Vol 2 Chapter 27

The voice belonged to Kran. With a serious expression, he pointed somewhere and asked.

"Who's that old lady sitting over there?"

Not far away, under a tree, a short old woman in white clothes was sitting, leaning against it. She was motionless like a statue, which was why they hadn't noticed her earlier, but she was clearly a living person. Kion-hyung answered nonchalantly, despite the strange sight.

"Ah. That person... She's an NPC. But a special kind of NPC."

"...A special NPC?"

When Kapros asked, Kion-hyung nodded more enthusiastically than when he had answered Kran.

"Yeah. She's the one who gives quests to the priest users of the healing god in Zagreb. It's nothing special. She doesn't react at all to anyone who isn't one of those users. I was surprised at first too."

As Kion-hyung said this, looking at the elderly NPC they were approaching with amused eyes, Palton also nodded.

"She's quite famous in her own way."

As Kion-hyung had said, the old woman just sat like a statue, not making eye contact with anyone. They started passing by the NPC one by one. It was when Kran, the last one, was passing in front of her that a sudden anomaly occurred.

Grab!

"Waaah!"

"Kran!"

Turning around at the scream from behind, they saw Kran struggling, his ankle tightly gripped by the old woman's hand, her eyes suddenly alive. Despite his startled attempts to free his foot by jumping with all his might, the hand gripping his foot wouldn't let go.

"Why, why are you doing this, grandma? Let go!"

After struggling with the old woman in terror for a while, Kran finally made a tearful face.

"I... I thought this was only for priests? I'm a knight of the healing god, not a priest..."

"No... This is the first time I've seen this happen. Have you seen this before, Pal-deung?"

"No. It's my first time seeing it too. Is it a bug?"

Kion-hyung and Palton exchanged words with surprised expressions. Kapros and Yu-wan were equally shocked. While everyone was confused and unable to grasp the situation, the old woman, who had been clinging to Kran's ankle like a doll, slowly opened her mouth.

"Listen, young man."

"Y-yes?"

"This great and warm energy I feel from you... Do you serve the healing god, by any chance?"

"I do... but what's the matter..."

The old woman then pointed to her leg with a brightened face.

"This old body won't listen to me, and I'm about to close my eyes here, unable to reach Zagreb, which is just a little further. If you have any compassion, won't you help me?"

Hearing the old woman's lines, Kion-hyung frowned and tilted his head.

"Those lines..."

"Huh?"

"Those lines. Don't they seem subtly different from the usual quest-giving dialogue?"

"I was thinking the same thing."

Palton agreed, looking at Kran. However, Kran, who hadn't heard this, was already nodding.

"Ah, of course I should take you. Here, get on my back."

"Oh my, thank you, thank you..."

As if moved by Kran offering his back, the old woman NPC's voice trembled. Just as Kapros was thinking how typical of Kran this overflowing sense of justice was, Kion-hyung suddenly shouted.

"Wait! Hey, you idiot! If you carry that grandma on your back...!"

"Huh?"

Kran turned around in question, but it was already too late. The old woman on his back suddenly started writhing, pretending to die.

"Oh my, my legs! My legs suddenly hurt so much I can't bear it! I'm sorry, but could you go a little faster? Quickly! Oh, the pain!"

"What? Yes!"

Startled by the old woman's screams, Kran began to run ahead hurriedly. Kion-hyung shouted as he ran after him.

"When you do this, you should never carry her on your back! Carrying is taboo, you fool! You're supposed to break a branch from the tree above and make a walking stick for her, then walk together! If you carry her, you'll get a time limit because of the NPC's nagging!"

"...Oh, it really appeared, a 30-minute limit... The destination is the Temple of Lugh, the healing god, in Zagreb...! Whoa!"

"Oh my! I'm dying!"

Before Kran could finish speaking, the old woman kicked his buttocks and writhed. Watching Kran run ahead with a tearful face, Palton burst into laughter.

"Hehehe. Actually, this is designated as a taboo among users because very few people have succeeded in carrying and running. If you make a walking stick and let the NPC walk herself, you can go well without being rushed. There's no need to carry her with such difficulty, right? This quest has no special reward, but it's an annoying quest that you can never receive again if you fail once."

"..."

Kapros couldn't believe such a quest existed.

In the distance, he could see Kran's back figure running away at full speed, accompanied by another kicking sound. They needed to chase after him quickly, but as a mage, Kapros was undoubtedly the slowest in pure running speed. He sighed and decided to take the easy way.

"Blink."

With a whoosh, he instantly moved from the rear of the group to the very front, and loud protests were heard from behind.

"Hey! When did you learn that, Kar! Can't you use that for both of us?"

"..."

Although Kapros felt sorry for Kion-hyung, Blink was for single use only, and he started to move ahead more comfortably by using Blink again when the others were about to catch up.

In this way, they soon arrived in Zagreb. Thanks to using Blink, Kapros arrived before the others and stopped in his tracks, amazed by the imposing sight of the large city that overwhelmed people. Kran was nowhere to be seen. He had shown incredible speed even while carrying the old woman on his back, and had finally disappeared into the crowd so quickly that Kapros couldn't keep up, losing track of him. Fortunately, since Kapros already knew that Kran's destination was the temple of the healing god somewhere in this city, he decided not to panic and wait for the rest of the group to arrive.