This place has a higher frequency of monster appearances than others, but it was too open, making it unsuitable for facing the Big Boar.
After an hour of searching for a decent hunting ground that wasn’t too open or too cluttered with obstacles…
“Should I just use some bait? I can’t seem to find anything after looking.”
I had eagerly searched for the Big Boar, but since they weren’t as numerous as goblins, encountering one wasn’t easy.
When you become a hunter, you tend to think you’ll just be fighting non-stop, but in reality, the time spent battling in dungeons isn’t that long most of the time.
“Let’s just take down some goblins.”
In the end, you often have to compromise based on the current situation.
Climbing upstream along the creek we passed earlier, we finally came across a group of goblins. There were only six of them, but I didn’t jump in right away to observe the kobold’s abilities.
The kobold swung its stone hammer wildly at the ones approaching Yeon-hee, blocking them effectively.
‘Swinging like that won’t hit anything, but hey, it’s not bad.’
Yeon-hee seemed much more relaxed, which was satisfactory enough since it was valuable just by reducing the angles of attack.
We easily took down the goblins and reached near the exit, following the sounds of an argument coming from somewhere.
Swoosh, swoosh—
There were four members of the ‘Blue-eyed’ group and three hunters I had never seen before, engaged in a heated exchange.
“You crazy bastards, how many times do I have to tell you not to set up a sacrificial altar in the dungeon?”
“Just go about your business. We haven’t harmed you, so why are you trying to interfere with us?”
“Have you ever thought about how your antics disrupt others? Selfish bastards. Isn’t it forbidden by the management office? Stop that nonsense.”
“How dare you malign and ban our sacred ritual? Those in league with the government will also face judgment one day.”
“Ugh—let’s just go, brother. It’s just tiring talking to crazy people. If we report them on the way out, they won’t be able to enter for a while.”
“······.”
Ultimately, the three hunters spat a few times and retreated, while the ‘Blue-eyed’ members resumed their ritual as if nothing had happened.
The sight of them praying with halves of a Big Boar and goblin’s heads on a square altar wouldn’t seem normal to anyone.
(Ugh—what are those people doing?)
Yeon-hee whispered, perhaps feeling nauseous, covered her mouth with her hand, and soon started to gag. After watching the ceremony for a moment, we slowly began to pull back.
(Il-wol, let’s go—)
Nod—
But then, out of nowhere, the kobold that had been sitting behind suddenly dashed forward and swung its stone hammer at the back of one man’s head who was seated and praying.
Whoosh—!!
‘What the!! What just happened?!’
Yeon-hee was startled too, but hurriedly gave a return command to the kobold. However, for some reason, the kobold didn’t come back immediately and kept swinging the hammer.
Eventually, Yeon-hee dismissed the kobold, and unexpectedly, the ‘Blue-eyed’ cultists, having been attacked by a monster, shouted at us.
“What the hell are you doing!!”
“Who are these guys? Were they with that bastard we just saw?!”
‘What just happened? This is a mess, that kobold!’
“I-I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to do that; my summoned creature just suddenly jumped out…”
Yeon-hee explained the situation as it was, but naturally, the ‘Blue-eyed’ cultists didn’t seem to believe us and showed their hostility.
The humiliation we felt from the other hunters earlier likely made them unable to hold back their malice. After all, there was only one of us.
‘Four of them… There are too many variables to settle this…’
Moreover, those cloaks had special abilities, making it hard to take the initiative.
‘The magic cloak. It has the ability to draw shadows and attack nearby enemies.’
All members of the ‘Blue-eyed’ group wore equipment almost comparable to artifacts. How they could manage that was something I never figured out before I died.
And at this point, I felt it was just me and Jo Gi-man who understood the function of that cloak. If the hunters from earlier knew about it, they wouldn’t have engaged in a verbal spat.
Having such merits allowed weaker ones to gather people easily.
– Hoo… Be careful, those guys from earlier might be around.
The one who seemed to be the leader calmed the other three, pouring a potion over the head of the one who had been hit while trying to avoid the attack.
Ugh—grrr—those damn bastards…
The one who had been suddenly attacked trembled with rage, but was kept in check by the leader’s restraint, glaring at us with just his eyes.
‘Even if he’s a ‘higher-up’, he’s still F-rank. They’ve got their system down. Like a military unit.’
“I’ll apologize once more… I’m still not accustomed to handling my summoned creatures…”
“A summoner… I’ve heard discussions. It’s a class that just recently emerged in this ‘world,’ right?”
The way he notably emphasized certain words felt unsettling, but I didn’t know why. Yeon-hee simply nodded silently at his statement.
In response, the man lightly nodded and said, “I’ve heard you’ve already signed a contract with the White Knight Guild. Any claims for compensation, including medical fees, will be directed there. Well, we actually have some matters to attend to, so we hope to part ways here. How does that sound?”
Yeon-hee was surprised to hear about claiming compensation from the White Knight Guild but quickly replied she was fine with it, turning without delay towards the exit.
Fortunately, it ended without conflict, but Yeon-hee’s expression was quite grim. It probably made sense for her to feel depressed since she just added more debt to the White Knight Guild.
‘I never saw such rituals when I was active… They have them during this time? What on earth are they doing it for?’
I didn’t know the reason, but since Jo Gi-man and those guys were adversaries, they’d likely step on each other themselves, but I was becoming curious again.
“Il-wol, see you later.”
Seeing Yeon-hee, who spoke weakly as we reached the exit, made me feel uneasy.
‘After all that trouble getting artifacts, it doesn’t feel satisfying at the end.’
Once inside the Dark Space, I lay down before the massive door, lost in thought. Honestly, the ‘Blue-eyed’ group wasn’t something I needed to deal with immediately. Preparing for tomorrow would be far more beneficial.
‘Ran’s capabilities were really good. But even with the artifact, it’s still limited to a few minutes of operation. Even considering it’s a mid-level summoned creature, the magic consumption for maintenance is a bit too much.’
On the other hand, the kobold had surprisingly many useful points, but it messed everything up in the end.
‘Why did it do that? Aren’t the summoner’s commands absolute?’
I couldn’t even refuse her commands besides just entering this space; how could the kobold defy her orders?
I recalled the moment the kobold dashed out. The image of its ugly eye, possibly twisted into a glare, came to mind.
‘Its eyes… were completely lost to reason, huh? It looked incredibly angry…’
If the kobold was indeed angry, what triggered it? The ‘Blue-eyed’ cultists who brutally slaughtered monsters? Not even its kin… Or maybe there was something about the ritual that irked it?
‘It was indeed the climax of the ritual…’
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t pinpoint a specific reason. Regardless, what we need to decide is whether to keep using the kobold or not.
‘It’s a little funny to say I’ll only use it when there are no humans around, but for now, I need to use it that way.’
After all, I planned to run through the Big Boar dungeon a few more times until Yeon-hee reached her early twenties in levels before heading to the next dungeon.
‘Next time, I hope to steal the Big Boar’s traits too. It might not even have traits, so I shouldn’t stress too much about that…’
Suddenly—!
At that moment, the door opened, and I was engulfed, transported to Yeon-hee’s studio apartment.
“Meow?”
“…?”
“Why do you have such a serious expression?”
There wouldn’t be an expression on a face made of bones, but it seemed I had started to read even the emotions of summoned creatures accurately.
“You know—”
Once I stepped out, I sat next to Yeon-hee and quietly listened to her chatter. It seemed the ‘Blue-eyed’ cultists had immediately requested compensation from the White Knight Guild, and the guild agreed to pay the compensation in a lump sum.
“We have to pay all this debt, sob sob—”
She feigned crying, and those sounds pricked at my heart, making one side of me ache.
“Still, we obtained an artifact today! Heheh—this is just so beautiful, I can’t help but stare at it.”
She twirled around in place, proudly showing off her beautiful appearance while wearing the necklace.
‘So beautiful…
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.
