2nd Rank Has Returned

Two-Headed Ouroboros-1

“It’s too late to come out.”

Outside the fortune teller, Leonardo looked worried about Arya, who had not appeared for more than 30 minutes.

“Because prophecy is not so easy to come by.”

Leonardo knew that too.

Prophecy is information that has been split into fragments of causality and entered into humans in some form.

It was similar to an oracle, but there was a crucial difference in prophecy.

‘…It is absolutely not a story for the person concerned.’

An oracle is a revelation from God that advises on the direction to go.

Prophecy is gossip that can come from all directions.

The result was, at least, better than the oracle’s prophecy. At least, unlike prophecy, oracles give room for thought and direction. Prophecy was not as kind as oracles and revelations.

‘…After all, if you don’t know, even if you go in…’

“…here, Leo.”

Dean was turning his head out of the alley outside the shop. Judging from the fact that he was clenching his fangs with his arms crossed, his expression was thoughtful.

“Suddenly… I’m sorry to ask, but did something happen when you joined the Mercenary Guild?”

It was a sudden word.

Words that have nothing to do with this situation.

But Leo answered, thinking that Dean might be curious about life as a mercenary.

“Well… after all, it was difficult to sign up.”

A 10-year-old is not an irregular fighter, and registering as an official mercenary is not difficult, so it was close to absurd.

“The guild leader was very opposed to it at first.”

When he gave the name of his mother, Ren, the guild leader was more vehemently opposed to Leo’s joining. Perhaps it was because he didn’t want to see him follow the same train as Ren, the current Leo thought.

“…how did you convince me then?”

“I just fought a werewolf named Dean and said that I had won properly, and he gave me a chance.”

It wasn’t a lie. The guild leader also knew that Dean was a werewolf and that he was a competent hunter, even through rumors.

“How is that right?! On the subject of a very cowardly fight!!”

“What did you say? I do not remember?”

When Dean stopped him from leaving town, the werewolf said so.

-If you want to go out and die like that, knock me out first. by any means.

So, Leonardo deliberately pretended to resign and pretend to be still, practicing his body, and pre-installed various booby traps.

“So I just did it. If you don’t like it, you should have set the conditions well.”

It was a tone that seemed to be sullen, a tone that was seen only between siblings or in a jingling family.

“You still have a conscience! You say you won that?!”

It was understandable that the ax was fixed on the tree to make it easy to break. As a hunter, traps were a basic tactic.

“Are you pretending to be hurt with fake blood?! Even thinking about it now, it makes me cringe!”

“It’s real blood. It’s animal blood that I got from Uncle Jeff.”

When Dean flew away, Leo deliberately rolled over and crashed into a tree.

And at the same time, when Dean approached worriedly, the fake blood from his mouth completely wet his eyes and nose with the blood of an animal, making him unable to do his job.

For the rest, they broke all the trees they had prepared and pressed Dean to subdue them.

[Since I was young, my buds have been yellow.]

＜So at first I thought I was a genius.＞

But when Aria ran into a big wall, she realized that it was an illusion.

“Even thinking about it now, my broken bones sting!!”

“Then you don’t need the money that your brother gave you, right? From next month…”

“But, I was worried that my beloved Donsaeng would suffer outside the house, and my heart ached even more…!”

Did you say ‘Don Saeng’ now? The pronunciation of my brother’s ‘dong’ was very similar to the pronunciation of the cash ‘money’.

Is this an illusion?

[Think of paying for treatment. There is nothing to say even if I get kicked out of town.]

＜I admit it.＞

Even after doing such a bad thing, he cried out that he had won and ran out of town as if he had run away halfway.

Before my return, I didn’t even dare to go back, so I didn’t even contact them when I was working for the family.

“So, did you adapt well?”

“You did well with the taste of porridge.”

To be honest, life as a mercenary was really worth dying for.

The guild leader said that he should first gain experience by traveling with a veteran mercenary, and Leo agreed to that, and teamed up with a middle-aged mercenary.

[But you got eaten?]

＜I didn’t eat it, I almost did it. I feel really bad because I remember it again.＞

One night in the hut, a middle-aged mercenary secretly drank alcohol and tied himself up with a rope with alcohol.

＜At first I thought it was a joke.＞

Because he was someone I trusted.

Because I thought of him as a colleague who gave me his back.

While the middle-aged mercenary took off his pants and tried to set things up, Leo used thick thorns protruding from the floor to sharpen the rope that bound his arms.

Then he pulled out the thorn that had cut the rope, pretended to be friendly with him, and just before committing the offense, he thrust the thorn into his groin, and took the long sword that was used as a threat and cut off his breath.

[…was that the first time you killed someone?]

＜At least among my acquaintances.＞

At first, he was determined to live as a mercenary and kill people.

However… If I ate something for over a week, it seemed like I would continue to vomit, so I could barely digest it by forcing the porridge to dilute it with as much water as possible.

＜After that, I almost died a few times because of betrayal and a lot of back work.＞

Even though he thought he was just a friend of his age, he was stupid.

After all, it is human to abandon friends to live in the nest where spider monsters appear, but it was disappointing.

＜In the end, he died.＞

After that, I had the opportunity to make friends a few times, but at that time, I didn’t even think about having someone by my side because of my puberty and trauma so badly that I didn’t trust people.

“…there were no mercenaries close at that time? A mercenary who knows Ren…”

“… Me and my mother became quite famous in the mercenary industry, but that didn’t mean I belonged anywhere.”

So, it was more difficult to track down the mother, Ren. However, if there was a characteristic, he received a silver-grade mercenary plaque, but most of the work was done in that he received only commissions to receive wages with little risk.

And although this is only a personal guess, my mother always had a tendency to take a break from missions or always fail quests when it was time to raise the rank.

The staff and the guild leader said it was a leap forward, but for some reason, Leo asked the guild leader for a favor and heard that thought every time he went to the archives.

“Perhaps… it would be difficult to level up too much, so maybe that’s why.”

Obviously, if you become a gold mercenary, your income will increase, but your chances of receiving an easy quest will decrease.

That is why Ren must have made such a judgment and choice in order to keep his promise to return home as soon as possible and safely.

Because it wasn’t even the silver coins, the income itself, or the poor.

“…So… Ren is definitely a member of the mercenary, isn’t he?”

“what’s the matter? anew. There were drawings and even printed photos attached to the archives.”

I checked it over and over again to avoid confusion myself. I checked the habits and behaviors carefully, but there were no abnormalities.

It was confirmed that he had a unique scar on his wrist, even though he suffered burns.

“…Dean, why are you talking like that all of a sudden?”

Anus asked Dean’s question, which was not surprising or even bizarre.

“…just. When I was a mercenary, I didn’t seem to talk much.”

Dean rubbed his nose with a puzzled expression.

This was the first time I wished that my sense of smell would rust.

“…but it’s too late, lady. once…”

Before I could even say, “Let’s check it out,” a girl came out walking through the tent.

To be called a girl now, though, she had a serious and thoughtful expression on her face.

“…was the prophecy bad? Shall I go to the Prophet too?”

Arya looked into Leo’s eyes. But for some reason, I didn’t think the focus was right. It was as if he were looking at a black bird in the dark.

“…Leo.”

Arya asked with trembling eyes and mouth.

“This year… are we 19 years old?”

“…”

I think a lot.

Why are you asking your ‘now’ age?

What is the reason that emphasizes us more than that?

Could it be that the prophet spoke of a return?

Or the past? any future?

If so, how much do you know?

If you really know, you can ask right away, why not?

Should I hide it? should i say

How do I hide it?

If so, how far should I say it?

Are you thinking about it?

Then how…

“…After all, Leo’s birthday is ambiguous, so it’s unreasonable to say that he is exactly 19 years old.”

It was then that Dean spoke out of nowhere.

“…Is your birthday ambiguous?”

“There is a birthday, but I’m not sure because it coincided with the date Leo came to town.”

Anus clicked his tongue and dragged it out. Ren said that he didn’t tell the story of his son’s birthday even when he died.

“…ah….”

Dean’s expression darkened after a while. Not because it was just a gloomy story, but because the reasoning that something was still unclear about was becoming more credible.

“There is nothing to say. Every time my mom came, I always brought a present.”

They made dolls that looked like large snakes, horns that made a good sound when blown by the wind, and sometimes even carved wooden horses and swings by themselves.

“I couldn’t tell you my birthday… it must have been something.”

Leo was also guessing to some extent.

The reason he doesn’t have a birthday is probably because he is related to his father, who doesn’t even exist.

Because Ren was always busy changing the subject when it came to his father.

He said that he would let me know if he became an adult enough… Now that I’m an adult, the story behind it was roughly expected.

‘…I’m thankful that I gave birth to him and raised him in the village.’

Especially if it was an unintentional child.

“…I see.”

“…so it seems difficult to explain.”

Arya raised her lips, barely giving strength to her gloomy expression.

“…I’m okay.”

“…Yes, I…”

“Leo.”

Arya cuts out Leo’s lies.

As if he had cut everything as a warrior.

“If you are okay with it,”

Leo went to the tent and rolled up the fortune teller’s door.

“I’m fine too.”

But at those words, my body stopped for a moment.

“…mi…”

The sage was not looking at himself apologizing.

Clearly, his gaze was turned toward Arya.

But the sting of that gaze seemed to be shot at him with his stomach.

“…thanks.”

In the place where the apology disappeared, thanks went into it.

“Thank you as always.”

at any moment.

at any time.

Simultaneously with thanks, Leo was about to leave the place.

“…thank you…”

However.

“Don’t thank me any more.”

Arya’s contradiction catches him.

Arya caught Leo’s contradiction.

“…you worked hard…”

at any moment.

“…you didn’t give up…”

at any moment.

“…you are… the most…”

For this to be painful.

“…”

＜……＞

‘………’

There were no tears on Arya’s face.

But why?

I had the illusion that I was crying.

The illusion that Arya’s tears were flowing from my cheeks instead.