Chapter Thirty: The grandparents who know me

After we all agreed to begin the journey to the town, one of the members brought out a cart. It was large enough to accommodate all twelve of us, sturdy with thick wheels and wooden planks reinforced with iron.
When we climbed inside, the leader filled me in on the details…
Apparently, the monsters had been seen earlier that morning by travelers passing near the town. They claimed a magical gate had opened not far from the village of Gagi. In this world, once a monster gate appears, it doesn’t immediately spew creatures. It lingers, ominous and silent, for an entire day—giving time for word to spread and adventurers to arrive from afar.
But when the monsters finally emerge, it doesn’t matter who stands before them—man, woman, child—they kill indiscriminately.
“We will be able to get there by nightfall if we don’t waste any time,” the leader said firmly.


And so, we set off. The journey would take over six hours. It was already noon; if fortune favored us, we would arrive around seven in the evening.
At first, the trip was peaceful. The cart rocked steadily as the horses clopped along the dirt road. Some of the men struck up conversations inside while the leader and another member rode in the front. Ten of us sat in the back—every one of them human.
It seemed this squad was entirely composed of humans. That was natural, considering we were still in the human lands. Still, I couldn’t help but think how different the journey might have been if an elven girl or two had been among us. Instead, the group was made up of rough-looking men, most of them young but worn by hardship to the point they looked middle-aged.
I was the only one under twenty. By this world’s standards, a minor like me had no place defending villages against monsters. But this world had already taught me a hard truth: every man fends for himself.
No. That wasn’t good enough.
I had to prove them wrong. I had to show that people should stand together—that the strong must support the weak, and the weak must give their strength in return. Otherwise, only more innocent lives would be lost for nothing.
But the bitterness inside me grew. People here were rotten. You help someone, and they don’t even thank you. The old man to whom I had given that envelope treated me like trash. I tried to forget it, but sitting idle in the cart, it gnawed at me.
Orthin had told me his family was poor—yet they turned out to be the wealthiest in town. And the envelope he gave me contained nothing of worth. Now I understood why other adventurers had refused his request. Perhaps deceiving people was his habit. Or maybe fate itself had pushed this quest onto me—so that I would meet these people, the ones truly willing to risk their lives for others.
When Orthin tossed that single gold coin at me, I had regretted accepting the quest. But now… now I was grateful.
I didn’t know what kind of monsters would emerge from the gate, but my experience with monsters so far would not go to waste.
As the cart rattled on, my attention drifted to the men’s voices. They had begun speaking about why they fought.
> “I grew up an orphan… My parents and my whole family were killed by a wave of monsters. Ever since then, I swore to kill every monster I see.” The man at my right spoke with grim conviction.


> “I vowed to my father before he passed away… that I’d continue doing the right thing until the day I die.” The man next to him said quietly.


The voices moved in an anticlockwise circle. One by one, each man revealed what drove him to fight. Eventually, all eyes turned to me.
I hesitated. Then…
> “As for me… I don’t have any grand reason like you guys do. If something’s wrong, I want to correct it. If someone needs saving, I want to save them. That’s why I fight alongside you. You could say I just want to be satisfied with my life.”
The cart went silent.
> “………”


Then—
> “You’re the best!!” they roared in unison, so loud the leader peeked inside to see what had happened.
Hours later, the journey was half done. I sat at the very back of the cart, staring out into the open road. The rear was uncovered, giving me a clear view of the passing scenery.
That was when something struck me like lightning.
A familiar sight.
I leapt from the moving cart, my boots thudding against the ground. A wave of nostalgia struck me.
Before me stood a tree. Beside it, a massive rock. Nothing else but endless fields stretching beyond.
This was it. This was the place I had first opened my eyes in this world.
And that tree… that was where Milta had fallen when we met.
> “Hey! What’s wrong!?” the men shouted, jumping down as the cart screeched to a halt.


> “No… it’s nothing.” I muttered, forcing my feet back to the cart.


The leader glanced at me but said nothing, simply ordering everyone to get back in. The journey resumed, but the feeling in my chest lingered.
Nostalgia. Loneliness.
Milta.
Her gentle smile, her soft voice, her kindness. I had tried to forget her, but now her memory clawed its way back. She had promised to adventure with me, but fate had pulled us apart. She was somewhere out there, healing the wounded, using her powers for good.
The ache stayed with me until dusk, when we finally reached Gagi village.
And that was when everything changed…

---
When we arrived at Gagi village, the sky was painted crimson with the last light of day. We had rested only thirty minutes during the long ride. On the outskirts, we came across the gate—it was already beginning to close, shimmering faintly like a crack between worlds.
The leader warned us that the monsters must have already reached the village. By the time we drew closer, darkness had fallen. Those among us who could wield fire magic lit torches, casting flickering light across the empty roads.
As we approached, I noticed a lone farmhouse on a hill to the left, surrounded by fields. A single-story home with a barn beside it. Oddly enough, despite the chaos, the monsters had left it untouched.
We stripped the covers from the cart to gain a full view of our surroundings. Then I saw it—a translucent bubble rising skyward, the same type of barrier I’d seen protecting Rogo.
What was the point of these barriers if monsters could simply slip past them?
There was no time to dwell on it. Screams suddenly tore through the night.
> “Disperse and kill every monster you find!!” the leader commanded.
At once, everyone leapt from the cart and scattered into the village. In a blink, I was left alone. Strangely, none of them had rushed toward the screams. Maybe they could sense the monsters differently with their magic?
I sprinted toward the cries.
There—a woman pinned beneath a grotesque creature. Beside her, a terrified child trembled, unable to move.
The monster was unlike anything I had faced before—its limbs long and twisted, its hands skeletal, its mouth stretched wide enough to swallow a man whole. A whip-like tail lashed behind it.
> “Run away…” the woman whispered weakly to the boy.


The beast’s weight crushed her, though she was otherwise unharmed.
I dashed forward, springing into the air like a gazelle, sword drawn and aimed at its neck. My training had sharpened my speed—midair, I slashed with precision.
Before I even landed, the monster burst into flames.
> “What!!?” I cried in disbelief.It was weak. Far too weak. Even a scorpion would have lasted longer. The thing collapsed into ash, leaving only a its stone behind.
I ignored it and ran deeper into the village.
A cluster of monsters awaited, lurking in the dark. Raising my hand, I unleashed the power I’d inherited from the eagle—the golden wave.
The night was drowned in radiant light. When it faded, only stones littered the street.
> What the hell…!?


How could monsters be this weak?
As I pressed on, I passed bloodied survivors. Some lay dead, others moaned in pain.
> “What happened here!?” I demanded, lifting an injured demi-human from the ground.
> “The monsters… they absorb…” he whispered, then slumped unconscious.
Absorb? My mind reeled. These monsters were strange.
I laid him down and pushed forward. That was when I saw it—a fire at the end of an alley between two houses. I squeezed through the narrow passage, careful with each step, until I recognized the man ahead.
It was one of the companions from the cart. He gripped a torch desperately, brandishing it against a monster. His sword remained sheathed at his waist.
> Why the hell is he fighting with a torch instead of his blade?
He stumbled and fell. The monster advanced slowly.
> “What are you doing!? Kill it!!” I shouted from the shadows of the alley.
He turned to me, eyes wide and filled with raw terror—the eyes of a man staring into death itself.
> “Save me!!” he screamed.
I froze. The monsters are so weak… Why is he acting like this?
I wanted him to stand. To prove his resolve. To fight back. But I was wrong.
The monster leapt, crashing down with its legs. The man struggled, but the beast wrapped him in its skeletal arms. Slowly, impossibly, his body sank into the monster’s flesh.
Badump. Badump.
My chest tightened as horror struck me.
In a flash, I closed the distance and cleaved the beast apart. It dissolved into dust, leaving another stone.
But it was too late. The man was gone—swallowed whole before my eyes. His desperate stare lingered in my mind.
> “What is going on here!?” I roared.
Why hadn’t he drawn his sword? Was he truly that much of a coward?
I soon learned the truth. These monsters weren’t weak at all—they were deceptive. They could crush a man in their hands, slice through walls with their tails, yet when I struck, they fell instantly. To me, they were fragile as glass. To others, they were certain death.
I found another of my companions. He too had been killed, consumed by the same nightmare.
Rage consumed me.
I ran wild through the village, moving at blistering speed, cutting down every monster I encountered. I saved the leader himself from three of them who had cornered him while he shielded a child. By the end, my blade had slain over a hundred.
When the chaos finally died and the last monster crumbled into dust, the survivors gathered.
The leader delivered a speech, voice heavy with grief and pride. Two of his men had died, nine remained. Yet as I counted, only four stood there. I assumed the others had gone to gather the stones left behind.
When the villagers came out, we were hailed as heroes. They praised me, calling me the “Hundred Monster Slayer.” My so-called comrades urged me to wait by a shop, promising to return soon.
But twenty minutes later, they hadn’t come back.
Then, the shouting began.
> “Thieves!!” the villagers cried, torches blazing in their hands.
The air shifted. Dozens of eyes turned toward me.
> “That’s him! He’s one of them!!” a man accused.
I froze. Looked behind me. No one else. Only me.
Chains rattled as men stepped forward, their eyes filled with killing intent.
> “Get him!!”


The chains lashed through the air like serpents, striking with uncanny accuracy.
I didn’t think—I ran. Faster than any of them, vanishing into the night.
In seconds, I had left the village behind. I stumbled into a vast farmland. The crops, though cloaked in darkness, looked vaguely like potatoes—though the leaves were broad, alien in size.
After five minutes, I found a farmhouse with a barn nearby. Exhausted, I slipped inside.
Inside the barn were animals—cows. Real cows. Just like those from my world. My heart leapt at the familiar sight. For the first time in a long while, something reminded me of home.
I could have left the barn if I had wanted to, but I didn’t even know where I was. Returning to the capital right now was impossible—I didn’t have a dragon, horse, a cart, or even the faintest idea of the roads.
To think those people would trick me into helping them steal… Why am I not surprised?
I didn’t blame myself for what I’d done. Because of them, I had been able to save many lives today. Still, the truth stung. While their leader distracted the villagers with speeches about being allies of the people, the rest of his men slipped into houses and robbed the townsfolk blind.
By the wall inside the barn, I found a stack of hay and lowered myself onto it. The moment I touched it, a wave of drowsiness washed over me. My body begged for rest. I told myself I’d just close my eyes for a short while—before the owners returned at dawn, assuming they weren’t among the villagers already.
Less than a second after lying down, I drifted into sleep.
And then came the dream.
A girl with long, flowing black hair appeared before me. Her hair brushed the ground with each step, and she was clad entirely in black. It was my first time seeing such a beautiful figure. For a fleeting second, I thought it might turn into a wet dream—until fate decided otherwise.
In the middle of my slumber, something icy drenched me.
> “This is not the type of wet dream I wanted…” I muttered groggily, before peeling my eyes open.
Water ran down every inch of me. My clothes clung to my body, soaked through. Droplets slid from my hair and nose. I tried to ignore it, desperate to sink back into the haze of sleep.
> “Let me sleep for a while~” I mumbled.
But then another surge of water splashed over me.
> “What!!??” I shot upright, sputtering.Standing before me was an old woman, gray hair neatly braided, her palms raised and dripping with residual water magic. Her face was twisted in irritation.
A human.
“Umm…”
Memory crashed back into me—the trickery, the speech, the theft. Without making excuses, I turned on my heel and bolted for the back door of the barn. Luckily, it had two exits. I didn’t even glance back.
I could feel her glare burning into me as I ran, certain she wanted me dead just like the others.
Out in the fields, my feet pounded between rows of crops. Then, the earth erupted.
A hulking monster rose from the ground.
It wasn’t exactly a monster—it was worse. A golem.
Made of stone, its colossal form towered over me, humanoid in shape with arms, legs, and a jagged face. Its features were crude, yet its rocky eyes glowed with a lifeless menace.
Adrenaline surged. I dashed straight under its legs.
The golem raised one massive foot and slammed it down.
BOOM!
The ground convulsed. The tremor threw me off balance, and I hit the dirt.
> “Shit!” I cursed, scrambling up—only to see an old man in farmer’s clothing glaring daggers at me from a distance.


Are all the old people in this world like this!??
I didn’t stick around to ask. I bolted again, the thunderous footsteps of the golem close behind. It crushed rows of crops beneath its weight, but the old man didn’t even flinch.
> “Is catching me more important than your crops!!??” I shouted over my shoulder.The golem was slow, its massive limbs dragging against the soil. There was no way it could match my speed. I vanished from its sight, weaving through the endless farm until I finally burst free.
Exhausted, I climbed a tree at the edge of the field. From up there, I tore off my mask—just in case. I couldn’t change my soaked clothes, but at least I could argue innocence if someone accused me of last night’s chaos.
My eyelids drooped. Just when I was about to drift off, the wind howled.
I opened my eyes—and the entire tree was in the sky.
Below me, the golem’s leg was still extended from its devastating kick.
> “What the hell!!!??” I screamed as the tree soared, then plummeted.
It crashed into the earth with bone-rattling force. Miraculously, I emerged unscathed, though shaken to the core. Half the tree had been blasted skyward, its stem left jutting from the ground like a broken spear.
I crawled free of the splinters and stumbled—only to freeze at the sight of a looming shadow.
A massive fist bore down on me, mere meters away, rushing like a boulder in freefall.
> “Oh no…” I breathed, heart stopping.
The fist was already less than a meter from my face when—
> “STOP!!” the old man roared.
The golem froze mid-strike.
Its fist hung centimeters from my head, the shockwave alone strong enough to shove the shattered tree behind me several meters away.
The construct bent on one knee, frozen in obedience, its arm locked like a statue.
I couldn’t move. My body was stiff with terror, my mind blank with the thought of what would’ve happened if that punch had connected.
Then, the old man and woman stepped forward, past the massive golem.
Their eyes widened. Their mouths fell open in shock.
> “Is… Is that you… Sora?”


……!!!
My chest tightened. My breath caught.
How the hell do they know my name?