Chapter 9 -Tracking the Heroes (2)

What traces were found that made the hero’s party leave the gate?

What kind of trap could have ensnared the heroes who defeated the Demon King in his own courtyard?

Questions arose, but there was no immediate way to resolve them.

The advance team members who discovered the traces went missing while guiding the heroes, so we had to ask the hero’s party what kind of trap it was when we found them.

Fortunately, the elf said he knew the direction, so we immediately headed north as he indicated.

Tap tap tap.

Considering the magician, we traversed the mountains at a slightly faster pace.

The surroundings were mountains and forests with no trace of human presence.

‘Could it be that this isn’t Korea?’

I thought it might be Korea because there was someone wearing clothes with Korean writing, but it was hard to believe there could be so little trace of people in such a cramped country.

While it was a mountainous country, it was difficult for there to be no human traces in such a small nation.

Thinking this as I moved with my teammates, voices were heard from the front.

The shiny knight in the second row, not the elf in the lead, was speaking while looking back.

“I’m disappointed that you want a reward for rescuing the heroes. Really, it was very un-knightly behavior.”

I wondered who he was talking to, but it turned out he was addressing me.

I couldn’t help but laugh.

I didn’t expect such a sudden attack of facts.

However, I tilted my head at his words.

It wasn’t wrong, but I wasn’t in a position to hear such things from him.

Though we were both knights, free knights and official knights belonging to orders were only similar in name, more like different professions.

Like traditional mages and battle mages who turn their backs on each other, or rather, official knights looking down on free knights.

In fact, though called knights, free knights were closer to mercenaries.

Mercenaries who could manipulate mana but had no master to pledge loyalty to.

That was the essence of free knights.

In truth, saying that, official knights were no different from soldiers who could use mana.

But being officially recognized by a state or lord made a big difference compared to wandering the streets as a mercenary.

Yet he says it’s un-knightly behavior.

That he’s disappointed.

These weren’t things he could say if he thought of me as a free knight.

Perhaps that’s why I couldn’t get angry right away.

He arbitrarily elevated me and then insulted me, so I didn’t know how to respond.

“I wonder what they see in someone like this…”

On top of that, his muttered words.

Others probably didn’t hear, but my sensitive ears caught his mumbling clearly.

It seemed he had some issues I was unaware of.

But I couldn’t ask the nobleman what he meant after hearing his words.

As always, I just pretended not to notice.

Besides, there was plenty to see.

First of all, it would be good to learn from my generosity in not getting angry after being insulted.

There’s plenty of time ahead, so he’ll eventually recognize my excellent character.

Anyway, the party atmosphere sank due to the shiny knight’s provocation.

The elf, who was originally uninterested in others, didn’t even prick up his ears, but the magician behind me clicked his tongue softly, and the soldier walking beside me mouthed words while looking at me.

‘You must endure.’

I could only be puzzled again seeing Hoffman’s lips.

Endure, he says.

Could it be he thinks I’ll do something after hearing the shiny one’s words?

I wonder how rumors about me have spread.

I’d have to check properly when we got back.

Perhaps because of the dampened mood?

The group walked in silence for a long time.

As the atmosphere sank, the clouds hung low, and the air felt heavy.

As if the Demon King’s miasma had thickly accumulated…

No, had it really accumulated?

I looked around, awakening my senses.

The miasma had definitely thickened.

Like the plains in front of the dungeon where we last fought the Demon King.

No, it was different from then.

The miasma here was slightly different from the Demon King’s.

A more primitive mana.

“As expected, the miasma gets stronger as we go north. But the miasma is a bit strange. It’s not the fleeing Demon King’s miasma, but seems like miasma that was originally here…”

The magician seemed to have the same thought as me.

He raised his staff as he walked.

Then as he muttered softly, a faint light flowed from the tip of his staff.

“As expected, it was strengthened by the Demon King’s miasma, but this place originally had strong miasma. I wonder if there was a war here. Judging by how long the miasma has been stagnant, it seems to have been a war several decades ago.”

War?

At the magician’s words, I looked around once more.

Not sensing mana, but using my eyes, ears, and even nose to check the surroundings.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t tell if this was a place where war had taken place like the magician could.

But there was a smell.

The smell of rusty iron buried in the damp ground.

That smell revived long-sealed memories of my past life.

“Really… Was it Korea?”

“Pardon?”

My muttering must have been a bit loud, as Hoffman turned to look at me. But I couldn’t answer his question.

Because the elf leading us stopped on top of a hill.

As we followed him up the hill, we could see why he had stopped.

An impossibly long horizontal obstacle stretched out before us.

“Is this a man-made obstacle? It’s constructed in a strange way. At this rate, it’ll all be breached.”

“Still, it would be quite effective for those who aren’t knights.”

“More importantly, is iron abundant here? At least the blacksmiths must be extremely active. The entire obstacle is made of iron.”

As I listened to the party members, except the elf, each make a comment, I looked at the obstacle spread out below the hill.

The iron obstacle stretching endlessly to the sides had gaps here and there as if someone had forcibly torn it apart.

An obstacle much changed from its original form.

But I couldn’t fail to recognize this obstacle.

It was something I had seen tiringly for nearly 2 years in my past life.

Barbed wire.

The obstacle that appeared before us was barbed wire.

Specifically, the Southern Limit Line fence 2km south of the DMZ(The Demilitarized Zone).

I was now at the DMZ.

The elf who had stopped began to move again.

The shiny knight and Hoffman followed, and though the magician seemed to want to examine the barbed wire, he eventually had to move as well.

But I remained stopped in front of the barbed wire until the end.

It wasn’t because I had discovered this was Korea, the DMZ no less.

I looked at the fence in front of where the party members were advancing.

A forest and undergrowth much denser than the forest behind spread out.

A truly natural forest untouched by human hands for a very long time.

The reason I had stopped was because of that forest where the party members were walking.

Beyond the Southern Limit Line, that forest was the DMZ boasting history and tradition.

That’s not to say the DMZ itself was dangerous.

If the Demon King had come here, North Korea beyond the DMZ probably wouldn’t be intact either.

The problem, however, was the danger zone within the DMZ. The minefield.

A place where numerous mines were buried during and after the war.

The group was heading straight for that area.

Could it be that the heroes came this way too?

Such a thought suddenly occurred to me, but for now I had to stop the group.

“Everyone, wait a moment!”

I called out loudly to stop the group.

“It’s dangerous to go on like this. There’s likely something dangerous in front of where the obstacle blocks the way.”

I pointed to the barbed wire behind, emphasizing the danger,

“I’ve developed an ability to sense danger from long years of war. That sense keeps sending me danger signals.”

I tried to persuade the group even while revealing part of my abilities.

“Didn’t the magician also say there was a great war here in the past? We need to be careful since we don’t know the weapon level of this world.”

However, my persuasion, even bringing up my past war experience, did not work on the party members at all.

In fact, I knew the persuasion wouldn’t work.

People could only think based on their own standards.

Because of magic, our world hadn’t developed gunpowder like Earth.

So no one believed my words that there could be bombs, mines that would explode when stepped on, lying right before us.

Moreover, to explain that fact directly, I would have to talk about my past life.

I couldn’t tell the party members about my past life.

If the nobles realized I had lived here in my past life, it was hard to gauge what would happen.

Whether I’d be tortured, have information extracted by magic, or be locked up in the royal palace to spill information for life.

I had finally come to Earth from my past life, I couldn’t let such things hold me back.

Even if others found out, I had to make sure they found out at a moment most advantageous to me.

And now was not that moment.

Though I tried to stop the group, I honestly didn’t think the minefield was that dangerous.

The probability of our group stepping on a mine while passing through the minefield wasn’t very high.

Too much time had passed since the mines were buried.

Many of the buried mines had been washed away by rain and wind over the years, and the remaining mines were likely too old to function properly.

Probably most mines wouldn’t even explode if stepped on.

Moreover, the group members were people who had awakened mana.

Knights or mages could surely withstand most ankle mines.

Plus, since I had given this much warning, everyone was sure to be at least somewhat cautious.

However, the looks they gave me were not good.

“A knight, and yet… Unbelievable.”

“My clan is waiting. We can’t not go just because it’s dangerous.”

“I’ll monitor the surroundings with magic as much as possible, so don’t worry.”

Not only the knight who was already disappointed, but the elf and magician also seemed disappointed by my words.

Only Hoffman, who had the weakest combat ability, seemed very tense.

Thanks to the disappointed group members, I ended up at the very back of the group.

Hoffman also ended up second to last, in front of me.

Our party set off again.

Watching the group walk, unfortunately my advice seemed to have failed.

Except for Hoffman, the group members’ behavior hadn’t changed.

Well, they were all prepared to defend against attacks from the Demon King or undead,

so I supposed I had to be satisfied with that much.

However, I whispered softly to Hoffman’s back.

“Stay close by my side from now on.”

If anything happened, I intended to at least protect Hoffman.

It wasn’t because he alone had listened to me well.

Or was it because of that?

Soon after, my bad prediction came true again.

The group stepped on a mine in the middle of the minefield.

Boom!

The mine that had been buried for decades exploded grandly.