Chapter 4

〈 Episode 5 〉 Waiting

*

After deciding to become a hero, the first thing I did was wait.

And it was a grand wait of three whole months.

“Heavy.”

Loaded with firewood on my back, I finally arrived at my destination.

A building with a sign saying Basilia Inn. It was where the orphan, Allen, used to stay.

I opened the inn’s door and stepped inside.

Creeeak.

The old inn’s door opened with a rough sound.

A man who had been dozing at the counter raised his head and opened his eyes.

After observing me for a moment, he asked,

“Isn’t it heavy?”

“Not really, it’s manageable.”

I responded while placing the firewood I had brought on the hearth.

The season had already turned to autumn, and it was chilly at night and dawn if the stove wasn’t lit.

“Don’t overdo it. Your leg wound is still…”

“I’m fine now.”

I really was.

In fact, these days I was even exercising to build muscle. Allen’s body was in such poor shape that just stepping outside would get him killed.

Now, thanks to that effort, at least I had a bit of muscle.

‘I’ve been working out using [Absolute Obedience], so I had to.’

[Absolute Obedience] was surprisingly quite a versatile trait.

Even during workouts, I could simply command myself to easily push past my physical limits.

Of course, the pain I felt during that time was still there.

“Aren’t you tired, mister?”

I asked the man sitting at the counter.

He was the innkeeper who had taken in the abandoned Allen.

At the same time, he was the one who had yelled at me to wake me up on the first morning after I arrived here. Just thinking about that morning still sent chills down my spine.

“Well, I’m not that tired.”

“What are you talking about? I saw you dozing off when I came in just now.”

“…That never happened.”

“Come on, go rest in your room. It’s almost time for me to take over in 30 minutes anyway.”

He seemed to yield to fatigue and slowly got up.

For a man of his age, staying awake late at night wasn’t easy.

“Thank you. Well, I’ll leave it to you.”

As he went to his room, I sat down in the chair he had just vacated. The inn quickly fell silent.

‘This is boring.’

If I had to compare it to something, it was similar to a nighttime convenience store job. It was even worse because there was nothing to do, and no phone or TV to entertain myself with.

The only way to shake off this boredom was ultimately through exercise…

‘Let’s keep it light today.’

I remembered clearly.

Today was the day that an ‘event’ would occur.

For the past few months, I had been staying in this town, gathering various events.

Most were trivial, but still better than doing nothing and just waiting.

There was a reason I had to stay in this town for a while.

The ruins beyond the barrier.

That place was somewhere I needed to visit sooner or later, even considering the future.

Even when raising other characters, it was a place I would typically visit despite a little waste of movement.

Given that the town was located in a remote area, it was a good idea to keep it under wraps for now. Plus, being rejected every time I tried to send Allen Pleuk to the ruins made me want to go there even more.

However, there were several conditions to be met to go to the ruins. Those conditions were all rather tricky.

Preparing only with my own power could take years and still be difficult.

The good news was that all those conditions could be fulfilled by just one person.

‘So the question is, when will that person arrive?’

In fact, it wasn’t even confirmed that they would come.

After all, they were a ‘playable character.’

Hundred Braves was basically a single mobile game.

However, other characters didn’t just wander around as mere AI.

The ‘Crossed Encounter’ system was precisely that exception.

If another player had completed a playable character’s growth, they could meet through ‘Crossed Encounter.’

This limited way allowed the chance to meet characters from other players.

Of course, there was an issue.

That ‘Crossed Encounter’ wasn’t guaranteed.

The probability of meeting exactly one character from one player through Crossed Encounter was nearly one in ten million.

However, there were indeed ways to improve that probability.

By removing the condition of being a single player and pinpointing the place and time the character would visit based on a strategy,

I could most likely meet them.

‘If my prediction is correct, it should be soon.’

At the latest, they would arrive by this autumn.

So, it was about time they showed up.

If that person didn’t arrive by winter… I would have no choice but to give up on the ruins and leave this place.

But there was no need to worry too much.

It was a calculation made from probabilities and scenarios.

Just because they didn’t come wouldn’t mean total failure, and more importantly, the benefits from their arrival were enormous.

‘It’d be great if they came…’

At that moment.

Creeeak.

I heard the sound of the inn door opening.

Though it seemed like a careful entry, the old inn door made a sufficiently loud noise.

I stared at the door as it slowly opened.

There were three types of people who might come in at this late hour.

First, the most probable: an adventurer or hero arriving in town late.

Given that the only thing nearby was the ruins, most outsiders visiting this town were such folks.

Otherwise, there were the occasional traders who wouldn’t come at this hour.

The next possibility was the person I had been waiting for. By strict standards, they would fall into the first category as well.

Yet, I wasn’t expecting much.

Normally, the first case would have the highest chance, but today was a little different.

Today was a day of ‘event.’

So, the likelihood of the last possibility, whom I hadn’t mentioned yet, was highest.

The door opened, and in walked a man.

I recognized his face as someone who had previously stayed at the inn.

He confirmed my presence at the counter, then slowly approached me.

The man’s expression showed signs of tension.

As he got close enough, a notification popped up before my eyes.

[Quest has occurred.="" /]

[Deal with the Bandit]

A bandit has broken into the inn. Subdue or drive them away.

Danger Level: C+

Reward: 18sp

‘Of course.’

The bandit attack event.

It was an event present in the game, and it had a notably high danger level.

Many users’ Allen Pleuk had died here because of it.

There were plenty of complaints about a character dying to a mere rural bandit, but I understood completely.

Even though they were a bandit, the man before me was a Pathfinder.

Among adventurers, those who crossed the barrier to explore the Chaos Realm were called Pathfinders.

And such Pathfinders were generally stronger than typical adventurers.

‘Stay calm.’

[The trait [Absolute Obedience] is activating.="" /]

The tension I’d felt in front of the man vanished in an instant.

“Did you come to find a room?”

I asked the man with a smile. I thought it was odd how my tension had dissipated so quickly.

But the man didn’t respond.

Instead of answering, his hand moved toward his waist.

‘Of course.’

I only knew a bandit had attacked, not the specifics of the situation.

For a moment, I worried about whether he would attack first, which turned out to be unnecessary.

Swish.

Faster than the man drawing his sword.

I pulled a stick from beneath the counter.

It was the same stick I had used to kill a wolf. I kept it under the counter for events like this.

I’d occasionally practice swordsmanship at night.

Dying from this event only happened to beginners without any decent inheritance skills.

If one had even managed to inherit some usable skills, a bandit wouldn’t be that big of a threat.

[Swordsmanship (B)] would be more than enough.

With a sound that cut through the air, the stick darted toward the man’s neck.

The man’s expression turned to one of surprise at my sudden preemptive attack.

“What… what the hell!?”

“Well, you were the one who drew your sword first.”

The man’s sword wasn’t yet aimed at me, but it was already drawn from its sheath.

There was no room for denial here.

“I really don’t want to fight, you know?”

The quest’s clear condition was to subdue or drive away the bandit.

Even without a fight, simply driving the bandit away would satisfy that condition.

“So, if you’re going to run, do it now.”

I didn’t want to wake the people sleeping here by starting a fight.

However, it seemed my wooden stick lacked persuasive power.

“You brat!”

The man tried to shove my stick away.

‘If he’s coming at me like this, I have no choice.’

I quickly drew my stick away to prevent him from grabbing it again.

Then I swiftly jumped over the counter.

Whack!

I slammed the stick against the man’s forehead.

“Ugh!”

The man, who had staggered for a moment, then regained his composure and raised his sword.

‘Oh?’

I intended to knock him out, but it seemed his skull was tougher than I thought. Now what?

To be honest, I had no clue how to knock someone out.

‘I just need to keep hitting until he surrenders or runs away.’

Noticing that I wasn’t an ordinary village kid, the man’s expression turned serious.

He swung his sword at me.

I stepped back to evade it.

‘Since the danger level was C+, I should think my other stats aside from Swordsmanship (B) are all below his.’

Moreover, blocking his sword with a wooden stick would probably break it.

That’s why I had kept it hidden as a weapon, but it had its limits.

‘Still, with Swordsmanship (B), I should find a way.’

Clang!

I parried the man’s next strike with my stick.

The stick stuck to his sword with a sound as if it were glued. It was a perfect blend of precise angle and force control.

Sensing that contact, I shifted the stick to redirect his sword.

And then…

Thud!

The stick struck deep into the man’s solar plexus.

Yet something in his adventurer instinct made him avoid losing his sword.

‘Lucky him. If only I didn’t drop my stick without a command…’

I swung the stick once more.

‘No reason to hesitate, Allen.’

[The trait [Absolute Obedience] is activating.="" /]

Suppressing the sympathy blossoming in Allen’s heart, I continued to swing the stick.

It was a life-or-death situation, and my opponent was a bandit.

I had no reason to indulge in foolish sympathy. Understand that, Allen, you idiot.

*

“Phew…”

After catching my breath, I returned the stick to under the counter.

In the end, the bandit fled.

He’d tried to put up a fight, but he couldn’t overcome Swordsmanship (B).

[Quest [Deal with the Bandit] has been cleared.="" /]

Reward: 18SP

A pretty decent reward.

[Status/]

5. Stigma

SP: 96

I still had quite a way to go before inheriting [Precocious (Small)].

Just as I was checking my status, a voice suddenly rang out.

“Hey.”

I hurriedly turned my head toward the direction of the sound.

In a corner of the inn, where a sofa was placed, sat a figure.

‘When did they come in?’

Even though I had concentrated on the fight, I hadn’t even heard the door open. I didn’t even notice their presence.

“Looks like you’re done here?”

The figure rose from the sofa.

They weren’t particularly tall. In fact, they were rather short.

Short enough to be even smaller than me, who hadn’t completely grown yet.

Beyond their small stature, they hid their features under the hood of their cloak, but the hint of red hair and their expressionless face unmistakably identified them.

There was no way I could mistake her identity.

She was the person I had been waiting for, the original owner of the Stigma I inherited.

At last, I could meet her.

‘Hero Gwen Reedval.’

Honestly, I was overjoyed.

I could feel the muscles of my face wanting to smile.

‘Control your expression, you idiot.’

[The trait [Absolute Obedience] is activating.="" /]

*