Even If Your Regret Tries to Hold Me Back - Chapter 41

“This crazy bitch…!”

Unable to contain his anger, the man slammed the rum barrel down onto the table. Shattered wooden fragments and spilled liquor scattered across the table’s surface.

The man didn’t stop there and shot to his feet.

“Do you want to die?”

The chair crashed backward with a loud clatter, and a threatening shadow fell across Helena’s face. Instead of backing away, Helena remained still and looked up at the man.

‘…I’m not afraid of pain. I’m not afraid of dying either.’

Such a calm thought occurred to her.

‘I don’t understand why I should be afraid.’

His thick palm swung toward her cheek with direct force. Even then, Helena stood there composedly, as if her legs were rooted to the ground.

‘When the only person I fear is you, what can I do.’

And in the next moment.

CRACK!

A splitting sound so loud it made one wonder if something had broken echoed through the air.

“Argh!!”

But it came from the man, not her.

“Nice going, you bastard. You sure know how to run your mouth and drag my name through the mud, don’t you?”

The incongruous dialogue instantly shattered the overheated atmosphere.

Even the man who had been fuming just moments before didn’t dare to challenge the person who had struck his head. He merely rubbed his throbbing skull and whimpered.

“Ah, Boss, you’re different…!”

“Different my ass. Do I look like a man to you?”

The woman who had turned around shouted as she surveyed the tavern.

“You tell me. Do I look like a man to you!”

Under her booming command, the suddenly overwhelmed crowd shouted in unison.

“N-no, Boss!”

“That’s right.”

Only then did the woman’s lips curve into a satisfied smile.

Black hair shaved on one side and swept to the other, tattoos scattered chaotically across her skin, and a towering height that easily reached 180 centimeters with her boot heels.

She was the guild leader of the Partren Guild.

“Now stop worrying about this and get back to enjoying yourselves.”

Though it seemed casual, an order was an order. With a few waves of Guild Leader Gelda’s hand, the crowd’s attention scattered from its single focus point.

Most were guild members who had occupied the tavern to wet their stomachs with alcohol after finishing their daily work.

“Hey, bring us more lamb!”

“Two more beers too!”

Soon the venue was covered with boisterous noise as if nothing had happened.

Gelda turned back around to face the two protagonists of the commotion. Even her small gestures carried an unrefined, raw intensity.

She first scolded the man who was sporting a large bump on the back of his head with a tearful expression.

“Angri, I told you that if you keep causing trouble like this, get out. Partren doesn’t need a hothead like you. Are you planning to burn everything down because you can’t properly control your pathetic temper?”

“But…!”

“No excuses.”

Gelda cut him off decisively and turned her head to the side.

“And you,”

Fixing her gaze on Helena, she pointed her thumb at Angri and snapped.

“I don’t intend to disparage you like this idiot, but it’s true that our side is also wary.”

“Do you think… I can’t do it?”

“Isn’t that obvious? Just as you can’t trust me blindly upon first meeting. There have been plenty who came in half-heartedly and left silently after just stealing money.”

“Then what do I need to do for you to trust me?”

Gelda gestured with her chin toward the wall where a throwing knife was embedded and spoke in an indifferent tone.

“Even our brat could pull off a show like that.”

Of course, it was a lie.

She had immediately recognized that Helena’s level was different from the small-time thugs who came and went from the guild on a whim.

The trajectory of the thrown knife, the precision that only trimmed the beard, the flowing speed of her consecutive movements, and above all, the darkness lurking quietly behind those sunken eyes.

She couldn’t fathom how such depth could be felt from a greenhorn who looked to be barely in her early to mid-twenties.

‘Where did she roll around to end up like that.’

Such people weren’t common. Even after traveling across the entire continent before settling in Dairon, this was the first time she’d encountered someone with such twisted energy.

‘She looks like she might just die if handled wrong, yet she doesn’t even flinch…’

One would expect her to be cautious among these rough, large men. But she was like a quiet storm throughout.

A whirlpool that couldn’t be measured until one dove into its depths.

Even her trivial attitude sparked interest, making Gelda lick her lips.

She wanted to see more.

She wanted to know just how far Helena could go, wanted the best proof she could offer in this situation.

A justification that would make other guild members accept her without question. In this place where strength was justice, that would be enough.

“Show me skills worth overlooking my doubts about you.”

Gelda stepped back several paces as if to say, go ahead and try anything.

The tavern was still bustling, but everyone was watching Helena with sidelong glances.

It didn’t take long for Helena to move on the distractedly focused stage.

She picked up several more of the same throwing knives.

And then,

Crack! Thwack! Crack-crack!

She proved herself.

Three knives flew in almost perfect straight lines but couldn’t embed in the wall and fell to the floor instead.

“…Oh.”

After precisely splitting the wooden handle of the already embedded knife in half.

Immediately, a whistle came from one corner of the establishment.

“Miss, not bad!”

“Better than that Angri fellow! Hahaha!”

The men who had been mocking Helena just moments before clapped and laughed boisterously.

Helena met Gelda’s eyes and asked.

“Does it still seem impossible?”

A hollow breath escaped through Gelda’s teeth.

Though she hadn’t really intended to reject Helena from the start, she deliberately sighed with feigned regret.

“Oh my. How did I climb to this position, and now I’m forgetting that. I must have gotten rusty from resting too long. Please understand.”

“…I know. Originally, confidence is the easiest thing to lose even when you’re giving your best.”

“Hmm. Is that so?”

“At least you listened to me. Making you acknowledge me after that is my job.”

Helena briefly lowered her gaze, which had become hollow for a moment. Gelda caught this and her eyes lit up.

“I like desperate people.”

She unfolded her arms and straightened her upper body, which had been leaning leisurely against the bar table.

“People may have many flaws, but they don’t have flaws in their work.”

Wearing a gentle smile, she extended her hand to Helena.

“I lead the Partren Guild, and my name is Gelda. I won’t stop you if you want to leave later, but for now, congratulations on joining the guild.”

Helena didn’t raise her lowered gaze and stared blankly ahead.

Rough, coarse hands with calluses embedded in every joint.

Helena had once had such hands too. She knew the time it took for slender fingers to harden completely.

So she grasped that hand without hesitation.

“Helena E…”

She almost habitually added Eugene’s surname. She quickly changed her words.

“Helena. Just call me Helen.”

Gelda didn’t pay much attention and moved on.

“Good, Helen. Will you be staying with us starting today? If you have things to settle, you can come tomorrow.”

“If possible, I’d like to start today.”

Then a guild member with an eyepatch at a nearby table shouted heartily.

“Our boss must be in a good mood! Strong newcomers keep joining lately!”

“Shut up, you guys go and do your work too. Are you planning to drink until you drain this place’s liquor barrels?”

Gelda kicked the chair he was sitting on repeatedly, telling him to get up quickly.

Even while the chair rattled, he stubbornly drained his rum barrel and only stood up after showing the bottom.

“Burp, that was good drinking.”

When he straightened his back, he towered a full span above Gelda’s head. He seemed to be the largest man in the place.

He picked up the axe he had leaned against the wall and strode toward the door. Following his lead, other guild members gradually left the tavern.

Angri, who had been standing awkwardly next to Helena and Gelda, also tried to sneak backward to join that procession.

“Wait, don’t you have something to say?”

But he failed because Gelda caught him.

“You started the fire, and I put it out, so you should at least clean up the ashes before leaving.”

Pushed forward by Gelda’s arm, Angri was shoved in front of Helena. He had no choice but to open his mouth hesitantly.

“S-sorry. A guy I quite trusted robbed my safe this morning, so… I thought you might have the same intentions.”

“That’s your business. Bow lower, lower. Put some sincerity into it, plenty of it.”

Gelda pressed down on the back of Angri’s head repeatedly. Only after making him bow like bouncing a ball five or six times did Gelda release him.

He bolted out like a wild boar freed from a hunter’s trap.

Not knowing how to react, Helena just gnawed at her bag strap with her fingernails. Then she suddenly remembered something she had forgotten to mention.

“Ah, I forgot to mention that I have one more companion.”

At that moment, a man entered through the departing guild members. As soon as he saw Helena, he hurried over.

“You startled me.”

Ian embraced Helena once and released her. It was a brief but firm hug.

“I’m glad I found you right away.”

“How did you know I was here?”

“I happened to ask a man coming out of here, and he said you were inside. Luckily, the man who told me was a guild member, so we agreed to go to the guild together.”

To Helena, who looked at him with slightly surprised eyes, Ian rattled off the information he had heard from the man earlier.

“The guild leader is a woman named Gelda. The guild itself isn’t in a dangerous location and the living space isn’t harsh, plus you can enter freely. However, nine out of ten frequently can’t endure it and come back out. Since the guild leader is supposedly fierce and rough like a mad dog, he said to be careful, so we also need to approach more cautiously…”

Helena poked Ian’s side.

“What’s wrong?”

Helena quietly gestured with her eyes. Ian followed her gaze. A tall woman stood there with a displeased expression.

Only then recognizing Gelda, Ian sent Helena a look requesting explanation. However, before Helena could even open her mouth, Gelda snapped.

“The guy who told you that—he had an eyepatch and was ridiculously huge, right? Carrying an axe in his left hand.”

“…That’s right.”

“Damn bastard, so he’s been talking about me like that? No wonder the rumors have been getting worse. I’ll have to grab him by the hair sometime.”

About ‘me’?

At the word clearly referring to herself, Ian made a face of realization.

Helena nodded to indicate that what he was thinking was correct.

Meanwhile, Gelda, who had carefully treasured the gossip in her heart, swept back her fallen hair and faced Ian.

“You must be that companion.”

Her slow but sharp gaze swept Ian from top to bottom.

“Hmm.”

Letting out a meaningless nasal sound, Gelda picked up the liquor bottle Angri had left behind. Shaking the bottle under the orange light, she could see the remaining liquid sloshing.

After roughly gauging the amount, Gelda tilted her neck back and downed it all at once. With a few gulping sounds, the bottle was refreshingly emptied.

“Ahh- Can’t waste expensive liquor.”

She roughly wiped her mouth with her hand, then suddenly swung her wrist to throw the bottle upward.

It was close enough that Ian would be hit if he didn’t dodge, but he lightly tilted his head to move out of its trajectory.

The bottle, which had drawn an ellipse in the air and completed one rotation, settled back into Gelda’s hand.

As soon as the bottle landed in her grip with a ‘thock’ sound, she grinned.

“Nothing more to see.”

Gelda thrust her hand deep into the pocket of her jacket made from Grade 2 magical beast leather. She nodded and walked ahead of the two.

“Follow me. I’ll show you around your new home.”