Caught by the Female Leader (1)
I fell into the valley and ended up with injuries so severe it was hard to even stand. Torn skin, heavy bruising, and fractures. I rummaged through my inner pocket and pulled out a low-grade healing potion—one I had bought back at the refugee camp and brought with me when climbing the mountain.
“Gulp. Gulp.”
I drained the bottle in one go, and the effects hit instantly. Completely healed, I shot up from the ground. The potion hadn’t restored my spent stamina, though, so the moment I stood, dizziness washed over me. A weary sigh slipped from my lips.
When I looked around, everything felt pitch black—not because of the darkness, but because I was in an unfamiliar place. I had never come this far while setting traps and snares.
“This is going to be a problem if I want to get back to Dana.”
I tried to climb back up the way I had tumbled down, but the sheer cliff face made that impossible. The only choice was to take the long way around. With no other option, I started searching for a path.
Fortunately, I soon found a relatively flat trail wide enough for a carriage. Unfortunately, I also ran straight into the female leader, Ision, and Bernhardt, who were just returning from the squad leaders’ meeting.
The three of them spotted me soaked like a drowned rat and reined in their horses at the same time.
“What are you doing here at this hour?”
Bernhardt’s eyes widened like he had seen a ghost, his voice full of curiosity.
“Are you a ghost or something?”
“N-no. It’s me, Hyunwoo.”
Having just wiped out the fourth squad, facing them felt incredibly awkward. If they ever found out what I had done, what would happen to me? All right. Before they catch on, I need to ditch this bandit group and run. I’ll take Dana, Marcus, and the sisters with me.
“What were you doing out here?”
“Well, um…”
“And what’s that blood on your clothes?”
Ision asked, eyes narrowed with suspicion. Damn it, getting tangled up with this guy is the last thing I want. Looking down, I saw that the blood had soaked into my clothes and refused to wash out. It covered nearly everything I was wearing.
“It’s boar blood. I was hunting one earlier, slipped, and fell into the valley stream.”
I answered calmly, lying through my teeth. Bernhardt tilted his head.
“Why hunt boar at this time of night?”
“It’s because I have two slaves now. The food costs are killing me, so I had no choice but to hunt for meat.”
Meals provided by the bandit group were free only for members. Slaves had to pay.
“Wahahaha! That sounds like a real headache! Why buy two slaves anyway? Sell one of them!”
“Ahaha…”
I laughed awkwardly and glanced at the female leader and Ision. Bernhardt seemed completely fooled thanks to his simple nature, but Ision just stared at me with that cold expression, saying nothing. The female leader had her hood up, so I couldn’t tell if she was looking at me or somewhere else.
“Get on behind me!”
Bernhardt grabbed the back of my collar like a cat by the scruff and hauled me up onto his horse. His strength was no joke.
“Th-thank you.”
“You must be tired from hunting that boar. Get some rest on the way back!”
Is that it? Are they not going to ask anything else?
The female leader, riding at the front, started moving. Ision and Bernhardt, slightly behind on either side, followed after her. I let out a sigh of relief.
As soon as we arrived safely back at the bandit stronghold with the three of them, I immediately sprinted toward the mountain entrance. My heart was racing with worry for Dana, who was alone in the woods.
“Hey, where are you going?”
“I’ll be right back! I left something on the mountain!”
I ran at full speed past the guard at the entrance. He shouted after me.
“Are you crazy? The mountains are crawling with monsters at this hour! Going out there now is suicide!”
The guard shook his head with a pitying look as he watched Hyunwoo disappear into the distance.
“Good grief. Leaving the stronghold at this hour—he must have a death wish. He’ll get eaten by the monsters. He’s lost his mind, completely lost it.”
He clicked his tongue and turned around, only to nearly fall over in shock. The female leader was standing right in front of him. Her cold, icy gaze was fixed on the distant figure of Hyunwoo fading into the night.
“Where did he say he was going?”
Pressed by her aura, the guard trembled as he answered.
“W-well… He passed by so fast I didn’t catch everything, but I think he said he left something on the mountain.”
The female leader narrowed her eyes, furrowed her brow, and fell into thought for a moment. Then, without warning, she started walking out of the stronghold. The guard’s face paled and he urgently tried to stop her.
“B-Boss! It’s the middle of the night—it’s dangerous to go out now!”
“I won’t be long.”
Far across the mountain, the faint lights of the stronghold flickered. It was ten at night. This was the first time I had ever been in the mountains at this hour. Usually, after making dinner for Dana and heading back down, it was around seven, or seven-thirty at the latest.
Rustle.
While running along the mountain path, I whipped my head around with a tense expression. My hearing, sharpened by extreme alertness at the possibility of encountering monsters, didn’t miss the rustling coming from the thick underbrush.
Squeak. Squeak.
I caught sight of several creatures about the size of dwarves hopping around. There weren’t just one or two—there were about five of them. They were skulking around like mischievous brats, hiding behind trees and bushes, watching me.
Heh heh. Keke.
Since coming to this world, I had rarely encountered monsters. Still, I recognized these childlike, innocent-looking creatures at a glance. Goblins—small, green-skinned monsters.
The first time I met them, fear had gripped me. But today I wasn’t in my right mind. After killing five people, I felt strangely exhilarated, almost like I was on drugs. Instead of being afraid of the goblins, I simply saw them as annoying pests.
“Shoo! Shh! Get out of here! Go away!”
I ran toward where they were hiding, swinging my dagger through the air. The goblins shrieked and scattered, fleeing into the darkness. They didn’t show themselves again.
I hurried on. The full moon hung in the sky, making the night bright enough to walk without much trouble. I passed the cave without issue and reached the spot where Freyr had died. Something was crouched over his body, which was pinned under a log, tearing into his flesh.
It looked vaguely human, yet also like a troll, or maybe a small ogre. I couldn’t tell exactly. It might have been a monster I didn’t know. I didn’t look too closely. I was too busy holding my breath and getting away as quietly as possible.
When I reached the place where Kembuk had died, I cautiously peered down into the pit. Sure enough, another monster had made itself at home there, greedily devouring his corpse. The upper body was female, but the lower half was a spider with eight legs.
The sight made me so tense I couldn’t even swallow. I slowly backed away. If Marcus hadn’t taught me how to conceal my presence, I would have been spotted and eaten already.
In this place teeming with monsters, I kept to a policy of observation. I paid no attention to anything that wasn’t my business. When danger seemed near, I would pull back, wait for things to calm down, then move forward again. That was the only way.
Besides, my stamina was at its limit. After everything that had happened today, if I ran into anything in this exhausted state, I couldn’t guarantee my survival. Yet even in such uncertainty, the instinct to survive refused to die.
I kept telling myself I would escape with Dana, that I would bring her safely back to the cave, and pushed myself as hard as I could.
“Dana.”
When I finally reached the bramble thicket where she was hiding, I called her name softly. I pressed my ear close and waited. From inside came the faint sound of muffled sobbing.
I quickly pushed the bushes aside and slipped in.
“Dana!”
“Hic… Hiccup! Hyunwoo!”
Dana, crouched inside the pit, saw me and reached out with both arms like a child begging to be held, crying loudly. Her face was a mess of tears—she must have been crying for a long time. Had she been that scared? Yeah… she must have been terrified.
“I’m sorry I’m late.”
I pulled her into my arms. I gently stroked her back to calm her, then lifted her onto my back and hurried out of the thicket.
“Hoo…”
Right before setting off, I took a deep breath and let it out. Carrying someone while already exhausted was no small feat. But this was the final stretch. Just get to the cave. Hold on a little longer and finish the day properly. Looks like we’ll have to sleep in the cave tonight.
“Hic… Hic…”
As I started walking, Dana’s quiet sobs continued. I stopped and looked back.
“Dana, there are a lot of monsters in these mountains. You absolutely cannot make any noise. Can you hold it in until we reach the cave?”
“Yes.”
Her immediate answer surprised me. Wow, she actually responded properly for once. I could almost dance with joy. Has she finally decided to communicate with me? Come to think of it, I think she called me Hyunwoo earlier. Or did she? It’s all a blur.
I walked briskly. Throughout the journey, Dana stayed completely silent. She wrapped her arms around my neck and clung quietly to my back. If anything nearly got us caught by monsters, it was my own yawning. I don’t know why I kept yawning so much.
Keeping my senses on high alert and my pounding heart in check, I ran through the mountain and finally reached the cave I had longed to see. We made it safely.
“Ugh…”
I carefully laid Dana on the ground and collapsed beside her. I sprawled out on my back, breathing hard, saying nothing for a long while. Dana simply watched me in silence.
I turned my head slightly to meet her eyes.
“You must be hungry, Dana. We should eat before sleeping.”
She hadn’t eaten properly for days. I needed to feed her first so she could regain some strength. The thought of cooking made me force my aching body upright with a heavy sigh.
Man… I’m going to die. I don’t even know how many times I’ve thought that today. I just want to sleep.
“I’ll do it.”
Dana’s clear voice pierced my ears. I thought I had misheard. She was offering to cook? Dana?