The enormous corpse of the Magic Wolf King lay sprawled on the ground. The surrounding forest was so quiet you could've heard a pin drop. Normally, after a fight, an adventurer would immediately carve out the monster's magic stone—loot first, safety second.
But Duncan had zero intention of doing that now.
That last blow had drained everything out of him, and on top of that the Wolf King had flung him around like a torn rag.
The adrenaline was gone. What remained was a body that wouldn't move—and pain so violent it was almost obscene. He wanted to black out from it, desperately.
Except the blessing of the gods had given him a toughened body that stubbornly refused to faint.
So he had to endure the "damage settlement phase" on sheer willpower—something no normal human on Earth could manage.
…Then again, he wasn't exactly a normal Earth human anymore, so maybe that tracked.
Thanks to the ferocity of the battle, nearby beasts and monsters had decided they valued survival. Everything within range had practically grown extra legs and fled this place of slaughter. Even lying there defenseless, Duncan wasn't visited by anything foolish enough to test him.
His consciousness began to fray—either the pain had finally eased a little, letting the body's protective instincts take over again… or he'd simply lost too much blood.
In the end, his strength failed. Duncan's eyes rolled back, and he sank into heavy sleep.
He didn't know how long passed.
Warm sunlight spilled over his face. Soft bedding and a blanket wrapped around him like a trap of comfort, tempting him to keep sleeping forever—
But weeks of living on edge had drilled instincts into him.
Even unwillingly, he snapped his eyes open and scanned his surroundings first.
It was a familiar room.
Only then did his tightly wound nerves loosen… and the relief immediately made room for crushing fatigue and renewed pain. While he'd been unconscious, his body's emergency systems had muted the suffering.
Now that he was awake, the "debt" came due—with interest.
A moment later, the door burst open.
"Duncan?! You're awake?!"
Bell rushed in—the one who always worried about him the most—his young face full of relief and concern.
But Duncan immediately noticed something odd:
Bell had scratches and bruises on his face and body.
That made Duncan's mind snag. Who in the world had the nerve—and the ability—to injure Bell right under Alfia's nose?
"How did I get back? And how long was I out?" Duncan asked, gritting through the pain.
He hadn't forgotten the condition: he still hadn't survived the full month.
And Chardo and Alfia weren't the type to "round down" training. If they said five hours, you got five hours—down to the minute.
The thought of being thrown back into the forest in his current condition made him go cold.
"It was Uncle Chardo—he brought you back," Bell said quickly. "And you were out for two days. Grandpa said you lost too much blood and your injuries were too serious, so he updated your status first to strengthen your body. If Uncle Chardo hadn't stopped him, Grandpa was even going to level you up directly."
Bell delivered it all like he was presenting treasure, proud as if he were the one who benefited. The contrast—his triumphant tone with those bruises—looked almost ridiculous.
But it warmed something in Duncan's chest.
No matter where he was, Bell was the kind of kid people naturally wanted to protect—not because of any grand "pure soul" concept, but simply because he genuinely cared about others.
"Then why are you covered in injuries?" Duncan asked.
He tried to reach out and pat Bell's head, but the pain pinned him down. The attempt pulled at his wounds hard enough that he sucked in a sharp breath and gave up, lying still.
Bell answered honestly. "I joined Alfia Mama's training."
"…Are you tired of living comfortably?" Duncan couldn't help the deadpan.
Bell had watched Duncan get brutalized day after day. For Bell to volunteer to walk the same road…
Bell was only seven. Even if he wanted to become an adventurer, he didn't need to start this early. And Alfia wasn't exactly the "gentle, gradual progression" type. Duncan had survived because his growth rate was absurd and he'd been updating constantly—otherwise they might've broken him.
With Bell being even younger, Duncan couldn't stop irritation from rising—at Alfia, at Chardo, and especially at Zeus.
Zeus had hidden everything from Bell before… and now he was letting Alfia train him like this. The decisions felt almost childish.
Then again… Zeus probably couldn't beat Alfia, so maybe he was simply enduring it.
"I want to become a hero," Bell said, voice small but serious. "When that god came before, Alfia Mama and Uncle Chardo talked with him for a long time."
"Hero? What did that god say to them?" Duncan asked.
"I don't know—Alfia Mama didn't tell me," Bell admitted. "But she said that if she chose not to abandon me, the world might be destroyed because the next generation of heroes wouldn't appear."
Bell's eyes were earnest.
"I don't want the world to be destroyed. And I don't want Grandpa, Alfia Mama, you, or Uncle Chardo to get hurt. So I want to be a hero—like the heroes in the adventure stories. If I save the world, then everyone can eat together happily."
It was childish. Naive. Bright in a way that bordered on foolish.
A stranger would laugh it off as kids' nonsense.
But Duncan had lived with Bell long enough to know: he meant it.
Even if he didn't yet understand what "hero" really cost.
No—Duncan suspected that even if Bell did understand, he'd still do it anyway. That wasn't just Bell's kindness.
It was one of the few things Zeus had actually taught him successfully.
A hero was someone who would step into thorns without hesitation—cutting a road for those who came after.
"…So these injuries are what you got for declaring you'd be a hero in front of Alfia?" Duncan asked, smiling softly.
The pain in his body even seemed to dull a fraction.
Bell shivered, remembering. "Yeah… Alfia Mama said if I had the guts to call myself a hero in front of her, I'd better be ready. Then she grabbed me and started training me immediately."
"Now you're scared? You were so fired up a second ago." Duncan sighed, still amused. "Fine. When Alfia gets here, I'll talk to her. She and the others are battle maniacs—they forget we're still kids. I'm used to it. But you haven't even started growing properly yet. If you train too hard and it leaves damage, that's a problem. There's no healer out here."
Bell shook his head—completely innocent.
"But when I said I wanted to be a hero… I also said you, Duncan."
Duncan's smile froze.
He stared at Bell's innocent face, suddenly wanting to flick him on the forehead—except he couldn't move.
So he could only lie there in silent despair, looking at this doomed little angel.
Somewhere out in the forest, while Duncan had been fighting monsters to the death…
his escape route had already been sold out.
Airheadedness kills people.
-------
My : pat*eon*com/RuneA
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