Chapter 97: The Great Legacy (3)
Thanks to the quick treatment, I could feel the pain from the wound rapidly fading away.
At this rate, the wound won't worsen, and I won't die a ridiculous death.
After taking a breather, I checked my equipment.
Without mana, there's no way I can catch bullets with my hand or dodge them by sight like before.
"At least the gun is still intact."
I had a gun, but not much ammunition. Just two handguns, 20 bullets, and a knife.
While Hyun Suho was checking his gear, a child clung to Maria and whined.
“Mom, I’m hungry.”
“It’s already that time. Wait just a moment.”
Upon listening closely, all the children were calling Maria "mom."
But with Maria’s still youthful face, it was clear she couldn’t be the real mother of all these children.
“Are these children... orphans?”
The children’s gazes turned sharp at Hyun Suho’s words.
It was an obvious mistake for Hyun Suho to ask such a sensitive question so directly.
Seeing this, Maria scolded the children gently and reproached Hyun Suho.
“These children may be young, but they have more emotions than adults. Such words are rude.”
“Oh~ I’m sorry. I also grew up in an orphanage, so the words came out too easily.”
While Alex, the original owner of the body, wasn’t an orphan, Hyun Suho, who had been an orphan his whole life, understood the children's feelings.
Hearing that Hyun Suho was also an orphan, the children’s expressions softened.
They didn’t like hearing it from others, but they could accept it from a fellow orphan.
Once the children had calmed down, Maria smiled gently as she said,
“I see. As you can see, these children were driven here after losing their parents.”
“But is Miss Maria looking after all these children alone?”
“I crossed paths with them by chance, and we've been together since. I go to the village to work and earn money for living expenses.”
No matter how young the children were, it must take extraordinary effort to feed this many.
It was hard to believe that such a delicate woman was doing all this by herself.
“You’re doing a good deed. If there is a heaven, you’ll be rewarded someday.”
At those words, Maria answered with a slight smile.
As Hyun Suho thought about how he could help the children, he searched his pocket for his wallet. Luckily, it was still intact.
“It’s not much, but consider this a reward for helping me.”
As a special agent, the risk of death was high, and with that came an astronomical salary.
Most agents, uncertain of when they might die, lived recklessly, but Alex, determined to survive and rise to a high-ranking position, had saved up most of his earnings.
The money he had received for this mission was also mostly in his wallet, untouched.
“This...!”
Maria couldn’t hide her astonishment at the sight of the wallet filled with more money than an average person could earn after working tirelessly for years.
“This is... too much.”
“Please keep it. With this, you can get a small house where you don’t have to live in a place like this. No matter how much you clean, this isn’t a place where people should live.”
Hesitant at first, Maria eventually nodded and carefully tucked the wallet away when the topic of the children came up.
“Can you tell me the way out of here?”
“You can’t move yet. If you move now, the freshly stitched wound could reopen.”
“I have things to do, so I can’t stay long. I’ll be fine. Just show me the way out.”
“...Alright. Follow me, then.”
Leaving the children to play among themselves, Maria led Hyun Suho outside.
The scale of the junkyard was massive, almost like a mountain, and the exit path was like a maze.
If someone unfamiliar with the area entered, they’d likely get lost and starve before finding their way out.
“This looks like a man-made maze. Did you make this, Maria?”
“The security around here is terrible, so I had no choice but to set it up this way. This city is full of people looking to steal even the smallest possessions.”
“I see.”
Though it was hard to believe that anyone would try to steal from makeshift shelters in the junkyard, it was easy to imagine that there would be many intruders after this beautiful woman.
In fact, Maria was a beauty rarely seen, even in the massive city where Alex used to live.
In any other place, there would be plenty of scoundrels coveting her, and it seemed like a miracle that she was able to walk around unscathed in a city with such poor security.
As these thoughts passed through his mind, the junkyard’s entrance came into view. It was the same place where Alex had been shot before.
“The body is still here.”
Though Alex had barely survived, his opponent hadn’t been so lucky.
Alex’s excellent marksmanship had a lot to do with it.
As he approached the body, wondering if there might be any clues about the attacker’s identity, he was unexpectedly able to recognize the person right away.
“Bishop?”
As Alex suspected, it wasn’t an agent from another country.
Bishop was a fellow agent who had completed the training course alongside him.
Of course, they only knew each other’s faces and had never been close, but they hadn’t been on bad terms either—not enough for Bishop to shoot him in the back.
“Hah~ So it wasn’t a spy in the higher ranks. It wasn’t a spy; it was a traitor.”
Someone in the higher-ups had bribed an agent to seize Pluto.
That meant the situation was far more serious. If Bishop had betrayed them, there was no guarantee that someone else wouldn’t point a gun at him next.
“It was lucky the radio was broken. If word had gotten out that I was injured, someone else would have come to finish me off.”
I assessed the situation and searched Bishop’s belongings to see if there was anything else I could learn. Unfortunately, there wasn’t any item that could provide information, but I did find something unusual. Another walkie-talkie, similar to the one we were issued. It was easy to figure out what it was for at a glance.
“One is to communicate with everyone, and the other is for traitors to contact each other.”
I took the walkie-talkie as well and searched for anything else, but nothing came up.
“Now, it’s time to make a decision.”
Since the situation had changed, Hyun Suho also had to act differently. Without even a handful of mana, Alex’s body could be destroyed beyond recovery with just one bullet. If Nova could unleash her power, she might be able to trace the walkie-talkie, but...
[Apologies, Master.]
‘No, it can’t be helped.’
Fortunately, Hyun Suho in reality was also an excellent marksman. Alex, a top-tier agent, had impressive abilities, but he couldn’t compare to Hyun Suho, who battled monsters every day. That alone was enough to give him confidence.
‘It’s not a particularly difficult dungeon...’
With his thoughts settled, Hyun Suho spoke to Maria.
“Apologies for changing my mind, Miss Maria. May I stay here for a while?”
“Here? In this place?”
“Yes. I need a hideout where I can rest. I’ll make sure not to cause you or the children any trouble.”
Though the agents had designated bases, they were already compromised. He needed at least a safe place to sleep. Maria didn’t refuse Hyun Suho’s request and nodded her head.
“...Alright. You can stay as long as you need.”
“Thank you.”
With a hideout secured, all that remained was cleanup. He hid Bishop’s body and meticulously erased all traces. Once everything was done, he went back inside to tend to his wounds.
“I’ll go to the village and buy some medicine with the money you gave me. If left untreated, the wound might fester.”
“No, you can’t.”
It wouldn’t take long for them to realize that something was wrong with Bishop now that he was out of contact. If they saw Maria buying medicine, it could put her in even more danger.
“The treatment you’ve given me is more than enough. Don’t worry about it.”
“But...”
“Really, I’m fine. Just some clean water would be appreciated.”
If he washed the wound well with clean water, it wouldn’t get worse. Still, it was crucial to rest as much as possible.
‘I’ll need at least two days in bed.’
To be able to move again after sustaining such a gunshot wound in just two days was remarkable. Most people would have lost the use of one arm permanently. It was a testament to Alex’s constant training.
As the tension eased, he felt a wave of drowsiness wash over him.
“I’ll rest for a while.”
“I was about to prepare some food. Would you like some?”
“I appreciate the offer, but rest is more important right now.”
Fortunately, Alex had eaten enough before the mission. At this point, rest was more vital than nutrition. Maria didn’t press him further.
“Alright.”
And so, the first night at the scrapyard passed.
Life at the scrapyard turned out to be more enjoyable than expected. The children were cheerful, not at all like orphans abandoned in such a place, and Maria was more lovely than any woman Alex had ever met.
“Humming~ Humming~”
Maria skillfully prepared a meal for over ten people. Thanks to the money Hyun Suho gave her, they were able to enjoy a hearty meal for the first time in a long while, and she couldn’t help but hum happily.
“Wow~”
The children gasped in awe at the food spread across the table, and Hyun Suho smiled after taking a bite.
“You’re quite the cook. You could open a restaurant, and no one would complain.”
“Really? Haha~ Opening a restaurant is my dream.”
“If Mom opens a restaurant, she said we’d get to eat as much as we want.”
One of the children said innocently, and the others nodded in agreement, their eyes full of hope. Maria gently patted the children, smiling warmly.
Even Hyun Suho, who was used to indulging in expensive meals, was impressed by her cooking. The one luxury Hyun Suho allowed himself was good food. He usually only ate at famous places, yet he’d never tasted food this good. Maybe it was because he was starving, but it was still impressive to create such a meal from humble ingredients.
After eating, the children quickly began playing, turning the scrapyard into their playground. Maria, with practiced ease, looked after them, bathed them, and put them to bed, handling it all like a professional teacher.
“Is that clean water running through here?”
“Yes, I diverted a nearby stream.”
She had used clean plastic pipes to bring water into the scrapyard. It wasn’t a task that just anyone could do without some skill.
“Did you do that as well, Miss Maria?”
“No, my father used to live here with us. He did it before he passed away.”
“I see.”
Whoever her father was, he had turned the scrapyard into a place that could support almost everything they needed. If not for the overwhelming stench, it would have been a decent place to live.
Once the children were asleep, Hyun Suho and Maria sat side by side, chatting quietly.
“When did you start looking after the children, Miss Maria?”
“It’s been about three years. My father originally took care of them while he lived here. After he passed away, I took over.”
“Isn’t it difficult for you?”
“Actually, I enjoy it. Seeing the kids who once struggled to smile now laugh every day makes me happy too.”
No matter how Hyun Suho looked at it, Maria wasn’t someone who belonged in a place like this. She was kind, diligent, intelligent, and graceful. With her stunning appearance, if she dressed nicely and went into the city, there’d be plenty of men chasing after her.
Even Alex, who had vowed to live as a lifelong bachelor, couldn’t help but be swayed by her. Because of that, during these moments, Alex’s will had more influence over Hyun Suho’s body than his own.
Maria didn’t seem to mind Hyun Suho’s gentlemanly demeanor either.
Thanks to that, the two of them spent the next two days in what felt like newlywed bliss as he healed. But those dreamlike days quickly came to an end. Now that his body had mostly recovered, it was time to move again.
