I turned my head ‘swoosh’ and looked at her and shouted loudly.

” You!!! Are you still doing that?! ”

The sudden shout draws the attention of other team members.

But she was grimacing and putting her hands over her ears as if it was noisy.

” Oh, stop yelling. I’m an adult now?! I’m old enough to make my own decisions! ”

” What are you talking about?! You just turned twenty! ”

” I know. So, uncle, okay? ”

It was easy to see what she was talking about.

I’m sure you want me to go investigate with you.

” No. ”

” Yeah~ Don’t be like that, uncle. Okay? I’m just going to investigate, so it’ll be fine. ”

” No. If I lose you too, I can’t live anymore. And I don’t have the face to face my brother. ”

” Oh, okay. ”

Ara leaves like that.

” Don’t even dream until you conquer the top! ”

” Ah~ I got it~ ”

As I watch Ara waving her hand and going to her sleeping bag, I recall the memories of that day.

The look in his eyes as he looked at my daughter among the group gathered to go to the settlement where Brother Hancheol was.

While looking at those eyes that seemed to be hunting prey, I was walking towards the settlement with the complacent thought, ‘Oh, that can’t be right’

Among the ‘Outlaws’ that have appeared, the ‘Falcon Gang’ that is said to be very active these days

The day my daughter and the other wanderers who were traveling with those guys were killed

*****

It seems he fell asleep while recalling the bitter memories of that day.

Just then, while we were sleeping like that, a loud noise was heard and everyone woke up busily.

” Uncle! Wake up! ”

” Araya! What’s going on? ”

” I don’t know either, but suddenly I heard a loud noise so everyone got up and cleaned up! ”

” Captain! What should we do?! ”

One of my teammates looked at me and asked,

” Let’s quickly organize everything and explore the surroundings! We can attack the tower only after the surroundings are safe! ”

After quickly setting up our makeshift camp, we explored the surroundings and came across a group of ‘Giant Orcs’.

” Uncle… These guys… ”

Ara, who was somewhat proficient in handling her abilities, came to the nearby tower to gain practical experience, but she did not expect to meet such big shots.

Clearly, these guys were also moved by the loud noise just now.

” I’ll lure three of them. Ara, you and the rest of your team split up and lure the remaining two and run to the settlement. ”

” Uncle?! ”

” Hey, Captain. Take Ara and the rest of the team and run away separately. ”

” Okay. Okay! Let’s all go quickly! ”

” Uncle!!! ”

Leaving behind Ara and her teammates who were calling me like that, I quickly lured the three giant orcs away.

I ran in the direction where the loud noise came from.

Of course, I didn’t know that what I met in the end would be a girl.

*****

The man named ‘Hodushik’ who ran with me did some pretty rough chopping, but the power he put into it felt quite strong.

Looking closely, I could see that the old man’s body was covered in a metal material, and he was fighting by dodging the giant orc’s attacks or deflecting them with the other hand that wasn’t holding the axe.

” I can’t lose either! ”

Accelerate quickly and shoot ‘Holy Fire’ at the one far away from the two orcs that the old man is fighting, blocking their movement.

He turned towards the left leg of another nearby animal and immediately cut off its ankle.

In fact, I had planned to cut off the ‘Achilles tendon’ to temporarily stop the movement, but the lower part of the ankle was cut off by ‘Durandal’.

‘As expected, Durandal! The performance is guaranteed!’

With a ‘Kkueek’ sound, I turned around to face the giant orc as it fell over, climbed onto its back, and swung my sword with all my might towards its neck.

The black sword wrapped around the divine power separated the orc’s head and body, and the blood splattering due to the heat seemed to have been prevented.

” Okay, I finished one! ”

The guy who had stopped after being hit by the ‘Holy Fire’ soon came near me, so I made another Holy Fire and floated it around me.

*****

” You should keep quiet, sir, since you don’t even know much. Look! You heard the sound and came here already, right? ”

Hearing the girl’s words, I realized that I had shouted loudly and had once again caught the attention of the orcs who had momentarily lost sight of me.

A girl wearing armor that feels sacred and holding a sword that feels somehow intimidating.

However, the child was of similar build to her daughter.

Clearly, this child also has the ability to survive in this world, which is why he is so calm.

But even so, I found myself looking at my daughter and the child overlapping, so I yelled at them to run away.

” Miss, run quickly without looking back. I’ll buy you some time. ”

Then the child said that he would catch up with me anyway and came over to me and took a stance.

Unlike me, who has never learned martial arts and just swings an axe recklessly, relying on my abilities to survive,

The child’s posture looked like it had been honed over a long period of time.

I had no choice but to run towards the giant orc that appeared with the child.

As expected, there was a hidden secret, and a mass of flames appeared behind the running child.

It flew straight towards the giant orc that was farthest away.

At this point, it was impossible not to know.

The child is much stronger than I and much stronger than I thought.

So I was dealing with a giant orc when I caught a glimpse of the child.

As expected, the child was skillfully cutting off the orc’s feet, climbing onto its back, and decapitating it.

‘Ara’ also showed off some pretty great moves and skills through her abilities, but that child’s moves were ‘the very definition’ of cleanliness without any unnecessary details.

No matter how capable you are, unless you have a lot of experience in actual combat, you can’t move without hesitation like that.

Just a little while ago, even ‘Ara’ was looking at me with her body shaking slightly

The moment I thought I had it all figured out

I heard the orc howling from the child’s side and looked up.

The orc took a stance to strike with both hands as he stabbed the child towards him.

I quickly shouted and threw several knives from my waist.

Luckily, one of them hit the orc in the eye, knocking him out of his stance.

That child, Charlotte, glanced at me and then pierced the orc’s heart with that posture.

*****

After getting the magic stone, me and the old man cleaned up the surroundings.

Just the fact that we saved each other’s lives for a short while made me feel like we had become quite close.

” Did you say Charlotte? That’s a pretty cool move. Where did you get your training? ”

” Yes, well, that’s right. Mr. Doosik is also a pretty good fighter, isn’t he? He’s also good at controlling his abilities.

Judging from the way you swung your sword at the end, you can tell that this isn’t something you’ve done once or twice.

Anyway, thanks for your help. ”

I thanked him and used the Holy Fire to wipe the orc blood off my clothes.

This is also one of the achievements I gained from this training, and it seemed to be a type of power of ‘purification’.

Since it was possible to burn only these foreign substances with ‘Holy Fire’, it was also very helpful in washing clothes stained with sweat or blood.

Mr. Dusik, who was looking at me like that, looked at me with a curious expression.

” Hoo, does that flame have that kind of ability?! ”

” Well, it’s because it contains the power of purification. ”

” Well, then what, am I going to become a saint of some goddess? Haha! ”

” Well, that’s not wrong. To be exact, I worked as an ‘Inquisitor’. ”

” What?! Then, is Miss Charlotte a returnee? ”

” Yes, that’s what it is. But why are you so surprised? ”

” Hmm, I don’t mind, but I think it’d be better to keep the fact that you’re a ‘returnee’ a little hidden in Korea. ”

No, what does that mean?

I asked him with an expression that said I didn’t understand English.

” What the hell happened? Did the returnee cause a riot or something and kill someone? ”

” Hmm, that’s not it, but if you did return, do you know about the ‘Ryan Incident’? ”

” Ah~ I found out by looking into it on my watch. ”

” Watch? Oh, that’s what they say about devices. ”

” So what does that have to do with me having to hide the fact that I’m a returnee? And just say it comfortably. ”

” Really? Then ahem, actually, there were a few Koreans in that situation.

But one of them broke the quarantine and wandered around randomly, which made the situation in Korea even worse. ”

It was an absurd story.

” No, there was someone who wandered around like that again?! Even during the coronavirus pandemic?! ”

” What, what can I do? It ended up spreading like that and it was a big deal, but that person was a family member of a pretty high-ranking person.

Rather, people did not look favorably on returnees because the media said, “This is because of the ‘returnees’.” ”

” Oh my… ”

It was really unbelievable.

No, he was the one who committed the mistake, so why did he bring up the returnees who had nothing to do with it…

” Well, it’s okay now that there are a lot of people who know the truth to some extent, but there are still people who don’t see it in a positive light.

So, I guess it would be better to hide the fact that you are a returnee when you go to the settlement. ”

” Yes, I will keep that in mind. ”

” By the way, where was Charlotte going? ”

I point to the tower

” I was heading towards that tower. I thought it was something I had to experience. ”

” The tower? Hmm, then shouldn’t we go to our settlement first and then decide? ”

” Why should I do that? Can’t I just go straight there?

If you and I were you, wouldn’t we be able to conquer it quickly? ”

He nodded

” Of course, if Charlotte is with you, we will probably have no problem conquering the tower.

This tower is relatively new, so the difficulty level will be low.

But there’s a group of giant orcs around right now, so there might be another group of demons. ”

‘ That means, you’re saying that there may be variables or that you may lose strength before you can even attack the tower. ‘

” Okay. Then let’s go to the settlement first. So where is your settlement? ”

” It’s called ‘Mokdong Settlement’. ”

‘Why is that name there?’

But there was no particular reason to refuse, and since I was going to go anyway, I decided to go along.

My uncle and I walked towards the ‘Mokdong Settlement’.