- VOL 1 – THOSE UNITED BY THE FATE -
Chapter 4: Laying The Foundation (7/9)
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Knock, knock, knock.
Shin arrived at room number thirty on the third floor. Of course, he had left the key in the room last night, so he couldn't get in unless Rina opened the door.
Knock, knock, knock...
The chestnut-haired boy knocked once more. Despite what the tall woman had just told him, he was convinced that the door would open. He was almost certain that the woman lying inside was awake.
"It's me, Shin."
He moved closer to the door and called out in a low voice to the person inside. It was then that he realized the door was unlocked. Sensing movement inside, he entered the room without waiting for a response.
"So you're awake!"
When he entered, the blue-eyed woman was awkwardly trying to get out of bed. When she saw the child bursting into the room, she immediately hid under the covers.
"What are you doing?! Don't you know you can't enter someone's room without permission!"
Her voice sounded weak, even though it had an angry tone. Only her head was exposed when she wrapped her already small figure in the blanket. But seeing her face was enough to understand her situation.
"Cough, cough, what are you here for?"
She asked, avoiding her eyes from the boy in front of her. Before answering, Shin closed the door, took a chair, and approached the side of the bed.
"Actually, I just came to see how you were doing."
"Then you can go. Cough, cough, I'm perfectly fine."
The chestnut-haired boy sighed, then folded his arms across his chest and began to speak in a lecturing tone.
"Huhh... Look, you may be angry or upset that you lost a fight, but this is no joke. After all the blows you took, you ran around recklessly and now you're acting like nothing happened. The blows you take are not only effective in the heat of battle, healing after the action is over is part of the fight too."
When he opened his eyes, which he had closed as he spoke, he locked eyes with Rina, who was looking at him in surprise. Her face was slightly flushed and she seemed to be sweating profusely. Her blue eyes were averted after a few seconds of absent-mindedness.
No words came out of her mouth. Shin also waited for a while without speaking, but after the silence that fell, he thought it was unnecessary to wait and continued.
"Anyway, get some more rest. Let me know if you need anything, I probably won't leave the inn today."
He saw a slight hint of pain on the face of the woman in the bed. So he decided to leave the room, so he stood up and turned around. As he walked towards the door, he raised a hand and opened his mouth to end the conversation.
"Sana-san doesn't seem to have realized the situation. She won't notice if you stay out of sight at least until you can stand up."
"Wait..."
"I'll also bring some medicine that might help your wounds."
"Wait..."
The blue-eyed woman was mumbling to herself on the bed, but her voice was so weak that the boy, who was about to leave the room, could not hear her. Shin turned around to take one last look at the state of the woman in bed before opening the door.
Rina had emerged from under the covers and straightened her body. Then she screamed with all the strength she had left in her as if she wasn't sick at all; with her usual intensity.
"STOP DAMN IT!"
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
This was followed by an equally loud cough.
"COUGH, COUGH!"
Shin, who was about to leave the room, just stared at her in shock.
"It hurts everywhere, okay! I can't even sleep because of the pain, my body is burning and I feel like I'm going to faint! This damn feeling, this sharp pain in my mind makes me feel like I'm being hit all over my body over and over and over again, and it even keeps me from passing out!"
Rina gasped as she spoke feverishly. The pained expression on her face, which she had been trying to hide, had come to light. She held her stomach with one hand and gritted her teeth to bear the pain.
"Rina..."
Shin was still dumbfounded, but he managed to pull himself together a little. With a sad expression on his face, he walked away from the door and headed for the bed again.
When he arrived in front of her, this time the roles were reversed. She fixed her eyes on him while he stared blankly at the floor. Shin unexpectedly lowered his body and spoke apologetically.
"I am so, so sorry, Rina-san! Your pride is hurt and it's all my fault!"
A look of regret crossed his face. This time it was Rina who was surprised and told the boy to sit down.
"What are you talking about? You've been spouting the same nonsense since yesterday. Are you sorry for leaving the group? Is it all your fault?"
Rina got angry and raised her voice as high as she could. Her pain would increase, and her lungs would rebel, but talking now was more important than the pain.
The boy in the chair continued to listen without saying anything.
"Didn't you hire me as a bodyguard? Whether you were there or not would have made no difference. No matter who was there at that moment, General Xin, Grandmaster Fan, Sage Xu, The Beast of the West Lin Nari, I was supposed to protect my client!"
Shin slowly turned his eyes to the woman on the bed. She was breathing deeply and her body was trembling under the covers. As her chest rose and fell rapidly, she opened her mouth to continue speaking.
But she was distracted by the boy sitting next to her, who put his hand in hers. When he looked at the boy's face, he realized that the regret and sadness of earlier had been replaced by a bitter smile.
Before she could regain her composure, Shin opened his mouth and cut her off with his own words.
"That's enough. You need to rest now."
But this was not enough to silence her. Realizing this, the chestnut-haired boy locked his amber eyes with the blue ones on the bed and soothed her with his gaze.
"I understand the situation better now. As you said, it wouldn't have made any difference whether I was there or not, but it is true that I made a big mistake. It wasn't leaving you last night, it was disrespecting your decision and your spirit. I am truly sorry..."
This time Rina closed her mouth, never to open it again. But not only because of the words she had heard but also because of the gleam in the boy's eyes.
Shin let go of her hand and said one last thing before turning his face away from her.
"You really are strong. Even if you don't think you are, you will realize that as you continue your job. I need strong friends like you. So get well quickly and come back, okay Rina?"
He said these words in a very sincere and heartfelt way. The woman in the bed continued to stare at him, feeling something strange inside. The boy slowly moved away from the bed without saying anything else.
"Is he really a little boy? What is this warmth, satisfaction, and pride I feel?"
Rina watched the back of the boy as he turned away.
"I think I finally got myself a very good job..."
A wide smile formed on her face as the pain from earlier faded from her mind. Maybe those aches still lingered in her body, but what she felt now was the opposite of uncomfortable, she was quite happy.
"Hmm..."
Even though neither of them realized it at the time, there was someone on the other side of the door listening to them. By the time Shin approached the door to leave the room, they were already far away.
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"Ugh, neither did I find out where Minato is nor did I talk about business!"
Shin was sitting on the ground floor of the inn with a strange expression on his face. Although he looked angry, he was also happy about the conversation. He was happy that Rina had opened up to him. So that she could get it off her chest and relax a little.
But as a result, Shin realized his own stupidity. He felt angry and ashamed.
"Ahh! There's nothing to do in this inn! What do people do all day? No one's running after work in this rain."
He was trying to distract his thoughts, but this time he was bored because he couldn't find anything to occupy himself with, and he fell into the same thoughts again.
"Huh... Should I go to my room and do some training? I don't even have a weapon to train with..."
At that moment he unsheathed the knife hanging on his belt and started playing with it on the table. The knife was twenty-five, thirty centimeters long. The hilt was quite small for its steel side and it fit perfectly in the hand.
The steel was quite wide, but conversely thin in thickness. Not resembling a dagger, this weapon also did not resemble the shape of a sword and was in between. Despite this, it was comfortable to swing, sharp to the point, and easy to throw in Shin's style.
It was a little heavy for a knife, but with enough force, it could slice through the air with its thinness. The best example of this was last night. Especially the throat slit of that big man...
"The knife is definitely very good and it suits me. But I don't know how to improve with it, it's more like a secondary weapon..."
He raised the knife, held the tip forward, and began to examine it transversely.
"I think its use relies more on my hand-to-hand melee skills. It's also useful for surprise attacks. Still, if we're going to be in constant combat, I should get at least a sword soon."
As he focused on the knife in front of him, someone approached from behind.
"Shin?"
The chestnut-haired boy quickly came to his senses and turned around, smiling at the sound of the voice.
"Minato, I thought you didn't come back last night or something, where were you until now?"
Before answering, the auburn-haired young man pulled up a chair and sat down next to Shin. His eyes were very still and unlike last night, the young man was quite calm. He sighed deeply and spoke.
"Huhh... Work took a little longer, so I got back late last night."
He looked tired, but he perked up a bit with his next sentence.
"But it was worth it. They paid me well."
"What exactly is your job?"
"Mostly freight hauling, but I do a lot of different things."
He had a smug expression when he said this.
"Hah... Sure, sure. Receptionist in the morning, a stallholder at celebrations, flattering thugs in the evening... You're obviously talented."
Shin said these words with blank eyes, not letting the young man next to him open his mouth to answer back. He had no interest in Minato's business actually, but still criticized him.
"Forget about those and focus on your new job. Now, we have some important stuff to talk about."