Lucia

T/N: In the chapter, the [] signifies a different language.

The area of the northern border that Roy returned to after a long time, was close to the village where he was born and grew up. He lost his parents to the invading barbarians when he was young and swore revenge. Because of his extraordinary strength and size, he was called the village hulk from an early age, so he grew up hearing that he would do great things.[1]

And so, he was conceited. He lunged at the barbarians to take revenge, but was caught and taken away.

Because the young boy seemed to have useful strength, the barbarians decided to raise him and use him as a slave; that’s why they did not kill Roy. In order to remove malice from the stubborn Roy, they bound him up and whipped him for a month. Just when Roy thought that he was going to die like this, a certain boy secretly approached him and released him, saving his life.

The Roy, who escaped from that route, realized his shortcomings. He hid alone and lived by hunting down animals by himself. The experience taught him life’s strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes, he killed one or two barbarians that strayed too far from their tribe and steadily built up his skills.

And then finally, he took revenge for his parents. He could not carry out a frontal attack on the tribal village because he was alone, but he lured a handful of people into the forest and killed them all in the span of a few days.

Although it was refreshing after getting his revenge, he didn’t know what to do in the future. He just lived like a wild man, sometimes killing the barbarians that came at him, resolving food issues by hunting and practically spending his days in a lackadaisical manner.

Then, he met his lord. As soon as he saw him, he knew that the man was the benefactor that had helped him when he was a child. When he was asked, ‘Do you want to come with me?’, he followed along. He thought that he would have a chance to repay the favor if they were together.

“Tch. Just when I thought I repaid it, there’s a debt again.”

Roy grumbled as he lifted up his body, which was sprawled beneath a tree. Officially he was dead, which was probably why nobody bothered him and just left him alone.

As Roy wandered around near the border, he gradually drew farther away and entered the forest in the barbarian’s region. For a few days now, he had not seen anyone. The feeling of being alone for the first time in a long time, was not bad.

The night of the forest came quickly. After roasting the rabbit that he had caught for dinner, Roy covered himself with a blanket next to the bonfire and went to bed.

Around when the darkness of the night had deepened, and the campfire had become smaller after burning all the wood, someone stealthily approached Roy, who was lying down in the darkness.[2]

The mysterious individual pulled out a dagger from their bosom. They carefully went up to Roy’s side as he slept and brought down their dagger in the direction of his neck. No, they thought they did, but the mysterious individual’s field of vision suddenly flipped over, and they collided with the ground, falling on their back.

Their hand, which was holding the knife, was strongly gripped at the wrist while another powerful grip was fixed to their neck. Unable to last long against the pressure on their neck, they lost consciousness.

When the mysterious individual, Kuya, regained consciousness, the day was already bright. Their body was tightly bound to a tree with their hands behind them, so they could not move. They rummaged through their memories of last night and looked around in a hurry but did not see anyone.

After a while, the sound of rustling could be heard as Roy showed up behind the bushes. On his back, he was carrying a fawn.

He began to disassemble the prey he caught. He indifferently cut its throat, drew out the blood, used a small dagger to skin it and chopped it into pieces at its joint; he was obviously familiar with dismantling a prey.

It was just the process of retrieving meat from an animal but Kuya trembled as if they were looking at the most terrible scene in the world and glared at the sight with a gaze full of spite. As they watched the bastard build a fire, roast the deer, and begin to eat, Kuya thought that he(Roy) ate very well even though he was ignorant.

After a fairly time-consuming meal, Roy curtly spoke to Kuya.

“Who are you?”

[Red Devil!]

As he calmly watched the woman, who was screaming at him with a venomous gaze, Roy said:

[It’s been a while since I’ve heard those words.]

When Roy spoke her familiar tribal tongue, Kuya momentarily flinched before shouting again:

[Don’t humiliate me, kill me!]

[What have I done that you’re like this? You’re the one who tried to kill someone sleeping.]

[You’re my family’s enemy!]

Roy thought that the woman who was stubbornly grinding her teeth was like a wildcat.

[But I didn’t even do anything. Ah, was the deer I just ate your family by any chance? Sorry.]

The woman quivered with emotion and noisily shrieked that she would kill him.

Roy watched as the woman shrieked and writhed to the extent that her face had gone bright red. The petite woman was really energetic. She didn’t seem that old. If he were to guess, she had just passed adulthood?

After being flooded with the sight of noblewomen acting graceful in the capital, it was quite fun to see a woman full of venomosity.

[Red Devil. You killed dozens of people in my village as well as my father and my brother. Will you say you don’t know about what you did eight years ago?]

Hearing the words of the woman who was huffing as if she had lost her energy after screaming and raving, Roy searched his memory. Eight years ago, there was only one incident where he slaughtered dozens at mass.

[Your parents killed my parents. I was getting revenge too.]

The woman flinched. Then she went silent. After looking at the still woman who had her head bowed for a fairly long time, the bored Roy lay on his back and dozed off.*

Roy woke up from his nap, feeling the urge to pee and incoherently pulled himself together. As he pulled down his pants, he heard a sharp sound and turned his head. The place where Roy chose to pee was a couple of steps away from the woman. The woman was cursing with an expression that spoke disgust.

Roy scratched his head and went somewhere that wasn’t visible in the bushes. When Roy returned after resolving his issue, the woman said:

[I acknowledge your fair revenge.]

[Heh. You’re really straightforward. So you’re not going to kill me now?]

[This and that are different. I have to take revenge for my family.]

[So you have to kill me?]

[Exactly. So you should kill me.]

Roy thought for a moment then he pulled out his dagger and approached the woman.

Kuya closed her eyes. But there was none of expected pain and the rope on her painfully bound hands came loose. Suddenly being able to freely move her body, Kuya was confused but she would never let go of an opportunity. She nimbly dove away and distanced herself from Roy.

[Do you think I won’t kill you if you do this?]

[Do it. Since you acknowledge that my revenge was fair, then I also acknowledge you trying to kill me. However, I won’t obediently die. If you’re confident, go ahead.]

Kuya stared at Roy for a moment. She was a little confused. He didn’t match the monstrous figure of the Red Devil that she had imprinted in her head from a young age. But he was the enemy of her parents and brother. Kuya renewed her determination, turned around and disappeared into the forest. Roy chuckled.

“What an aggressive woman.”[3]

He didn’t know why he let her leave alive. He had never left a source for future trouble alone before.

‘Her smell’s not bad.’

He wouldn’t be bored for a while.

Translator’s Corner:

[1] The word for ‘hulk’ used here is ‘jangsa’, which means a person of great strength. I couldn’t think of another word for it.

[2] The raw says that they silenced their footsteps which I took to mean stealthily.

[3] Well, the word used for ‘unyielding’ here, can also mean aggressive.

*T/N: I was so taken aback by this, hahaha. Why take a nap right then??

ED: Why not, there was nothing really going on there at that moment, might as well enjoy a nap while a woman is watching over you =P