THPCHD 04

Chapter 04

After walking another fifteen minutes, Tia stopped among the massive trees and thought.

‘I’m in big trouble!’

She needed to get to the capital, so she’d set off, but.

No matter how far she walked, the capital was nowhere in sight.

‘Hnnng, in Jongno-gu, if you walked just a little bit, there was a huge city.’

It seemed the capital of this world was much farther away than she’d thought.

“What should I do…”

Birds chirped and flew around above her head.

‘If only Tia had wings too, she could just fly swoosh over there.’

Wait a minute. Wings?

“…”

Her eyes sparkled.

Tia slowly turned toward Kkamang.

Kkamang was leaning against a tree about five steps away, arms folded.

“Kkamang, you know.”

“I can’t carry you.”

“Th-that’s right…”

Tia’s face immediately fell.

She’d hoped she might be able to ride on Kkamang’s back, but it was disappointing.

Now that she looked, Kkamang’s wings did seem a bit small for a legendary Pupetmon.

But Tia didn’t give up and thought of another way.

“Kkamang, then what about—”

“I can’t use teleportation either.”

“Huh… Really?”

This was quite a shock.

Kkamang was a legendary Pupetmon, right?

And she’d come from South Korea to this place with Kkamang’s help, hadn’t she?

As she wore a troubled expression, Kkamang added.

“I’ve already used my power to its limit. You think bringing you here was easy?”

Tia fell silent in surprise.

Now that she looked, Kkamang’s complexion did seem a bit pale.

“To save your dad, I had to tamper with dimensions, and in the process, you fell asleep so I had to find you a place to stay…”

Kkamang stopped mid-sentence and muttered to himself, “…Why am I even saying all this.”

But soon he looked back at Tia as if it didn’t matter.

“Anyway. Right now, I can’t do anything.”

Tia pursed her lips.

She suddenly felt sorry for Kkamang.

Kkamang was her benefactor.

The one who saved Dad when they were about to be separated forever, and even brought Tia to her hometown.

‘…I shouldn’t keep demanding things without being grateful.’

She didn’t want to be a burden to Kkamang on top of what she’d done to Dad.

Tia hesitantly approached Kkamang.

“Kkamang, should I rub your shoulders for you?”

Kkamang made a strange face.

“What?”

“I learned filial piety massage at kindergarten! First place in the Quail Class!”

“Never mind.”

She reached out her hand, but Kkamang stepped back.

Then, still wearing an uncomfortable expression, he added.

“You don’t need to. Even if I had power left, I couldn’t use high-level magic anyway.”

“Huh?”

“High-level magic. Especially magic that leaves traces like spatial movement—it’s easily tracked.”

At the word “tracked,” Tia’s face went blank.

She remembered how Dad always wore a dark expression whenever “tracking” appeared in the newspapers or on the news.

Actually, Tia knew why Dad made that face.

‘If you get tracked, you get deported…’

Deportation meant being kicked out.

She didn’t know why Dad had to be deported, but the adults said that if he was deported, Dad and Tia might be separated far apart.

Tia shook her head vigorously.

Tracking—deportation—absolutely cannot happen.

Not when she’d come all the way here.

Not when she’d returned to the hometown where Dad was alive.

Tia hurriedly looked up.

“Kkamang!”

She was about to tell Kkamang that he absolutely must not use magic, but—

“Kkamang?”

The spot where Kkamang had been just moments ago was empty.

Tia dashed over and saw a black stone lying alone among the leaves.

Tia stared at the stone with a shocked expression, then quickly picked it up.

After that, she opened the kindergarten backpack she’d been smart enough to bring along.

“Kkamang…”

He’d said he used a lot of power—it seemed Kkamang had fallen asleep.

After all, even Pupetmon returned to their Pupet Ball to rest when they exhausted their power.

‘Kkamang, don’t worry about anything here.’

With a composed face, Tia placed the stone in the inner pocket of her backpack and zipped it all the way closed.

After double-checking carefully, she put the backpack on.

“Even if it’s hard, I have to go!”

Grandma from Unit 107’s teaching came to mind: “Even if you can’t eat, you keep going.”

Tia took a step forward, very, very bravely.

Completely unaware of what lay ahead.

—

“The taste is absolutely terrible.”

Basto chewed on a wild carrot and muttered.

He knew this wasn’t the time to be picky about food, but chewing the same thing for three days straight was starting to wear on him.

He leaned against a tree trunk and quietly scanned his surroundings.

It had been two hours since he’d set traps nearby, but there was no sign of any catch.

“…Damn magical beasts.”

This forest had once been full of rabbits, deer, and other game.

The reason the forest had become so empty was undoubtedly thanks to the monsters.

“No matter how many mercenaries or imperial soldiers catch them…”

Capture one magic stone, and they spring from another.

Capture that one, and they spring from yet another newly formed magic stone.

The monsters, which no amount of killing seemed to stop, just kept pouring out endlessly.

“Ptooey.”

Spitting out the carrot he’d been chewing, Basto stood up.

As he twisted his stiff body around, his joints popped and cracked one after another.

He stroked his overgrown beard once, then pulled out a map from inside his armor with his rough hands.

—

[Briowood]

—

He was in a mid-sized forest about five days’ journey south of the capital.

The forest stretched horizontally, as if encircling the capital from afar, and on it were clearly marked three red dots.

Basto took out charcoal and drew an X over one of them.

The spot where he’d completed a siege on a small magic stone just last night.

‘I almost died yesterday, really.’

Recalling yesterday’s fierce battle, a hollow laugh escaped him.

Even though it was a small magic stone, when a flying magical beast suddenly appeared, even he had been caught off guard.

Sometimes he felt disillusioned with this line of work, where he risked his life.

But…

“…Whatever.”

Basto fastened his armor again to shake off his thoughts.

What mattered was that he’d survived again this time.

Wandering alone as a freelance mercenary, killing monsters like a demon and drenching himself in their blood—

It would all end when his own life finally ceased.

“I should dismantle the traps and slowly head back to the capital.”

Just as he was putting away the map and about to take a step—

Ting.

A small but familiar sound pierced his eardrums.

The sound of a taut rope releasing—it was a signal that something had been caught in his trap.

Basto grabbed his weapon, the War Hammer, which was leaning against a tree, and began running toward the trap.

‘I thought the game had died out.’

A rabbit, perhaps?

Or a rat or a marten?

A wild boar or a deer would be ideal, but honestly, even a rat would be fine.

Rat meat wasn’t particularly tasty and was hard to debone, but it was surprisingly edible.

But at that moment—

“…Hic.”

His hearing detected a different sound this time.

It was definitely coming from the direction of the trap.

His pace slowed slightly.

‘It sounds just like a person’s…’

“Hic!”

Basto frowned.

He was right.

The sound coming from the trap was unmistakably hiccups.

He quieted his footsteps, lowered his posture, and began weaving quickly between the trees.

Anyone in a forest with three magic stones stationed was likely a mercenary or a knight.

But he couldn’t let his guard down.

If it was really a person caught in the trap, they would have screamed or called for help.

Or they would have cut the net with whatever weapon they had and already escaped.

But he’d never seen a case where there was no cry for help, no scream—just hiccups.

Finally reaching the trap, Basto quietly peered through the bushes.

The net he’d woven himself was dangling from a high tree branch.

He was about to see what was inside it, when he froze stiff.

“…Hic.”

Inside the net.

He met the gaze of vivid green eyes.

Someone was trembling inside the net, looking back at him.

A young child, seemingly terrified out of their wits.