Helmut: The Forsaken Child - H.F.C Chapter 126 (Part 1):
However, Helmut’s response was decidedly negative.
“This isn’t a choice to begin with. If I trusted you and swallowed this, I’d be a fool.”
Nonsense should be kept to a minimum. Unable to entertain the thought, Helmut sharply dismissed the idea and dropped the ring. Crunch! The small sphere shattered under his foot, and the crushed body of the worm oozed out with its fluids.
Fasho, wiping the smile off his face, declared,
“Then, the offer ends here. I gave you a chance, and you threw it away. You will pay a severe price!”
An eerie laugh emanated from Fasho. Both his actions and the way he spoke were displeasing.
‘Is this what they call a pervert?’
“Have you ever considered why I’ve been playing these games?”
Before Helmut could answer, Fasho shouted,
“Reconnaissance! I’ve killed several strong individuals before. To hunt difficult prey, you need to know about them. How they respond in certain situations, how fast they react.”
“And how much have you figured out?”
“A great deal. It seems you’ve been hiding your skills from your friends. It’s rare to find someone as capable as you. That will be your weakness.”
A weakness? The notion was laughable, but there was no need to deny it. It was more convenient if they thought so.
“For two days, you’ll struggle in vain, dying in despair. Your friends will be killed in an instant, and you’ll be powerless to stop it.”
“I see. I understand.”
A thinly veiled threat of ambush. Helmut came up with a simple idea.
‘Why not just kill him here?’
While murder should be avoided, there are times when it’s necessary. Those deserving death must be dealt with accordingly.
No need for warnings. Wham! He immediately kicked off the ground and drew his sword. His body launched off a tree trunk, but the sensation underfoot was unusual.
Whoosh! Two chains flew towards him, crossing in an X shape in mid-air. It was a perfectly calculated trap.
Helmut drew his blade. Clank! It didn’t cut easily. He had heard of metals resistant to blades and magic.
Helmut angled his sword to avoid the coiling chains. As soon as he landed, the ground beneath him gave way. Sharp spikes were sporadically placed inside the pit.
The area was riddled with traps.
However, no blade, no matter how sharp, could penetrate balance.
Helmut stood on the tips of the protruding spikes, looking towards where the man had been.
The man hanging upside down from the tree was no longer visible. But he was still here.
“Now the hunt begins! You’d better look after your friends than chase me. You don’t think I’m alone, do you?”
The man left after offering his advice. As he moved away, his presence diminished astonishingly. He had the most secretive presence Helmut had ever encountered, adept at concealing his energy.
But this was a forest. Helmut was born and raised in the forest. He was confident he knew how to fight in the forest better than the man.
‘But…’
His fellow students were weak. Asuka, the strongest among them, wasn’t one to care for others.
It was inevitable that the weak would die. However, being the cause of their death was not something he desired.
‘No choice then.’
Helmut leaped out of the trap and flew towards Camp 9. An unfamiliar anxiety. An emotion he hadn’t felt before.
The people Helmut knew from the past were stronger than him. There was no need to worry about them getting hurt.
But the connections he made when he came out into the human world were too fragile. They would collapse from poison or a cut from a sword. Loss was instantaneous.
Helmut knew death was irreversible. But he needed to make a cold decision.
‘If they die or are taken hostage by the time I get there, I’ll have to abandon them.’
But if they were alive, he could afford the penalty of protecting them. Helmut preferred the difficult path over the easy one. There was more satisfaction in achieving something that way.
As he approached the campsite, a soft glow of fire was already there. The freshly kindled campfire crackled as it consumed the logs. It was peaceful, as if nothing had happened.
‘Was it a trick to dodge my attack?’
Entering the campsite, Helmut scanned the surroundings. No presence was felt. James flinched at the sight of Helmut’s grim demeanor.
“Helmut? What happened?”
Asuka, poking the campfire with logs, asked without turning around.
“Hey, do you know how much trouble I went through carrying this by myself? What’s going on?”
“Where are the others?”
Dino and Andro were nowhere to be seen. Since he hadn’t encountered them on the way, they must be somewhere else. James replied,
“They said they needed to stretch their legs and went to look around. They shouldn’t have gone far.”
“We need to start looking for them.”
“What’s going on?”
“There’s no time to explain. Both of you, follow me.”
It was better to stick together than to leave them separate.
“They went this way.”
Helmut led the way, stepping ahead of a worried James, while Asuka grumbled as he followed.
“Ah, seriously, what’s going on? Did you see some giant leopard or something? We’re in the swordsmanship department; can’t we handle that?”
“Maybe it’s a magical beast.”
“A magical beast? That would be interesting.”
“If Helmut is acting like this, it’s probably not just any creature.”
A magical beast would have been preferable unless it was an intelligent and strong one like the monkey beast that attacked the Butan Company.
Helmut listened to their conversation while inspecting the tracks left on the ground. The traces weren’t hidden, suggesting they weren’t being pursued.