Chapter 38
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Thud!
The impact wasn't as heavy as the toad’s leaps, but the vibration spread out quite widely.
‘Ugh…’
Naturally, a tingling sensation shot up my whole body from under my feet, like an electric current. My soles hurt the most.
I had made a miscalculation. I had only ever done jumps like this on sandy beaches; I had completely forgotten how much damage landing on hard dirt could do.
"Argh."
Thanks to that, I didn't even have a moment to feel relieved about safely landing without sinking into the swamp. Under normal circumstances, I would have clutched my legs and rolled around on the ground. But the emergency situation forced me to swallow even that pain.
Pushing the tear-inducing agony to the back of my mind, I quickly drew my bow. Just as I was about to take aim at the monster...
"…Huh?"
Thud!
The toad in front of me staggered weakly before collapsing face-first onto the ground.
"……."
"……."
The eyes of the surrounding knights, who had just defeated the monster, all turned to me. If I had to roughly translate their gazes, they were along the lines of, ‘Who is that?’, ‘Why are they here?’, and ‘What are they doing?’ I froze in my stance, bow still drawn, completely unable to speak.
Honestly, even I didn't know what I was doing here anymore.
Step.
Meanwhile, Derek, the first to snap out of the confusion, walked briskly over to me. Startled by his movement, which looked as if he didn't care whether he got stabbed by my drawn arrowhead, I immediately lowered my weapon.
"Mmph?!"
Just as I felt Derek had gotten uncomfortably close, something was suddenly shoved into my mouth.
"?!"
His hand hovered right in front of my lips. It wasn't budging. It was as if he was waiting for me to bite down on whatever he had just put inside my mouth.
I couldn't take my eyes off Derek, who was standing entirely too close. Eventually, without even checking what it was, I gently closed my lips.
Rustle.
"…!"
Soon, I realized the thing inside my mouth was a leaf. The leaf, now bearing my lip prints, stuck to my mouth as if recognizing its owner.
Only then did I notice that Derek and the surrounding knights all had leaves attached to their mouths as well. This leaf was an essential item to use in the poison fog, the very item I had forgotten to buy. It had a poison-purifying effect. Of course, it couldn't block everything; it was a specialized item only effective against the fog.
"What are you doing, coming here empty-handed like this?"
"……."
The leaf stuck to my mouth didn't affect my ability to speak at all. Yet, when I didn't answer, Derek furrowed his brows.
"Are you alright?"
"Um, I'm fine."
Just as he had done before, he pressed a hand against my forehead to check on me, then nodded toward the back. A knight who understood the gesture quickly ran over and handed him an antidote.
‘Do I really have to drink that again?’
I frowned at the memory of its awful taste. But then it suddenly dawned on me: contrary to my original plan, I hadn't drank a single sip of a health potion on my way here.
Since my health bar wasn't visible right now, I couldn't be entirely sure of my status. However, I had no trouble breathing, nor did I feel nauseous or dizzy. I felt perfectly fine, almost as if this fog was merely an illusion.
Derek took the antidote and immediately tried to uncap it. I quickly blocked his hand and shouted.
"N-No! I'm really fine!"
"…In this poison fog?"
"Yes!"
"……."
At my confident reply, Derek's expression twisted into something even more unreadable. I couldn't perfectly decipher it, but he seemed dumbfounded.
It made sense; claiming to be perfectly fine after wandering around bare-faced and item-less in a poison fog infamous even in neighboring villages was bound to sound absurd.
"Here, look!"
I tried to prove I was fine by jumping in place and doing some light stretches. The excessive movement made me short of breath, but worried they might mistake even that for a symptom of poisoning, I carefully and quietly controlled my breathing.
Did my efforts pay off? Derek's rigid expression finally softened a bit, and I took the opportunity to change the subject.
"No, more importantly... Are you okay, Derek? What about the poison?"
"Poison?"
He tilted his head in confusion. Then, he glanced down at the leaf attached to his own mouth. The look in his eyes, as if asking who should really be worrying about whom, actually made me let out a sigh of relief.
‘So he's okay?’
It seemed the toad's poison hadn't affected him. Was he lucky, or just that skilled? Or maybe... I had just worried for nothing.
"Excuse me..."
Just as I was relaxing, someone behind Derek let out a faint voice. It sounded like someone exhausted from harsh training, ready to collapse at any second.
"Excuse me, I'm sorry, but... could I perhaps take that antidote...?"
The owner of the voice was a deathly pale knight. Judging by the leaf on his mouth, he hadn't succumbed to the poison fog. It seemed that it wasn't Derek, but that knight who had been poisoned by the toad.
Derek turned his head. With a nonchalant expression, he casually tossed the antidote bottle over his shoulder. The knight caught it as if this were a routine occurrence, uncapped it, and desperately gulped down the contents. The expressions of the other knights watching this remained entirely unchanged.
‘…Is something like this no big deal to them?’
They showed far more interest in me, the person who had suddenly crashed their battle, than their comrade who looked ready to drop dead.
"Ugh... I thought I was a goner..."
Finally recovering, the knight who finished the antidote turned his eyes toward me. His gaze gleamed with pure gladness. Just as he parted his lips to say something, Derek took a step forward, completely blocking him from my view, as if his own words took priority.
I looked up at Derek. His face, bearing a smile so faint it was barely noticeable, was devastating enough to make anyone lose their mind. Resolving not to be bewitched this time, I focused my gaze sharply, just as he spoke.
"Are you joining the order?"
"What?"
"Chasing us all the way out here means you're going to join the knighthood, doesn't it?"
"……."
For someone who had turned away without a shred of lingering attachment when we parted, he was surprisingly persistent.
‘Joining, huh…’
The answer didn't pop out right away, but my fate was already sealed. It was my loss the moment I came running out of concern for Derek's safety. And somehow, it felt like pulling back this guy who kept throwing himself into poisonous danger was my designated role.
Even though it was far too heavy a burden for a regular NPC like me.
‘But it still pisses me off to just accept it so readily.’
I had chased after them on impulse without a plan, sure, but going back on my word just a day after declaring I wouldn't join hurt my pride.
Besides, my ultimate goal was to greatly expand my inn and live a comfortable, leisurely life. Living comfortably had always been my dream. If I joined a knighthood, I could kiss that dream goodbye.
Looking at the faces of the knights watching me with bated breath, I slowly opened my mouth.
"Temporary."
"…?"
A flicker of surprise crossed Derek's face.
"I'm not fully enlisting in the order. It's temporary."
"Temporary…"
"Temporary?!"
I could hear the knights murmuring among themselves. Their expressions were complex, were they supposed to be happy about this, or sad? I didn't care either way.
They exchanged glances and then turned back to Derek, looking to him to decide how they should react.
"That works for me."
"…Temporarily?"
"Let's just say you're with us for this journey."
"…!"
That was exactly what I wanted.
"Alright."
I smiled broadly, pulling the corners of my lips up as much as I could. If I stayed by Derek's side, I'd inevitably get swept up in the main story and likely suffer all sorts of hardships. But even so, it seemed better than hearing news down the line that Derek had died from poison somewhere.
‘Goodbye, my comfortable life...’
Even I couldn't understand why I was actively choosing to suffer.
"Test complete."
"…What?"
"Huh?"
"What?!"
I wasn't the only one letting out a dumbfounded noise. The surrounding knights also stared at Derek with wide eyes.
"Since you're still temporary, we'll skip the oaths."
"No, hold on!" I hurriedly grabbed his arm before he could wrap things up. "What test?"
A scoff escaped my lips. He had been testing me all this time?
Come to think of it, when I defeated that bee monster earlier, Derek hadn't said a word. The only ones excitedly chattering about me joining the knighthood were his four subordinates.
Perhaps my expression had been growing increasingly fierce without my realizing it, because Derek looked straight at me and clarified.
"Of course, your test ended the moment you defeated the monster..."
"Then what was this test just now?"
"All that was left was the test I had to take."
"…?"
I overtly scrunched up my face. My test ended back then, so why is your test suddenly making an appearance?
"A test regarding whether I could get you to join the order."
"……."
"You came much faster than I expected."
What do you mean, faster than expected? Do you know how much I fretted until I got here? So this guy set a trap and intentionally lured me in?!
"And what if I hadn't come?"
"I was certain you would. It was only a matter of when."
In other words, Derek already knew I was worried about his safety, and he had actively exploited it. Is that why he went around parading his face everywhere?
Since we both passed our respective tests, it should technically be a cause for celebration. Yet, I couldn't bring myself to be purely happy about it.
"Are you feeling like canceling?"
"Since we already agreed to go together, forget it."
Would he really let me if I said I wanted to back out?
‘Well, he just might.’
But I couldn't ignore him anyway. Even when I first saved him, I never imagined I'd get this deeply entangled. How did it come to this...
‘No, getting bewitched by his face is the real problem.’
If I knew it would turn out like this, I never should have stared into those eyes.
"Yeeeaaaah! You finally joined us!"
"It's temporary. Just temporary."
"Welcome to your temporary admission, youngest!"
"This is our precious new youngest member! Everyone, treat them with care!"
"Finally, I have a junior under me..."
The four knights, who had been hovering hesitantly, rushed over in an uproar the moment they confirmed my temporary admission wasn't canceled.
As if repeating their previous routine, they began ruffling my hair and patting my back all over again. Amidst the suddenly boisterous atmosphere, I caught a bothersome word.
"…Youngest?"
What's that about? It sounds like a title from some martial arts sect.
"Hmm? Didn't you say you hated being called the 'rookie'?"
"If not 'rookie', then 'youngest' (maknae) it is."
"It has a nice ring to it, youngest."
"Besides, you are the youngest one here!"
I had no retort for the laughing knights. Who cares if I'm the new recruit or the youngest. I'm just a temporary member anyway, and I'll only be stuck with these people for about two years.
And, as if signaling the end of the whole ordeal, the poison fog around us slowly began to clear.
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