EVS Chapter 91

‘The lord will decide what to do with the child. But there’s a lot going on right now, so please wait a bit longer.’

Those were Rem’s words when Sa-yoon met him at a meal with the boy, as he couldn’t starve a child in his growing years. Sa-yoon swallowed his breath, mulling over the words of the man who had approached him and patted his shoulder while Sa-yoon wore an expression of complete dissatisfaction.

Sa-yoon believed him.

More accurately, rather than believing him, he believed in his own fate.

He was destined to roll around in monster fields, not to raise children.

So he thought he’d endure a little longer as Rem had said, but…

“……”

As his mood visibly soured, the boy, who was cowed and watching carefully, met his eyes. When their gazes met, the child startled and ran behind Geon-joo. Sa-yoon stared blankly at the boy’s retreating figure before suddenly frowning deeply.

Wait just a little longer, he says?

It had already been a week since Sa-yoon had heard those words from Rem and faithfully waited. Not just a day or two, but seven days. During that time, Geon-joo’s childcare skills had improved by leaps and bounds, and he had practically become a foster father. The child, while still wary of Sa-yoon, was no longer afraid. He had adapted to the situation on his own, even though Sa-yoon had never coddled him.

He had adapted to the point where, like now, when Sa-yoon frowned, the boy wouldn’t come close but would watch from afar, and if Sa-yoon’s mood seemed to improve even slightly, he would scamper over and cling to him. Sa-yoon felt the small boy was more clingy than the dog one of the Night Mouse guild members raised.

Sa-yoon let out a disbelieving laugh, and the boy, mistaking even this sneer for a smile, thinking Sa-yoon’s mood had improved, slowly approached.

“…I’m hungry.”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake.”

On the first day, even when his stomach growled loudly, he kept his mouth shut and didn’t ask for food once, but now it seemed he had lost all sense of shame. Sa-yoon’s head tilted to the side as the boy tightly gripped his leg and looked up at him.

“Who do you think I am, clinging to me like this?”

“Who are you?”

“A scary person.”

“……”

“I’m fattening you up to eat you.”

“There’s nothing you won’t say to a child.”

Sa-yoon had deliberately raised his eyebrows and tried to create a sense of fear, thinking the boy might at least be scared by this, but the sudden voice broke the flow. Geon-joo’s tone was openly sarcastic, as if he had given up even on sighing. Irritated, Sa-yoon looked at him, and Geon-joo, having finished organizing clothes for the child, stretched out his arms towards the boy.

“Come here.”

“Yes, go. Stop clinging to me for no reason.”

“Can’t I stay with you?”

“Didn’t I say I’m a scary person?”

“But you’re not scary to me.”

“……”

Sa-yoon was at a loss for words. Should he grab the young boy and intimidate him to instill fear?

It would be an unsightly act to do that to a powerless child. So he had simply watched quietly, not paying attention to whatever the child did, occasionally scolding him, treating him like a succulent plant. But now that attitude had come back to bite him.

As Sa-yoon looked down at the child with speechless eyes, he heard a snort from behind. Turning around, he saw Geon-joo covering his mouth, his shoulders shaking slightly. The two children were making a fuss together.

I’m feeling complicated, but you find it funny, huh?

“…I’m just dumbfounded.”

Although he was bewildered, Sa-yoon had no intention of acting scary now. Frowning, he looked back at Geon-joo and the boy, then reluctantly placed his hand on the head of the child clinging to his leg. The boy beamed at the touch, which was far from gentle, more like pressing down than patting.

He had pressed hard intending it to hurt, but the kid had good resilience and toughness.

***

“So, what’s your name?”

On the tenth day. On the tenth day since rescuing the child from the fire, Sa-yoon accepted reality.

The number of monsters attacking the village was increasing day by day, and Rem was becoming more and more of a dazed knight, while the lord was so busy that it wouldn’t be strange if he died from overwork. In such a situation, there was no one who could pay attention to a single young boy. In other words, it meant he would have to live with that boy for a while longer.

Until now, he had deliberately avoided asking the boy’s name and prevented Geon-joo from telling it, hoping to send him away quickly and not wanting Geon-joo to form a personal attachment to a boy who would soon leave. But it was no longer the time to be stubborn. For smooth communication, they needed to know his name. When Sa-yoon finally proposed the long-delayed introduction, the boy’s face lit up and he sat up straight.

“It’s Noah!”

“What an ugly name.”

“…My late mother gave it to me.”

“Well, I suppose it sounds alright.”

“Couldn’t you just say it’s a cool name?”

“You be quiet.”

He had been nitpicking everything lately. Perhaps emboldened by taking care of a child not even fifteen years old, Geon-joo seemed to have become much more nagging since taking on the task of looking after Noah. Sa-yoon glanced at him before getting up from his chair at the sound of a bell ringing in the corridor.

“Here we go again.”

“It’s been happening more often lately.”

“Looks like the number of monsters has increased even more. It’ll probably be soon.”

Signs of the wave were appearing. Judging by the exponential increase in monsters, Sa-yoon sensed that the day of the first wave was not far off. He put his hand on Noah’s head, who was looking anxiously at Sa-yoon and Geon-joo as they put on their armor.

“You stay here and play with puzzles or something.”

“But you said not to buy him puzzles, so I didn’t.”

“You really didn’t buy any?”

“I-I can wait well even without puzzles!”

Geon-joo lacked tact, so the child tried to be tactful instead. He should have bought them sensibly, but because Sa-yoon had said not to buy anything, he really didn’t purchase anything except clothes. Sa-yoon clicked his tongue, remembering that a few days ago, in a fit of anger, he had shouted at Geon-joo to stop buying so many things for the kid.

The ringing of a bell rather than an ambush warning horn meant they had to go on reconnaissance. It was a task that could take anywhere from five hours to two days at the longest, and there were many concerns about leaving a young child alone for that long. Of course, Noah, who had said Sa-yoon wasn’t scary to him despite having met only recently, was quite strong-minded and sharp for his age, but that didn’t mean there was no cause for worry.

Sa-yoon decided he should buy something for the child to focus on playing with during the next rest period, to prevent him from causing trouble while they were away. He stroked the boy’s hair and left the room.

“Wait quietly, okay?”

“Yes!”

Come back safely, hyungs!

The boy waved, seeing them off. Sa-yoon watched Geon-joo showing obvious signs of finding the boy cute, then hurried his steps at the voice of a knight calling for assembly.

The fifth reconnaissance mission they were going on was always similar. To avoid repeating the tragedy of the first reconnaissance, they split into two groups and inspected the village twice with a time difference, and entered the nearby forest to find and deal with monster groups. Occasionally, on days when they discovered a monster lair, the reconnaissance would change to an extermination mission, and they would engage in battle for half a day. Today seemed to be one of those days.

“We’ve secured the creatures’ habitat! Blow the horn to call for support!”

“These beasts have excellent breeding capabilities! Don’t let a single one escape!”

Two knights who had discovered a cave while exploring the forest shouted at the top of their lungs, mobilizing the mercenaries.

“Light the torches, it’s dark inside the cave!”

“Throw the torches into the cave when you’re done clearing it out!”

Shouts and cries could be heard from all directions. With about 200 monsters found per lair, it wasn’t unusual for people to be excited and tense.

“Sir Yun! Could you provide support inside?”

“Sir Geon-joo, come this way!”

Having proven their superior skills through five repeated reconnaissance missions, Sa-yoon and Geon-joo were being treated as more than mercenaries, on par with knights, among the knights, receiving rewards from the lord. By now accustomed to being addressed as ‘Sir’, Sa-yoon joined the melee and began reducing the number of monsters. Although the inside of the cave was pitch black due to the lack of torches, this level of darkness was hardly a bother.

In fact, the darkness made it easier.

As much as the monsters hid in the darkness to attack, Sa-yoon too could melt into the shadows and cut off their breath.

―Keueeek!

―Krrrk!

―Kegek!

Single cries of anguish rained down. As a short knife was more convenient than a longsword for moving quickly, Sa-yoon took out a dagger from his inventory while the others in the reconnaissance team were distracted, and swiftly dealt with the situation.

When he felt he had cut down over thirty monsters, he gradually slowed his pace. It was enough achievement to be recognized by the knights and the lord. There was nothing to gain from showing even more outstanding skills here except being dragged out for every reconnaissance mission.

Hiding his skills at an appropriate level, Sa-yoon put away his dagger and wiped the blood from his face. It seemed the situation on the other side was also mostly resolved, as the knights were ordering the mercenaries to leave and calling for torches.

After eliminating all visible monsters, they exited the cave, threw in firewood, and tossed in torches. The cave that had been the monsters’ lair was instantly engulfed in red flames.

“They should get a taste of their own medicine.”

A mercenary who had struggled to clean up the burning village sneered as he watched the rising flames. For a moment, satisfaction flashed across the faces of the knights who had achieved a pleasing victory.

“Sir Reno, Sir Reno!”

From far away, someone came running urgently, calling the name of the knight leading the reconnaissance team. As Sir Reno, who had been savoring the victory of the battle, turned in that direction, the person who had been running stopped in place, caught their breath, and then spoke.

“The lord has ordered an immediate return! The monsters, the monsters are swarming towards the castle!”

It was a cry full of fear. Although the exact number of monsters that had gathered was unknown, the voice gave the intuition that it was by no means an ordinary number. Sa-yoon, surprised, followed behind the person ordering the return while checking the lord’s castle visible in the distance.

Drrrr.

Vibrations could be felt from the ground in the direction of the lord’s castle.

Familiar with these vibrations, Sa-yoon furrowed his brow and thought of Noah, who would be in the lord’s castle.

“…Why does that kid have such bad luck?”

It had to start just when he was away from the castle.