I Became the Hero While Paving a Flower Path for My Niece - Chapter 30

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Your Neighbor Laid Out a Flower Path, and You Became a Hero — Episode 30
The next morning.
After finishing his morning training, Alex checked on Max, the brown horse, then woke Leo and the two of them ate a simple breakfast of leftover stew and bread from the day before.
“Come on, let’s head out.”
“Okay!”
Alex and Leo cleaned up thoroughly, then climbed onto the cart.
“Ka… na….”
Leo reviewed the five letters he’d learned yesterday, while Alex channeled mana into the newly crafted 2nd Circle ring he’d made.
After a while, Leo grew tired of studying and came to sit beside Alex, and they fell into an easy, pleasant conversation; Alex even demonstrated some magic for Leo.
“Wow! That’s amazing!”
Leo clapped his hands in admiration, and Alex’s shoulders lifted with pride.
After lunch, Alex and Leo arrived at the boundary of Caldis Territory. A Boundary Stone marked the spot clearly.
“Uncle, what’s this?”
“That’s a Boundary Stone. It marks that this side belongs to Caldis Territory and that side belongs to Bind Territory.”
Leo gazed at the Boundary Stone with curious eyes.
“I see! What kind of place is Bind Territory?”
“It’s ruled by the Bind Marquis House. But the Marquis doesn’t pay much attention to his subjects, so it’s not the most prosperous place.”
Since it was right next door, he’d often heard that the taxes were somewhat higher and the knights and soldiers were sluggish.
Still, compared to other territories, it was manageable enough.
Clop-clop, clop-clop.
As they traveled along while talking, a village appeared in the distance.
[Huh….]
[The atmosphere really is different, isn’t it?]
In Belo Village, the only other-world village Alex knew, doors stood wide open and children ran freely outside.
Farmers worked in the fields, and village women hung laundry or sat outdoors sewing—it was a place filled with bustling sounds.
But the village under the Bind Marquis House was entirely different.
The houses were no different from those in Belo Village, but there were no children’s laughter, no adults out in the open air, and every door and window was firmly shut.
“What on earth?”
Alex and Leo stared at the village in alarmed silence—not merely quiet, but eerie.
Something felt wrong.
[Is it because of the high taxes?]
No—if the taxes were high, people should be visible working even harder to meet their obligations. Yet there was no sign of anyone.
“Uncle….”
Unnerved by the desolate atmosphere, Leo gripped Alex’s arm tightly. Alex himself was puzzled by what could be happening.
He searched through the memories of the ‘future,’ but found nothing about this village.
As they ventured deeper into the village, Alex spotted a man walking quickly with a plow, his face rigid and severe.
Alex quickly urged the cart toward him and called out.
“Excuse me. Is something the matter in this village?”
Seeing Alex, young Leo, and the cart, the villager spoke in a grave voice.
“A wandering merchant? You’d best leave quickly. A wolf pack attacked the village.”
Wolves.
Alex’s and the other’s eyes widened.
“We don’t know where they came from, but several people were wounded. They took all the livestock we keep here too.”
The villager’s face darkened as he spoke.
It made perfect sense that the village was silent as a tomb.
They couldn’t abandon their homes and belongings to flee, so the best they could do was shut their doors tight and pray they would hold against the wolves.
“Have you informed the lord’s stronghold? Surely the knights and soldiers will come?”
But as Alex spoke, he caught himself.
This wasn’t Caldis Territory.
“The Bind Marquis has no interest in such matters. Unless many people die, perhaps….”
[Quite different from Caldis Territory, which sends knights and soldiers the moment a single wolf appears in Belo Village.]
The villager sighed, then spoke again, his expression somewhat brighter.
“The people here are pooling money to hire a mercenary, so things should improve soon enough. Come back then.”
Things had to improve.
The entire village was praying desperately for it.
[Alex. A wolf pack shouldn’t be too difficult for you, would it?]
[And they’re offering payment, after all.]
“My uncle is a mercenary too. A really amazing one!”
Leo, who had been listening gravely, spoke up with pride.
The villager then examined Alex more closely.
He wore a sword at his waist in the manner of a mercenary, but his face looked scarcely twenty years old—hardly reassuring.
And he was alone.
She couldn’t gauge how many wolves a single man might manage.
“Right. What a marvelous uncle you have.”
Leo caught the hollow courtesy in the man’s words at once, his face falling. ‘He doesn’t mean it,’ he thought, deflating.
“Go quickly. This wolf pack strikes at any hour—day or night makes no difference. If you have children with you, it’s even more dangerous.”
[I could probably handle them from a distance with just a Fireball.]
Watching the man’s kindness, Leo’s desperate gaze, and hearing Yi Baek’s warning, Alex made his decision.
“If you don’t mind, I could…”
That was when it happened.
“Aaahhh! Wolves!!”
A scream cut through the air, followed by the howling of wolves.
The man’s face hardened with mingled fear and resolve as he gripped the plow in his hands and bolted toward the sound of the cry.
“Uncle.”
Startled by the screaming, Leo looked to Alex, who nodded and urged the cart forward toward the source of the sound.
As he did, he activated Mana Detection to gauge how many wolves were in the area.
Soon the mana around them became perceptible.
[Now that I’m a 2nd Circle mage, I should be able to extend the range a bit.]
The mana of the weeds beneath his feet, the children and adults hidden away inside houses, the people in the field ahead, and the wolves themselves—all of it became clear to him.
[Three wolves!]
Alex arrived before the man with the plow, and the scene that unfolded before him was as dire as expected.
“Ahhh! Help!”
“Let go! Let them go!”
Three wolves were dragging people by their limbs toward the forest, while those not yet caught struggled to drive the beasts back with plows and sickles.
“Water!”
Alex conjured a sphere of water above the wolves’ heads. He dared not throw a Fireball—too great a risk of catching the villagers in the blast.
Startled by the water dropping from above, the wolves released their prey and retreated. They turned toward Alex, then bolted for the forest.
“They’re gone!”
As the wolves withdrew, the villagers sank to the ground in relief, their expressions shifting almost at once to wonder as they stared at Alex, the mage.
The village man who had chased after the cart wore a look of utter shock.
“You’re a… a mage?!”
“That’s right! My uncle is a mage!”
Leo laughed proudly, beaming.
“What are you standing about for? Get those wounded back to the village—quickly!”
“Yes, yes, Chief!”
The people hurried the injured back toward their homes.
The man called Chief approached the cart. Alex and Leo climbed down.
“Thank you so much for your help, Mage.”
“Think nothing of it.”
The Chief, having heard much ill spoken of mages over the years, found himself reassured by Alex’s composed, sensible demeanor and continued.
“I understand you’re a mercenary. If you’re willing, might we impose upon you to take on a commission? The payment wouldn’t be much, but if it falls short, we’ll do our best to gather more.”
Alex nodded at the Chief’s earnest plea.
“I understand. I’ll accept the commission.”
[Wolves of that caliber? Even ten wouldn’t be a problem.]
At Alex’s swift acceptance, the Chief and villagers broke into smiles and bowed deeply, their faces alight with gratitude.
Leo watched it all with a satisfied smile. He loved seeing everyone recognize how impressive his uncle truly was.
“For now, the wolves will likely be on guard. I’ll venture into the forest once night falls.”
The Chief agreed with Alex’s assessment.
“Then please come to my house. We’ll have dinner ready for you!”
The Chief surrendered his home to Alex and moved his family to another house.
Though Alex had insisted any empty dwelling would do, the way they gathered their things without a backward glance made it impossible to refuse.
“Uncle, so we’re sleeping here tonight?”
“We are.”
As Alex transferred bedding and other supplies from the cart into the house, Leo hurried to help his uncle.
Then he spotted children peering around the wall, studying him and his uncle with open curiosity.
Their eyes held a mixture of fear and wonder as they gazed at Alex and Leo.
[They must have heard from the adults that a mage is here.]
That seemed to be exactly what had happened.
Curiosity had drawn them to look.
“Hello!”
Leo beamed at the sight of children his own age and waved hello.
“!!”
The startled children yelped and bolted, only to collide with one another and tumble to the ground. Leo laughed—”Aha ha!”—and helped them up.
“I’m Leo. What are your names?”
Once he’d exchanged names with the children, Leo looked back at Alex.
“Uncle, can I play with my friends?”
“Go ahead. Just stay here in front—don’t wander off.”
The wolves had fled, so they wouldn’t return anytime soon.
“Okay!”
Leo carried his small bundle into the Village Chief’s house, then joined the children in the courtyard to play.
[Well, well.]
[That boy’s charisma is something else.]
[Leo’s definitely got E-rank aptitude.]
At the sight of Leo and the children laughing together, the Village Chief and the village men—who had come to check if the Mage lacked anything—managed to smile for the first time in days.

* * *
The wolves that had fled the village raced through the forest until they reached a cave.
Along with the three wolves drenched from the Water spell, others were gathered before the cave entrance, each with dead prey laid at their feet.
Inside the cave.
In darkness so absolute it seemed devoid of anything at all, two eyes blazed crimson.
-!
A harsh howl followed, and the creature slowly emerged from the shadows.
A massive wolf draped in thick grey fur, its right shoulder grotesquely covered in black tumorous growths.
At the appearance of this beast—twice the size of an ordinary wolf—the smaller wolves whimpered and cowered.
The enormous wolf tore into the prey the smaller ones had brought, crunching bones between its fangs.
Then it noticed the three wolves that had brought nothing back, and advanced toward them with thundering footfalls.
The three wolves, tails tucked, frantically tried to explain that they’d encountered a human who used magic, but they soon realized their excuses fell on deaf ears and instinctively backed away to flee.
?!
Screech—!
But they hadn’t taken more than a few steps before the massive wolf’s fangs caught them, and their skulls shattered in a single bite.
Crunch— crunch—
The other wolves watched their packmate consumed with soundless horror, pressing flat against the ground and trembling.
After the great wolf had devoured every morsel, blood dripped steadily from its muzzle and fangs.
Yet its hunger remained unslaked; its crimson eyes gleamed with raw appetite.
The enormous wolf turned its gaze toward the village—where the three dead wolves had once hunted.
Embedded in the creature’s forehead was a small bone, pale white as ivory.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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