Chapter 79
**CHAPTER 78: The Silent Hero**
“Heh… heh…! Huh? Hey, why did you suddenly stop in the middle of the night? Come on, move faster. My legs are already going numb.”
Because I had stopped, Teraden, who had been panting and chasing after me, collided with me from behind.
It looked like he had been so focused on carrying the daughter of the Oh family head that he hadn’t even bothered to watch where he was going.
“…I got you.”
“What?”
“You’ve been surrounded.”
As we burst out of the building, what awaited us was dozens of bandits arranged in a wide semicircle around the area.
“Damn it…”
Peeking over my shoulder, Teraden clicked his tongue briefly.
“Whoa, I didn’t expect them to actually come after us! And with just the two of us?”
In the center of the bandits, a man who appeared to be the leader pointed at us with a mocking grin, then immediately turned to his subordinates without a moment’s hesitation.
“Let’s welcome our rare guests to this humble place by serving them a light gift.”
Crash! Whoosh—!!
No sooner had the man’s words left his mouth than a sound like something being pulled rang out through the pitch-black darkness, and
at the same time, countless arrows shot forward, piercing the darkness.
* * *
Same time. Oh Family estate.
“Aigoo! I’m so worried I might die! Even so, it wasn’t right to send only two people…! Is it really okay?”
The Oh Family Head, almost on the verge of tears, poured out his complaints.
“They should be fine.”
“Please, I hope nothing happens, though…”
“They’re not the type to fall to mere bandits, so don’t worry too much. More importantly, Maru-nim.”
Jubern calmly reassured the Family Head and turned to Maru.
“Yes!”
“It seems this place is about to become chaotic. Are you ready?”
“About to become chaotic? What do you mean…”
“Family Head!”
When the Family Head’s eyes widened in confusion, a commotion erupted outside.
Not long after, the deputy head opened the sliding door with a loud slam and pointed outside, panting.
“T-the thugs who kidnapped the young lady have invaded here!”
“W-what?”
“The main gate has already been breached! Prepare to evacuate immediately!”
“What are the hired guards doing right now?!!”
“That’s… the two gentlemen who came to take the young lady were already taken down… The remaining forces aren’t enough to hold them off! So hurry and prepare!”
There was no proper army in the small, quiet city outside.
At best, there would only be a militia operating somewhat autonomously.
“Haa…”
The Family Head, who knew this better than anyone, let out a soul-weary sigh and fell backward.
“F-Family Head! Aigoo!”
“From here on, it’s Maru-nim’s turn.”
“Yes! Leave it to me!”
“C-crying! Can I really just rely on you two?!”
The deputy head, clutching the fallen Family Head and sobbing, had eyes that sparkled like a puppy’s.
Jubern and Maru were his only remaining hope.
“Maru-nim.”
“Yes! What is it?”
“Just to be safe, I must inform you that my duty is indeed to guard you, Maru-nim, but I intend to refrain as much as possible from helping you this time.”
Contrary to what Jubern had worried about at the start, this request had significantly lower difficulty compared to the reward.
If even a job of this level couldn’t be handled alone, it was essentially a failure.
“As I said when we first arrived here, my role is simply that of a bystander. So, the current chaos should be resolved solely by Maru-nim.”
If truly dangerous circumstances arose, I would intervene immediately and sweep everything away, but Jubern deliberately spoke firmly to Maru.
There was sufficient reason for that remark.
Though the opponents were numerous adults, they were an untrained, undisciplined mob. Maru would find them no difficult match.
Moreover, granting him room to intervene in this situation would rob Maru of the proper experience she needed.
“It’s fine! I’ll handle it myself!”
Maru puffed out her cheeks, clenched her small fists, and looked determined.
“Then, shall we go?”
“Yes!”
“Handle the commotion outside. You two, please stay safe here.”
“Oh, yes. Yes! We trust you two, senpai!”
Jubern, who had warned the deputy head not to leave the room, stepped out first. Maru, gripping the massive hammer she carried on her back, followed with a smile of resolve.
Clang! Cling-cling-cling!
““Uoooooo!!””
Jubern and Maru retraced the long corridor they had just passed through.
Just as the deputy head had said, the bandits who had broken through the main gate had already reached the vast interior space of the estate.
The clashing of weapons, and the screams that were impossible to tell apart, echoed throughout the area.
To Jubern, it seemed the hired forces were slightly behind. The gap would surely widen as time passed.
‘They wouldn’t have fallen to mere bandits… But dividing their forces into two groups when they could have held one position? They must have overrated themselves.’
While analyzing the overall situation, Jubern’s train of thought was interrupted by a noise from nearby.
“Die!!”
“U-uhiyik!!”
One bandit, whose leg gave out and he sat down, swung his sword down.
The man, sensing death, squeezed his eyes shut, but luckily the bandit’s blade never reached him.
It had been blocked by something dark that suddenly appeared before him.
The bandit tried desperately to hack at the dark object, but it didn’t budge.
“What… What is this? Black… water?”
The mysterious object, which seemed to be clumped and sluggish like oil, or flickering like a mirage, was none other than Jubern’s Ineung.
“Ah! T-thank you!”
“No need to thank me. Step back now.”
“Understood!”
A mercenary who had just had his life saved by Jubern bowed his head deeply in gratitude.
“What should Maru-nim do now? Should I help her take down those villains who came to invade here?”
Eagerly, Maru gripped the hammer and looked up at Jubern.
“Hmm.”
‘For Maru-nim’s growth, I should let her handle them, but I can’t keep piling on meaningless sacrifices either. What to do.’
“I will give you a personal mission, Maru-nim.”
“Eh? What is it?”
“As you can see, they are mercenaries who came to help here. Since they came with good intentions, we cannot let them suffer meaningless sacrifices. So, Maru-nim, please suppress them while minimizing damage to our side.”
“I understand!”
After a brief exchange, Jubern soon drew his greatsword slowly.
Shuaak!
Then, without warning, he launched a single slash into the empty space.
Jubern’s slash cleanly split the half-broken gate in two.
No one was hurt, but its terrifying power was enough to instantly draw everyone’s attention.
““…””
Those who turned toward the direction of the gate, stunned by the choppy movements, all froze in place.
“I will block their retreat.”
In the sudden silence, Jubern murmured to Maru.
It wasn’t just watching; he was almost inciting a fight. Jubern’s decision was hard to accept at first glance.
But Jubern believed that, for the remaining Danju Selection, it was more important to grow without injury and complete the request successfully than to fight himself.
While Haru and Teraden had knocked out dozens of trained adults and invaded their base with just the two of them,
Maru had done nothing since arriving here.
“Yes! I got it!”
Maru, answering with force, slammed her foot on the ground toward the closest bandit.
Crash! Thud.
“…?”
One bandit, dumbstruck by the power of Jubern’s slash, was properly hit by Maru’s hammer and collapsed without a fight.
“Are you okay?”
“Ah. U-um, yeah. T-thank you.”
“Hehe.”
With a bright smile, Maru left the stunned man behind and kept moving briskly.
“Eit!”
Swoosh!
“Eiiit!!”
“Guek…”
“Eeeeiiit-!!”
Bang!
“T-this crazy!! What the hell is that!!”
Thanks to Maru’s dazzling performance, the tide of battle quickly turned toward her.
The panicking bandits began to retreat.
Maru had perfectly executed what Jubern had ordered.
“Damn son of a bitch… Okay, that’s enough! I’ll head back to the boss first…! Huh?”
The deputy boss, trying to retreat and rally his subordinates, collided eyes with Jubern and froze like a statue.
“T-that guy? What kind of vibe is this…!”
“No option to run for the likes of you. Choose: fight me, or turn back and fight them. That said, we don’t have time to worry about this place now, do we?”
“Ugh…! D-deputy boss! What do we do now?”
The exhausted bandits, swallowing dryly under Jubern’s half-threat, all stared at the deputy boss.
“Tch, let’s clean up the ones inside first!! Fight to the death!!”
The bandits, crushed by Jubern’s and Maru’s presence and composure, gripped their weapons with resolute faces.
Eventually, the bandits, fueled by determination, charged at Maru all at once.
“Here I come!”
Flash!
Maru kicked the ground with her foot and leaped into the middle of the bandits, flashing a bright smile.
‘If I’m smiling like this, there’s no heavenly maiden left… Huh?’
“Hehehehe!”
Clang! Bang!
‘…You weren’t violent like this originally.’
Watching Maru swing the hammer wildly at the bandits, Jubern’s expression turned serious.
‘Um… Hmm. But what is this situation?’
Meanwhile, the mercenaries engaged in bloody combat with the bandits looked bewildered by the current situation.
* * *
Shushu—!!
Dozens of arrows pierced the darkness and rained down at once.
“Tch.”
Boom!
If there had been just a few, I could have blocked them somehow, but the barrage was too heavy to handle alone.
Since I couldn’t block them one by one, I stomped the ground here and there, raising up broken pieces of the cracked earth.
Boom-boom-boom! Crash-crash-crash!
The arrows that rose collided with the ground and bounced off.
“No way, you’re overdoing it against just the two of us.”
The man at the front laughed mockingly at Teraden’s grumbling.
“…You’re right. They’re not ordinary guys.”
“Y-yes! Boss!”
The man called the boss nodded and looked at the familiar face beside him.
“Huh? You were the one earlier…”
Teraden’s head snapped toward the man right beside the boss.
“How did you guess so perfectly? See? I told you he’d come running over to warn you.”
Next to the leader stood the messenger who had spilled all the information about Haru and Teraden to him earlier, looking extremely uneasy.
“Hey, what do we do? Should I drop him off here and continue together?”
“No. No time, so I’ll break through alone.”
“With this number? Haha! You’re not thinking straight. Capture that guy and the arrogant one behind him, kill them, and bring back our precious supply line without a single scratch.”
Rustle, rustle.
The moment the boss finished speaking, the bandits drew their rusty, dull swords from all around.
“Teraden, cover the rear.”
“Yeah. I’ll take the back.”
Jubern’s hand gently touched my back.
From that moment, the light of Hwigwang began to envelop my entire body.