A Hero Saves With Her Body - Chapter 102

A missing person who was still alive. In a normal situation, they would have said they must rescue every single one without hesitation.

But the place where they went missing was an ‘unsealed boundary.’ In other words, a city connected entirely to this land in an open state, known as the demon realm.

It wasn’t easily accessible. Dealing with a few monsters outside the fortress walls was a whole different dimension.

“Were the voices all from the same person?”

“No. The voices varied from a young woman to an elderly man.”

Over the course of a year, it wasn’t just one person who had survived within the boundary, but several. An undeniable clue, yet far too scant to rashly venture in.

“That sounds interesting.”

In the quiet room, Podrick alone snickered.

An unsealed boundary. Even the Red Knights guarding the fortress surrounding it had rarely looked beyond the wall, let alone civilians.

And yet, to enter that unsealed boundary…

“Hey, how do you plan to pay the commission with that measly knight salary? It doesn’t seem like you’ve received any subsidies from the imperial family either.”

The voice dripping with aristocratic arrogance had been Venter’s, who had been posturing since earlier. But his point was valid.

The cost of hiring all seven executives, not to mention the substantial travel expenses due to the location being at the far north.

Everyone’s gaze simultaneously turned to Sergi. It was impossible he had accepted this perilous task without a commission fee. Nor for some noble cause like saving lives.

“Mr. Arnedin, please continue.”

Sergi passed the turn to Oster. Trying to remain calm, Oster spoke with trembling lips.

“Among those missing… there was Sir Turner, who was mapping the Kamit. Sir Turner often crossed the wall to draw maps of the Kamit interior and collected jewels shaped like diamonds. In the bunker, that is, inside the fortress.”

“Ah. So, you’re saying there are glass stones buried within that damned boundary for anyone to take?”

Amazed, Venter clapped his hands. If it were a lie, it was an incredible trick; if not, it was the opportunity of a lifetime.

The glass stones, said to be as clear as diamonds, were a mirage-like existence that no one had ever mined, only heard of in tales. No one knew what they did or what effects they had.

According to the Blue Knights, who were known as the first witnesses, they emitted a light so dazzling it could blind monsters.

Such a dazzling light wasn’t only described for glass stones. Sergi meaningfully glanced at Rosé beside him.

The Sword of Asker that Lian Mora possessed. Those who had seen that sword also spoke of its dazzling light.

“It seems we have an explanation now.”

Sergi stood up, scanned the executives, and raised his right arm.

“Who’s going?”

Podrick, whose eyes sparkled the brightest, led as the executives began raising their hands one after another. Even Venter, who had been sneering all along, did the same.

Glass stones.

These magic stones of astronomical value became an irresistible lure for the executives gathered for profit.

The only one who hadn’t raised her hand was Rosé, wearing a Black Cloak. Rosé glanced back and forth between the people who had raised their hands and the Red Knights before asking Sergi with a slightly flushed face,

“Um… Are the glass stones individually accounted for?”

Individual accounting. In other words, she was asking if they would be paid in addition to their salary.

Sergi inwardly admired Rosé for not disappointing expectations and casually answered,

“You’ll be well compensated.”

With Rosé finally raising her hand in haste, all seven executives agreed to the commission.

The departure was in nine days.

* * *

Nine days until departure. During that time, Rosé did three things.

First, s*x under the guise of personal research with Dain. Second, s*x under the pretext of cleaning Silvio’s bedroom. Third, mating disguised as training with her master.

Of course, there were constructive activities as well. For instance, she lied to Silvio, who didn’t know she was the Black Cloak, saying she would visit her hometown for a month.

If she headed north without saying anything, Silvio, driven by obsession, would surely follow her.

In such cases, it was necessary to reassure him with a kind lie. Of course, Silvio would inevitably put her under surveillance, but Podrick would take care of that.

Now all that was left was packing…

“Miss. I managed to find it in a hurry so it’s a bit large, but if it’s okay with you…”

Just then, Elion entered Rosé’s room and handed her a white fur coat.

Coats like this were rare in the warm southern Bistiman and didn’t require much imagination to know how much effort went into obtaining it.

“The lining is filled with goose down. It should keep you warm even in the north.”

Rosé quietly thanked him and took the coat. She couldn’t bring herself to meet his eyes.

Elion seemed surprised by her reaction, widening his eyes before looking away. Perhaps he had expected a response like, ‘Elion is the only one I need!’ He felt a bit pathetic.

“If there’s anything else you need…”

“Elion. I’ll take care of the rest.”

Rosé shoved the coat into her luggage bag haphazardly and shook her head as she spoke.

Each time she rejected him like this, Elion always stepped back and gave her space. But for some reason, he couldn’t move an inch now.

He stared silently at the white fur coat with its sleeve poking out of the luggage bag. His chest felt heavy.

“Miss. If you don’t want to enter the boundary, I can…”

“No, it’s okay. Elion.”

Rosé gently pushed away Elion’s reaching hand.

Lately, due to an incident at the Pig Salon, she has been reconsidering certain suspicions about Elion.

— The monsters are getting closer; it’ll be dangerous for you. I’ll be right back.

On the day when a first-class boundary appeared before them, Elion had acted like someone accustomed to confronting monsters, as if it wasn’t his first time.

No matter how versatile he was, how could someone who had lived as a butler all his life be so calm inside a boundary?

When a boundary appeared at the Duke’s estate, none of the butlers at the time dared to confront the monsters. Despite being significantly larger and taller than most people.

“You’ve been saying I’m okay a lot lately.”

Behind Rosé deep in thought, Elion reluctantly dropped his hand and muttered to himself,

“Still, if you need anything again, please let me know. Miss.”

As he left the room, those words lingered in her ears for quite some time.

Everything was confusing. The truth was within reach if she wanted to verify it but she didn’t want to know.

Rosé returned to where her luggage was and took out Elion’s coat from it, caressing its soft fur for a long time.

Did I ever express my gratitude? Rosé couldn’t take her eyes off the door Elion had left through for a while.

* * *

Rosé arrived in Sengdon early in the morning. Sengdon, where the ‘passage’ was located, was their gathering place.

If Bistiman was a quaint mining town, Sengdon was a fairly large metropolis, one of the main bases of the Blue Knights, and it also had passages for quick movement in emergencies.

“So the Blue Knights have been moving through here all along.”

Podrick, with his hands clasped behind his head, whistled as he walked through the passage.

This passage, connected to the basement of the administrative building, had maintained its original form of a second-class boundary that appeared in Sengdon seven years ago.

Once entered, the path split into several branches like a maze, because it was connected to other passages in various places.

Three Red Knights, seven executives, and Sergi. In total, eleven people were now heading through this path to the Millerain passage in the north, which was relatively close to Kamit.

“Hey, knights. Are you sure everything’s been cleared with the chief? It’ll be trouble for us too if you go reporting to the imperial palace.”

Mingus asked indifferently, holding a lantern over his thick belly.

The passage was a means of movement for the imperial knights and an evacuation plan to move nobles from Monchen to other regions in emergencies. In other words, it was a road not accessible to ordinary citizens.

If Oster here wasn’t a classmate of Sengdon’s chief from the military academy, even someone like Pumong wouldn’t have been able to access it.

“Ino is also my sister’s fiancé. There won’t be any problems.”

Mingus responded with a nonchalant “It better be” to Oster’s confident answer.

Even though he was currently a client, he was ultimately one of the imperial knights. Mingus couldn’t look favorably upon those who looked down on Pumong.

“Oster. Don’t worry. He’s just a bit shy.”

Peon patted Oster’s back awkwardly with a smile.

To this, Mingus snorted. Even Peon, who had resigned from being an instructor, seemed to have great affection for his former students, as they say, arms bend inward¹meaning: people tend to do a favor for someone close to them.

“No. I would have been worried too. I’ll pay more attention in the future.”

Oster said with a smile, causing Peon to pull at the corners of his mouth with an unnecessary sense of guilt.

Oster had been among the top ten students at the military academy, if not the valedictorian. With such grades, he could have received the best treatment and joined the White Knights.

Being a Red Knight was an inevitable path taken by lower-ranking people who were aiming for a 10-year rotational service. However, Oster here was walking the path of a Red Knight solely out of a sense of duty.

In front of such a student, Peon, who had kicked himself out of the instructor position, felt endlessly ashamed.

“This is the Millerain passage from here on.”

Oster stopped his steps after checking the frost clinging to the wall. The Millerain passage, where it snows all year round, was different from the icy roads they had encountered so far.

As though they had agreed beforehand, everyone changed their shoes to boots. The boots had protrusions on the soles to prevent slipping on snow or ice.

Rosé, walking at the back, rummaged through her bag and pulled out the winter boots that Sergi had distributed today. It was almost miraculous to find women’s boots since usually only hunters wore winter boots.

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  meaning: people tend to do a favor for someone close to them