I Became A Married Man in Another World
Chapter 43
043 Squeak!
As the sun set and darkness fell, the screams echoing from all directions grew even more distinct. Whether it was because goblins were nocturnal by nature or because they were high on the drugs, they seemed to move with even greater vigor once night arrived.
“Phew.”
A heavy breath escaped Juhwan’s lips before he realized it.
Standing tall in front of the carriage, Juhwan glared at his surroundings. After he had finished off the last two, there didn’t seem to be any more goblins nearby. It appeared they had left in search of easier prey.
Juhwan loosened the grip on his hands slightly. His palms were stinging and numb from swinging his axe relentlessly for so long.
An adventurer, who had been keeping watch at a slight distance from Juhwan, leaned forward. He, too, looked exhausted.
Another adventurer, who had been resting against a building in the back, approached Juhwan and tapped him on the shoulder.
“It’s your turn.”
“….”
Juhwan nodded and stepped back.
Juhwan and the five adventurers had been taking turns resting, even if only for short bursts. Since they never knew when the goblins might reappear, only one person rested at a time. Even that small reprieve made the fatigue far more manageable than fighting alone indefinitely.
The carriage was parked sideways, parallel to a house.
As soon as he opened the carriage door, Lij rushed toward him. She held out salted meat and a canteen of water.
Juhwan sat on the edge of the carriage floor and took only the water. He wasn’t hungry at all.
“Just one piece. You have to eat at least a bite.”
Lij offered the meat again, her eyes full of worry. Reluctantly, he took a piece and chewed as he glanced toward the back of the carriage.
Dorothy was lying fast asleep near the driver’s seat. She had apparently made a bed out of several wolf and rabbit pelts, rolling around on them with Oz. Wrapped in Juhwan’s spare clothes like a blanket, her arms and legs were sprawled out in awkward directions.
Chewing the meat slowly, Juhwan took Lij’s hand.
It was cold.
“Are you cold?”
At Juhwan’s question, Lij shook her head.
“No. I’m not cold. I’m fine. What about you? Are you okay?”
“Yeah.”
She knelt and pulled Juhwan into a tight embrace. Though she said she wasn’t cold, her body felt chilled to the bone.
Juhwan pulled out a roll of fabric from the back of the carriage and draped it over her shoulders like a cloak. It was obvious what had happened—she had probably kept it neatly folded, thinking it was too precious to waste. But if they didn’t use it now, when would they? Since they couldn’t light a fire inside the carriage, it was quite cold.
Juhwan gave Lij one more firm hug before closing the carriage door. He didn’t lock it, though. In case something happened, she needed to be able to get out on her own.
It bothered him that the carriage door couldn’t be locked from the inside. It was designed to be locked and opened only from the outside.
‘I’ll have to do something about this later.’
Once they were out of danger, he planned to install a latch on the inside immediately.
Juhwan rested his hand against the carriage door for a moment. His family was inside.
He had to protect them. He closed his eyes briefly, then snapped them open. Alright, he was recharged.
He rotated his shoulders to loosen his stiff muscles and stepped forward.
When Juhwan nodded, the adventurer whose turn it was stepped back to the house and sat down.
The house behind the carriage looked as though it had been abandoned for a long time. Wooden boards had been nailed over the door and windows to keep people out.
Now, both the door and windows were open. Juhwan and the adventurers had been tearing the boards off bit by bit whenever they had a spare moment to fuel the bonfires nearby. Thanks to that, they were able to fight the goblins even in the dark.
He had secretly hoped the goblins might be afraid of fire, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.
Instead, the light seemed to have attracted other people—an outcome he hadn’t intended at all. About a dozen men and women were running toward them from the distance.
The person on the far left was suddenly snatched by a goblin emerging from the shadows. Goblins had dark skin, making them look as if they had suddenly materialized out of thin air.
Seeing this, the others began to run even faster. The group, which had been huddled together and moving cautiously just moments ago, scattered. Each person ran toward the carriage with all their might. No one even tried to help the person caught by the goblin.
One of the adventurers flinched and took a few steps forward, seemingly wanting to help.
“Hey, stop! Do you know who we’re #### for?”
The other adventurers held him back. One of them was spitting out curses.
Juhwan didn’t move. He watched the villagers’ movements in silence. These were the people who had put Lij and Dorothy in danger. While he didn’t intend to go out of his way for revenge, he felt no desire to help any of them.
Even though they were cooperating for now, he didn’t know when the adventurers might turn on him either. He couldn’t fully trust them.
Juhwan took a step back, moving closer to the carriage. His only job today was to protect the family inside—from goblins and humans alike.
Once the adventurers realized Juhwan was a Fire Magician, their posture had visibly lowered in respect. From their attitude and words, he could tell his abilities were considered to be of a high level.
He heard the adventurers whispering among themselves about why such a skilled Magician was in a place like this. They seemed to be wondering why he was in a backwater village without any nobles or royalty nearby.
They used some words Juhwan didn’t recognize, but the context was clear enough.
Then, a thought occurred to him: these people might try to sell information about him to high-ranking individuals.
Lij had said the slave brand was merely a mark that would never fade, but he couldn’t be sure. Perhaps powerful people could use magic to control one’s very will, just like in novels.
The adventurers might even take his family hostage to sell him to such people.
A whirlwind of thoughts clouded his mind. It seemed Gus and the villagers had made him paranoid. I can’t trust anyone in this world, he thought.
The villagers ran up to the bonfire and pleaded with the adventurers in the front.
“P-Please, save us.”
“Let us stay here.”
“Let us into that house.”
A few of them glanced at Juhwan, but perhaps out of guilt for what they had done, none of them approached him.
“######.”
“No way!”
“If you’re here, the goblins will just follow!”
The adventurers cursed and pushed the people back. It seemed to be because there were women among them. The Village Chief’s wife and son were also in the crowd.
“You took our money!”
Someone among the villagers screamed at the adventurers. They raised their hoes, sickles, and axes, stepping toward the adventurers as if ready to fight.
In the chaos, a few men approached the house. They were getting close to the carriage.
Without a word, Juhwan blocked their path.
“Wh-What the—!”
The moment the man in front spoke, Juhwan slammed a fist into his face with all his strength.
The man’s head snapped to the side, and his body followed.
Looking at the men standing hesitantly behind the one who had collapsed, Juhwan spoke.
“Fight. I have no use for those who won’t fight.”
The argument between the adventurers and the villagers stopped as everyone turned to look at Juhwan.
One of the adventurers smirked.
“The Magician is right. If you aren’t going to fight, get lost. Go #### off and run away on your own.”
“….”
The villagers fell silent, glancing at each other.
Just then, two goblins appeared in the distance. Seeing the women among the villagers, they let out bizarre shrieks and charged. Their eyes seemed to glint, reflecting the light of the bonfire.
After pushing the villagers away from the carriage, Juhwan lunged at the approaching goblins and swung his axe.
Thwack! Thwack! The goblins’ heads were crushed in succession. One didn’t even need a second look; its brains were exposed.
However, the other one still had its eyes open as it fell.
Juhwan swung his axe once more, severing the fallen goblin’s neck.
Without sparing a glance at the goblin’s body, which had been sliced as cleanly as a log, Juhwan hurried back to the side of the carriage.
The villagers, looking like pale ghosts in the dim light, slowly backed away from Juhwan and gathered on the opposite side.
Soon, there was no one left near the carriage. A circular space around Juhwan remained empty. Grateful for the space, Juhwan turned his gaze back to the darkness.
After that, villagers arrived one by one or in small groups, as if they had sensed where to go. By the time dawn approached, it seemed most of the survivors had gathered there.
Juhwan’s initial threat seemed to have worked. The villagers began to fight the goblins with their farming tools. Even some of the women held metal skewers or hoes. Perhaps they had gained a bit of courage as their numbers grew.
Consequently, the number of goblins chasing the women also increased. The fighting became more frequent, but thanks to the villagers joining in, Juhwan and the adventurers were able to find a little more time to rest. It was a small relief.
By the time morning came and noon passed, the number of goblins had decreased noticeably. At the very least, almost none were coming to find them anymore. Since most of the women had made it here, there were likely very few goblins left in the village.
‘Can we leave now?’
Even as dawn broke, a red glow still lingered in the distant sky. The fence must still be burning. However, there might be places where the flames had died down.
He looked at his palms. Using the mana he had, he might be able to burn through a section of the fire completely. If he intensified the flames enough to turn everything to ash, he might be able to create a path through.
‘The problem is my mana being depleted after that…’
But since the goblins were mostly gone, it should be fine to use the rest of his mana.
People were slumped over here and there. Juhwan glanced at them, then approached the adventurers and spoke in a low voice.
“I’m leaving. Thanks for fighting with me.”
“Oh!”
“You’re going?”
“You should stay a bit longer.”
The adventurers looked at each other and spoke hurriedly.
“No. I’m going now.”
When Juhwan shook his head, the adventurers looked disappointed. However, they didn’t stop him, likely because the goblins were mostly gone. They would have to stay in the village to get paid for their work—a bit more than originally promised, perhaps a lot more.
As Juhwan turned to stand by the driver’s seat, the adventurer whose life he had saved first approached him. The man lowered his voice and spoke softly.
“Once you get out of here, go to ##. It would be best to ## at ## before the nobles ####. If you join the Adventurer ## at ##, you’ll get protection ####.”
There were words mixed in that he didn’t understand. Then, a soft tap-tap came from the gap between the driver’s seat and the carriage.
Turning his gaze, he saw Lij nodding vigorously through the gap. It seemed she had understood.
He extended his hand for a handshake. It seemed the custom existed in this world too, as the adventurer took his hand.
“Thank you,” Juhwan said.
The adventurer grinned.
“I should be the one thanking you. I survived because of you.”
As Juhwan untied the horses’ reins and climbed onto the driver’s seat, the Village Chief’s wife finally noticed and came running, screaming.
“You thief! That’s ours!”
Wailing and crying, she clung to the back of the carriage and flung the door open.
Juhwan jumped down from the driver’s seat immediately, but there was no need for him to intervene. Something popped right out of the carriage.
I’m bored. Mama keeps looking outside. Papa said many times that I must never go outside the carriage. Since Dorothy is a good girl, I’ll listen to Papa. Really hard! But I’m still bored.
Roll, roll, roll, roll. I rolled around inside the carriage, held a wedding for Oz and my doll Toto, and played ‘Mama Dorothy and Baby Oz.’
When I have to pee, I sit on a wooden bucket. But my butt slips right in. It goes all the way inside. Mama has to hold me every time I pee. It’s a little embarrassing. Dorothy is a big sister with a younger brother now. Oh, but is Oz a boy or a girl? I’m not sure.
Anyway, I’m bored. I was a little scared at first, but now I’m not scared at all. Papa is strong, and the monsters don’t come anymore. I’m just bored.
Dorothy rolled from one side of the narrow carriage to the other.
Suddenly, a loud woman’s voice came from outside, and the door swung wide open. Startled, she looked up to see a lady with a strange face. One side of her face was all swollen and big.
’Oh, it’s the Village Chief lady.’
Why does her face look like that? As she was wondering, the lady started screaming at Mama and Dorothy, calling them thieves.
And she tried to come inside. She’s a person, but she looks like a monster. I got scared.
That was when Oz, who had been rolling around with me, suddenly stood up. Oz’s ears went boing straight up.
Oz started running across the carriage floor. Patter-patter-patter. Oz reached the carriage door in an instant and hopped up. He stuck right to the Village Chief lady’s face. And then, kick-kick-kick-kick, he started kicking her face with his feet.
“Oh!”
Dorothy’s eyes went wide. The Village Chief lady’s face turned red.
Did her teeth break? Her mouth is bleeding. The Village Chief lady fell backward and landed on the ground. Even then, Oz didn’t stop kicking.
As Dorothy ran to the edge of the carriage, she saw Papa standing nearby. Papa looked troubled, but he didn’t stop Oz.
Heigh-ho, I really can’t help it. Adults!
Papa told me not to come out, but this is an emergency. Papa is right in front of me, so it’ll be okay.
Dorothy lay on her stomach on the carriage floor and carefully climbed down to the ground.
Of course, Dorothy is brave, so she could have jumped. But Mama always tells me to be careful, so I’m just being careful. It’s not because I’m scared.
Once on the ground, she ran patter-patter to where the Village Chief lady and Oz were. Papa placed his hand on Dorothy’s head. Papa, now is not the time for that!
Dorothy ignored Papa and reached out. She grabbed Oz from behind. Oz suddenly became well-behaved.
Holding Oz, she spoke in a serious voice.
“Oz! Are you going to be a bad rabbit like that?”
Hitting people is bad. My father who died hit people every day, but that was bad. Mama Lij told me so. Papa said so too a few days ago. It’s not because Dorothy did something bad and got hit. Mama and Papa clearly said the person who hits others is the bad one.
Oz is still a baby, so he doesn’t know, but you shouldn’t hit people. Heigh-ho, Dorothy is really so busy. I’ll have to teach Mama and Papa later too. You shouldn’t hit people.
She gave Oz a whole lecture, but Oz didn’t seem to understand. Maybe it’s because he doesn’t know the words.
“Say ‘I’m sorry.’ When you do something bad, you say ‘I’m sorry.’”
She held Oz out toward the Village Chief lady. But he didn’t seem to know how to say ‘I’m sorry.’ Oz just stared blankly into the air.
Maybe it’s because he’s a rabbit.
“Dorothy is really busy.”
After saying that to herself, Dorothy decided to apologize instead of Oz. It couldn’t be helped. Dorothy was the big sister.
Dorothy stepped closer to the Village Chief lady’s face. Then she bowed her head and said:
“Squeak!”
“Pfft!”
Someone laughed. When she looked up, several people nearby were laughing. Why are they laughing? As she tilted her head, she saw Papa was laughing too.
“Oz is a rabbit, so he only knows rabbit language. That’s why Dorothy had to speak in rabbit language.”
As Dorothy explained, Mama Lij started laughing from inside the carriage too.
Really, adults! Feeling like she was being treated like a silly child, Dorothy stomped her feet on the ground.
