I Became the Hero While Paving a Flower Path for My Niece - Chapter 33

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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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Uncle’s Kindness Paved the Way, and I Became a Hero — Episode 33
Alex opened his eyes before the rooster crowed.
Not that there were many roosters left to crow, with the wolves having eaten most of them.
[No… already…?]
Yi Baek, a Lich who didn’t need sleep but still slept like a human, groaned as he was forced awake.
[Maybe I can rest for just one day….]
Alex had fallen asleep early this morning—or rather, late last night—and woken early, earning a sigh from Yi Baek.
“You sleep more.”
[How could I sleep when I can feel everything…?]
Alex smiled softly, stretched his limbs with easy grace, and stepped outside. It was time for his morning training.
The village was still quiet.
Until now, fear of wolf attacks had kept the villagers anxious and sleepless, but with the pack destroyed, they would be deep in undisturbed rest.
Today, Alex had decided to practice something other than swordplay.
‘Physical Enhancement.’
It was an ability that only skilled swordsmen could use—still beyond him as a sword novice.
‘But this too is ultimately about manipulating Mana.’
If his Mana control was already advanced, perhaps he could attempt it now, despite his low sword skill.
If he could truly master it, he’d be able to counter even the fastest enemies, just as he had yesterday.
“Exhale.”
Alex first channeled Mana into his arms and legs.
That much came easily.
[Interesting.]
[Is this what a swordsman feels?]
[What a strange sensation.]
Yi Baek, who had been a mage, had never moved Mana like this and found it fascinating.
But wrapping that Mana around his body was difficult.
Magic he had mastered through twelve years of countless failures in the Future, building experience without realizing it—but swordcraft, he had only ever learned by watching and listening.
Still, he didn’t give up.
If he trained steadily enough, eventually he would master it.
[Ow!]
[My arms, my legs, my shoulders, my back!]
Listening to Yi Baek’s familiar complaints, Alex finished his morning training, washed quickly, and checked on Max in the stable.
“I’m counting on you again today.”
Neigh—
After patting Max’s neck, Alex headed to the room. Leo was still asleep, so Alex tidied up the luggage there.
“Mmm….”
[Leo’s waking up.]
Alex approached Leo, who was squirming under the blankets, and patted him gently. At that familiar touch, Leo’s eyes flew open.
“Uncle!”
Looking into those bright sky-blue eyes, Alex broke into a wide smile.
“Did you sleep well, Leo?”
“Yep! Did you sleep well too, Uncle? When did you get back? Are you hurt? Did you fight the wolves? How many were there? Did Uncle win?”
Excited, Leo tumbled questions over each other and climbed out of bed, circling around Alex. He was checking for any injuries.
“I slept fine. I got back while you were sleeping soundly. I’m not hurt anywhere. I did fight the wolves. There were so many, but Uncle took them all out with one spell!”
Alex washed Leo and handed him clean clothes to change into, answering each question.
“Wow! Uncle’s amazing!”
Leo, sitting on the bed while pulling on his pants, gasped in admiration—then tilted sideways. He’d been so distracted he’d stuffed both legs into one pant leg.
Hahahaha!
At that ridiculous sight, Alex, Leo, and Yi Baek all burst into laughter.
As they merrily finished dressing and were about to have breakfast, they sensed a presence.
When they opened the door, the Chief’s Son stood there. He looked remarkably bright—clearly he’d had a good sleep.
“You’re awake! Did you sleep well? I’ve brought breakfast provisions. And here are some vegetables we just picked!”
His face was radiant with joy.
“Just tell me if there’s anything you need!”
[Doesn’t look like we’ll be short on anything.]
[Is this rural hospitality?]
Looking at the dishes threatening to overflow and the baskets brimming with vegetables, Yi Baek marveled.
“I’ll come back after breakfast. The Hides and Fangs from yesterday are over there—you should check them!”
“Understood.”
The Chief’s Son, practically gleaming with excitement, departed.
Alex prepared breakfast.
[Great!]
[Let’s get cooking!]
Of course, Yi Baek did the actual cooking.

* * *
After breakfast.
Alex stepped outside with Leo.
“Hello, Leo!”
“Hi!”
Leo spotted his friends and bolted toward them with a radiant smile.
“You can wander around the village, but don’t stray too far, Leo.”
“Okay! Got it!”
Now that the wolf problem was solved, it was safe to explore anywhere in the village.
Ha ha ha!
Alex watched Leo dash off hand-in-hand with his friend, grinning—then spotted the Village Chief and his son approaching.
“Shall we head over there?”
“Yes.”
The Village Chief led Alex to an empty warehouse at the edge of the settlement.
“We’ve gathered all the hides here. We’ve done everything we could, but they’ll need further processing, so it’s best you sell them as soon as possible.”
Curing leather required many steps and considerable time. In a single night, all they could manage was removing debris and cleaning the hides.
“I understand. Thank you for your hard work.”
Alex nodded, already aware of the effort involved.
“It’s nothing.”
“We’re the ones who should be grateful!”
The Village Chief and the villagers broke into broad smiles.
“And these are wolf fangs and bones. These will fetch a good price too.”
[Oh!]
[They thought of that too, it seems.]
“These fangs and bones are from the monster. Everything else burned away.”
Alex gazed at the unusually large fangs and the remaining bones. How was he supposed to transport all this?
“And here’s the wolf meat. It may carry a stench, but if you sell it cheaply, it should move quickly.”
The cleaned wolf meat lay neatly to one side.
[Wow, they did all this in one night?]
[These people haven’t slept, have they?]
It certainly seemed that way.
Yet despite their labor, no one showed signs of exhaustion—if anything, they seemed pleased. The lifting of their dread had done that.
“Thank you all. You’ve worked hard.”
“Not at all, please don’t mention it.”
The Village Chief smiled gently and produced a heavy purse.
“This is the Quest Reward. We didn’t expect a monster, so we’ve prepared a bit extra.”
The Village Chief had spent the night wrestling with how much more to offer, and in the end, he and the villagers had pooled their resources to increase the reward.
If not for Alex, they would all be dead.
They could earn more money slowly and peacefully through farming in the years to come.
[Oh, that’s heavy.]
[Let me see how much is in there!]
Ignoring Yi Baek’s commentary, Alex accepted the purse.
“I gratefully accept.”
The Village Chief and the villagers relaxed at his straightforward acceptance. They’d worried the amount might not be enough.
Then.
Alex opened the purse, withdrew a portion of the money, and returned the still-weighty bag to the Village Chief.
“…What’s this?”
The Village Chief received the purse uncertainly, his eyes widening. Alex smiled and explained.
“Payment for your labor processing the wolf hides and byproducts overnight.”
[Excellent!]
The Village Chief responded in surprise.
“No, we did it willingly—”
“Accounts should be settled clearly.”
Besides, Yi Baek’s influence had contributed to the wolf monster appearing in the first place.
[I’m sorry!]
And they were all good people, weren’t they.
They were people who had ventured into the forest to help him despite knowing the danger was obvious.
The age of the Future’s collapse.
Alex, who had lived through those times when good people were scarce, didn’t want to burden them.
‘The money from the young lord is enough.’
He also knew how crucial livestock and winter preparations were for farmers.
“Use the rest of the money to treat those who are injured. And buy livestock.”
As Alex spoke, the eyes of the Village Chief and the villagers gradually grew wet.
“…truly, we are so grateful.”
“How could we ever repay such kindness….”
With almost no money left and all their livestock dead, they’d been wondering how they’d survive the remaining autumn and winter—and now this blessing had come to pass.
He was truly the village’s benefactor.
“And would it be alright if I sold the wolf meat and bones? We have so much it would be difficult to carry, and I’m afraid it will all spoil during travel.”
Alex said with a smile.
“I’ll price it at this level.”
At the surprisingly low price, the Village Chief quickly nodded, and the villagers’ eyes sparkled.
With all their livestock gone, hunting was their only source of protein, but it was obvious the forest animals had been hunted to extinction by the wolf pack.
Gamey or not, meat was meat.
Some people unconsciously licked their lips.
“We’ll buy it all!”
The Village Chief answered readily, and the villagers laughed brightly. Ever since the mage arrived, it seemed only good things had been happening.

* * *
The Village Chief decided they would all gather at midday to share the wolf meat Alex had sold them at a discount. Of course, Alex and Leo were invited.
When the villagers heard that Alex had taken only a small Quest Reward, they didn’t know what to do with their gratitude, so they brought out all the ingredients they had in their homes and prepared a feast.
“A celebration!”
“Whoooaa!”
“We’re eating meat!!”
The children raced through the village, excited at the appearance of meat they didn’t often eat. Having been cooped up indoors for the days the wolves were about, they seemed especially animated.
“Ahahaha!”
Leo was right there among them.
At the sight, both Alex, who had been training lightly, and Yi Baek, who had been groaning, couldn’t help but laugh.
Soon lunch was ready.
Gathered in the Village Plaza, young and old alike set down their heavy cares and ate the wolf meat dish with bright faces. Everyone wore smiles that wouldn’t fade.
“Mage, thank you so much!”
Each time their eyes met Alex’s, they offered thanks until the Village Chief had to stop them. Their faces were full of happiness.
“Ahem! Our uncle is really amazing, isn’t he?”
“Yeah! So cool!”
“Awesome! Uncle Leo hunted this meat!”
“Wooow!”
At this, Leo shrugged his shoulders proudly.
Everyone loved him and thought he was amazing—it was truly something to be proud of and happy about.
“Hehehehe!”
At Leo’s beaming smile, Alex felt satisfied too.
He was happy to be an uncle Leo could be proud of.
[Let me taste some of this wolf meat!]
Yi Baek was curious about the wolf meat, which he’d never tasted even on Earth. At this, Alex smiled wryly and took a bite of the roasted wolf meat.
[…ugh.]
[From now on, no more wolf meat.]
Though he’d tried to eliminate it, Yi Baek grimaced at the gamey smell he could sense with his refined palate—though it was Alex’s sensibility.
[…would it be better with spices?]
Then he pondered how to get rid of the gamey taste. You couldn’t tell whether his real profession was chef or Lich.
Alex and the villagers, along with the children, who barely minded the slight gamy smell, happily ate the wolf meat.
“Uncle, uncle, uncle!”
Leo, who had been looking at the wolf hides with his friends, came running over.
“Can you show us that fireworks Magic you showed us at the Inn before? My friends want to see it!”
Leo’s sky-blue eyes sparkled. The eyes of the children who had followed him were full of anticipation. The villagers seated around them also seemed to be glancing over discreetly.
“Hmm. That’s better at night. It won’t be very impressive during the day.”
“Really?”
Leo’s face fell. The children were disappointed too.
“Just wait a moment.”
Wanting to be a cool uncle to the boy, Alex quietly slipped away to a corner and summoned Yi Baek, his all-purpose grimoire.
“You don’t happen to have anything, do you?”
[Of course I do!]
Alex listened intently to what Yi Baek had to say.
A moment passed.
Alex returned.
Leo and the children watched him with sparkling eyes.
Alex smiled brightly at them and stretched out his hand.
“Water.”
Water droplets materialized above his palm. Alex reshaped them into a flowing stream.
“Wow!”
Everyone—children and adults alike—gasped at the stream that had appeared from empty air.
“It’s magic!”
“That’s amazing!”
But this was only the beginning.
The droplets in the stream scattered like mist. Sunlight shone down upon them.
Something appeared.
“Oh….”
The adults stared up at the sky, forgetting even to chew, while Leo and the children shrieked with excitement.
“A rainbow! It’s a rainbow!”
“Wow! A real rainbow!”
The sunlight had reflected off the water droplets, creating a brilliant, multicolored arc across the sky.
As Leo and the children bounced on their feet in wonder, Alex manipulated the stream to conjure an even larger rainbow.
Eeeek!
The brighter, wider rainbow sent Leo and the children running and dancing, heedless of the water soaking them—or perhaps all the more thrilled because of it.
[This is like watching a retriever that’s found a pond.]
Yi Baek chuckled softly.
“Uncle, you’re so cool! You’re the best!”
Leo came running with a beaming smile and threw his arms around him. Alex burst into helpless, foolish laughter.

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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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