The Unyielding One

Raon opened his eyes with the clean, refreshed feeling of someone who had slept far too well. An unfamiliar ceiling stretched above him, and several messages hung in the air.

Every last one of them was good news.

"Mmh..."

Raon blinked and pushed himself upright. He was inside a log cabin he had never seen before. It seemed he was still in Sebu Village.

"What is all this?"

He checked the messages again. Stats, a title, and traits — all of them earned thanks to the battle against the Green Lightning Fiend.

To think it would hand out rewards like these just for putting down that pathetic whelp...

Wrath ground his teeth, as if the very fact of Raon receiving a reward sat poorly with him.

He was nothing but a stubborn fool with more grit than brains, and yet it grants stats, a title, and a trait on top of it? Preposterous.

It's your power, you know.

Raon raised a palm and shoved Wrath away — the little creature was radiating frost and fury at the same time.

Damn it! This King never noticed when ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠using it himself, but that thing is truly...

He didn't finish the sentence, but Raon understood perfectly well what he meant.

It's broken. No question.

Raon gave a slow nod and called up his status window.

The first thing that caught his eye was the title. First Victory had been replaced by The Unyielding One.

Even with the title changed, the stat bonuses the old one had carried were still intact. He examined the new title.

Is this for real?

Raon narrowed his eyes. A three-percent increase sounded like nothing much — but this was the kind of ability that grew more precious the stronger he became.

Most of the opponents he would face from here on would be stronger than he was. For all practical purposes, this was a title that would be active almost constantly.

Next, then...

He turned to the second new trait, Ambush.

An assassination trait.

It killed his presence and raised the odds of a killing blow — a trait built for an assassin.

If I'd had this before...

The Green Lightning Fiend had already sensed him before the sword ever came down. If Raon had possessed this trait beforehand, he might have cut the man down in a single stroke.

Well. If I had, I never would have gained these abilities.

He had come through a brutal fight and emerged stronger for it. This was exactly what people meant when they talked about turning misfortune into a blessing.

Raon confirmed the raised stats, then dismissed the window.

I get stronger by the day, thanks to you. Appreciate it.

Grrh...

Unable to see the status window himself, Wrath leveled those blue eyes at him in a glare.

You will never die a clean death. This King shall chew your flesh, chew it again, and chew it once more — then leave you to suffer for the rest of your days.

You're welcome to try.

Raon had already died the worst death imaginable and was living a second life. Wrath's fury and threats were the kind of thing he could laugh off.

"Nngh..."

He stretched and got to his feet. Whether it was the raised stats or the long rest, the soreness in his muscles and the headache that had been pounding behind his eyes were both gone.

The door creaked open. The sky outside was as dark as it had been when he collapsed. He must have slept the entire day away.

"They rebuilt it."

The trainees must have all worked together. The village palisade that had been smashed apart now stood taller and sturdier than before.

"Raon?"

A startled voice turned him around. Runaan was standing there, staring blankly, a washbasin in her hands. She must have been on her way to his room.

"You okay?"

"Yeah."

Raon nodded. After sleeping that deeply, he was perfectly fine.

"Then let's go."

"Where?"

"Dinner. Everyone's gathered."

She pointed behind her with one finger.

"Mm..."

Raon rubbed his stomach. He hadn't eaten anything in more than a day, and the hunger was starting to set in.

"All right."

"Mm."

He followed Runaan toward the center of the village. A great fire burned in a brazier at the middle of the square, and the villagers and trainees were gathered around it.

A few faces were missing — standing watch, most likely.

"Huh? Raon!"

"Raon!"

"Raon Zieghart!"

"O-our benefactor is awake!"

"Benefactor!"

The trainees and villagers sitting in a ring around the fire surged to their feet, calling out all at once.

"Y-your body! Are you all right?"

"Is anything wrong?"

"Thank heavens you're awake!"

Burren reached him first, eyes wide, and the other trainees crowded in behind him, their faces full of worry as they looked him over.

"Benefactor!"

"Thank you for saving our village! Benefactor!"

"To think you would fight like that for us..."

The village chief and the rest of the villagers rushed over as well, dropping to their knees to offer their thanks.

"......"

Raon looked at all of them and swallowed dryly.

Their eyes. The feelings held in those eyes pressed against his skin. Gratitude. Thankfulness. A wish to repay him. Awe.

In the trainees' gazes he felt shame and gratitude, respect, hunger, and admiration.

That hunger looked something like envy — but it was an entirely different emotion. They were not jealous of him. What they carried in their hearts was the desire to become like him.

They had chosen Raon as the one to chase, the sword to pursue. Their role model.

"......"

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

He took it in — the weight of all those eyes, settling deep in his chest.

His heart was pounding.

An emotion he had never felt even once in his life wrapped itself around his heart.

In his previous life as an assassin, he had never received gratitude, recognition, or admiration. There had been only life and death. Even when he risked everything to kill and extract information for House Robert, the credit and the rewards always went to the people who lived in the light — Derus Robert and his kind.

This was the first time in his life he had been acknowledged like this.

A thrill ran through him, entirely different from the sense of accomplishment he felt when training his swordsmanship or his aura.

He looked at them again. The villagers were calling out their thanks. The trainees watched him with worry, their eyes bright with admiration and wonder.

That's right. From now on...

Raon closed his hand into a tight fist. The life ahead of him was not an assassin's life, but a swordsman's. He would see this sight countless times more.

He wanted it.

A desire welled up inside him, thick and sudden — to receive even greater recognition, even deeper looks of admiration.

From now on, he would...

After the meal, Raon went looking for the village chief. The old man had no idea what to do with himself, and bowed so deeply his back was nearly folded in half.

"Might I have a word with you for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a moment?"

"O-of course!"

Raon helped the chief up — the man had curled in on himself like a grub — and led him off to a quiet corner.

"Do you know who it was that attacked the village?"

"Ah, yes. I know they were those Eden people — the ones who control monsters."

The chief nodded. Even a village this small had heard of Eden's infamy.

"But I have no idea why they would target a place like this. There's truly nothing here..."

He muttered that it didn't make sense and shook his head.

"I overheard something while I was fighting him. Did you happen to bring a red gem down from Sebu Mountain?"

"A red gem? Ah — yes, there is one. I found it in the mountains when I was young and brought it back to the village. S-surely not—!"

"Yes. That's the object they were after."

The chief's eyes went round at Raon's words.

"Th-then all this chaos was because of that stone..."

"That's right."

Raon nodded. He needed to be honest here, so the chief would hand the gem over of his own accord.

"I nearly — I nearly destroyed the village! Aigoo! What have I done!"

The chief sank to the ground and began pounding the dirt with his fists.

"As long as that gem remains in the village, Eden's ghosts will keep coming back for it."

"Ever since we buried it, the soil grew rich and the cold eased, so we treated it like a guardian spirit. To think it would bring something like this..."

Hearing that only confirmed it. The Goblin King was a monster of powerful fire affinity. A treasure it left behind would naturally have warmed the village.

"Th-then what should we do? Even now, if we throw the gem away..."

"I'll take it."

"What? You will, Benefactor?"

"Eden is a vicious lot that wants to wipe humanity from the continent. If you discard it, it will almost certainly end up in their hands. I'll take it back to Zieghart."

"I couldn't possibly impose on you again."

"It's all right. That's the Zieghart way."

"Ahh!"

Raon delivered the line as if he had borrowed it from Burren. The chief was so moved that his eyes shone like dewdrops.

"House Zieghart has once again bestowed upon us a kindness we can never repay."

"Once again?"

"Yes. The current head of the house, Lord Glenn Zieghart, saved our village several decades ago. I would have been a little older then than you are now, Benefactor."

The chief lifted his chin toward a sky thick with yellow stars, as if looking back on those days.

"The head of the house?"

"Yes. Just like you, he saved the entire village. And he smiled, and treated us with such kindness."

"Hmm..."

Raon tilted his head.

Kindness and a smile, huh...

He pictured Glenn's face as it was now, and could not imagine the scene at all.

"Oh dear, this old man has gone and wasted your time with old stories. This way, please. I'll give it to you at once."

The chief scratched his head, looking embarrassed, and headed for his house on the eastern side of the village.

So even he had a time like that.

Raon followed, trying and failing to picture a smile on Glenn's face of ice.

The chief's house stood at the western edge of the village — the same end where Raon had woken. A village chief's home was usually in the center. Finding it out here was unexpected.

"So this is your house, Chief. Forgive the intrusion."

"Oh, nonsense! Not at all!"

The chief waved both hands at him.

"Don't most village chiefs live in the center of town?"

"I've lived here from the start, you see. I grew too attached to leave."

Scratching his cheek, the chief led the way into the yard.

"We buried it here. It warmed the village so well we thought fortune had come to us. It was a curse after all."

He began digging in a small garden plot in the yard. It took nearly half an hour before he pulled something out, wrapped in black cloth.

"That cloth..."

"A wrapping cloth passed down through my family. The stone gives off such a deep red light that we kept it covered so no one would see."

As he spoke, the chief unwrapped the cloth.

Fwaaaaah!

A wave of sultry heat rolled out, and a fierce red radiance lit the darkened garden. The world brightened as if a massive blaze had been kindled.

So this is the Goblin King's magic stone...

If this stone fell into Eden's hands, a new monster with the Goblin King's power would be born.

"Sir. First, wrap that back in the—"

"So that was it."

He was about to tell the chief to cover the gem again when a calm, deep voice came from the right.

"Hhk!"

Raon stepped in front of the chief and lifted his head.

Was this what a general of the battlefield looked like?

The man's features were rough and fierce, and his body was a map of scars. He was enormous — and the sight of that huge frame balanced on the slender palisade was jarringly out of place.

What seized the eye most of all were his eyes. A madness lived in that bright yellow gaze that made the hair on the back of Raon's neck stand up.

I didn't even sense him?

For someone that size to come this far without registering on his senses — this was no ordinary master.

"Who are you?"

"Me? Who knows?"

The middle-aged man flicked his fingers, and a green helmet bloomed into being before his eyes. It had a round skull, massive tusks jutting from above and below, and a single horn rising from the crown.

An ogre.

The face of the monster called the king of forests and mountains spun slowly in the man's hand.

"Now then... who do you suppose I am?"