#22
Helmut
Episode 22
Chapter 2 Encountering a new world
Fourteen-year-old Finn was a member of a small to medium-sized but well-reputed group of Faith mercenaries.
A boy with the skills to be considered a level 4 mercenary with a bronze medal.
As an orphan, he has been a member of the Face Mercenary Corps since childhood and has been responsible for running miscellaneous errands.
‘I think things will change when I get a few more years older!’
For that, experience was needed. Finn went on this mission as a messenger.
A large request came in to hire a large number of mercenaries from the Face Mercenary Group.
Finn, who was very nervous as it was his first mission and was not used to camping, was reluctant to stay in the dark forest.
“Why do you have to rest in a place like this? “This is near the Pahe Forest.”
“Stop complaining and go get some water. “There was one in the valley over there.”
Tanya, a level 3, silver plated mercenary, grinned and pointed to the water container.
As a member of the same mercenary group as Finn, she was a well-respected and skilled mercenary.
She was tall and had a resilient body, and although she was not a great beauty, she had short hair and a cheerful appearance.
Among the mercenaries, he was less likely to use pins and had a good personality.
Finn hesitated and picked up the heavy water container.
“Ac, it’s getting dark.”
“Ac? “With your speaking habits!”
Perfect! The pin stuck in his head made him pout and pick up the water bottle.
“Go quickly! “Before it gets any darker!”
At those words, my stuttering steps became faster.
This forest felt somewhat gloomy, perhaps because it was close to the Forest of Pahe, where monsters live. The humid air doesn’t feel good.
‘I need to quickly get some water and go back.’
As soon as they arrived at the valley, Finn dropped the bucket into the water. It felt like the water spirit was going to grab my head at any moment. Water ghost?
‘Now that I think about it, I think I saw something a little while ago.’
And Finn inadvertently raised his head.
“Aaaah!”
A tremendous scream echoed from the valley.
“what? “What’s going on!”
I saw Finn running towards me like crazy with a pale face. It seems like my legs aren’t frozen. My hands were empty because I had thrown the water bucket somewhere.
“Hey, there’s a corpse over there, a city corpse! mom! “Save people!”
Finn, who was a mercenary but only ran errands for the mercenary group, saw a corpse for the first time in his life.
The mercenaries were whispering.
“There’s a body here?”
“That bastard is a coward. “I must have mistakenly looked at something like a piece of wood.”
“I’ll check it out.”
Tanya took the lead and held Finn’s shoulders.
“Where is the body?”
“Uh, over there… … .”
“Take the lead! “Don’t you have to go find the water bottle you left behind?”
When Tanya spoke firmly, Finn, who was in tears, hesitated and took the lead. Still, her fear subsided, perhaps because she was not alone but with two people.
As he neared the valley, Finn stopped and pointed.
“I was there.”
“where? “This way?”
At that time, Tanya, who was walking around looking around, caught something in her eyes.
It was half buried in the sand, slightly swaying as it was swept away by the current, and was lying long on its side like a piece of wood.
It was clearly a human shape.
Tanya’s expression hardened in alarm.
‘Is there a body in a place like this?’
Because the client wanted the mercenaries to arrive as quickly as possible, they were on their way to a place near the Forest of Pahe, which everyone was reluctant to do.
A corpse in this deserted place.
Tanya approached the body cautiously. As Tanya approached the sand-covered body, her eyes widened.
“pin! “Come here!”
“yes?”
“I’m breathing! “I need to get you out of here!”
*
I lost consciousness completely. It seemed as if he had gone into hibernation, and even the energy to maintain consciousness had been used up in recovering his body.
The moment Helmut regained consciousness, he realized that he was surrounded by bustling noise. The blood cools down.
As soon as he opened his eyes and raised his upper body, Helmut frowned at the sharp pain. The muscles of his entire body creaked as if they were out of alignment.
‘This place… … Where is it? ‘What happened to me?’
Helmut moved his gaze quickly. He was lying down with a blanket wrapped around his body. The bonfire was crackling and burning.
And people nearby talking loudly.
Are you a person? Have you ever seen such a strange sight?
Helmut froze in horror.
“uh? “Are you awake?”
One of them found him awake and came over to him.
“Hey, are you awake?”
Helmut, in shock, raised his head and looked at the other person.
A woman with short hair.
They felt like a completely different species from the women on the human farm that Helmut had seen for the first and last time.
He was much taller than Helmut and looked sturdy. The short-haired woman grinned at Helmut, who had a frozen face.
“Don’t be scared. “Because it’s safe here.”
It’s not that I’m scared, it’s that I’m wary. Helmut stared at her, dissatisfied with her thoughts.
“The guy who went to fetch the water screamed when he saw you turned into a mop, so I thought he had actually rescued the body. I’m glad it’s better than I thought. “Why were you in that place like that?”
Helmut frowned at the outpouring of words. I can understand.
But these unfamiliar gazes pouring in on me. This woman’s voice and tone of speech did not resonate well with me.
It’s just confusing. The only thing I could feel was that there was no hostility.
She tilted her head.
“Are you still out of your mind? What is your name?”
“Helmut.”
Helmut came to his senses and stammered an answer.
“The other thing… … “I don’t remember.”
Helmut recalled the advice Darian gave him.
‘You grew up in a special environment. If you have trouble knowing what to say, just say you don’t remember. ‘It’s common to lose memory after receiving a blow to the head.’
Because my tongue didn’t move well, I spoke hesitantly, but it seemed unintentionally sincere. Tanya frowned.
“okay? This is difficult. I lost my memory. “It didn’t look like there was any major trauma. Did she hurt her head?”
She soon gathered her thoughts, smiled brightly, and held out her hand to Helmut.
“My name is Tanya. He is a level 3 silver mercenary of the Face Mercenaries. Your sword is next to you. “That sword looks good?”
The hands we held together without thinking were strangely warm.
Helmut withdrew his hand in surprise, as if he had been hit in advance, and immediately checked the items brought from the Forest of Pahe. Pendant too.
I tied it tightly because I was afraid it might fall off my body, but it was a good thing.
The surface was dented and dirty, possibly from being hit by a stone, so it seems like it was impossible to check the inside.
“I put effective medicine on my body, so I will still be able to survive. “It seems like you’re pretty resilient too, right?”
Helmut belatedly realized that there was a rustling sound every time he moved his body. He was half numb and couldn’t feel.
“The clothes… … .”
It had been changed. And inside, ointment was applied and a bandage was wrapped.
“Your clothes were tattered and in rags, so that guy over there changed them. “That guy applied the medicine too, so say thank you later!”
Tanya gestured toward the boy who was sleeping on a blanket next to him.
“Oh, and by the way. “You only know how to speak casually, right?”
Helmut felt a sense of déjà vu from the way his eyes were rolling.
“yes.”
“Okay, that’s it.”
Tanya’s expression changed so much that it felt odd, and she smiled brightly.
While Helmut was examining her body, she walked over to the campfire and held out a bowl of soup with bread soaked in it.
“Now, hurry up and eat.”
‘Darian said you shouldn’t eat food carelessly outside.’
Helmut hesitated for a moment.
However, he seemed to be seen by the woman in front of him as a weak boy who needed to be taken care of. He wouldn’t feed something strange to someone like that.
As I placed the food in front of me, I could hear my stomach growling. I was very hungry.
Helmut decided to think about it after he had filled his stomach.
Our first meal outside the forest of Pahe was ugly but delicious.
“So, do you know where this is?”
“No, where am I?”
“It’s the Decay Forest. I don’t know? I do not remember?”
“yes.”
Tanya persistently asked Helmut about this and that after he finished eating.
Although he never lost his memory, Helmut didn’t know much to begin with. He seems to naturally mimic the symptoms of amnesia.
Tanya seemed to believe that Helmut had lost most of his memories except for a small amount of common sense.
“This is so crazy. “So what do you remember?”
“It’s my name. And I know how to use a sword.”
Helmut once again faithfully carried out Darian’s teaching to tell only limited truths when it is difficult to lie.
“Do you know how to use a sword? That’s a good thing. First of all, I need to get better physically. “Can you stand up?”
Helmut stood up. Although he was still in pain, his body complied much better than it did before he lost consciousness for the second time.
It seems that being unconscious, almost like hibernation, had an effect.
Tanya nodded.
“Your body seems to be fine, but will your head get better if you show it to the doctor? “I need to make some medicine and go to the doctor when I get to the village.”
A man next to me suddenly intervened.
“Hey, Tanya. Are you planning on hiring a new errand boy?”
“He looks like a corpse, but he was abandoned. Don’t you feel sorry for me? You lost your memory too! “If it’s like this, I don’t need to take care of it until it can walk.”
The man nodded hesitantly.
“Well, that’s true.”
Tanya said cheerfully, placing her chin on Helmut’s shoulder.
“Don’t worry, just trust me. “I will take responsibility for you for the time being.”
It was embarrassing, but reflected in her bright brown eyes and toothy smile was an incomprehensible kindness.
Didn’t they meet for the first time today?
However, I could not sense any other plan in her eyes.
‘I feel like I’ve experienced this somewhere.’
Helmut had faced a similar situation a long time ago. And that too in none other than the Forest of Pahe.
‘Is there such a thing as destiny to be picked up and cared for by someone?’
If there is such a thing, it is probably Helmut’s fate.
Helmut knew what to say to this obliging benefactor.
A faint smile appeared on his lips.
“thank you.”
But Tanya spoke with a stern face.
“Okay, more than that, you need to wash up. “When Finn wakes up later, we can at least wash his face together.”
