Chapter 8: 8

Is this Hero for Real?

Chapter 8

There was something that shouldn’t be overlooked here.

I couldn’t understand the languages of the fairies and mercenaries, who were each a ‘hostile race’ to me.

PR/N: The creatures previously referred to as “elves” will be “fairies” from here on out, in order to obey the raw Korean.  Please continue to picture elves in your head as you read.

That is, the conditions of the curse were based on the average of the entire race, not a given individual!

Just because they were hostile species did not guarantee that all of them had to be hostile to ‘me’ unconditionally.

Furthermore, this was a village of humans.

I should stop being hastily biased and instead be cautious.

Slide,

So I hid Blue Butcher under the pillow on my bed. That way I could use it in case of emergency.

[A certain god has their eyes fixed on you.]

Click.

I unlocked the room of the inn and opened the door.

“Come in.”

“Excuse me.”

The visitor was a man in his thirties whose silver hair complemented him.

From his appearance, he was an average human. If it wasn’t for the conditions of the curse, I would never have noticed the fact that he wasn’t human.

“How can I help you?”

“Do not be so on-guard. As the chief of this village, I got a report that there was a traveler who couldn’t speak the language and came to check in.”

“I see.”

It was a little suspicious that he was managing the village while pretending to be human, but I let it slide because I didn’t have enough information.

It could just be how the Fantasia dimension worked.

Maybe the angel-like species worshiping the evil goddess was ruling over the ignorant humans on earth.

“Kang Hansoo? What a strange name.”

“Well…”

I considered giving myself a nickname fitting for this barbarous fantasy world, but I didn’t want to hide the name my parents gave me.

Aside from that, I was extremely uncomfortable that my personal information I hadn’t revealed had been exposed to a complete stranger.

Could he see my status window?

“It doesn’t matter for people like me who have the Observation blessing, but you should hide your status window.”

Seriously? 

“How do you hide it?”

“…Looks like you really don’t know anything.”

“Yeah.” 

Sorry, it’s my second day in a barbaric fantasy world.

“Hm. I thought an out-of-touch stupid fairy was hiding when they said you didn’t understand the language. Are you merely a country fellow from a faraway land…?”

“You seem disappointed.”

“Is it obvious?”

“A little…”

It was not a little. It was written on his face that he was frustrated his assumptions were in vain.

“The gnolls who lost their habitat to the fairies’ greed found their way here. This is the village formed by those who lost their families back then and sought revenge.”

“So that’s why there are so many mercenaries.”

“It’s an old story. There aren’t many people left who remember the rancor besides me and a few others. Now, most of them are rookie mercenaries from the city who came to build experience.”

“Heh~” 

It sure is nice to communicate in the same language!

I didn’t care about how this village was formed, but I was touched to be able to converse like an actual person.

It would be nicer if he could teach me how to hide my status window as well…

[A certain god looks at you in frustration.]

Um? Why?

I wanted to ask why, but I couldn’t because the chief was in front of me.

He continued to speak as he stroked his chin with his right hand.

“Before I leave, can I ask you a question?”

“Yes.”

Anything unless it’s political or religious!

He took an empty glass bottle out of his pocket as he asked,

“How are you unaffected by my paralysis potion?”

“…What?”

I couldn’t understand what he was talking about for a moment, but my body responded first to the chief’s attack.

Hwp!

I went for the chief’s neck with the Blue Butcher I’d hidden under the pillow.

However,

“Impressive.”

Snap.

Right before the blade cut his throat, something transparent restrained me and I couldn’t move an inch.

“What…?”

I rolled my eyes, unable to achieve my goal by a razor-thin margin, and stared at the chief.

He walked in circles around me, and spoke as if to tease me,

“Despicable fairies are innately resistant to potions, which is why I created this magic spell.”

“Urgh…!”

“Give up. I tied up your entire body with an invisible magic rope. You’ll never get out of it as long as you have a high resistance like the fairies do.”

“How come?”

I couldn’t get to the bottom of why I got attacked by the chief. I didn’t think I did anything to cross him.

“You didn’t do anything wrong. You were just unfortunate.”

“….”

“It’s simple. It would be faster to show you than explain.”

[Name] Crimson

[Level] 16

[Blessing] Lunacy E

[Curse] Fairy C

There was a curse on the chief’s status window like I had.

“Did the goddess do this?”

“You’re still speaking nonsense, I see you haven’t understood. This curse is the result of all the rancor of the fairies that were murdered by me. It’s like a scar of honor!

“Aha!”

It wasn’t just the goddess that could give a curse.

Let’s call it conditional.

[Fairy]

> The fairies have targeted you as an enemy. Your lifespan and youth are decreased!

> All damage and notoriety gained from fairies increases significantly.

I thought it was a tremendous curse because of the part about decreasing lifespan and youth, but it didn’t seem that bad from the chief’s appearance.

“The humans were enraged at the gnolls who killed their families and took their homes. But I thought differently. The gnolls were also victims like them. Our real enemies are the fairies who stole the gnolls’ habitat and instigated conflict…!”

“But I’m not a fairy that you so despise. I don’t think this is something you say to an innocent person you just attacked.”

It looked like I was about to die in vain from getting caught up in someone’s rancor.

…I was really about to die!

Even though I was acting calm, my situation where I couldn’t lift a finger was clearly a crisis.

I would die on the spot if the chief got angry.

My heart raced.

“To be honest, I wasn’t planning to talk so much. But I changed my mind after seeing your dagger. Where did you get this?”

He asked as he pointed to Blue Butcher.

“This?”

“I stole it after killing a fairy that randomly shot an arrow at me.”

There’s something called ‘reading the room’.

Although I got Blue Butcher from killing a gnoll called ‘Blue Moon’s Meat Butcher’, I had to pretend to be an enemy of the fairies to survive.

“You managed to kill a royal fairy with those skills?”

“They were a royal…?”

I always thought it was a good dagger with a sharp edge, but I never guessed it was from a royal fairy.

“Haha! What a sight! You killed them without even knowing they were royal! It’s getting harder and harder for me to kill you.”

“Then let me live!”

“My condolences. As you can tell from my status window, I’m a mage without the magic blessing. Are you serious? Do you really not know what that means?”

“It’s because I’m an outsider.”

There were no humans (or gods) around to teach me.

“Outsider?”

“It means ‘lone wolf dashing through the wilderness’.”

“That’s a great word. Too bad you will never be able to dash through the wild again.”

[A certain god prays for the outsider’s soul.]

Grab. 

As the Chief took the blue dagger out of my hands, he continued,

“I’m a dark mage. You must be sacrificed for my dark magic to increase my lifespan.”

Princess Ethena Archmazing. 

As someone who’s called a ‘magic genius’ in the Archmazing Magic Kingdom, she grew up admiring those who ‘work hard’.

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Her status as a princess who had to care about her reputation and appearance took away from her time to study, and her incredible talent made it unnecessary for her to make an effort.

A privileged complaint, isn’t it?

The princess was aware of it as well. But it’s not her fault for yearning for something that was impossible for her.

Maybe that was the reason.

“Princess. You said magic could be created solely through imagination. Are there any conditions or formulae that could increase its efficiency?”

Yoo Bora, the hero that keeps trying even after being told magic can only be decided through family and academic connections.

Princess Ethena took a liking to her ‘first apprentice’. Which is why she took her in as her apprentice in the first place.

Roar! 

A lively flame arose on the palm of hero Yoo Bora’s hand.

Talent and effort.

It was a beautiful magic created by the combination of the two.

“Good question, hero Yoo Bora. All you have to do to strengthen your magic is to imitate the god who gave you a blessing or your parents’ magic.”

“Is that all?”

“Of course there’s more.”

Crackle!

Princess Ethena created a block of cold ice countering the blazing flames on the palm of her hand.

In the shape of a cute rabbit!

It was strangely fitting for its creator.

She showed her magic with pride as she spoke.

“Flame magic, also known as the war flower, is a professional field of magic passed on by generations of the Archmazing Kingdom’s royal family. It’s thanks to my blessing that gave me part of my ancestors’ talents that I could do this. However, this ice rabbit is my very own unique magic! Will you try it?”

“Hm.. it’s not working.”

There was nothing on the palm of Yoo Bora’s hand.

Princess Ethena, blushing shyly, confessed.

“It’s because I am still lacking as a master.  You’ll also be able to make it easily once I become more proficient. Do you understand?”

“Yes. Thank you for the kind explanation.”

“Don’t mention it.”

It was then that a voice broke the warm atmosphere of the room.

“Princess. What should someone who doesn’t have a blessing, like me, do?”

Jang Miyeon, the hero that chose to be a mage instead of a knight despite the obviously difficult path ahead of her. 

She had a lot to complain about because she wasn’t Princess Ethena’s apprentice, nor could she use magic.

It wasn’t only her either.

“I really need a blessing!”

“Princess! I want to use magic!

“Please give me a magic blessing…!”

The other heroes who didn’t like the teaching method, which was no different than Yoo Bora’s personal tutoring session, also spoke up.

And it grew more and more intense.

“This is unfair!”

“It’s not good to have favorites!”

“We want the same treatment!”

“This is extremely unfair!”

The heroes started to clamor. 

Crack, crack.

Biting down on the ice rabbit she created while sporting an innocent face, Princess Ethena asked,

“Then which hero shall be my second apprentice?”

“Me! Me!”

“Of course it’s me!”

“Don’t cut in front of me!”

“I’m first!”

With a single sentence the heroes, who all came together to implore Princess Ethena, broke apart and got busy bringing each other down.

Second, third, fourth…

No one tried to yield their place in line because the later they became an apprentice, the less talented they would be.

“I’m better than you…!”

“You’re not even smart…!”

“You’re not one to talk…!”

It was a pathetic sight that made it impossible to believe these were the heroes that would save the world. 

But it looked like Princess Ethena had no intention of stopping them.

“Let me know when you have come to a decision!”

“…Princess Ethena. Did you do that on purpose?”

“What? What are you talking about?”

The princess sweetly tilted her head at Yoo Bora’s question.

“…It’s nothing.”

“Alright! Then shall we continue with our lesson… Oh! Where did I leave off?”

“The ice rabbit.”

“Ah! Thank you! Special magic can only be acquired by significant trial and error and endless practice.”

“Like black magic?”

“….”

“Princess?”

For a moment Princess Ethena went rigid, but relaxed as she replied,

“Black magic is different from white magic. It’s impossible to continuously practice by yourself.”

“How so?”

“Because you need a sacrifice whenever you use magic.”

***

The law of equivalent exchange.

It is an economic theory that goods of equal value can be exchanged.

But why is this applied in the magic of this fantasy world?

Anyways, I was in danger because of this good-for-nothing law.

“…”

“I loosened the magic rope a bit. Now you should be able to speak.”

“…You have a really cool basement!”

“Thank you.”

The chief, who introduced himself as a dark mage, carried me on his back to his house in the name of treating a ‘traveler who was unconscious in an inn’.

Maybe the owner of the inn was in cahoots with him, letting such a bad lie slide.

I’ll think about that if I come out alive…

“Chief. Am I going to die in pain like the others here?”

There were a lot of visitors already in the basement.

“^%$#,^%$#, ow…”

“Kirk! ^%$#^%$#, kirk…”

“^%$#, ahh…!”

Bloody bruises, burns, and whip marks covered their bodies, which were hanging from the ceiling like meat in a butcher shop.

And without exception, all of them had had both ears cut off.

“…You’re stronger than you look. Usually they’re busy crying and begging for me to save their lives.”

“I guess so.”

[Outsider]

Maybe I would have acted ‘normally’ if I didn’t have this blessing.

And my state?

I felt like I was watching a horror movie I’d already watched about three times and was tired of, even though this was about me.

“Don’t worry. I don’t force my hobbies on travelers who aren’t fairies.”

“Well, that’s nice to hear.”

It looked like he immediately killed the humans he kidnapped, and tortured fairies for a very long time before killing them.

The chief spoke graciously.

“I’ll end you without pain, since you killed a royal family member.”

“Wow! Thank you so much, I hate being in pain.”

“Hahaha! What a jolly fellow! It’s a shame you can’t stay around longer.”

“I feel the same way.”

It seemed like the chief really took a liking to me, even though he was still going to kill me anyway.

What do I do now?

[A certain god packs their bags.]

[A certain god sends their thoughts and prayers for the outsider.]

“…Rude.”

Even though I got thrown out like an old shoe by some ill-mannered god, this wasn’t the worst case scenario.

Since my mouth was still as lively as ever!

“Chief.”

“What is it? Give it up if you’re going to beg for your life.”

“I would never. This is about something else.”

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I put on the grin of a virtuous earthling and opened the conversation window.

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