Burning Blood Droplet
The square was in full celebration.
“You all saw it, didn’t you? Every time I threw my spear, it punched clean through those monsters.”
“Oh, come now. You couldn’t even get close to them. We were the ones who cut their throats.”
“Who cares who did the cutting? The important thing is that nobody got their throat cut. Another drink, everyone.”
The heroes traded boasts, while merchants lined up cup after cup and plate after plate without end.
“If we’re to toast, shouldn’t we drink first to the Count of the Border Region?”
“Exactly. Thanks to him, we held the monsters back.”
“Byeonbangbaek!Byeonbangbaek!”
The crowd’s cries for the Border Count did not let up.
“There he is! It’s Lord Byeonbangbaek!”
“Waaaaah!”
As Ho-yeong appeared, the cheers only grew more feverish.
“Heh… you’re making me blush.”
It was nothing short of a madhouse.
“Now, now, everyone. Quiet down for a moment. Our savior, Lord Joren Tamer, has something to say.”
Only after Mayor Ios calmed the crowd did Ho-yeong manage to speak.
“Citizens of Rainpa, it is a pleasure to meet you. I am Joren Tamer, lord of the Tamer border territory, Rainpa’s neighbor. Our own people have long been in your debt.”
It felt awkward, like he’d turned into a politician and was giving a campaign speech, but he kept his tone steady and serious.
“Just now, the mayor called me by the far too generous title of savior. And you have all been chanting my name. But your true heroes are elsewhere!”
The citizens murmured among themselves.
“Today’s victory belongs to the guard force that fought to protect their homeland, and to the adventurers and mercenaries who came from afar to lend help! Shout their names! May Rainpa flourish!”
“Waaaaah!”
While the people cheered in relief, Ho-yeong slipped away.
Ios hurried after him and clutched at the hem of his clothes with earnest hands.
“Lord Tamer, you must be tired. Why leave in the middle of the night? It is humble, but please, stay one night in our city hall guesthouse.”
“I appreciate it, truly, but my road is still long. I’ve rested enough, so I should be on my way now.”
He was afraid of getting held up again for no reason.
“Very well. If you insist, I cannot stop you. And this… it isn’t much, but please accept it as a token of my sincerity.”
The mayor held out a heavy pouch of gold coins.
“Oh, come on, you didn’t have to do this. I didn’t help you so I could get paid.”
“If it hadn’t been for you, our city would have been completely ruined. This isn’t from Rainpa’s budget, but from my private fortune, so please don’t worry about that….”
“No, really. If anything, give it to the mercenaries and guards as a reward. Put it away.”
Ho-yeong shook his head.
“I see. But if you keep gripping the pouch so tightly, I won’t be able to take it….”
“Gripping it tightly? Anyone hearing that would misunderstand. I was only holding it so the coins wouldn’t fall out. Heh-heh.”
In truth, he had swallowed hard, but for the moment he chose to swallow his tears and hand it back. Better to avoid any trouble later.
“Lord Tamer, you truly are a man of exceptional character. Then I will handle the money as you asked. But could you accept at least this? It has been passed down as a family heirloom.”
“A family heirloom?”
Ios held out a small box. When Ho-yeong opened it, he found a bracelet adorned with red gems.
“My grandfather was a knight. He walked the righteous path of a warrior all his life. My father inherited his character, but not his martial frame. And as you can see, I’m the same.”
The mayor let out a sigh as he looked at his own build.
“I see.”
What a random overshare, Ho-yeong thought, but he listened quietly. A message had appeared in the status window: Event triggered! Opportunity to obtain item.
“My grandfather deeply lamented it. He said a weak son like that could not inherit the surname His Majesty had bestowed, so he never passed the name on to my father. That blessing ended with one generation.”
When a knight was ennobled by the king as a High Knight, a surname was bestowed upon him. On rare occasions, a castle was granted as well, but that was unheard of unless the knight came from royal blood to begin with.
At any rate.
“My son at least has some interest in the martial arts… if he ever becomes a High Knight and receives the same surname as my great-grandfather, then who knows.”
Knighthood itself was not inherited, but a surname could be passed down through generations. Ios’s grandfather, who had practically torn his own family register to pieces with his own hands, was a most unusual man.
“If your son wants to become a knight, I’ll see what I can do to help. But that bracelet…?”
Curious about the item information, Ho-yeong steered the conversation back to the bracelet.
“Ah, I’ve gone off track. My grandfather said he found this bracelet in a dungeon when he was young. But even as he left it as a keepsake, he said it was not to go to my father or me.”
“Then to whom?”
“He said to give it to the benefactor who met the qualities of courage, intelligence, and righteousness. But he added that only one who first offered wealth, and only to be refused, would be worthy.”
Ho-yeong, who had privately been eyeing the gold, gave a guilty start.
“Lord Tamer, at last I have been able to honor my grandfather’s will. Please take this bracelet. You are more than worthy. That intense light is proof enough!”
The glow pouring from the red gems blazed like a small sun.
“If you say so… very well. As a knight who will carry on the will of your distinguished grandfather, I accept it.”
◈ Effect 1 (Passive): When the wearer is deeply enraged, the power of their aura rises enormously. However, once the rage subsides, all aura is consumed and the rate of aura recovery drops sharply for a period of time. The scale of the power increase and the length of the penalty are directly proportional to the intensity of the rage.
◈ Effect 2 (Active): Can be used only while Effect 1 is active. When activated, Effect 1 also triggers for nearby allies who deeply resonate with the wearer’s rage. The cooldown varies depending on the intensity of the rage and the number of targets.
It was every bit as extraordinary as its name suggested.
Both the buff and the drawback are insane. The passive effect being something I can’t control myself is a bit of a problem. Hmm. Maybe I should give it to Lilian or another subordinate instead.
Ios’s smiling face looked strangely relieved, as if he had set down a burden he’d been carrying.
“Ah, thank you for accepting it, Lord Tamer. Now my grandfather can rest easy at last.”
Ho-yeong decided to take the good with the bad.
Well… if I can control my emotions properly, it’ll be fine. Thinking about it, this is a ridiculous buff. It’s basically like turning into a Super Saiyan. And apparently I can even transform a whole group at once.
Since he had acquired it already, he resolved to make good use of it.
“Then I’ll be taking my leave, Mayor. Ah, and don’t forget the memorial report you’re to send to His Majesty.”
“Of course. I will report everything we discussed earlier, and today’s battle, in full detail through communication parchment.”
“Thank you. I trust the mayor to write it well. We can continue any unfinished talk another time. I’ll be passing through again anyway on my way back from the capital.”
Leaving the reluctant mayor behind, he headed for the carriage. Peach, who had been waiting at the gate, ran up to him with a bright smile.
“Welcome back, Master.”
“It’s cold. Why are you out here? You should’ve waited in the carriage.”
The sight made him think of younger siblings waiting for their older brother to come home from work, and he reached out to pat Peach’s head.
“Are we leaving now? You were amazing just now! I’ve fallen for you all over again, Master.”
“Thank you, Peach. Your part this time was a very important clue.”
“Really? Hee-hee, I’m glad. You must be tired, so please have some tea.”
After drinking the mandragora hornleaf tea Peach poured for him, he felt some of his strength return.
“By the way, what is Shrakhim doing?”
Ho-yeong tilted his head at the sight of Shrakhim hauling something outside the gate. If it had been tribute that they’d unloaded to empty the carriage, it should already have been reloaded.
“No, really, what is all that?”
He stared in surprise at the bundles and boxes of every kind.
“Hehe. These are gifts from the mayor and the citizens.”
Meyril, who was carrying a small box, explained with a proud expression.
“Honestly, they didn’t need to do this. If there’s anything valuable, you can take it yourselves. You all worked hard.”
“Really? Then we’ll gladly accept, aye.”
“Ah, you startled me.”
From below Ho-yeong’s head, Sera suddenly popped up.
“Sera. Why are you out here instead of in the banquet hall? Being a dwarf doesn’t mean you can’t drink just because you’re young.”
“Well… I saw this old man struggling all alone, and it was getting on my nerves, so I helped out.”
Come to think of it, the minotaur men were standing there blinking quietly.
“Moo….”
It’s not like we meant to avoid helping. But now that we’ve transformed into cows and horses, we figured we’d look odd, so we stayed still.
“Right, good work. I’ll handle it, so everyone else can rest.”
“How can you say that? The Count of the Border Region must be tired too….”
“I only gave orders in this battle. I didn’t use my own body directly, so I’m fine.”
He was used to loading and unloading, and with aura to help him, it was nothing difficult.
“All right, we’re ready to go now.”
“That was fast. Like someone who just finished a day of manual labor.”
Sera gaped as she watched Ho-yeong finish sorting the luggage in the blink of an eye.
“Miss dwarf, did you perhaps have something to say?”
“Ah… well. It’s just that, see, my parents told me to go out and see the world, so I’ve been wandering around. But making a living isn’t easy.”
“You’re an underage dwarf, so the mercenary guilds and adventuring parties won’t take you easily… is that it?”
“How’d you know?”
Reading her backstory, Ho-yeong smiled faintly.
“Well, it’s the kind of thing you see all the time. So, is there anything I can do to help?”
“Could you take us to that Tamer territory where the Border Count is staying? As mercenaries, I mean.”
Sera muttered this while fiddling with the horn on her helmet.
“Oh? Of course, you’d be welcome!”
Ho-yeong had been thinking of recruiting her anyway, and her suggestion was more than welcome.
She was still young and lacked experience, but Sera was a 2.5-star character. Her combat strength was decent enough, but what really stood out was her specialty, Weapon Maintenance.
“Really? Thank you.”
“No, I should be thanking you. Ow, ow, that grip is no joke.”
Her hand closed over his and shook it with frightening strength.
“Still, you heard us, didn’t you? We’re on our way to Kainea. It’d be dangerous for you to head to Tamer Territory alone, so how about staying here in Rainpa and waiting? There’ll be a lot of construction around Rainpa from now on, so you could make some money by working here while you wait.”
“All right then.”
“But have you spoken with your party leader? Macdonaf, I mean.”
However small the group, a party was still a party. It did not look good to poach a talented member without warning.
“I already said ‘we,’ didn’t I?”
Sera widened her eyes as if asking what he meant.
“The party leader wanted to follow Lord Byeonbangbaek too.”
“Huh?”
“I came to ask in his place. The poor man had one drink and flopped right over. Tsk. What kind of man gets that weak from alcohol?”
“Oh, amazing!”
Ho-yeong felt delighted by the unexpected good news. A mage was excellent manpower.
“I’ll let the party leader know too. We’ll wait here until Lord Byeonbangbaek returns.”
“Good, good. Thank you, all of you.”
“Then take care, everyone. I should head off too. I need to go toss the party leader into a warm place.”
As Sera passed the carriage, she glanced sidelong at Shrakhim.
“Old man, you drink?”
“Huh? Ah… I can manage a fair bit.”
“There’s a pub here that does a great menchi-katsu. Come back later and we’ll have a beer match, then.”
“…A beer match? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“What do you think? A literal match. First one to get drunk and collapse pays the tab.”
Before Shrakhim could answer, Sera had already gone back through the gate.
“Heh. That’s nice for you, Sir Shrakhim. Getting a date request from a lovely young lady.”
“Peach, that wasn’t a date request, was it? I think it was more like a duel challenge… A dwarf betting drinks is way too reckless.”
Leaving the girls’ laughter behind, Ho-yeong walked toward the watchtower.
◈ A totem used by the Cliad Church to draw monsters to a specific location or implant simple commands into them.
“Nice. First loot secured: a totem. They can’t even wait and are already opening the boxes.”
Watching his party members eagerly unwrap the gift boxes from Rainpa’s citizens made him snort despite himself.
“Then I’ll open my own gift box too. Oh? They called it a bonus stage, but why is this box way bigger than the first-stage one?”
Congratulations! You have additionally obtained special rewards and three Unique Item-grade items from the system. This is a gift from the angels, moved by the will of the Guardian who has weathered adversity.