Not All Heroes From Earth Are Bad
Chapter 147

The issue of entering the city was resolved in an unexpected way.

“Even bandits can get into the city, right?”

“Impossible. The guards won’t let us in…”

Choi Hyun-seok punched the wall.

KWAA!

The wall made of thick logs disappeared.

It wasn’t just slightly damaged – an entire side of the wall had been blown away.

The bandit leader closed his mouth with an expression like a startled cat.

“If it’s not possible, make it possible.”

“If you want to preserve that useless head of yours, try using it to think. You understand what I mean?”

The bandit leader nodded repeatedly while sweating nervously.

‘Those bastards… Where did they find such a monster!’

Just 10 minutes ago.

His subordinates who went out scouting brought back some beggars.

But this beggar was no ordinary beggar.

In an instant, he knocked down all the subordinates in the mountain fortress, and then asked to be quietly let into the city.

“Hurry up. I’m not someone with that much free time.”

Choi Hyun-seok said while tapping his empty wrist.

“Time’s ticking!”

“We-we have some men who are familiar with the city guards!”

“And?”

“If we slip them some money through those guys, we should be able to get in quietly!”

Finally, a smile appeared on Choi Hyun-seok’s face.

“There you go! You can do it! Why were you saying it’s impossible?”

“Hahaha…!”

“Then let’s depart right away- ah! Before that.”

Choi Hyun-seok suddenly seemed to remember something and held out his hand.

“Let me borrow some clothes I can wear.”

“Yes! Understood!”

“And I’ve run out of travel funds. I’d appreciate some charitable donations.”

“That’s…”

The leader rolled his eyes around.

Seeing him trying to avoid answering, wrinkles formed on Choi Hyun-seok’s forehead.

“You can’t take it with you when you die.”

“Pardon?”

“It means money and everything else becomes useless after you’re dead.”

“Ah…”

The leader had no choice but to hand over his entire fortune of 10 gold.

‘What a thug…!’

He vowed to move to the mountain fortress as soon as this is over.

***

“Thanks everyone for your help.”

Choi Hyun-seok said with a smile.

In front of him stood five men with gloomy expressions.

They were the bandits who had become penniless after bribing the guards and supplementing Choi Hyun-seok’s travel expenses.

“Can we… Go now?”

One bandit asked while reading the atmosphere.

Not only had they been beaten up thoroughly, but they’d also been stripped of everything they had.

They didn’t want to get involved with Choi Hyun-seok anymore.

“Hmm, I’m grateful for the help, but I don’t know the geography here well…”

Choi Hyun-seok sent them a subtle look.

The bandits pushed forward one man.

“If it’s about city geography, Noris here knows it inside out!”

“That’s right! This guy’s from here so he’s perfect! Hahaha!”

The man who was pushed out alone looked at his colleagues with resentful eyes.

From the atmosphere, he was clearly the youngest.

Choi Hyun-seok clicked his tongue.

“Tsk, such disloyal bastards.”

“…”

“Fine, you can go.”

“Sir Knight, about the guide…”

They carefully asked, thinking Choi Hyun-seok was a knight.

“I’ll let it slide this time. But live honestly from now on.”

“Of course!”

“Thank you!”

Finally freed from the hero, the bandits kept bowing their heads and left.

Watching the bandits who were already far away from running so fast, Choi Hyun-seok smiled with satisfaction.

“Whew! That’s fulfilling. Today I’ve reformed some fallen criminals again.”

“Who reformed who?”

Rachel poked her head out from his chest.

“Why are you picking a fight again?”

“I sometimes wonder if you’re really a hero.”

“The only questionable thing is what’s in your head. I just performed an exemplary heroic deed, what’s there to complain about?”

“Huh? I have no complaints at all. We got money after all!”

“…”

“I just thought if you bought me one macaron, you might become a true hero…!”

“Stop talking nonsense about macarons. Just find where Abelson is.”

“Tch.”

Rachel clicked her tongue and started detecting Abelson’s location.

“Hmm, the current location is…”

Rachel narrowed her eyes.

“Huh, why is this happening?”

“Is there a problem?”

“She’s supposed to be here right now?”

“Abelson is here?”

“Yes. Now she’s going that way?”

Rachel raised her hand and pointed to one side.

There were houses and shops lined up there, but Abelson wasn’t visible.

“Huh? She’s getting further away!”

“Stop talking nonsense and check properly.”

“But really!? I’m serious!”

Even looking again, Abelson wasn’t in the direction Rachel pointed.

There were hardly any people out in the early dawn anyway, so she couldn’t have been mistaken.

“This is strange. This shouldn’t be possible…”

Rachel kept tilting her head in confusion.

It was strange because while magic clearly showed Abelson moving past here and going that way, nothing was visible.

Suddenly, Choi Hyun-seok’s eyes lit up.

“Rachel. Can you detect height too?”

“Height?”

“When you show the direction, can you tell if it’s up or down?”

“No, I can’t. Ah, could it be!”

Rachel’s eyes widened as if she realized something.

Choi Hyun-seok nodded and pointed down.

“Right. It’s underground.”

Abelson was moving underground.

***

“This seems to be the end…”

Finally, the end of the long passage appeared.

Stairs had appeared.

Having passed through a passage where nothing was visible, she was mentally exhausted.

Abelson climbed the stairs with difficulty and opened the ceiling that was blocking the top.

“Bishop…”

With Bishop Tranio’s help, she succeeded in escaping the city.

Soon it will be dawn, and what will happen to the bishop when they discover she has escaped?

Even without evidence, he won’t be able to avoid being held accountable.

Abelson clenched her fist.

‘For now, let’s focus on surviving.’

Even though she escaped the city, she hasn’t completely escaped from their clutches.

They will surely discover the passage, and who knows when the pursuit team will catch up.

‘If I keep running, Mr. Choi Hyun-seok will find me.’

In fact, Abelson knew there was a tracking spell placed on her.

It wasn’t like Rachel had tried to hide the existence of the spell either.

Part of the reason Abelson could confidently follow them without running away was her confidence in the tracking spell.

“Given the severity of the injuries, it would be difficult right now, but if I can just hold out for a few days…”

“Ms. Abelson!”

“Huh…?”

When she turned around, she saw Choi Hyun-seok running toward her, out of breath.

“How…?”

“I was delayed because our paths diverged slightly. I was already in the city.”

“Ah…”

Choi Hyun-seok was moving several times faster than she had expected.

Even after seeing it several times, his recovery ability was truly monstrous.

Just then, Choi Hyun-seok grabbed her wrist.

“We don’t have time for this. Let’s hurry!”

“What’s wrong?”

“There are people hiding around us. They probably knew Ms. Abelson would appear here.”

“What…?”

Abelson was shocked.

‘Surveillance? That’s impossible…’

She had just escaped from the city.

And she had used the underground passage to take the shortest route.

Even if her escape from the city had been discovered immediately, it doesn’t make sense that they would already be monitoring this place.

There was only one way this would be possible.

‘They knew I would appear here and were waiting in advance…’

In other words, everything was a trap.

“Let’s move for now. The encirclement isn’t complete yet, so we should be able to break through.”

“Alright.”

Just as Choi Hyun-seok and Abelson were about to move.

“It’s already too late.”

A man walked out from the forest.

Seeing him, Abelson bit her lip hard.

“Korkan…”

He was the Holy Empire’s hound.

***

The hound Korkan had anticipated everything from the beginning.

‘Tonight. Abelson Mariette will definitely attempt to escape.’

The moment she leaves the city, her chances of successful escape would become infinitely low.

Clunk, clunk!

Something seems to be blocking the ceiling above as it won’t open easily.

Applying a bit more force, the door opened with a creaking sound and dirt poured down.

“Phew! Huff!”

Abelson brushed off the dirt while climbing up to the ground.

Looking around, it was a forest located slightly away from the city.

Abelson closed the passage entrance and let out a sigh.

Since she doesn’t know when the transfer will happen, she will definitely attempt an escape today.

Here, the hunting dog Korkan thought.

‘This might be a chance to find out Choi Hyun-seok’s location.’

Choi Hyun-seok was certainly with Abelson.

He could be certain of this from the traces of battle in the village.

The reason he wasn’t visible now was likely because he was recovering from injuries.

‘Stopping Abelson’s escape and escorting her to the capital would be the worst option.’

If they escorted Abelson to the capital and interrogated her, they could get a confession.

The capital was overflowing with experts in that field.

However, this wasn’t a good option.

First, he would have to share the credit with others.

Crucially, there was no guarantee they would catch Choi Hyun-seok that way.

He didn’t know how long it would take to get a confession and organize another pursuit team.

‘If I instead let Abelson escape and lead her to meet Choi Hyun-seok, I could catch them both at once.’

When his thoughts reached this point,

Korkan ran into one problem.

‘How do I let Abelson go naturally?’

Abelson isn’t a fool.

She’s a very suspicious person.

If suddenly released, she might notice the intention.

As his concerns deepened, help came from an unexpected place.

“The bishop’s actions are suspicious.”

“Bishop Tranio?”

“Yes. He’s secretly trying to obtain sleeping pills.”

Korkan smiled at his subordinate’s report.

‘I had people watching him because he seemed friendly with Abelson, and he’s already showing his true colors.’

Bishop Tranio probably moved carefully, but the local church had long been in Korkan’s hands.

This was thanks to Vice Bishop Fogal, who was designated as the next district head.

Vice Bishop Fogal was an ambitious man.

He prostrated himself before Korkan, who was practically directly under the Pope, willing to give everything including his liver and gallbladder to look good.

Additionally, as Bishop Tranio’s retirement approached, he was losing his support base within the church.

As a result, it was very easy to grip the church and monitor Bishop Tranio.

“Perfect. Help the bishop without being noticed.”

“Help the bishop…?”

“Yes. Let him get the sleeping pills, and help Abelson escape. But make sure he doesn’t notice. You understand what I mean?”

“Yes.”

“Still, sleeping pills… It’s obvious what he’ll do with them, but how does he plan to escape?”

Korkan, who had been tapping the armrest, suddenly snapped his fingers.

“Is there perhaps an underground passage here?”

“I’ll check.”

It was common for churches to have underground shelters or passages beneath their chapels for evacuation.

Korkan ordered a check just in case.

As he expected, there was a fairly large evacuation facility leading outside the city.

“Things are going too smoothly.”

Bishop Tranio helps Abelson escape.

We wait in advance and carefully follow Abelson as she flees.

That way, Abelson will naturally lead us to Choi Hyun-seok’s location.

‘I’d like to simply cast a tracking spell, but that has a high chance of being detected. I’ll have to use classic methods.’

Though it would be troublesome to maintain distance and carefully follow Abelson, it didn’t matter.

After all, Korkan was an expert at this kind of work, so it wouldn’t be particularly difficult.

“That’s what I thought, but…”

Korkan’s prediction was wrong.

Choi Hyun-seok was already here.

“To think you were already here.”

An unexpected harvest.

This meant there was no need for troublesome tracking and waiting.

He stroked his chin while looking at Choi Hyun-seok.

“I expected you to be injured, was I mistaken?”

“…”

“Well, it doesn’t matter.”

Korkan drew his sword.

“Thank you for saving me time. His Holiness the Pope will be very pleased.”

“Just one… Question.”

Abelson said.

She had a somewhat dark expression.

“Was Bishop Tranio also in on deceiving me with you…?”

“Bishop Tranio? Ah, I see. You wouldn’t know how your escape was discovered.”

“Please answer me.”

At that moment, Korkan’s lips twisted.

“Bishop Tranio. No, he’s no longer a bishop.”

“…”

“Tranio, who conspired with the traitor Abelson Mariette, was stripped of his position and his head was cut off and displayed in the streets.”

“You…!”

Just as Abelson’s eyes widened and she tried to rush forward,

Choi Hyun-seok stepped between them.

“Okay. That’s enough.”

He handed Bobo, who was in his arms, to Abelson and turned to face Korkan.

“Looking at the situation, that guy over there seems to be trash, is that right?”

Abelson silently nodded.

Then a deep smile appeared on Choi Hyun-seok’s face.

“Leave this kind of thing to me. After all, I’m an expert when it comes to trash disposal! Criminal rehabilitation! This sort of thing!”

Now was the time for the recycling specialist hero to step up.

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