Chapter 10
Leaving the Lake House Inn, Alex walked toward the market with Leo.
“Wow! Woah!”
For Leo—whose view was usually limited to fields, forests, and farms, and whose only playmates were his friends—the bright, high-built, and bustling town inside the Viscount’s castle was no different from a whole new world.
“Leo, should I buy you a sausage?” “Yeah!” [Let’s eat some too!] [It’s not mass-produced in a factory; it’s a real, handmade sausage crafted by an actual person!]
Alex wondered if there was really such a thing as a real or fake sausage when they were all made by people anyway, but he didn’t want to miss out on good food either.
Buying two sausages from a street stall crowded with customers, Alex took a bite of his own first before handing the untouched sausage over to Leo.
“It’s delicious!” “If there’s anything else you want to eat, just tell me. Uncle will buy it for you.” “Okay! But I won’t eat anything else because we have to eat dinner later.” [Smart kid!] [Is he really just six years old?]
Alex felt a little bittersweet seeing how mature Leo was.
With sausages in hand, Alex and Leo explored the market together. Most items were familiar, but there were a few unfamiliar goods that seemed to have come from other territories.
Holding Alex’s hand tightly, Leo looked around in amazement. His rosy cheeks were adorable, just like a child his age should look.
Holding Leo’s hand firmly so as not to lose him, Alex checked the prices of the goods. Since winter was only a few months away, he also looked for cold-weather supplies. With Leo still so young, he had to prepare thoroughly.
[Let’s check out the vegetables, too!] [Looks like there are a lot of vegetables different from our world!]
The talented cook among the liches, Yi Baek, showed great interest in various cooking ingredients.
Wandering around, Alex headed to the smithy recommended by Harlon and purchased leather armor and other defensive gear.
“Would I need this too?”
Seeing a cloak that mercenaries often wore sitting in the blacksmith’s shop, he picked out a dark-colored one that wouldn’t show dirt easily and tried it on.
“It suits you well, Uncle! You look like a real mercenary!” [I want to see too!] [Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve seen your face clearly yet, Alex.]
They had only caught glimpses of Alex’s face reflected in the rippling water whenever he washed up.
[Since he’s Leo’s uncle, he probably isn’t ugly.] [Let’s look in a mirror later!]
Passing over Yi Baek’s words as usual, Alex bought a few daggers and asked the blacksmith to inspect the sword his sister had given him as a gift.
Although his past self—before his regression—had maintained it decently for five years, Alex’s current eyes could spot a few areas that were lacking.
“It’s a fine sword. You’ve taken good care of it.” “It’s a precious sword to me.”
Alex replied with a smile to the blacksmith’s compliment.
“It only needs a little touch-up. Come back to pick it up tomorrow afternoon.”
After paying, Alex returned to the inn with Leo. Since the sun had set, everyone inside was eating dinner.
Alex and Leo took a seat and ordered the house special roasted chicken recommended by Matthew, the waiter.
Perhaps because of its popularity, the special roasted chicken was served in no time. Hot steam and a mouthwatering aroma wafted from the beautifully golden-roasted chicken.
Having never eaten out before, Leo stared at the roasted chicken without even blinking. He was so focused that his mouth was slightly agape.
Chuckling softly at the sight of Leo, Alex picked up his fork and knife.
“Wait a moment, Leo. Let Uncle try it first before serving it to you.” “Huh?”
At Alex’s words that he would taste it first, Leo tilted his head in confusion but waited with his fork raised.
[Tasting it first?] [Didn’t you do that with the sausage earlier too?]
Because occasionally, the food served to the “Hero Leo” had been laced with poison.
‘Not that this place would do such a thing.’
It was just that the memory of “Hero Leo” agonizing in pain from poison flashed through his mind, causing his hands to move on instinct.
With a bitter smile inside, Alex took a small bite of the roasted chicken.
[Oh! It’s delicious!] [I thought it was just a regular inn, but it’s a gourmet spot.] [Hurry, let’s try the drumstick too!]
Filtering out Yi Baek’s exclamations, Alex carved up the chicken by section and placed pieces onto Leo’s plate.
“Thank you for the meal!”
Leo took a bite of the chicken with a bright face. Slowly roasted over a long time, the tender meat melted in his mouth after only a few chews.
“This is super delicious, Uncle!”
Only then did Alex comfortably begin eating the roasted chicken himself.
“It really is. It’s truly delicious!” [There isn’t much seasoning, but the saltiness is adjusted impeccably. The meat is cooked to just the right tenderness, too!] [You can really taste the juices!]
Alex agreed with Yi Baek’s continuous marveling. Indeed, having a sense of taste was amazing. This single bite made the whole day feel happy.
Just as they were finishing their delightful dinner—
“Grandpa!”
The door swung open, and a little girl dashed inside.
“Oh! Sophia!”
Harlon’s gruff expression softened completely as he bent his knees. The little girl named Sophia ran up and threw herself into Harlon’s arms.
“I came with Daddy!” “Why did that fellow come?”
Alex’s eyes widened as he saw the man walking in behind her.
It was Kane, the guard soldier.
Catching sight of Alex and Leo, Kane dropped his stiff expression and greeted them with a slight nod.
[Alex, don’t Harlon and Kane’s faces look similar?] ‘Now that you mention it…’
Alex and Leo looked back and forth between Harlon and Kane.
“Could it be…?” “Yes. My father runs this place. Trouble-makers rarely act up in a shop run by a soldier’s family.” [That makes sense!]
Besides, the room rate was definitely cheap. He wouldn’t mind accepting recommendations like this any number of times.
“Hi. What’s your name?” “I’m Leo! What about you?” “I’m Sophia! This is my grandpa, and this is my daddy! My daddy is a soldier, so he’s super strong!” “My uncle is super amazing too! He’s good at cooking meat, farming, and evading wolves!”
Meanwhile— The toddlers, who had quickly become friends, were exploring all around the inn.
“You cook here, and then the food comes out like this!” “Woah! I see!” “Look at this, Leo! Doesn’t this look like a puppy?” “It really does! Uncle! It’s a puppy!”
Watching the kids squatting together, giggling as they looked at the wood grain on the floor, brought a natural smile to Alex’s face.
“Thank you for introducing us to such a good place.”
Kane nodded at Alex’s gratitude.
“Have you registered as a mercenary yet?” “Not yet. I plan to do it tomorrow.”
To that, Harlon chimed in.
“You can leave the child here during the mercenary test. My granddaughter is here, so there’s no need to worry.”
Alex expressed his gratitude for the thoughtful gesture.
With a granddaughter around, it certainly put his mind at ease. Surely they wouldn’t use their own granddaughter as bait to kidnap Leo.
‘…I really need to fix this line of thinking.’
Alex, who had come from a “future” riddled with all kinds of crimes, cracked a bitter smile.
[A mercenary test?] [I think I roughly get what that is.]
Deciding to explain it to Yi Baek later, Alex invited Kane and his daughter Sophia to join their table for dinner.
“Mommy is staying at home because she has a baby in her tummy. She goes ‘Ew!’ just by smelling stuff!” “I’m going to look for my mommy and daddy with my uncle. He’s a mercenary!” “Woah! He must be super strong! But my daddy is stronger!”
At Leo’s words, the eyes of Kane, Harlon, Matthew, and the other guests softened with sympathetic pity.
Alex could only laugh awkwardly.
“See you tomorrow, Leo!” “Bye, Sophia!”
Having finished dinner— As Leo and Sophia, who had become close in such a short time, waved their tiny hands at each other in farewell, everyone broke into laughter.
“The Lord’s castle is super awesome, Uncle!” “Is it?”
Lying in a plush bed after washing up cleanly, Leo chattered away. He looked ready to tell everything he had seen today, from one to ten.
“It would’ve been nice if my friends came too. Nora, Finn, Tom…”
Calling out his friends’ names one by one, he clearly missed them—even though they had only left the village just this morning.
“Do you miss your friends, Leo?”
At Alex’s question, Leo nodded honestly.
“Yeah! But it’s okay because I can see my friends later. I’m going to go back to the village with Mommy and Daddy. After buying tons of delicious stuff.”
Alex smiled softly at Leo’s words.
“Right. Let’s all go back together later, after buying tons of delicious stuff.” “Yeah!”
Having chattered away, Leo soon drifted off to sleep, exhausted from the day.
Patting Leo’s stomach gently, Alex stepped out of the room and headed to the backyard to train.
Since he had left his sword at the smithy, he decided to do physical conditioning and flexibility training instead. As he did, he resumed the conversation with Yi Baek that he couldn’t finish during the day.
[I think I have a general idea, but what’s a mercenary test?] “It’s a mandatory requirement to register as a mercenary. You have to pass this test to become one.”
Alex explained as he stretched his joints and warmed up his muscles.
“It’s nothing difficult; you just have to resolve a simple request. They’re just testing for basic diligence.” [Fair enough. There are always people who skip work without a word.] [Then what about dungeons?] [I didn’t expect there to be dungeons here too.]
Alex remembered how surprised Yi Baek had been at the word “dungeon.”
“You said your world has dungeons too, right?” [Yeah. They’re completely different dimensions where monsters spawn.] [Like a dungeon in a desert having an ocean inside, or a dungeon in a forest having a glacier.]
Alex answered while doing push-ups.
“It’s similar for us. It’s a phenomenon that has existed since ancient times—they can pop up anywhere, spawning monsters.”
Dungeons appeared anywhere without prejudice—be it farmlands, shops, cities, or forests. And the moment they generated, they dragged in every living creature nearby.
“They’re divided into six grades in total. The most dangerous are High-grade dungeons, and the easiest are Lowest-grade dungeons. And then there are Corrupted Dungeons.” [Corrupted Dungeons?]
Alex looked up toward the second-floor window where Leo was sleeping and said,
“It’s a dungeon where the existing monsters are tainted by demonic energy and become abnormally strong. For example, a monster in a Lowest-grade dungeon becomes a Low-grade or Mid-Low-grade demonic beast.” [Oh, that’s different from ours.] “Is it? Must be nice over there. We didn’t have these kinds of dungeons in the past either.”
Taking one hand off the ground to do single-arm push-ups, Alex let out a sigh.
In the ‘future,’ ordinary dungeons had transformed into Corrupted Dungeons, or spawned as Corrupted Dungeons right from the start, causing immense destruction.
“What’s worse, Corrupted Dungeons don’t vanish even if you defeat the boss monster and destroy the dungeon core. Monsters keep respawning again and again, so it’s dangerous because you never know when a dungeon break will happen.” [That definitely sounds dangerous.]
Dungeon Breaks—where monsters inside a dungeon burst out like an explosion. Because of them, the continent fell into even greater chaos, accelerating the pace of destruction.
Part of Alex’s plan included stopping these Corrupted Dungeons. Though he still had to figure out how to destroy them permanently.
[Do you know the cause?] “No. Nobody could figure it out.”
Not the Hero’s party, not the mages, nor the priests of the Holy Kingdom.
“Do you happen to have any guesses?”
Alex asked just in case. After all, wasn’t Yi Baek an otherworldly Lich? He might know something.
[Nope. No clue at all.]
At Yi Baek’s candid reply, Alex let out a disappointed sigh and switched to sit-ups.
‘Well, if I don’t know, I’ll just have to work hard regardless.’
He had a long list of tasks ahead and an uncertain future, but Alex was willing to do anything for Leo’s happiness.
[Ah, I’m exhausted.] [Let’s head back inside soon, Alex.]
‘For Leo’s sake, I’ll just have to endure this noisy fellow.’
Filtering out Yi Baek’s complaining whines, Alex continued his training diligently.
The next morning. After sharing a hearty breakfast with Leo, Alex headed to the market.
For some reason, the breakfast portion had been exceptionally generous, but recalling Harlon’s proud, affectionate gaze, Alex knew the old man had purposefully packed extra food for them.
Alex picked up the items one by one that he had picked out the previous evening.
“Hehe, Uncle! I love my new clothes!”
Wearing the new clothes bought to commemorate their trip, Leo smiled joyfully.
‘In the future…’ Even with the care of the village elders, recalling how lonely and heartbroken Leo had been without a family made Alex feel immensely grateful and overwhelmed by this present moment.
After shopping at the market, they grabbed lunch and visited the smithy to collect his serviced sword.
“Woah!” [Ooh!]
Seeing the blade gleam under the sunlight, soft exclamations burst out simultaneously from both Leo and Yi Baek. Alex, too, was thoroughly pleased with the neatly maintained sword.
This was the very sword that had served as a dependable weapon for “Hero Leo” until it eventually broke.
‘This time, I’ll be the one using it.’
Please lend me your strength.
With a soft smile, Alex securely fastened the scabbard to his waist
