Helmut: The Forsaken Child - H.F.C Chapter 28 (Part 2):

Tanya was furious enough to draw her sword immediately, but knowing the opponent was not just any fourth-rank but the brother of a high-standing second-rank mercenary in the Tariq mercenary corps meant the issue could escalate.

Kelop could walk away from this situation thanks to his brother.

“Let’s go, boys.”

Kelop led his men away first. Silence lingered in their absence.

Finn barely held back tears with reddened eyes.

“Stop sniveling. This will be common.”

Tanya sighed. The men of the Pace mercenary corps were indeed indifferent. They noticed Helmut and Finn being bullied but pretended not to see.

Tanya hadn’t wanted to intervene either. It was their first mission, but not all experiences would be pleasant.

This too was part of experience. Such incidents are frequent in mercenary life. One must learn to fight their own battles or seek help.

Helmut and Finn remained silent, so it was right for Tanya not to intervene. Yet, she did because she had experienced similar situations herself.

Even having a second-rank mercenary brother, Phien, Tanya, a rare female mercenary, often became the target of crude jokes.

There were bold ones who tried to assault her. It was common to face harassment.

‘But having a rank 3 mercenary involved…’

While minor skirmishes among fourth-rank mercenaries were one thing, a third-rank mercenary posing as a fourth-rank getting involved was unfair.

Tanya tapped Finn’s shoulder and said,

“Stop sulking and both of you grab your water buckets.”

She then patted Helmut’s shoulder reassuringly.

“You’ve seen quite the rough side of being in a mercenary corps right from the start.”

The simmering anger inside Helmut slowly eased.

He had thought help was for the weak. This time, it was more interference than help, but it didn’t feel bad.

Helmut and a red-faced Finn returned to their sleeping quarters. A campfire had been lit by then.

Sean handed them well-roasted sweet potatoes without asking anything.

“Eat.”

The momentary indignation faded as Finn soon fell asleep to the crackling sound of the fire.

Helmut looked into the flames, his hand reaching for the hilt of his sword.

It was a sword he hadn’t yet fully swung outside of this camp.

He had no intention of ending things this way.

‘After all, it doesn’t seem like he’ll give up so easily.’

Helmut was planning to give him a very blatant opportunity.

*

“From this area onwards, demonic beasts may appear, so refrain from going out alone. Even when you need to relieve yourself, don’t go by yourself.”

The next day, Phien issued a warning.

“Even when fetching water, call a rank 3 mercenary to accompany you.”

Though he provided a reason, it was because of yesterday’s incident. It was decided that they couldn’t leave things as they were any longer.

Phien had also complained to the leader of the Tariq mercenary corps. The leader looked at Kelop with disdain and warned him to restrain himself in the future.

Kelop was seething inside.

However, since yesterday, he deliberately ignored Finn and Helmut, not even bothering to speak to them. As if he had completely cut off his nerves.

‘I had them in my grasp, but because of that damned woman, I lost them!’

Malice is persistent by nature. It was even more so for those with nothing better to do. He decided to wait. An opportunity would come someday.

“There doesn’t seem to be a single demonic beast in sight.”

Finn grumbled. Taking Phien’s words at face value, he was nervous yet excited to see a demonic beast for the first time.

“It’s because there are many people around. They won’t show up right away.”

Helmut felt a faint trace of demonic energy circling the area. It was weaker than the first rabbit he had hunted.

If the demonic beast was this weak, it couldn’t attack when so many people were gathered. Maybe if it targeted someone alone.

There are places where demonic energies converge, and this forest seemed to be one of them. The density was low, but the familiar sensation on his skin was peculiar.

“You talk as if you’ve seen one? Have you seen a demonic beast?”

“Well… it seems so.”

Helmut was about to answer cheerfully but quickly corrected himself, realizing he was suffering from amnesia.

“Really? That’s fascinating. Are their teeth really this big?”

“It depends on the species. Some have claws as their weapons.”

Finn constantly talked to Helmut. He was of an optimistic nature and seemed to quickly forget about the incident that occurred yesterday.

Except for when he screamed while applying medicine to the bruises Kelop had given him.

“Kelop, you bastard!”

He must have been quite upset about being unable to move in Kelop’s grasp.

Finn would practice with a wooden sword every night until he was utterly exhausted and collapsed.

Helmut didn’t neglect his training either, but for different reasons. He didn’t slack off due to habit.

Compared to when he had learned swordsmanship under Darien, it was almost like he was playing now.

‘It’s only been about ten days since I left the Forest of Roots.’

It felt like it had been a year. As Vis began to recover, Helmut felt almost no fatigue despite the daily forced marches.

Helmut, who had barely been able to keep up with the group while sweating profusely, now showed no signs of difficulty, which Finn found somewhat surprising.

‘Can someone’s physical strength improve this quickly?’

Despite grumbling that Helmut was still weak, Finn felt a strange sensation.

The current Helmut seemed different somehow. His speech and demeanor remained the same, but an indescribable sense of pressure was felt.

When those black eyes, indistinguishable from the iris, stared at him, he felt a chill down his spine.

‘Ah, it must be my imagination.’

Shaking his head, Finn still couldn’t shake off a sense of alienation.

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