Future Knight [EN]: Chapter 66

“I’m afraid I must ask you to leave. This isn’t going to work out.”

“I can’t just turn back. Please, take me with you.”

“I cannot.”

Kang Chan knew he couldn’t possibly bring her along on a perilous journey where even his own safety was far from guaranteed.

“I want to avenge my family too. My parents and my younger sibling… Please, don’t send me away.”

Kang Chan slowly shook his head. “You’ll have your revenge soon enough without having to do this. There’s no need to force yourself to follow me.”

“It’s not about forcing myself. I want to repay your kindness.”

“…….”

“I promise I won’t be a burden, Kang Chan.”

As Elrika reached out to take Kang Chan’s hand, he evaded her touch, turned away, and said, “I didn’t save you expecting anything in return. You don’t need to repay me. Please, go back.”

“…….”

When Kang Chan adamantly refused, Elrika played her trump card.

Click!

Startled by the all-too-familiar sound, Kang Chan turned his head. It was the sound of a Railgun [a weapon that uses electromagnetic force to launch projectiles at high speeds] being charged.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Turning around, Kang Chan saw Elrika pointing the Railgun at her own head.

“I would have died back then if it weren’t for you, Kang Chan. So, I must repay your kindness. If you don’t allow me to…”

Elrika switched the firing mode from safety to single shot.

“I’ll return to my parents’ embrace right here.”

Kang Chan was speechless at Elrika’s reckless behavior.

“I’m not going on this journey expecting to return alive.”

“I know.”

Knowing she was heading to her death, yet still desperately trying to follow him, Kang Chan was at a loss for words. He sighed, realizing the depth of her resolve.

“First, why don’t you put down the gun, and we can talk?”

“I won’t put it down until you agree.”

Faced with her stubbornness, Kang Chan had no choice but to surrender. “Alright. You can come with me.”

“Really? You promise?”

“But if I think you’re becoming a burden, I won’t hesitate to abandon you.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Then, put the gun down now, okay?”

“Ah, yes.”

She had pushed through with sheer determination, but she must have been very nervous inside, as Elrika replied with a trembling voice and carefully lowered the Railgun. The tension in the air slowly dissipated.

Kang Chan poured warm water from the kettle near the campfire into a cup and handed it to her. “Here, drink this.”

“Thank you…”

“It’s late, so sleep inside that tent. We’ll leave early tomorrow morning.”

“Um, then where will you sleep, Kang Chan?”

“I’ll just sleep here.”

“What? Out here in the cold? You don’t even have a blanket.”

“It’s fine.”

“Then I’ll stay here too.”

“No, there’s plenty of room inside. Sleep inside.”

“But…”

“Sleep inside.”

When Kang Chan spoke in a firm tone, Elrika had no choice but to go inside. “Okay…”

Worried about Kang Chan sleeping outside without a blanket on such a cold day, even with the campfire, Elrika took off the cloak she was wearing and handed it to Kang Chan. “Then, at least wear this, Kang Chan.”

“Ah, thank you.”

Kang Chan, surprised by how warm the cloak was, quickly urged Elrika to go to bed. “Hurry inside. You must be cold.”

“Okay.”

Kang Chan laid Elrika down next to the passed-out Zekyon and covered her with a blanket, saying, “You don’t have to worry about the baggage next to you. Good night.”

If Zekyon had heard him refer to her as baggage, she would have thrown a fit, but she was already fast asleep.

As Kang Chan turned back to the campfire after putting Elrika in the tent, Elrika grabbed his hand. “U-Um…”

“Yes?”

Elrika said with a blush on her face, “I-If it gets too cold outside, maybe you could come inside…”

The makeshift tent was surprisingly spacious, enough for three people to lie down comfortably.

If it were just men, that is.

But to ask him to come inside the tent with two women… That was out of the question. He couldn’t risk compromising the situation.

“It’s alright.”

“Okay…”

When Kang Chan coldly refused, Elrika quietly tried to sleep, and Kang Chan once again immersed himself in mana cultivation [harnessing and controlling magical energy].

The next day, Zekyon woke up startled by the fact that Kang Chan’s arm felt much thinner in her sleep. The familiar warmth was gone.

Before her eyes was not Kang Chan, but an elf sound asleep.

“Who are you?”

“…Huh?”

Still half-asleep, Elrika unconsciously replied.

“What are you doing sleeping here?”

Elrika, jolted awake by Zekyon’s cold gaze, jumped up and answered, “Ah, Kang Chan told me to sleep here yesterday.”

“Yesterday?”

Surely, until she fell asleep yesterday, there was no such newcomer. Zekyon was very curious as to when this rolling stone had come in and pushed out the embedded stone [a metaphor for someone new replacing someone established].

“Hey! Kang Chan!”

Zekyon stormed out of the tent and glared at Kang Chan.

“Did you sleep well?”

Kang Chan, busy preparing breakfast, casually greeted Zekyon and focused on cooking.

“Who’s that?”

“A companion.”

“Companion? Who decided that?”

Zekyon didn’t want an uninvited guest joining her cozy trip with Kang Chan, so she frowned and questioned Kang Chan.

“I did. Let’s eat breakfast.”

“What are you going to do with a kid who hasn’t even had her coming-of-age ceremony [a traditional rite of passage into adulthood]?”

Elrika bristled at being called a kid.

“W-What did you say? A kid?”

Zekyon snorted as if it were ridiculous at Elrika’s sensitive reaction. “Kids should just stay quiet, shouldn’t they?”

“H-Heok!”

When Zekyon unleashed her hidden dragon presence without hesitation, Elrika collapsed in the face of the suffocating aura of an Ancient Dragon.

Then, like Jeina in the past, she babbled like a madwoman.

“Y-You’re a D-D-Dragon?”

Elrika had thought that the woman before her was just a human with the same name as the evil dragon Zekyon.

She couldn’t imagine a dragon hanging out with a human.

But as the saying goes, you never know. The Zekyon before her was indeed that Zekyon.

G. Zekyon, the bully of the Elven Forest.

“U-Uh, uh…”

As Elrika, in a panic, trembled with fear, Kang Chan, who was preparing breakfast, quietly stopped Zekyon from cutting the ingredients. “Stop it.”

“But…”

Kang Chan cut off Zekyon without giving her time to argue. “If you don’t like my decision, I’ll leave alone.”

“…….”

Zekyon reluctantly suppressed her presence and sat down in front of Kang Chan.

“Ugh, what a fate.”

Her face flushed red, perhaps because she was upset that she, an absolute being with nothing to fear in the entire continent, had to yield to the words of a mere human.

Kang Chan, looking at Zekyon, put the sliced ingredients into the pot and soothed Zekyon in a gentle tone. “Sorry, Zekyon. I won’t tell you to die with me. So, until then, just do as I say.”

“Who said anything about dying? Do you think I’d let that happen?”

Zekyon flicked her hand, and Elrika, who was trembling behind her, flew up into the air with an invisible force and fell next to Zekyon.

Elrika, who was already pale, became completely petrified like a statue when she suddenly found herself sitting next to Zekyon.

Zekyon, with her arm around Elrika’s shoulder, whispered into Elrika’s pointed ear. “Let’s get along, kid.”

It was a friendly tone, but it sounded more terrifying to Elrika than anyone else’s words.

“Yes? Y-Yes…”

Elrika, barely managing to open her mouth, sent a desperate look of help to Kang Chan. But even with her earnest gaze, Kang Chan calmly stirred the food in the pot and said, “Elrika, Zekyon isn’t such a bad person.”

“…….”

Elrika’s eyes, looking at Kang Chan, seemed to say, ‘You want me to believe that?’ or ‘Do you think I’m stupid?’

“Alright, Chef! What’s for breakfast today?”

“Today’s breakfast is meat stew made with leftover smoked sausage and jerky from yesterday.”

“Ew, how can you eat that? You want me to eat leftovers from yesterday?”

“It won’t kill you.”

“Hey! It’s only been a day since we left, there’s no need to be so strict, is there?”

Kang Chan, who had seasoned with salt and pepper, ladled the stew into a bowl and handed it to Zekyon. “Just eat what you’re given.”

“Ugh, the great Zekyon can’t possibly eat reheated leftovers…”

“Then starve, or just eat pills.”

“…….”

Zekyon, with a constipated expression at the mention of pills, smelled the stew.

Sniff! Sniff!

“Hmm?”

Surprisingly, the stew smelled decent, so Zekyon cautiously brought the stew to her mouth, looking like a child forced to eat food they didn’t want.

However, the taste of the recycled stew in her mouth was surprisingly delicious.

“Hmm!”

Zekyon tilted her head in disbelief, but continued to eat the stew.

‘What is this taste? It sticks to my tongue, I can’t stop!’

Salt and pepper were the best seasonings for Kang Chan, who had been making various dishes without any special seasonings while living in the Elven Forest.

In addition, with a little bit of the secret seasoning that Chelsea, the tavern owner, had given him, the humble recycled stew tasted like a stew that could only be eaten in a royal palace.

Zekyon, who quickly finished a bowl in the blink of an eye, handed the bowl to Kang Chan. “More!”

“Is it good?”

Zekyon nodded vigorously.

Kang Chan ladled stew into Zekyon’s bowl and asked Elrika, “Elrika, did you bring your own food?”

“Yes, it’s in this bag.”

“Then eat that for now, and give me the bag later. I’ll keep it for you.”

“No, I’ll carry it. You already have a lot of luggage.”

“I’ll move it with magic, so don’t hesitate and give it to me.”

“Ah! Okay.”

Elrika, nodding at the mention of moving it with magic, took out broccoli from her bag and began to eat it little by little. However, the amount she ate was insignificant compared to Jeina, so Kang Chan, worried, offered her stew. “Would you like some stew?”

Elrika flinched and waved her hands at Kang Chan’s offer of stew with meat. “Ah, no, it’s okay. I don’t eat meat at all.”

“I see.”

Kang Chan smiled bitterly, thinking of Jeina.

The group quickly finished their meal, packed their belongings, and prepared to leave again.

Zekyon easily solved the most annoying dishwashing with clean magic after the meal, so the cleanup was even faster.

In addition, Zekyon moved all the luggage to her lair, so everyone could embark on the journey with a light body without any luggage.

21. A New Companion

Denver Forest, the most wooded area in the Montana Mountains.

A huge garden was cultivated in this place, where the hands of people were cut off due to the abundance of ferocious monsters and beasts. [This implies the area is so dangerous, people who try to cultivate it often lose their hands or lives.]

In the garden, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and huge pumpkins were hanging in abundance, and next to it was not a small cabin… but a huge cabin that should be called a fortress.

And in front of the cabin, there was a doghouse as big as the cabin, and a loyal-looking dog… but a very large and ferocious-looking brown bear was tied up.

“Krrr! Kuong! Kuong!”

Perhaps hungry, the brown bear began to bark fiercely at the cabin, and with the heavy footsteps that shook the ground, the huge wooden door, 6 meters high, opened, and the brown bear’s owner appeared.

A height of 5 meters, bulging muscles, and a ferocious impression that would make you pee your pants just by looking at it.

Surprisingly, the owner of the brown bear was an ogre.

However, the skin color of the ogre who came out of the door was different from the typical green skin of an ogre, it was blue.

“Krrr…”

With the appearance of the ogre, the huge and ferocious appearance of the brown bear disappeared, and the brown bear became a cute and adorable puppy, showing affection to its owner.