I Became A Married Man in Another World
Chapter 119
119. The Subjugation Force
The high outer walls of Bern Adventurer Village came into view. Riji murmured as if startled.
“Juhwan, look at those people.”
Near the massive gates leading into the village, dozens of people dressed in shabby clothes were huddled together. They didn’t seem to be doing anything in particular; they were just lingering or sitting near the entrance.
Juhwan’s gaze shifted along the high wall.
There were people standing against the wall further away from the gate as well. Most of them were emaciated and filthy.
There were men sitting alone, women with children, and children standing by themselves without anyone to protect them. Some children were crying, while some adults were shouting in anger.
Some stared at Juhwan’s carriage with expressions of despair, others with vacant faces, and some with eyes full of greed. Among them was a man who glared at them as if casting a curse of pure hatred.
Dorothy, who was sitting in the middle of the driver’s seat, shrank back slightly.
“He looks like Father.”
At her sudden whisper, Riji wrapped her arm around the child’s shoulders.
While Dorothy no longer reacted to men in general, she occasionally reacted to adult men who glared at her. It seemed she felt a resemblance to her biological father in them.
It wasn’t a reaction to just any glare or rough behavior. She was usually fine even when seeing someone acting very aggressively, but every so often, she would become terrified. Since it was based on the child’s intuition, Juhwan wasn’t entirely sure what specific trait triggered it.
Juhwan straightened his back as if to shield the child and shook the reins. Sensing his mood, Yeonhwa picked up the pace.
“I don’t think they’re all refugees from the border villages.”
There were too many of them for everyone to be from destroyed villages. Perhaps people from villages that hadn’t been attacked yet had heard the rumors and fled.
“I think so too,” Riji said softly, turning her eyes away from the refugees.
As they drew closer to the gate, several men holding spears could be seen standing next to the gatekeeper. They weren’t soldiers, but adventurers.
A gatekeeper who recognized Juhwan approached them familiarly.
“Oh, you’ve arrived! It’s been a long time. That unicorn is as magnificent as ever. Truly, she’d be a beauty if only she didn’t bite.”
The gatekeeper chuckled, looking back and forth between Yeonhwa and Oz. It seemed Yeonhwa’s fearsome reputation hadn’t faded at all.
“Hello. We’ve been up in the mountains for a few months, and it seems things have taken a turn for the worse.”
“Haa, indeed. It’s not just our village. The whole country is in an uproar these days.”
Seeing Juhwan’s gaze drift toward the adventurers guarding the gate, the gatekeeper gave a sour smile.
“We hired a few adventurers for village security. Some of the refugees cause trouble, and well, the village is quite noisy lately. It’s a bit much for the regular gatekeepers to handle alone.”
Come to think of it, the gatekeeper’s face looked exhausted. As Juhwan reached for his necklace to verify his identity, the gatekeeper laughed loudly and stepped aside.
“There’s no need to check a Santa-grade adventurer. We received notice about you a long time ago. Please, head on in.”
As the carriage passed through the gate, the sight of a village slightly different from before met Juhwan’s eyes. It felt restless. Instead of smiles, the people’s faces were mostly set in grim expressions.
A few people recognized Juhwan and Riji and greeted them. Having lived here for a while, it felt somewhat like returning to a hometown.
From amidst the crowd, a familiar boy suddenly popped out.
It was the innkeeper’s son.
“Welcome back! You’ll be staying at our place again, right?”
The boy smiled brightly and stuck close to the side of the carriage, walking briskly to keep pace.
“You’ve come at the perfect time. Our house special changed yesterday. It’s called the Royal Plentiful Meat Stew! It’s so good you wouldn’t notice if the person next to you died! It’s incredibly delicious. You’d regret it for the rest of your life if you didn’t try it. You absolutely have to come to our inn.”
It seemed the innkeeper’s boy was the only thing that hadn’t changed.
Before Juhwan could answer, Dorothy leaned forward and spoke first.
“Yes, Oppa! Dorothy wants to eat it too. I want to eat it so much.”
“Great! I’ll give you a double portion.”
“Really?”
Dorothy’s face lit up. Then she immediately asked her mother.
“Mom, what’s a double portion?”
“….”
She had agreed enthusiastically without even knowing what it meant. When Riji laughed, Dorothy followed suit with a beaming face. She seemed to have completely forgotten her fear from outside the village.
When they reached the central plaza, Juhwan handed the boy a coin and asked him to take the carriage to the inn.
Yeonhwa was more than capable of going to the inn on her own, so there was no real need to ask the boy, but Juhwan felt he was worth a few coins. There weren’t many kids who worked as hard as he did.
“Leave it to me! I’ll deliver it safely so that not even a thief can lay a finger on it.”
The boy excitedly climbed into the driver’s seat and shook the reins.
“Giddy up! Giddy up! Unicorn, let’s head to our inn!”
Whether he intended to advertise or not, the boy shouted at the top of his lungs. Yeonhwa shook her mane with a look that suggested she was sighing, then began to walk.
The Guild office was always a place where people drifted in and out, but today it was exceptionally crowded. It was a sea of people—literally no room to even step.
The sound of a heated argument erupted from inside. Though the crowd blocked the view, it didn’t seem like anyone was trying to stop it.
Riji’s eyes widened.
“There are so many people. It looks like it’ll be hard to even get inside.”
“I know. I wonder what’s going on.”
The adventurers near the door stared at Juhwan. There were many unfamiliar faces. It seemed the number of outsiders had increased significantly.
“What’s this? Bringing a woman and a child to a place like this?”
“Is he a rookie adventurer?”
“How leisurely of him in times like these.”
“Looks like he’s trying to pad his numbers to squeeze out more money.”
“Not a chance. Who does he think he’s fooling?”
“Heh, she’s pretty.”
“Look at that skin.”
“Well, maybe I’ll go easy on them if they join our team.”
“Wahahaha! Go easy on what exactly?”
They were spitting out whatever came to mind.
A vein throbbed in Juhwan’s forehead. But before he could act, a Guild staff member pushed through the crowd from inside.
“Oh, Juhwan-ssi! I wondered who those rowdy adventurers were talking to. You’ve come at the perfect time. We were actually in the middle of discussing whether or not to send someone to you.”
The staff member’s expression turned visibly relieved, and then he frowned at the adventurers who were still talking trash. He waved his hand as if shooing away flies.
“Shut your mouths. This man isn’t a scrub like you lot. He’s not like you people who just shove your heads in anywhere to grab some coin.”
The staff member saw Dorothy and gave her a kind smile.
“Long time no see, little lady. I trust Oz has been doing well too?”
Oz’s ears popped out from inside Juhwan’s pocket. The staff member laughed at the sight.
“The young lady and Mr. Horned Rabbit are the same as ever.”
At the staff member’s words, the surrounding crowd began to murmur.
“What? A horned rabbit?”
“Is he a monster tamer?”
“Heh, a horned rabbit tamer with a face like that. Doesn’t quite fit.”
“I thought he was some kind of berserker.”
“Keke, right? He looks like a berserker, but in reality…”
It was less surprise and more of a mockery.
The staff member sighed and led the way through the crowd toward the back.
“Move! Out of the way! You people who’d probably float by your mouths if you fell in water!”
He waved his hands, forcibly pushing people aside. Someone spoke up in a complaining voice.
“You always tell us we’re a nuisance, but you’re just letting someone who brought a kid and a woman pass? Damn it, I’m bringing my girlfriend tomorrow too.”
The Guild staff member shouted toward the source of the voice.
“These people are a formally registered party. And they’re Santa-grade. If you lot want to stay alive, you’d better stop grumbling and start making a good impression now. They have the only healing mage in this subjugation force.”
“Ehh?!”
“A healing mage?”
“Didn’t you mean berserker?”
“What, that kid is part of the party?”
“Did he just say Santa-grade?”
The reactions were all over the place.
The staff member clicked his tongue and shook his head.
“Honestly, I wish they’d stop sending just anyone. I have no idea how many of these people can actually do their jobs properly.”
Juhwan had never seen a Guild staff member speak so bluntly to adventurers; they must be dealing with a massive headache.
Juhwan shrugged, having lost the timing to get angry at the rude adventurers.
As the Guild staff member led them through the crowd, he suddenly flinched as if remembering something and looked back.
“Ah, I completely forgot to explain or get your consent and just assumed you were going. You might not know yet, Juhwan-ssi, but a request has come in from the Border Count. We’re in the middle of organizing adventurers, centered around magic beast hunters and regular hunters.”
The staff member’s expression turned pitiful.
“The surrounding guilds are sending us adventurers who are at least capable of fighting. We’re forming the subjugation force here.”
However, even though adventurers seemed like wanderers, they usually had specific regions where they operated. When they left those regions for a new place, conflicts would arise because they didn’t know each other’s capabilities. The adventurers gathered here now were apparently busy belittling one another and fighting over who was the best.
“It’s a massive headache. They fight every hour.”
Once they got inside, Chatterbox, whose eyes were sunken with exhaustion, saw Juhwan and spread his arms wide.
“A savior at last! I couldn’t find a healing mage no matter what I did, so I was about to go look for you myself tomorrow. Plus, we’re short on people who actually know about magic beasts. Magic beast hunters? I couldn’t even dream of finding one. Someone needs to lead these adventurers, but there’s just no one.”
Chatterbox approached and grabbed Juhwan’s hand firmly.
“You’ll do it, right? You didn’t just come to sell hides, did you? Please say yes. Otherwise, more than half of those people will run away the moment they see a magic beast, and the other half will die. And the rest will be missing parts—arms, legs, or heads.”
Juhwan gave a bitter smile. This man certainly had a strange way of exaggerating.
“First, let me hear the details. I need to know exactly what’s going on before I decide.”
“Great!”
“It’s finally settled.”
“We need to contact the other subjugation teams too.”
“Let’s hurry. There might already be a group that’s been wiped out. Anyway, knowing a healing mage is coming their way will give those people some strength.”
Several staff members next to Chatterbox clenched their fists and cheered.
One staff member hurriedly went out to call for an external runner. It looked like they were going to send a messenger.
Juhwan hadn’t even said he’d do it yet, but even Chatterbox’s face brightened completely. Chatterbox shouted loudly toward the crowd.
“You lot can finally head out! This person’s group has the highest chance of survival in this subjugation force, so make sure you don’t cause trouble and get yourselves excluded.”
Juhwan still hadn’t said he’d do it.
Suddenly, Chatterbox looked at Juhwan with a peculiar expression.
“Come to think of it, you’re truly incredible, Juhwan-ssi. A healing mage with the superhuman strength to kill magic beasts with an axe. That’s already close to a warrior type… and on top of that, you’re a magic beast hunter, and a mage who uses both fire and wind magic. I mean, are you even human?”
“….”
The surrounding people murmured and glanced at Juhwan upon hearing those words.
Chatterbox laughed and shook his head.
“I can’t even believe what I just said.”
After that, they went into the inner office and heard the story about the current situation.
It seemed the Border Count had acted first before organizing the subjugation force. After losing several soldiers, he had finally requested help from the Guild.
“First, the Border Count has sent out informants. We receive a rough idea of the situation every day through them. Also, I don’t know if you’re aware, Juhwan-ssi, but the Guild regularly gathers information from various regions as well. We pay especially close attention to magic beasts.”
By gathering all that information, they had concluded that there were at least three magic beasts this time. The exact number was unknown. However, considering they appeared in different places simultaneously and the distances involved, there were definitely no fewer than three.
“The bigger problem is that these magic beasts are moving a bit differently than usual. They kill humans and animals indiscriminately. But they don’t eat them; they just leave. That’s a rare occurrence. Whether it’s a magic beast or a regular predator, they usually kill to eat. They say there are no magic beasts that descend on human settlements and cause havoc just for fun.”
After killing everything in sight, they move on, but there is no consistency to their actions. Sometimes they seem to be chasing populated areas, and other times they head into empty forests or rivers. It’s unpredictable.
Because the magic beasts were acting this way, the residents of the villages near the border had begun to flee one by one.
If a magic beast just ate a person or two, then since it had already eaten, the number of people who died at once would be small. At most one person, maybe two. People would think it was better to stay put than to face the risks of fleeing.
As time passed that way, the village would slowly decline. Like a frog in a slowly heating pot, it would die over a long period.
But the current situation was such that no one could predict what would happen in an hour. One day they killed people in this village, the next day in that village, and the day after that, they’d come back to the first village to kill again. Everyone was thrown into a panic by the unpredictable behavior of the magic beasts.
“Besides, if the person next to you flees, it’s human nature to want to flee too. The first step is the hardest, but once everyone starts leaving, you feel like a fool for staying. Well, in reality, someone like that probably is a fool.”
As Chatterbox said this, he bowed his head deeply.
“The primary subjugation force already includes several experienced individuals. There are multiple hunters and magic beast hunters. But we don’t have anyone suitable for this particular force. Juhwan-ssi, I’m begging you. We need a healing mage, and we need a hunter. There are hunters among those people out there, but they’re absolute scrubs. They’re so incompetent I doubt they’ve even hunted a rabbit properly. We absolutely need you.”
Juhwan sighed.
“I’m also interested in these magic beasts. I do intend to go. However, I have a family, so I can’t take responsibility for others or do anything too dangerous. Since I’ll be taking the carriage, it’ll be difficult to coordinate with others. Besides, my party is safest when we move on our own.”
Chatterbox nodded.
“Of course. I’m sure it is. But don’t worry about that. Juhwan-ssi, you just act however you want. An adventurer is responsible for their own life. If someone doesn’t listen, they have no right to complain even if they die. Just go with those people. You only need to take the ones who listen. We’ll explain things clearly to those adventurers so they won’t get in your way. Please.”
If he put it that way, Juhwan had little choice. When Juhwan nodded, Chatterbox finally relaxed and showed a smile.
