Chapter 9.2: Hero, Once Again (5) |
Late at night.
Denver woke up. He tossed and turned a few times trying to get back to sleep, but he couldn't.
"…I should go and pee."
Denver stood up and tried to go out…
“Oh, you woke up.”
Cloud made eye contact with him.
"…Hey. W, What are you d-doing?”
"Yes?"
“What the fuck are you doing!?”
Cloud, however, had the sword he was holding in his hand at the bandit's neck sleeping next to Denver.
“God dammit… which dick head's so noisy…”
Swiik-!
“Kuukgh–?!”
As soon as the bandit woke up, he was transpierced directly through the neck.
He died while struggling without even understanding the current situation.
"Y, You, you..!"
Denver looked around.
All the bandits who slept with him in the same room were dead—except for him.
Only then did he notice the smell of blood wafting in the room.
“Shit!”
Denver dashed quickly and pulled out the moon shaped scimitar hanging from the wall.
"Are you nuts?! Do you think you will be able to get back alive after this, you biatch?! You don't know how terrifying our boss is. As long as he comes in person, your b…”
“That fat, tight pig? Ye, he was definitely a tad bit strong. But that was all.”
"…What?"
What did that bastard said just now?
Denver didn't understand what Cloud was saying. More like, it was something he desperately didn't want to understand.
Because, the boss was the strongest person he knew his entire life. Cloud spoke as if he had killed such a person. It only meant one thing—he had no way out of this situation.
Tap.
As Cloud took a step forward, the puddle of blood on the floor splattered further.
“Agghhh, don’t come.”
Tap.
“Don’t come, you asshole!”
Tap.
“You, why are you doing this to me… I was good to you!”
Tap.
“I didn’t do this because I wanted to! I just, because I wanted to live…! I did it because I wanted to live!”
Tap.
"Don't come… wwhhg… you fuckface!"
Isn't it said, that even a weak mouse when cornered to the end, dares to bite a cat?
But while the mouse may give his all, at the most, it only leaves a small scar on the cat.
And Denver was less than a mouse to Cloud.
Tring-!
The scimitar, which Denver swung with all his might, was deflected by the sword that Cloud twirled lightly.
Denver's body slanted sideways.
—and, Cloud's sword pierced right through his chest.
“Kughk…”
A blade in your heart doesn't mean you will die instantly.
It takes at least a few seconds to die.
And those few seconds were enough to look back into his life and leave some hushed murmurs.
"Mom… Dad…"
Those were Denver's last words.
He was sold by his parents, at a low price of three rabbits, but he still found his parents even at the death's breath.
Cloud had no particular emotions about that.
After pulling out his sword, he simply wiped the blood off the sword.
* * *
“Heuk! Hiik! … I hate it… I hate it…”
A young girl was crying. Normally, when you see someone crying, you might try to soothe her, but no one here did so.
Rather, they became annoyed because it was getting more noisy.
This room, or more appropriately—a cage, situated in the core of bandit hideout.
Not a single ray of light enters the closed room, and the smell of filth coming up from here and there stings one's nose.
‘Ah… it's noisy…'
Katie is a woman who has been here for about two years. She may not be the oldest, but she is still a woman who has endured for a long time.
The reason she came here was simple.
The poor harvest plagued her village, and the village, which was incapable of paying the ‘protection fee', had to send one of it's women.
At that time when everyone was in trouble, filled with loyalty and fidelity, she raised her hand.
Exclaiming confidently.
–I will go.
Now that she thought about it, that was a crazed decision. A foolish act committed by being caught up in a nonsensical sense of heroism. But even if she regrets it, it doesn't change the reality.
Now, all she can do is to live each and every day with her emotions dying with time.
Without knowing—when she might suddenly end up dying.
“Wooo… Mommy… Daddy…”
There were no signs of stopping—the young girl's desperate sobbing echoed.
Katie leaned back slightly and looked at the crying girl.
‘It must be the new kid who came in today.'
—whose virginity will be picked up by that piglet asshole tomorrow night.
‘Damn that motherf*cker. That pig bastard rolls so damn hard.'
It's a relief if she only got some bruises, for there were a lot of women who died after suffering from broken bones under that fat-ass.
“Who… someone.. please save me…”
As the girl sobbed, a snicker leaked out of Katie's lips. It was not just her. The other women, who were mumbling in their annoyance, also burst into laughter.
That's because there were times when they were like that too.
Those were the days when they endured each single day, with the hope that someone would save them, rescue them, and take them back.
But, just like their's, this young girl's hope will also not come true.
Why?
First of all, the number of bandits staying in this mountain hideout alone are over thirty. Compared to the villagers who can't even get to eat proper regular meals because of unavailability, these guys ate well and gain weight.
In other words, even if the villagers made up their minds to retaliate, they will not be able to achieve anything.
In addition, the city refuses to send it's soldiers, claiming that the occurrence of monsters have exponentially increased nowadays. In this place where there are relatively few monsters, the influence of bandits is bound to be strong.
Some will say, "Why not collectively fund money and call an adventurer?"
But…
‘From where will the poor villagers who can't even pay protection fee find the money to hire a powerful adventurer.'
It's hard and harsh, but that's what we call reality.
The day will come when that new kid will realize it too.
Katie tried to fall asleep, ignoring the girl's anguished wailings.
It was then.
Druck. Druck.
As the pulley went up, the thick stone door that blocked the room and the outside world began to move.
The young girl's cry haulted.
Instead, she looked up at the door with eyes full of hope.
On the other hand, the women who knew the reality only sighed deeply.
"Ugh, so annoying. Which bastard's in heat so early in the morning?”
“Piss off, you brute bastards. If you are one of those losers with small sticks don't disturb me or I will bite off what remains of your small family possessions. Go and skewer each other instead…"
While the women groaned, the stone door was completely opened.
In between the dim light coming through the door, he stood tall, a handsome young man.
‘…If it's him, no would have any problem even if it's early morning, hah? Eh? But was there such a man among the bandit bastards?'
A question that suddenly came to her mind.
Something started tickling inside her chest.
It was something she had given up and abandoned long ago.
Katie tried to ignore it.
She didn't want to be betrayed by her expectations again.
It's a bubbly dream that won't come true, she tried to restrain her heart, trying to remind it of the ruthless reality.
Other women were in a similar situation like Katie.
“H, Hey, that…!”
In the midst of that, it was the woman who was sobbing before. She asked him with an expression of half fright and half hope.
“Did you… come to save us…?”
Gulp.
Some swallowed their saliva.
Some clenched their fists, and some shook their legs.
Pretending not to care—
Pretending to give up—
—In fact, they themselves were the women who were hungry for hope, more than anyone else.
Tuk.
Something was thrown amongst them.
Clothes that were close to rags but could still cover their bodies.
All the eyes focused on that one man.
And, he, the handsome man, Cloud gave them the answer they desperately wanted.
“Get dressed. Time to go home.”
* * *
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