The Story of Becoming a Married Man in Another World

040 To the Village

There were no more standing enemies. Some had fled, and those who struggled to get into the house until the end were all killed. He did it with his own hands. He killed them all without leaving a single one.

Juhwan breathed heavily and looked around.

“….”

The surroundings were dirty with blood and what had flowed from the goblins’ bodies. The eyes that had been shining brightly now looked like crushed intestines.

The once quaint and pretty house in the mountains was a mess. He had just started to feel attached to it, thinking of it as his home.

Juhwan’s face twisted severely. He breathed out as if spitting. The smell of fishy blood and the stench of disgusting things filled his nose.

Juhwan started walking along the fence. The blood-soaked ground stuck to the soles of his shoes. It felt like the blood-soaked ground was holding him back with every step.

Ignoring that feeling, Juhwan checked the fallen goblins. To see if any had survived, pretending to be dead and waiting for a chance to escape.

Fortunately, there were no goblins that looked alive. They were all unmistakably dead.

Feeling somewhat relieved, Juhwan lit a fire with his fingertips. He needed to check how much magic power he had left in his body.

The fire looked unchanged, but he had used quite a bit. By the time he killed the last goblin, he felt his magic power weakening. Of course, it was a difference only he could feel.

Even now, he wasn’t sure, but he felt a bit lacking. Somehow, he thought so. There was no definite difference, and the flame hadn’t diminished. It was just a feeling.

He thought that if they swarmed again, it might be difficult this time. He felt a bit anxious.

The fence was also slightly broken in places. He recalled the goblins desperately trying to climb over the fence. It wasn’t enough for a beast to get over, but goblins could easily climb it.

After confirming that there were no goblins in the surrounding forest, Juhwan headed for the fence gate.

As he approached the gate, in the quiet, he heard Lizzy’s voice.

—

—

“Juhwan?”

Before he could answer, there was a commotion inside, and the door opened.

Lizzy came running out.

It seemed she had been listening to the sounds inside. Even though she knew all the goblins had retreated and there was nothing left, she had been holding back, waiting for Juhwan to come.

Juhwan hugged Lizzy tightly as she burrowed into his arms. He wanted to tell her she did well, but no words came out. Instead, he pressed his lips firmly against his wife’s forehead, conveying his feelings.

Dorothy peeked her face out from the door. In her arms was a horned rabbit. Half of the rabbit’s body was tucked into the pocket of her clothes.

When Juhwan opened one arm, Dorothy ran to him and clung to his leg.

“Lizzy, Dorothy….”

His voice was choked as he called out to his family.

He had been worried. No matter how determined he was to protect them, there were times when it was beyond his control. The reason people are human is because they cannot control fate.

Juhwan hugged the two of them and took a deep breath. As the warm body heat was transmitted to his hands and body, he finally realized. They were alive. They hadn’t died. He had protected them. No, they had endured. And the baby rabbit too. Everyone had worked together.

Tears welled up in Juhwan’s eyes. He was relieved that it ended without losing anyone. He was truly grateful that everyone was safe.

“Thank you.”

He said this to Lizzy and Dorothy, and to the baby rabbit. Thank you for your efforts. Thank you for fighting together.

Dorothy looked up at him, sniffling, and muttered.

“Daddy is crying. Just like Dorothy.”

Of course, he would cry. Thinking he might lose his family, thinking they barely remained in his hands, of course, he would cry. Tears poured from his eyes like rain, which had been fine just a moment ago. The family hugged each other and cried together like children for a while.

*

After a while, Juhwan stood up.

They had to leave the mountain while there was still daylight. He didn’t know the goblins’ habits, but many animals were active at night. Goblins might be the same. Night was a disadvantageous time for humans.

Looking at Lizzy’s tear-streaked face, Juhwan spoke.

“Lizzy, we are leaving. We are going out of the mountain. Now. Take the important things. Quickly, hurry to the village. We need a cart and a horse. And then we leave the village.”

Living here, they could hunt and make a living. Considering the times they exchanged goods with peddlers, they might live quite comfortably. It would be a lie to say there was no hesitation in leaving all that behind.

But now that he knew there were dangerous things like goblins, staying in the mountain was not an option. They had to go down to the village, warn them about the goblins, and then get a cart and a horse to leave.

If they could live in the village, that might be one option. But it probably wouldn’t work. They had given him a woman and a house to make him a hunter, and they wouldn’t just let him live in the village. They needed hunters.

Recalling the goblins attacking the fence, Juhwan’s expression darkened.

On Earth, he had been a poor student. He used to get into fights and wasn’t very good at studying. A lot of time had passed, and he barely remembered what he had studied.

But he remembered that in medieval Europe, there were manors ruled by lords. The teacher had said that peasants were tied to the land, and he remembered thinking, ‘Are their lives more miserable than mine, or am I more miserable?’.

In his younger days, he had thought there couldn’t be anyone more miserable than him. He thought he was the most miserable. Now he knew that wasn’t true. There were plenty of people in the world who were ‘more miserable’.

The villagers might not be able to leave this place at will. Even after warning them about the goblins, they might have to continue living here. No, they probably would have to. Being a peasant in this era probably meant that. Maybe they were the ones who belonged to the group of ‘more miserable’ people.

—

—

But at least not the current Juhwan. There is no reason to be unhappy, no reason to be tied to this village. If they try to tie Riji here.

‘Maybe there will be some fighting.’

It would be nice if it ended with just a simple scuffle, but it could get rougher. Still, there is no retreat. Let’s threaten them and get a cart and horse to leave.

“….”

Riji seemed to understand what Juhwan meant right away. She hurriedly wiped her tears and nodded. Then she looked up at Juhwan as if she had thought of something.

“There is a cart in the village. A very big cart.”

Riji forced a smile.

“If we give them wolf skins, we can trade for it, surely. It’s an unused cart.”

Riji seemed to know that the villagers would not easily let them go. But she was trying hard not to show her anxiety.

From noble mtl dot come

Riji deliberately put on a bright expression, looked up at Juhwan, and smiled as if to say it was okay. Her small face, which had been trembling with fear until a moment ago, now had an encouraging atmosphere for Juhwan. She was a woman who was much weaker than him, incomparable.

Juhwan gently touched his forehead to Riji’s. He drew strength from her warmth. He hoped that Riji would also gain strength as he did. It’s okay, I’ll manage somehow. Don’t worry about the villagers, Riji.

“It’s okay.”

Riji seemed to understand Juhwan’s heart, and she smiled brightly and took a deep breath. She seemed to be gathering her resolve.

Dorothy, who had been quietly watching the two, offered her forehead to Juhwan. She seemed to want the same.

While Juhwan touched the child’s forehead, Riji went inside and started packing. She busily gathered items that could be converted into money, like furs and fabrics, and neatly packed food that needed to be eaten immediately into a large container.

After sending Dorothy inside, Juhwan went outside to gather things that could be used as weapons.

No matter where they were going, the more types of weapons, the better. Knives, iron skewers, axes, etc., from the hunter’s workshop. Let’s take everything we can. It’s the next hunter’s belongings, but it can’t be helped.

For a moment, he thought about just leaving without passing through the village. Then they could leave quietly without anyone knowing.

“….”

Juhwan shook his head to erase that thought. It might be possible if he were alone. But it was difficult to keep moving with a woman and a child, carrying belongings.

They couldn’t leave all their belongings behind either. This world was different from modern Earth, where there were ATMs and 24-hour convenience stores at every step. They had to carry what they needed and food with them.

‘Besides, goblins might chase after us.’

They had to get far away as quickly as possible. Thinking of the goblins, Juhwan firmly set his lips.

‘If we get a cart, we should leave the village tonight.’

Night was approaching quickly. Juhwan’s hands moved faster as he packed.

*

Gus quickened his pace.

The adventurer arrived earlier than expected. When he lured the goblins to Juhwan’s cabin and went to the village, they had already arrived.

There was no need to drag out the revenge until tomorrow. It would be better to deal with it today. Once he made that decision, the rest was quick. It was a process he had thought about and repeated in his mind every day for decades. Gus immediately ran to the goblin village.

It seemed that women had died or been injured during the coup. The goblins in the village were quite agitated. They were fighting among themselves, and some were hitting trees for no reason.

—

Gus sprinkled a little musk powder on a few trees. He mustn’t attract too much attention at once. Weakly, little by little. Just enough for them to track the scent on their own.

One of them flared its nostrils. It seemed to have already noticed, having a keen sense of smell.

Gus retreated and headed back to the village, leaving traces of musk here and there. He carefully adjusted the amount of musk powder so that they wouldn’t arrive too quickly, but still make it before sunset.

‘This should be enough.’

He only needed to lure them near the village. Gus turned around again. It was time to fetch Juhwan. He had to hurry.

‘He must be safe.’

He was a bit worried. No matter how strong he was, and even if he could use healing magic, dealing with excited goblins was very dangerous. If he had withdrawn at the right moment, he wouldn’t have been seriously injured, but who knows.

‘That man cherishes his wife and daughter.’

But when he arrived at Juhwan’s hut, an entirely unexpected situation unfolded.

Gus’s eyes widened.

By now, he thought the goblins would have taken over the house. He imagined Juhwan would be injured and collapsed, or hiding somewhere, waiting for an opportunity.

‘My God.’

The place was littered with goblin corpses.

Could he have taken down so many on his own? Gus realized he had completely misjudged Juhwan.

Moreover, some of the goblin corpses were burnt. He thought they might have been torched, but the pattern was different. The fire seemed to have burned from within the goblins, not from the outside.

‘Can he use two attributes?’

Very few people could use more than one type of magic. Healing mages were rare, but mages with multiple attributes were even rarer. Only top-tier mages affiliated with the kingdom could possibly do that.

A laugh escaped him involuntarily. Serves him right. The village chief was finished. This went beyond the crime of trying to sell a healing mage to another noble.

There was an old, almost obsolete law related to mages. It wasn’t a kingdom law, but one that applied only within this territory. He had heard it was made long ago to prevent mages from falling into the hands of other lords.

Anyone who sold information about mages to another lord, hid mage-related information from their lord, or did anything similar would be beheaded.

For nearly a hundred years, no one had been beheaded for that reason. Almost no one knew about the law. For those not involved with mages, it was as if the law didn’t exist.

But the current lord had once used this law as a pretext to behead someone.

Gus had learned this while gathering information to work under a noble.

So he deliberately informed the village chief about Juhwan. Knowing the chief’s nature, he thought the chief would covet the mage. The chief acted exactly as Gus had expected. It was almost laughable how predictable it was.

Gus had given up his life as a hunter directly because of the goblins. If it weren’t for them, he would have become the best hunter by now.

But worse than the goblins were the villagers. They called an unsuspecting young man from afar and sent him up the mountain unprepared. No one warned him, fearing he might leave if he knew the truth. They all conspired to deceive him. The entire village was complicit.

And the greatest sinner among them was the village chief. The person in that position had made the decisions for generations. It was the chief who urged everyone to act that way.

Gus took a deep breath to calm his emotions. Now was not the time to get excited. The end was near, and he had to be careful.

Gus confirmed that Juhwan’s house was empty and headed down to the village.

Most of the people from Gus’s younger days were dead, but those living in the village now were of the same kind. They still called unsuspecting people and sent them up the mountain.

—

‘Everyone should just die.’

There is no one in that village who deserves to live. Including himself, everyone deserves to die.

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