I Became the Hero While Paving a Flower Path for My Niece - Chapter 46

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

The Hero Who Bloomed Flowers Along the Way 046
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Milo swung the pickaxe, gouging out another section of earthen wall.
Without sunlight, he couldn’t tell day from night anymore.
Only the guards’ visits—coming once a day to deliver food and check that day’s quota—marked the passage of time.
They didn’t even give him much to eat or drink.
One loaf of bread, a bit of dried meat, and a bucket of water—that was his daily ration, rationed across three meals.
He’d spent nearly a month like this.
By now, the hunger gnawing at his belly and the exhaustion weighing on his limbs felt familiar in this dark underground dungeon, lit only by a handful of torches.
‘How did it come to this?’
Thwack! Thwack!
Milo’s mind drifted as he swung the pickaxe against the stone.
It had started with a peddler’s promise of easy coin.
With his gaunt younger brother and an uncertain future weighing on him, Milo had made his way to Lord’s Castle, toward the meeting place the peddler had named—Todd’s General Store.
To someone who’d lived in Farming Village, Todd’s General Store seemed impressive, respectable—a real workplace. When the clerk invited him inside, Milo stepped through the threshold with nervous anticipation and a flutter of hope in his chest.
He drank the water they offered him so kindly,
and lost consciousness.
When his eyes opened, his hands were bound and he lay in what looked like a storage room. Three other men lay nearby in what seemed to be the same drugged sleep.
Perhaps because he’d drunk only a little of the water in his nervousness, the drug wore off faster for Milo than for the others—fast enough for him to understand that this was no ordinary situation.
‘I have to get out!’
Milo twisted and worked his bound wrists until they bled, finally loosening the bonds. He surveyed the situation, then escaped the storage room.
But he hadn’t made it more than a few steps before accomplices appeared and the kidnappers seized him again.
‘Jake…!’
Even as blows rained down on him, Milo’s thoughts turned to his younger brother. He didn’t know if Jake would even come looking for him, but he desperately wanted to warn him—to tell him this place was dangerous, to stay away.
Even as they beat him, Milo stretched out his bleeding hand and left a mark on the corner of the general store’s wall.
‘Don’t come… Jake….’
After that.
Jake and the others had been brought here in a cart. The underground space hadn’t been this vast then—they’d excavated all of this themselves, Jake and the others.
‘How much longer…’
would he have to stay here?
Or if he’d ever escape alive at all.
‘Jake….’
Thinking of his brother alone in the world, tears spilled unbidden, blurring his vision.
That’s when he made the mistake.
He didn’t see the massive stone lodged in the wall before him.
Crash!
“Gah—ugh!”
Milo instinctively raised his arm to block the falling stone and felt the bones shatter. The pain was immense, but he swallowed his cry.
“Milo! Are you alright?”
“No, no…”
The others nearby approached quietly, their concern evident on their gaunt, hollow faces.
“I… I’m fine….”
Milo spoke without a sound of pain, and the others’ expressions only grew more grave.
Milo’s own face hardened too.
He tried to move his injured arm, but it hung limp like a snapped branch.
“This… this can’t be how it ends….”
Milo knew exactly what happened to the injured down here.
The guards came to check on them periodically. When someone grew too weak and collapsed, or was injured beyond what natural healing could mend, they’d drag them away somewhere.
Those people never came back.
‘They must have been killed.’
Fear seized him.
Down here, at least he could cling to a fragile hope of escape someday. But if he was dragged away like that, even that hope would be snuffed out.
“R-really, I’m fine! See? I can still… I can still work…!”
Milo lifted the pickaxe with his good arm and swung at the earthen wall, but the pain in his left arm threw off his balance.
“I c-can do it…!”
The others watched him with sorrowful faces. His plight felt too familiar—any of them could end up in the same position. And Milo was the youngest among them.
He was the youngest, and now he was breaking before their eyes.
“Milo.”
“I’m fine! Really, I can work!”
“It’s alright. When they come, hide in the back corner.”
“Right. If you stay in the corner, they won’t spot you.”
“And do our work instead. It’ll be easier that way.”
Milo felt a swell of gratitude at their words, tears streaming down his face.
But both Milo and the others knew the truth.
This reprieve would be fleeting.
Milo was badly hurt. Without treatment soon, death was certain.
Whether he stayed here or was discovered and dragged away, only death awaited him.
‘I’m sorry, Jake.’
Then.
The door creaked open with a groan.
“!!”
“It’s too early!”
At the door opening so unexpectedly soon, the people scrambled in panic, quickly ushering the wounded Milo into the corner.
Milo stood with his injured arm hidden as best he could.
As the door opened, bright light poured in.
The people instinctively shrank back and bowed their heads—a habit born from those foul-tempered guards striking without warning whenever their mood soured.
Footsteps echoed.
A steady rhythm drew closer.
With each step, the people froze, not daring even to breathe.
In the silence so profound that a dropped pin would echo, a voice cut through.
“Is Milo here? Jake’s older brother?”
At those words, Milo’s head snapped up reflexively. He’d never expected to hear his name spoken aloud in this place.
The others too found their eyes drifting toward Milo at the sound of his name and the polite tone of this stranger’s voice.
“…?!”
Then came the shock.
Standing in the doorway were not the guards who had tormented them, but strangers they’d never seen before.
At the front stood a man with deep golden hair that caught their attention.
The light streaming through the open door shone around him like a halo.
It was blinding.

* * *
Yi Baek spoke as the people stared blankly at Alex.
[They look pretty shocked.]
Tell me about it.
Alex opened his mouth, taking in the confused faces of those who still couldn’t comprehend the situation.
“I came on a request from Jake. He asked me to find you—his older brother, Milo.”
“A… a request?”
Someone spoke up in bewilderment, as though unable to distinguish dream from reality.
“Milo, didn’t you say your younger brother’s name was Jake?”
Some turned their gaze unbidden toward Milo in the corner. Milo’s face was equally blank at hearing his brother’s name.
“My… younger brother…?”
Alex looked toward Milo crouched in the corner.
Even in the light streaming from beyond the door, it was clear he was in poor condition.
[Lucky we came early.]
[He would’ve died otherwise.]
Alex nodded in response to Milo’s question.
“That’s right. Your brother came all the way to Lord’s Castle looking for you.”
“Jake…!”
Milo’s dazed expression crumpled into shock, and then tears burst forth. Seeing him weep, the others felt their own eyes welling up.
“Alex, let’s talk outside for now.”
At Dain’s words, Alex nodded.
“Let’s head out. We’ve already dealt with everyone who was here, so you can rest easy.”
At Alex’s words, the people looked tempted yet anxious, fearing the guards might pour in at any moment.
“Are we really going outside?”
“Really and truly?”
“If you don’t believe me, wait a moment. I sent word to the Count’s Estate, so someone should arrive soon.”
Only then did they seem to grasp the truth, collapsing to the ground without thinking. All the tension drained from their bodies at once, leaving them helpless with relief.
[The Count’s Estate really does have a good reputation.]
[They’re trusting right away.]
Alex agreed with the assessment.
It was a dominion that had endured so much in that “future” he’d glimpsed.
Dain had the guild members help the people to their feet and guide them outside.
“Ah, ah…!”
As they passed through the gate that had always hung shut and walked toward the passage leading upward, light kindled in the dry faces around them. Their clouded eyes grew bright again, and tears of emotion and joy spilled down their cheeks.
“Thank… thank you!”
“Thank you so much for saving us! Wah!”
The guild members supporting the weeping people led them outside through the passage Alex had created with Dig.
Alex helped Milo to his feet.
‘This one’s hurt, isn’t he?’
Recognizing that, Alex’s grip became even more careful.
Milo’s mind was too overwhelmed to notice.
My brother Jake had filed this request!
He’d really come looking for me!
“Is… is Jake all right? Our home is so far—how did he get here? And without any money, how could he afford the commission fee…?”
“Jake’s fine. He’s with my nephew.”
‘With the hero from the future, no less?’
Alex smiled as he spoke.
“He said his brother hadn’t come back, so he came looking for you. He paid the commission in full, so don’t worry about that.”
“Ah…”
Tears streamed from Milo’s eyes without pause.
The journey from Farming Village to Lord’s Castle had been hard even for Milo—yet his young brother Jake had managed it.
And on top of that, he’d hired a mercenary of such incredible ability.
“Thank you! Thank you so much!”
Alex smiled at Milo’s heartfelt gratitude and led him outside.
“The outside—it’s real!”
“Sunlight!”
The faces of those who had emerged showed nothing but brightness.
By contrast, the expressions of Alex and the Crow Guild members darkened slightly. In the daylight, they could see the people’s condition was far worse than it had seemed.
“Ben. There was food stored down below, right?”
“Yeah. I’ll get it ready.”
Under Dain’s direction, Ben and the guild members sprang into action.
They built a fire and made soup using the rations and cooking implements the guards had carried.
“Please, eat slowly.”
“Thank you!”
The people, finally able to relax, sat down peacefully and drank the soup the guild members distributed, taking their time.
When had they last eaten something this warm? Tears came of their own accord.
“Heal.”
In the meantime, Alex treated the wounded.
Simple cuts and bruises were easy enough to heal, but Milo’s wound was something else—his bones were shattered, requiring great care.
For Alex, a former farmer and spectral uncle, it was no easy task.
But then,
‘I’m right here!’
There was a Lich present who knew everything about bones.
‘First, gently feel how and where it’s broken.’
Following Yi Baek’s instructions, Alex carefully felt Milo’s broken arm.
‘Mm-hmm. Good.’
‘It’s broken clean in two—that’ll actually make it easier to set.’
Yi Baek, sharing that tactile sense, made his diagnosis.
‘Lift the lower bone slightly upward and align them.’
‘But don’t lift it too much.’
As Alex moved his hands according to Yi Baek’s instructions, Milo’s arm—which had looked like a splintered branch—became a long, straight one again.
‘Now apply the splint and use Heal.’
‘Be careful—if he moves, the bones won’t set right.’
‘Use plenty of Mana.’
Alex used the straight wood and cloth that Dain had provided to fashion a splint for Milo’s broken arm. Then, following Yi Baek’s instructions, he rotated two Circles, flooding the Mana Circuit with power.
“Heal.”
Pure white light emanated from Alex’s right hand. It was warm and gentle.
Everyone watched the miraculous sight in silent wonder.
Soon Milo’s broken bones had knit together. The swelling that had bloated his arm faded as well.
“Wow…!”
As the pain gradually faded, Milo stared at his arm in astonishment. The moment Alex withdrew his hand, he carefully flexed the left arm that had been broken, testing its movement.
“Wow! It doesn’t hurt at all! Amazing!”
“Don’t move it too much. It’s not perfectly healed yet.”
[Complete recovery with 2nd Circle magic would be difficult.]
At Alex’s words, Milo—who had been shedding tears just moments before—quickly nodded. He gently probed at the half-mended arm with renewed care.
“Your magic never ceases to amaze me, Alex. It doesn’t feel like 2nd Circle work.”
Dain’s wonder drew a shrug from Alex, who then turned to Milo.
“At least no one else suffered major injuries. That’s fortunate.”
“About that…”
At his words, Milo and the villagers exchanged fearful glances before speaking.
“The ones who were badly hurt—or looked like they were dying—those people took them somewhere else.”
“That’s right. They dragged them all away.”
“And no one who was taken has come back.”
Alex’s and Dain’s expressions darkened.
[So there’s another location besides this one?]
“There must be a main hideout somewhere else.”
“Right. They probably didn’t want to leave bodies here—too much trouble to dispose of. So they took them along.”
“The Count needs to hear about this when he arrives.”
Dain nodded in agreement with Alex’s words.

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