Monster Wave (1)
“For now, you’ll be heading to the Free City of Lindel. Once you’re staying with our guild, we’ll make sure you’re sent back to your homeland.”
“R-really? If anything happens….”
“You don’t need to worry. If I’d intended to harm you or defile you in the first place, I wouldn’t have gone to such trouble.”
“Ah….”
“And I wouldn’t have gone so far as to rescue you from the monsters at such great cost. When you arrive in Lindel, you’ll receive new identification right away and, for the time being, act as guests of Blue. As long as you don’t leave the city, you’ll be free to go wherever you wish, and no one will be allowed to harm you. Of course, if you’re afraid of going outside, you may remain inside the guild house as long as you like.”
“Thank you.”
“You should thank Ms. Cho Hyejin over there rather than me. She was the one who wanted to save you.”
“Ah! Thank you, truly. Even for this short time, thank you for taking care of us.”
“You’ll be able to return home. I promise you that.”
“H-huuh….”
The elves, huddled together and crying, came into view.
Cho Hyejin was comforting them together with the others.
It was, in its own way, a beautiful sight.
It hurt a little to think that I had to send back elves worth 120,000 gold for free, but for now I decided this was the right thing to do.
They were useless to me anyway.
Their stats weren’t bad, but their potential was too vague to turn them into adventurers.
If I had to describe it, they were little different from ordinary villagers.
Probably just ordinary people who’d been unlucky enough to be caught by hunters while living out their quiet lives.
In truth, I thought it would be better to send them back as quickly as possible.
Kasugano Yuno had already heard that I’d brought back five elf slaves.
For her, someone who still called me Master, it was a situation practically designed to trigger a seizure.
She’d even sent a letter in a frenzy saying she was coming to Castle Rock, so I needed to get them out of here as soon as possible.
Even as they climbed into the carriage, their eyes kept following me. It was a sight.
They were probably worried they’d be sold off somewhere else, but once they arrived safely, I was sure they would understand the situation.
“Just in case, I should mention that you’d better stay inside the carriage until we arrive. The carriage with the guild insignia on it is safe, but outside is another matter.”
“Yes. I’ll keep that in mind, benefactor.”
“Calling me a benefactor is embarrassing. I only did what anyone should have done. In fact, I’m sorry I could only save the likes of you. Allow me to apologize on behalf of all humans.”
“P-please, if anything…!”
“Yes. If I see any other elves, I’ll help in whatever way I can.”
“Thank you.”
“Then please go inside.”
As I put the elves into the carriage, they bowed to me again, and I saw Cho Hyejin quietly returning the gesture as well. She looked just a little relieved.
“Do you feel better now?”
“Not really.”
“Did you grow attached to them over this time?”
“Yes. It was a short time, but... I think I became somewhat attached.”
“You’ve already done everything a human being could be expected to do. You saved them, hid them in a high-end inn, and even decided Blue would take responsibility for them. I’d say you went beyond that.”
“I’m grateful for your kindness, Vice Guild Master.”
“It wasn’t kindness for their sake. And if we’re being precise, the kindness came from you, Ms. Hyejin. Well, if you keep saving elves, something good may come of it later.”
“…….”
A slightly sickened expression came into view.
I hadn’t meant to push her in that direction, but I didn’t think it was a bad result. There was nothing wrong with leaving a debt in the hands of elves, whose attachment to their own kind ran deep.
Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but I would receive the return on today’s kindness someday.
“Then shall we go get something to eat?”
“Yes, Vice Guild Master.”
Of course, I hadn’t treated only the elves well. I’d spoken with Cho Hyejin many times and succeeded in drawing somewhat closer to her.
She hadn’t changed as dramatically as Sun Heeyoung or Jung Hayan, but she was slowly beginning to understand me. And I, in turn, had found myself in a position where I needed to understand her as well.
I had considered trying to get even closer, but Cho Hyejin seemed to have drawn a line between us.
She wasn’t the kind of dangerous woman or insane woman the system warned about, so it seemed difficult to make her feel a strong enough affection toward me.
What mattered most to me was becoming closer to Cho Hyejin.
I still had a long way to go, but for now it felt like the immediate fire had been put out. The fact that she continued traveling with me without showing any noticeable discomfort was proof of that.
A friend is enough.
I also thought that a woman like her was enough to have in the position of a friend.
Besides, she is a little frustrating.
Whatever she looked like on the outside, the inside was far from my ideal.
“So... have you thought about it a lot?”
“About what...?”
“Surely you know what I’m talking about. We should sort it out quickly before another victim appears.”
“I’m not sure.”
“Hm?”
“Ah. I’m not saying we should avoid punishing them. They should be dealt with according to the law. I’ve always believed that, and I still do, but….”
“You’re worried it won’t be handled properly?”
“Embarrassingly, yes. Even if we report it, there’s no guarantee the same thing won’t happen again.”
“Ms. Hyejin, your thinking is probably correct. If you move recklessly without proper evidence, it’ll be just like that time.”
We were a little different, but we had reached the point where we could ask each other about our worries.
What was that if not a small but significant change?
Even as we kept walking, Cho Hyejin began speaking to me like a young man wandering in search of his own identity.
From my perspective, it was truly a pleasant thing. It was an opportunity to show her that there were many different ways to live.
“Have you abandoned your pity for the precious companions you shared the tutorial with?”
“Right now, I don’t want to forgive them.”
That was a natural reaction. Barely any days had passed since she’d seen that scene.
“I don’t think they were involved in something like that, but... they’re so different from what I imagined them to be that I’m a little confused. No, I’m even starting to doubt whether the people I knew were truly involved at all.”
“Environment changes people. My family back on Earth, or your family, probably wouldn’t think we’d ever commit murder. Well, it was self-defense, but we still dirtied our hands. They simply threw away one thing they had in order to climb higher. Even if they truly didn’t know what was being done with the elves or monsters they captured, that doesn’t make their sin disappear.”
“Vice Guild Master’s words are right. It isn’t something to approve of, and it’s something that should be punished. I’m speaking about the method. I suppose Vice Guild Master is... envisioning handling it personally... but….”
“Yes. I handle things personally.”
“I have thought about it too, but I began to wonder whether it is right for one person to punish another. And whether I even have the right to punish them. Do I truly have the right to punish them?”
“What’s there not to have? Small Stone and the others, and the rest of them, brandished their power and received the corresponding result. An eye for an eye is still my favorite proverb. If you commit a crime, you’re punished. That’s all there is to it. It’s good to think deeply, but it’s not good to drown in it. Put your hand over your heart and think about it. What do you want to do, Ms. Hyejin?”
Cho Hyejin, quietly looking at me, came into view. She didn’t answer, but the answer was already decided.
That’s right... it’s only natural that you’d think that too.
Given the mood, she probably wanted to kill every last one of the bastards in that disgusting place.
These kinds of conversations were annoying, but they were certainly useful.
It wasn’t a matter of stamping our feet in evil temper. It was a process of continually exchanging the values each of us held.
She had unknowingly accepted part of my worldview, the idea that most problems could be solved with money, and even after that, little by little, she was still being influenced.
Of course, I was no different; her words made me think, too. The relationship between Cho Hyejin and me was a little different from the one between Lee Jihye and me.
The reason the system called Black Swan, Lee Jihye, and me soulmates was that our methods of action and our values were almost identical.
Naturally, that created synergy. It was nearly certain our efficiency would increase by more than twofold.
Cho Hyejin was the complete opposite of Lee Jihye. She was the sort of person who could actually reduce efficiency, and yet she kept making me think.
When opinions and values differ, there is certainly a synergy that can emerge.
That’s what harmony is.
Of course, it favored me a little more.
I didn’t want Cho Hyejin to become a wall standing in my way.
To use a car analogy, she was both my brakes and my black box. She could prevent accidents before they happened, and if one did happen, she was the kind of person who could still watch my back afterward.
A person I could control.
She would stand on the opposite side from me.
Even after Kim Hyunsung Kingdom expanded and became enormous, she would remain my close friend, a brake on the far side, ready to engage whenever I wanted.
If I truly wanted to move exactly as I pleased, then the person standing opposite me had to be someone I chose myself.
Take good care of me from now on, Hyejin.
She and I would last a long time.
“I suppose I think the same... way as the Vice Guild Master.”
“When society won’t solve it, individuals have to move. That’s the first step of revolution.”
“I’m not sure I understand what you mean.”
“I’m saying this won’t end with simply pushing them out of the way. Crime never disappears anyway.”
“What...?”
“It’s impossible to build a perfect society. I haven’t lived for ages, but that’s what I think. Wherever humans live, sin follows them. Even if Small Stone and that place disappear, a second Small Stone and an arena will eventually appear. If you replace them, a third Small Stone and an arena will take their place. Supply exists because there is demand.”
“Please, what exactly are you saying...?”
“I’m saying I’ll control the maladies of society.”
“That’s a dangerous way to think….”
“It’s better than just standing by and watching. After I crush what’s already there, I’ll build another tower on top of it. The same in Lindel, and the same in Castle Rock.”
“How….”
“Who knows? How should I do it?”
“You mean you plan to buy the entire place?”
I hadn’t expected her to imagine I’d buy it outright. A faint laugh escaped me.
“No. I’m planning to flatten it all at once. I’ll wipe out every last weed.”
Of course, for my own benefit.
After I finished speaking, I glanced at Cho Hyejin and saw a complicated expression on her face.
She was thinking about how to take my words and actions.
I suspected she wouldn’t stop me. It would be hard for her to block me out of mere humanism after what she had seen was so shocking.
She might even want me to take action on my own.
The problem was how someone with no power at all like me could possibly flatten that place.
Cho Hyejin seemed to have her doubts too, but if the situation supported it, it wasn’t impossible.
And a monster wave is going to happen soon….
Coincidentally, I knew the exact location of that place.
Of course, with my vision completely cut off, neither I nor Cho Hyejin knew where it was, but...
There was no doubt it was stored in the brain of someone who had tracked my location from beginning to end.
Hayan, you are still checking, aren’t you?
Being stalked by the archmage was more helpful than I’d expected.