NoveLight ™
Though humans may need tools to do so, the idea of flying isn't exactly foreign or mysterious to modern people.
Take Daeun, for instance. Although she hasn’t flown as much recently, there was a time when she would hop on planes and travel abroad like it was her second nature.
Thanks to all those flights, her airline mileage account was stacked.
However, even Daeun had never imagined flying through the sky without the aid of any tools...
Well, to be honest, she had imagined it — like every time she bought a plane ticket, she'd think, "If only I could fly myself, I could save all this money..."
But Daeun knew very well that such a thing wasn’t possible.
‘I’m not a bird. How could a person fly on their own?’
That was what she believed—until she flew through the sky while clinging to Kana’s back.
"Kyahhhhhh!"
With each small step Kana took, she and everyone clinging to her flew into the sky.
They kicked off the ground and soared upward.
Normally, one might call this jumping, but Daeun couldn’t dare describe it as merely a jump.
What kind of leap cleared the height of multiple floors of a building with ease?
What Kana did was more like taking flight.
What’s more, Kana would lightly step off tree branches or even push off the air itself — something that would make any physicist scream in disbelief.
But Daeun wasn’t in any position to admire such feats.
Being carried on the back of a much smaller girl while soaring through the sky was far from a pleasant experience.
Her body was tossed about, the scenery rushed past her in a blur.
Just when she thought they were going down, they went up again. And when it seemed like they were rising, they suddenly dropped.
The "Kana Express" provided a ride so intense that it pierced through Daeun's dulled senses, even though the system had reduced her perception of motion sickness.
Without the system, she would have ended up just like the two others who were clutching trees and dry-heaving on the ground.
Just as Daeun began to adjust to the nauseating ride, things took another turn.
“Hurry up. We need to train.”
And now, she was supposed to fight mercenaries. It was only natural that Daeun felt like crying.
But the law is far, and fists are close, as the saying goes.
Kana wasn’t going to actually punch her, of course, but Daeun resigned herself and followed Kana’s orders.
"Yeah... If Kana steps in, this would be over in less than a minute, but she’s going through all this trouble for me. Besides, I have improved.”
Daeun’s viewers loved watching her get dragged around by Kana.
There’s always been a mischievous side to those who watch live streams and personal broadcasts.
Knowing that, Daeun often played along with their jokes and occasionally teased them back.
But lately, it seemed like her viewers were becoming even more playful.
‘It didn’t used to be this bad, did it?’
She had a good guess as to why.
The massive influx of new viewers came from that first moment she spoke with Kana.
Of course, she liked it. The stream’s atmosphere had changed slightly, but it wasn’t in a bad direction, and it wasn’t so different from before. So, she had no reason to dislike it.
...Well, except when they got on her nerves a little, but that couldn’t be helped.
‘At least they don’t hate Kana. That’s a relief.’
If they had started looking down on Kana for being rude to an adult, they wouldn’t have responded this way.
Daeun didn’t want to see a child with a troubled past become the target of people’s hatred.
“Daeun?”
“Huh? Oh, sorry, I got lost in thought.”
Daeun, who had been pouting at the chat, snapped back to reality at Kana’s voice. This wasn’t the time to get distracted.
Gulp.
Facing the mercenaries, Daeun swallowed nervously.
According to Azie, they were murderers, arsonists, thieves, and worse...
‘Can I really win against them?’
Their levels were either similar to hers or lower.
But Daeun knew that just because someone’s level was lower didn’t mean you’d automatically win.
"Wh-who am I supposed to fight? You’re not saying I should fight all seven of them, are you?"
"Of course not."
Though Kana became a terrifying drill instructor whenever training began, she never assigned Daeun impossible tasks.
And in Kana’s view, having Daeun face all seven mercenaries at once — mercenaries who were well-versed in killing — would be nothing short of impossible.
‘...Unless she died and came back.’
Wait... Did that mean...?
As Daeun stared at Kana’s face with growing suspicion, she asked:
“Kana…”
“Yeah?”
“You’re not thinking anything strange, are you?”
“...”
“Excuse me? Kana? Why aren’t you answering?”
“I’m not.”
“That’s exactly how someone who was thinking something strange would respond!”
“I said I’m not.”
Daeun hated pain.
Even though the system dulled the feeling, she could still experience pain.
Kana had no intention of deliberately putting her in a situation where she would die just for training.
‘I guess it could help her improve faster if she did die a few times...’
But for Daeun, that would likely have the opposite effect.
Such methods were better suited for someone like Biyaki, the big sword-wielding maniac.
“I’ll give you a choice. Who do you want to fight?”
“There’s no option to pick ‘no one,’ is there?”
“So you want to fight all seven? Impressive spirit.”
“I’ll choose now, thanks.”
Daeun carefully scanned the faces of the mercenaries.
Even on a second look, their faces were enough to make her lose hope.
Were they ugly because of the awful things they’d done, or had those things made them ugly?
While contemplating this, she examined their levels and pointed to one of them.
“Him.”
It was the mercenary with the lowest level among the seven.
Even though level wasn’t an absolute measure of strength, it was safer to choose the weakest-looking opponent.
“Hmm. Got it.”
Kana responded with a hint of dissatisfaction in her voice, but she respected Daeun’s choice.
“Well, then. We don’t need the rest.”
That single sentence was enough to seal the fate of the six remaining mercenaries.
They’d already joined the others who had fallen, so it wasn’t as if they had much to regret.
“Maybe I should have spared the leader.”
“…What? Why are you saying something so random all of a sudden?”
“We could’ve turned him in for a bounty if we caught him alive.”
“If there was a bounty on him, he’d have been captured ages ago.”
“Hmm, true.”
The man left standing alone looked like he’d seen a ghost.
Despite his round, bulky frame, Molden’s skills weren’t to be underestimated.
Many mercenaries had tried to rebel against him, only to find their heads rolling. Every morning, that man would pass the severed heads on display, reminding himself never to cross Molden.
But now, Molden—an Expert swordsman—had died without putting up any resistance.
For someone of his caliber, it was an impossible outcome.
“M-M-Master…!”
So, of course, it was only natural for the man to arrive at a certain conclusion.
“Master! What is a master doing in a place like this?!”
More than that, the idea that this tiny girl was the master was unfathomable.
“This has to be a nightmare…”
The man slapped his own cheek, hoping to wake himself up.
But instead of escaping the nightmare, his cheek just turned red. Reality was all too real.
“Oh. He’s broken.”
Having dropped his weapon, the man had completely lost the will to fight.
Kana’s mutter left Azie unable to hide his surprise.
“If you were facing a master, would you still think about fighting?”
“I would have.”
If you’re going to die either way, why wouldn’t you fight?
Azie was briefly at a loss for words at Kana’s nonchalant reply.
Many people talk big, but when death is staring them in the face, few can actually act the way they say they would.
But Kana had truly lived that way. That was the reason she had first crossed paths with Garride.
“…Yeah, I guess you would. Still, if you didn’t want to break him, you should’ve killed him later. You could’ve seen this coming.”
“Hmm… But...”
“But?”
“I didn’t like the way he was looking at me. Like I was some kind of food.”
“….”
Staring at her, licking his lips—Kana had done her best to hold back and wait until the right moment. But that moment didn’t last long.
Azie placed his hand gently on the girl’s head.
“?”
“You did well.”
“…??”
Why was he suddenly praising her?
Kana tilted her head in confusion, then shook it vigorously to brush his hand off.
“I just wanted to give you some real combat experience.”
The man, who had been watching the exchange in horror, trembled.
“At this rate, you’ll be no use to me.”
“Whew…”
Calling someone "broken" might have sounded creepy, but to Daeun, it was a huge relief.
‘Fighting monsters is one thing, but going against humans... it’s just...’
She was relieved she didn’t have to fight.
“Should I tell him if he wins, he can live?”
“Do you really plan to let him live?”
“Depends on how he does.”
“Don’t. Even if you let him live, he’d just go back to doing the same things.”
“P-Please! If you spare me, I’ll live a good life!”
“Huh? Did he understand me?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
Just as Azie said, the man didn’t actually understand the conversation. But somehow, instinctively sensing that his fate was being decided, he desperately shouted out.
It was a miracle born out of his sheer will to survive.
“You’ll live a good life?”
“Y-Yes! Yes, I swear it!”
“What does it mean to live a good life?”
“Uh, I-I won’t steal money or kill people…”
“Isn’t that just the bare minimum of being a civilized person?”
Kana would’ve chimed in with, “Huh? Royals do that all the time,” but fortunately, she didn’t understand the conversation, as she was too busy dodging Daeun’s attempts to pinch her cheeks.
At Azie’s retort, the man fell silent.
Azie shook his head, watching the man struggle to come up with an answer.
To the man, Azie’s swaying hair looked like the scythe of death.
“As expected.”
“B-but I’ll help the needy—”
The man’s words were cut off.
A sword pierced his chest.
The shape of the hilt was all too familiar to the man.
The sword that had shed the blood of countless people now drank the blood of its owner.
Thud.
Azie, with cold eyes, watched as the soulless body collapsed to the ground.
“Well, then.”
Cold doesn’t always mean indifferent, though.
A chilling fury burned in Azie’s eyes as he turned his gaze.
His attention now focused on Max, who was cowering by the tree surrounded by mercenaries.
“Max.”
“We have a lot to talk about, don’t we?”
Max’s heart sank.
Tftc