Chapter 37: The Second Best Warrior

“Hm, he can still talk?”

Hwee-Jun looked at Sairan as if he was seeing something strange. If Sairan was an ordinary Human, it wouldn’t have been weird for the level of injury to kill him.

“Not only can I talk…”

Two soldiers ran towards Sairan, one charging straight on from the front, and the other coming from behind. Sairan grabbed the spear wielded by the soldier coming from the front and whirled around. The soldier lost his balance and fell. Sairan used the other arm he was holding his sword with and cut the neck of the soldier that was coming at him from behind. Then he stepped on the fallen soldier's neck.

There was no scream; only the sound of bones being broken.

“...I can also fight.”

A quarter of the moon became visible for a moment through the clouds and soon disappeared again. The soldier whose throat had been cut tried to stop the blood spouting out of his neck, but eventually collapsed.

The black-scaled Lizardman’s outer scales seemed to flash for a moment. About fifteen other soldiers flinched and hesitated to attack Sairan after witnessing what he was capable of. Sairan huffed at the scared human soldiers like he found them laughable. He then grabbed the spearhead that had pierced through his chest and wrapped his tail around the rest of the spear protruding from his back.

Crack.

Sairan snapped the spear that was getting on his nerves without even making a noise. He threw the broken spear onto the ground and pushed aside the enemies that were between him and Hwee-Kyung.

“Hwee-Kyung, if you aren’t going to turn around and run, come here.”

“Okay.”

Hwee-Kyung went and stood behind Sairan. Sairan glared at the enemies.

“Are you aware that the correct thing to do was to run?”

“Yes.”

“Then why did you choose the wrong thing to do?”

“I don’t know.”

Sairan glanced back at Hwee-Kyung. Their eyes met.

Hwee-Kyung then continued to say, “I don’t know. All I know is that Humans sometimes make the wrong choice. Even if it would lead them to destruction.”

“Let’s use the word people, not Humans.”

“Why?”

“Chief told me to protect you, but he didn’t say to risk my life. He told me that I could always give up and return home if things got dangerous.”

Hwee-Kyung thought this was strange. In the past three weeks, there were many situations where not only Hwee-Kyung, but Sairan’s life was in danger. Hwee-Kyung didn’t tell Sairan, but ever since she began to rely on Sairan, she felt grateful to be able to wake up to another day.

“...Then why are you still here?”

“Didn’t you say so yourself, Hwee-Kyung? You don’t know why, but people sometimes make the wrong choice. They choose it even if it would lead to their destruction.”

Someone whispered to Hwee-Jun, who was standing at a distance, and knit his brows.

Then Hwee-Jun asked, “Why are you standing there and not killing them?”

A soldier quietly said, “That Lizardman’s power is incredible. And…there’s also a rumor that he’s a chosen one…”

“Don’t be stupid. There’s no reason for him to hide his powers even when he got a spear pierced through his back, is there?”

The rumor was spread by Hwee-Kyung, and it still had an effect. However, it seemed that Hwee-Jun already knew it wasn’t true.

“Lizardman! If you really can produce and summon a thunderbolt, strike me.”

“.....”

“I knew it.”

Hwee-Jun spoke of an old rumor. He didn’t know if it was true himself, but he thought it would be worth bringing it up if it would help the soldiers maintain their fighting spirits.

“From what I know, there was a limited number of chosen ones, so there’s no need for the Blue Insect God to pay attention to such a low-level warrior like him.”

“.....”

Sairan kept silent.

Then Hwee-Jun continued to confidently say, “Look! He can’t even refute it! I will give another cart full of silk to those who cut their necks.”

The eyes of the soldiers changed. The soldiers all charged at them, but Sairan warded all of them off. However, even when Sairan knocked the soldiers down, reinforcements came to take their places in twos or threes. As time passed, the battle tilted towards Hwee-Jun’s favor

Sairan whispered to Hwee-Kyung, “We’ll run towards the right. It’ll be hard to break through all of them if I carry you, so you must follow me well.”

“But there’s a wall?”

“Just like Hwee-Jun said, I don’t have the ability to make lightning strike. But I’m definitely not a low-level warrior.”

Hwee-Kyung thought it was only obvious.

“I’ve known that ever since the first time we met.”

“Then how high do you think I rank?”

“I…I don’t know…”

Hwee-Kyung thought Sairan’s question was a rather childish one to ask given their situation.

“Tribal chief is the chief, so we don’t debate his strength. Mr. Yur is the best warrior in our tribe.”

“I know that.”

“...And I am the second best warrior. People don’t tend to remember the second best.”

Hwee-Kyung was able to feel the small wound that Sairan, who was very strong, had inside of him. It would be painful to remain as the second best among warriors. The praises always go to the first.

‘If it wasn’t for this kind of situation, he wouldn’t have even revealed this weak side of him.’

Sairan glanced to the right and said, “Remember, we’re going to the right.”

“Like I said, there’s a wall to our right.”

“It soon won’t be.”

“What?”

“Stick close to me.”

Hwee-Kyung wondered what was going to happen, and Hwee-Jun’s soldiers never could predict what Sairan would do.

The route for retreat that Sairan pointed to was a wall made of rock. It was a soft rock which could easily be broken with a low-quality iron chisel, and the wall was likely hollow as it would have been a part of someone’s house, but a wall was still a wall. It had been recognized by the Humans as a geographic feature, and if it was blocking a path, they would find a way around it.

If the wall was able to think, it would probably think that it would remain where it was for centuries until it wore down itself.

However, Sairan thought differently. Sairan was the second best warrior of the Black-Scaled Lizardmen Tribe. The second best warrior had the authority to handle things their own way if there was a disagreement between them and their superior.

‘If there isn’t an exit…’

Sairan put his right arm onto his left shoulder and bent over. A soldier seemed oblivious to what Sairan was doing and got in between Sairan and the wall.

‘...You make one.’

Sairan then ran straight towards the wall in a tackle position. The soldier, who was raising his sword, bounced off of Sairan. He couldn’t hurt Sairan nor slow him down.

Bang!

Sairan broke through the wall and disappeared. A dust storm arose from the collapsing wall and covered everyone’s field of vision. Hwee-Kyung was the first to realize what had happened. She quickly ran through the dust storm and then the hole that Sairan had disappeared through.

A soldier then shouted to Hwee-Jun, “He…he broke through the wall!”

“I know that! What are you doing not chasing after them?”

Hwee-Jun shouted and commanded his soldiers. The soldiers took a moment to light each other’s torches before giving chase with the excuse that the dust had made their surroundings too dark. Anyone could tell that they were all trying to buy time as they didn’t want to be the first one chasing after Sairan.

‘These stupid cowards.’

Hwee-Jun recalled the time when the Gnolls came by three weeks ago.

‘Should I have also brought in outside forces? Then would things have ended sooner?’

Five Gnolls had come to him, and the Gnolls knew very well about the situation inside Automation, and about Hwee-Jun. They had strong claws and legs when compared to other Gnolls, and were strong warriors. They even said they would help Hwee-Jun without any cost. But Hwee-Jun rejected their help. Not only did he reject them, he kicked them out.

‘They said if I became the next lord, Automation would be full of those who believed in the Angry Teeth God. And that was all they wished for.’

They didn’t tell Hwee-Jun to believe in the Angry Teeth God, but simply said that it would eventually happen. In other words, it would be inevitable even if Hwee-Jun didn’t believe in the god and tried to prevent that from happening.

‘If I become the next lord, Gnolls and Lizardmen will become our next enemies. I can’t receive help from such a faction. And I wouldn’t stay on the sideline when the next potential lord receives their help either.‘

The other siblings had already believed in either the Angry Teeth God or the Blue Insect God. It was a good thing that they were eliminated sooner. However, Hwee-Jun couldn’t opt for machination and scheming to reach his goal this time.

‘Father is coming. I need to finish this off before sunrise.’

Hwee-Jun looked at the direction his last sibling had disappeared in.

‘It won’t take long if they ran that way.’

***

“I can’t help but think we made a mistake in choosing our escape route,” said Sairan.

“To be exact, it’s my mistake. I should have looked for a better route since I lived here.”

“It was too dark to look for a different route. And Hwee-Kyung, you’re not a miner.”

Hwee-Kyung decided not to blame herself after hearing Sairan’s words. She wasn't in the greatest situation to blame herself either.

The route that the two took led to the salt mine. It was a dead end. There was another problem; the interior structure of the salt mine was very simple, which made tracking them easy, and because the path gradually became narrower, it would be difficult for someone big like Sairan to move through. It was only disadvantageous for them to hide deeper into the mine. And in addition to that, Sairan’s wound was only getting worse.

As they walked further into the mine, Sairan began to limp, and Hwee-Kyung had no other choice but to tell him to stop at that point. Sairan slowly nodded. Hwee-Kyung took off her coat and pressed it against Sairan’s wound, but blood kept seeping through.

“W-Wouldn’t it be better to take this out?”

“Without any other treatment, blood will gush out if we do that. Then I would not only have to fight Hwee-Jun, but also against my own blood. I would likely die.”

“Shit. What should we do?” n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“There are things that can’t be helped, Hwee-Kyung.”

At Sairan’s words, Hwee-Kyung felt like something she had exhausted long ago was about to come out again. It was tears.

“Hwee-Kyung, are you crying?”

“Don’t make fun of me. It’s not the time for that.”

“No, it's not that. It’s because I like it. Are you crying for me?”

“Yes. You big lizard. How are you saying you like anything when you’re dying?”

“Don’t worry. I have seen lots of people, both enemies and teammates, die by spears. I don’t know much, but I do know that if I can move this much, there’s a high chance that I’ll live if I get proper treatment.”

“Don’t speak like you’re talking about someone else. How would you receive proper treatment in a situation like this?”

Sairan’s mind went blank for a second, and he knew it was because he was losing too much blood. But he was still able to remain conscious for now. The problem was Hwee-Kyung, who was crying as she didn’t trust the words of the second best warrior.

Sairan asked, “Are you thinking about your curse?”

“Yes.”

“You think all this happened because of a curse?”

“Can you say otherwise?”

“...We’ve done a lot of reasoning for the past three weeks. So try to do that this time too. Start with the answer that you, Hwee-Kyung, are not cursed.”

Hwee-Kyung wiped her tears with the back of her hand and replied, “How come?”

“Think about the traps and attacks you’ve encountered for the past three weeks. Your siblings were always behind them. It wasn’t a coincidence or because there was a god that cursed people somewhere out there. People with clear hostility were the ones who attacked you, Hwee-Kyung.”

“I know that, but…”

“Of course you would want to say that all that hostility arose from your curse, but think of it in the opposite way. How have you survived until now? The fact that you met me, that Boss decided to help you in exchange of silk, that the Gyo family member helped you despite the interest you owed him, as well as the truth that the old Soo family miner told us and the secret of the fish merchant that saved our lives…aren’t these all results of coincidence? Hwee-Kyung, do you know what goodwills that happen coincidentally are called?”

Hwee-Kyung replied, “Luck?”

Yes, it’s luck.?

Hwee-Kyung thought time stopped for a moment. It was the voice of her heart that had been absent for the past three weeks.

You were born blessed, not cursed. However, someone…was afraid of their power…

‘Shut up.’

Hwee-Kyung held onto both of her horns, and time began to pass again. It seemed that Sairan wasn’t able to hear the voice inside Hwee-Kyung.

“You’re right. It’s luck,” said Sairan. “I took a look at the wheelbarrow that I retrieved the silk from when we first met. The wheel was broken because someone tampered with the axle of the wheel. I wasn’t able to tell you at the time, and I suspected it would have been one of your siblings after I learned that the Gyo family member was on our side.”

“What? But I borrowed the wheelbarrow before the actual successor fight began.”

“I thought that was strange too. Because until then, the fight to be the successor wasn’t a fight where siblings would kill each other. Don’t you also find it strange that someone would want to kill Hwee-Kyung, who was least important at the time, on purpose? But that evidence of tampering with the wheel on purpose suggests that someone had steadily been targeting you for a while.”

Hwee-Kyung felt her head ache.

Don’t you know the answer to this mystery?

‘I told you to shut up, didn’t I?’

Sairan began to worry as Hwee-Kyung felt a headache.

“Hwee-Kyung?”

“No, it’s nothing. It’s no time to worry about me…”

“You don’t have to worry about me because…”

“That’s not true. Please. Don’t say the word I don’t want you to say. Okay?”

Sairan said it anyway.

“I believe in Hwee-Kyung’s luck.”

Hwee-Kyung wished that luck existed. However, she knew that it wasn’t on her side. Many pairs of footsteps could be heard from the entrance of the salt cave, and Hwee-Jun’s soldiers appeared. Hundreds of steps away from them, down the straight corridor of the mine.

“There they are!”

Sairan barely managed to get up at the shout of the warrior.

Then Hwee-Jun, who commanded the soldiers, said, “The Lizardman has lost a lot of blood. And this is a salt mine. He won’t be able to break through the walls and run away like he did before.”

Those words seemed to raise the soldiers' fighting spirits, and the warriors slowly approached Sairan with their spears. Hwee-Kyung also got up and stood beside Sairan. She didn’t believe in luck. However, she had learned how to fight alongside Sairan without getting in his way in the past three weeks.

‘Alright. I at least won’t die blaming my curse. If I die, it’ll simply be my fault. Just like Sairan stayed by my side even when he thought it was dangerous.’

But Hwee-Kyung’s predictions were wrong.

As the soldiers and their fires got thirty steps closer, a blue light flashed between Sairan and the group of soldiers.

It was one who could be called luck.

Sairan, Hwee-Kyung, Hwee-Jun, and his soldiers were all mesmerized for a moment by the bright blue light flickering within the salt mine. The light formed into a flashing sphere that cast shadows behind the people in the cave. Those who had good vision were able to make out a strange square-shaped creature fluttering in the air. And as the mine began to dim, all the other people were also able to see the creature.

Just as the bright light disappeared, everyone heard a voice coming from within their hearts.

I am…

The flashing blue stingray spoke.

I am Pzzt.

Hwee-Kyung, who was used to surprising and novel things, heard the name and instinctively asked, “...Your name is Pzzt?”

Pzzt didn’t react in any way. It was the result of lots of practice.

Pzzt looked at Sairan and talked to him.

Sairan Muel, you have been chosen.