Klad fumed as he ran deep into the forest. Unlike the dense forest on the other side, this side had trees sparsely scattered, making it easier to run.
Crack, snap.
Dry branches broke under Klad’s anger-filled steps.
The effort he’d made to move without leaving even a small footprint until now crumbled in an instant, but he didn’t care about such things anymore.
Hero or whatever, let the West family go to ruin.
“Haa.”
Klad stopped only when the light pouring through the gaps in the branches disappeared.
After running for a while, his reason began to return.
Perhaps because he’d been submerged in darkness and silence for a long time, his immunity to stimulating events had weakened, causing his body to react first even in situations where he should have organized his thoughts and acted.
No matter what, he should have at least talked with Jake first.
‘No. There’s no need to talk. A mindset rooted in one family won’t change that easily.’
He’d noticed from the beginning that Jake didn’t view Duke West’s actions positively or agree with them. He knew that when Jake nodded his head, it wasn’t because he thought the circumstances that created this village were justified, but merely a gesture showing he understood the cause.
Jake had focused on grasping the facts rather than empathizing.
Even the words ‘demons won’t attack places where people don’t live’ didn’t mean that humans should be planted in the village to sacrifice themselves instead, but rather ‘so that’s why the Duke let people loose in the village.’
He knows. He knows, but… what can he do? Regardless of understanding the meaning of those actions, his anger rose to the top of his head.
‘Doesn’t he feel angry as a fellow human?’
He truly couldn’t understand.
Even if he couldn’t rage about how one could use fellow living beings as bait, shouldn’t he at least show signs of displeasure?
Then again, they were nobles. Among them, those who bore the West name. If it were them, they wouldn’t consider poor and powerless commoners to be ‘fellow humans.’
‘The West brat is ultimately a West after all.’
He should have realized it when Jake threw a tantrum saying it was too precious to share even the fruit that would go into his own mouth with that tiny child. No, he should have ignored everything Jake said from the moment he spouted nonsense in the underground prison.
‘I’ve wasted time for nothing.’
Let’s go back.
It would be difficult to hide in the destroyed Duke’s castle right now, so this time let’s really go home.
Whether the West brat got executed or attacked by demons was none of his business.
Klad steeled his resolve and started walking.
Step.
“…”
He’d only taken one step, but his feet wouldn’t move forward.
As his anger subsided, Jake became a concern.
Not that he was worried Jake would shiver and starve in the cold, but he was worried that Jake might make the mistake of setting his own body on fire instead of the firewood while doing all sorts of foolish things, saying he needed to light a fire because it was cold.
‘No way. He’s still a hero, so he wouldn’t be that clumsy.’
Step.
Klad, who tried to ignore his imagination and move forward, stopped again after just one step.
Setting his own body on fire was one thing. What if he accidentally burned down the entire village? What crime did the other humans commit?
“This is driving me crazy.”
If only Jake could do what he needed to do well on his own, it wouldn’t bother him this much. He didn’t know why it had to be someone like that as the hero, complicating his feelings.
This was not for Jake’s sake. It was for the sake of the others left in the village with Jake. It was for the sake of the children who had gathered their courage to approach but had to flee hastily without getting even a bite of food!
Klad shouted inwardly as he turned around and ran back the way he came.
***
Right after Klad left in anger, Jake stood rooted to that spot for a long while, unable to move his feet.
‘I must have made another mistake.’
How many people had approached him on their own only to become disappointed on their own and leave? They had shown interest in the names ‘heir of Duke West’s family’ or ‘hero’ and approached, only to quickly become disappointed in him and turn their backs.
The reasons were varied. Because the so-called hero had less strength than expected. Because he didn’t have enough influence within the Duke’s family to be helpful to them. Or because communication didn’t work well.
They would spout all sorts of sweet words, but in places where Jake wasn’t present, they would gather together to mock or ridicule Jake.
At least Klad, who got angry to his face and ran out, could be considered quite conscientious.
‘But this time it’s troublesome.’
While Jake didn’t dwell on those who left because they disliked him, this time the situation was different.
Jake still needed Klad’s help.
‘If I chase him now, can I catch up?’
While he wanted to grab Klad and talk until his mood improved, his physical condition was terrible right now.
Jake frowned and clenched and unclenched his right hand.
A moment ago, the arm that had briefly touched the village child tingled severely. Had demonic energy accumulated in the child’s body while living in a village steeped in demonic energy? This was serious enough to suspect demonic energy poisoning. The condition was so severe that Jake felt intense pain from merely being touched by a small child and unconsciously swatted the child’s arm away.
‘This is serious. How should I resolve this problem?’
Jake became dejected at the thought that victims had appeared because he, the hero, couldn’t fulfill his role. What saddened him most was that there was nothing he could do and he had to just watch this situation.
‘When will the next demon invasion be?’
Could these people endure the next attack? If they barely survived that attack, what about the raid after that?
‘As long as demons invade, this village has no future.’
Jake fell into deep contemplation.
Then what could he do as a hero for this village? The best method would be to immediately defeat the Demon King, but that was impossible. He couldn’t fight the demons either. He would most likely lose.
‘I need to find another way.’
Jake forgot about his consideration of chasing after Klad and became lost in thought.
Hadn’t he thought escaping the underground prison and fleeing the Duke’s castle were impossible, yet succeeded in the end?
This time too, he would definitely find a way.
As he always had.
‘Is there no way to prevent the demons from invading this place?’
There was.
Just one method that could prevent demon invasions for at least a week and at most ten days.
***
“What’s that?”
Klad, who hurriedly returned to the village, had to face an unexpected situation.
As expected, Jake was doing something absurd.
However, he never imagined that Jake, left alone in darkness without a single light, would be crouched in a corner of the village rubbing the ground.
With his bare hands, no less.
‘What the hell are you doing, West?’
To say he was fumbling to find something he’d dropped, the ground was too clean, without a single rolling pebble.
Had he gone crazy from the anxiety of being left alone?
‘It’s dangerous. With demonic energy spread in this place and the sun having set, it’s perfect for monsters to appear…’
Rumble rumble rumble rumble—
‘…Damn it.’
As soon as the thought crossed his mind, he felt a monster’s presence beneath his feet.
It was just a monster that would appear anyway, but because it appeared the moment he thought a monster might appear, he felt like he was the one who summoned it. If Jake got attacked by a monster and collapsed, it would feel extremely uncomfortable.
‘I can’t feel uncomfortable because of a mere West.’
Judging so, Klad quickly scanned the monster’s condition to help Jake.
‘A sandworm?’
It was a type of giant monster that lived in deserts. It was the kind that hid deep in sandy deserts crawling around, then when it sensed a biological response, it would surge up and swallow its prey in one bite.
Whether it had evolved to suit its environment while absorbing the demonic energy in the ground, it was much smaller than a normal sandworm but its body had hardened to be able to move through hard ground.
As it had become smaller, it couldn’t swallow prey in one bite, but its hunting speed had doubled or more.
The sandworm rushed quickly toward the direction where it sensed a biological response, as if showing off its changed speed.
Toward Jake, who was rubbing the ground without knowing he was about to be devoured.
“Duck!”
“Hm?”
Instead of ducking, Jake turned his head with a blank face following Klad’s voice. The West brat was slow but lucky, as turning his head just in time allowed him to avoid the sharp teeth of the surging sandworm.
“Hup!”
“Keep your mouth shut. You’ll bite your tongue.”
Klad snatched Jake, who had narrowly avoided becoming monster food, and rolled to the opposite side.
Swoooosh—
Crash!
From the ground where Jake had been crouching just moments ago, a large sandworm surged up, revealing its hideous teeth. The sandworm, having missed its prey, twisted its body toward Jake to continue the next attack.
What made eye contact with that sandworm wasn’t Jake but Klad, who held him protectively.
Screech, squeak.
The sandworm, which had been full of vigor as if about to pounce at any moment, made strange crying sounds and then convulsed while twisting its body as if resisting a strong force.
It looked as if it was gripped by extreme terror.
Klad glared at the sandworm and muttered.
“Get lost.”
Kiiieeeek!
The sandworm let out an eerie scream like a monster that had been tightly bound and finally regained its freedom, then frantically fled underground.
Only traces remained in that spot where the ground had split as if torn.
