Chapter 149: Adam (1)

-Clang!!

I was sent flying backward as I blocked Krund’s strike.

The vibrations from the sword made my hands ring.

It was a vibration that brought on pain as if the bones in my hand were about to break.

Krund, having delivered a blow to me, was now looking up at the sky.

He stood there for a long while, as if he was sniffing the changed scent in the air, dazed.

I kicked off the ground and charged at Krund once more.

Krund, disturbed from his thoughts by my interference, continued the fight with me.

Our struggle was a fierce exchange, aiming only for each other’s lives.

I felt as though I had returned to my childhood.

This was the feeling I got every time I fought with other strong races in the slums.

The sensation of an insurmountable difference.

Yet, despite that, I could not retreat.

Krund kicked back, widening the distance between us once again.

In that brief moment, Krund’s expression, as he looked up at the sky, began to distort.

“....Ah...Ah...”

I roughly wiped away the blood streaming down my forehead while observing Krund.

A single drop of red tear fell from Krund’s eyes.

“....The Demon King....”

I too, finally looked up at the sky.

The battle had been so chaotic that I hadn’t noticed.

The cry of a Sylphrien hawk filled the air.

...It seemed the Demon King had been successfully vanquished.

I realized that the long war had finally come to an end.

This moment marked a significant change.

Even as a gust of wind passed through my chest, the immediate dire situation made me think.

“Baran, prepare to retreat!”

“Vice-captain… I can’t see....a way out....”

I bit my lip as I heard Baran’s despair-filled response from behind me.

“Find a way, somehow, Baran-”

“You can’t escape.”

That was when Krund, with eyes brimming with hatred and murderous intent, whispered.

The atmosphere around Krund, who had been shedding tears, changed.

“I’ve been conserving my strength all this time to approach the Demon King...but now, there’s no need for that anymore.”

-Kaboom!

Krund’s body began to transform.

His slender body gradually became thicker and larger.

“I will kill you, for the Demon King...”

-Bang!

Krund charged, exploding off the ground.

I barely managed to draw my sword from its sheath and assume a defensive posture with it.

-Boom!

Yet, despite this, my body was launched into the air again by the shock’s recoil.

I ended up roughly rolling on the ground.

It felt as though all the air was being sucked out of my body.

I couldn’t breathe.

For a moment, my body couldn’t muster any strength.

I forced myself to try and stand up by pushing off the ground.

But Krund didn’t wait for me.

Suddenly standing before me, he raised his arm and whispered.

“...Give my regards to the Demon King.”

-Boom!!

As Krund swung his arm down, a cool breeze swept over my head.

A shadow appeared in front of me with a loud noise.

With the breath that barely made it through my throat, I felt alive.

I tried to identify the shadow that appeared before me.

“...Are you alright, Berg?”

At the sound of that familiar voice, I looked up.

Adam Hyung stood there, having blocked Krund’s strike with his sword.

“...Hyung?”

-Swish!

Suddenly, Gale appeared, swinging his sword at Krund’s side.

“Get up, Berg!”

Krund, engaged in a fight with Gale, drifted away for a moment.

During this, Adam Hyung reached out his hand and helped me to my feet.

I grabbed his hand and stood up.

My Hyung looked at me and smiled.

I tried to assess the situation by looking around.

“...Why here....were we not retreating-”

“-Hah.”

At my words, Adam Hyung began to chuckle softly.

“It sounds like you wouldn’t have blamed me even if I had left you behind.”

“....”

He patted my shoulder.

“...But where would I go without you?”

“....”

“...Catch your breath, Berg. Let’s escape together.”

With that, Adam Hyung turned back towards Krund.

****

From the moment Adam had memories, he was prone to deviating from the norm.

Despite having parents and a home, he lived that way.

In fact, he thought it might be natural for someone of his race.

Being born under the care of virtuous parents was considered a blessing among blessings for his kind.

At least, that’s what Adam believed.

Looking around, it was rare to find humans who were kind to their offspring.

The majority abandoned their children.

It wasn’t unusual for his people to end up dying in the slums where they lived.

Even those who survived often ended up living as their desires led them, broken.

Adam’s father was no exception.

Once a part of a criminal organization, Adam’s father came home one day with a crippled left leg.

Before that, he had somewhat played the role of a parent, but after his leg was crippled, he turned to alcohol and started lashing out violently at his own family.

It could be seen as inevitable that Adam would leave home.

Especially since his mother had left the house too, unable to endure his father’s violence.

Yet, Adam occasionally returned home, solely for the sake of his siblings.

One younger brother and two younger sisters.

Was it because they had endured their father’s violence together, or simply because they shared the same blood?

Despite not feeling much affection for them, concern would drive him to check on them from time to time.

However, that might have been a mistake.

When Adam, at the age of 14, entered his home after a long absence, he couldn’t find the detestable presence of his father.

Instead of his siblings, strange members of the dragonian race were living there.

“Who are you...!”

Adam asked in surprise, but the dragonians simply responded to his appearance.

“Are you the son of the human who lived here?”

“...”

“Sorry to say, but your father sold this house to us.”

“...What?”

“This is no longer your home, so don’t come here.”

The shocking revelation that the house had been sold somehow made sense.

Adam’s father was just the type to do such a thing.

This meant that his relationship with his father was severed, but...that wasn’t what Adam was worried about.

“...Where are my siblings?”

The dragonian man just shrugged.

“...Don’t know. That boy took the two girls and left.”

Upon hearing that, Adam began to scour various parts of the city.

He hadn’t realized he held such affection, but here he was, compelled by some force.

Was it simply because they were his blood siblings?

Perhaps the bond of blood was thicker than he thought.

Roaming here and there, Adam finally found his siblings in a corner of the slums.

Huddled together like small animals, his three siblings were fast asleep.

With a trembling heart, Adam rushed to them and grabbed his younger brother by the shoulder.

“Bergo! Wake up!”

His brother, two years younger than him, slowly opened his eyes after being shaken awake.

Blinking up at Adam, the young eyes searched and asked.

“...Hyung?”

“...Why...here...”

“...Hanna and...Eis?”

“...”

Bergo, more concerned about his siblings than himself.

Adam looked over at his sisters lying beside him at those words.

Touching their cheeks, he felt their warmth still there.

They were still breathing steadily.

Adam, filled with rising questions, asked Bergo.

“...What happened...here.”

Bergo blinked silently before answering.

“...Father...he left us...sold the house.”

“...”

“...Told us to leave...we were too scared to do anything but.”

“...Are you...hurt?”

“...I’m hungry...Hyung.”

Only then did Adam take a closer look at his siblings.

Gaunt as if their bones would poke through, their faces drawn.

He didn’t know how many days they had been sitting on the street like this.

Adam hadn’t returned home for far too long.

Faced with this scene, Adam felt ashamed.

Even such a young sibling was taking care of his sisters, while Adam had been only looking out for himself, roaming outside.

He had just been about to satisfy his own hunger with stolen bread.

Full to bursting, he now faced his siblings who were starving to death.

Of course, all of this was their father’s fault, but Adam realized that by ignoring the problem, he was becoming the same kind of person.

...Was it a case of the apple not falling far from the tree?

It made sense why his kind were scorned everywhere.

After checking on his siblings, Adam immediately got up and ran out.

He stealthily fetched water from a nearby well, moistening his siblings’ lips.

Hanna and Eis finally opened their eyes.

Hanna, four years younger, at 10.

Eis, five years younger, at 9.

Upon seeing Adam’s face for the first time in a long while, Hanna smiled brightly, showing no signs of resentment.

“...It’s... big Oppa...”

Eis greeted Adam similarly.

“...I missed you, Oppa...”

“...Don’t leave us... Dad, who used to hit us, is gone now... Stay with us.”

At these words, which made Adam feel pathetic and stirred his emotions, he clenched his teeth and nodded.

Then, he hugged her, apologizing.

“...I’m sorry, Eis.”

.

.

.

Adam’s hometown of Eastrock was not a friendly place for humans.

Adam could somewhat understand why.

There weren’t many humans living there to begin with, and those who did were either involved with criminal organizations or lived in the slums.

The humans in Eastrock were particularly notorious.

Having resorted to theft himself, Adam could understand that.

However, now responsible for his younger siblings, he couldn’t be more worried.

The entire city viewed humans negatively.

Eastrock was a city dominated by werewolves.

Werewolves were the most populous, followed by lizardmen, then dragonians, and humans were among the least.

Being physically weaker was problematic enough, but it was compounded by the physical superiority of the surrounding races.

It was a setup all too ripe for victimization.

“...”

“...”

But Adam couldn’t allow his younger sisters, who were looking at him with bright eyes, holding his hands tightly, to sense any of that fear.

It was only after they nearly starved to death that he realized.

That his family was all he had.

That they were the ones he needed to take care of.

So, he reassured them with a smile.

Of course, it wasn’t without difficulties.

“No...! Don’t do it, Oppa!”

“Eis, let go of it.”

“Little Oppa, stop big Oppa too! It’s dangerous!”

“...Hanna.”

His younger sisters wished for Adam to stop resorting to theft.

Several months into their life together, it was their reaction upon realizing Adam had been sustaining them through thievery.

Bergo, too, looked at Adam with a furrowed brow.

He seemed to want to dissuade Adam, but understanding the harsh realities Adam faced, he couldn’t do so as readily as his sisters.

Bergo tried to stand up for Adam.

“...Stop it. He’s doing it for you guys.”

“No! What if the adults catch him? What if something goes wrong and he doesn’t come back!”

“I’m not eating anything you steal anymore...! I’d rather starve!”

“Eis!”

At Eis’ declaration that she’d rather starve than eat stolen goods, Adam couldn’t help but express his anger.

“...Ugh...”

However, his harsh words only made his younger sister burst into tears.

She, who never cried even when hit by their father, was sobbing uncontrollably.

“Waaaah...! Waaaah...!”

Adam, ultimately unable to win against his siblings, hugged them, nodding his head.

He didn’t know how they would survive...but he had already decided to take responsibility for his siblings.

“...Okay.”

“Sniff...Oppaaaaa...!”

“Okay, so stop crying, Eis. And you too, Hanna, stop it.”

Adam finally spoke to comfort them.

“...I won’t do anything bad anymore.”

But deciding to change wasn’t enough to make things actually change, especially with the stigma against their race, and in Eastlock in particular, finding a lawful path was even harder for Adam.

“You’re just a thug for some crime syndicate. Get lost, why would I give work to a human? Got scammed by one of your kind last time too!”

“Now you’re involving kids too? Humans really are the worst.”

“Hey, aren’t you that thief from before?”

No matter whom he asked for work, he faced nothing but negative responses.

It was likely that many of his kin had gone through similar experiences.

Bergo, too, had tried looking for work but found nothing viable.

“...It’s tough, Hyung.”

This was what Bergo said before heading back to the corner of the slum where his sisters were resting.

“...Why were we born as humans?”

“...”

“...Why are we always suspected first, no matter what we do?”

Watching Bergo reveal his vulnerability only to him, Adam steeled his heart further.

“Don’t talk like that. It’s not something we can change.”

“...Still...”

“We’ll be there soon. Act strong for Hanna and Eis.”

“...”

Then Adam turned to his brother and said,

“...Bergo. Don’t forget.”

“...Forget what?”

“If I ever disappear, you have to protect our siblings.”

“...You’re not planning on going anywhere, are you?”

“I’m not going anywhere. I mean if something happens to me.”

“...Okay. Got it, Hyung.”

Adam ended up entrusting his siblings to Bergo and started attempting more daring endeavors.

He even sneaked into the city’s library, thinking he needed to be smarter.

He followed people who looked wealthy, eavesdropping on their conversations, hoping for any crumbs of opportunity that might fall.

He also spread the word in various shops, asking to be notified if they needed help with anything, and earned a few coins by working for those who truly needed assistance.

He worked tirelessly almost every day.

Strangely, he hardly ever felt resentment.

As long as his efforts could fill his siblings’ stomachs, that was enough for him.

Years passed this way.

Adam gradually built a good reputation in the city, and Bergo also started to bring in some money on his own.

Through their efforts, Eis and Hanna grew up beautifully.

Adam, hoping his siblings wouldn’t have to endure hardships, occasionally found teachers who could teach them skills.

Thus, Hanna learned to sing from the village bard, and Eis learned to dance from the village dancer, albeit only occasionally.

This led to the two younger sisters harboring dreams Adam could hardly have imagined.

“Oppa, Hanna, and I have been talking.”

This was when Eis was 11 and Adam was 16.

“And we’ve come up with a dream.”

Bergo and Adam listened intently to their sisters’ words.

“What is it?”

Taking over the conversation with a pure smile, Hanna said,

“...To create a world where humans are not looked down upon.”

– – – The End of The Chapter – – –

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