Surviving on the Northern Front with Gukbap

Calm Before the Storm (1)

*Jjeolgeureong*.

At last, the weapon slipped from Naba's hand.

The dark aura also vanished completely, his eyes returning to their natural brown.

"B-boss..."

I bent over and hugged the little guy.

"You're finally coming to your senses, you damned brat."

"I'm sorry. And, thank... th-thank you. *Keehik*."

Naba started bawling in my arms.

Yeah, it was just like—

'Like the day I first met Father.'

Suddenly, I remembered the second time I'd met Naba.

Back then, Naba had been beaten like a dog by adventurers and left collapsed in the snow.

'What would've happened if I hadn't saved Naba back then?'

Most likely, Naba would've succumbed to the Demon King transformation and killed all the adventurers in the village.

After that, he probably would've killed me, too, as the cause of everything.

'I really was that close to death and survived, huh.'

A flood of emotions swept through me,

but the biggest one I felt was relief.

In the end, Naba was sobbing his eyes out in my arms.

"I'm sorry. *Keeuk*. I'm sorry, boss. I was wrong. *Huaaang*."

The kid, now back to himself, sobbed and hiccuped.

"?!"

*Seongkeum, seongkeum*.

Plerine approached and gave Naba a crack on the back of the head. *Ddakkong*!

Sounded like she really put her feelings into it.

"Just try doing this again, senior. I really won't let you off next time."

But Naba just kept repeating, 'I'm sorry. I won't ever do this again,' refusing to let go of me.

Plerine still didn't seem to have calmed down, sending me a hand signal like, 'Didn't I tell you not to teach swordsmanship?'

Turns out, Plerine was right—it had been dangerous.

But I felt wrongly accused, too.

'Like I could have known that the adventurer punk who traumatized Naba would show up!'

As the tension left me, I started to feel my own temper rising. Ugh, I can't hold it in. *Ttaak!!*

"Ack!"

"Plerine's right. If this happens again, I won't be able to stop Plerine from doing whatever she wants."

Only then did Naba detach himself from my arms.

Hm.

Maybe I went overboard, since there was a huge bump swelling on his forehead.

"I understand. I'll never let this happen again."

Now that he seemed to have gotten his emotions under control, Naba wiped his tears,

and Clara, who'd been watching cautiously from afar, finally approached.

"Is it over?"

"Hm. I think so?"

"Then... what about this guy?"

Clara gave the collapsed Evan on the floor a couple kicks as she asked.

Evan had already passed out, frothing at the mouth.

"Spare him, or let him be?"

If we left him, the guy would quietly die.

Blood was still pouring out from the hole in his thigh.

But the bastard's life wasn't mine to decide.

"What do you want to do, Naba? Should we save him, or kill him?"

Whether Naba came to his senses and resisted the Demon King transformation was beside the point.

The right to choose that bastard's fate rested with Naba, and he had to make the decision.

"I..."

With swollen eyes, Naba stared down at Evan and spoke.

"I'll follow your decision, boss."

In the boy's eyes, there wasn't a hint of vengeance or anger.

I felt a corner of my mouth twitch up without realizing it, but I asked again.

"Are you sure you're okay leaving your revenge up to me? You might regret it later."

Just in case, I asked, but the now-clear-headed kid shook his head with a faint smile.

"It's fine. Whether this guy lives or dies, it doesn't matter to me anymore."

—he said, gazing at me with sincere eyes.

... Jeez, how embarrassing.

"If that's what you want."

I prodded Evan's body with my foot to check his condition.

He flopped over, showing his back.

'His thigh's got a complete hole.'

It was a tricky situation.

If I wanted to, I could save him.

If I left him alone, he'd almost certainly die.

Of course, I do want to kill this bastard.

Strictly speaking, this punk is the reason Naba came to hate adventurers.

'He's the reason all my level 8 characters got deleted.'

Sure, not as much as Naba, but

I'd be the next person to resent this guy after Naba.

But—

'Making emotional decisions is for those medieval idiots.'

I'm a modern man, capable of calm, rational thought.

First, I needed to calculate whether this guy's life was worth anything, and if I could use him later.

"Hm..."

Damn it. The answer I reached was not to my liking.

I forced a bitter smile, pulled out some herbs and ointment from my pocket, and tossed them to Clara.

"Just stop the bleeding, nothing fancy."

Clara replied, making an unimpressed face.

"Oh ho. Boss, didn't know you had a sentimental side."

She crouched in front of Evan

and promptly punched his face, flattening his nose.

"Hey, I said to SAVE him, didn't you hear?"

I was a bit flustered by her actions,

but Clara beamed at me and pointed at Evan.

"This jerk is that one I mentioned earlier."

"?"

"The one who took my first against my will."

... Should I just kill this bastard after all?

*

Clara finished stopping the bleeding, not looking thrilled.

"I just stopped the flow, that's all."

The urgent stuff was taken care of, so now it was time for cleanup.

"Plerine, could you wake Harper and bring him over? Clara, help clean and tidy up this place."

"Sure."

Plerine disappeared immediately,

"Yay~ yay~" and before I knew it, Clara had picked up some cleaning supplies.

"What about me?"

Naba asked.

"Naba, come with me to talk to the madam."

I grabbed Evan by the scruff and dragged him downstairs.

By then, the madam was awake and chatting with a guard.

"O-over here!"

The madam pointed at us and shouted as we appeared.

But he didn't seem too flustered.

Because the security guard with him was someone I knew.

"Ian... Platoon leader?"

Guard Ruth, still struggling to speak politely to me, muttered.

"Ah~ thanks for your work."

I replied jokingly and Ruth's lips twitched.

"Even Jeros wouldn't go this far."

"Why so blunt?"

Ruth clicked his tongue, *tsk*, and turned away,

but I spoke up, entering his field of vision.

"You know all this was self-defense, right?"

"I... I've already heard what happened, but..."

Ruth glanced sidelong at Naba.

"Naba. Did you really kill three adult adventurer men?"

Naba nodded gravely.

Ruth looked at him, dumbfounded.

"What'd those adventurers do, anyway?"

I was curious for the answer, too, so I waited.

But when Naba balked, I stepped in.

"Hey now, don't scare the kid! Look at this."

I brushed Naba's bangs aside to show his forehead.

Whoever hit him had left a big, swollen lump.

"They hit our kid here so hard, he feared for his life, you see? Isn't that how all this happened!"

I made a passionate plea,

but Ruth quietly looked at the madam and said,

"That's not what I heard earlier. They said it ended instantly, hardly even a fight."

Damn, Ruth. He's just as picky as Ralph's junior, as expected.

In the end, I leaned in and whispered to Ruth.

"Three days of free meals from our shop."

"... Anything I want on the menu?"

Man, he's greedy.

"Fine."

*

Ruth and the other guards left with the bodies,

and before long Harper arrived to handle the reward negotiations with the madam.

From the looks of it, things were proceeding smoothly.

Time for me to finish up some overtime, I guess.

"Plerine. When everything's wrapped up, take the kids home first."

"What about you, boss?"

I shrugged Evan still slumped over my shoulder.

"Returning this."

"You're not planning anything dangerous, right?"

"Don't worry."

I left Plerine's nagging behind and walked out of the red-light district.

The adventurer guild building in Granfen was on the outskirts.

As I walked, the darkness grew deeper,

but the village wasn't big, so I arrived quickly.

The building was old, but the sign was still intact.

"What kind of adventurer guild is called 'Widow's Usurper'? Even dirtier than Burt's 'Fairy's Leg'."

Medieval folks really had no taste.

I dropped Evan on the ground with a *thunk*,

pulled a rice ball out of my ration pouch, and took a bite.

Nothing was likely to happen, but there was no harm in being cautious.

*Jjeop*, *umoolumool*, *jjeop*.

The seasoning was just right. As expected of me.

"Huh? Huh?!"

Just then, evan regained consciousness with a weird noise.

"Hey. You're up? Glad you lived."

"Wh-where is this?"

Evan looked up at me, confused and disoriented.

"You're at your guild. Is Hook inside?"

"Hook?"

"Your boss, Derek."

"... He should be here tonight."

"Perfect. Now, go back to sleep."

"W-wait! Where's that damned brat—?"

Instead of answering, I punched him in the face. *Puk!*

Evan slumped limply again.

He probably wouldn't wake until tomorrow morning.

'... Is it possible to die from blood loss due to a nosebleed?'

The thought crossed my mind, but he wasn't dying just yet.

I slung Evan back over my shoulder

and kicked open the door.

*Kwaaang!* ...*Kwadang*. *Teodeong*.

The door flew off just like in a magic detective movie, catching me a bit off guard.

I hadn't meant to go this far.

'The strength buff from rice, for sure.'

The guild adventurers inside looked even more startled than me.

"What the hell, shit!"

The guy at the counter rang the bell *ddalangddalang*, and

three others playing cards nearby leapt up, glaring at me.

"Outsider? Is that guy crazy?"

"He hangs out with Jeros and thinks he's hot stuff?"

"Just shut up and mess him up!!"

The three immediately drew their blades and approached,

but I recited my prepared line.

"Wait! I'm not here to fight, so calm down."

Hearing that, they stopped, but their expressions were still hostile.

"Yeah right. The guy who busts in the door has the nerve to talk?"

"I was in a hurry, that's all. Here, take this. Catch!"

I tossed Evan over to them.

They barely caught him and frowned.

"Who the hell's this, shit."

Ah. With his nose that flat, no wonder they didn't recognize him.

"That's Evan. Isn't he pretty high up here?"

"What?!"

The three adventurers jerked in shock,

and laid Evan down to inspect him.

"It is Evan big brother."

"That damn bastard. Who did this to Evan big brother?!"

I showed my palms to calm them down before they could freak out again.

"Whoa, whoa. It's a misunderstanding. I actually saved that guy Evan from almost dying and brought him here."

Sure, some details were skipped, but it was a fact that I saved him.

"Don't lie! His face is all smashed up!"

Surprisingly, one guy was sharp and questioned suspiciously,

but I had an answer ready for that, too.

"Not the face. Look at his thigh—see that wound? He got stabbed and there was a hole, but I patched it up with herbs and bandages."

They checked Evan's lower body and frowned.

"It... it's true?"

"Looks like it. If he'd tried to kill him, why bring him here alone?"

"Seriously, how did Evan big brother end up this way...?"

Seemed like they bought my story, so I went in for the finishing blow.

"If you don't believe it, ask Evan when he wakes up. Ask if it's true that I saved him when he almost died."

The adventurers glanced at each other, and finally started putting away their weapons.

"Okay. Let's say you're telling the truth. What's your purpose? Money?"

Finally, they switched to diplomacy mode, but their stupidity still made me sigh.

"Why would I try to extort money from you guys?"

I'm a rich guy—what's the point?

"Then what? What do you want?"

"I need to talk to your boss, Derek. I need some information."

The moment I finally got to the point,

a raspy voice from upstairs drew my gaze.

"Arrogant outsider. You've grown a lot, haven't you."

Among the gathered adventurers, the one-armed Derek had appeared.

He ground his teeth and scowled.

"But, no matter how big you've gotten! Do you think you're Jeros or something, you pathetic outsider!"

His temperament was as foul as the scar on his face,

but to show I wasn't here to fight, I raised both hands.

"I said I want to talk. That's why I saved Evan and brought him here."

Derek's eyes whirled between me, the three adventurers, and Evan lying on the floor.

"Is what he says true?"

The three who'd been facing off with me nodded in agreement,

and Derek glared at me.

"Hmph. I don't know what you're after. What exactly do you want to know?"

"There are too many eyes here. Let's talk separately."

"Hah!! You must think I'm crazy to meet alone with a 3rd-rank who even beats the platoon leader?!"

Amazing how he can calculate combat strength so precisely right after asking if I'm Jeros.

"Maybe if I bring six men with me."

Derek sneered.

Guess he figured six guys would be enough just in case.

But—

'With six, I could probably handle them all at once.'

Didn't they say Jeros already killed all the worthwhile adventurers in Granfen's guild?

Sure, one-vs-one and many-vs-one fights are different, but—

'If you want something, you have to take risks.'

Besides, the chances of an actual fight were pretty low, just as expected.

"Fine. Lead the way."

The adventurers seemed baffled by my easy acceptance, but

Derek just signaled his subordinates to follow with a hard expression.

"Come. Let's go to my room."

I followed Derek up the stairs and into a room. *Kkiik*.

So far, no one tried anything funny,

but three adventurers stood behind Derek, and three stood behind me, surrounding me.

"This is intimidating."

"Shut up and sit. Try anything and you're dead."

My mouth itched for a comeback, but baiting now wouldn't help.

Obediently, I sat across from Derek.

"I'll answer two questions in exchange for Evan's life."

"Isn't that stingy?"

"Should I make that a question, too?"

I barely suppressed the urge to punch him in the face.

Couldn't blow everything I'd come this far for.

"Hurry up. What do you want to know?"

Alright. The time had finally come.

I stared straight into Derek's brow and spoke.

"I want to know everything that happened between Jeros and you guys."