Episode 7
Episode 7
The wooden fence I had worked so hard to build was completely destroyed.
The endlessly swarming magical beasts shattered the log fence and destroyed our home.
The men in the village tried to stop them, but it was impossible to hold them all back.
Neither I nor Ivy were much different.
Ivy had the skill but lacked the strength to cut down the magical beasts, and I could only block them.
'Though I did manage to kill them through excessive bleeding each time...'
Just when I felt there was a limit to killing them one by one.
Fortunately, the scouting party returned and we were barely able to hold them off.
"Phew..."
I slumped to the ground and leaned against a rock.
As the tension eased, I finally felt the pain from the wounds all over my body.
Looking around, I was covered in injuries, with flesh torn out or gouged between them, blood flowing freely.
"I got hit way more than I thought. Some parts are torn... But at least I'm alive."
I let out a deep sigh and looked around.
Mothers, wives, or siblings holding their dead family members and weeping.
All I could hear were the sounds of people holding their cold, lifeless family members, sobbing and screaming.
I turned my gaze away from the horrific scene and closed my eyes.
The screams that still reached my ears made my stomach churn.
'Dad and my brothers... They must be alive, right?'
I thought I heard their voices at some point, but I didn't see them.
All I could do was believe.
"Mia, you did well. You held out better than I expected."
After a while, a familiar voice reached me.
"Delit Ajusshi."
"Oh, you're alive. You're so covered in blood I thought you'd finally died. Too bad you didn't die."
Though he spoke as if disappointed, I could see relief in his expression.
"By the way, why were you so late? Did we not have anywhere to go? Or... did something happen?"
"It was fine on the way there, but there were too many magical beasts on the way back. That's why it took so long."
"You don't mean there are more besides these?"
The ajusshi looked toward the forest where the magical beasts had swarmed from and let out a deep sigh.
After a moment, he shrugged and nodded.
"From what I saw, there are more than expected. They might even come again."
At his matter-of-fact tone, I pushed myself up from where I sat.
I staggered from the pain but immediately looked at the ajusshi.
"Ugh! Then we need to tell everyone to move quickly! This is no time to stay here!"
My legs were trembling uncontrollably.
The ajusshi looked at me for a moment, then pointed at the people with his fingertip.
My gaze followed his finger.
"I told them, but I don't know if they'll listen. And it'll take some time for people to gather their necessary belongings and move."
"What if the magical beasts come during that time? We'll all die."
"We'll have to hold out. Hold out as much as we can... and pray that support from the Church comes if we're late."
The ajusshi's eyes seemed to have accepted reality to some extent.
At the same time, a single point of light in his shadowed gaze looked like hope, so I couldn't talk back.
"By the way, have you seen Ivy? I haven't seen her since the middle..."
As I casually changed the subject, the ajusshi pointed to where people were gathered.
"She's over there taking care of people? That kid never seems to get tired."
I looked in the same direction as the ajusshi, who sounded amazed.
There was Ivy, taking care of the injured.
With an expression that looked like she might cry, she was saying something and treating the wounded.
'I'm even afraid to look... But that's the Hero for you.'
Just hearing the screams made my stomach churn.
When I looked at the corpses, something welled up inside me.
"Ajusshi, please help me. I need to go find my parents."
The ajusshi nodded and offered me his arm.
Leaning on him, I slowly began walking through the village that had become hell.
'...They must be alive, right?'
I slowly walked to where our house had been.
But no one was there.
Only traces of the house remained, and the home I grew up in was completely destroyed.
'Did they flee somewhere else?'
On the way to where the village women and children were gathered, someone called my name.
Looking in the direction of the voice, I saw Big Brother.
...Missing one arm.
"Mia! You're okay. You're not hurt anywhere, are you? Do you know how worried I was?"
"Is now the time to worry about me?"
I thought I could stay calm.
After all, I knew I had been reincarnated into this world.
But the power of time seemed greater than I expected. Seeing my brother missing an arm made me choke up.
"Brother's arm! Your arm is gone! The arm you said you needed to hug your sister every day! Where did your arm go!"
A sharp, high-pitched voice that never usually came out.
It exploded like emotions that couldn't be contained.
"Why are you pretending to be okay! You're in more pain than me! But why..."
As I couldn't control my emotions and rambled angrily, my brother slowly hugged me.
With one arm, he slowly stroked my head and spoke.
"Now it's just you and me, Mia. So I have to take better care of you. We're the only family each other has left."
At those words, something seemed to snap in my mind.
Before I could shake off that pain, the disaster returned.
As if it were fate.
"Magical beasts! Everyone prepare to defend!"
*
It's all over.
My legs, my arms, nothing moves as I want them to.
They tremble like they're broken, and my vision shakes.
'Brother...'
Big Brother also fell, a cold corpse after protecting me.
The number of people fighting continues to decrease.
Ivy also tried to protect people and got stabbed by a goblin's sword, now slumped behind me.
Leaning on her shield, barely standing.
"...I didn't want to die like this."
I tried to change the original story for a happy ending, but it was impossible.
Realistically, there was no way, and I lacked the ability to create one.
"Ah, really... life..."
As my strength gave out and I was about to collapse.
"Let's get out of here quickly."
Delit Ajusshi picked me up.
My shield fell to the ground, and simultaneously the ajusshi picked up Ivy who had collapsed behind us with his other hand.
With both me and Ivy on his shoulders, the ajusshi began running at full speed.
"A-ajusshi...?"
My fading consciousness briefly returned at the sudden situation.
"Ajusshi, you're missing a leg. How are you running this fast..."
Running with just one leg, yet his speed was incredible.
It felt even faster than a grown man running at full speed.
"I'm running using aura. I wanted to teach you if I got the chance... Learn now."
The ajusshi explained matter-of-factly.
His voice was so calm it almost felt like I was in one of his usual lessons.
"Aura is, simply put, power created by humans. Mental strength? Willpower? I'm not sure of the exact criteria, but that's how I learned it too."
Between the ajusshi's words, I could hear the sound of cutting through air.
Swish! Thwack thwack thwack!
Arrows embedded themselves in the ground, miraculously missing us.
The voices of the magical beasts lingered at the edge of my hearing, seeming to fade then return.
"The fastest way to learn is by getting hit... but since that's not possible, I'll describe the feeling."
Even as we moved rapidly and wind rushed at us, his voice came through clearly.
"When your whole body feels hot, your heartbeat quickens, all your senses awaken, and the world seems to slow down - that's when it begins. Don't forget that feeling."
"B-but even if you say that... I don't really understand... So what should I do?"
After a moment's thought, the ajusshi took something out and handed it to me.
A small, tattered book.
I took the book and tucked it into my clothes.
"It's a book I received back when I was a mercenary. Take this and find the Red Mace. At the very least, she won't treat you poorly."
Red Mace.
The leader of the Harmony Flame Mercenary Group, whose reputation had reached even this countryside.
The ajusshi continued slowly.
"And this is just my personal opinion, but I think Ivy really is the Hero. Otherwise, those Church bastards wouldn't be so interested in her."
"What... do you mean by that?"
"I've been quietly watching whenever the priests came. And every time, they showed interest in Ivy."
He looked ahead and added.
"And if she weren't the Hero, there's no way so many Holy Knights would come for just one village."
Looking in the direction the ajusshi was gazing, I saw light.
Specifically, sunlight reflecting off snow-white armor, spreading light in all directions.
"Then... my role ends here..."
Like a dying candle, the ajusshi's voice grew faint.
Suddenly, my body flew through the air and rolled several times on the ground.
"Ugh! A-ajusshi!"
I fell to the ground, barely twitching as I raised my head.
Only then did I see the ajusshi's condition.
Dozens of arrows that had hit him instead of us were embedded in his back.
Covered in blood with wounds all over his body, blood was pooling on the ground beneath him.
Yet the ajusshi was smiling.
'What's so happy about this... you idiot.'
As the approaching Holy Knights came into view, my consciousness finally faded.
*
When Delit first met Mia, he had many thoughts.
Children usually feared him because of his scars and appearance, but this child was different.
She was rather cheeky and said whatever she wanted, which was amusing.
'If I hadn't paid attention to her then, maybe I would have survived.'
Normally, he never stayed in one village for more than a year to avoid getting attached.
He had strictly followed that rule, but this time he failed.
'Mia.'
That bold girl kept coming to mind.
She always said strange things, but her eyes were serious, and she meant every word.
That's why he started teaching her, and even when he saw her mediocre talent, he didn't give up.
"Tch!"
Was it because she was his first disciple?
Or because she was an interesting companion he met after long loneliness?
I couldn't run away.
I couldn't abandon the village, the children, Ivy, Mia.
Even knowing I couldn't stop the magical beasts' attack, I fought to the end, and even after realizing everyone was dead and there was no hope, I didn't run away alone.
I wanted to pass on my legacy, my existence, to these children.
'The Ora Yeongongbeop that I never passed on to anyone. Karen would... know what to do with it.'
Swordsmanship to Ivy, Ora Yeongongbeop to Mia.
I gave each of them something.
Finally seeing the Holy Knights approaching, I closed my eyes.
It wasn't so bad.
If there was one regret.
Not being able to see Mia grow.
That was the only one.