NOVEL NEXT Chapter 38 - Rubina (2)
-Her parents died a few years ago. She and her sister were barely making ends meet, with her sister helping with odd jobs around the village.
-Whenever I went to that house, I only saw her sleeping.
-The child was very shy and rarely came out, so I don’t know much…
-I thought she couldn’t even speak.
After the church people left and the village quieted down, Yona walked around listening to stories about Rubina and became troubled.
It would be easy to just leave her behind.
Leaving her where she was would make everything simple.
Only Yona’s conscience would be a bit uncomfortable.
“…Ah, shit.”
Yona sat on a rock in the open space behind the village where the troll’s corpse had been, irritably scratching her head.
Not having washed her hair for days, it felt greasy, and scratching it felt unpleasant, worsening her mood.
“What’s wrong now?”
Turning to see who was speaking, it was Alec.
“Move your head, baldy. It’s blinding.”
“Come on.”
“Did you come for healing?”
“My hair follicles aren’t dead yet.”
“Let’s say that’s true.”
Alec chuckled and sat down next to Yona.
As their hips bumped, Alec unconsciously shifted to create a small gap.
“So, what’s wrong? Is it because of that kid?”
“Yeah. Ah shit, this is really troubling.”
Alec stared at Yona.
With her face full of annoyance, chin resting on her hand, glaring ahead, it was really-
“Can’t you just do what you feel like doing?”
“The problem is I don’t know what I feel like doing…”
Yona sighed deeply and her hand slowly moved towards Alec’s head.
After stroking Alec’s head a few times, Yona looked at him with a blank expression.
“Hey, it feels weird when you touch with your holy cloth-wrapped hand. Come to the left.”
“You crazy… huh.”
Even so, Alec promptly stood up and sat on Yona’s left side.
“Yeah, yeah. Very nice. What if my tattoo transfers to your head?”
Yona started stroking Alec’s head with her bare left hand.
The smooth, polished feeling was quite pleasant.
“Anyway… leaving her behind doesn’t sit right with me.”
Indeed, the option of leaving her behind was really not appealing.
Just from what she heard from the villagers, if they left her here, the only future that came to mind was her starving to death.
She couldn’t speak properly, was shy, so she probably couldn’t even do odd jobs around the village for wages, and thus couldn’t even beg.
-Honestly, she couldn’t sell her body in this small village, and such a young child couldn’t do that anyway.
“But taking her with us…”
Yona was already slowing down their travel speed.
If they included Rubina, wouldn’t it slow them down even more?
“It would have been perfect if that church had an orphanage.”
“Yeah.”
Yona nodded at Alec’s words.
-Although it’s called a church, it’s actually focused on being an educational facility. I don’t think it has an affiliated orphanage. I’ve never seen one…
That’s what the beastkin had said with an apologetic face.
Moreover, since it’s the Celestial Church’s doctrine to willingly extend a hand to those in need, even more so.
“Hey, Yona.”
“Hm.”
Yona responded in a disinterested voice.
Alec opened his mouth while looking at the outline of the hunting knife visible through the silhouette on her left thigh.
“Do you remember our first request together?”
“…Why bring that up suddenly?”
“Do you remember?”
“I remember.”
It was a request to exterminate wild goblins.
It wasn’t as grand as “extermination” sounds; it was the first request they took on the day they registered at the adventurers’ guild. Since it was quite difficult for two iron-rank adventurers to form a party, they went out just the two of them.
It was a very small nest with four wild goblins.
Although they were goblins, they were low-level monsters the size of young children, so they cautiously agreed that the two of them could handle it, but it wasn’t an easy task.
They barely managed to catch them.
Yona was a healer, so she couldn’t hold a weapon in her right hand, and she borrowed the round shield that Alec had attached to his shield as a double shield. Looking back now, it was a laughable struggle as she smashed the goblins’ heads with that shield.
So, feeling proud that wild goblins weren’t a big deal, they were gathering the loot when, unfortunately, three wild goblins that had gone out hunting returned.
Having exhausted their strength catching four goblins, the two had no means to face three goblins enraged by the death of their kin, so they ran away.
And in the midst of that, a small child who seemed to have lost their way appeared in front of the two.
Thinking coldly, the child could have just run away on their own.
Whatever happened to the child, right behind them were three goblins in a frenzy over the death of their kin, so if they didn’t want to die, the two of them could just run away.
But then-
“Huff, eh, eh- shit, huff, gasp, gasp… damn it all–!”
Alec turned back while running at Yona’s curse-filled shout.
Yona, who had scooped up the child, was desperately running while gradually slowing down.
With her face bright red, eyes brimming with tears, she was running, but her speed kept decreasing.
Behind her, the goblins were chasing relentlessly, and their daggers, though covered in rust, gleamed with the light of potentially fatal poison to humans.
Who knows where such courage came from.
Yona didn’t let go of the child she was hugging.
“Ah, shit, sob, huff, gasp- hick, damn it…!”
Alec was the same.
Who knows where such courage came from, but Alec also jumped in front of Yona with his shield forward.
The shield deflected the goblin’s arm faster than the stabbing dagger.
With a crack, the dagger flew away, and Alec swung his hammer to bash the goblin’s head.
Meanwhile, another goblin’s dagger deeply stabbed into Alec’s shoulder area.
“Arghhhh-!”
Along with Alec’s scream, another shield smashed down on that goblin’s head.
With a chilling scream, as soon as the goblin fell away, the dagger stuck in Alec’s shoulder was quickly pulled out, and a hand wrapped in pure white holy cloth caressed the wound.
As if by magic, the pain subsided and the wound began to disappear.
“You crazy woman, if I die it’s because of you?!”
“I won’t let you die! Trust me, baldy!”
“…Yeah, that did happen.”
Yona clicked her tongue.
There was such an incident during their first request.
She’s not sure why, but she must have thought that if they left the child, they would surely die.
She might have also thought her dreams would be troubled if they didn’t help.
“So why did you do it then?”
Alec poked Yona’s side, grinning.
It was a gesture without any real force, just like an exchange of greetings between them.
“I didn’t want to have troubled dreams.”
“Weren’t you worried about what would happen if I died too?”
“I wasn’t worried about you then.”
“And now?”
“……”
Yona didn’t answer.
Without answering, she got down from the rock she was sitting on and stretched widely.
“Hey, why aren’t you answering?”
“I’m not going to tell you, you bald bastard.”
As she said this, Yona turned around sharply.
As if she had made up her mind, her eyes were determined.
“Kairoc.”
“You came at a good time. Come here and sit down.”
Kairoc and James were already sitting at the table.
Rubina was already sitting next to James, and they seemed to have become quite close, as Rubina didn’t seem to mind James’ hand, larger than her head, patting her head.
Four leather pouches were placed on the table.
They looked quite heavy just by appearance, both in thickness and bulk.
“This is the reward for killing the troll. Two gold coins. I got it in silver coins to make it easier to divide.”
“Oh ho.”
Yona’s eyes sparkled as she approached the table and sat down.
As Alec also came and sat next to her, Kairoc picked up the leather pouches and placed one each in front of Yona and Alec with a thud, making a clinking sound of coins.
A sound that naturally improved their mood just by hearing it.
Both Yona and Alec were adventurers after all, so the reward they received for their work was truly precious.
“Do you have something to say to me?”
After confirming that they had taken their leather pouches, Kairoc asked Yona.
“Oh, yes. I do have something to say.”
Kairoc stared at Yona.
Even as she answered, she kept glancing at the little girl – ah, such an easy-to-read woman, he thought.s are truly weak beings.
They are beings who spend an exceptionally long childhood, and beings who cannot survive that long, long childhood alone.
Perhaps if it weren’t for their fertility, desire for challenge, and vigorous thirst for knowledge, they would never have formed an empire – such an inferior race.
Although it was difficult for Kairoc to understand, he didn’t feel like reproaching Yona.
“You want to take that girl with us.”
“Huh? Oh, y-yeah… That’s right.”
Yona nodded with a surprised expression, as if caught off guard.
He had thought this would be the case.
He had also come to some conclusions through manly talks with James.
“Alright. You want to take her to the church orphanage in the Grand Duchy of Capatia. …It’s on our way anyway. Kairoc, I’m sorry for constantly interfering with your journey home.”
Yona lowered her eyes and bowed her head slightly.
In fact, the journey home and such were just excuses, but – it was because of aspects like this that Kairoc highly regarded Yona.
It wouldn’t matter much even if they were delayed by three or four days.
“Okay, but for adventurers to accommodate each other, there needs to be proper compensation.”
At those words, Yona put the leather pouch she had taken back on the table.
Even among comrades, they were adventurers.
If she had caused them trouble, it was right to provide appropriate compensation.
Kairoc pulled that leather pouch towards himself.
Without hesitation, he opened the mouth of the leather pouch and poured it out, and silver coins spilled onto the table with a dazzling shine.
“Me, James, Alec. I’ll distribute your share to us three. Understand?”
“…Yes, I have no complaints.”
Yona nodded.
It was rather clean-cut.
Settling with money without feelings of guilt or indebtedness – it was rather clean.