The Cradle of Heroes (10)
Waking up after a solid sleep, I saw Hanna and Eli breathing softly on either side of me. So it wasn’t a dream after all.
The dried cum still smeared across their faces was proof enough that last night had been very, very real.
“I must’ve been possessed or something.”
I’d gotten far too excited at the reality of pulling off the kind of sister-sandwich I’d only ever fantasized about back on Earth. I’d said and done things I normally wouldn’t… but damn, it had felt good.
Not that I had any complaints.
I’d taken turns fucking them, then stacked them on top of each other, then laid them side by side and switched back and forth. I really had done just about everything possible.
Oh. Just thinking about it was making me hard again.
For a second I considered flipping the blanket aside and shoving it into whichever one was closest, but I shook my head and simply got out of bed, grabbing my clothes.
“Having too much stamina is a problem too, huh.”
I didn’t know exactly why, but my sexual stamina had skyrocketed. I wasn’t sure if this was normal for knights who used aura, if something else was at play, or if the Physical Training (Intermediate) talent somehow applied to this as well. The information that had flooded my head when my talents awakened wasn’t everything, so while I had my suspicions, nothing was certain.
But one thing was crystal clear.
My stamina had become abnormally strong. Cumming seven or eight times over the course of a few hours and then waking up with another raging erection? That was insane.
It was a good change for me, so I wasn’t going to overthink it. If it had been anything else, I would’ve done whatever it took to figure out the cause.
“Oh! Hero Candidate, you’re awake?”
When I finished dressing and stepped outside, I found the village chief pacing in front of Hanna’s house.
“I hope the gift I sent was to your satisfaction…”
The way he spoke made him sound less like a village chief and more like a pimp, but since I’d already received the goods, I played along politely.
“The gift was well received. Thanks to you, I had a very good time.”
“Haha, it was nothing at all. In that case, why don’t you come to my house? I’ll serve you some tea!”
“No need for tea. Have the others woken up yet?”
Now that my business here was done and I’d taken everything I wanted, I planned to leave right away. Some might call me trash for not even saying goodbye to the women I’d spent the entire night fucking, but—
‘Anyway, I need to minimize any emotional attachment since I probably won’t see them again after today.’
Even though they’d slept with me, from the conversation I’d overheard yesterday, it had been half voluntary, half forced. They probably wouldn’t want to see my face either. On top of that, I’d roughly fucked the two of them all night long, so it would be awkward for everyone. Leaving immediately was the right call.
“They should all be awake by now.”
“Then I’ll prepare right away and depart. We have a long road ahead.”
“Understood. I’ll have the others gather the Hero Candidates.”
At my single sentence, the chief immediately spun around and ran off to round everyone up. I called him back for one final instruction.
“Make sure you take good care of those two.”
I knew roughly why he’d sent them to my room.
‘It’s probably because of that rumor.’
The rumor that a knight’s child had a higher chance of awakening aura. He must have shoved the two sisters into my bed hoping for exactly that. Since I’d known and still accepted them, I wasn’t going to complain about it now.
Still.
‘If I said I’d do something, I should at least follow through properly.’
Scams were everywhere even in modern society. There was no reason this world would be any different. The chief might suddenly change his tune, so I wanted to give them at least this much protection. Of course, I had no idea how effective it would actually be. In the end I was leaving and never coming back, so even with this warning, they might still end up suffering some shitty fate.
That was just the kind of world this was.
“Of course! I’ll take very good care of them!”
Even after my half-threat, the chief was still grinning ear to ear, so it seemed like he probably wouldn’t pull anything after all.
After finishing my conversation with the chief and waiting for everyone to gather, we immediately set off on the road back.
Thankfully, the return journey was uneventful. We reached the Cradle safely without running into any incidents.
Honestly, that made sense. No matter how messed up this world was, it would be ridiculous for new monsters or bandits to settle on the exact path we’d taken in just a few days.
“Thank you all for your hard work on the request.”
As soon as we arrived at the Cradle, Gillen came out to greet us.
“You must be tired, so we’ll discuss the request details later. Please head up and rest. Ah, Team Leader Yoon Iseo, may I have the request fee?”
I handed over the five silver I’d set aside in advance. Gillen counted it roughly, then asked casually.
“There weren’t any situations where you had to receive additional payment, were there?”
At the mention of additional payment, Kim Gain flinched visibly.
Damn. She really can’t act for shit.
I’d given her some money to keep her mouth shut about the extra silver we got because of the warlock. Maybe that had been a waste. The others knew something had happened but had no idea what exactly had gone down, so we could’ve just brushed it off. Instead I’d split the money thinking it was better to buy their silence than risk getting caught. Since they weren’t used to this kind of thing, it showed a little.
“What could possibly happen on a simple skeleton subjugation quest?”
“That’s true. You’ve all worked hard. Go rest up now.”
It seemed Gillen hadn’t noticed anything after all, but I’d still need to warn the others to be more careful.
“Ah, Gillen. Have the other teams returned yet?”
“Not yet. You’re the first ones back. Most requests take at least two days, so please relax and wait comfortably.”
We really had finished unusually fast. We’d arrived, wrapped everything up in just a few hours, and started heading back the very next morning. It made sense that the other teams still hadn’t returned.
After returning, we skipped morning classes and only attended afternoon ones while enjoying the peaceful atmosphere of the Cradle until the other teams arrived.
Then, three days later.
The team that had gone to kill goblins finally returned, but—
“…They say they’re short a few people.”
Kim Yunhwan was counting the returning faces with a serious expression. I narrowed my eyes and counted along from a distance.
One, two, three, four… ten.
The group that had left with fourteen people now numbered only ten. And judging by the grim looks on their faces, it didn’t seem like they’d simply gotten separated on the way back.
‘They’re dead.’
This wasn’t the fake death from the tutorial where you came back to life. This was real death. Since requests involved fighting monsters, dying was always a possibility. The silver lining was that the people I’d gotten somewhat close to since arriving here had all survived. They were all wrapped in bandages in at least one spot and looked pretty beat up, but at least they were alive. The priests here could heal their wounds with holy power anyway.
‘Still… four people died on their very first request.’
I’d known that someday one of us might die, but this felt a little too soon. And against mere goblins, no less. No matter how I thought about it, it didn’t seem likely that thirty or forty goblins alone could have killed four people. There must have been some other variable involved.
Just like with us.
“You never mentioned there would be a shaman!”
Kim Daekwon growled in barely suppressed rage, but Gillen simply smiled calmly and countered.
“I told you beforehand—if the request details differ, you’re free to refuse and return.”
“We didn’t have a choice in the situation!”
“Then did you receive additional payment?”
“Four of our people are dead and that’s what you’re asking?!”
Kim Daekwon appealed to emotion, but Gillen responded with mechanical, AI-like sympathy while repeating the exact same lines.
Having lost four team members, Kim Daekwon kept trying to make some kind of appeal as he stared at Gillen in frustration. But there was nothing to be done. Even if he argued with Gillen, nothing would change. Gillen was ultimately just a low-ranking priest passing along decisions made by those above him. He was basically an emotional laborer with no real power to do anything even if he wanted to. So in the end, the one who broke first in their parallel conversation was inevitably Kim Daekwon.
“Ha… Here.”
“Confirmed. Those who wish for treatment, please come to me. I’ll provide it free of charge just this once.”
“Wait, doesn’t that mean you normally charge for it?”
“Yes. Normally, treatment fees are deducted from your future support funds.”
“What the fuck, Hero Candidates are supposed to—”
With that, Kim Daekwon spat out a string of curses and stormed up to his room.
I wanted to ask exactly what had happened, but the atmosphere didn’t seem right for questions, so I let it slide for now.
The next morning, I asked Song Dayeong, who was listlessly picking at her soup as if she still hadn’t shaken off her fatigue, what had happened.
“Well… pretty much what Kim Daekwon yelled yesterday. When they got to the request location, there wasn’t just goblins—there was a goblin shaman too. They couldn’t respond properly and four people died.”
The story itself wasn’t complicated. The day after arriving at the village, they went to where the goblins were staying, but there was a shaman along with the regular goblins, which completely changed the flow of battle. They eventually won, but by then four people were already dead.
“Ugh, and then the village chief bastard had the nerve to say they only asked to kill goblins, that you guys went ahead and killed the shaman too, so they weren’t going to pay. Seriously, now I get why mercenaries turn into bandits.”
Once the conversation started flowing, Song Dayeong practically vented everything that had happened like she was filing a complaint. I listened while eating my breakfast at a moderate pace.
By the time we finished eating, Gillen entered the dining hall and delivered an announcement.
“We’re resting today?”
“Yes. The veteran Hero Candidate who was supposed to arrive today has had something come up and won’t be here yet, so it’s been decided that today will be a rest day.”
Originally, veteran Hero Candidates were supposed to come today to give something like lectures and a Q&A session.
‘Now what?’
With a whole day suddenly freed up, I wasn’t sure what to do. I was debating whether I should just swing my sword alone when Gillen gave us an option.
“How about going out to the city outside the Cradle for a bit?”
“The city?”
Everyone’s voices brightened at the mention of the city. That made sense. Other than the request, none of us had left the Cradle since arriving. It was natural they’d want to go out.
“But we don’t have any money?”
“That’s fine. You can take an advance from your support funds.”
The city, huh… I’d caught a glimpse of it when we left for the request, and it hadn’t looked bad. There were quite a lot of people, and just looking around would probably make the day pass quickly.
“Senior, are you going?”
“Iseo, are you going to the city?”
Song Dayeong and Kwon Soyeon spoke at almost the exact same time. They glanced at each other for a brief moment. I pretended not to notice and simply nodded.
“Sure. There’s nothing else to do anyway.”
“Then the three of us can go together. That’s fine with you too, right, Dayeong?”
“Yeah, let’s go together.”
It ended up being decided that the three of us would head to the city together. But I could feel some strange tension between the two women.
Looked like I’d need to sort out the traffic at some point.