Chapter 102: Hero (I)

Twenty-five minutes before the scheduled theft of stolen goods…

Louis sensed something amiss. His ears twitched.

A scream?

Alongside it, an odd scent reached his nose. The dragon’s keen sense of smell latched onto it immediately.

“Is that blood?” Louis questioned himself, glancing at his twin hatchlings for confirmation.

They nodded in unison.

“Louis… It’s the smell of blood,” one of them said, their faces stiffening slightly as they instinctively picked up on the threat.

The two young hatchlings bristled with tension.

“Calm down,” Louis soothed, trying to ease them when—

Bang!

The door to their room was brutally smashed open. Beyond the splintered wood stood two men, swords drawn. They sneered upon realizing only three children occupied the space.

“It’s only children here. I’ll take care of this room, you go to the next one. Don’t push yourself too hard.”

“Understood.”

Following his companion’s words, the man at the back brushed past Louis’s room. Meanwhile, the lone figure remaining lowered his blade and approached Louis.

Louis’s gaze fell upon the edge of his sword.

Tink-tink.

A dark liquid flowed down the silver blade, leaving small stains on the floor as he stepped inside the room. The mysterious intruder stared emotionlessly at Louis and his twin brother.

“Although you’re young… consider it your fate to be aboard this airship.” As he spoke, the man swung his sword.

The tip of his blade aimed straight for Louis’s neck. Without a moment’s hesitation, the merciless blade hurtled towards its target.

The man didn’t doubt that his blade would once again be stained with blood. But then…

Huh?

He sensed something was amiss.

What is this?

Upon closer inspection, it was indeed strange.

Why aren’t these children…

Despite a stranger wielding a knife in their midst without any guardian present, somehow…

They’re not scared at all.

In other rooms he had visited, even adults screamed upon seeing a blade brandished before them. Yet here, these children appeared utterly calm.

Suddenly…

Klang!

The knife aimed at the child’s delicate neck halted abruptly, emitting an eerie metallic sound.

“What?!”

Though he hadn’t exerted much force, there was no reason for the blade to stop so pitifully.

The blade had come to a halt against something even more unexpected: a child’s hand. A black object resembling a brick appeared on the boy’s palm and blocked the knife. The attacker’s eyes widened at this sight.

…A mage?!

Though there was no mana stick in sight, what the child had conjured up was unmistakably a holy relic. Realizing that Louis was a mage, the man desperately tried to maximize his elemental power, but it was too late.

Louis acted faster than him. With a light wave of his hand, space crystallized near the man’s head.

“This—this is…?!” he stammered.

Krrrk.

The spatial crystal engulfing his skull suddenly rotated 180 degrees.

Clang!

The bloodied sword tumbled from his grip onto the ground. His face twisted unnaturally as he died instantly.

Thud.

Louis looked down at the body on the floor with indifference.

What was this guy…?

The man had suddenly appeared and started swinging his sword around. His goal was clearly Louis’s death—or rather, he’d also been aiming for the twins in the room.

A senseless murder.

Louis repaid someone who wanted him dead by killing them himself.

He looked down at his hands.

…Is this my first murder?

These small hands had just taken a human life not long ago. He’d killed countless monsters during his travels up until now, but today marked the first time he’d ever killed another person.

I’m surprised I feel absolutely nothing about it.

In both his previous life and this one, despite being his first time taking a human life, he felt no emotional response whatsoever.

It was as if he had slain countless monsters. Just that kind of feeling.

In movies or cartoons, people usually panic after their first murder…

But Louis felt perfectly fine—perhaps even too fine. He wondered if this made him abnormal.

However…

“Louis, what do we do now?”

“What should we do?” The twins asked innocently despite witnessing the horrific scene before them. As a dragon, Louis supposed this calmness was normal for him.

“Now what do we do?”

“What shall we do?”

The twins’ persistent questions snapped Louis out of his thoughts. Gathering up the pair, he called for Fin.

“Fin.”

“Yes!” Fin appeared along with Kai from one side.

Kai trembled at the surge of dragon energy emitted by the twins earlier.

Louis gave instructions to Fin.

“Go with Kai and find out what’s going on.”

“Yes!” Fin replied firmly, climbing onto Kai’s back.

“Come back as quickly as you can.”

Haaah!

At Louis’s command, Kai set off at full speed.

As they left, Louis stared through the shattered doorframe, leaving behind a single corpse in the room.

What in blazes is happening here?

Another assailant bypassed Louis’s room and headed straight for Pablo and Page’s adjacent quarters.

Bam!

The door flew open with a loud crash, striking poor Page who happened to be near it at just that moment.

“Aghhh!” She tumbled across the floor along with the splintered wood as her attacker charged in swinging his sword toward her.

M-my leg…?!

Her ankle throbbed painfully; perhaps she had twisted it during her fall. As she watched helplessly, the blade hurtled toward her chest, despair washed over her face.

There’s no way I can dodge this.

It was practically a sneak attack, not to mention how utterly defenseless she felt physically. Death seemed inevitable.

Ahhh…

She had left home at a young age and survived by any means necessary for years. Little did she know that her long ordeal would end so futilely.

As Page stared blankly in despair, a black shadow suddenly loomed over her from behind.

Shunk!

The attacker’s blade pierced Pablo’s side as he shielded Page with his body.

It was a wound deep enough to make onlookers wince, but Pablo didn’t flinch once before exhaling sharply and throwing out his fist.

“Haaah!”

Whoom.

Earth attribute.

Among them, the Demonic Scripture Pablo mastered exerted its full power when firmly grounded.

Thud.

With a forceful stomp, his body absorbed massive amounts of elemental energy, turning it into a rich brown hue.

Pablo had reached tier-3 high rank.

Though he was merely a punching bag for Louis’s group every day, his true capabilities were far from insignificant. He could easily lead the bodyguard squad of an average mid-to-small noble family. Moreover, thanks to consuming growth herbs, even without using elemental power, his dwarven physique alone allowed him to take down a bull with ease.

Crack!

“W-whaat?!” The intruder, caught off guard by Pablo’s sudden intervention during their ambush on Page, hastily tried to retract its sword.

But Pablo’s fist struck first, connecting squarely with the creature’s face.

Bam!

His punch, fueled by concentrated elemental energy, felt harder than stone itself. With each foot firmly planted on the ground, gathering all his strength into this single attack, Pablo shattered the invader’s jaw in one fell swoop.

Bang!

The intruder who had broken through the door with a loud noise was sent flying back inside. The attacker flew like a pebble before crashing heavily against the wall and sliding down to the floor. Judging by their flat chest, it seemed they had been instantly suffocated by a single punch.

Page raised her upper body and opened her mouth wide as she saw Pablo’s sturdy back.

“Ah…”

For the past two weeks, she had grown weary of watching this white-haired old man cower at Pablo’s every word. She had secretly looked down on him for his naive and foolish appearance, thinking he was just a big dummy.

But…

He’s strong…

The attacker himself seemed to have transcended ordinary human capabilities, as if he had mastered demonic powers.

He must be at least a tier-4.

Pablo’s feat of dispatching such a man with his bare fists alone instantly shattered Page’s previous impression of him.

As she sat there in a daze,

Pablo slowly turned and extended his hand towards her.

“Are you alright?”

“Oh…”

Page grasped Pablo’s large, calloused hand almost trance-like.

He pulled her upright.

In that moment, Page saw it:

Blood seeping across Pablo’s midsection.

“T-your wound is…”

At her words, Pablo looked down at his side and smiled innocently.

“It’s fine. Just a scratch.”

Could such a minor scratch really produce this much blood?

Without warning, Page swiftly lifted the hem of Pablo’s shirt.

“Eek!”

Pablo was startled by her sudden action, while Page couldn’t tear his gaze away from his midsection.

“What kind of scratch is this?!” she exclaimed, alarmed by the large wound. She quickly pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket and pressed it against Pablo’s injury to stop the bleeding.

“Cough cough… I-I’m fine!”

“I’m not the one who should be fine! Do you have any potions?”

“Potions for such a minor cut?! This will heal with just some spit!”

“Spit? It looks like it needs at least ten stitches!”

“Cough cough!”

As he endured Page’s nagging, Pablo felt disoriented. His head spun—not from the pain of the wound, but rather from the sensation of Page’s handkerchief touching his bare skin and the faint feeling of her slender fingers. To make matters worse, the scent of Page, now close due to tending to his injury, invaded his nostrils.

Ughhh!

The glimpse of Page’s tanned nape was oddly stimulating.

Liquid trickled down his philtrum.

Pablo hastily wiped it away, then his eyes widened in shock.

Nose… nosebleed?

At that moment, Page raised her head.

“What’s wrong with you now? Did I hit you there too?”

“Uh… No, I think I just got grazed earlier.”

Pablo couldn’t bring himself to give any other reason for the nosebleed.

As they stood close together…

“What are you two doing?”

Startled by Louis’s grumpy voice, both Pablo and Page turned simultaneously.

There he stood, arms crossed, eyeing them suspiciously. Behind him peeked out the twins’ curious faces, their eyes shining brightly.

“Hehe, Pablo’s face is red.”

“What? What do you mean? What’s going on?”

Startled by the children’s gaze, Pablo and Page hastily dropped their hands.

“Oh, it’s nothing!”

“I-I’m fine.”

Watching them, Louis made a sour face.

“It doesn’t seem like nothing to me?”

Louis’s eyes landed on Pablo’s wound.

“You got stabbed?”

“A-almost.”

In response, Louis took out a potion and tossed it to him.

“Drink this.”

“Thank you.” With that brief exchange, Pablo downed the entire bottle of potion in one go.

Shhhk.

His wound instantly healed before their very eyes.

Page’s eyes widened at the sight.

A top-grade potion?!

Such rapid recovery could only be achieved with a top-grade potion. These elixirs were akin to a second chance at life for mercenaries, warriors, and others who engaged in dangerous occupations, making them incredibly expensive.

To casually hand over something so valuable!

Whether Page was surprised or not, Louis approached the dead intruder they had passed over earlier and stripped off their outer clothing. A tattoo became visible near the shoulder. As he observed the design of five intersecting swords, his expression hardened.

“It’s here too.”

Louis had examined the attacker before entering this room. He hadn’t found anything that revealed their identity, but on the corpse’s shoulder, there was the same exact tattoo as what he now saw.

The meaning was simple:

“They must be from the same group,” Louis muttered.

Page, who had been closely watching Louis’s actions from one side, suddenly noticed the tattoo. Her face turned pale at once.

“Ah!” She gasped, as if recognizing something.

Louis’s gaze snapped towards her.