Old People Don’t Hold Hands - Chapter 151



Only Krnovel

Episode 151, Survivors (2)

While I was silent, Nowen spoke first.

Even that seemed cautious, as if he had thought about it for a long time before opening his mouth.

“What… … happened?”

‘The 7th Legion Commander’s men were attacked by the savages, and Mr. Homer was intervened by God.’

‘As you know, humans in EndWorld cannot reject their heritage.’

‘So Mr. Homer took his own life before he could harm us.’

It was such a simple and clear fact, but I couldn’t tell it as it was.

Perhaps, if you are a Nowen with strong loyalty to the god you serve, and a 5th Count adventurer who has lived in the End World as an adventurer for a long time… … .

Even if I say something like that, it will just be dismissed as a story about slandering the commander of the Seventh Army and God.

So, I guess I have no choice but to lump all these facts together and express it like this.

“A situation arose where Mr. Homer was mentally controlled and had no choice but to attack us.”

“Oh my, how did this happen… … ?”

“So, Mr. Homer killed himself before he could harm us.”

“… … .”

Nowen was silent at my words.

He would be similar to me.

The value of that nobility and will to protect one’s comrades even while under mental control is amazing.

Even Nowen, the 5th Count adventurer, would never know.

“That’s why we have to survive. Because by staying alive, we are carrying on Mr. Homer’s will.”

“… … I see. I understand.”

After that, Nowen seemed to hesitate for a while.

“I misunderstood you for a moment, … … I’m sorry.”

He just gently patted my shoulder and said this.

I looked at Nowen, who was offering comfort and encouragement.

“But Mr. Nowen.”

“… … W, what is it?”

“I hope that Mr. Nowen will take this incident as an opportunity to reconsider.”

“Come to think of it again, what was that… … ?”

“If you only try to embrace and protect the weak, you may end up failing to protect the greater good.”

“… … .”

To my words, Nowen neither confirmed nor denied.

Still, it was possible to infer to some extent that Nowen also felt something.

The normal Nowen would have been furious and asked what that meant.

“… … .”

“I think Mr. Nowen also realized something through this welcoming ceremony. I hope it was of great help to you.”

After saying these words, I turned around and tried to go back to my sleeping place.

“… … Wait, DeClen.”

I paused for a moment at the sound of Nowen’s voice calling me, then turned to look at him.

There was Nowen looking at me with wavering eyes.

“… … Then do you think there is no need to protect them?”

“I’m not saying that you should just abandon those people. But… … .”

“……but?”

“If you have the power, you have something greater to protect.”

“… … ?”

At my words, Nowen tilted his head as if he didn’t quite understand.

“If Kargon is attacked from the Labyrinth in a similar way, it is not the strong like Mr. Nowen who should protect the weak.”

“What does that mean! If that’s the case… … !”

“Instead, we must protect the world.”

“… … !”

“Because only someone like Mr. Nowen could keep that.”

At my words, Nowen opened his eyes wide as if he had been hit by something.

Even while I was leaving, he just stood there, still, motionless.

Most of the characters in EndWorld were like that.

When such an extreme situation occurs, does a hidden sense of justice flare up without you knowing it?

They all tried to protect the weak like Nowen.

Especially the stronger the adventurer.

While playing the game while raising the gold belt, he fails to protect the weak.

Whenever I tried to ask him to do something different, his stress level would skyrocket.

This wasn’t just the case with Geumdae either.

This was the case for most of those who had grown to the level of a strong adventurer.

Nowen, which has 5 coefficients, would probably be similar.

But this incident must have made him realize something too.

… … At least sacrifice for a greater cause is essential.

I quietly returned to my sleeping place and lay down, and soon after, Nowen returned.

“… … .”

Still, Nowen was quiet.

It’s not that his attitude hasn’t changed from before.

Unlike before, when he was tossing and turning as if he was constantly thinking about something, this time he immediately curled up into a blanket.

“… … .”

Not long after, I heard the sound of steady breathing, as if I was falling asleep.

Later on, I could even hear snoring occasionally.

It seems like the issues that have been bothering me have been resolved to some extent.

He returned to his original self, Nowen, who would fall asleep as soon as his head touched the floor.

… … Well, then.

I guess I’ll try to sleep comfortably for once.

After today, it will be time to move on to the fourth floor.

I also fell asleep, and time passed quickly.

When that happened, it was already approaching 12 o’clock in the afternoon.

Considering I was in a labyrinth, I slept for a very long time.

Normally, it would be difficult to sleep soundly because of the night watch, but since it was the dragon’s nest, there was no night watch.

It seems that everyone was unknowingly tired, having not been able to sleep comfortably for several days due to the Frost Queen’s hallucinations.

Except for Inogen, who woke up the latest, most of them woke up around 12 o’clock and prepared lunch.

Since the only ingredients we had were the basic ones, the menu was inevitably stew.

I was somehow eating the stew that Diana made.

Biella, who had been slowly scooping up food with a spoon, let out a deep sigh.

“Haaaaa, this isn’t the taste… … .”

“What is not it?”

“Huh, huh? What was the name of the food you ate there?”

“… … A pork lunch box?”

“Yeah, yeah, that one! That one was a little spicy, but it was delicious. This one was just plain, huh… … .”

As I say that, I see you slowly eating your stew.

It seemed like the pork lunch box was quite to his taste.

Likewise, Inogen, who had enjoyed the pork lunch box, turned his head and saw that…

“Oh, yum! This looks edible!”

He was just burying his nose in the bowl, saying things like it looked edible.

Instead of looking at Inogen like that, I looked at Biella.

“Don’t do that, eat it. You don’t know when you’ll be able to eat it again when you get to the fourth floor.”

“Oh, I get it. You can just eat it… …!”

Unable to resist my words, he began to eat the stew in a hurry.

… … Oh my.

I didn’t say I was going to steal it. Why are you eating it so hastily?

I turned my head away from seeing Biella like that.

My eyes met with Nowen’s, who was quietly eating stew.

When Nowen met my eyes, at first I thought he smiled awkwardly.

“Haha, DeClen! Oh, I was the one who thanked you yesterday!”

… … He returned to his usual self, laughing heartily.

“… … Huh? What did you do yesterday?”

“Ahem, I don’t know, I don’t need to know.”

“Yes, you don’t have to know.”

“… … That, that’s right! That was a serious conversation between men! Hahaha!”

“… … Huh?”

Biella frowned as if she found the conversation between me and Nowen strange, and looked back and forth between me and Nowen.

Neither I nor Nowen had any intention of telling anyone, so we just avoided Biella’s gaze.

Anyway, it seems that Nowen has returned to normal to some extent… … .

Now we can put this problem to rest.

After a quick lunch, we finished our maintenance.

Except for the Inogen that was tied up here, I also decided on the treasures to take out.

All that aside, it was a great achievement just to obtain the Frost Queen’s crown.

This gives us a way to counter mind control abilities.

I quietly touched the wrist that would have been wrapped around the Frost Queen’s coffin.

I silently put on my backpack.

Isn’t it time to go out again?

… … So, heading towards the 4th underground floor of the labyrinth.

By the time he stepped out of the dragon’s nest, Inogen was in a very excited state.

I guess it would be tens, hundreds… no, thousands of years if I were to return to the body of an ancient being and be trapped there?

Anyway, he seemed excited to be out after being trapped in this small space for a long time.

So, let’s all go to the exit of the labyrinth while holding onto Inogen.

I was able to get out of the Dragon’s Nest with Inogen without any special events.

… … Rather, I thought it was bland.

“… … Finally, finally, finally, finally!”

As soon as he came out, Inogen stretched out both his arms and shouted.

After that, he sniffed.

“Hmm! This is what the outside air feels like! Mmm, it’s refreshing!”

… … Is it refreshing?

No matter how I look at it, it just looks like sand and dust are flying around.

In terms of South Korea, the air quality is likely to be at a ‘bad’ level for fine dust.

… … Anyway, with the excited Inozen, we quickly moved from the place near the head of the dragon’s corpse.

While moving like that, I often encountered Draemon, but it wasn’t a big problem.

Inogen, who was so excited, started hunting Draemon indiscriminately.

It’s as if the auto-hunting mode has been turned on.

After holding the dram for a while, a question suddenly occurred to me.

“… … Now that I think about it, Inogen, weren’t Draemon your descendants?”

“… … What, what did you say? Human, are you saying that this thing is my descendant?”

“… … ? Are you saying that’s not true?”

“Of course! I’ve never seen such hideous creatures before. And I don’t have any descendants!”

Hmm… … .

That’s weird.

Draemon is known to be a descendant of the Demon Dragon.

It’s rare for the descriptions in EndWorld to be incorrect.

Why was it written that Draemon was a descendant of the Demon Dragon?

……anyway.

Inogen, who was even more angry when he was called the descendant of the Demon Dragon, said that he would exterminate them all thanks to his relatives.

There was no major difficulty in getting to the portal leading to the 4th floor.

Moreover, I didn’t encounter a single adventurer along the way.

Well, yeah… … .

Everyone who was going to go up has already gone up, right?

Even if you go to the 4th floor, you probably won’t encounter many adventurers.

The difficulty level increases significantly starting from the third floor where we are, the Dragon’s Grounds.

So we finally.

I came across a giant portal that had opened strangely where the heart of the dragon should have been.

Its appearance is black and resembles a hole.

“… … .”

Inogen remained silent, perhaps feeling strange upon seeing his own heart hole pierced through.

The two people besides Nowen and me looked nervous.

And I look at those sights.

“… …Shall we go?”

I reached out to the two people.

After holding each and every one of their hands like that.

We just left ourselves in the portal.

… … If it was EndWorld, this kind of message would have appeared.

[You have entered the 4th floor of the labyrinth.]

[Enter the 4th floor of the labyrinth for the first time! Obtain the title, “He who pierced the heart of the demon dragon.”]

[Your physical abilities will slightly increase in strength!]