Not All Heroes From Earth Are Bad [EN]: Chapter 38

Gatren Holy Empire. It was one of only two massive nations on the continent referred to as empires.

The Gatren Empire possessed a unique characteristic that set it apart from other nations: a theocratic political system.

The Deusis Church, which boasted the largest religious following on the continent, held immense power.

The Pope of the Deusis Church also served as the emperor, ruling the Gatren Empire.

An empire ruled by the Pope.

Thus, people called the Gatren Empire the Holy Empire.

In the deepest part of Gratiam, the capital of the Gatren Empire, specifically in the place where the Pope offered prayers to God, an old man was kneeling with his eyes closed.

“You have arrived, Cardinal Elrond,” the old man said, opening his eyes.

He slowly rose from his spot. A pure white robe and a golden crown were reflected in the dim light, signifying his authority.

“You have completed the mission.”

A man wearing a similar white robe bowed his head. “Yes. As the Pope instructed, I have located the residence of the next Saintess, Abelson Marriott.”

At the news that the location of the next Saintess, Abelson Marriott, had been found, the Pope’s face lit up.

“Oh? Where is the Saintess?”

“The Black Star Fortress.”

At the mention of the Black Star Fortress, the Pope’s eyes widened slightly.

“The Black Star Fortress… The Black Star Fortress, you say…” The Pope repeated the words as if contemplating something.

“If it is the Black Star Fortress, isn’t that where the gluttonous witch resides?”

The gluttonous witch, commonly known as the Gourmet, was what humans called the Third Army Commander, Hemis.

“It pains my heart. How did the next Saintess end up captured in such a strange place…”

“I am sorry.”

“No, it is not Cardinal Elrond’s fault. Rather, I am grateful to you, Cardinal. It must not have been easy to obtain the information.”

A benevolent smile graced the Pope’s face.

Cardinal Elrond bowed his head and continued speaking. “Your Holiness, what shall we do?”

The Pope, who had been contemplating with his eyes closed at the Cardinal’s question, opened his mouth. “In the hundreds of years of war history, the moments when humans set foot in the Black Star Fortress can be counted on one hand.”

More than five hundred years had passed since the war between humans and the Demon race began.

During that long time, humans had only occupied the Black Star Fortress three times.

“Even those were all times when the Gourmet was absent.”

Even those three times were when Hemis was away. To put it another way, humans had never succeeded in capturing the Black Star Fortress even once while Hemis was present.

“Sending troops to rescue the next Saintess would be a reckless act.”

“Yes…”

“Has there been any contact from the Demon King’s army?”

“Not yet.”

If they had kidnapped the next Saintess, there must be a reason. However, the Demon King’s army had not made any demands, as if they weren’t planning anything.

“Hmm, then we have no choice but to send a rescue team.”

“A rescue team…?”

The Pope nodded. “We must summon Lord Oseld.”

Oseld Gefen, the name of a hero hidden in the shadows of the Holy Empire.

***

“Gwaaaaaaack!”

“Hold still! I’m coming right now!” Choi Hyun-seok shouted, hurriedly running over with a huge butcher knife.

*Thwack!*

The butcher knife was embedded in the struggling monster’s neck. Even with its neck half-severed, the monster was still thrashing.

“This guy’s lively!” Choi Hyun-seok swung the butcher knife again.

Finally, the monster’s head fell off. The light slowly faded from its ferocious red eyes.

‘Imbuing magic into weapons feels awkward,’ he thought.

Perhaps because he had always fought by moving his body, he wasn’t used to handling weapons.

‘Should I just rely on my body again?’ Choi Hyun-seok was seriously contemplating the use of weapons when…

[Level Up!]

The awaited notification rang out.

“Nice. Very nice!” It didn’t seem like much time had passed, but he had already raised his level by 10.

He immediately checked his status window and raised his stats.

▫Name: Choi Hyun-seok

▫Title: Prospective Hero

▫Level: 224

·Strength: 86

·Agility: 86

·Stamina: 86

·Mana: 86

·Charisma: 39

·Bonus Points: –

▫Hero Points: 450

▫Abilities: Pickaxing (C), Leadership (D), Cooking (F), Mana Manipulation (D)

▫Skills: Raidrun-style Combat

The 2 levels he gained yesterday and the 10 levels he gained today, a total of 12 levels, raised him to level 224. And additionally, his charisma had also increased quite a bit.

‘My charisma has been rising sharply lately.’

The growth rate of charisma, which he couldn’t invest points into, was quite steep. His stats had already increased by 5 points compared to a few days ago.

Choi Hyun-seok smiled contentedly and looked at the cooks.

“Everyone, you’ve worked hard! Let’s stop here for today.”

The gathered cooks immediately collapsed onto the floor.

“It’s tough… Why do I have to go through this hardship…”

“Kalkun is dead here! Can we eat him for dinner!?”

“I, Kalkun, am still alive! You idiot!”

Leaving behind the noisy cooks, the 10 squad leaders gathered in front of Choi Hyun-seok.

“You guys have worked hard too.”

The squad leaders stared at Choi Hyun-seok with fierce eyes.

“Meat. I want to eat meat.”

“I’m first. Give me the meat quickly!”

“I’m first! The meat is mine!”

It felt like a bloodbath would occur if they didn’t get the meat right away.

Choi Hyun-seok raised his hand to calm the squad leaders.

“Wait. The party is just beginning.”

He had caught quite a few monsters, so there was plenty of meat. However, Choi Hyun-seok was alone. He couldn’t possibly grill all the meat for the 200 cooks by himself.

“First, start a fire!”

“Wooooaaaah!” The cooks started gathering firewood, shouting.

Soon, a mountain of firewood was piled up, and the smell of grilling meat began to rise from everywhere.

“You. What’s your name?”

“Wolfken.”

As promised, Choi Hyun-seok was going to grill meat directly for the squad that had caught the most monsters.

“Your squad is first place. I’ll grill the meat for you myself, so wait.”

“Uwaaaaaaaa!” Squad leader Wolfken let out a roar of victory.

The other squad leaders looked at him with envy for a moment but soon turned their gazes away.

“There’s no need to be envious. There’s plenty of meat here too.”

Since there was meat right in front of them, they didn’t think it mattered if they didn’t eat what Choi Hyun-seok grilled himself.

“It’s delicious! I’m glad I became a cook!”

“I want to send the meat to my mom and dad! I’ll tell them to hide it at home, and I’ll eat it all when I go back!”

In fact, the ordinary cooks were eating the meat with the happiest expressions in the world. However, the squad leaders were not.

“Keuwaaaack! Slurp slurp! This is the taste! This is it!”

Wolfken’s squad was eating the meat that Choi Hyun-seok had grilled himself on one side. Their eyes kept going in that direction.

‘The meat is delicious, but… the head chef’s grilled meat is even more delicious.’

Those who had already tasted the meat full of MSG and juices once made a vow.

‘I’m going to be first place tomorrow.’

No matter how many subordinates died, they vowed to catch as many monsters as possible and eat the meat grilled by Choi Hyun-seok.

“Everyone worked hard today. Now, get some rest and let’s eat meat again tomorrow!”

“Wooooaaaah!” The morale that had fallen to the bottom the day before soared sky-high.

About 30 cooks had died today, but no one cared.

‘I need to recruit more cooks before going hunting tomorrow.’ Choi Hyun-seok returned to the cookhouse, wondering where to fill the shortage of soldiers.

***

“Gollum!”

As soon as he arrived at the cookhouse, Choi Hyun-seok looked for Gollum. Gollum came running out from inside the cookhouse, panting.

“Yes! I’m here.”

“Did you check the meat we caught today?”

“Yes. It’s in pretty good condition this time.”

“Of course! Who do you think caught it?”

Fortunately, Usaru was not on the hunt today. Therefore, the situation where the monster became minced meat did not occur.

“The executives’ meals will start today, so prepare in advance.”

“Yes!”

“If anything goes wrong, you’re responsible, so you have to do it properly.”

“Yes?” Gollum stared at Choi Hyun-seok with wide eyes.

“What are you staring at blankly? I, the head chef, will hunt. You, the assistant head chef, will cook. That’s how we decided to divide the work, right?”

Gollum felt wronged.

‘When did you say that!?’

Not only had he become the unwanted assistant head chef, but he also had to take responsibility if something went wrong. This was unbearable.

Gollum mustered his courage.

“I don’t remember hearing that…”

“Huh? That’s strange. I’m sure you said you understood.”

Choi Hyun-seok’s face gradually began to contort horribly. He leaned his face close to Gollum’s.

“You really don’t remember?”

“…”

“You don’t remember? Think carefully.”

“Ah… I think I remember…”

“You think you remember? Or do you remember for sure? Huh?”

“I remember.”

“Right? Hahaha!” Only then did Choi Hyun-seok’s face brighten.

‘That’s not even human. He’s a son of a bitch…’

Even if he felt wronged, there was nothing he could do. The law was far away, and the low kick was close [a threat of physical violence].

Cheee…!

After a while, Choi Hyun-seok was diligently grilling meat on one side of the cookhouse.

“Nice! Perfect!” He carefully placed the grilled meat on a plate. Then he looked at Gollum.

“Then I’m trusting you, Gollum! I’m busy, so I’ll be going!”

“Yes…” Gollum sighed as he watched the human head chef walk away.

“I don’t know why the Demon King doesn’t capture a human like that…”

***

“Hmm hmm~” Choi Hyun-seok was humming and heading somewhere. Then, Rahel, who suddenly appeared, shouted in his ear.

“Hero!!!”

“You scared me! Turn on your blinker before coming in [give a warning before appearing]!” He was so surprised that he almost dropped the plate.

“You almost spilled the precious food!” Choi Hyun-seok said, glaring. However, Rahel didn’t seem to care at all. Her arms were crossed, and her mouth was sticking out like a duck’s, as if she didn’t like something.

“Hero! Where are you going now?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Again! Again! Are you going to that Saintess Abelson or whatever!?” At Rahel’s words, Choi Hyun-seok looked startled. He had been hit right on the mark.

“W-Why? Is there a problem!?”

“Hero! Is this the time to be idly flirting!? You need to get stronger quickly and escape from the Demon King’s army!”

“Ahem! I know that too. You’ve seen how hard I train every day.”

“That’s not enough. Go train right now!”

“I’m going to take this and then go train.”

“No! Go right now!”

“I’m going to give this and then go.”

“Let’s go train quickly!!!”

“I’m going to give this and then go!!!”

“Let’s go!”

“No!”

“Go!”

“I said no!”

The conversation was beyond childish and almost like a child’s tantrum. Even kindergartners these days would have a higher level of argument than that.

“Don’t worry. I’m just going to talk for a bit.”

In the end, Choi Hyun-seok was the winner. Anyway, Rahel was bound to Choi Hyun-seok. Her hands and feet couldn’t resist when her head told her to go.

Rahel made a resentful expression. “Eeeek…! The Hero is being bewitched and neglecting his training! That woman is definitely a witch, not a Saintess!”

Choi Hyun-seok ignored Rahel, who was grumbling behind him, and continued walking.

“I need to hurry before the meat gets cold.” The meat would be properly resting soon. If possible, he wanted Abelson to eat the meat when it was most delicious.

*Splash!*

Choi Hyun-seok, who was walking, stopped.

“Hmm?” Red liquid was pooling on the floor.

“Blood…?” Come to think of it, he could smell the metallic, fishy odor of blood.

‘What’s going on?’ Choi Hyun-seok instinctively hid his presence. He carefully moved down the hallway.

‘The soldiers are all dead.’ Soldiers were lying in pools of blood everywhere in the hallway.

‘They were all beheaded in one blow.’ Perhaps they hadn’t even resisted, as there were no signs of a fight. Some even had peaceful expressions, as if they had died without even knowing their heads had been cut off.

‘It’s dangerous.’ Choi Hyun-seok sensed that this sudden bloodshed was related to Abelson. His pace quickened.

‘It’s okay. There are cow heads in front of Abelson’s room…’ The cow-headed men guarding Abelson’s room were Raidrun’s direct subordinates.

As a result of checking their combat power with a combat power meter before, their combat power is over 40,000. Such strong people take turns guarding Abelson’s room 24 hours a day.

There’s no way there could be a problem.

‘It’ll be okay…’ Even as he repeated that, his anxiety only deepened.

‘I’ll be there soon.’ Just one more corner and he would be right at the room where Abelson was. Choi Hyun-seok almost ran across the hallway.

Finally arriving at the room, Choi Hyun-seok threw the door open.

“Abelson! Are you okay…” Choi Hyun-seok, who was shouting, stopped abruptly. A man he had never seen before was standing inside Abelson’s room.

A handsome appearance that looked to be in his 30s. At the man’s feet, Raidrun’s subordinates were lying with their heads cut off. Red blood flowed down the pure white sword he was holding.

“A human?” The man looked at Choi Hyun-seok with a puzzled expression.

“Why is a human here?”

“I don’t think that’s what’s important right now.”

Choi Hyun-seok gritted his teeth.

“No. It’s quite important to me. Who are you, and why are you in this Black Star Fortress? Don’t tell me you’re not human but a Demon?”

“Shut up. Get that hand off her.” Choi Hyun-seok spat out as if chewing.

His eyes were fixed on one place.

“Kkeueuk… Keuk…!” Abelson, who was dangling in the air with her neck grabbed by the man, was letting out painful groans as if she was having trouble breathing.

“Ah, are you talking about our next Saintess?” The man smiled at Abelson.

“Don’t worry. I plan to take her back in perfect condition. I can’t hurt such a precious person.”

Choi Hyun-seok didn’t know who the man was. What was certain was that he was someone related to Abelson and that he was a strongman that Choi Hyun-seok could not reach.

However, it didn’t matter who the man was. The only thing that mattered now was one thing: that man was an obstacle blocking his love.

“Get your hands off her, you son of a bitch!” Choi Hyun-seok threw the plate away and started running.