Chapter 7: The Rebirth party is too kind(2)

Gorgo was an axe warrior who escaped the filthy alleys clutching a single axe.
For a man with a frail body to wield a blade and make a living was no easy feat.
“Haha, look at him, the axe is swinging him.”
“Bet he swings well in bed too.”
The tough women of the Adventurer’s Guild slapped Gorgo’s backside, treating him as less than a colleague.
In the guild at night, when Teresa wasn’t around, male courtesans in thin veils flaunted themselves beside female adventurers.
“Hey, big sis, wanna have a good time?”
“I’ll make it worth your while.”
Watching the courtesans shamelessly advertise themselves with lewd faces, Gorgo blushed.
That life.
That existence.
He’d grown up seeing it all too often in the filthy alleys.
As a child, friends who dreamed of being adventurers with sticks in hand were sold to brothels by their parents, or fell into the quick money of prostitution to pay family hospital bills or chase fleeting thrills.
“Hey, Gorgo, a guy like you getting into a proper party? Drop that useless axe and sell your body.”
“Guys who work out last longer and do more, kinda tempting.”
As the days passed, the harassment grew worse, culminating in betrayal by trusted party members.
“Strip. If you don’t want to die.”
At the edge of a flood zone.
A forest dense with trees like a sea.
A place beyond people’s sight.
A female thief held a sword to Gorgo’s throat.
The male mage, caught alongside him, had already been subdued and dragged off by the party leader, a female swordsman.
Yellow teeth.
Scruffy beard.
Cheeks wider than a pig’s.
Eyes gleaming with desire.
Seizing a moment of the thief’s distraction, Gorgo snatched her dagger and killed his comrade.
He didn’t even think to save the mage.
The swordsman was stronger.
Killing a party member was a grave crime.
He gave up defending himself and became a wanted man in the city and guild.
He crossed several cities, leaving his hometown behind.
Unfamiliar climate.
Unfamiliar environment.
Losing all wealth and status, he had to build everything from nothing.
Finding a trustworthy party was the hardest.
“Look at that, thin clothes.”
“What’s that, flirting?”
“Idiot, that’s southern attire.”
“Damn, it’s hot.”
The leering gazes of crude women followed him even in the new guild of a strange city.
It was the same in a less crowded village.
In the end, he had to become stronger himself.
But no woman wanted a strong man.
Skilled parties rejected him outright.
“Sorry, we don’t take men.”
“We already have one guy. You know how it is—two guys fight, and the party falls apart.”
“Skill? If it’s the same role, we’d pick a woman. Why use a man? Unless you work for free. If you’re willing to serve without pay until we rank up, we’ll consider it.”
“Or there’s another way.”
A woman made a suggestive gesture, implying sexual labor.
“Join our exclusive party and work hard, we’ll raise you well. That’s how Level 3 male adventurers climb. If you don’t like it, stick with other guys.”
Tears of indignation welled in Gorgo’s eyes, but he never sold his pride.
The male adventurer in the tattered fairy tale book from the damp, shadowy alleys didn’t.
It was the only legacy his widowed mother, who retired after injuring her arm and died wasting away, left him—this axe.
“Nanny.”
“What?”
“Your class from today.”
Miraculously, he joined a party that didn’t exploit him sexually.
His hunch that a mother with two kids wouldn’t do that was spot-on, but it troubled him.
He was the party’s nanny and pack mule, not an axe warrior.
‘No choice. Even I can’t picture myself fighting beside Teresa.’
Exceptional strength.
Teresa’s power transcended common sense.
He couldn’t fathom why she chose him as a party member.
This role.
This position.
Anyone could replace him.
Or was it?
Was it because it was such a role that he was chosen?
But then, Teresa rejected even a male priest.
The most in-demand party member in the adventurer trade, without hesitation.
“Gorgo played along with Anna’s antics. Didn’t complain during the grueling march. Carried a lot, didn’t do anything bad. Even took stones for us.”
“What if I’m not that good a person?”
The kids were kind.
Kind enough to comfort his gloom.
What was he, saying such nasty things?
“What if I’m a bad person who committed crimes you don’t know about? Just hiding my true colors?”
Regretting an unavoidable killing.
Fearing the day someone would come for his wanted status.
Yet unable to leave the party.
‘I should go, right?’
He didn’t want to harm the kids.
Or wrong Teresa, who took him in.
If he died, he’d face death alone, proudly.
It’s fine.
Being alone was familiar.
From the moment he left the alleys.
In or out of a party.
He was a clueless male adventurer.
Always alone.
As he resolved for a lonely death, a small warmth touched his hand.
Radiant.
Yes, radiant.
Eyes as beautiful as a sky full of stars.
Eyes filled with strong will and longing looked up at him.
“Gorgo is our proud party member.”
That single sentence erased all his sorrow and loneliness.
His soul found healing comfort.
Call it cowardly, but he couldn’t help thinking.
He wanted to stay as this kid’s nanny a bit longer.
But now, the time to regret that choice had come.
“Southern attire. Lumberjack’s axe. 165 cm tall. Fragile-looking pretty boy. That’s Gorgo, no doubt.”
“Whoo, looks like he’ll fetch a good price.”
“Jackpot. Forget turning him into the guild, just collar him and keep him.”
On the way back to the village after a quest.
Three women appeared on the hill.
Two bore Level 3 adventurer badges.
One had a Level 4 badge.
Gorgo set down the luggage and sent the kids behind him.
“Sorry, Teresa. Those… are adventurers from another city chasing me.”
The Level 3 adventurers issued a threat.
“Leave while we’re being nice.”
“You know how precious kids’ lives are.”
Unlike the poorly equipped alley women, these were on another level.
The two Level 3 adventurers were heavily armed.
One, a spear-wielding hunter, carried lassos and nets.
The other, a professional thief, flashed daggers and throwing tools under a large cloak.
The Level 4 adventurer at the back, a crossbowman, carried a crossbow on her pauldron, capable of tearing through thick monster hide.
A well-coordinated trio of adventurers.
Clearly a tough opponent.
Even facing such formidable foes, Teresa tilted her head defiantly, eyes fierce.
“Crazy bitches must’ve eaten something bad. Who’re you barking at? Gorgo is my kids’ nanny.”
“He’s a wanted criminal. Killed a guild party member. Don’t get bloodied protecting an untrustworthy guy. Leave.”
Gorgo bowed his head under Teresa’s gaze.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I’m sorry for not saying earlier. I don’t want to cause more trouble.”
“Idiot.”
“I’m sorry. Ian and Anna are good kids. Anyone could be a nanny, but I don’t want to be a useless one. I’ll be fine… just go.”
“He’s saying it himself. Get lost.”
The crossbowman leader of the trio issued a final threat.
“The Harvester of Boheng. Our party never lets prey escape. Last warning: don’t do something irreversible over a mere murderer.”
Teresa looked at Ian.
“He’s your nanny. You decide.”
“I trust Gorgo.”
“You heard him. You’re still Ian’s nanny.”
Gorgo struggled to hold back tears of gratitude.
“Acting high and mighty…”
Before the crossbowman could finish, a stone that could crush a killer monkey’s skull smashed her helmet.
The hunter and thief threw lassos and daggers, focusing on Teresa.
“Don’t come out.”
Teresa dodged every attack with ease, giving orders.
“Protect the kids. That’s your role.”
“…!”
Gorgo realized.
His presence let Teresa fight freely.
Not just Ian.
Teresa trusted him too.
She recognized him as a party member, not a plaything.
“Net!”
A net flew at Teresa with perfect timing as she dodged the smoke from a poison bomb.
“Spear!”
The plan was flawless: trap Teresa in the net and stab her.
The thief and hunter’s strategy was perfect.
Until Teresa charged forward, snapping the hunter’s arm and neck.
“Don’t come! I’ll kill the kids…!”
It was over.
This woman was a monster.
Why she stayed with someone like Gorgo was beyond them.
Take the kids hostage.
Then escape.
A mere man.
A coward who fled after one kill.
Probably sold his body to a married woman for protection.
They could break through him easily.
“Get lost!”
“Ugh!”
Rapidly thrown daggers.
Gorgo deflected two volleys with his axe but couldn’t ignore a dagger aimed at the kids, stretching his arm to block it.
“Get lost, get lost, get lost!”
The thief’s dagger stabbed Gorgo’s torso three times as he lost strength to hold the axe.
As he fell, the thief’s hand reaching for the kids stopped short.
Despite all that, Gorgo, with sheer grit, grabbed the thief’s body.
“You bastard!”
As the thief raised the dagger to finish him, Teresa’s youngest, Anna, threw a grasshopper.
“Take it!”
“Argh, damn it!”
The dagger sliced the grasshopper instead of Gorgo’s neck.
One hostage was enough.
Furious, the thief adjusted the dagger for a throw.
Teresa’s eldest, Ian, threw a small pouch.
The thief, reflexively slicing it, regretted it instantly.
Splat!
Fairy Lilac lubricant, ground and mixed with water.
Slippery liquid drenched her hand.
Crack!
Seizing the thief’s confusion, Gorgo, with his last strength, twisted her neck.
All the attackers were down.
But Gorgo collapsed too.
“Go. Go with your mom. Lots of loot. You’ll live well.”
A fallen comrade.
The gathering sack.
The loot.
They couldn’t take all three.
One had to be left behind.
“Ian.”
“Yeah.”
“Take the gathering sack. I’ll handle the loot.”
Ian stared up at Teresa.
As his mouth opened, Teresa spoke too.
“You love your children more than anyone.”
“…!”
“Foolish kid. The nanny protects the kids. Why would the kids protect the nanny?”
Ian didn’t budge.
Teresa clicked her tongue instead of scolding him.
That stubbornness was unstoppable.
Like long ago, when no family or parents could stop a girl in love.
She didn’t need to inherit this trait.
If it couldn’t be stopped, so be it.
“Tch.”
Teresa upended the gathering sack.
Days of carefully collected materials mixed with blood.
“Sell all the loot. It’s for the treatment to save this dying idiot.”
The Teresa family lost the chance to buy a proper house with the loot.
But no one regretted it.
They gained a loyal nanny and party member they could trust with their backs.