Chapter 155
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Translator: Prime Works
Chapter: 155
Chapter Title: The Person Who Takes Responsibility (1)
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“Kkoming!”
A shout echoed down from the sky.
At the same time, something pure white came flying in.
It wrapped around his entire body in an instant and clung tight.
Like a net.
*Swish, snap!*
“……!”
Sudden restraint.
Lloyd flinched.
He couldn’t help but stare at the pure white net coiled around his body.
‘Spider silk?’
It was white. Sticky. Clinging to his whole body.
And he wasn’t the only one.
Ppoddong, who’d been carrying him, too.
Even the baby Mastodon quintuplets clutching Ppoddong’s tail.
Everyone was tightly wrapped in spider silk, like parcels packed in bubble wrap.
Then, in a flash, it yanked them upward.
*Zwaaap!*
“……Guh!”
The spider silk wrapped around his entire body pulled taut.
Before he could react, it dragged him along with tremendous force.
Ppoddong and the baby quintuplets were the same.
“……Ppong!”
“……Ppuuung!”
*Whoosh!*
They’d already been sprinting at full speed.
Now the spider silk was yanking their entire bodies forward with all its might.
The two forces combined, unleashing explosive acceleration.
Their speed doubled.
Thanks to that, they barely slipped out from under the massive boulder plummeting from above—just in the nick of time.
*Kuuuuaaaang—!*
The rock crashed down, booming like it was splitting heaven and earth.
If they’d been caught under that, what would’ve happened?
‘No question—game over in one shot, rat poison ending.’
Lloyd panted as he glanced back.
A chill ran down his spine.
But he had no time to savor the goosebumps.
A voice shouted from above.
“We’ll pull harder. Hold on tight.”
“……!”
At that moment, a familiar silhouette appeared against the sky visible over the canyon rim.
“Kkoming!”
A massive magpie gliding gracefully on outstretched wings.
And atop it, a silver-haired knight.
It was Kkoming and Haviel.
“Haha, ha! Haviel, good to… Gwaaah!”
*Zwoooap!*
Once more, the spider silk net roughly yanked his entire body.
This time, not forward, but upward.
Ppoddong’s front legs lifted off the ground.
The baby Mastodon quintuplets did the same.
In an instant, Ppoddong and the babies were hoisted into the air, clutching their cheeks in a full-body experience of the Seoul sightseeing ride.
“Ppong, ppoddong!”
“Ppong, ppuuung!”
They flailed in panic.
The more they did, the faster Kkoming’s wings beat.
Gradually, steadily, but surely.
Everyone rose higher from the canyon floor.
Tens of thousands of tons of earth and rock poured down the cliffs on either side.
They threaded through the gaps in that destructive collapse by a hair’s breadth. Grazed past. Ascended. Soared. Higher. Freely. Until they finally reached the safe cliff top.
By then, Haviel’s voice came from atop Kkoming’s back.
“Sir Ppoddong? I’ll cut the spider silk. Get ready.”
“Ppong!”
Ppoddong replied briskly.
In that instant, Haviel’s sword flashed from above.
*Thwack—!*
The tough spider silk snapped under the aura.
Ppoddong and the baby Mastodon quintuplets landed atop the cliff.
But Lloyd was the exception.
The silk binding him didn’t break.
Lloyd tilted his head.
“Huh? What about me?”
“Lord Lloyd, come on up.”
For some reason, Haviel’s voice sounded a tone colder than usual. Was it just his imagination?
Lloyd furrowed his brow and grabbed the spider silk line leading upward.
He pulled himself up like climbing a rope.
Finally, he clambered onto Kkoming’s back.
“Phew.”
He’d really almost died today.
A belated sigh of relief escaped him.
But Lloyd couldn’t afford to just sit there sighing.
He didn’t even have the leisure to peel off the sticky spider silk clinging to his body.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“…….”
Atop Kkoming’s back.
Haviel sat in the front saddle.
His voice, directed this way, was utterly icy.
Lloyd paused in trying to peel off the silk stuck to him.
He quietly took a seat behind the knight.
“If I am, you gonna blow on it to soothe it?”
“I’d rather carve it out so it doesn’t fester.”
“……Guh.”
If he had to describe Haviel’s attitude today with weather terms, blizzard and deep freeze fit perfectly. The knight’s responses were that frigid.
Lloyd glanced down at the canyon, now completely buried in the landslide, and replied.
“Anyway, how’d you know to come?”
“I heard it.”
“Heard what?”
“The explosion.”
“You don’t mean the corpse blast from the initial site, do you?”
“Probably that.”
Haviel nodded.
Suddenly, Lloyd recalled what had happened earlier.
He’d been working at the apartment complex construction site.
Cutting the rebar Bangul spat out to regulation length, *clang clang*.
Then, at some point.
An explosion sounded from far to the north.
It didn’t feel right.
Even from afar, he could faintly sense ominous, evil mana. The kind of blast that carried that vibe.
He’d bolted from the site immediately.
First, he sought out Kkoming.
If something had gone wrong up north as he sensed, and if it was at Lloyd’s site.
‘Running there would be too slow.’
No matter how fast he was, he couldn’t beat Kkoming’s flight.
He’d urgently found Kkoming and explained.
Asked it to grow big and carry him.
Luckily, Kkoming had a red sunflower seed. One Lloyd had given each fantasy beast for emergencies.
He’d flown north on the transformed Kkoming.
En route, he’d encountered evacuating workers.
From Sir Bayern, who was directing their escape, he’d gotten a brief rundown of the incident.
He’d learned what Lloyd had done, too.
That’s why.
He was angry.
Furious.
“Phew. So that’s what happened. Thanks. If you hadn’t come right then, I’d be toast by now. Just thinking about it is horrifying.”
“…….”
Lloyd sat in the back, catching his rough breath.
Thanks to him, he’d survived.
Perfect timing, really.
Rarely thanking him directly.
Today, the young lord’s demeanor grated on him more than usual.
Maybe that’s why.
Haviel couldn’t help but deliver a sharp rebuke.
“So, are you happy?”
“Huh?”
“Happy that you survived thanks to me.”
“Uh… Look, has something happened to you?”
“Nothing at all.”
“Then why’re you so prickly today?”
“Prickly? Perish the thought.”
“No, you are. Aggressive, too.”
“…….”
“You mad at me about something?”
“Yes.”
“Whoa, not even hiding it.”
“I tried to hold it back, but it’s not working.”
“Why?”
“Are you asking because you don’t know?”
“Is it because of those White Lancers who sacrificed themselves earlier?”
“Not at all.”
Haviel shook his head firmly.
The young lord sitting behind him.
He really had no clue what he’d done wrong.
“The six White Lancers who fell fulfilled their duty. They fought to protect the people as Her Majesty the Queen’s sword and shield, and met an honorable end. That’s their obligation, their calling. We respect and mourn their sacrifice, but we don’t pity it. The problem lies elsewhere.”
“Elsewhere?”
“The problem is that Lord Lloyd forgot his own duty and acted just like them.”
“What?”
As expected, he didn’t get it.
This young lord had no sense of how vital he’d become to the territory.
Haviel’s cold words continued.
“Have you ever considered what happens to this territory if you disappear, Lord Lloyd?”
“Well, yeah, I have.”
“Then you should know exactly what I mean.”
“I do. If I vanish, there’s no one to finish what I’ve started or clean up the mess. The territory goes belly-up. That’s what you’re getting at, right?”
“Precisely.”
Haviel sighed deeply.
“It wasn’t always like this. Before, I saw you as just the liege lord’s precious blood kin, eldest son, heir… that sort of thing. In the worst case—choosing between the liege lord and you—I’d naturally protect him. But now…”
“I’ve become important?”
“Yes.”
Haviel added firmly.
“Not because I’ve grown fond of you. It’s because you now shoulder far more of this territory’s future than before.”
“You don’t have to go out of your way to clarify.”
“But…”
“Anyway, so that’s why you were so pissed and sulky?”
“I wasn’t sulky.”
“You were. Totally pouting. I could see your lip sticking out from back here.”
“Lord Lloyd, do you think I’m joking with this…”
“I’m not taking it lightly.”
“…….”
Lloyd’s voice grew calm.
Gazing at the undead Mastodon herd now fully buried in the landslide below, reflecting on those frantic moments earlier, he spoke.
“I get what you’re saying. Fully. So from now on, even if something dangerous happens, don’t charge in like before—run to safety instead. Right?”
“Yes.”
“But you’re mad because I didn’t get that and rushed in anyway, ending up like this. Correct?”
“Correct.”
“But what can I do? I don’t think I can play it safe going forward.”
“Why not?”
“They’re the people who trusted me and worked for me.”
“…….”
He wanted to argue.
But no words came.
Silence was his only option.
In that silence Haviel chose, Lloyd’s words continued.
“Of course I hate danger. It’s scary. Dying’s the worst. But people have responsibilities, you know.”
It was his honest feeling.
Sure, he hated getting hurt or killed.
But he figured the others—the workers he’d mobilized—felt the same.
“If it weren’t for me, today’s workers wouldn’t be out here in the northern wasteland selling land. Right? This is my construction site. I’m the one in charge there.”
“But…”
“That’s what responsibility means to me. Even if I lie like it’s breakfast. Even if I scam and screw over annoying folks left and right. At minimum, I don’t do that to my people who trust and follow me.”
Suddenly, memories of his time in Korea surfaced.
Sites were always dangerous.
One slip, and accidents happened.
He’d been lucky never to experience one, but the news was full of them nonstop.
Fires at welding sites.
rickety tower cranes collapsing.
All sorts of safety incidents.
The victims were always the workers on the ground.
But accountability?
No one took it properly.
At best, the site supervisor got scapegoated with some punishment.
Construction firms just issued perfunctory condolences.
They even tried to lowball the pittance of compensation.
After that?
The same crap repeated every so often.
No one moved to fix the root causes.
Too expensive.
Too much hassle.
Just keep doing what we’ve always done.
Safer to pay out less in condolences than invest in prevention.
They dodged responsibility with economic logic and excuses.
He hated that.
“So yeah. With this responsibility on my shoulders, I can’t just turn a blind eye—even on my own site.”
He spoke with sincere conviction.
That he’d keep doing this.
That he wouldn’t shirk responsibility for his people.
Even if it scared him, annoyed him, or was a pain.
That’s what he said.
Then added,
“But obviously, I hate dying or getting hurt, so I’ll try to stay safe as much as I can. For your sake, too.”
“For my sake?”
Haviel, in the front, tilted his head.
Like he’d said something ridiculous.
A mischievous smile tugged at Lloyd’s lips.
“Lullaby.”
“Pardon?”
“Be honest. You’re like this because if something happens to me, no one’s left to sing you lullabies, right? That’s what you’re really scared of, isn’t it?”
“What nonsense is that…”
“Whoa, getting defensive? Looks like I hit the mark.”
“Not at all. Utter rubbish.”
“Yeah?”
“Yes.”
“For sure?”
“Of course.”
“Then why’re your ears red?”
“The wind’s cold, that’s all.”
“Your voice trembled a bit at the end there?”
“My ears must’ve been playing tricks earlier.”
“Hey now, that excuse?”
“Perish the thought.”
Haviel sharply turned his head, voice frosty.
But in that moment, an unexpected, welcome message appeared before Lloyd’s eyes.
*Ding-dong.*
[Haviel Asrahan is deeply moved by the aspirations and sincerity you revealed.]
[Haviel Asrahan feels a small sense of respect for the new side of you he discovered today.]
[Haviel Asrahan’s favorability toward you has greatly increased.]