25. What I Like Is an Interesting Person
25. What I Like Is an Interesting Person
My heart pounded.
Faster than before, and with an increasingly violent rhythm.
'A H-Hero Killer... is that really true?'
As her blood raced, her head spun, and she felt her trembling body gradually seize up.
'If I keep this up, I might actually die...'
No, maybe it was already too late.
Because in that moment, the cold eyes looking down at her, spear in hand, held not the slightest trace of mercy toward her.
That realization sent her skyrocketing pride crashing down and began to fill the void with fear...
"Kgh, hrrrk...!"
That was the instant her breath, which should have grown ragged, seized up instead.
The suffocating sensation stabbed through her chest like a stake, and Yi Ga-ram's body began convulsing from the violent pain.
A corner of her left chest.
She felt the organ that should have pumped ceaselessly as long as she lived come to a halt—and everything that should have followed froze all at once.
"Guh, ugh!"
Every muscle in her body locked up at once; even her airway refused to move, cutting off her breath in an instant.
She strained her throat to breathe anyway, but all that came of it was her tongue getting coated in foam from her own welling saliva.
'M-My heart... my heart stopped...'
A sudden shock, all in a few short moments.
Unable to withstand it, Yi Ga-ram collapsed with her eyes rolled back, and the crowd, belatedly sensing what had happened, began to drift toward her one by one.
"What the— why's the hero acting like that?"
"D-Don't tell me it's a curse? Did that bastard put a curse on her!?"
"Shit! Get a cleric, quickly!"
The moment the newly arrived hero, who had entered following the conventions of heroes, was reduced to such a wretched state.
But unlike the adventurers who fell into chaos, the man who had overwhelmed the girl merely turned his head, unconcerned.
He kept his spear straight—the very spear that had been aimed at the hero's head.
"...This way."
With his other hand, he seized the hand of the bard who had been chosen as the hero's sacrifice and tugged her toward the exit.
"Ah, um..."
"Do you want to stay here?"
The man glanced back at the bard, who seemed flustered by the sudden contact, and asked the question.
After looking at his face wordlessly with her narrow eyes, the bard lowered her head and quietly began to follow behind him.
And then...
"...To drive a hero to that state without even batting an eye."
"So the rumors were true after all?"
As he left the scene, the murmuring of the crowd followed him.
The story of how the Hero Hunter's infamy spread from the Adventurer's Guild to the entire Empire was something that would happen quite a while later.
****
"......Hoooh."
After leaving the guild.
Still unable to relax, I kept walking through the streets, holding the bard's hand and looking for a place away from prying eyes.
Though I call it walking, it was practically a fleeing speed.
What happened back there was enough to make even my heart shrink into itself—and I've seen just about everything there is to see in this world.
Damn it, walking right up to a hero and banking entirely on my bad reputation.
If my life hadn't been on the line, I'd have to be crazy to pick a fight like that, right?
"Excuse me..."
How long had I been walking with the woman I'd pulled out of danger at such risk?
Once we entered a secluded alley, she called to me, glanced down at the hand I was still holding, and gently spoke up.
"You were trying to get away from the tavern, right? I think we should be fine now that we've come this far..."
"......."
Without a word, I turned to look at her and let go of her hand.
Well, since we've come this far, there's no need to keep up the act.
Relaxing the nerves and the sharp gaze I'd kept up until now, I quietly turned to look at the bard I'd brought out with me.
From the hood on her head down to the robe she wore, and her skin and hair color—everything was dyed white.
She had a pure appearance in and of itself, but her eyes were so narrow you couldn't even tell whether they were open or shut.
"Um, I'm still having trouble grasping the situation, so..."
Staring at me with those eyes, she soon tilted her head as if voicing a question.
"Were you, by any chance, trying to save me back there?"
"...Heh heh."
Saved her...
Well, sure, that isn't wrong.
Normally I wouldn't care if heroes ran wild, but this woman in front of me was the lifeline Airi gave me after foreseeing my death.
So now that I'd saved her even at the cost of going head-to-head with a hero, I let the emotions I'd been holding back all this time liberate themselves, sinking my body to the ground.
With enough force to make a thud.
"I'm sorry for butting in and overstepping yoooooou!"
Along with that, the moment I planted my head on the ground, a sobbing apology mixed with a wail burst out of me.
I didn't feel any shame about it.
I've begged for my life plenty of times before, and by now I've gotten so good at putting my head to the dirt it's practically an art.
Anyone who thinks that's pathetic should try standing up to a Demon King's Army executive with their pride intact.
They'd get to vividly experience their head flying off as the guy kills them painlessly on the spot, after all.
"......Why are you suddenly apologizing?"
But seemingly unable to understand me, the bard young lady just tilted her head slightly.
"Weren't you barging in to help me?"
She tilted her head the other way, and it looked cute, but now wasn't the time to get entranced by that charm.
"I-I mean, no matter what, I committed an extremely rude act against someone I've never met before."
"Rude...?"
"That is, um..."
To explain to her, still not understanding, I took a moment to look back over what I'd said earlier.
That is, the things I'd said while dealing with that young hero.
'You look like you haven't been summoned here very long, so I suggest you back off while I'm still being nice.'
Yeah, no matter how desperate I was to save her, I didn't just charge in with nothing to back me up.
In reality, it's practically a tradition for a freshly summoned hero to barge into the Adventurer's Guild.
That process repeats, they gradually get used to it, and before long they grow into those damned bastards who treat people like dirt—one of the growth paths of heroes I've come to know.
So for a brat who was at the starting point of that, I figured just threatening her with my notoriety would be enough to make her back off.
'Because I've seen countless bastards just like you die after strutting around relying on nothing but their power.'
'...You. If you go any further than this, you'll really die.'
The other threats I made were meant to intimidate her as much as possible by leaning on that notoriety, but maybe half of it also came from a little sympathy or worry.
I always say all heroes are damned bastards, but even so, the sensibilities of people just pulled into this world wouldn't be much different from modern people.
Especially if she's a kid who hasn't even gotten her ID card yet, she could probably come to her senses a bit if she got badly burned before tasting money and power.
Of course, she resisted way more than I imagined, and I almost got done in, but somehow the spear luckily flew off to the side and she lost her mind on her own—I'd call that a huge relief.
Things didn't go exactly as I'd intended, but in the end it all worked out and I could get away safely...
'What do you think you're doing to my woman right now?'
But no matter what, that crossed the line.
Me, a forever-single virgin who's never properly dated a woman in his life, saying what? My woman?
"I'm sorry for calling you my woman when I had no right to!!"
Recalling the embarrassment of what I'd said at the time, I slammed my head back into the ground.
I know I needed a justification to offer help, but if I didn't consult the person involved properly, it was blatantly obvious she'd find it unpleasant.
Yeah, surely she also thought I'd gone too far now that the situation was over.
Or so I'd been certain.
"...Pfft."
But what came back—in a situation where expressing displeasure wouldn't have been strange at all—
Was a faint laugh that softly crept up to my ear and made its presence known.
"Ah, I'm sorry. I couldn't help but laugh. I thought your actions were amusing..."
"...Excuse me? Amusing?"
"Yes, not that it was a nuisance... I just thought you were an amusing person."
Was she just saying that out of consideration?
While I harbored doubts, she knelt down on the spot and brought her eyes level with mine while I still had my head planted on the ground.
"I heard what people were saying earlier... was your name Woo Hyosung?"
"Ah, yes. I'm Woo Hyosung. My family name is Woo, and my given name is Hyosung..."
"Yes, nice to meet you, Hyosung-ssi."
She smoothly extended her hand toward me.
Reaching out her slender, pure-white hand without hesitation, she wore a smile that felt as refined as the hand itself.
Drawn in by that smile, I took her hand, and before I knew it my body was being pulled upright. Then, she took out the lute she carried and once again faced me.
"Well then, since meeting like this is a form of fate as well, allow me to introduce myself too."
-Plink~
A clear melody arose as she plucked the strings.
"My name is Marilyn Sutherland......"
Her lips parted once that gentle sound had faded.
"I am but a humble Clown who wanders this chaotic world, weaving together the stories I gather and proving their worth through new encounters."
Marilyn.
The name of the new connection that the prophet who foretold my death had arranged for me.
But at that unhesitating introduction, I couldn't help but feel one question.
"...Clown? Not a bard?"
"Heh heh, you could also call it that."
So introducing herself as a Clown doesn't mean she's denying being a bard.
That's a relief; it meant I hadn't found the wrong person.
"And as for introducing myself further... I suppose the thing I like most is interesting people."
"Ah, yes. Interesting... What?"
The words that came slipping out just as I was about to dismiss it lightly.
I unconsciously put on a blank expression and mulled over what she'd said for a moment.
The thing she likes most is interesting people...
If that's the case, what does that standard of "liking" even mean?
Pure interest? Or her ideal type?
Wait, hold on. What did she say when she heard my apology again?
"She said she likes interesting people."
Flinch.
Just as I tried to forcibly deny it, thinking there was no way, Marilyn repeated exactly the same thing.
The moment I realized that, she soon grabbed my limp hand and began closing the distance between us.
"...Hyosung-ssi."
"Y-Yes?"
"If you truly feel apologetic toward me, then since things have turned out this way, could you grant me one favor?"
"A-A favor, you say?"
"Yes, as it happens I entered this city today and became an adventurer too, but coincidentally, I'm not used to operating in this empire, so I find myself at a loss as to what to do from now on."
Smiling, Marilyn tilted her head slightly.
"So please, could you be a guide for this lowly Clown's journey, if only for a little while?"
Just from hearing that soft, warm voice, I felt my body stiffen up all on its own.
Tachia, who made my armor, and Airi, who read my fortune, had both touched my body too, but in their cases it wasn't a direct approach made with this kind of overt fondness.
Yeah, at a glance, what she was giving off now was definitely what you'd call affection.
"Y-Yes. If I'll do, then as much as you want... Gah!"
Just as I forcibly denied that unconscious expectation and was about to go through with what I'd planned, she quietly began twisting my arm and shoulder, using the hand that was holding mine.
"Oh my, your body's very stiff. Are you nervous, by any chance?"
"N-No. This is..."
"Hooo~"
"Wugh!?"
A sudden warm gust of breath enveloped my ear.
When I let out a comical whimper and my body shivered, she drew back from me with a playful smile.
"Heh heh, I'm sorry. I blew on you hoping it would help you relax, but did I startle you by doing it without warning?"
"Er, um, no. It's fine. Yes."
How long had I spent hesitating and reading her expression?
Just standing there facing her as she smiled, I felt a corner of my heart filling up with an uncomfortable sensation.
...Damn, this really is dangerous.
"F-For now, you asked for guidance. Shall we go to the guild? Ah, it's a bit rowdy over there, so we could go to a different branch..."
"Yes, then I'll be in your care, Hyosung-ssi."
Marilyn answered favorably and smoothly took her place behind me.
After that, I led her back to the guild as she'd requested, but my steps throughout the process couldn't help but be stiff.
Because I had a vague inkling that behind that seemingly innocent face...
there existed a bewitching quality that could unsettle a person's heart......