Chapter 48
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Something Like a Sense of Responsibility
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Puuuuh—.
Yuderg let out a long breath.
He hadn't died after all. His green eyes had returned to their proper place.
The beggars' gazes, which had been fixed on Yuderg, all turned to me at once.
I had no choice but to nod.
If they hadn't fallen behind even after being pushed that hard, I had to acknowledge them.
"We're resting here."
I asked while looking at the beggars sprawled out haphazardly.
"Do you know why I'm making you run like this?"
The beggars, exhausted to the point they could barely hold themselves up, surprisingly lit up with interest.
Some even nodded in response.
Kruk muttered softly, like an old man leaving his last words.
"So we don't die. So that even though we've been abandoned and rejected, we don't die pathetically without a fight."
Well, that's not exactly what I meant...
Since he'd interpreted it in such a noble way, I kept my mouth shut.
At that moment, Erakins shared his own thoughts.
"That's the feeling I got. How should I put it... It seemed like you weren't abandoning us but were instead intending to temper us?"
Hmm...
That wasn't much different from what Kruk had said?
'These guys are really good at jumping to conclusions.'
Another beggar raised his hand and spoke.
"I've made a guess too. Once the basic stamina training is over, you'll teach us swordsmanship as well."
"I think so too!"
"There's no other way to explain it."
"The boss is a Holy Knight, after all. Just like he saved the villagers, I believe he'll save us somehow."
These sly bastards—were they cleverly trying to tug at my heartstrings so I wouldn't abandon them?
'These vicious heretics... One clean swing of the sword...'
'Tch. That's not it.'
My Insight Ability confirmed their words were genuine, so I couldn't even doubt their sincerity.
'Tell me about it. Sigh, my fate...'
After a short nap, we ran for three more days.
I stopped between two low peaks where the wind was calm and the sun shone well.
I waited for the beggars' dry heaving to subside.
But the number of beggars had increased.
Among the new recruits were even demons and former security captains.
'There's a carpenter beggar too. The Red Dragon beggar doesn't look as beggar-like since he wipes himself with a towel whenever he can.'
Even the fairly strong ones were struggling like this, but the thief beggars supported and encouraged each other without leaving a single straggler behind.
Even though I'd increased the pace from the start.
"We're resting here today. Build a fire and prepare a meal."
"Can we eat something other than jerky today?"
I gladly agreed to the hunter beggar's question.
"Go hunt. No birds."
"Sir!"
Where did that strength come from?
The four hunter beggars, who had looked like they were about to drop dead, vanished over the ridge in an instant.
"Kruk, give me a shovel."
"Making a latrine? I'll dig it!"
"No. Rest."
I snatched the shovel from Kruk and dug a pit.
The blade got damaged from the tree roots and rocks, but with my overflowing strength, digging was no big deal.
"While I dig, take off your clothes."
The beggars murmured at the unexpected order.
"Are you going to bury us?"
"Nah, no way..."
"Killing us without resistance would be lame, so maybe burying us and leaving?"
"Then do we stick our heads out?"
What was even more ridiculous was that Yuderg and Erakins, overhearing them, nodded as if it made perfect sense.
'Haa—. Did I push them too hard? They're all out of their minds.'
This was my fault too.
"The purpose of this pit I'm digging is..."
By the end of the digging, I'd made a pit big enough for ten people to lie in.
It was deep enough to bury up to the waist.
'Looking at it now, I can see why they'd misunderstand it as a mass grave.'
I clenched my fist and concentrated the cold energy.
As soon as they sensed I was about to use my power, the curse writhed.
I pushed out the cold with my overflowing bodily strength.
Cold water dripped onto the dirt walls and floor.
I immediately froze that water, coating the dirt in ice.
"All undressed?"
"Yes! We're all naked!"
The kids are so obedient.
The bald beggars stood there, covering their crotches with their hands, watching what I was doing.
In the meantime, an ice bathtub had been created.
Now it was time to fill it with water.
"I command thee—."
A cloud the size of my fist formed above the tub, becoming a freezing nucleus and sucking in moisture from the forest.
Water could come from the body too, but it was possible to create it externally like this.
I, Kalruk, had unintentionally become a water Holy Knight, so I handled water quite well.
Even spiritization was possible. Ahem.
'It's similar to mimicking a tree. If I turn myself into a freezing nucleus, I should be able to gather water from outside the body too.'
The mist thickened into a heavy cloud, and when it could no longer hold more weight, it rained down.
"Beggars. Bath time."
It wasn't just because their bodies stank.
"It's a reward for not falling behind or deserting."
It wasn't to live up to Erakins' arbitrary assumption either.
I was going crazy from not bathing for nearly a week.
Really.
'Silver Star, close your eyes.'
Ah, I just turned my back.
Privacy is important for beggars too.
But somehow, these guys seemed less shy than people from my old world.
These grown men plunged into the tub with their dicks flopping.
"Whoa—!"
"Eek! It's cold!"
It was just an extraordinary guy doing something extraordinary. I had no intention of assigning meaning to making a bath for beggars.
Yet the beggars, as they started washing, acted with the utmost caution, like devotees in a sacred ritual.
"Washing here means we're reborn."
"We'll become Holy Knights and go to Hellite."
"Holy Knights! Just thinking about it excites me!"
Are they crazy?
No holy nation would accept rejects even the border cities refused!
'Well... Dreaming is free, at least.'
There was plenty of water.
Even after washing their filthy bodies and laundry, the rain cloud poured down endlessly over the tub.
As if the cold rainwater were holy water, the beggars cupped it in their hands like ladles and scrubbed every nook and cranny clean.
"Requiya, if you would."
"Leave it to me."
Requiya dried the washed clothes with magic.
We'd given all our spares to the villagers, so they had to be dried to wear.
'It'd just add baggage.'
Yuderg, who had been rolling his eyes with a complicated expression, was now washing among the beggars.
"Hic—."
Yuderg flinched when another beggar scrubbed his back.
He'd only had maids attend his baths; this was probably his first time being touched by another man.
'That's what it means to be a free beggar, Yuderg.'
I made even the returning hunters wash up without exception.
"Ah... I could collapse and sleep like this."
"Washing clean and putting on fresh clothes... I wouldn't even notice if a bear bit me."
The ones who had turned back from beggars to thieves after bathing yawned their jaws off.
Their eyes screamed they were dying of sleepiness.
Fred took charge of camp setup.
"Each of you dig a spot to lie down and pile up fallen leaves there. Dry ones would be best."
"We sleep in there?"
"Yes, Alexei. It's like a blanket and bedding combined."
"Instructor Fred knows more about outdoor living than us thieves."
"Haha—. I wandered a lot in my youth. More nights sleeping under the stars than not, due to lack of money."
Fred smiled awkwardly, reminiscing about his ronin days.
'I need to safely return that old man to his family.'
It was my third short-term task.
'Forgot the first and second.'
Forgetting was fine; I could just remember again.
While watching the hippos splashing in the now-muddy melted ice tub, I reviewed my future plans.
'Unseal the disaster. Kill the demon Estrellak east of Fiore to aid Fred's revenge, and take the power from the demon for myself. Crush the Fiore palace mage to complete Requiya's revenge. After that... I don't know yet.'
Fleeing from the Ruler of Frost, the Red Dragon Knights, and the Hellite Holy Knights had led me here.
Leading these weirdos, sleeping exposed to mountain dew, filling my stomach with jerky tougher than tree roots.
'Not bad, though. No aches, overflowing with energy—life feels worth living.'
'Night's falling soon. The Queen might come.'
'Are we safe now?'
'I can run, but these guys would freeze solid the moment they meet the Queen.'
I'd seen the Queen's cold energy up close. From a bit of a distance.
The Queen had merely swung her staff.
Yet ice spears pierced steel shields and shattered boulders.
If the ones blocking those countless ice spears weren't Holy Knights or Red Dragon Knights, they'd have been torn apart or frozen solid on the spot.
'You saw it, right? Even the Fiore guards couldn't handle the cold I emitted. These guys would be done the instant they touch the Queen's cold.'
'Can't. They're not allowed to die anymore.'
'You know, back in the day... I wondered if the people close to me suffered and died because of me.'
'Yeah. I still think that. But somehow...'
'I think it's right to prevent damage I can stop. What do I gain by cutting these guys off like lizard tails to save myself?'
'Not that... Well, that's true too.'
Haa—, talking with her always derails the conversation weirdly.
'Anyway, my goal is no deaths. It's funny coming from someone who's killed before, but that's how I feel now.'
'You... You knew all along and were just messing with me?'
Damn it.
After Silver Star quieted down, I carefully examined the mirror in my heart.
'Something like a sense of responsibility...'
I'd promised to show the world to Silver Star.
Requiya was a comrade who'd escaped the sanctuary with me, and with his useful knowledge, I'd decided to help his revenge.
Fred, Erakins, and Yuderg were just following because they wanted to.
The beggars...
'I trampled their turf. Even if it wasn't a good place.'
Was that why I felt a shred of responsibility toward them?
Was I trying to treat them like people because I felt sorry for treating them like bugs and trash?
'It's hindsight, but it kinda fits...'
While lost in such thoughts, night deepened.
Huu—.
I heard someone's sigh.
'You again?'