Chapter 426 – 426. The Man Who Longed for a Hero (1)
Gerard was a very ordinary young man working as an adventurer in the capital of the kingdom of Rendir.
After being abandoned in the slum as an infant without knowing his parents’ faces, there wasn’t much the boy who came out of the slum could do.
There was no eccentric shop that could hire a scruffy boy who was not wearing proper clothes and only woven bags of flour to cover the essentials, but Gerard as a boy did not have the guts to stab people in the back or commit robbery. There was nothing.
So he happened to hear rumors of an adventurer.
If it’s a job that promotes equality, anyone can become an adventurer, regardless of social status, but as long as they’re sane and have the proper way of thinking.
Having at least one proper suit from a slum, of course, made me hope that I could work with equal treatment with others.
So he started an adventurer’s work, completed basic education, and received cheap greaves and an iron sword as basic equipment.
However, after completing the course, Gerard, who came to the adventurer’s guild to accept a request, realized the reality once again.
Even in this job, there was no such thing as fairness.
Someone started by arming themselves with expensive equipment from a new adventurer with the financial resources of their family.
Someone started building a career from the beginning by being organized into a party belonging to an adventurer of silver or gold rank through personal connections.
Even as new adventurers, Gerard and the other adventurers did not start on an equal footing.
“How can the world be so unfair?”
There is no way anyone can answer the questions you ask yourself in self-help.
But fortunately, there was an adventurer party that wrote Gerard.
“Hmm. Do I really have to use a child like this?”
The party members of the adventurer’s party that hired Gerard questioned the leader with a suspicious look on their faces.
The hired Gerard’s role in this party is that of a simple porter.
Strength and stamina are considered important among porters as they have to carry heavy backpacks containing various camping tools and other equipment for long periods of time.
However, Gerard had a skinny body because he hadn’t eaten properly, and he couldn’t believe it at all because of his poor-looking physique and appearance.
“Don’t be so. Because I got it for such a low price. Besides, I plan to take three or four more as porters, not just this guy.”
Gerard, who was hired as a porter, started his first campaign with the adventurer party that had hired him.
However, the results were miserable, as if they were trying to let Gerard know the harsh reality of adventurers.
“Aaaaagh!”
“Sah, save me!”
Due to the sudden appearance of a high-ranking monster, the adventurer party that Gerard belonged to as a porter was wiped out.
He was despairing that his own life would end in such a miserable death without achieving anything.
What saved him was a mysterious looking man with white silver hair and red eyes.
He grabbed two swords in his hands and cut down the high-ranking monster that had annihilated his adventurer party in less than 10 seconds.
The silver-haired man looked around and came closer to him who found Gerard.
“Looks like you’re the only one who survived.”
The meeting between Eunhyeon and Gerard was the beginning.
“Huh. What? What about him?”
A bewitching witch with dark hair tilted her head at Eun-hyeon, who had suddenly brought a boy to their campsite.
‘It’s an amazing beauty.’
Unlike the women I grew up in the slums and the various adventurers I met in the adventurer’s guild, she was a witch full of charm and charm.
Gerard saw a grown woman he had never seen before and felt her heart pounding.
After escaping a situation that threatened her life, she felt a strange attraction to the meeting in a dramatic place, and while she was imagining that this was her first love, others were warming in front of a campfire in the same campsite. I watched Gerard’s appearance.
“It’s the basic equipment, greaves and steel swords. Are you an adventurer?”
“Adventurer? You look like a beginner, but you wandered around a place like this by yourself?”
The person watching and observing Gerard is a man with armor and sword, and a large body that reminds him of a ‘knight’ at a glance, and a young girl wearing a pure white priest’s uniform.
“Uh, kid?”
Hearing Gerard’s murmur mixed with bewilderment, the priestess Agies frowned at her as if she was offended.
“Hey. After all, I’m 19 years old. If you say I’m a child just one more time, then you’d better be prepared.”
“I’m sorry!”
Gerard slammed her to her knees at the words of Agnes, who gave her a terrifying warning, and slammed her head on the floor.
“I just need to know.”
Agies, who had caused many misunderstandings not only to Gerard but also to the rest of her, laughed at her and simply forgave Gerard.
There are only four members of the adventurer’s party in the camp, consisting of a swordsman, a knight, a wizard and a priest.
The equipment and appearance they were wearing looked like veterans to the point of telling most adventurers to go away, but it was a party full of stability while not lacking a sense of insecurity somewhere.
In particular, it was more suspicious that a priest girl who looked even younger than himself belonged to this adventurer’s party.
“It must have been the porter of a party of annihilated adventurers. I found it while looking around. I’ll have to look at the situation later and report it to the Adventurer’s Guild.”
“Huh. Okay.”
Illyana, who responded with a tone that said she didn’t care much, eventually turned her attention to Gerard.
“For now, let’s rest today.”
“Ah, I see…”
“Okay then, Illyana. What about the barrier warning stone?”
“I already have it installed.”
“Good. Then go to bed right away. We are leaving as soon as the sun rises tomorrow.”
As soon as Eunhyeon finished speaking, the other three nodded as if they had no disagreement.
Four men and women all stood up in front of the campfire and walked toward the tent, and Eunhyun spoke to Gerard, who was looking bewildered.
“You come here too. It may be a bit cramped, but it can’t be helped, so bear in mind.”
“Yes, yes…”
Gerard nodded reluctantly, unable to shake off the feeling of incongruity rising in his head, and followed Eun-hyeon into the tent.
The inside is quite comfortable, so it was quite comfortable for two people.
It was a little uncomfortable when the three of them lay down, but it wasn’t to the point of not being able to sleep.
Compared to the previous party of adventurers who had already been annihilated, who had pushed three or four porters, including himself, into a smaller tent than this to rest, this tent was very comfortable.
In the first place, Eunhyeon and Riod, who had allowed him to sleep with the porter without any hesitation, didn’t seem to mind at all.
“Yeah…”
“Do you have something to say?”
“Why don’t you keep a vigil?”
“Ah, that. We do not stand vigil. Right now, the area around this camp is protected by the Warning Barrier Stone, a stone that Illyana made and engraved.”
Eunhyun showed the marble she was holding in his hand.
This barrier stone detects the existence of something invading from outside the barrier, and if it actually invades, it is structured in such a way that an alert is sounded on the marble in Eun-hyeon’s hand.
“… I had never heard of such a thing.”
During adventure expeditions, it is common for adventurers to camp in the open air.
It was a fresh shock to Gerard, who had learned through basic education that it was common knowledge among adventurers to buy a vigil in shifts so that the party members could take a break while always being vigilant against the threat of bandits, wild beasts, and beasts.
“Of course. It was made by me and my fellow wizards. I have no intention of revealing this to the outside world. So, I want you to keep this a secret from you.”
If the existence of this object known as the barrier stone was known, it would be of great help to the adventurers and national power, but for some reason, Eun-hyeon did not seem to have any intention of revealing it to the world.
He could make a lot of money just by making and selling this item, so why is this man trying to use it privately without making it public?
Gerard couldn’t understand, but he didn’t dig too deep because he knew his position and the subject of being helped very well.
“… All right.”
My tired body was able to get a very comfortable sleep even in the cramped tent.
Although it is said that the worry of vigils was eliminated with the barrier stone, Gerard’s morning when he woke up from a deep sleep as his body full of tension was relaxed, was so refreshing and refreshing.
Early in the morning when the sun started to rise, Eun-hyeon went into the tent where the two women were sleeping, woke up Iliana and Anies, and dragged them outside.
Leaving the two women rubbing their eyes and unable to wake up from their slumber outside, Eunhyeon and Riod skillfully started organizing the campsite.
It was Eunhyeon and Riod who always had to work diligently in place of the two weak women in the morning.
“I-I will help too.”
Gerard was not a man with no conscience to the extent of remaining silent even after being provided with food, receiving a place to sleep, and seeing the lifesaver in front of his eyes.
Eunhyun smiled and nodded and did not reject Gerard’s intention to help her and Riod.
Gerard, who became alone after organizing the campsite, happened to accompany Eunhyun’s adventurer party, and in the process tasted a completely different new world.
“A lot of zombies in front. And races.”
“I get it.”
Gerard put on a bewildered expression at Eun-hyeon’s sudden stop and opening her mouth.
Where on earth did Eun-hyeon detect the enemy’s presence and give instructions to the party members?
Unlike Gerard, who was dumbfounded because he couldn’t understand, Riod immediately drew his sword and was alert.
“Anies. Prayer of purification. Get ready.”
“Okay. Check.”
Eventually, seeing the zombies appearing in the forest, Gerard trembled.
In addition, the eerie atmosphere created by the translucent ghosts floating in the sky made the quiet grass feel even worse.
“Start.”
However, that bleak and eerie atmosphere was broken in an instant.
The sight of the land and grass being swept away by Riod’s sword, and the sight of zombies helplessly being cut off by Eun-hyeon’s sharp and fast sword, invisible to the naked eye, was enough to make Gerard’s mouth open.
The cleanness of the forest, which was contaminated with the blood of zombies, was restored to the phenomenon of being completely purified with divine energy.
‘Is this what being a real adventurer is like?’
Gerard marveled at the dead bodies of the zombies as the land was swept away and swept away without resistance.
“I will move again.”
As soon as the small skirmish was over, the three party members never threw up at Eun-hyeon’s order.
The way she silently lifted her burden and moved her steps was different from other adventurers I’ve ever seen.
Eunhyeon and Riod shared half of the luggage for the four people, and Illyana and Agnes also wore backpacks containing light relief items or emergency food in case of an emergency, and they continued their adventure activities while being considerate of each other.
He was kind to and condescending to Gerard, the porter who suddenly came along, and did not undermine his pride.
Only the female members of Illyana and Agies were carrying relatively light and small backpacks, but overall, the burdens they carried were no different from those of themselves, who were no different from porters.
It was clearly different from other adventurers’ parties that treated rookie adventurers harshly by forcing them to carry a lot of luggage and not giving out proper food.
Rather, compared to the consideration and favor given to them, Eun-hyeon’s party did not make any demands on Gerard.
No, he’s right that he didn’t care at all.
Even though they were not communicating with each other, they did their part faithfully and did not show irritation or hypocrisy to others about their role.
Eunhyun’s adventurer’s party was the ideal adventurer’s party that Gerard had been thinking of.
‘It’s dazzling.’
It is longing for Gerard to have.
A strong bond between four people based on trust, respect, and consideration for each other, as well as an overwhelming strength that can only be expressed as having an exceptional personality.
The bond that Gerard had never experienced before was so dazzling that he longed for it.
‘Me too. I want to be like them.’
I want to be strong, and I want to have people with whom I can form strong bonds.
From his childhood when he was abandoned without knowing his parents’ faces, when he was a boy who spent days in the slums, when he was a young boy with no talent, the young Gerard, a newbie adventurer who was ignored because he had no talent, envied the warmth of someone he had experienced indirectly for the first time.
So eager
Embracing that intense desire, Gerard unwittingly took a step forward.
Then, he talked to Eun-hyeon, the leader of the party.
“To me… Could you teach me some tricks?”
