“What?”
“Doing kind acts.”
Zich walked towards Snoc and grabbed his shoulders.
“It makes you uncomfortable that Nowem is being forgiven without any consequences. Then you just have to make him pay. Make him pay for his wrongs until both of you are satisfied.”
“Are you saying that he should pay for his wrongdoings by doing kind acts?”
“Of course. What is the first thing that criminals do when they atone for their sins in religious institutions? It’s helping others. Doing kind acts is one of the best ways to forgive yourself. There’s really nothing like it to cover your past wrongdoings.”
Sam didn’t agree with the way Zich framed ‘helping others’ as if it was a tool, but Zich was not wrong. Sam began pondering again.
“In order for this to work, it’s most important for you to believe in it. No matter what others say, you have to believe this will work for you.”
“Then are you telling Snoc to help orphanages or give to struggling people—things like that?”
“No.”
Sam blinked his eyes at Zich’s strong denial.
“Nowem is the one who did wrong. He has to use Nowem’s power.”
Nowem’s power. Sam trembled a bit as he recalled Snoc’s appearance when he went berserk. To him, the magical beast of the earth’s power was enormous.
“…Then what should I do?”
Snoc had been looking at Zich straight in the eyes since Zich mentioned ‘doing kind acts.’
“You told me you hated being a miner, right? You told me you wanted to go on an adventure.” Zich smirked. “Then do what you want.”
“Are you telling me to go on an adventure?”
Snoc and Sam were shocked by Zich’s unexpected answer.
“But it’s too dangerous for Snoc! Didn’t you also say so in the past?”
“Yeah, but that was then. Now, he has Nowem.”
Koo?
Nowem’s face moved here and there as he heard his name being mentioned.
“If Snoc learns how to use Nowem’s powers properly, monsters in the mountainside or bandits in the streets would no longer pose a threat to him. Follow me. I can make it so that you can freely use your skills.”
Zich’s ‘What you gonna do?’ attitude made Snoc also fall into deep thought.
It was not a bad offer. If he used Nowem’s strength to do kind acts, he felt that he could fully accept and forgive Nowem. Moreover, he’d be able to become the adventurer he had always dreamed about.
Snoc asked Nowem, “What do you think?”
Koo! Nowem gave an affirmative answer. Even to people who could not understand him, they could see that he was fully supportive of Zich’s idea.
[After we fix this problem, let’s travel all around the world. Let’s do a lot of good deeds and change the song for the better.]
Nowem felt as if he could still hear his friend’s voice. Even though a long time had passed and she was no longer alive, Nowem could keep his promise with her if he traveled around. There was not a single reason for Nowem to refuse this offer.
‘It’s been decided.’
After he saw that Nowem was also supportive of his plan, Zich nodded his head. Even though Sam looked unsatisfied, he would agree with them in the end.
‘Okay, I can end this matter for now. Let’s see, next…’
Zich’s gaze became sharp.
‘I have to see how the assassin organization reacts.’
The organization probably had an impressive information network. They knew about Snoc’s special mana properties and Nowem’s release from his seal. They were also able to use Drew to make Snoc and Nowem meet.
‘And that’s not only it.’
No matter how compatible Snoc and Nowem were, it was very rare for someone to know how to forcefully transfuse a human and a magical beast.
‘It would be good if they try to retaliate from the corpses I spread around. It would also be good if the high officials in Suol find out anything from the assassin’s corpses.’
But contrary to Zich’s hopes, the organization showed no signs of movement at all.
* * *
“I’m going!”
Snoc waved his hands. Nowem, who was also in Snoc’s arms, also cutely squealed out ‘Koo!’ They stood on a street that was next to the city walls. Zich and Hans were finally able to leave Suol, and Sam came out to say goodbye.
Zich stared at Snoc—his new traveling companion. Snoc looked as if he was overjoyed from being able to finally fulfill his dream.
‘Now, he’s not going to become a Tyrant of the Earth anymore. With my intervention, history has changed.’
Zich was satisfied despite not being able to fulfill his original mission of defeating the Tyrant of the Earth.
‘The timing of when the Tyrant of the Earth comes out has passed. Since I stopped the Tyrant of the Earth from appearing and stopped Suol from being devastated, I definitely did a kind act.’
And even in the rare chance that Snoc really did change into the Tyrant of the Earth later on, Zich could kill him at any moment—that was one of the reasons why Zich wanted to bring Snoc along.
‘And I also got another baggage carrier.’
“Listen well to Zich and don’t cause trouble because you are too excited, okay?”
Sam held onto Snoc and warned him about many different things. His expression seemed a bit sad. Zich thought Sam must be lonely now that his younger brother was going off into the world.
But Zich didn’t intervene; this was something for Sam to solve by himself. It wasn’t Zich’s place to say anything when they were about to leave. For a while, Sam continued nagging and made sure that Snoc didn’t forget anything again and again. Even though Snoc tried to be patient since they wouldn’t be able to see each other for a while, he reached his limits. It was only after Snoc finally showed he was fed up that Sam stopped his endless nagging.
“Then let’s get going now.” Zich said his farewell.
“Thank you for a lot of things. I’m fortunate to have a friend like you.”
“Well, I’m a hard fortune to come across. You should be careful from now on. You might have used up all your luck to meet me, so now only misfortune might come to you.”
“I will make sure to be careful.”
Sam would even miss Zich’s playful boasts. Sam grabbed Zich’s hand and smirked.
“I’m leaving now.”
With these words, Zich left the city with Hans and Snoc. For a long time, Sam watched their backs move further away. Snoc turned back and met Sam’s eyes, and Hans also looked back once. But Zich did not turn back even once.
Sam saw Hans say something to Zich. Was Hans telling Zich that he was still watching them? But then he saw Zich hit the back of Hans’ head. Even from a distance, it looked like a hard swing. Snoc flinched and Hans grabbed the back of his head and struggled to compose himself. But after that punch, Hans no longer looked back. Snoc also did not look back even once.
‘That cold-hearted punk.’
Was that how travelers said their goodbyes? Sam put his hand on his hips and let out a sigh; then he smirked.
‘I should get going.’
Sam burned the image of Snoc clumsily walking away in his mind.
[Do you admire Zich?]
Sam recalled a conversation he recently had with Snoc.
[Yep. He’s a person I thought was only real in my dreams.]
Zich was strong and free-spirited. Even though he said he was not an adventurer, the actions he showed to Sam and Snoc were enough to make Snoc’s heart quicken in excitement.
[As we go through this journey, I’m planning to make him my role model.]
[I think that will be very hard.]
[Yeah, I also think so.]
No matter how many experiences he gained, it would be very hard for Snoc to become like Zich. But Snoc was not disheartened.
[I finally have a way to make my dreams a reality. If I combine my strengths with Nowem’s, I think we can definitely fulfill my dreams of becoming an adventurer.]
Nowem made a loud cry and supported Snoc’s words.
[If you think that, I have nothing more to say. I will cheer you on.]
Sam no longer had anything to say against Snoc’s dreams. But he wanted to say at least this.
[But try not to learn his attitude.]
[…I don’t think I can learn his attitude even if I wanted to.]
Sam burst into laughter as he recalled Snoc’s silly expression. As if all the tumultuous events that happened recently were all lies, the vast sky above Suol was blue and perfectly clear.
* * *
Zich’s group slowly walked down the street. Hans stared at their new companion. Snoc was looking around with sparkling eyes. Anyone could see that he was full of anticipation about their journey.
‘So pitiful.’
Hans felt pity for him as he knew that Snoc’s excitement would be crushed in the near future. As Hans continued to look at Snoc with pity, he also saw Nowem on Snoc’s shoulder.
‘I can’t believe that’s the magical beast of the earth.’
The magical beast was the basis of Snoc’s strength when he went berserk. Hans gulped, thinking back on how he had to deal with Snoc during that time.
‘It was really incredible.’
Even though Hans had been burdened with Sam, Snoc was able to push Hans to the extremes. On the other hand, Zich easily defeated Snoc in his berserk mode. Recalling this memory, Hans was amazed at Zich. Then, he also remembered how Zich beat the crap out of Snoc without any hesitation and shivered at Zich’s awful personality.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Hans had unconsciously started to stare at Zich. When Zich frowned, Hans jumped back in surprise.
“I-I just…”
If he didn’t reply, he would be in bigger trouble. Hans decided to utilize recent incidents to make his excuse.
“Is it not a pity? Mr. Zich, other people won’t know the kind acts you did.”
Nice! Hans thought he made up a good excuse; he even used Zich’s obsession with doing kind acts.
“I mean… wasn’t what you did this time the same as protecting an entire city? If people found out about what you did, you would be praised by everyone in Suol.”
They would praise Zich like the time Zich helped defeat the Bellid.
‘But I guess it can’t be helped.’
Hans was the one who asked this question, but he knew what the answer would be. Snoc was related to this incident. In order to protect him, they had to make sure this incident didn’t come out and that was the type of answer Hans expected.
However, the answer that came out of Zich was completely different.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“What?”
“I don’t care about receiving praises.”
Hans blinked his eyes a few times.
“I’m not doing this because I want to be praised. It doesn’t matter to me whether or not people praise, envy, despise, or even hate me.”
“T-then why are you doing kind acts?”
Zich started doing kind acts because of Glen Zenard’s last words to him. However, Glen’s words had only been a trigger. There was only one reason why Zich did kind acts.
“It’s because I want to.”
There was no other reason than this. Hans was quiet. Zich’s commitment was like that of a righteous hero who helped others without wanting people’s praises or profit. Because of his playful attitude, Hans thought that Zich was just using his outrageous strength to ‘play hero’ like a child playing games. But maybe he had been wrong about Zich after all.
“Then sir, you weren’t doing this with a light heart?” Hans asked carefully while gulping his saliva. As soon as he said these words out loud, he closed his eyes. It felt as if Zich was going to punch him at any moment. But Hans was much too curious about this question. Fortunately, a fist didn’t come flying towards him. Instead, Zich replied without much thought.
“I am doing this with a light heart.”
‘As expected.’
As Hans expected, Zich was just playing hero. He didn’t know why, but he was a bit disappointed at Zich. He pouted his lips.
“Sir, I’m envious of you. Because you are so strong, you are able to get into dangerous situations with a light heart.”
As soon as he said this, Hans flinched. Because Zich wasn’t as harsh with him before and because of his disappointment, he spoke way more than he should have. Hans thought he would definitely get punched this time—no, it probably wouldn’t end with a punch. Hans filled with anxiety.
But what came back towards him wasn’t violence but a conversation.
“I’m not doing kind acts because I’m strong.”
Hans stared at Zich.
“I’ve been getting involved with a lot of things, but I don’t think I’m the strongest yet. The guy who forcefully transfused Nowem and Snoc was honestly stronger than me.”
If he was in his Demon Lord days, he would have said he was the strongest without a single moment of hesitation, but he was very “weak” right now.
“It’s not because I’m strong. It’s because I want to do kind acts. Even if I meet my end doing this, I don’t care.”
Doing what he wanted… Even before he regressed, it was the one force that moved him. Zich didn’t speak with gravity or extravagance. Instead, his words were plain and simple. However, it was because he spoke so plainly that they sounded more honest.
“…Is that so?”
Hans felt his heart quicken. It was the same feeling he got when his mom gave him the book about a hero’s journey. It was the same excitement he felt when he first read that book.
Snoc, who had been quietly listening, also looked excited, and his eyes sparkled again. He felt as if he had definitely picked the right person. Snoc also felt his heart beating faster and squeezed Nowem in his arms tightly.