Gehran was an old man approaching sixty.
A night of thunderstorms. Quite unsuitable for checking the fence at his age.
With the muddy ground, Gehran’s legs already strained from walking had to move even slower than usual.
The small rural village of LaBrana on the outskirts of the Empire.
Doing a young man’s work in his old age, his body wouldn’t cooperate easily.
“Sure are getting frequent.”
The rain poured heavily. The freezing wind was an added bonus, and the occasional thunderclaps only worsed Gehran’s already poor vision.
Anyone watching might call it elder abuse, but surprisingly, Gehran was one of the younger folks in the village.
The LaBrana Village was a tiny rural farming community without a single young person.
As Gehran dragged his legs through the soggy mud, he eventually reached the fence.
Putting aside his rusted umbrella for a moment, he held up the single lamp he brought from home.
“It’s definitely around here somewhere.”
Depending solely on the lamp’s light, Gehran inspected the area near the fence.
“There it is.”
Among the straight sections of the fence, one post was tilting due to eroded soil, unable to stay firmly planted.
He wanted to fix it immediately, but his aging body screamed in protest against the pouring rain.
“Guess I can’t today…”
At the spot that needed repair, Gehran stomped his feet to leave marks, so he could easily identify it tomorrow.
Even this simple task of digging into the sticky mud wasn’t easy for the sixty-year-old Gehran. His legs barely supported him, and he wobbled a few times.
“Frustrating…”
Sighing deeply, it wasn’t about feeling sorry for himself.
It was frustrating reality that they had to rely on just a fence against the monsters living nearby in the forest.
The LaBrana Village had requested support from the Empire many times. Even sending just one guard would help.
But after four years, there was no reply or visitor to the village.
Simply put, the Empire had abandoned LaBrana.
A place with no young people. Helpless old men. A village destined to disappear soon.
From the Empire’s perspective, there was no reason to send soldiers.
Even tax collectors found it unprofitable to risk crossing the monster-infested forest for such a small farm.
Thus, LaBrana was land abandoned by the Empire where Gehran lived.
“Is it right to be discarded as useless…?”
Though on the outskirts, LaBrana was still part of the Empire. Yet because it didn’t benefit them, the Empire turned its back.
A cruel reality indeed.
Thud. Thud.
Having dug out the mud somewhat, Gehran shook off the dirt from his shoes and turned around. He wanted to hurry home and rest away from the rain.
Swish-
Suddenly, an unusual sound came from the forest behind him.
‘Just the wind?’
Though strong winds were blowing, this sound was definitely not wind rustling leaves. It was louder.
Crunch.
The distinct sound of someone stepping on twigs echoed clearly.
‘Monster…!’
Gehran tensed his legs to run immediately, but for some reason, he couldn’t move.
His feet had been stuck in the mud too long, which now soaked with rainwater, was swallowing his feet.
Trying to pull his foot out, but the small swamp wouldn’t let go easily.
In such situations, one should slowly lift their foot rather than using brute force – something Gehran knew well from living in the countryside.
Still…
Crunch-crunch!
The mysterious footsteps were nearing the bushes before him, leaving no time for calm actions.
‘Aaah… Is this it? Am I dying?’
He had expected something like this eventually. He never thought the waist-high wooden fence would protect the village from monster attacks anyway.
Trembling violently, Gehran stared at the source of the sound. Though scared, he wasn’t going to die quietly.
‘If I have to fight, I’ll smash it with the lamp!’
It wasn’t out of desperation to survive.
Rather, a resolve to kill the monster if it meant protecting the villagers who were probably sleeping peacefully now.
‘Even if I can’t kill it, I’ll at least blind it.’
Holding the folded umbrella and lamp tightly in both hands, Gehran glared intensely.
The determination in the old man’s eyes burned brighter than the lamp itself.
Contrasting with that bravery…
Squeak!
What emerged from the bushes wasn’t a monster but a blood-soaked young girl.
“What… What is this…?”
Gehran’s eyes widened in confusion. Everything made no sense – finding a young girl in the monster-infested forest during a storm, her torn clothes suggesting monster attacks yet her body seemingly fine.
“Haa… Haa…”
Then the girl collapsed with a thud after gasping for breath repeatedly.
All so inexplicable.
‘It’s not a monster…’
Just as he considered the possibility of a shapeshifting monster…
Clutch!
The fallen girl weakly grabbed onto Gehran’s clothes.
Looking into her eyes, he saw no life there – similar to emotionless monster eyes.
Definitely a monster. It had to be.
Gehran tried to maintain his rationality. Since she was unconscious, he could easily stab her with the lamp or umbrella ends and save the village.
This was his chance to protect the village without dying.
‘…I must kill it!’
Even if it turned out to be human, abandoning his own village that the Empire had forsaken was unacceptable.
The hand holding the umbrella tightened, and Gehran raised it high toward the sky to strike down.
At that moment…
“…Sa.”
The girl’s lips moved.
Gehran’s movement naturally halted, then…
“…Hero.”
The umbrella aimed at the girl’s throat fell limply to the ground.
Footsteps sank into the muddy ground.
Was it from carrying the girl, or guilt from hesitating to kill?
Gehran’s footprints in the mud were unusually heavy.
His steps were slow. Though he should have reached the village by now, darkness still surrounded him.
“What am I doing…”
Carrying the possibly dead girl on his back, Gehran wore a complicated expression.
Was bringing her to the village really the right choice?
She could be a monster capable of speaking human language.
Thinking he might be leading the villagers to their doom made him swallow nervously.
The acrid smell of blood came from the girl’s crimson-stained clothes.
Gehran realized it was human blood.
So, whose blood?
Monster blood was purple-toned. This meant it had to be from mountain animals or humans.
Having grown up in the mountains, Gehran could distinguish between animal and human blood.
Simply put, it was human blood staining her clothes.
Glancing at the limp girl on his back, her appearance suggested a monster attack, yet her body was intact.
That made it even more suspicious.
If it wasn’t her blood, then whose?
And why was she covered in someone else’s blood?
Various thoughts crossed his mind, each leading to more questions.
The heavy and slow steps finally reached their destination.
The faint glow illuminating the village.
A few more steps and he’d reach the long-desired village.
However, Gehran’s steps stopped resolutely.
‘Even now…’
Killing the girl would return him to normal life.
He should have killed her already.Back at the fence, everything should have ended there.
But he couldn’t.
It wasn’t because he was overly kind.
– “Mom, I want to be a hero! Someone who helps struggling people like us!”
A childish declaration from a young boy born in LaBrana Village long ago.
An innocent child’s dream.An unfulfilled young boy’s dream.An old man’s cherished dream kept deep in his heart until now.
Hero.
Gehran wanted to be a hero who readily helped those in need.
The girl’s reaching hand.The dreamy old man couldn’t bring himself to reject it.
Trudge-
With a splash in the mud,time resumed its flow.
News of Gehran carrying the girl spread quickly through the small village.Given there were only less than twenty elderly residents, it became quite the scandalous rumor.
The presence of a young teenager in a village of elders felt extraordinary.
By morning, the elderly gathered at the community hall to see the girl.
“Her skin is so fair.”“Is she still unconscious?”“Is she dead?”“Looks like it’s too late.”
Despite the fire lit on the floor, the girl’s body remained cold.The heartbeat that should be thumping if she were alive was silent.
Everyone thought she had passed away. Gehran felt the same.
‘I must be losing my mind.’
Looking at the motionless girl, he was consumed by guilt.There was no doubt she was human.
He felt guilty for attempting to kill her with his own hands.
Attempting to kill an already dead girl again.Planning to gouge out her eyes, pierce her body, and throw her beyond the fence.
‘I’m no different from those selfish imperial bastards.’
How could someone like him dream of becoming a hero?
With a bitter expression, Gehran stepped out of the hall.In his hand was the umbrella he had left behind last night.
Raising his arm holding the umbrella,he focused on the sharp corner.
Gulp.
The tension seeping out. Unconsciously, he swallowed.
How much would it hurt?For an old countryman, it was an incomprehensibly vast pain.
“I shouldn’t just imagine it.”
He had to feel it himself. That pain.To truly understand how disgraceful his words and actions were.
Gehran’s trembling hand finally moved.As the sharp edge approached, almost touching his eye…
“Hey, she’s awake!”
A commotion erupted from behind.
*
The girl had awakened once more.
How many times had she been reborn? To her, counting was meaningless since nothing changed whether she lived or died.
She thought this was another cycle of wandering through the forest until being eaten by monsters.
“Are you regaining consciousness?”
She thought this was just another life.
