Take Responsibility for Your Actions
Shailia closed her eyes, but she felt a familiar touch enveloping her. She knew instantly who it was. It was her father.
Dragging his crippled leg, he had come to protect her once again. Soon, the skeleton's sword would cleave through both him and her. Even in the pitch darkness, she sensed death closing in. And then, like a fleeting montage, memories of her now-meaningless past flashed before her.
“Dad, you're always butting in! I can handle things myself without your nagging!”
It had been childish petulance. Her father hadn't committed some grave sin, nor had anything terrible happened that day. She had simply grown fed up with his endless worrying lectures and stormed out in a huff. It wasn't quite a runaway since she planned to slink back by dinner, but she had bolted from the house anyway.
“Shailia! Where are you going? At least eat first!”
“Again... again!! I'll take care of it, so please, just stop!”
Eat on time. Go to bed early. Learn some farming skills, study hard. Keep your room clean. Be content with what you have, but don't grow lazy. It was all nagging, every last bit of it. She was an adult now. She hated her father for filling the day with nothing but scolding.
“I'll manage just fine on my own...”
She thought he didn't trust her. His interference felt like a suffocating burden.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
Three hours after storming out, as she debated heading back, she ran into a villager. It was the uncle who often chatted with her father.
“Oh! Shailia! What are you doing out here? Your dad's worried sick. Hurry home now.”
Flinch.
'Why's he blabbing to everyone in the village, making me look for me like this!'
She felt mortified. Her father, spreading word to the whole village to find her. Now she really didn't want to go home. So Shailia walked in the opposite direction from home, toward places without villagers.
Whoosh.
She had only meant to avoid people, but she had wandered deep into the forest. Dusk was falling, sending chills down her spine and stirring fear.
Thump.
She sat right there, unable to go deeper into the woods or brave turning back to apologize to her father.
'If I go home, Dad will start nagging again, and I'll have to apologize...'
Of course, she didn't want to.
“Haa...”
As she let out a deep sigh, a chilling wail echoed.
“Keeehhh...”
Gasp.
She clamped her mouth shut mid-breath. Shailia turned toward the sound. Short body, vicious expression, massive club in hand. It was a goblin straight out of a book.
Huff... huff...
Hiding, her breath quickened uncontrollably. Her heart pounded, cold sweat dripped, and her mind blanked for a moment.
“Keeehhhhek!”
For some reason, the goblin kept screeching and thrashing wildly.
Rustle.
Rustle.
It was drawing closer to her spot. Tears streamed from Shailia's eyes. She prayed desperately for it to pass by. But against her hopes, the goblin stood right before her.
Sniff sniff.
It sniffed the air, then spoke as if for her to hear.
“The smell... of a human... keehihihi!”
'I... I'm gonna die...'
The goblin cackled madly as it approached. When its footsteps reached right in front of her—
Pat pat pat.
Shailia burst from behind the tree and ran.
“Huff huff!”
“Keeehhek! Stop right there!”
She bolted through the darkening forest, driven by one thought: escape and survive. Thorns tore her skin, blood flowed, her heart felt like it would burst—but she didn't stop. Until her foot caught on a massive tree root.
Splat.
“Ugh...”
Horrific pain shot up her leg. Probably broken or torn ligaments. Either way, she couldn't run anymore. Despair crushed her.
“Keehihihi.”
The goblin laughed as it closed in slowly, then whispered mockingly before her.
“Should I let you live?”
“P-...ple...please spare me...”
Forgetting it was a monster, Shailia begged for her life. The goblin grinned and raised its club to smash down.
“Nah... filthy human...”
In an instant, the club swung toward her head.
Thud.
Something dull struck the club. She ducked reflexively and squeezed her eyes shut, but seconds passed with no pain. Puzzled, she peeked. There stood her father, bleeding.
He spoke with worried eyes.
“Shailia... Didn't I always tell you? It's dangerous to go far...”
Hearing from villagers which way she'd gone, her father had searched the forest and arrived just in time.
But—
Drip drip.
Blood poured from his head where the club had struck. Ignoring it, he told her:
“Run, Shailia...”
Thump.
With that, he collapsed unconscious. The goblin laughed chillingly.
“Keehek... Humans... are such... fools...”
Then it raised its club again and crushed the man's ankle.
Crunch.
Despite the gruesome sound and mangled ankle, Shailia couldn't move. Not by choice. She screamed inwardly to save him, to help now—but her body froze like stone.
Looking at her, the goblin growled unpleasantly.
“If you come here instead of running... I'll let this one live...”
Excited like it had found a fun toy, the goblin's glee told her not to approach. Yet, limping on her injured leg, she inched closer. Bit by bit. No words, no thoughts—just save Dad.
It was her fault. If not for her stupid pride storming out, neither she nor her father would suffer like this. She'd blamed and yelled at him, yet he threw himself to protect her.
Shailia stared at his pulverized ankle. Even if he survived, he might never walk right again. Her childish whim was a night's mistake, but the price was cruelly devastating.
As she limped right up to it, the goblin sneered.
“Keehek, humans really are idiots... believing that crap...”
Shailia stood frozen, speechless. She couldn't run or fight. The goblin was stronger than any man, armed too. She could only hope it was a dream.
“I'll kill you, then make this one suffer too...”
Whoosh.
The club sliced the air toward her head, chillingly.
Pierce.
“Guh... guh... ack...”
But the sound was no girl's skull cracking—it was the goblin's heart pierced, its agonized scream.
“Filthy trash. Hiding here, huh.”
The man who slew it in one stroke muttered indifferently, like handling a chore.
Pierce.
Pierce.
He stabbed the corpse twice more, then eyed the fallen girl and her father.
Meeting his gaze, she stammered through shivers.
“Th-thank you... for saving me...”
He scoffed in disbelief.
“Hah, you're delusional. I just killed a dirty monster. Didn't even know you were here.”
“...”
The cold man glanced at her father, then at her.
“Know him?”
“M-my... father. He got badly hurt saving me...”
“...Why the hell were you two in the woods this late?”
“I came out alone on a whim... Dad came looking for me like this...”
“Sigh...”
He sighed deeply, then said coldly.
“You dumbass bitch. Even living in the village, you knew monsters haunt these woods?”
“...”
Shailia had no retort. She'd acted recklessly to avoid villagers, never imagining a real monster.
“S-sorry...”
As she apologized unwittingly, he tossed something from his pocket in irritation.
“Wh-what's...”
She stared blankly at the sword and three gold coins on the ground.
“Pathetic. If you've acted, take responsibility. Looks like your old man's crippled for life on one leg.”
“So you take care of him. It happened trying to save your sorry ass.”
“I-I can't take this much money...”
As she flustered and refused, Capier frowned.
“Planning to take it for free? Shameless bitch. It's a loan. I'll come to the village later—pay back double by then.”
His firm tone made her blurt:
“O-okay...”
He turned to leave after her reply, paused, and added:
“You said you're from the village? Got business there anyway. Guide me. I loaned you three gold—surely you can manage that?”
She nodded. A few monsters lunged en route, but he dispatched them effortlessly, reaching the village safely.
At the entrance, she said:
“This is the village... We're here...”
But he was already gone.
She kept that day buried deep in her heart. Her father, who threw his life to save her. The mysterious man who helped without reward.
Without her father risking everything and the indifferent stranger's aid, the simple joys she'd known in the village afterward would have turned to ashes.
'Dad...'
As the memories faded, she felt her father shielding her from the skeleton again. Why, why did he protect her even now? Despite his leg ruined because of her, he'd never complained. Always just worried for her.
Only after that did she truly grasp his love and worth. Yet now, she might lose him for real.
Despair gripped her. She couldn't protect him with her own strength. And he'd sacrifice himself again for her.
Whoosh.
The skeleton's sword swung to bisect them both. She prayed. If the Goddess truly existed, please save her father. And foolishly, the girl recalled that man who saved her.
No reason why. His image just flickered in her mind.
Pierce.
The gruesome sound made her sense their deaths. But she still felt her father's trembling, no pain of a blade through flesh.
Slide.
Tentatively, she opened her eyes. A sword, as if flown from afar, had shattered the skeleton's neck entirely.
In disbelief, she turned slowly. There stood the man from the forest.
Step.
Step.
Step.
Capier approached slowly, speaking indifferently as always. As if saving them was nothing.
“Came to collect the loan, but looking at you, guess not today.”