The Heroine Saves the World

The heroine saves the world
episode 49

“I guess Grandma and Grandpa knew everything.”

“Then did you know that the medicine you gave me every day was licorice water?”

“……That’s true.”

Cheongsu had a somewhat empty, yet thoughtful face.

Let’s listen in first.

“Why does the expression on the face of a growing teenager look like that? If you say no, we won’t take you.”

I’m thinking of somehow persuading you to want to go.

“That’s not it.”

Im Cheong-su continued talking after kicking the tip of his foot.

“If I go, what will happen to my grandparents?”

It seemed that this little guy’s weakness and treasure were his grandparents who had raised him.

“Then, should I provide a place for the two of you to live in Seoul?”

“Can you really do that?”

“Well, a fancy house would be difficult. Our guild’s circumstances are a bit like that. But we can try to find the best house possible.”

“……No, that’s not necessary.”

Cheongsu, who had been delighted for a moment, became gloomy again.

“Why, we can do that much.”

How much money can you earn in the future?

It will only take a few months to get that much.

It was worth it for Im Cheong-su.

“That’s not wrong. You two probably won’t leave this house.”

The squirrel-like black eyes of Cheongsu looked at the house that was like a comfortable refuge in the mountains and said.

“And you two must be very worried about me sending you far away.”

“Don’t worry. That could happen.”

Although he is not a combatant, Im Cheong-su is also a hunter.

I can’t guarantee that you’ll always be in a safe place.

Sometimes you’ll need to go out and raid dungeons with the Justice Guild.

“under.”

A short sigh escaped my lips.

Originally, I was just going to boil it.

“There are different types of worries.”

I looked up at the star-filled sky and opened my mouth.

“Your grandparents are old. They’ll probably go to heaven before you.”

“……Hey. I’m prepared for that too.”

“But what if you knew that you could live well on your own, Cheongsu?”

The last thing I saw of my mother’s face, amidst the shaking and glaring headlights of the car, was worry about me.

Worrying about myself being left alone after I die.

“Then wouldn’t the heart of the person leaving be a little lighter?”

I’ll live well and bravely on my own, so don’t worry.

I wish you could tell me now.

“Anyway, the decision to ask you to take care of us must not have been easy for the two of you.”

I can’t even imagine what it would be like to leave my only grandson, who was as precious as my life, in a faraway place.

“But I guess you trust the name of the Guild of Justice and leave it to me because you know where you can use your abilities.”

“……I’ve heard it a lot since I was little. It’s thanks to the Guild of Justice that people are still alive in this land.”

“Yeah. I don’t know, but Guildmaster Kang Han is a really trustworthy person.”

Finally, I added one last word.

“And Cheongsu, you always have a place to return to.”

“……That’s right. It’s not another planet in the leisure universe.”

“It costs a bit of money, but if you use the space-travel awakened person return service, it only takes 20 minutes to get there.”

“……Okay.”

It didn’t turn out the way I had planned, but it seemed like it worked out somehow.

If I just stamp it tomorrow morning like this… … .

“There is one condition.”

“Oh, what is it!”

I’m just about to feel better!

A difficult guy.

But Im Cheong-su’s eyes were quite serious.

“Don’t overprotect me just because I’m young.”

“What do you think overprotection means?”

“They say it’s dangerous so they don’t take you to the dungeon, they just keep you in the guild and stuff.”

Im Cheong-su said, frowning.

“If that’s the case, it’s better to just stay in this mountain village.”

“Hey, I didn’t even think about that in the first place.”

What do you mean by putting a hammer in it?

I plan on taking it to every dungeon and mining not only mana stones but everything else I can find there!

“Okay then.”

The guy left with just those words and walked away, dragging his three-line slippers along.

“So you’re saying you’ll go with me or not?”

When I shouted, Im Cheong-su turned around and looked at his cousin again.

“If you still don’t know even after I tell you this, it’s better if you don’t know.”

This fucking kid.

* * *

The next morning came.

The other guild members stayed in the room, and only the two elders, me, Kang Han, and Im Cheong-su gathered there.

And I fell to my knees and cried out.

“Grandma, Grandpa! Please give me some clear water!”

“Oh, really. Even if I say it like that…….”

Why, what.

I heard Im Cheong-su muttering something, but I ignored it.

What’s important now are my two grandparents.

“……Do you like our Cheongsu?”

“Yes! I will definitely bring you to the Guild of Justice and raise you well!”

I almost told him my true feelings and said I would exploit him without realizing it.

“But did the strong guild leader agree?”

“I didn’t get to tell you yesterday, but the authority over the management of the guild belongs to you, Na Yeo-ju, not me.”

“Huh? How did it turn out like that?”

“That’s the person who gave us the righteous guild…….”

Before the strong-willed person, who would never lie or talk nonsense even if he died, could tell the truth, I quickly intervened.

“To set the Guild of Justice right again, Grandfather.”

My grandfather stared at me with wrinkled eyes.

No matter how remote the mountains you live in, as long as you keep up with the news, there’s no way you wouldn’t know about the current situation of the Justice Guild.

However, since he said he would entrust his grandson to us, we could guess that he had great trust in the past Justice Guild.

“I was thinking about that.”

“I plan to recreate the Guild of Justice that my grandparents remember. That’s why the guild leader Kanghan and I each took on the parts that we were good at.”

“That’s right. But would it be okay to take Cheongsu away at such an important time? I’m not sure if it would be a bother.”

My grandmother said worriedly.

“No. As someone who runs the Justice Guild, if I wasn’t certain that Cheongsu would truly be an important resource for our guild, I wouldn’t have said that.”

“Really… can our Cheongsu have that kind of ability?”

“I’ll have to go to the Awakening Center and get tested to find out more, but I’m confident. Cheongsu will make a great hunter.”

No parent would dislike their child having outstanding talent.

As expected, the grandparents, who had become much more relaxed, looked at Cheongsu with proud faces.

“I’ll bring the proper contract when I pick up Cheongsu in a few days. But let me tell you the conditions in advance……”

I recited the conditions I had been thinking about all night.

To be honest, I spent all the money I had earned from mining and selling items.

I really wanted to hit him.

However, it is the same situation as when I honestly answered Im Cheong-su’s question last time about whether the Jeongui Guild is the strongest guild.

If you bring Cheongsu in cheaply now, it may be profitable in the short term, but when he learns his true worth, he will feel betrayed by the Justice Guild.

‘Then it’s difficult.’

Cheongsu is a being that must stay with us for a long time until the end is over.

It can never be stolen by anyone else.

“Jug, I know it’s a bit embarrassing for me to say this, but aren’t things a bit difficult for the Justice Guild?”

“Yes. There’s no need to push yourself too hard. We’re satisfied enough with sending those we trust to Seoul.”

“no.”

This time, Kang-han answered.

“Even if the contract ends and you leave the Guild of Justice, they will set Cheongsu’s price based on this contract. So it is better for Cheongsu’s future to be treated properly now.”

“……As expected, it’s the Justice Guild.”

Grandfather looked at me and Kang Han one by one with a moved face.

I lowered my head and pretended to smile, feeling a little guilty for not answering.

‘I have a new conscience, so be quiet.’

The conditions we have now set are excessively generous for a mountain boy whose rank has not even been confirmed yet.

It’s a problem because it’s an enormous amount of money for an S-class potion master.

However, going forward, I plan to make and sell potions under the name of the Justice Guild and give a large portion of the remaining profits to Cheongsu.

Of course, as the Justice Guild grows, the annual salary will also increase.

I can’t pay in a lump sum, but I can pay in installments.

“Then I will come and pick up Cheongsu in three days.”

My grandfather and I shook hands in place of signing the contract.

* * *

3 days later.

We visited the mountains of Chungcheong Province again.

Although it was a bumpy and rough road, I was thankful that there was a road that cars could drive on all the way to the front of the house.

This time, everyone except the twins who went to school moved.

“A new guild member is joining, so we all need to welcome him.”

This was Han Ji-seong’s answer to my question of whether it was necessary to go this far.

“There wasn’t anything like that when I came in.”

“Lady, you came in on your own two feet.”

Oh, that’s right.

Convinced, I got out of the car silently.

I wonder what the atmosphere in that quiet house is like now.

Is that little guy, Im Cheong-su, crying?

I don’t think you’re going to refuse to go to Seoul.

Then it’s a bit difficult.

I should have given you a few more days.

After much thought, I opened the gate leading to the yard.

“Oh, Grandpa! This needs to be dried in the sun!”

“I have work to do all day long, following the sun and moving a basket! You can just say whatever you want!”

“If Grandma’s knees hurt again, I’ll take responsibility!”

“Who said that!”

It was noisy.

When Lim Cheong-su, who had placed a single bag on a table in the yard, started nagging at his grandfather, the grandfather shouted at him again, his neck red from the heat.

The grandmother was looking at the two of them with a smile.

“We are here.”

At Kang Han’s single word, the long distance relationship between Im Cheong-su and his grandfather was cut off.

“Oh, you’re here.”

As if the commotion just a moment ago had been a lie, silence flowed through the yard for a moment.

The first to move was Im Cheong-su.

He quickly slung the large bag that was on the table over his shoulder and strode towards us.

“Go.”

“Still, I have to say hello to my grandparents.”

“I gave you a lot of greetings yesterday.”

Then he passed us, who were still near the front gate, and went out into the yard.

“……What a spicy guy.”

Grandfather looked at Im Cheong-su’s back and clicked his tongue as he spoke to us.

“I have a long way to go, so why stay here and waste the day.”

Then he picks up his grandmother and heads out the front gate as well.

“Uh, what should I do?”

Jang Su-ho, embarrassed, asked me in a flustered manner.

I shrugged my shoulders as I looked at the blue door with only one door wide open.

“What should we do? You heard what Grandpa said. It’ll be over after a while. Let’s go.”

Lim Cheong-su was already in the car, luckily.

The face of the guy sitting in the innermost seat and looking straight ahead was stubborn.

“Grandma, Grandpa. Then we’ll go and see. And this.”

I handed the contract I had prepared to both of them.

“Please take a good look at it and if you have any questions, you can contact me. This is my lawyer’s business card. I will carefully review the contract to see if there are any clauses that are disadvantageous to Cheongsu, so give me a call.”

“The Justice Guild is trying to fool old mountain men like us. Got it?”

It was a word more frightening than any other.

Named after the ‘Guild of Justice’.

Kang Han bowed his head respectfully to him.

“I will take responsibility for Cheongsu and take care of him.”

Kang Han’s words, which never sound empty, were heavy.

Since he promised like this, he will protect Cheongsu no matter what happens.

Kang Han willingly shouldered yet another responsibility on his shoulders, on which the fate of this world already rested.

“Oh, you’re not going?! You’re going to fall down like this!”

Im Cheong-su shouted in the car.

But knowing his heart, no one said anything to him.

Even my grandfather just stared blankly at the clear water.

Hot.

Then my grandmother’s wrinkled, warm hands took mine.

“Please take good care of our baby.”

“……Yes, Grandma.”

I too shared Kang’s burden.

After that conversation, the car started again.

“Let’s go quickly.”

It was I who urged him.

The shorter the breakup, the better.

As the car slowly began to move forward, I looked out the window.

“You don’t have to go that far.”

Two elderly men stood in front of the blue gate, bowing their heads toward the departing car.

And Im Cheong-su, who turned his head and saw the sight just like me,

“Grandma, don’t forget to take your medicine every day! And open the window every morning to ventilate the room!”

It’s nagging all the way to the end.

On the highway heading up to Seoul, Jang Su-ho quietly turned on the radio.

It was to cover up the small sniffling sound.

* * *

Fortunately, we were able to enter Seoul before the sun set.

As he passed the tollgate and the tall buildings became increasingly crowded, Lim Cheong-su, who had been clinging to the window like a cat in front of a fishbowl, couldn’t even close his mouth when he entered Jongno.

The car, which was moving along the Cheonggyecheon River, which flows leisurely between the tall buildings, stopped in front of the Jeongui Guild building.

Im Cheong-su, who was the first to get off, looked up at the Jeongui Guild and remained silent for a while.

I guess you were disappointed to see such a small, old building between soaring skyscrapers.

I approached the guy with the intention of adding some seasoning to him.

“I see, this building is a historic building…….”

But Im Cheong-su’s black eyes were sparkling.

Then he looked at me and smiled and said.

“Leisure, this is my home now.”