My Demons

The journey that started rather calmly took a dire turn as the night sky became shrouded in darkness.

The one responsible for disrupting the tranquility was none other than me.

“There! Pirates!”

A pirate vessel emerged beneath the faint moonlight.

The pirate ship, which had emerged from the southwest, had its sails furled, but –

My, they’re incredibly swift, aren’t they?

Dozens of pairs of large oars lined on both sides appeared to propel the sea as if operated by a single individual.

My mouth opened involuntarily as I beheld the massive ship, which appeared to be over 40 meters long, rapidly closing in on us.

“Head for the shore, head for the shore!”

Upon hearing the urgent cry from the scout Lomet, Randel and Grania, positioned at the stern, clenched their teeth and began rowing.

The boat swiftly altered its course and headed towards the shore.

Although the tide was out, the boat moved faster than anticipated due to the still choppy waves.

However, Arnal, seated at the bow, shouted with a determined expression.

“Damn it, they’re gaining on us! Faster!”

Arnal displayed urgency because the pirate ship had started to unfurl its sails and change its direction to pursue us.

But shouldn’t we be less concerned? The shore is already so close.

Just as I thought that,

“What?!”

The pirate ship accelerated as though it had an engine, attaining an incredible speed.

“They’ll catch us… row faster!”

I wanted to join in rowing, but I had to restrain myself.

Up to now, the four of them had maintained a good rowing rhythm, and if I let my impatience interfere and exerted too much force, the boat might capsize. Meanwhile, the gap with the pirate ship continued to narrow.

Damn, are we going to end up right in front of their bow?

Regret was pointless. We had never planned for pirates this fast in the first place.

They didn’t know about our plans; they must be a patrol ship. The sea’s security must be tighter than we anticipated. Or perhaps, we were simply unlucky.

“Tch.”

As the pirate ship drew nearer, Arnal nocked an arrow onto her bow.

That sight sent shivers down my spine, so I hastily raised the shield I was carrying. I remembered being struck by an arrow in my first battle since arriving in this world.

The shield I received as a supply from the prince had a different design than the one I used before.

It was what Earth commonly referred to as a ‘heater shield,’ often used by mounted troops.

It barely covered my upper body and was lightweight, not entirely satisfying but still usable.

“Ellen, come here.”

While observing the pirates on the deck, I pulled Ellen closer. She stood beside me and whispered softly.

“Phoenix.”

“Hmm?”

“Once we reach the shore, depending on the situation, let’s head north.”

“…What? Why bring this up now?”

“We don’t necessarily have to return to South Harbor.”

“Why mention this now?”

“Because right now, we don’t need to worry about the Lord or the prince. We have other options.”

…She’s right.

The Lord of South Harbor, not to mention Prince Ulkar, would be occupied fighting bandits.

We’ve already completed our mission, so even if we slip away in the chaos, it’s unlikely that a bounty will be placed on us.

After briefly glancing at her blue eyes, I hesitated and then spoke.

“I won’t forget that we have options.”

“Then…?”

“But let’s do what we can for now.”

At my words, Ellen frowned as if frustrated.

“Are you kidding? There’s a limit to how far you should go when you’re gambling with your life. Pirates or bandits, they’ll let you go if you can run away.”

“……”

“Put away your petty heroism. We’ve done what we can.”

Heroism, huh.

Well, it’s not wrong. The reason I can’t run away is because I see myself as a hero, or rather, as a ‘player.’

Considering the scenario in the game, being the protagonist in this world was my role, no matter how I thought about it.

Would another character appear to take on the scenario if I ran away? No, it didn’t seem likely.

This vague belief that if it’s not me, then South Harbor and even the world would be doomed. If this isn’t misplaced heroism, what is?

Sigh, I’m suddenly feeling disillusioned.

To think that I’m the only one who can save the world. I’m not in my teenage years, I’m already in my thirties.

To be honest, I don’t have the courage to save the world.

But that doesn’t mean I want to save my own life by running away. I’m also afraid to just stand by and watch the preordained apocalypse unfold.

Even if it’s not much, taking solace in doing something— that’s how I, Kim Seung-soo, have lived my life.

“As for me—”

Just as I was about to reply, I heard a screeching sound and raised my shield while pulling Ellen toward me.

Crash!

The dark arrowhead pierced the shield.

“Ugh,”

Damn, what kind of shield gets pierced by a single arrow?

I momentarily forgot my resolve; the urge to run away surged.

Arrows poured down from the pirates gathered on the foreign ship. Most sank underwater with a ‘Plop!’ sound, but a few arrows pierced the boat.

“Raise the shields!”

“No, we’re almost there! Keep rowing!”

Lomet, who had been drawing his bow at the bow of the ship, shouted loudly.

However, arrows were being shot from behind us. It was almost impossible to row under such circumstances.

Soldiers dropped their oars and raised their shields. Even Grania, who had been guarding our position alone, had no choice but to drop her oar.

Naturally, our speed decreased, and we got closer to the pirate ship. The number of arrows hitting the boat increased rapidly.

While shielding Ellen, I had no choice but to duck down.

Fortunately, the speeding boat reached the shore before being trampled by the pirate ship.

Unfortunately, during the brief firefight, Meyer, the prince’s personal guard, middle-aged rear soldier Lomet, and Arnal were hit by arrows.

“Lo, Lomet!”

He took an arrow to the chest and couldn’t even scream properly as he died.

His fingernails broke as he flipped over the boat’s railings. The pain seemed unbearable.

“How do we handle this…”

Ivo, the young rear soldier with acne, touched the dying archer’s wound with a look of despair.

“It’s too late! Move!”

Only after Randel kicked him did Ivo regain his senses.

Arnal, whose right arm was pierced by an arrow, was comparatively better off.

“Arnal!”

She broke off the arrow shaft with the help of Grania.

“What are you doing? Run!”

At Arnal’s shout, we immediately jumped off the boat.

The waves hit us at knee height, but the group frantically ran up to the white sand.

Close by, an oddly shaped ship was stranded with its sails torn. I took a quick glance at it, but I didn’t sense anyone’s presence, and given the urgency of our situation, I dismissed it.

Meanwhile, the pirate ship couldn’t approach the shore due to its deep and pointed hull.

As a result, even those who briefly wanted to catch their breath plunged into the sea with swords clenched between their teeth, the pirates scarcely clothed.

Men wearing iron masks either boarded small rafts descending from the pirate ships or swam to the shore relying on large barrels.

With a cursory glance, it seemed even the rowers had thrown themselves overboard, weapons in hand. They appeared to number well over fifty.

“They’re remarkably relentless, aren’t they?”

I led my party up the slope. It wasn’t until we climbed a small rocky mound and looked around that I realized our location.

“What on earth.”

It was evident that the water flowing on the left side of my party was the river we had encountered after exiting the secret passage.

We had rowed strenuously for over two hours to cross a distance that would have taken less than 20 minutes on horseback.

Well, it wasn’t entirely in vain. Merely crossing the river without being noticed by the bandits was a significant accomplishment.

Of course, it provided little comfort since we were now pursued by pirates.

“Sigh, this won’t work,” sighed Meyer, the middle-aged bodyguard.

With an arrow lodged in his thigh, he relied on Randel and Ivo for support, then hung his head.

“I can’t run any longer.”

“……”

“Randel, I entrust you with the mission. I’ll find my own way, go ahead.”

The idea that an injured soldier could survive alone in a place teeming with bandits was clearly absurd.

Randel, who couldn’t possibly be unaware of this, nodded silently. Delays would only result in capture by the pirates.

I scanned the beach again.

Around 60-70 pirates appeared to be chasing us, but it seemed none of them had bows since they had swum over.

Frankly, we had a chance. If only Ellen supported us with magic, the odds of survival were good.

If the rest of the party adequately protected Ellen, we might even win. We could even resort to using Luke’s ‘Abyssal Scream’ spell if necessary.

“Let’s go,” Ellen seemed to grasp my thoughts as she adjusted her cloak. Her furrowed brow indicated that now was not the time for rash actions.

Yes, this was not the time to fight but to escape.

“Let’s move.”

“Alright.”

We left Meyer, who had collapsed on a boulder with a hole, behind and continued onward. The footsteps of the six trailing me felt like a heavy burden on my shoulders.

Had we been running for about 20 minutes?

At least, it seemed we had distanced ourselves sufficiently from the pirates.

They had relentlessly pursued us along the beach, but we appeared to have lost them as we ran along the river. They were no longer in sight, although they might be trailing us from a distance.

Of course, we couldn’t afford to let our guard down.

The plan I was about to execute—perhaps ‘Plan B-4’? I hadn’t discussed it with the party, but I had considered that it might come to this.

We were heading toward the secret passage.

“Arnal, are you okay?”

“Huff, huff—yeah.”

Though she nodded as she breathed heavily, Arnal’s complexion was already pale.

The arrow in her arm wasn’t hanging loose, but it hadn’t been properly treated, and it continued to seep blood.

Given our intense movement, I was becoming concerned about excessive bleeding.

I briefly checked on Ellen.

Thanks to an overall increase in physical stats, she appeared to be struggling but was keeping pace with the group. She was breathing heavily but hadn’t reached the point of collapse.

Once I assessed that Ellen was okay, I hoisted Arnal onto my back.

“Hey, let me go-“

Arnal squirmed for a moment but then clutched her wound as I lifted her. It was fortunate to avoid unnecessary struggle.

In the distance, I spotted the small hill I had climbed to avoid the poisoned swamp. The secret passage was getting closer, and so was my anxiety.

The bandits wouldn’t have left the passage unguarded. They could either be swarming like dogs or guarded by elites.

Can we break through them?

What if they have completely destroyed the passage? We can’t waste time in a place swarming with enemies.

As I contemplated this and looked ahead—huh?

“Wait, stop!”

At my faint shout, the party came to a sudden halt. Ignoring the skeptical gazes of the group, I carefully placed Arnal on the ground.

That’s when the group noticed the scene on top of the hill and uttered words of astonishment.

“What on earth is this…”

“This is horrifying.”

At the crest of a gentle hill by the riverbank, numerous corpses were scattered. It appeared that the battle had just concluded.

Most of the bodies were those of bandits, but among them, a few individuals with foreign appearances and attire could be seen.

The most striking among them was a woman leaning against a tree trunk with an arrow lodged in her neck. She wore a hat adorned with flowers and grass, and a geometric-patterned cloak. Her lips were painted red, and her face was pale, with black paint running across her forehead, eyes, and cheeks, creating a eerie impression.

There were also a few men with long braided hair. They all wore armor made of leather or bone, and their skin had a slightly brown hue, with low-set noses—a race never seen before in this part of the world.

Lastly, there was an elderly man who appeared so aged that his years were difficult to estimate. The old man had a long gash on his side and exclaimed, “Ah, what a surprise!”

“Is this old man still alive?”

“Are these the barbarians from the west?”

“The west? But in the west—”

“Beyond the Plateau and Mitelgant, vast plains are said to stretch. I’ve heard that the barbarians who live there dress like this.”

Ignoring the conversation between Luke and Grania, I approached the wheezing old man.

The old man leaned against a small tree, blood oozing from his mouth, and a wound on his side. Although the sight of him attempting to hold back his exposed intestines with his bloody hands was utterly gruesome, his eyes burned with determination. Black tattoos covered his wrinkled and sagging skin, and he wore a flamboyant hat.

The reason I had stopped was that the hat was an item I had frequently encountered while playing Dark World.

The Warbonnet, a combat hat adorned with long feathers.

Despite its owner’s dire condition, the hat retained its vibrant colors and dignity.

But why—why was this dying old man wearing it?

The old man gazed up at me with wrinkled eyes and spoke.

“Are you a bandit too?”

As I heard those words, a strange sensation washed over my mind. Although it was a language I had never heard before, I somehow comprehended it.

This must be the ‘Gellant Language.’

“No, I’m a mercenary.”

“A mercenary?”

“Yes, I’m on a mission to protect the city from bandits.”

Suddenly, Randel, who had followed me, spoke anxiously.

“I don’t understand what you’re saying, but we need to hurry; it’s already too late for him.”

“Just a moment, please wait.” I hurriedly inquired of the old man.

“Is that hat originally yours?”

“Heh, of course.”

The old man let out a few raspy coughs and closed his eyes.

“Who else would own this item, if not ‘Hatanca of Rikuwa’?”

‘Hatanca of Rikuwa’? This old man?

There’s no way. The name ‘Hatanca’ is definitely—

“Aqun-ta!”

A roar erupted not far away, so intense it could be mistaken for thunder.

The group unconsciously hunched their shoulders, and I turned to look at the source of the voice. My mouth dropped open.

The Hatanca I knew was there.

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