Chapter 23
Before dawn.
Jeong Yushin pulled off the blanket and got out of bed.
“Ugh! I'm dying.”
Every muscle in his body screamed. He opened the window and rolled his waist from side to side, making his bones crack.
“Phew.”
When he went down to the first floor, he heard clattering from the kitchen. Darmong was already up and preparing breakfast. He opened the kitchen door and saw Darmong from behind.
“Good morning, Darmong.”
“You're up?”
“Yes. Would it be all right if I used the yard?”
“Go ahead.”
“Thank you.”
When he opened the kitchen's back door and stepped outside, the dawn air struck his face. Behind the wide yard stood a house where Darmong stayed and a storage shed.
Jeong Yushin stood in the middle of the yard and began warming up in earnest. He had no professional knowledge whatsoever. He simply moved his body the way he had seen on the internet.
Even so, it seemed to have an effect. His stiff muscles loosened a little, and warmth rose through them.
“Phew.”
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
The thing he had to do at dawn.
Practice his Engraving.
He could practice at the Swordsmanship Guild, but there were too many eyes there. He wanted to hone at least one trump card somewhere no one would see it. Darmong didn't count—he was his benefactor.
[Sacred Weapon]
The mana particles spread throughout his body gathered in his hand. He had once felt them only faintly, but now it was different. The mana gathering at his fingertips felt much clearer. It was thanks to leveling up.
Fwoosh!
A golden dagger with a warm hue formed in his hand.
He felt none of the chill characteristic of cold steel.
The golden dagger made of mana soon vanished.
To his senses, it lasted about three seconds.
His body felt sore and weak from expending mana, but it was bearable.
Again.
He took a deep breath and gathered mana in his hand.
Fwoosh!
This time, it was a one-handed arming sword.
He gripped it and swung.
A trail traced in warm golden light cut through the cold dawn air.
Jeong Yushin looked down at the sword in his hand.
Sss.
The sword crumbled like sand, scattering into golden particles that rose into the air, swirled for a moment, and vanished.
Jeong Yushin clicked his tongue.
“Too slow.”
The manifestation speed of Sacred Weapon was far too slow.
It didn't come close to the speed at which he had manifested it while fighting the Hobgoblin Warrior. Nor was it as fast as when he had responded to Dito's assassination attempt.
Jeong Yushin closed his eyes and replayed his various battles.
How desperately he had fought.
And how desperately he had wanted to win.
He thought and thought again.
“Huff.”
He opened his hand. Mana responded and gathered in his palm.
This time, golden knuckles formed.
“Too slow.”
Jeong Yushin muttered in dissatisfaction.
Just as he was about to try again, a sudden dizziness struck him. He dropped to one knee and braced himself against the ground with both hands. His heart pounded like mad.
He learned firsthand that three consecutive castings were his limit. Even so, it was far better than the past, when a single casting had knocked him flat.
He steadied himself and rose. Dawn was breaking.
He ate at the inn and went to the temple.
After checking his attendance at the temple reception desk, he turned around and spotted a familiar face.
Anne.
The young female archer from the party he had met on his first trip into the labyrinth.
Anne approached him.
“It's been a while, Mr. Ska.”
“Yes.”
Had it been two weeks? Three? He couldn't remember exactly when they had last met.
“It feels like it's been about three weeks since I last saw you. How have you been feeling?”
“I'm healthy. How about you, Anne?”
“I'm healthy too. Ah! You must be curious about what happened to our party, right?”
He wasn't curious at all. But a dark look flickered around Anne's eyes, so he merely nodded.
“Dean was taken away by the Mage Tower in Labyrinth City. They say they're conducting various experiments to restore people who have been consumed by darkness and driven insane. Of course, they're being humane.”
Anne continued.
“Kaal was buried in a corner of the cemetery behind this temple. Mari wouldn't let go of Kaal, so we had a hard time separating her from him.”
“...”
“Mari is carrying a Hobgoblin's child. She's currently staying at the Earth Mother Goddess's temple. Have you seen her?”
He hadn't seen her at all.
Jeong Yushin merely shook his head without saying anything.
“Tarman and I are working. We're taking any job that pays, except for entering the labyrinth.”
Jeong Yushin and Anne looked at each other for a moment.
Dark circles were deeply etched beneath Anne's eyes.
“That's unfortunate. Still, better days may come, don't you think? Keep your chin up.”
“...That's true.”
“Yes, yes. I'll be going now. Take care.”
Jeong Yushin left the temple without waiting for Anne's reply.
‘What a rotten feeling.’
They said there were as many misfortunes as there were people in the world. It was exactly right.
His steps toward the orphanage came to an abrupt halt.
“Don't do this, Yushin. This is insane.”
He said it to himself.
He had lived in a world where a moderate degree of heartlessness and distrust were considered virtues. If you lacked those virtues, people called you a sucker. If you had too much of them, you earned the fine title of son of a bitch.
“Fuck. We only met once. What am I supposed to help her with?”
Darmong came to mind.
He also thought of the warm food he had eaten after spending a cold dawn at the relief center and returning to the inn.
He turned around and ran toward the inn. He ran without stopping like a madman.
“Darmong!!”
He flung open the inn door and shouted.
Darmong, who had been sitting at the counter, raised his head.
“What is it?”
“Why have you treated me so well? Weren't we strangers when we first met?! Why!”
He shouted at the top of his voice. The people eating in the inn fell silent and looked from Jeong Yushin to Darmong and back again.
Darmong stroked his chin for a moment.
“Because you asked me to help you. And because I wanted to help you.”
“Is that all?”
“Yes.”
“Grrk!!”
Jeong Yushin's face twisted into a terrible grimace. He turned around, ran upstairs, rummaged through his room, took out his silver coins, and came back down to the first floor.
“Do you know Anne?”
“You mean the young female archer you met on your first trip into the labyrinth?”
“Yes.”
“She's in a difficult situation, isn't she? You want to help her, I take it.”
Darmong read Jeong Yushin's state at a glance.
“What should I do? Should I help her?”
“Don't ask me.”
“...”
“Do what your heart tells you, so you won't regret it.”
“I understand.”
Jeong Yushin left the inn with the pouch of silver coins.
His abrupt departure left the inn silent for a moment. But soon, people began talking again one by one, and the inn returned to normal.
The ears of the beastkin woman sitting across from Darmong perked up.
“Hmm? Darmong. Is that Barbaroi your type?”
“No, Lady Karin.”
Her red tail swayed gently.
“Really?”
“Yes. I like women.”
“But is that Barbaroi trustworthy?”
“I'm not sure. He doesn't seem to have caused any trouble. He's a diligent human, too.”
“What? You praising a human? That's unusual.”
“People change.”
“Really? Hmm. Fine. I'll come again later.”
“Yes. Take care.”
* * *
Jeong Yushin raced to the temple at full speed.
He asked the priest sitting at the reception desk.
“Where is the red-haired girl who was here a little while ago?”
“Do you know her?”
The priest, who was checking the sign-in records, asked in return.
“She's a former party member of mine.”
“She's currently in the garden. Go straight down the corridor to the right from here.”
Jeong Yushin walked down the corridor and came out into the garden.
Mari and Anne were sitting together on a long wooden bench.
Mion was there as well, but Jeong Yushin paid her no attention.
Jeong Yushin strode toward them.
“Euu.”
Mari huddled over as she hugged her teddy bear tightly. She seemed frightened by the sudden appearance of an outsider.
“Mr. Ska.”
“Take this.”
Anne bit her lip when she saw the pouch Jeong Yushin held out.
“...I can't. You don't owe us this in the first place, do you?”
“I wanted to help. There's no other reason. And you need it, don't you? If accepting it really bothers you, think of it as help from an old companion from our first trip into the labyrinth.”
They exchanged glances in silence for quite some time.
In the end, Anne gave a small laugh. Her eyes glistened with tears.
“It wasn't our first time meeting, though.”
That was true.
“Then I'll give it to Mari.”
“Awooo.”
Mari tilted her head at the pouch, then fiddled with it in one hand. When Jeong Yushin let go, Mari placed the pouch on her lap and tugged insistently at Anne's clothes.
“It's not much. I put in about five silver coins and fifty copper coins.”
“...Thank you.”
Anne lowered her head deeply. Tears fell onto the ground one after another.
Mion gently took Anne's hand.
“That's good, Anne. This should cover Kaal's funeral expenses and Mari's treatment. I'll cover the rest out of my own pocket.”
“Sniff. Thank you, Priestess Mion.”
“Go back and get plenty of rest today. You look tired.”
“...I understand.”
Jeong Yushin turned around.
“I'll be going first. I'm late.”
“Hehe. Yes. I'll be going soon too, Mr. Ska.”
Was it just his imagination, or did Mion seem much warmer now?
“I... thank you, Mr. Ska.”
“Sure. Let's say hello if we run into each other.”
He waved in response to Anne's thanks, then turned and left the garden.
He arrived at the classroom on the first floor of the orphanage and took his seat.
“The teacher is late today.”
“I hope it's Teacher Mion again today.”
“Yeah. Teacher Mion is like a kind older sister. And she smells nice when she's nearby.”
“Could that Barbaroi man have done something to Teacher?”
“No way... right?”
The parentless children were slandering Jeong Yushin.
Several older children glared fiercely and began to rise stealthily from their seats.
“What are you going to do if you stand up? Sit down. Teacher will be here soon.”
At Jeong Yushin's words, the children sat back down.
Only the brown-haired boy remained standing.
“You! What did you do to Teacher?!”
The classroom fell silent, and everyone's attention focused on him.
“I didn't do anything.”
“Then why isn't she here?! You're a Barbaroi, aren't you? You definitely did something!”
“That's right. That's right.”
“Boo!! Bad Barbaroi!”
As he listened to the children's baseless accusations, he was overcome by a powerful bout of sage time.
‘I'm getting dizzy.’
Jeong Yushin pointed at the brown-haired boy.
“What exactly are you claiming I did to Teacher Mion? Explain it specifically.”
“Th... that's...”
The boy's face turned red.
The children sided with Jeong Yushin.
“Yeah. Tell him, John! Let's proudly tell everyone what awful thing that Barbaroi did!”
“That's right!”
The boy named John hemmed and hawed before opening his mouth.
“Th... that's right! You Barbaroi! You fondled Teacher Mion's breasts, didn't you?!”
“Gasp.”
The eight-year-old boy beside John trembled at his shameless words.
“And... and you kissed her, smacked your lips, and even stuck out your tongue! I know all about it!”
“Ew.”
The girls shot John cold looks.
Jeong Yushin folded his arms and stared at John.
‘Is this what a one-silver-coin, no-mother academy is like?’
“And you sniffed around and smelled the back of Teacher Mion's neck! Yeah. You bad Barbaroi!”
John looked around as if seeking agreement, but the atmosphere in the classroom had turned icy.
“Oh?”
A low voice came from behind John.
John's body stiffened.
John creaked around and slowly turned.
“Gasp! Te... Teacher.”
“I see. John, have you been looking at me that way?”
Only then did Jeong Yushin see the color of Mion's eyes. They were cold and subdued, yet unmistakably golden. A moment later, Mion's eyes narrowed again.
“John.”
“Y-yes, Teacher.”
“Write fifty pages of reflection by the end of today.”
John's face went ashen.
“Y-yes.”
“Apologize to Mr. Ska as well.”
“Yes, ma'am.”
John bowed his head to Jeong Yushin.
“I'm sorry, mister.”
“It's all right. At your age, you're in a storm-and-stress phase. I understand.”
The tense atmosphere eased considerably.
“All right, then. Shall we begin the lesson?”
“Yes, Teacher!”
Thirty minutes had passed since the lesson began.
A bead of sweat trickled down Jeong Yushin's forehead.
‘I went through the storm-and-stress phase too.’