Mutual Benefit and Coexistence
“The magic circle summoning is almost complete.”
At Olpia’s notice, the group from Tamer Territory began readying themselves to depart.
Because two Minocentaurs also had to be taken along, the magic circle was fairly large.
“Byeonbangbaek! Please, let me go with you as well! This one will follow you back to Tamer Territory, I say.”
Just then, Shrakhim ran up and grabbed Ho-yeong.
“What? You’ve finally come back to the hometown you were pining for all this time, and now what? I told you to stay here for a while.”
Ho-yeong had granted the dispatched guards two weeks of leave.
The excuse was that they would need the labor to repair the fortress walls the Minocentaurs had broken down, so he had given them time off.
“We are truly grateful that you thought of us, but we cannot simply receive so much help and pretend we know nothing of it!”
Seeing that Shrakhim had genuinely changed his mind, Ho-yeong inwardly admired him.
Huh. He really has reformed. Maybe it’s because I saved him from the brink of death? Even without using the active skill Edification, his conversion level has gone up quite a bit. The passive skill Influence alone is already having a fair effect. Maybe it’s because we fought together and spent such a long time side by side?
That said, the Tamer Territory guards were still looking at him with clear suspicion.
“Hmph. ‘We cannot simply receive so much help and pretend we know nothing of it’? Listen to yourself, Mister Shrakhim. Speak properly. If you’d only received help, that would already be enough, but after making a nuisance of yourself to our lord, you’re going to act all loyal now? Aren’t you being a little too shameless?”
Captain Kins openly spat to the side.
“Captain, that man, for all appearances, is still an Associate Knight. If you leave off the honorific, you may well be inviting trouble. Please go a little easy on him, Sir Shrakhim.”
Yak put it even more bluntly, if roundaboutly.
“You two. I understand how you feel, but let’s stop there. Like it or not, he’s a comrade who fought alongside us.”
Ho-yeong stepped up and cut them off.
It wasn’t that he especially liked Shrakhim, of course. Insulting a son in front of his mother and uncle hardly seemed proper, either.
This isn’t Tamer Territory. We’re uninvited guests in the middle of someone else’s land. The people here may be grateful to us, but we still need to mind our words and actions when we’re away from home.
Whatever had happened so far, it was not desirable for the goodwill built with the Kihara Territory to go down.
So let’s get our revenge later, when that bastard comes back to Tamer Territory.
He also did not forget to calm the soldiers’ frustrations.
“I-I’m sorry. This one, too, is reflecting on his past mistakes. So I shall work even harder and atone for my sins, I say!”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. You don’t need to atone for your sins right now, just wash up first. Ugh. You stink.”
Ho-yeong turned as if to leave, then asked the one thing he had been dying to know.
“Let me ask you one thing, Sir Shrakhim. You really are twenty, right?”
“That is so. Why do you ask?”
“Nothing. Hang in there. You’ll probably be able to get married before long.”
The face and build looked like they belonged to a man at least thirty, no matter how generously one looked at it.
I can’t quite believe it, but if he’s really twenty, then I guess... he is still in the prime of his youth. That does explain some of the nonsense he pulled around here.
Still, once he knew the man was much younger than himself, he felt more at ease dealing with him.
“In any case, make sure you eat on time. No, looking at that belly, I suppose I don’t need to worry about that. At least get some exercise, you punk. That protruding gut nearly got you killed by the Hogriffon. Especially work on your lower body, all right? Swordsmanship comes from leg strength, you know. Anyway, since you’ve got leave, rest up properly before you go.”
“...Are you telling me to train, or to rest? Still, I shall take your words to heart, I say.”
After what was, in its own way, a warm farewell, Ho-yeong stepped into the magic circle.
“Byeonbangbaek, we’ll be able to see each other again next time, won’t we?”
“Ah, yes. If the opportunity arises. Then please handle the spatial transfer, madam.”
He was sweating to avoid Olpia’s subtle, lingering gaze when—
“Hold it a moment! A reply has come from the royal palace.”
Baron Kihara ran up, clutching the communication parchment.
“Huh? They want us to send one of the dispatched guards as a messenger...?”
After a brief moment of thought, Ho-yeong called for Shrakhim.
“You said you wanted to come with us, right? Perfect timing. We’ll just have to wait a little longer until the baron writes up his report.”
“Pardon?”
“You can play the role of messenger for us, that’s what I mean.”
* * *
- Hogoong!
- Minooo!
The Minocentaurs and Hogriffons met face-to-face.
“All right, all of you, calm down.”
Thanks to Ho-yeong’s mediation, the monsters did not charge at one another, but the atmosphere was distinctly uneasy.
“Byeonbangbaek, I have no intention of objecting now that I’ve seen edification of monsters with my own eyes, but shouldn’t they still go through a purification ritual?”
“Purification? What sort of purification?”
Jea offered her opinion.
“Monsters, especially those that dwell in dungeons, are covered in harmful insects. If you do not intend to edify those vermin as well, then they should be purified properly.”
“Ah, if it’s that sort of thing, I’ll leave it to the priests for now, so later... wait. Insects?”
Something flashed in Ho-yeong’s mind at her words.
“Hogriffons. Of all of you, anyone who likes eating bugs, raise a hand. Ah, right, you don’t have hands. Then raise your wings! Ugh, there really are a lot of you.”
Almost every one of them raised a wing. Hogriffons, regardless of whether they were herbivorous or carnivorous, treated insect-eating as a delicacy.
“I can’t have all of you... you there with the hooked beak, and you with the unusually long claws. Step forward. I’ll give you a snack.”
He selected two of them and placed them beside the Minocentaurs.
“All right, from this moment on, eat the various insects swarming in the Minocentaurs’ fur. Begin.”
- Minoook?! Minocent! (What are you saying? We can’t let those pig-pigeon bastards touch our bodies!)
“Minocent, huh? For a second I thought that meant ‘Mino can’t.’ Calm down, Mino.”
Still, Mino and Eollugi made their refusal clear.
- Hokkku?! Hokkuriiik! (What? Pig-pigeons?! These hybrid monster bastards!)
It seemed monsters had their own slurs for one another, because the Hogriffons began bristling in anger as well.
“Easy. Stop. No bad language from either side.”
Ho-yeong first talked the Minocentaurs down.
“You’re all itching like crazy, right? But can you catch those bugs yourselves? Can you reach your own rear end?”
- Minoho.... (Can’t catch them...)
- Minooom.... (Can’t scratch it...)
The Minocentaurs drooped miserably. Their body structure made it difficult to reach the lower half of their bodies with their hands. Their arms weren’t exactly short, but the horse portion of their bodies was so long that it was a problem.
It would be nice if they could at least scrape themselves clean with a satisfying racket, but they had no claws, so it was impossible.
“They get to enjoy a special insect feast, and you get to relieve the itching. That’s mutually beneficial, isn’t it? Trust me on this.”
- Minoho. (Understood.)
“Hogriffons, their horsehide isn’t as thick or tough as yours, so peck gently, okay?”
- Hog hog. (Understood.)
As if resigned, the Minocentaurs closed their eyes, and the Hogriffons approached to peck them carefully.
Especially on the mane along their backs and the hair on their tails, enormous bugs were writhing in swarms.
“Ugh. What are those, wasps the size of a thumb...?”
“Those aren’t insects anymore; they’re monster-level creatures.”
The humans watching this recoiled and looked away in horror.
- Minooomm? Minohk Minohk. (Oh my, look at this? I feel alive again.)
By contrast, the Minocentaurs were thoroughly refreshed, savoring the relief.
- Minohok, Mino Mino! (Hey, eagle friend, peck a little harder here.)
The ones who had first found the arrangement distasteful now looked as though they could not live without the Hogriffons’ beaks.
- Hokri? Hoog hog. Hoguuri? (You called me eagle friend? Fine, this pig has a bit of manners after all. Where’s the itching, then?)
- Minohooook. (A little higher up there.)
- Hoog hog. (Then I’ll just scratch the whole thing for you. Say so if it hurts.)
The Hogriffon beside Mino even switched from using its beak to scraping him down with its eagle claws.
“Hey, careful, careful. You’ll draw blood.”
Knowing how sharp the Hogriffons’ talons were, Ho-yeong worried, but it proved unnecessary. The monsters showed a surprising delicacy in adjusting the force of their claws.
- Minoooom. (Ahh, that’s refreshing. Thanks for the hard work.)
- Hokk-kwik. (Kgh, good meal.)
- Minohoo? (But do you have any trouble yourselves?)
- Hogrhuuri. (Our lower backs ache.)
- Minoho. (Then lie down here.)
The Minocentaurs began massaging the Hogriffons’ backs and waists.
Many Hogriffons suffered from arthritis because their boar-half bodies were so heavy. It helped somewhat if they stepped on each other’s backs with their boar hooves, but that was hardly an easy motion to perform.
- Hog, hoguu?! (W-what is this feeling, exactly?!)
For that reason, a massage powered by the full force of a Minocentaur was like the touch of heaven.
The Hogriffons swayed their stout waists and reveled in bliss.
- Minooom? (Feels good?)
- Hoguu... hog. (Press there a little harder.)
The Hogriffons watching nearby soon rushed over as well, saying they wanted a massage too.
It was the moment they began accepting each other, once regarded as enemies, as comrades instead.
“No way, the monsters who were fighting to the death in Baron Kihara’s territory a little while ago are getting along like that? That’s truly amazing, you know.”
“The Hogriffons we have in our territory are probably a good deal less vicious than the ones that died in Kihara Territory. Even so, the methods our lord uses are truly mysterious.”
The soldiers watching could hardly hide their astonishment.
“Our lord is truly remarkable. He doesn’t see all monsters the way ordinary people do, as things that simply must be killed. He shows that coexistence is possible through affection and care.”
Meyril clasped her hands, deeply moved.
Skill levels increased!
The level of passive skill Communion has risen significantly from 4 to 6.
The level of active skill Edification has risen significantly from 7 to 9.
The level of passive skill Influence has risen from 14 to 15.
Select one additional effect to learn from Influence.
📍 Location: [Place]
🎁 Reward: [Reward]
Ho-yeong fell into thought.
In other words, it’s asking me to choose between general utility and a monster-management specialization.
Both branches seemed extremely useful.
Influence Gospel.
This should be useful in battle and exploration. If monsters can recruit other monsters on their own without me lifting a finger, that’s basically automatic hunting.
This time, Influence Leadership.
This would help with territory management. Even when I’m not around, the monsters wouldn’t end up fighting each other, and I’d have a manager I could trust with work and training. For now, while I’m away for a while, this seems perfect.
The choice was not an easy one.
“If you’re having trouble choosing, shall I give you a seven-day grace period?”
Daliha had sensed his dilemma and was offering him some extra time.
“Oh, that’d be great. But is there any way to learn both skill trees? They’re both good, and you’re telling me I have to pick only one? That’s harsh.”
It was a throwaway line, a joke he had not particularly expected an answer to.
“There is.”
“Seriously?”
Surprised, Ho-yeong listened as Daliha delivered some tempting information.
“A proposal has just arrived from the system. If Guardian accepts and completes the next quest, the reward will include both skill trees. In addition, if you choose one as your main tree, its power, leveling speed, growth coefficient, and other values will increase significantly.”
Not only would it remove the dilemma of having to learn only one, but it also came loaded with bonuses.
“Oh, what is it? What’s the quest?”
“The condition is to achieve at least one of the following seven High-tier Monster achievements within the next seven days.
(1) Potion Magician
(2) Mana the Gathering
(3) The Princess Who Does Not Laugh
...
At the moment, I can only tell you the achievement names. If you want detailed information such as the completion conditions, you will need to spend 10 RP per achievement.”
“What happens if I accept this and fail?”
Ho-yeong’s philosophy was that any tempting offer always had a trap hidden in it.
And as expected, the reward the system proposed had a condition buried inside it.
“In that case, you will not be able to learn either of the two skill trees.”