Who's the Bastard Who Touched Our Kid?
Who's the Bastard Who Touched Our Kid?
"Hehehe..."
Well, whatever, at least her smiling face is pretty so I'll let it slide. I patted her head, fed her, then headed to the central hearth area like usual.
These days it's a busy place where warriors continuously hunt beasts, with people processing the meat and smoking it.
Still, since there's nowhere else to leave Serkai, I went to Aunt Iren like always.
When I got near the dining area, the auntie was busily processing meat.
"Auntie, I'm here."
"Oh, you're here? Set her down over there."
Like always, I sat Serkai in the corner of the dining hall, then knelt down to meet her eyes.
"Serkai, you have to behave well today too. Listen to Aunt Iren."
"Uh-huh!"
I patted the girl who was still smiling brightly, stood up, and looked around the dining hall.
A year ago, following Vargen's words, the children stayed in the village while the warriors started moving in pairs of two.
Thanks to that, lately you could often see children gathered together playing in the village.
But I'm a child yet also a warrior, so I needed one warrior to pair up with.
"Lukar."
Right then, someone I made eye contact with was there.
Silver hair, brown eyes, a wolf-like girl.
On top of that, she had a delicate face, and though she was twelve years old—having left childhood behind to become a warrior—she was still unfortunately about the same height as me.
"Kirna. Let's go."
"Yeah."
Kirna grabbed her spear and followed behind me.
It's been quite a while since I started hunting with her.
At first, I just brought her along since she was alone and did all the hunting myself, but now we've got some coordination going.
As we entered the forest, Kirna quietly approached.
"Hey, Lukar."
"Huh?"
What's with her? Usually she just follows silently.
"I have to tell you something... Lately, the kids have been acting strange."
"Strange? How so?"
Entering deeper into the forest, I kept my ears open while adjusting my grip on the spear and maintaining vigilance around us.
"There are more kids saying bad things about you."
"Well, that's nothing new, right?"
There weren't any kids who looked down on me for being young, but since I was still a child, there were plenty who were jealous.
Just then, I caught the smell of a beast. This scent... bear. At my level now, it was worth challenging.
I followed the smell deeper into the forest.
"It's not just you... there's a lot of talk about your little sister too."
My footsteps stopped.
"... What did they say about Serkai?"
I turned my head to look at Kirna. She was calmly looking into my eyes.
"... They said she's like one of those Empire bastards. They called her a burden too."
"... Who said that?"
"Well... you know. That kid who's always glaring at you."
A memory flashed through my mind.
There was one kid they said would become a warrior as soon as he was old enough because of his big build.
I don't know his name but...
"... Alright, I got it. Thanks for telling me."
I patted Kirna's shoulder once and turned my steps back.
"... Yeah."
A small voice came from behind me, but my head was too tangled with thoughts about Serkai.
It's true—I'm a warrior and I'm strong, so kids don't easily approach me.
But Serkai?
The more she grows, the more I feel keenly that she's on a completely different level from the people here.
Her face is too pretty, and her appearance is definitely closer to an Empire citizen than a barbarian.
She's a perfect target for discrimination.
... I think I'd better finish the hunt quickly and head back.
"Kirna, I'm going to speed up. Can you keep up?"
"... Yeah. I'll follow."
I nodded and kicked off the ground.
Kwang!
The wind whipped around me as the forest trees rushed past.
Glancing back, I saw Kirna gritting her teeth and chasing after me.
She may lack strength, but she's got grit.
I kept running, stomping hard on the ground where weeds showed through, and the beast's stench grew stronger.
After passing countless trees, a rocky cave came into view, and I spotted it.
Kuuuk... Kreureuk...
Normally, this big bastard hunts quietly with its white fur, ambushing its prey.
But the sight before me now was far from normal.
Its fur was black, where its eyes should have been there were only black holes, and its size was larger than the others.
Suddenly, it turned its head toward me.
... Its senses were sharper too, huh. When I got closer, I slowed down and walked cautiously.
"Hoo... hoo."
Steam rose from my body as the heat inside spread throughout.
"Haa...! Haa...! Heeu... Lukar..."
Behind me came Kirna's ragged breathing as she barely caught up.
"Yeah, I know. I'll be careful."
"Haa... yeah... I trust you."
I smirked and walked slowly toward it.
Then, it started standing on two legs.
A shadow fell heavily, and its face rose upward.
... About 5 meters tall, huh. Damn huge.
Kuuuuu!!
The roar scattered the wind.
I adjusted my grip on the spear and slowly circled around it, looking for an opening.
Kreureuk...
It was looking at me too, not charging in easily.
Is it sensing my energy? This won't be easy.
Just then, the wind shifted.
Hwi-ee-ing
The snow clinging to the trees scattered, briefly obscuring my vision—and in that instant.
Kwang!
A thunderous sound erupted from where it had been standing.
Instinctively, I leaned my upper body back, and its claws grazed right above me.
Kuuuuu!!!
I kicked off its body, spun backward to create distance, and threw my spear with rotational force.
Kwaaang— Puk!
——!!!
The spear buried itself deep in its abdomen, and it stumbled backward.
I kicked off the ground to finish it—and dirt sprayed up.
"Kuh!?"
I couldn't see in front of me. Then, a chilling sensation came from my right.
I raised my arm to block, and an immense impact sent my body flying.
Kwaaang!
I flew sideways, bounced off the ground once, and slammed into a tree. Udeudeuk—the tree cracked and fell.
"Cough... this bastard..."
It's no simple beast. To block my vision with dirt and attack at that exact moment.
"Lukar!!"
At Kirna's shout, I ignored the pain and threw myself sideways.
Kwaaang!
Kuuuu!!
I rolled and stood up, looking at where I'd been—the tree had been torn out by the roots and sent flying.
"Haa... haa... ptooey."
I spat out the blood mixed with saliva in my mouth, glaring at it.
The spear was still stuck in its abdomen, blood flowing out, but it moved as if it felt no pain.
But then again, same for me.
Tchiiik
On my right arm, where flesh had been torn away, steam rose as the wound slowly healed.
"Haha, honestly..."
I don't know which one of us is the monster.
We kept glaring at each other, neither moving.
Then, something flew in right next to me.
Sswee-eeeek!
A spear flew in right beside me. It was Kirna.
The moment it swung its arm to deflect the spear, I kicked off the ground and shot forward at the same speed.
Tuk
Kirna's spear met its claws and flew away pitifully—and at the same time, my foot slammed into the spear still embedded in its abdomen.
Puh-uhk!
Kureureuk...
The spear burst out through its back, and it shuddered before slowly collapsing sideways.
Kuu-ung!
"Haa... haa... That was a good throw, Kirna."
Thanks to her, it had shown its weakness. I turned around to see Kirna running toward me.
"Lukar! Are you okay?"
I glanced at my right arm. It was almost healed.
"I'm fine. More importantly, let's end the hunt here today. This one should be enough."
"Yeah, you're really amazing... taking down a Black Snow Bear by yourself..."
Looking where Kirna was staring, I saw the fallen beast's form.
Well, even thinking about it now, it was absurdly strong. And on top of that, it was smart too.
... So this is the kind of thing that shows up more often later, huh. It really is a dangerous world.
We rested a bit to recover our strength, gathered our spears, tied the beast up with rope, and dragged it along.
Even on the way back to the village, we saw various beasts—wolves, even wolves with red eyes.
But most of them tucked their tails and ran away when they saw what we were dragging.
Only one, who seemed like the pack leader, just stared blankly in our direction.
As we approached the village, gazes gathered on us.
"... My god."
"For such a huge one to..."
Whispers from other warriors and children reached me.
Especially among the children, one big kid stood out.
I could see his eyes shaking and cold sweat running down.
What's up with him? Looks like he's got something to be guilty about?
"My goodness, you two did this...?"
Just then, I heard Aunt Kaylen's voice.
Turning my head, I saw the aunties from the central hearth area running toward us.
"Yes, well. Anyway, I'll leave it to you."
"Right, you've worked hard."
Watching several aunties together drag the bear away, I headed toward the dining hall.
Just then, Aunt Iren approached and whispered.
"Lukar, I'm sorry."
"... What's wrong all of a sudden?"
"... I was so busy working that I couldn't take good care of Serkai. Go see her quickly."
At those ominous words, my face hardened.
I passed by the auntie and went looking for Serkai.
Serkai was sitting in the corner, staring blankly at the sky.
And the area under her eyes was red.
"... Serkai."
Her eyes turned toward me, and a smile bloomed on her dazed face as if light had returned.
"Rice!"
She came running udadada toward me, and I caught her, holding her close.
"... Yeah, yeah. Your brother's here."
It seems "rice" is Serkai's way of calling for her brother.
Looking closely at her face, it was clear.
... The traces of crying were still there.
"... Who hit you?"
"U-ung..."
Serkai shook her head. At least that was a relief.
"Then why were you crying?"
"Ueueng..."
She looked around.
I looked around with her.
The place that was usually bustling with children was empty; there were no kids in sight.
... Looks like something did happen.
My grip tightened.
"Uptcha."
I picked Serkai up and patted her back. Kirna cautiously approached beside me.
"... Lukar, should I find out?"
"No, it's fine. You go eat lunch and rest."
"... Yeah. Got it."
This was a problem I had to solve myself.
But no violence.
According to Herkan's rules, killing your own kind is taboo.
If I threw a punch now, those kids' heads would crush like tofu.
I ate lunch in silence with Kirna, fed Serkai too, then spoke to Kirna.
"Kirna, can you watch her for a bit?"
I looked toward the campfire—the aunties were busily working.
That bear was so huge they were sweating buckets handling it, and Aunt Iren looked busy too.
"You're the only one I can trust her with. Please."
"No, it's fine. I'm always the one receiving help. I'll take care of her."
Kirna smiled faintly and took Serkai's hand.
I nodded and left the dining hall.
Rolling my shoulder, my right arm had fully recovered with no trouble moving.
Looking around, I saw no children in the village.
"... Where the hell did those little bastids all go..."
Let's go find them.
The sound of heavy footsteps rose through the ground beneath me.