To Hell With Being a Hero!

“Excuse me.”

The marching stopped.
“Could we please rest for about five minutes?” Evelyn asked.

“What is it?” Lakshasha turned around and asked.

“I think I need to treat the injured.”

“The injured?”

“Mr.
Ru Amuh.”

Everyone’s eyes snapped to Ru Amuh at this unexpected reply.

“…Sorry?” Even Ru Amuh looked dumbfounded.
It was quite obvious that he wasn’t injured; he didn’t even have a scratch on him.

“Hm? Did you get hurt at the beginning of battle?”

“No…well…” Ru Amuh was about to deny his injury to Lakshasha, but stopped himself after meeting Evelyn’s gaze.
He didn’t know the exact situation, but Evelyn seemed to have her reasons for doing this.
In the end, Lakshasha clicked his tongue as Ru Amuh failed to continue.

“Why did you hide your injury?” Lakshasha asked.

“Ah…um…I didn’t think we would have to care about it much since it’s really light.
“

“You can’t do that.
No matter how small it is, we have to take care of it.
Where is it? How deep are your injuries?” Chi-Woo stepped forward in shock hearing that Ru Amuh was injured.

’

“It’s as the captain says.
It’s not like we don’t have a priest.
You can’t take an injury lightly no matter how small it is on an expedition, especially in a place like this,” Lakshasha also added.

Ru Amuh smiled wryly and answered, “…I’m sorry.”

This was now the second lie he had ever told in his life.
But perhaps it was because he had lied to Vepar once before, he felt less guilty this time.

And as if she was apologetic for dragging Ru Amuh into all this, Evelyn piped up, “As Mr.
Ru Amuh said, I’m sure it’s nothing big.
I just asked because his arm was moving slightly differently than usual.”

“That’s impressive.
I’m known to have keen eyes, but even I didn’t notice.”

“We’ve gone on several expeditions together, so we know each other’s quirks and habits.
Also, it’s only natural that the priest would be observing her teammates’ conditions.” Evelyn responded adeptly to Lakshasha’s amazement.

“Yeah, that’s true,” Lakshasha said, “I’m sure you will heal it instantly since it’s a small injury.
While you’re doing that, I will be on watch.”

“It will be over before you know it.
Mr.
Ru Amuh, why don’t you show me your arm? And Hawa, can you come here and open the bags?” Evelyn succeeded in drawing Hawa toward her and turned around.
After watching them curiously, Yeriel seemed to have also sensed what was going on and moved accordingly.

“Hello~?” She sidled up to Lakshasha and asked, “I know you are on watch, but could I use this short interval to discuss some things?”

“About what?”

“The king candidate,” Yeriel continued nonchalantly.
“I want to know more about that guy.”

“That’s—”

“I’m sorry that I might be triggering your trauma right now, but we are going to meet him soon anyways.”

“…”

“By the way you talked, it sounds like the king candidate isn’t one to underestimate.
Wouldn’t it help us if you give us more information before we come face to face with the enemy?”

“…I’m not sure if it will be helpful.”

Inwardly, Evelyn thanked Yeriel for the help.
While she’d created an opportunity to talk to Hawa, she knew that guides had keen ears.
But thanks to Yeriel, Lakshasha’s attention was directed somewhere else.
As Hawa approached her and sat down, Evelyn’s face turned serious.

“Okay, tell me now.
What’s the problem? Why are you having such a hard time focusing?” Rather than blaming Hawa, she seemed to think that Hawa must have her reasons.
Ru Amuh loosened his armor as slowly as possible and also looked at Hawa curiously.
Knowing that she didn’t have much time, Hawa quickly spoke, “I think there’s something a bit strange with that guide.”

“Tell us what’s specifically strange about him.
None of us know what’s going on except for you,” Evelyn whispered while pretending to look at Ru Amuh’s arm.
After a momentary hesitation, Hawa replied in a low voice, “I experienced being in this place before.”

“What? Being in the Hala Forest? Where?”

“In an image representation space.”

’

“Image representation space? Then…?” Though Evelyn had never experienced it before, she roughly knew what it was since she had seen Chi-Woo struggle in the front yard for a period in the name of training.

“But how could you—?”

“I’ll start from the beginning.” Hawa quickly explained and brought up the most important points of her story.
Evelyn looked doubtful after hearing Hawa’s whole explanation, but it wasn’t completely unbelievable.
From what she heard, an image representation space materialized a place that the creator directly or indirectly experienced.
After listening to Ismile’s descriptions of the situation here, the legend could’ve created a similar environment and trained Hawa there.
But this was only a hypothesis, and there weren’t any proofs supporting it.

“I see,” it was then Ru Amuh spoke, “That’s why just before…”

‘Just before?’ Evelyn thought curiously and let out a small exclamation.
No, there was plausible support for this theory.
Evelyn’s face turned more solemn as she asked, “Why didn’t you bring this up earlier?”

“I’m just a porter.” With this one statement, Evelyn realized why Hawa had been so hesitant.
It was her against the head of the expedition, who had the most authority after the team’s captain, while she was just a mere luggage carrier.
Even if she wanted to say something, she probably had no choice but to keep it to herself.

A similar thing happened in the Zepar expedition where she stepped out of line and Apoline scolded her.
It was then Hawa realized the hierarchy of authority in an expedition team, and Hawa wasn’t such a fool that she would repeat the same mistakes.
Furthermore, she wasn’t even sure of her suspicion.
She could be right, but there was a chance that she was wrong.

“What’s your plan, Ms.
Evelyn?” Ru Amuh asked, pulling Evelyn out of her reverie.
She judged that she shouldn’t be the one to make the decision.

“Chi-Woo, lend me your ear…” Glancing at Yeriel, she got up and headed toward Chi-Woo, who was guarding the left area.
Though she tried to buy as much time as possible, Yeriel ended up reaching her limit.
It was mostly because Lakshasha didn’t want to talk.

“Let’s stop this conversation now.
I already told you everything I could and don’t want to recall it anymore.” In the end, Lakshasha even shook his head aggressively.

“But still—” Yeriel tried to hold him back somehow, but Lakshasha ignored her and turned around.

“Stop.
Is the treatment still ongoing?” Then Lakshasha blinked hard, because he saw that Chi-Woo was talking to Evelyn with a very serious expression.

“What is it? Is the injury that serious?”

Chi-Woo looked at Lakshasha without saying anything, and Lakshasha said, “If his injury is so serious that he can’t resume the expedition, order for his leave.
If you are worried about me…it’s fine.
Just don’t regret it later.”

Chi-Woo’s face turned more solemn as Lakshasha continued.
He didn’t understand what was going on.
Then Chi-Woo scratched his head furiously for a while and said with a short sigh, “…Mr.
Lakshasha.”

“I think we need to talk for a bit.”’

The look in Lakshasha’s eyes changed slightly after hearing these words.

“Ms.
Hawa,” Chi-Woo changed his focus and called another name.
“Please come here and explain.”

The silver-haired girl confidently walked forward.
She was someone Lakshasha had paid no attention to, thinking she was just a porter.
Emmanuel looked surprised, while Apoline looked displeased, yet no one rashly opened their mouths.
It was different from before.
Hawa didn’t act out due to her ignorance of her place, but because Chi-Woo called on her.
In other words, Hawa was speaking at the request of the expedition team’s captain; thereby, Chi-Woo was saying that he would be held responsible for what she would say, and Lakshasha couldn’t help but be slightly nervous as the guide.

Hawa stood in front of Lakshasha and said while meeting his eye straight-on, “There’s something I need to ask you.”

A quick look at bit.ly/3iBfjkV will leave you more fulfilled.

1.
Lines from a song that praises the teachings of the Buddha in the Lotus Sutra.
The Lotus Sutra is one of the most influential scriptures in East Asian Buddhist schools.
☜