The Hero Party. Kidnapping the Second Companion (3)
I finally found it. My wallet. So you’re the culprit.
I checked the man across from me. A reasonably muscular male. Judging by his appearance, he looked like a thug from the Trash Can. My wallet was clutched in his hand.
“Give me back my wallet. If you do, I’ll let you walk away safely.”
“Heh, acting all tough. Why is this your wallet? It’s in my hand now.”
The thug snorted and ignored my words. In the meantime, I checked on Hare, who was pressed against my leg. Her cheek was flushed red, probably from being slapped by that man. Her knee was scraped and bleeding from when she had fallen.
“...Match-selling girl.”
“It’s Hare… My name is Hare…”
“...Hare. Are you okay?”
Hare hesitated for a moment before answering. She seemed to have trouble breathing, as if her chest hurt. “I-I’m fine… I don’t have any injuries…”
She was clearly lying. It was probably to stop me from fighting. Hare’s eyes were consumed by fear. Her difficulty breathing seemed more psychological than physical. I stepped forward to protect her as she lay on the ground.
At that, the crude thug burst out, “Hey, why don’t you just pretend you didn’t see anything? I’ll give the wallet back, so mind your own business.”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that.”
“Ha, I said I’d give it back! You’re making a big deal out of nothing??”
“If you’re the one who stole my wallet, you’ll have to pay the price.”
Cause and effect. I knew the thug hadn’t actually stolen my wallet. The match-selling girl had probably taken advantage of a gap to steal it as a thief. But since the wallet was in his hand, just like he said, I decided to treat him as the thief.
“No need to even draw a sword…”
“Huh?”
A back-alley thug like this would be easy enough with just my fists. I didn’t take any stance, simply walking forward with an arrogant demeanor.
“This bastard. Alright, let’s do this.”
The thug reached into his clothes. When I blinked once, he was already holding a dagger.
“M-Mister…! Be careful…! He has a knife in his hand…!! Just pretend you didn’t see anything and run…!!”
“I can’t do that.”
“...Huh?”
“There’s a reason.”
“What the hell are you two whispering about—!! You son of a—!!”
The thug shouted loudly as he charged toward me. His eyes showed no hesitation, as if he would stab me without a second thought. Those were the eyes of someone who had already stabbed many people. ‘If I kill him, no one will say a word. He’s that kind of guy.’
His dagger approached to pierce my flesh. It was close enough that I could reach him with a punch. The moment the blade entered that range, time seemed to stop.
And then, a choice appeared before my eyes.
The thug is trying to stab Junwoo. You don’t plan on just watching, do you? What is your choice?
[1. Subdue the thug.]
[2. Beat the thug.]
The appearance of a choice meant there was a dangerous possibility. No matter how superhuman you were, getting stabbed by a blade would naturally kill you. Even this weak thug’s dagger was enough to trigger a choice.
‘Then, my choice is…’
Number two. I clicked on the second option.
Subduing him might seem like the better answer since it produced a ‘result.’ Even so, I chose two. The reason was simple.
‘No matter what I choose, the outcome for that guy will be the same. Whether he gets subdued or beaten like a dog.’
After rolling around countless times in this other world, nearly dying, and participating in wars, the result would be the same no matter what I did to a back-alley punk like this.
My body began to move according to the choice. Auto-combat. It automatically targeted a vital point, and my fist flew toward it.
A strike aimed at the liver with zero margin for error. River Blow. An attack known in Korean as a liver shot. It struck the liver located at the lower part of the ribs.
The thug couldn’t breathe and collapsed to his knees on the spot. It was a simple but incredibly powerful blow.
“H-Hurk… I-I can’t—breathe—”
Clatter—
Along with the thug’s body, the dagger he held rolled across the floor. I looked down at him as he knelt and asked, “Why did you steal my wallet?”
“Hurk— That— I didn’t—”
“I won’t tolerate lies. Why did you steal it?”
“I-I didn’t—”
“...Looks like we can’t communicate.”
Don’t say another word. With that meaning, I struck the fallen thug’s body.
Thud— Thud—
He screamed for mercy, but I had no intention of stopping. “P-Please, spare—”
“If I had been weak, I would have lost my life to your dagger. You were ready to kill someone, yet you beg for your life? Don’t you have any conscience?”
“S-Stop— Hurk— Spare me—”
I ignored his words. People die easily, but if you hit them just enough that they won’t die, they won’t. I knew that line well.
The thug just had to take the beating quietly. ‘So he can never touch the thief again.’
Instilling fear. In four days, I would kidnap her. But until then, nothing could happen to the thief. That was why I was doing this pointless thing.
Just as my fist was about to strike again, someone stopped it.
“S-Stop…!!”
“Hare?”
“Please stop… It was my fault… I’m the one who stole the wallet, Mister…”
“...”
Tsk. I was trying to pretend I didn’t know.
Hare was gripping my arm tightly, as if she wouldn’t let go. Her eyes were filled with guilt and regret. She seemed sorry for me trying to kill the thug.
‘...If I keep beating this thug, it might hurt the thief even more.’
Because it would mean she had pinned her own crime on him. Continuing this in front of a psychologically shrunken thief would be nothing short of torture.
With no choice, I withdrew my fist.
“H-Hurk… S-Spare… me…”
“Shut up and get lost. If I catch you again, you’re dead next time.”
“Y-Yes, sir…”
Unlike his earlier arrogance, the thug scrambled away in a panic. He probably wouldn’t think of touching the thief for a while.
I picked up the wallet that had fallen to the ground and put it in my pocket. Then I met the eyes of the thief who had stolen it from me.
“I knew.”
“...What?”
“I knew from the beginning that you were the one who stole it.”
“...”
At those words, Hare’s expression darkened even more. She looked as if she had fallen into an inescapable pit of guilt. With a gloomy smile, she offered an excuse.
“A-Actually, I was going to return it…! I did steal it, but…! There was so much money that I was going to put it back—”
“Don’t tell pointless lies, alright?”
Hare’s words stopped there. Probably because of my expression. My face must have soured at her half-hearted lie.
I spoke calmly. “If you were planning to return it from the start, you wouldn’t have stolen it in the first place.”
“Ah…”
Leaving behind that small sound, I left the alley.
In four days, she and I would meet again. But right now, I didn’t particularly want to talk to her. I hated lies more than death.
A musty smell lingered in the room. Damp mold gathered in one corner, claiming its right to survive. Yuriana Hare looked at it and spoke.
“I’m back, Grandma.”
A shack that looked like it would blow away in a typhoon. Calling the wooden plank a door, Hare entered the house. On the bed inside, her frail grandmother welcomed her.
“Oh, you’re back, my granddaughter…”
“Yes. I sold some matches and came back. It doesn’t make as much money as selling food… but if I don’t want to steal, I have to sell something.”
I’m a bad child. After stealing, I’m lying to Grandma again…
Hare barely held back her tears. She didn’t want to show her grandmother a sad face. So she smiled and said, “Today I sold 4000 perina. Hehe. If I save a little more, I’ll be able to buy medicine for you, Grandma!”
Her tone was positive. In contrast, Grandma Helen’s complexion was pale. Blind, she fumbled through the air until she found her granddaughter.
“Yes, save it up. So no one takes it from you. For a good purpose…”
“...”
Grandma wasn’t thinking about living at all. Hare understood the meaning behind those words. It meant not to use the money on herself, but to save it and leave this place.
If her only family died, Hare would be left alone. Thinking of that lonely feeling, Hare took her grandmother’s wrinkled hand.
“No, Grandma… You can definitely live…! I… I will save you…”
“Hare… People die when their time comes… It’s time for me to go—”
“No…!! Grandma will never die…”
“...Hare. Accept reality.”
Unlike her kind personality, Helen felt pity for Hare, who had been born into the wrong environment. If she died, Hare would be left alone. Having lived by stealing, could she truly survive in this world?
Helen was incredibly worried. ‘She’s a child I can’t leave behind alone…’
If not for Hare, she would have let go of life and ascended to heaven by now. Perhaps it was that lingering attachment that kept her alive in this pain.
Holding Hare’s hand warmly, Helen thought, “Hare. It will be painful, but think about how you will live once I’m gone. That way, the shock will be less…”
“...I understand, Grandma.”
With no choice, Hare nodded. It was time to sleep, so she laid out newspaper on the floor and lay down. Then she began to recall what her grandmother had said.
‘...Once Grandma is gone, what about me?’
How would I live? Could someone as bad as me continue to live? After causing so much pain to others, do I even deserve to keep living…?
Hare fell into negative thoughts. A stabbing pain pierced her chest.
“How should I live…?”
While thinking that, Hare closed her eyes. The first thing that came to mind was the man who had saved her. The man who had been different from everyone else.
Thinking of him made her chest hurt even more. “He was so kind to me… but I did something terrible to him…”
He gave me 4000 perina… yet I stole his wallet…
Hare held back the tears that threatened to spill. ‘Still… when I think of that person.’
Something. Something made her heart pound. It was a feeling she had never experienced before. Feeling that tremble, Hare closed her eyes and tried to sleep.
She couldn’t define what that emotion was.