< chapter 17>

[Iron Knight’s Helmet (Rare)

: This is the helmet of a timid iron knight who wished to hide from people’s gaze.

When worn, one’s presence drops drastically.

It gives the feeling of having become invisible.]

When I turned it over and looked inside, there was a crumpled crescent shape engraved as if someone had scratched it in with great difficulty.

The moment I traced it with my fingertips, a strange ache throbbed in one corner of my chest.

**”Pepe, I think the air here is bad.

Let’s hurry out.”**

I quickly escaped the castle with the helmet on.

As expected of a rare item, the helmet’s effect was powerful.

Truly, no one paid any attention to me.

Ah—this is nice.

I savored my long-awaited freedom and immersed myself in sightseeing around the marketplace.

Even the occasional strong gust of wind felt pleasant.

At that moment, a scream erupted.

**”Kkamak!

A human!

It’s a human!”**

**”What?

How dare you show up here!”**

Gasp, have I been found out?

I reflexively touched my face, but the helmet was firmly in place.

Looking again, the source of the commotion was a woman standing in front of the butcher shop.

She hurriedly pulled her stripped-back hood over her head again, but it was not enough to conceal the identity that had already been revealed.

As if a meteor had fallen, the space instantly turned into chaos.

The woman, who looked to be in her early twenties, raised both hands and panted heavily.

**”Please calm down.

I’m merely a drifting merchant.

If I startled you, I apologize.”**

**”Don’t make us laugh!

Do you think we’ll keep being fooled like idiots?

You sly lot—what scheme is it this time?”**

The young demons hid behind their mothers’ skirts, and the adult demons brandished all sorts of weapons, expressing their hostility.

**”I truly just drifted and crash-landed.

If you could just share a little food, I will quietly leave.”**

**”Stop pretending to be pitiful!

You humans are the ones who push all the blame onto us while living as if you’re noble and superior!”**

“Please, is the state of this world truly my fault?”

**”Look at this!

Who was it that first spread talk about ‘Errors’ and ‘Bugs’ being tricks played by the Demon King?”**

“That was officially announced by the temple—”

**”Then why are we the ones suffering the most?

Most of the Errors occurring worldwide explode in the Demon Realm!”**

The crowd raised their weapons even more dangerously and surrounded her.

No matter how deep the emotional rift between demons and humans ran, it was clear that she was trapped in a one-against-many situation, unfairly bearing accumulated hatred.

It was pitiful, but my feet would not move from where I stood.

I had a life principle for a comfortable existence.

*If you see injustice, endure it.

Never step forward.*

No matter what happens, stay still.

Observe to the death.

If I followed just those rules, my already tiring life would not grow more exhausting.

Since my own situation was dire enough, I swallowed the bitter taste and turned around.

**”What are you all doing?

Throw stones at her!”**

The situation grew even uglier, and from behind came a thud and the woman’s short scream.

And before I knew it, my hands were clutching an armful of fireworks bundles from the shop beside me.

Ah, I don’t care!

I had only turned around to gain momentum!

The fireworks I lit without discrimination shot into the sky one after another as if launched.

Piyooong—Bang!

Boom!

The demons’ gazes simultaneously turned upward.

Taking advantage of the commotion, I grabbed the woman’s hand and started running.

“This way!”

According to the rough map I had drawn, beyond this district lay a green area without residences.

After frantically pushing through the wheat fields and sprinting, we finally stopped atop a hill.

Suppressing the urge to throw off the heavy iron helmet, I dropped to my knees and panted.

Then the woman’s gaze fixed on the pendant that had slipped out from my collar as I bent over.

“Where did you get that?”

Pretending to catch my breath, I bought time to think and answered deliberately at ease.

**”My mother made it for me.

It’s a keepsake.”**

Even in this world, they wouldn’t dare touch someone’s parents.

Fortunately, my prediction was correct.

The woman readily withdrew her suspicion.

**”Oh my, but why do I keep chattering like this from earlier?

It strangely feels like I’m talking to a doll, so I just keep saying whatever comes to mind.

Maybe because I feel comfortable?”**

It must be the helmet’s effect, but being called a straw doll didn’t feel particularly good.

Still, my gratitude was far greater, since she had helped me immensely.

“So this is where I was buried.”

Whether by chance or fate, I was now standing before my own grave.

Swallowing my uneasy emotions, I slowly crouched down.

On the white gravestone planted at the center was indeed my name engraved.

However, unlike the neatly printed “Lamia,” the “Lekitas” portion looked handwritten, with messy spacing and crooked letters.

The moment I placed my hand on that clumsy handwriting, the long-awaited message appeared.

[ _{Visit the Grave of Lamia Lekitas — Completed.]}

[Hidden Memory has been unlocked.]

[Loading memory stored in World 01-7327……………….]

[Synchronization begins.]

It felt as though the ground flipped halfway over, and then magnificent pillars rose in all directions while ivory marble spread across the floor.

When I regained my senses, I was standing face-to-face with Shaikan in a temple corridor that looked straight out of Greek and Roman mythology.

*He must be in his early thirties……

Before he turned to piracy, he really did look gentle.*

With a clean face free of even beard stubble, he wore priestly robes, yet for some reason seemed angry.

And the same went for me.

From my trembling shoulders, it was clear we were in the middle of a heated argument.

Shaikan moved his lips as if about to say something, then extended his arm with softened resolve.

When he tried to grasp my shoulder, I harshly slapped his hand away and shouted.

“Don’t interfere when you’re not even my real father!”

My voice cracked sharply.

The air that had been struck seemed to ring.

My nose felt hot, as if tears were welling up.

But I poured out my anger relentlessly at the stone-like Shaikan.

**”You were honestly tired of being tied down to something you didn’t even want to do just to raise me, weren’t you?

As long as I stay by your side, you’ll never be able to live your own life!”**

The woman tilted her head.

**”Ah, maybe they just look similar?

It’s been so long since I last saw him that I’m a bit confused.”**

Then, hesitating slightly, she added a warning.

**”If, by any chance, you run into a red-haired man wearing an eyepatch, I hope you won’t be too startled if he suddenly charges at you.

That thing is precious to him, and it looks remarkably similar to yours.”**

Not just charge.

My ankle had even been broken.

Even without thinking, the description was clearly Shaikan.

Since I had interacted enough to open his profile, I immediately brought up the window.

[Name: Hwaran (Human)

Traits: A merchant active with the Middle Realm as her base.

The merchant ship she leads is the only one in the Balkan Sea under the protection of Sea King Shaikan, making its deliveries more stable and trustworthy than other trading companies, and thus popular among nobles.]

Oh my, look at her connections.

I immediately cast the bait.

“You must be quite close with him.”

Hwaran shook her head gently with a soft smile.

**”Not that close.

I only heard years later that that colt of a man was raising a child alone.”**

Her eyes drifted away briefly, as if sifting through the past.

**”He used to be the worst troublemaker at heart.

But after raising a child, maybe he wanted to try playing the father.

That prickly fellow would grow round like a pebble whenever I met him.

I wondered just how lovely the child must be to change a person like that………………

Which is why it must be even harder for him now.”**

It made me feel once more how deep Shaikan’s affection toward me had been.

Then could it be that the one who possessed me was Shaikan?

As I pondered, Hwaran’s eyes, which had been looking past me, suddenly sparkled and widened.

**”What luck.

It’s my first time in the Demon Realm so I was confused, but I found it like this.”**

Turning my head after her as she passed me, I saw a round grave.

Circling around it, Hwaran let out a suspicious murmur.

**”It looks intact.

Why would he ask such a favor?”**

“What favor did he ask?”

**”Well…

He asked me to check whether the grave had been dug up, whether anyone had tampered with it.

As if someone had witnessed a corpse pushing open its coffin lid and coming out.

Since I happened to be near the Demon Realm, I came first.”**

I could guess who had made that request.

Even while condemning me as a living corpse, perhaps Shaikan still wanted to confirm with his own eyes.

— End of Chapter 17 —