Chi-Woo instinctively knew this wasn’t good. He didn’t know what was going on, but he decided to step in. Not only between the two women; the atmosphere among the whole expedition team was strange. Before he could even step forward, though, two voices in his head spoke up to stop him.
—Let them be.
[Don’t intervene.]
In addition to Philip, Mimi also told him to hold back. Chi-Woo was surprised since the two rarely agreed on anything.
‘Why…?’
—Hm…how should I explain this since you were an ordinary person before?
‘Is it because of merits? Because Hawa stole an opportunity for them to gain merits?’
—That’s not it at all. More than that…
Philip seemed to be struggling to find the right words. Mimi spoke up instead.
[No hero acts on their own. Of course there are some who try to reap all the benefits, but most work in a team.]
Tank, mage, priest—this was the traditional team composition most heroes wanted. A hero’s class wasn’t limited to a warrior, and they needed companions who could fill in their shortcomings.
—It’s as Ms. Mimi says. Regardless of if you are a hero or not, you need to think of the pros and cons of your class. A hero can’t be good at everything no matter what class they are.
‘But Chi-Hyun—’
—Come on, you have to take your brother out of the conversation. He’s not just an exception, but a super rare exception.
Philip said in a slightly angry voice.
—If all the heroes who came to Liber were like your brother, the Demon Empire and Sernitas would have been dealt with a long time ago.
Chi-Woo nodded in agreement.
—Think about it. Why did you need the hero named Nangnang?
‘Because he showed outstanding skills in detecting and sensing during the Salem Academy incident…ah.’ It was then Chi-Woo realized what the two were trying to tell him. There was no team made up of only warriors, and there was no team made up of archers. Whenever forming a party, one needed to consider the balance of classes.
—And when members join a team, they are expected to fulfill roles that fit their skills and class. But that’s not the only big issue. As I said before, everyone besides Hawa here is a hero.
It was like a promise they’d each made—Nangnang needed to detect traces and tell them of the enemies’ presence beforehand. And Ru Amuh and Jin-Cheon needed to fight enemies on the frontlines. While being supported by them, Apoline needed to provide firepower. As for Hawa…
It was then Hawa spoke up, “Did I make a mistake during the battle just now?” Her provoking tone suggested that she didn’t think she’d done anything wrong. Apoline slightly tilted her head at Hawa’s confident attitude. Then she met Hawa’s stubbornly defiant eyes with a stare.
“Yes, you did. Your performance just now wasn’t bad, and that’s why I said your skills were quite good. But it seems I must explain more exactly,” Apoline said, “You did ‘pretty well’ battling a mysterious, weak monster.”
Hawa’s face stiffened.
“But if we face another mysterious monster we know nothing about and realize afterward that it’s a strong one, will you act in the same way?”
“I’m confident that I won’t be a hindrance,” Hawa said while gripping her fists tightly, but Apoline shook her head and asked again.
“And what if you die doing that?”
“I won’t blame anybody else but me for my death. I—” Hawa was about to say but closed her mouth again.
“I was wondering why our conversation was going nowhere, but it seems we aren’t even talking about the same point,” Apoline spoke softly like an easy-going teacher. “Basically, I am telling you that there’s no need for you to participate in battles.”
“Why is that? Because I’m a native?”
Apoline’s eyes widened, but she soon recollected herself and said, “Aha.” She snorted and murmured like she understood now, “I was wondering why you were talking about opportunity and proving yourself… You said you were from a nomadic tribe, right? I have a rough idea about what kind of environment you must have grown up in. You instinctively search for your opponent’s weaknesses and are skilled at attacking with the element of surprise.” Apoline looked at Hawa from head to toe and voiced her assessments. “It seems you were also trained as an assassin…”
Hawa didn’t speak. Her silence suggested that Apoline was right.
“But we don’t need an assassin. We need somebody who can act as a guide—someone who knows their way around here from long-term life experience and can show us the right path in emergencies. In other words, we don’t need someone who would ruin the strategy developed by those already experienced in battle, nor someone who might create unexpected situations just to fulfill their greed.”
Apoline thought there was no need for them to even discuss whether what Hawa did was good or bad. It was simply something she shouldn’t have done. “We are a team,” she emphasized again, “Do you think we created a team because we were bored? We formed one because we have different expectations for each member.”
If Hawa acted on her own, it would be harder for the team members to fulfill their individual roles and protect her, thus defeating the purpose of forming a team in the first place.
“Haven’t I said enough to make you understand…?” Apoline sighed after finishing her speech. Hawa didn’t say a word the whole time, but she didn’t appear convinced at all. Instead, it seemed she was repressing her anger. Apoline didn’t know the whole story, but she had a guess why Hawa was this persistent and intent on going her way.
Last night, Apoline had woken up in the middle from the sensation of someone wiping away her sweat and heard the conversation between Hawa and Chi-Woo. She didn’t know what they were talking about then, but she could understand it now; she knew why Hawa’s heart was so inflamed with the desire to prove herself.
‘It can’t be helped,’ Apoline thought. Hawa didn’t understand even after she explained nicely. Then she needed to explain in a way that Hawa must accept.
“Are heroes a joke to you? Do you think heroes became heroes because of pure luck? I bet you sometimes think that if you can just use the growth system, you will be able to perform much better than them,” Apoline said. Hawa flinched; that was exactly what she had thought.
“Well, it is understandable.” Apoline shrugged, and as someone who didn’t hide her feelings, she spoke directly, “You seem to have some talent and considerable potential. I’m sure your name will be well-known if you become a hero. I admit that. But you know what?” Apoline smiled. “There’s no way that will happen.”
Irked, Hawa opened her mouth to retort, but closed it again.
“Why? Does that make you angry? Why don’t you try becoming a hero then?” Apoline said teasingly and cleared her throat. She continued in a cold, low voice, “You can’t be a hero just because you want to be one. They are born and made through all sorts of trials. They bear expectations that make their body shudder and have the life of hundreds of millions in their hands. And they endure and overcome all sorts of burdens and trials to save a world from a crisis.” Every single word pierced Hawa’s ears. “You earn the right to be called hero only after achieving this feat.”
“…”
“I can bet that if you keep up your mindset, you’ll never be able to become a hero no matter how much you try,” Apoline spoke coldly and turned around to punctuate the end of her speech. Hawa’s head gradually dropped. She bit her lip and clenched her fists even more tightly. She seemed to be enduring a huge amount of humiliation and shame to the extent that she looked pitiful. However, no one stepped forward in her defense. Neither Nangnang nor Ru Amuh said anything. Even Noel, who disliked Apoline, quietly watched the situation because they all tacitly agreed with Apoline, and thought that Hawa’s actions broke a promise they had to keep as a team.
“We need to talk too.” Apoline put Hawa behind her and stood in front of Chi-Woo. “Not here. Let’s move to a different place.” Then she walked past him, and Chi-Woo smacked his lips while following her.
He said, “Couldn’t you have just said it back there…”
“Obviously, it’s not a suitable topic to talk about with everyone around.” Then she turned around and suddenly asked, “Who are you?”
“What?”
“Who are you that everyone is so careful around you?”
“Careful?”
“Stop pretending. Do you think I’m dumb?” She sharply glared at Chi-Woo. Apoline liked the team well enough—at least in terms of skill. After the battle just now, she clearly sensed that everyone got the basic concepts of teamwork down. There were some heroes who liked to stick out and break the rules, but there wasn’t anyone like that in this team. Thus, it was even stranger that not one hero took the initiative to warn the native, who was not even a hero.
Moreover, there were some who showed signs of discontent but did nothing in the end. Ru Amuh changed the topic, and Nangnang overlooked it without a single complaint despite looking dissatisfied. They all seemed to have swallowed whatever they wanted to say after glancing at one particular man. And that was the reason why Apoline had to step up and warn Hawa.
They were all heroes, but they suppressed their opinions due to another hero. It was even stranger that the person they were so concerned about was not one of the Celestial Lights like her. Something like this would never happen usually—for heroes of high caliber and skill to tamp down their dissatisfaction after a glance at Chi-Woo, as Apoline had witnessed. Since Chi-Woo was the one who brought Hawa, it was only natural that Apoline would be suspicious of him. And she was right.
“You…” Apoline, who was looking closely at Chi-Woo, suddenly frowned. She didn’t know why, but whenever she looked at him, she kept thinking of the dream she had last night. “Have we met somewhere? In the past?”
Chi-Woo was slightly surprised because he had also felt that strange sense of familiarity when he first saw her. He hadn’t expected her to feel the same way. However, no matter how hard he tried to remember, he couldn’t think of when he had seen her before. Perhaps he’d met her once, but he wasn’t sure. “…I don’t know.” In the end, he had no choice but to shake his head.
* * *
Clatter. The sound of solid objects clashing against each other rang in the air. It was the sound of bones moving, but getting blocked by another object. It was not long before a skeleton slowly raised its skull.
—This place is…
The skeleton slowly moved its skull left and right. It could only see darkness. After looking around a few times, Evelyn realized two things. First, her arms and legs were bound, and she was tied up in the air.
Clang. Then she heard metal clinking. Clatter. Clatter. The sound of iron hitting the floor gradually came closer to her. Evelyn looked down and couldn’t hide her surprise as she saw a woman look up at her from below. She was so blindingly beautiful that even Evelyn had to acknowledge it. Curvy figure, fair skin, and flaming red hair. Evelyn instantly recognized her.
—Astarte…
She was a fallen angel and a great demon famous even in the Demon Empire. Her ability to destroy everything with hellfire was so powerful that even Evelyn, the witch of the Abyss, couldn’t dismiss it. But…
—?
Her condition was strange. Evelyn thought there was something off about Astarte. The Astarte she remembered was strong, haughty, and full of confidence. The word ‘queen’ fit her perfectly. However, Evelyn couldn’t sense any power in Astarte’s eyes. They should have been blazing like an active volcano about to explode, but they were now blank as if she’d lost her will. Moreover, there were chains wrapped around her body like the ones binding Evelyn, and even a leash around her neck. Then Astarte, who had been blankly staring up at her, suddenly turned back.
The ensuing scene made Evelyn doubt her own eyes. Astarte suddenly fell flat and stuck out her tongue, panting like a dog greeting her owner. The Astarte she knew would never act like this—not even to the top-rank demon, Baal.
“Hahahaha—It’s been a while.” Clang-! As if to mock her feelings, a figure calmly pulled on Astarte’s leash and appeared into view. “The jewel I was never able to possess—Onorables Evelyn.” The figure spoke with a dreary voice, insidious and dangerous.
* * *
After Apoline raised her objection, the atmosphere of the expedition team grew heavy, but they resumed moving immediately. Hawa still looked emotionless. However, considering that her face, ears, and neck were slightly red, it seemed she was desperately trying to repress her anger.
Chi-Woo felt sorry for Hawa, but didn’t approach her or say anything. The timing wasn’t right, and Mimi and Philip had stopped him, saying that this was bound to happen, and it was better to leave her alone for now. Therefore, Chi-Woo also suppressed his feelings and focused on moving. As Jin-Cheon said, it took them less than half a day. Their destination was surrounded by mountain ranges—a swamp hidden by reeds.
The expedition team entered it while keeping up their guards, but nothing happened. On the contrary, it was quiet and calm, the atmosphere gloomy.
“This is the place,” Jin-Cheon said. “This is where the native disappeared, and Abis became like this.” And it was also the place where Onorables Evelyn had disappeared.
“There are definitely traces left behind here.” Nangnang circled around, sniffed, and tilted his head. “Other than the traces, there’s nothing strange…”
Then Jin-Cheon looked back at one person with a mixture of anticipation and nervousness. Chi-Woo quietly stepped forward. At first glance, the swamp looked like nothing more than muddy land. However, something about it bothered him; he didn’t know exactly what it was, but he kept sensing something familiar and uncomfortable about it.
Chi-Woo headed to where the sensation was strongest and got to one knee. When he put one hand on the ground and closed his eyes to concentrate—
“!” Chi-Woo opened his eyes wide and stepped back in surprise. “Ugh!” He covered his mouth with one hand and began gagging.
“Teacher? Teacher!” Ru Amuh hurriedly grabbed Chi-Woo, who was about to fall back.
“What is it? What happened?” Jin-Cheon quickly ran toward him as well. Chi-Woo wasn’t able to say anything for a few moments.
“Ugh—” Because of the constant nausea he felt, he struggled to even open his mouth. After a while, Chi-Woo managed to move his hand away and straightened himself with Ru Amuh’s help. Then he gasped for breath several times and spat on the ground. Glaring at the place where he just placed his hand, he said, “…It’s disgusting.”