“Sweetie. Last time Dad said he was a very, very strong holy knight, right?”

“Uh huh!”

“Actually, Dad had a whole twenty subordinates.”

“Huh...? That’s not that many.”

“It is! Twenty unbelievably strong subordinates are way better than a hundred weak ones, you get it?”

“Then were all of Dad’s subordinates legendary rank? Like legendary Tanifang?”

Then Dad looked carefully at Tie, and laughing, said,

“Of course. They were all very strong. And the closest one to me was the mister with the hammer.”

The mister with the hammer.

The very person who lost his family in an accident in his hometown, Banana village, then wandered alone and in the end became Dad’s subordinate!

Tie couldn’t believe it and stared at Basto.

‘Mister Basto is the mister with the hammer.’

And that he was from Banana village.

And that he used a hammer almost as tall as himself, that he was strong, that he had a thick beard,

‘...He brought the village to that, he brought your family...’

And the fact that there was no family with him now, it all matched.

Tie quickly returned to her seat.

And acted like nothing had happened, quietly sipping her hot chocolate again.

Basto and Grandpa exchanged looks, but soon continued talking.

‘Tie met Mister Basto first.’

She looked at them over the rim of her cup.

Is that what it meant, returning to the past, like Kkamani had said?

Tie found the person who would one day become Dad’s subordinate first!

And at the same time she felt awkward about how she had misunderstood him earlier.

‘Mister Basto was a good person from the start...’

Tie remembered the story of the mister with the hammer clearly.

Strangely, after crossing into this world, her memories of the past had become even more vivid.

“The mister with the hammer wasn’t Dad’s subordinate from the beginning. He was the deputy commander of the Des Hound mercenary squad.”

“Des Hound?”

“That means ‘Death Dog.’”

“Death Dog...!”

The Des Hound squad was based in Banana village.

The leader was Cala, and the deputy was the mister with the hammer.

She remembered how she and Dad had laughed. What names, Hammer and Cala.

“But, sweetie. The mister with the hammer was a good person, and Cala wasn’t. Because of Cala, his family died.”

“Ah... why?”

“Cala kept using him. He rested in Banana village, and sent the mister with the hammer out to destroy the nearby Magic Stones. Every day.”

Hammer and Cala weren’t just commander and deputy, they were close friends too.

So the mister with the hammer didn’t refuse Cala.

And he asked him for just one thing.

“He asked him to look after his wife and daughter in Banana village. He said, who knows what could happen while he’s gone.”

“Cala promised?”

“Of course. He told him not to worry about his wife and daughter and to go without a care. The mister with the hammer believed him.”

But one day, returning from an assignment, he saw the village turned into ruins.

In a home that had become a heap of ash, Basto found them.

A wife and daughter, clinging tightly to each other, gone up to the sky.

“Tie. When we go home one day, you have to remember. Sometimes monsters no, Magical Beasts are active even during the day.”

“Uh huh. Dad said.”

“That’s exactly what happened that day, when the mister with the hammer was on an assignment.”

That day, peaceful Banana village turned into chaos in an instant.

People who barely survived the Magical Beasts’ attack ran to Cala.

After all, he was the leader of the squad that protected the village.

But Cala had been drunk since morning, out of his mind.

“They say he told the villagers to go back home and wait calmly. That he’d assess the situation and then evacuate them.”

“And then...?”

“They all went back. Each one hoping Cala would still come. The mister with the hammer’s wife and daughter did too.”

“H-how...”

But Cala didn’t return.

He just stole a few horses and fled the village with a handful of subordinates.

As time passed, the Magical Beasts began to find the people hiding.

And everyone died.

Cruelly, horribly.

The mister with the hammer buried his wife and daughter at the edge of the ruined village.

And then vanished into the forest.

After that, he began suppressing Magic Stones alone.

Every time he faced mortal danger, he didn’t feel relief.

He blamed himself.

Because this time he could have gone to his family.

This time he could have met his beloved wife and daughter.

And even then, Cala kept chasing him.

He brazenly followed after him and demanded he return to Des Hound.

And when he was refused, he bribed crooked holy knights and destroyed his credentials.

‘Ah, so that’s it...’

Tie remembered Basto’s missing identification number.

And the words of the knight at the Capital entrance, about Des Hound and Cala Vorben.

She frowned and tried with all her might to remember further. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

What happened after that?

Dad definitely told her.

“Then did the mister with the hammer get his credentials back?”

“No, he couldn’t. Cala was too vile and calculating, so revenge was hard. Without credentials, you can’t enter the Capital. And because of the rumors Cala spread, they wouldn’t issue him new ones either. But then.”

“Then...?”

“After a few months of wandering, he met Dad.”

Tie’s eyes opened wide.

Yes, Dad definitely said # Nоvеlight # that.

“Dad was a rising star back then. With my incredible power, I quickly restored his credentials.”

“Wow! And you took him as a subordinate?”

“Of course. Back then Dad was number one on the rankings on the whole continent.”

“Do holy knights have rankings too?”

“Huh? Uh... they probably do.”

Dad.

If they found Dad, they could restore Basto’s mercenary identification number!

Then they could enter the Capital.

But there was a problem.

Dad was inside the Capital right now.

In other words, they were stuck.

Tie anxiously set down her hot chocolate.

She had to think carefully about how to solve this situation.

The next day.

Tie went to the refugee market together with the inn’s owner.

The market was just as noisy as the markets she’d seen in Korea.

With one difference.

Flies and insects swarmed over the stalls, and the people looked exhausted and poor.

“Hey.”

One of the merchants suddenly grabbed Tie by the wrist.

“Want a lollipop? Only twenty irons each. Huh?”

His gaze was fixed on her pink bag.

“You bastard! Let go right now!”

His grip was so strong that if the owner hadn’t noticed in time, Tie would have been dragged away.

The old lady clicked her tongue and held the girl’s hand tightly.

“Sweetie, stay close to Grandma. In a place like this, the moment you get distracted, trouble happens.”

Tie nodded fearfully.

Looking around carefully, she saw people wandering the street with dead, extinguished faces.

Everyone had gloomy expressions, skinny arms and legs.

“The Magic Stones that have appeared recently are all large rank. And there aren’t enough people to suppress them.”

Tie vaguely understood what those words meant.

Only scary, strong Magical Beasts came out of large Magic Stones.

That’s why there were so many refugees.

But they only protected the Capital for rich people...

“You crazy bitch!”

Suddenly a terrifying voice rang out very close by.

Over the old lady’s shoulder, Tie saw two figures in the middle of the market.

A fat man and a small, skinny girl.

“How dare you reach for my wallet?! Do you even know who I am?!”

“What are you talking about! I told you! We just bumped into each other! Why would I want your wallet...!”

Smack!

The girl’s head jerked sharply to the side.