Surviving as a Low-Ranking Soldier in a Trash Game

Chapter 88 : Chapter 88

Chapter 88

"You're looking for a carriage to Sursa Village? That won't be easy..."

"Sursa? We don't operate there."

"Hey, soldier boy. Look elsewhere."

SLAM!

I stood there blankly in front of the door that had been shut so coldly.

Monora, the port city I arrived in on a civilian airship.

To get to my destination, Haram, I first had to find a carriage in this city of Monora and head to Sursa Village.

But even finding that carriage was not easy.

Not only was there no regular service to Sursa Village, but no one was willing to go even when I offered to pay extra.

I kept raising the price and trying here and there, but it was a continuous series of cold rejections.

After being rejected continuously, I felt like my spirit was about to break.

‘If I knew how to ride a horse, it would have been easier to just find a horse.’

I spread out the map and calculated the distance to Haram.

In the worst-case scenario, I would have to walk from here to Haram... but in the first place, it was not a walkable distance unless I used some kind of martial arts footwork like the martial artists in wuxia novels.

To get everything I wanted, I absolutely needed a carriage.

"Should I have withdrawn all the money I had stored in the bank if I had known this would happen?"

Damn it, this place, Monora, was so small it was embarrassing to even call it a city, so there was no proper bank.

In the end, I was stuck, unable to do anything, just sitting on the edge of a fountain that did not have water, tapping my feet.

"Excuse me."

"...?"

A low, grating voice called out to me.

I turned my head in the direction of the voice and saw a man with his face hidden by a deep hood, bowing his head slightly toward me.

"I heard you were looking for a carriage to Sursa Village."

"That's right... Are you a driver?"

"I'm not a driver. I'm a fisherman living in Sursa Village, but I came to Monora for a while on business. I was about to return to the village after finishing my work when I heard there was a soldier looking for a way to get to Sursa."

The man who was speaking slowly took off his hood.

He was wearing a deep hood like a villain in a webtoon, so I thought he might be someone important hiding his identity, but his revealed appearance was not very special.

Middle-aged, with a simple impression, his skin was tanned black, probably from a lot of sun exposure, and he had fine wrinkles and a messy beard.

He was such an ordinary person that I could not understand why on earth he was wearing this drab hood.

"That's right. I need to go to Sursa Village on business, but it's not easy to find a carriage. Could you help me?"

"Before that, may I ask why you are going to Sursa Village?"

The man's smile toward me was full of warmth.

So much so that if I let my guard down even a little, I would have inadvertently lowered my vigilance.

However, his eyes held an unmistakable wariness.

I do not know if it was because I was an outsider, or because I was wearing a military uniform and was armed, but it was not an atmosphere of welcoming a stranger visiting their village.

It seemed that to lower his guard, I first had to prove that I was a harmless person.

"I don't have any particular business in Sursa Village. I need to visit Haram for some investigation, and I chose Sursa as my destination because it's the closest village to Haram."

"I see."

I do not know if he liked my answer, but the man nodded slightly.

He stroked his beard as if he was thinking about something.

Then he started muttering something under his breath for about 5 minutes, but the sound was so low that I could not hear it clearly.

I even started to wonder if I had gotten involved with someone mentally unstable.

Just as I was thinking that I was wasting my time and was about to get up with a suitable excuse.

"Alright. Then I'll take you to Sursa, soldier."

I sat back down on my slightly raised buttocks.

So what if he was mentally strange and seemed a little dangerous?

He was kind enough to take me to my destination.

"Thank you. I will definitely compensate you."

"It's alright. It's not a difficult task."

The man stood up, brushed his hands on his trousers, and extended his hand for a handshake.

His large, rough hands were covered with scars, and I did not know what he had been doing to get them.

I do not know if it was my imagination, but they looked like they were caused by a blade.

"My name is Damond. May I ask your name, soldier?"

"I am Rian Kaltz."

I also stood up and took his extended hand.

Damond's hand was large, thick, and rough, and surprisingly cold.

* * *

The journey to the destination was by no means easy.

First of all, the carriage was made to carry luggage, not people, so the ride was terrible.

When I rode in a carriage once before for Theo's matter, I thought I would never experience such an unpleasant ride again.

But I was wrong.

There was another bottom beneath the bottom.

It would have been different if there had been a refreshing scenery to remind me of this unpleasant feeling, but that was not the case either.

When I pushed aside the thick, rough canvas of the freight carriage, all I could see was a dead land and a desolate plain.

A rocky mountain without a single plant.

Whether I looked near or far, it was uninteresting and felt stuffy as if it were blocked.

"We've arrived."

At Damond's words, I turned my gaze forward.

Beyond Damond's back as he drove the carriage, I could see two panting horses and a small village located by the sea.

The carriage entered the village without any hindrance.

There was not even a single vigilante at the village entrance, and the number of people walking on the streets was so few that I could count them on one hand.

My first impression was that the village had no vitality at all.

Well.

I thought that if I lived in such a drab place, all my life force would be drained out of me.

"The village is small, so there are no inns to accommodate guests from outside. If you go to the village chief's house, they will probably find you a place to stay."

"Thank you."

Damond kindly showed me the way to the village chief's house.

Following the path he showed me, a cozy-sized house surrounded by a stone wall appeared.

Inside the wall was a cute-sized vegetable garden, but it had not been used for a long time, so weeds were growing lushly instead of crops.

"Excuse me."

"...Who is it?"

When I knocked, a door opened slightly as if they had been waiting, and an old man with a long beard poked his head out.

I unknowingly flinched and stepped back.

I know it is very rude, but for a moment, the thought 'is he a living corpse?' crossed my mind, as the old man's complexion was so bad.

Should I say he looked seriously ill?

I was not kidding when I thought that during the few days I would be staying, the old man might not wake up forever.

"Ah, you're a soldier. I heard from Damond. I'll arrange a place for you to stay while you're here, so please come in."

All the lights were off inside the house, so it was very dark despite being daytime.

The village chief guided me to a small room in a corner on the second floor.

The only furniture in the room was an old bed and a wardrobe.

"You can stay here as long as you're comfortable. As for meals... I'm sorry, but the village's food situation is not good, so it will be difficult to serve you."

"It's alright."

As for food, I have plenty of emergency rations prepared in my bag just in case, so I will not starve to death.

I opened the window to air out the musty smell that filled the room.

However, the wind that blew in was humid and unpleasant, and the only scenery was the drab village and a dead forest.

It was a scenery that made my heart feel gloomy just by looking at it.

"I can't stay here long."

I felt like my mind would break if I stayed in a place like this for a long time.

I already missed the lively atmosphere of Selina and Byan.

I decided to finish my work as quickly as possible and go back, so I left the room.

The village chief was nowhere to be seen, having gone somewhere in the meantime.

Since I was in his care, I thought I should tell him I was going out, so I walked around the house, but I could not find the village chief.

"...Did he go out?"

From his appearance, he looked like he was on his last legs, but maybe he was more robust than I thought.

Or maybe it was because I had a distorted prejudice.

Since I had prior permission to use it freely, I did not look for the village chief anymore and left the house.

There were about four people around the house, and for a moment, their gazes were focused on me.

"...?"

The focused gazes lasted only for a moment.

The people hurriedly averted their gazes, and a man who was on the younger side smiled apologetically and bowed his head.

"I'm sorry. This is a place that outsiders don't often visit, and since you're wearing a military uniform, I got curious..."

"It's alright."

Right.

Maybe this is a normal reaction, and I am feeling strange and overreacting because I do not have a proper grasp of the general common sense of this world.

But until I left the village, I felt like I was suffocating from the gazes fixed on me from all over.

After completely leaving the village, I could finally breathe a little.

To avoid getting lost and wasting time, I spread out the map and examined it carefully.

East from my current location.

My destination was marked at a distance that could be reached in about two hours of walking.

A city that had become ruins, serving as the stage for the all-out war between the Purity and the Alliance 10 years ago.

Haram.

I took a step toward that place, a place where people no longer set foot.

* * *

After walking aimlessly toward my destination for about two hours, I realized something.

"There's really nothing here."

It has been 10 years since the war.

With this much time passed, new life should have sprouted through self-purification.

But not a single weed was growing here.

Should I say it reminded me of the surface of Mars that I once saw in a movie?

It was hell.

But I finally succeeded in reaching my destination.

Before my eyes was a scenery that was not just desolate but even grim, having been completely ruined.

The traces of the past war were still clearly visible here.

A city wall that was broken and collapsed after being hit by something.

A city gate that had been completely pulverized, and houses with numerous signs of being crushed by something with powerful force.

Burned buildings and abandoned airship wreckage everywhere.

When the blowing wind passed through the collapsed buildings, there was even a strange sound like the wailing of a ghost.

A city abandoned by people.

A place where life cannot live.

A dead land that no one visits.

But there is one secret here that others do not know.

I headed for the center of the city.

WOOOOOO...

Once again.

A spooky wind sound like a wail brushes past my ear.