4

After asking simple questions about his health and serving two glasses of water, Grandma Rosa left Celia and Seth alone in the room.

In the novel The Summoned Hero, Celia is shown as a compassionate person. She was the one who took care of the hero and his fellow team members, gave their security top priority, and was willing to give her life for the team. 

"When you were in danger, Isaac brought you here. Jake, the boy, called me and the village elder right away. Thank goodness I was still in the village. The crisis is past, so I hastily came to heal you." Celia explained as she took a seat beside the bed. "Why were you still here when the hero had already left the village?"

"My memory seems to be a little hazy." Seungeun replied solemnly.

Celia was someone reliable, so he could trust and rely on her to provide him with further information about the village and his predicament. 'Having no protection, it would be easy for the squad that raided my possessions to come and kill me if they found out I was still alive. So, I had to first travel to the capital and return to the marquess' mansion for my safety.' 

"The wound on your head is healed; I already examined it yesterday." Celia sighed. "Can you remember how you got into this state?"

Seth hesitated for a moment, as he felt that telling people that he got robbed made him ashamed. "Before I fell asleep, my party members- the people who I went with to go here—stole my equipment and left me in the dungeon alone."

"What…?" Celia was in shock and disbelief. 

Seth bowed his head, trying to act pitiful and win her sympathy. 

"Those people! How dare they! I knew they weren't anything good from the moment I saw them!" Celia yelled as she stood up with her hands on her hips. Her face was twisted with rage. "The hero could kill the monsters without breaking a sweat, while all they did was weigh him down!"

'She admired the hero a lot, didn't she? But I felt like the insult was also intended for me, who reincarnated as the trash cannon fodder.'

'I hadn't told her who they were but she seemed to already know.'

Celia realised that she was reacting excessively while the victim was calm. So she sat back down in embarrassment and asked, "What exactly happened?"

Seth also felt surprised by her reaction, but he didn't show it on his face. "After they abandoned me in the dungeon, a few statues came to hunt me down."

"Statues? Isaac found you outside the dungeon that the hero and you guys had already cleared, which was a pack of Metal Wolves. Besides, there's only one dungeon that has manifested in this village. You must be mistaken." Celia explained.

She had been staying in Tudela Village for a few days and knew the situation about the monsters rampaging in the dungeon and the surrounding village. However, the village elder never said anything about statue-like monsters. 

If a lot of mana gathered in one spot, together with a collection of creatures, it would build a dungeon with stronger monsters inside. If they were left alone, a dungeon break could occur, annihilating the villagers nearby. 

Seth furrowed his eyebrows in thought. 'If the statue wasn't part of the dungeon in Tudela village, then there would only be one reasonable explanation. The people who stole my belongings used a portal to transport us into a dungeon in another place.'

"I don't know why you and the hero decided to team up with those people; they are from a group known as Birds of a Feather. Someone I knew had gone missing while working with them."

Birds of a Feather. The name suggested a gang of unfortunate individuals working together, but they were actually bandits. 

In The Summoned Hero, Seth took some time to get back from the mission, so Agnes and the hero traveled to Tudela village to look for him. However, there were no signs of him to be found. 

One of her informants informed her that the Rain Sword, which was supposed to belong to Seth, was discovered to belong to another high-ranking noble. 

Agnes dragged the hero with her to investigate the Birds of a Feather, the latest people to contact Seth. When their crimes were discovered, they received a lifetime prison sentence.

'Agnes was being too kind. That's a light punishment. Personally, I'd take revenge on them myself.'

Celia patted Seth's shoulder as she said, "I'm sorry this happened to you. You have to receive another treatment because my healing isn't enough for you to recover completely."

"Haven't you heard any rumors about me?" Seth suddenly asked.

Celia's face stiffened visibly. "That…"

"But you didn't hesitate and still healed me... Even now, you still come to check on me."

"I'm a healer, and it's my responsibility to help people in need. It's not my place to determine if they are a good or horrible person. Beside, isn't it just a rumor?" Celia clarified.

In actuality, she was skeptical of him and harbored a negative opinion of him after hearing the rumor. But after asking questions and engaging with him, not to mention his appearance, she had a positive impression of him. It was like the rumor was about a different person. 

'Man, she's too kind.' Seth thought inwardly. 'But it's a good thing since I want to cooperate with her.'

Seth thanked her with gratitude. 

"Don't mention it." Celia waved her hand.

"You said you were planning to travel somewhere?"

"Yep, but I had to heal you before I could proceed to the capital."

"Sorry…"

"It's not your fault." Celia smiled warmly. "You are from the city's capital, right? Therefore, I assume you will also be heading there."

"Yes, but I don't have anything with me right now. When I get home, I'll ask my father to pay you back."

'I was robbed and am currently broke.' Seth wanted to cry, but there were no tears coming out of his eyes.

The healer hesitated before asking, "Is it okay if I make a different request?"

"What is it?"

"I don't have a place to reside when I arrive in the capital, so if it's possible, I want to stay in your place. It's because I don't have many coins with me right now." 

Celia would always heal patients for free. Unless anyone insisted, she would not accept any payment. 

As though she realised that she was saying something absurd, she added, "If it can't be done, then it's okay."

'The Marquess wasn't difficult, so I doubt he would refuse to let her stay for a while.' Seth made up his mind. 

"I'll talk to the Marquess first, but he would probably be okay with that."

"Alright." Celia was happy after hearing Seth's answer.

"Since I'm awake, I can't stay here for long. I have to go back to the capital quickly." Seth got off the bed, but the pain throughout his body quickly assaulted him. 

"Don't be hasty; you are still recovering."

"I don't know when the enemies will come for me again, and there's no one to protect me right now."

"You have a lot of enemies, huh?" Celia commented with a wry smile.

Seth glanced at the cracked armor. 'I need a weapon to protect myself for now.' 

"Do you have a sword?"

"I'm a healer, as you can see... but there's a tavern here where you can buy a sword."

"I don't have money."

"..."

"..."

"Okay, I'll lend you some."

"Thank you, Celia. I'll remember your kindness."

…

Celia left the house. 

Seth asked Grandmother Rosa whether there were many monsters in the mountains since he wanted to go there to check his abilities properly.

She replied with a worried expression on her face, "There aren't any nearby, so don't wander too far."

Seth walked out of the house, drew a pail from the well, and washed his face with cold water. While washing his face, he realized something that not many people, including Isekai-ed people, would talk about. 

'I used to live in a modern world where water and electricity were widely accessible. And the fact that I was transmigrated into a medieval fantasy indicated that those would be difficult to obtain. After getting up, I would make my bed, shower, and brush my teeth, but this was not the norm for the locals.'

He sniffed his own armpit and debated whether or not to shower. When he realized he didn't have any spare clothes and he was about to train anyway, he abandoned the plan.

Seth strolled outside, taking in the fresh air.

He could see the kingdom's gate from where he was standing. In broad daylight, the guards were drinking and playing poker at the gate's entrance.

Tudela village was located close to the kingdom's border. Only a few travelers would pass by to enter the kingdom because the area beyond the gate was a vast forest filled with lots of monsters. 

Seth headed to the forest-covered mountain. Worried that he would get lost, he marked the trees he passed by with a large gash using the cheap dagger Celia had given him. 

Although he asked for a sword, the cost was too expensive, so she could only get him a C-rank dagger. 

'It wasn't like I could complain since I was a broke-ass myself.' 

But thinking about how many of the good items he had were gone made him feel more miserable.

'If someone read a book about my life after I got Isekai-ed, wouldn't it be so fucking shameful?' 

As he was walking through the forest, he came across a slime. Its color was transparent and bluish, and its eyes were little. It was eating some grass, and after it had finished, the grass was visible in its transparent body. 

'Cute… so cute!'

Seth couldn't help but admire the slime as he crouched down to study it. 

'If I had my phone, I would have taken a lot of pictures of it.'

He also came across several more animals. Every time he saw a creature he had previously only seen on the internet, he couldn't help but watch them from a distance. 

But he didn't dare to approach them recklessly. He didn't know how to combat a monster, so he didn't provoke them.

As he stood on the mountainside, a gentle breeze with the scent of pine brushed his hair. 

After reaching an open area, he took a deep breath and glanced at the knife in his fingers, its polished blade glittering in the sunlight. He felt the weight of the dagger and then swung it swiftly into the air. 

"..."

He stabbed and thrust the blade five hundred times in the air, causing his arms to ache.

As he lay down on the grass, his eyes were drawn to the blue sky, which was the same as the one where he used to live. At a full moon, though, the moon would become red, and it was also when demons would manifest and heighten their activity.

'It feels like I'm still in my previous world and nothing has changed. It's hard to accept that I've been reincarnated.' 

But what made him feel worse was that, if the original Seth hadn't actively courted death, he wouldn't have to fight so hard to defend himself.

He rolled on the grass, unmotivated, and eventually forced himself to stand up. 

"And the time has come!"

'For a couch potato like me, who had zero martial arts knowledge and had never used a dagger in real combat, it was useless to train with it at the moment. It's better to use magic to defend myself when someone tried to attack me.'

Seth closed his eyes and focused on the magic moving through his body. He imagined the magic he wished to conjure; the simplest was a little magic that would manifest more quickly and pierce a target. 

When he opened my eyes, he noticed a tiny ball of light on the tip of my finger. He aimed it at a nearby object. 

The tree broke in two and collapsed.

"Eh? Chotto matte! I'm actually powerful?"

Though his finger was throbbing as though it had broken,.