No matter how faintly I made my sensory waves, if she’s staring at me like that right behind me, there’s no way I can’t know what state she’s in.
White skin that’s barely dry and slightly damp hair. And her blushing face along with that indifferent expression as she gazes at me.
‘What is she thinking? If she told me not to turn around and is just standing there…’
Could it be that she wants me to look back?
‘I don’t know! I seriously don’t know!’
Honestly, I think I’d feel more at ease fighting against a thousand orcs.
I do have the urge to turn my head and surprise her, but I held back, worried that scaring her might affect our dungeon exploration negatively.
“Tch…”
Yeon-hee shot me a glare as if she were dissatisfied before disappearing into the room.
‘Hmm… Next time, I should just grab her and throw her into the room.’
This is the only time I’m giving her a pass.
“L-Let’s go—”
After a few dozen minutes, she came out dressed differently, but for some reason, she couldn’t look me in the eye.
‘She acted so boldly earlier… what am I supposed to do with this tease?’
Her embarrassment while still reaching out to me made it clear she really likes holding hands.
Squeeze—
“······.”
I wonder when her bright red cheeks will return to normal.
Personally, I think this is perfectly fine as it is. Her slightly embarrassed expression really makes her look attractive.
“I’m taking a taxi.”
Nod—
We got into a taxi heading towards the orc dungeon.
In the back seat, she kept fidgeting with my hand, and the taxi driver kept tilting his head as he watched Yeon-hee play with her hands in mid-air like a mime.
Thirty minutes later, we arrived at the dungeon, where Baek Ah-rin and Bae Joo-ah were already waiting. We went over the main points of the dungeon we discussed at the café yesterday while waiting for Ham Eun-young.
“This sister is great, but she has no concept of time.”
“Well, why didn’t you just bring her yourself?”
“No, she insists she can handle things alone. She says that every time, and yet the results are always like this. Ugh…”
But this level of flaw was within the acceptable range when balanced against Ham Eun-young’s abilities.
A dungeon primarily populated by orcs. That makes one wonder if she might be less useful.
However, Ham Eun-young’s song does more than just dispel status ailments. The secondary effect I like the most is that it soothes overstrained mental senses.
This ability is a great help not just for Bae Joo-ah, who consumes a lot of mental energy, but also for the other party members since humans’ mental stamina tends to deplete pretty quickly.
Although it’s not a skill that strongly affects me, being undead, she was a comrade who we needed to steer through.
– Oh wow… is that the skeleton soldier that has become a sorcerer?
– It’s Lee Yeon-hee! Wow— she’s really pretty.
– Even next to Baek Ah-rin, she stands out.
– She’s not going to suddenly throw a bomb or anything, right?
‘……’
Me and Yeon-hee, having pulled back her hood, drew the attention of dozens of waiting hunters at the gate.
– Just look at her expression, wow… she used to be a skeleton soldier? No way. It’s probably some other monster summoned from summoning magic.
– If she’s holding a saw in that state, it’d be like Friday the 13th. How can they even go into the dungeon with that?
– Shh! They’re looking our way…
‘Wow, they won’t stop talking.’
To avoid being put under the spotlight any longer, I turned my gaze toward the gate.
As I stood there gazing at the lightly shimmering gate, I had this weird feeling like a red-haired elf was going to pop out and summon an orc legion.
Luckily, that didn’t happen, but just looking at the gate made that memory resurface, and my shoulders flinched.
‘Orcs…’
We already experienced the orcs’ might firsthand.
They are born hunters.
Their innate senses are way beyond those of humans, their physical abilities are on another level, and they possess the tenacity to persistently track their prey.
Of course, that’s not all they have.
The most troublesome aspect?
It’s their sheer numbers.
The endless waves of troops are a brilliant strategy in and of themselves.
I don’t know if they breed like rabbits or what, but in battles with orc legions, hunters have never once held the upper hand in terms of numbers.
‘I guess it’s better to abandon the thought that only close combat types will come out.’
There are mutants like magic-based or command-types, and those guys have shown themselves to be stronger than their equivalent orcs.
However, aside from the occasional mutant that appears, orcs generally belong to the close combat warrior category.
Tens of thousands of those warrior-class orcs live in this dungeon, each forming their own clan. The thought of them charging at us in a swarm is something we never want to experience again.
But since we’d already gone through some unexpected events, we divided our work ahead of time.
“If a mutant is discovered, Il-wol will face it.”
“… Sometimes I can take care of it too, you know?”
“A-rin, this is something we all agreed on. You should be grateful to Yeon-hee who said she would take on the risk—”
“Alright, I get it already!”
“Don’t be cranky about it—”
Baek Ah-rin seemed a bit disgruntled that she wouldn’t be able to take the lead when an unexpected strong opponent showed up. No, she seemed to be embarrassed by it.
Was it because she got overshadowed by a low-grade monster like me? Hmm, that’s definitely a possibility. Anyway, she’s an elite who graduated from the academy and directly joined Ilseom Guild.
When she caught my sight, she glanced down and pouted. Normally, you’d expect someone to hide their feelings, but she’s quite candid, and I like that about her.
A-rin kicked at the ground with the tips of her shoes for no reason.
‘It won’t do for a party member to be losing their spirit.’
A type like Baek Ah-rin needs to be in high spirits to deliver her best.
From the day we met, it seemed like she was gradually calming down, but it looks like that wasn’t entirely a positive sign.
I needed to find a way to boost her spirits. What should I do?
‘Hmm… will this work?’
I asked Ran who was perched on my shoulder to deliver a message. Yeon-hee seemed to think for a moment after receiving my message and then conveyed it to A-rin.
“Il-wol wants to learn swordsmanship.”
“Really? Me?”
“Yes… from A-rin.”
“W-Why? Isn’t Il-wol stronger than me?”
‘Well, I wouldn’t know about that.’
We’ve never properly battled, so I can’t figure out why she thinks she’s stronger.
Especially when her ‘Lightning Step’ activates, it far surpasses my stats, so there’s really no need for her to concede in such a manner.
If she made good use of that ability alone, she could come up with countless ways to suppress me, but her lack of experience shines through in situations like this.
And seeing that side of her, it was clear she felt intimidated while being with me.
Even though my abilities are restricted due to being a skeleton in this party, I wanted to approach and fix the things I could see.
Brought back from my thoughts, I had Ran convey a few messages back and forth between A-rin and me.
“Well, the swordsmanship of Ilseom Guild is sophisticated. It’s definitely developed a system after years within the current family.”
Eventually, during the breaks in the dungeon, A-rin decided to teach me swordsmanship. She didn’t seem to hesitate and made her decision quickly. I expected her to think a bit longer, so it was a pleasant surprise.
It wouldn’t go as far as to be master and disciple, just some posture correction and light sparring, but still, such an opportunity for learning was rare, so I humbly bowed my head and showed my respect.
“… I feel just like a teacher! I’m really not that great at teaching, so I don’t know how helpful I’ll be. But I’ll try my best with what I know!”
“Clap, Clap, Clap!”
The dissatisfaction she’d shown earlier faded away, and she broke into a beaming smile that reached her ears after she became my swordsmanship teacher.
‘What a relief. She’s simple enough to appreciate this.’
No matter what I do, it’ll appear like her student is achieving something, so she should be able to ease her burdens compared to before.
“To have a skeleton student in my party… now that’s a conversation starter.”
“Puhuhuh! Really?”
“… That’s not a compliment, you know.”
“Regardless, it just means I’m amazing!”
“… You can think whatever you want.”
Bae Joo-ah subtly asked A-rin if she was really okay with this. A-rin responded with “What’s wrong with that?” and Joo-ah seemed to let it slide.
Maybe she was concerned about A-rin teaching the swordsmanship of Ilseom Guild to others, but A-rin seemed completely unconcerned.
“I said it’s okay!”
Seeing the two always bickering made me think of the Helen and Jin-kyeong duo.
I thought it’d be hard to find party members like Helen and Jin-kyeong, but I could feel these two steadily reaching that position.
“Oh, there she is! Sister! Over here!”
Ham Eun-young slowly walked around people before finally spotting us and hurriedly made her way over.
When she arrived in front of us, she was drenched in cold sweat.
Could it be that she got this way on her way here from home?
If that’s the case, then she seriously needs to consider seeking treatment before resuming her social life…
“I-I’m sorry…”
“You’re seven minutes late. Let’s try to avoid being late in the future, okay?”
“Uh-huh…”
Bae Joo-ah scolded Ham Eun-young in a composed voice. Ham Eun-young should realize how grateful she is that she’s a few years older than Bae Joo-ah.
Since there was no reason to delay any longer, we registered at the management office before immediately entering the dungeon.
As we entered the dungeon and headed toward the boss, we got to hear something unexpected from Bae Joo-ah.
“Noh Ha-yoon asked if she could join for just one day.”
“Noh Ha-yoon? Ice Mage Noh Ha-yoon? Is she coming?”
“Why does she want to know?”
Bae Joo-ah shrugged, looking as if she didn’t know herself.
“By the way, when did you start talking to her?”
“Noh Ha-yoon told me to drop honorifics a while back. I was just being respectful when I was flattering her.”
‘Considering I might return, wouldn’t it be better to keep using honorifics?’
“Anyway, think it over. She said she wouldn’t accept any loot distribution. Of course, she did say she’d take any decent runes, but still, we’d pretty much get a chance to use a top-notch mage for free.”
“······ For no payment? Why? Didn’t you ask her why?”
“Of course I did. But… she gave a really weird answer.”
“What kind of answer?”
Yeon-hee seemed tense as she continued to question, and Bae Joo-ah replied plainly.
“She said she wanted to go on an adventure with her old comrades who survived together, and did she need a reason for that? Something like that?”
“······ What does that mean?”
“What a weird thing to say? Is this a coming-of-age drama or something?”
“Ah, I know what you mean. Noh Ha-yoon must have something up her sleeve. Ugh! What on earth could it be? Does anyone know?”
However, both Baek Ah-rin and Ham Eun-young, who had no connection with Noh Ha-yoon, as well as Yeon-hee looked lost in thought as if they were puzzled by it.
“Hmm, anyway, it’s key that she’s offering to work for free. So…”
‘Are we going there right now?’
“How about we challenge Nargul’s dungeon directly? But just the first floor! Not the second floor.”
“Wow—I agree!!”
“Um… I’ll think about it a bit more.”
Yeon-hee delayed her reply, and Bae Joo-ah confirmed that it was fine to take her time. Noh Ha-yoon hadn’t specified a particular day when she’s available either, after all.
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