Chapter 11:The Masked Man’s Debt

Honestly, if a supply soldier who supposedly went back to his unit suddenly showed up at the middle of a battlefield, anyone would find that suspicious.

“Y-your iden—”

“Does my identity really matter right now?” I cut him off. “Even if you stay wary of me, Mr. Penguirel, nothing’s going to change.”

“At least I can still shove a spear into the bastard who set up this whole mess.”

He tightened his grip on a common supply spear. I shrugged.

“Then your captain will die.”

“He’s dying anyway. I just want him to see me get my revenge before he goes.”

“I’ll save him.”

Peguirel frowned sharply.

“…What?”

“I said I’ll save him. Your captain who’s about to die.”

“Here? With no doctor? A mage maybe— don’t tell me… that guy?”

“Yes. He’s—”

“A mage!”

He shouted it, probably expecting some kind of healer-type magician.

But the true identity of the black mask was nothing like what he imagined.

“He’s the Black Mask.”

Peguirel’s face twisted. Seeing the misunderstanding coming, I quickly added,

“The Black Mask who’ll save your captain. I owe him my life too—he’s really skilled.”

“He looks exactly like a dark mage.”

His eyes clearly said I don’t trust this at all.

But he didn’t have a choice.

“If you leave him alone, he’ll die anyway. Might as well try.”

Peguirel hesitated. His heart was already leaning one way.

“Cough… fine…”

The captain, as if sensing Peguirel’s decision, agreed in a rough, broken voice.

“Captain!”

“Haaah… if I’m dying anyway… ngh… I can handle this much of a gamble.”

We finally got his consent.

The Black Mask immediately moved in and started emergency treatment.

A cold silence fell.

Using bandages torn from Peguirel’s clothes, the Black Mask tightly pressed the wound. Thanks to his clean, efficient movements, the captain’s complexion visibly improved.

“So… you really didn’t have any hidden motives.”

“Why are you so bad at trusting people?”

“Then what? You expect me to easily trust a guy who lied about being a supply soldier, snuck into enemy territory, and teamed up with orcs?”

“…Guess there’s no trust between us.”

“Still… thank you. For saving the captain.”

Peguirel let out a long breath, finally relaxing.

The sincerity in his voice was real.

And then—

A notification sound rang out.

[Sub Error: You have cleared ‘The Savior of Silviden Village’!]

[Silviden Village Orc Survival {121/138}]

[Imperial Army Invasion Repelled {1/1}]

Quest Grade: A

Looks like it was an A because some orcs died during the imperial attack.

Isn’t that kind of petty?

Do all the orcs have to survive to get an S rank?

As if answering my thoughts, a hologram appeared.

[Would you like to receive the A-rank reward?]

[Accept / Decline]

After all the hell I went through to save those orcs, there was no way I’d refuse.

The moment I accepted, a ridiculous hologram popped up.

[You have obtained: Location Scroll of Red Awakening.]

[Orc Great Warrior Hessen’s favor has increased to ‘Trust’.]

[You have gained a large amount of EXP.]

[Level Up.]

[Level Up.]

“…Not even the Red Awakening itself—just a location scroll?”

Are you kidding me right now?

I was speechless.

I calmed suspicious orcs, blocked an imperial invasion, did all that insane work—and they give me this half-assed reward?

They stripped out the core prize and tossed me scraps. Absolute scam behavior.

Forgetting that the Black Mask and Peguirel were right there, I exploded.

“This is a scam!! Hey you stupid system, give me the Red Awakening!!!”

As Peguirel quietly stepped away like he was looking at a lunatic, Eve’s hologram voice rang out.

[Searching ‘Silviden Village Quest Reward Details’ for user Shin Doyoon.]

[The reward ‘Red Awakening’ is granted only when the quest receives an S rank.]

[User’s quest rank is A. Therefore, the lower-tier reward ‘Location Scroll of Red Awakening’ has been provided.]

So basically…

I got baited by a fake listing.

My hands trembled. My heart pounded.

Anger burned through me, but there was nothing I could do to a hologram with no physical form.

Grinding my teeth, I stared at the scroll in my shaking hands.

“…All that suffering. Just for this?”

My head throbbed.

I honestly wanted to grab that tin can system by the hair and rip it out until it went bald.

“Haa… hah… damn it!!”

Yelling helped a little.

The scam already happened. All I had left was this scroll.

Just where the hell is this Red Awakening hidden that it’s this hard to get?

Sighing, I opened the scroll.

[‘Location Guidance Scroll’ has been activated. Would you like to use Navigation Mode?]

[Accept / Decline]

Navigation?

That’s way too modern for an old scroll.

Confused, I pressed accept.

[Guiding you through the optimal route to ‘Red Awakening’. Follow the arrows.]

“Arrows?”

I looked around—and spotted a yellow arrow glowing on the ground.

“So that’s it.”

“This guy’s seriously not right in the head.”

“Oh—right. Mr. Peguirel and the Black Mask were here. Huh? Where did the Black Mask go?”

“He vanished all of a sudden. In all my years as a mercenary, I’ve never seen someone with less presence than that Black Mask guy.”

“I see.”

Well, if he was just checking things out, he’d come back.

If not, he’d survive on his own just fine.

I felt a bit disappointed—but shook it off.

“I should go too. If I stay here any longer, who knows what’ll happen… I’m thinking of deserting with the captain while I can.”

“That’s a good idea.”

“Yeah. We’ll probably be listed as dead. Here—take this.”

Peguirel handed me a tag. Looking closely, it seemed like a dog tag.

“If you ever come looking for me, I’ll repay the life debt you saved for my captain.”

“I’ll gratefully accept it.”

“Alright. Until we meet again.”

Supporting the unconscious captain, Peguirel disappeared into the forest.

Once he was completely out of sight, I finally let out the breath I’d been holding.

“…It’s really over, right?”

Blending in with soldiers, stirring panic, stopping a mercenary king’s awakening—

It was one hell of a battle.

“Time to collect the reward.”

Leaving the battlefield that looked like a river of blood, I followed the arrow.

Monsters appeared here and there, but they were easy to deal with.

“Guess going all-in on agility really left my strength lacking.”

In a place crawling with monsters, focusing only on agility did have limits.

But survival comes first.

If you can’t escape danger, you die.

Thanks to my agility build, I’d survived countless close calls. It wasn’t a bad choice.

“Damage dealers and tanks can be someone else’s job. Like the Black Mask.”

Speaking of which… where did he go?

My thoughts kept circling back to him.

The Black Mask really was the strangest existence in this world.

Hiding his face, hiding his identity—was there some kind of problem?

“Black hair… blue eyes…”

I don’t know.

Maybe once I fully remember the original story, I’ll figure out who he really is.

For now, I decided to stop thinking about him.

But if we ever meet again by chance, I’ll repay the debt I owe him.

Our relationship is nothing more, nothing less—

just two people tied together by life debts.