Episode 17

Trudge, trudge.

The footsteps felt so familiar.

Of course.

It was her own feet moving step by step, how could it not be familiar then?

However, today, Ma Hana felt her feet were unusually heavy.

Was it because of the accumulated fatigue and the creeping physical pain due to the tough mission?

No, that wasn’t it.
It wasn’t like there hadn’t been days when she was more hurt than today.

‘…It’s cold.’

Ma Hana thought the night air was chilly.

As a member of the Myoin Tribe, her body temperature was considered to be higher, and she had better heat retention than ordinary people.

Naturally, she should feel warm, like she possessed some biological heater, but she felt particularly cold today.

‘…I miss him.’

She had always missed him, but today, it felt more intense.
She was feeling it once again.
Her dear father, who had passed away.

‘…Should I call him father?’

It didn’t quite feel familiar.
She always called him Dad!
But since she was no longer a child, she decided to practice calling him Father.

Ma Hana quietly closed her eyes.
She slowly drifted back into the memories of her childhood.

The time of childhood, which she couldn’t even remember clearly now.

Having lost her mother, whom she never knew, she grew up in a single-parent household, always watching her father’s back.

‘…He was a remarkable person.’

Her father was a renowned tank in the Guild.

His class was [Middle Knight].

Though it was a minor class, considered a lesser version of the highly esteemed [Guardian], the main tank.

Despite the odds, her father never gave up and eventually transcended the limits set by his gender.

Thus, he gained fame as an A-class hunter recognized by all.

‘…Although he never reached the S-class, which is the realm beyond extraordinary.’

Everyone trusted and liked her father.

Ma Hana also admired her father and hoped to someday become a person who could firmly hold up a shield and protect everyone…

Thus, it might have been natural for her to be bestowed with the class of [Guardian].

Ma Hana still remembered.

The moment she rushed to her father, she shouted with joy upon hearing the word ‘Guardian’ at the ‘Order’.

‘…And…’

For a brief moment, her father’s face was incredibly sorrowful.

He probably knew.

That she had no talent as a tank.

Several years later.

Her father passed away due to illness.

After the funeral, Ma Hana, holding the shield her father had chosen for her during his lifetime, made a promise to herself.

With these tiny, fern-like hands, she would become a shield that protected her party members.

However, it didn’t take long for her to realize the harshness of reality she stepped into.

Trudging.

‘…How foolish.’

She still thought about it sometimes.

If there had been an <Assassin> class suitable for her small stature and quick speed, maybe the situation would have been a bit better than it was now.

Smirk.

“…So stupid.”

Such a foolish thought.

She knew it best herself.

The root of all her efforts had been her admiration for her father.

It was a desire and a wish to be a tank.

Even if, by some stroke of luck, another path had appeared, it surely would have collapsed.

‘Huh. Then it’s all the same.’

In the end, it seemed her fate had been determined from the start.

Just to die bitterly in a dungeon… or to give up her dreams and barely keep living.

Drip. Drip.

Without realizing it, Ma Hana’s tears started to flow.

It was stubbornness.
It was a long-held delusion.

‘Fool… idiot… simpleton…’

Even though she knew it wasn’t true.
Even though she knew she lacked talent.
She clung to others just for the sake of her own dreams.

Even as the faces of the party members, who initially welcomed her with smiles, turned to contempt and anger toward her, she kept clinging to them.

‘…but…’

She could no longer do that.

Moon Bora.

The woman she met today, unlike the others who were disappointed, did not resort to physical violence or curse her.

But her words hurt more than anyone else’s.

—I just can’t bring myself to follow you anymore.
―I won’t say anything harsh. Miss Hana..
―Put down your shield.

Though it might sound like criticism to others, Ma Hana knew better than anyone.

The meaning in Moon Bora’s eyes.
It was the warmth of someone concerned for her life.

And that warmth tore through her heart more painfully than any curses did.

She received sympathy from someone she met for the first time today.

The fact that this sympathy was not a lie but sincerely heartfelt meant that she was disqualified as a tanker.

‘…No…’

She was disqualified as a hunter.

So, she decided to let it go.
She decided to shake off the desires that had clung to her like a spirit for many years.

To do that, she spoke to the employee.
Despite the rise in her public value, and even though she could have been treated as a hero for stopping a disaster called a Break Out, the reason she left quietly was just that.

‘…Not for my goal.’

Moon Bora.

And for the life of a man named Yu Seha, who had followed her today without a hint of disappointment.

Ding-dong.

The bell attached to the doorframe jingled as a hearty voice filled the air.

“Welcome~! With a generous heart like… hmm?”

The owner of the voice was a woman with sun-tanned, coppery skin and red hair.

The woman, wearing an eyepatch over one eye, set down the load she was carrying and brightened up as she recognized the entering customer.

“It’s Meowii!”
“…Hello. Master.”

The customer was none other than Ma Hana.

She had been on her way home but had detoured to this blacksmith shop instead.

Upon seeing Ma Hana, the woman immediately took off the eyepatch she was wearing.

It wasn’t that she had an injured eye or unusual pupils; she had merely been wearing the eyepatch as a fashion statement.

Ma Hana, observing this, felt a bit… awkward about it.

“…Master. That middle-school syndrome eyepatch… you’re still wearing it?”

“Ah! Don’t mock the middle school syndrome! Do you know how cool this is? There was a whole truckload of guys who followed me around because they thought this was cool to have!”

“……”

“Ah! Meowi. You can’t make a face as if you’ve eaten poop!”

The woman, laughing heartily, soon ran towards Ma Hana.

Ma Hana saw her coming.

Like a startled cat, she flinched and stepped back, but it was already too late.

Wham!

She was caught and ended up receiving a forced cheek-rubbing punishment along with a hug.

“Ah, your cheeks are so squishy!”
“…Ma-Master… I-I can’t breathe…”
“Don’t be so dramatic! And stop calling me Master. Call me Hyeja Unnie!”
“Waaaaaa…”

Ma Hana let out a short scream and sighed inwardly.
A woman in her early thirties appeared before her.

Her name was Im Hyeja.

She was the one who owned this forge.

At the same time, she was the only remaining family Ma Hana could really speak of or turn to.

She had been a cherished colleague of her father, maintaining a close connection that had been nurtured since her childhood and persisted even after her father’s passing.

Moreover, she was a remarkable person by her abilities alone, rumored to possibly aim for the position of the next master.

Im Hyeja’s class was [Blacksmith], a noble class among production jobs.

With such a golden talent, it would be stranger if she didn’t succeed.

‘…Like the starlight man I saw today. Like Yu Seha…’

But they say God is fair.

Im Hyeja had absolutely no knack for business, so her shop was always swarming with flies.

She claimed that the revenue she generated was fine since she had regular customers… but for Ma Hana, the worry was far from minor.

‘…Of course, I’m not one to talk.’

“Now, Meowi. Unnie! Try saying Unnie! Hurry!”
“…Uh, Unnie…”
“That’s right!!!”

Swoosh!

“Nyaa… don’t pull my cheeks…”
“Oh, how cute. Oh right! Look at me getting distracted from work.”

In a rush, Im Hyeja dashed to a shelf inside the store before Ma Hana could even respond.

She then brought back a palm-sized, round gem.

Ma Hana’s face turned to astonishment as she looked at the transparent gem that resembled a giant pearl.

“Ma-Master… i-is this really…?!”
“I told you to call me Unnie! Anyway, yes, Meowi. This is the one!”

The identity of the gem was a socket gem known as <Equipment Gem>.

Commonly inserted into equipment to grant special effects, it was a prized artifact.

Among them, this <Equipment Gem> had the option that Ma Hana had so dearly wanted.

The shield’s inner side featured a [Transparent View] trait that allowed one to see through it and respond to enemies.

It activated solely from Ma Hana’s perspective alone.

For her, wielding a shield as big as her body and being able to unilaterally observe her enemies was a tremendous advantage in battle, something she had long desired.

Im Hyeja, with a ‘Heh…’ and a swipe of her nose, watched Ma Hana sway her two tails.

Thinking it was good that she had gone to the trouble to secure it, she crossed her arms and continued with a ‘Hmph~’.

“First, I’ll lend this to you. You can pay me back slowly later. After all, the guild provides hunters with equipment in advance…”

But Im Hyeja couldn’t finish her sentence.

Surely, Ma Hana, who should have been bouncing with excitement, was smiling bitterly.

“…Meowi?”

She handed over the shield on her back instead of answering.

“…Hm? Ah, repairs? I see the shield has been quite damaged… Wait a moment. Wh-what hit this? Did you spar with another Awakener or something?”

“No… not that… I was fighting a Kappa Rhino…”

“Ah, Kappa Rhi- What?!”

Im Hyeja was shocked.

With a pale face, she grabbed Ma Hana’s shoulder and rattled off rapidly.

“Are you insane!? You fought a C-grade boss monster?!”

“…Unnie. Take a breath before you speak.”

“A-are you hurt? My goodness… you’re all bruised!”

“…Mmm… don’t go around casually touching my chest…”

Ma Hana sighed deeply.

Yes, thinking about it, her Unnie was of the same kind as Yu Seha.

That must be why she could dismiss his eccentricities so easily.

It made her wonder if it wasn’t just Yu Seha being peculiar, but rather that there was a whole group like this.

She wished this chaotic atmosphere could continue till the end.

‘…I should probably tell her now.’

At least, she had to tell her family or her, who was no different from family.

“…Unnie, more importantly, I have something serious to say.”
“…What is it?”
“I didn’t hand over this shield for repairs.”
“…Huh? Then what for? Oh, to make a slot for a socket–”
“No.”

Ma Hana hesitated for a moment.

When she tried to speak, the words didn’t come out easily.

‘Is it really okay to go on like this?’ someone’s voice tormented her heart.

And she knew well that this someone was her own inner self.

‘…I don’t want to.’

She was tired now.
She didn’t want to be hurt anymore.
She didn’t want to be a burden anymore.

“…I’m planning to sell this shield.”
“……”

At those words, Im Hyeja froze like a stone statue.

“…Y-you cannot be…?”
“Yes…”

Ma Hana forced a smile.

“I cannot do it anymore… It hurts… It was tough… When I think about it… there were good… times, but…”

She couldn’t continue her words.

Because her vision was starting to blur.

“…Uh… what?”

Why is this happening?

My unnie’s figure is flickering.

“Sob… sob.”

Eventually, Ma Hana burst into tears.

Im Hyeja, watching her, sighed and quietly hugged her.

Patting her back slowly, she thought.

‘So, in the end…’

The thing she feared had finally come.