Now that Nicola had been neutralized, only one thing mattered: the children’s safety.
I immediately went over to Emilio, looked him over from head to toe, and asked,
“Are you all right? You are not hurt anywhere?”
“I-I’m fine. The kids are in danger! Please, please save our kids! If you want me to be a slave, I’ll be one. If you want me to die, I’ll die!”
The kid whose own leg had nearly been broken was worrying about the children who followed him first.
I had no idea how someone like him had grown up beneath trash like Nicola.
In any case, there was no time to admire him leisurely, so I answered as I headed for the wall where the children hung.
“There is no need. I did not set conditions when I first offered to help, did I?”
“Huh? R-right....”
“Come help, at least. These kids need treatment as quickly as possible. Otherwise, they will die.”
There was no such thing as kindness without compensation.
After living in a cruel world, that came to feel natural.
But was it truly so?
Countless people helped others without thinking of compensation.
Humanity had prospered and survived because, just as there were many evil people, there were also many good people.
As I explained that principle to Emilio, who did not know it, we examined the children together.
Swollen faces, broken fingers, arms and legs swollen enough to suggest fractures.
The children needed treatment urgently.
I brought over one of the chairs I had knocked aside, broke it apart, and tore my outer garment to use as splints for their limbs.
Emilio watched what I did and copied me, clumsily but as best he could.
While we did that, Uncle Aldo’s fight with Nicola came to an end as well.
With the belly of the beast, who was not even worthy of being called human, pierced by a sword.
“Ugh, you... fuck. You son of a bitch... I even begged you like this....”
“If you beg me, do I have to listen? Why are you acting like that when you know better? I was strong, and you—”
“Weak? You live just like an Inside bastard even after going Outside, you son of a bitch.”
With a sword lodged in his belly, Nicola snarled and poured out his resentment until the very end.
It was disgusting to watch him fail to die like a human being, even in death.
But his malice surpassed even my expectations.
“Ugh, heh! Do not think you are getting out of here alive, either.”
“What, are you going to say that you will curse us even in death? That is a little cliché.”
“What curse could a man about to die make? You curse people while you are alive... like this!”
Nicola thrust his hand somewhere beneath the pool of blood that had flowed from his body and pulled something out.
Uncle Aldo sensed that something was wrong and cut off Nicola’s wrist.
But the piercing sound of a bell had already rung out.
“Fuck... did he move that thing’s location too? Persistent bastard. He even picked a fucking awful place to die.”
“What is that sound?”
“The alarm that says an outsider has intruded. Put more simply, we are fucked.”
As if to explain further, disorderly noise rose from all directions.
“Fuck, everyone get up! It is an outsider! An outsider has broken in!”
“Everyone, grab a weapon and get out! Make even the little brats grab something and come out!”
Uncle Aldo shrugged and rolled his neck from side to side.
With a CRACK of bone, he made what needed to be done clear.
“If we stay here long, we will all die for certain. The bastards in this neighborhood see outsiders as demons that need to be exterminated.”
“I understand. Kids, let us go.”
There was no more time to talk.
Fortunately, three of the children Nicola’s gang had hung up had sound legs and had regained consciousness.
The children who had only been watching nervously turned frightened at my words.
“W-where are we going?”
“Outside. To the place where you will live.”
Even though every second was precious, I answered them seriously.
For these children, going Outside would be the gamble of a lifetime.
Fortunately, Emilio stepped forward as well.
“Let’s go. We cannot live here anymore.”
“But the Outside—”
“It is a good place to live. People are kind, and there is plenty to eat. I saw it clearly with my own eyes. You trust me, right?”
After a brief silence, the children nodded one by one with resolute faces.
And so, our great escape began once we had finished preparing.
One child for me, one for Uncle Aldo, one for Emilio, and one for each of the other children.
We slung the unconscious children over our shoulders or tucked them under our arms, while the children carried them on their backs or put their arms around one another’s shoulders.
Then we entered the night streets of Subura, which were dark in a way Raechia’s streets never were.
Of course, escaping was not easy.
“Aldo! This son of a bitch came back! Where does he think he is—urk!”
“Shut your mouth.”
At times, someone who recognized Uncle Aldo leaped out from an alley and attacked.
His head came off with a single strike, but the shout he had made beforehand drew in others.
“Kill the outsider! Burn him! Tear him apart!”
“Everyone gather up! They are this way!”
We had to fight constantly as we crossed the tangled, web-like alleys.
Sometimes me, sometimes Uncle Aldo.
We knocked down and cut apart the enemies that emerged sporadically from the front and rear.
Yet somehow, no matter how many we defeated, more enemies swarmed in like cockroaches.
None of them were particularly skilled.
They all fell without blocking even a single blow.
The problem was their numbers.
Human stamina was not limitless, and Uncle Aldo and I gradually grew exhausted.
Nor could the badly injured children help us.
The flame of hope seemed to be fading in the darkness, but I never even considered abandoning the children.
Putting aside the fact that abandoning them now would not give us a way to survive.
Were they not the children who had been hurt because I told them to come Outside?
My body might be crippled, but I did not want my heart to become trash that knew neither responsibility nor duty.
Call it the bravado of a child.
Call it a decision unworthy of a Martial Artist.
Even so, I could not abandon the children.
Otherwise, I would be no different from the person I had been a few months ago, who only hid and ran away because he was afraid of the world.
I would never be able to rise again.
Fortunately, being from Subura, Uncle Aldo somehow found the way and led us through even those chaotic alleys.
After overcoming countless attacks, we finally reached the main road that divided the boundary between Raechia and Subura.
We felt relief and despair at the same time.
Dozens of men already stood there, glaring at us with murderous intent.
At that chilling sight, Uncle Aldo pushed his hair back and gave a short laugh.
Then he handed the child he had been carrying on his shoulder to me.
“Jeong Johan.”
“Yes.”
“I will ask once. Even now, do you want to abandon all the children and hide? I know somewhere these dog bastards cannot find us.”
I did not answer. I simply looked at Uncle Aldo in silence.
With unconscious children hooked over both of my arms.
Uncle Aldo looked back at me and let out a deep sigh.
“Ha, this is why I did not want to get tangled up with Subura brats.”
I could not help feeling sorry at his words.
It felt as though this had happened because of me.
My heart weakened, and my head naturally lowered.
Then Uncle Aldo stroked my head with his large hand.
“I do not blame you. I had to settle things with this godforsaken neighborhood sooner or later anyway. More than anything, Johan.”
“Yes.”
“A hero must always carry himself proudly. Even if he is conflicted and suffering inside, he must square his shoulders and look ahead. Otherwise, the people looking at his back will waver.”
Grinning, Uncle Aldo pointed at the children who had come with us.
I bit my lip when I saw the anxiety in their eyes.
Then I nodded with all my strength.
“Fine. When you write your autobiography later, leave at least one line for my name. You can do that much, right?”
“What?”
“I will open the way, so you just run! You brats too!”
Uncle Aldo shouted at me, then immediately charged at the dozens of enemies.
He skillfully kept close to the walls to avoid being surrounded, yet his momentum as he cut and stabbed without hesitation was fierce.
“What the fuck?! Kill that bastard!”
“You big-mouthed bastard! If you are so confident, you do it!”
“Aah, my arm! You son of a bitch!”
Dozens of armed grown men could do nothing against Uncle Aldo alone and were driven back.
The children and I carefully followed the path Uncle Aldo had opened.
At this rate, it felt as though we might somehow make it out.
Of course, the world did not work that easily.
When we were about halfway to the boundary.
The bastards had become as desperate as they could be, and began charging at us without restraint.
Uncle Aldo’s movements grew disordered, and men who slipped through came at us too.
It was a moment of imminent danger.
I handed the children I had been carrying across both arms to Emilio and the others.
“Even if you have to drag them, just make sure you bring them and follow.”
“What are you going to do, hyung?”
“If the way is blocked, we open it again.”
Repeating the words Uncle Aldo had said, I stepped forward.
I struck the evil spirits of Subura that charged at me from every direction.
The men who had struggled against Uncle Aldo alone faltered for an instant once I joined the fight.
But only for an instant. They began rushing in like mad dogs.
If it had only been the two of us, that would have been one thing. But we had to protect the children too.
We became more and more exhausted.
In the end, even after Uncle Aldo and I had knocked down dozens of enemies, we were surrounded by dozens more who had surged out from the inside.
The one fortunate thing was that the children had somehow crawled through gaps in the fighting and crossed the boundary.
I saw Emilio in the distance, desperately calling for me and trying to come back, so I waved both hands at him.
Then I grinned.
“I do not think I can become a hero after all.”
“Maybe you can, maybe you cannot. Even a bug bastard from Subura can become a Silver Plaque Adventurer, so why can a limping kid not become a hero?”
“We are about to die.”
Uncle Aldo, drenched in blood, grinned.
Blood from a cut on his forehead ran over his face, making him look frightening.
Yet his face felt dependable and warm, so I smiled too.
“Do everything we can, then leave the rest to Heaven. Let us do what we can.”
“I suppose that is all we can do. All we can do right now.”
Uncle Aldo and I looked at each other, then charged at the enemies again.
It became a continuous series of knocking away the blades and clubs pouring in from every direction, then striking their owners.
Eventually, one weapon after another began to reach our bodies.
After a club struck my shoulder and made me stagger, I saw that the sky had begun to pale.
As I watched the glow that I might never see again, precious people came to mind.
Mother, Father, my friends and teacher, even the people at the Adventurer’s Guild.
‘Still, I have no regrets.’
Just as a dagger pierced through those vivid faces and filled my vision.
Just as I was about to send off my life, long or short, with a smile.
An arrow flew in from afar and knocked away the dagger.
BWOOOOOO!
The war horn that sounded with it announced our salvation.
A group of soldiers marched beneath the dim dawn sunlight.
Every one of them was fully armed with chainmail, helmets, spears, and shields.
At their head, a commander in studded armor sat astride a horse, radiating an aura that could not be lightly disregarded.
“You trash, did you all eat your ears too? Could you not hear the war horn?”
Holding a bow in one hand and guiding his horse with the other, he crossed the boundary into Subura.
A way to live opened within a space filled only with death.