I Have No Idea How Great an EX-Rank Ability User Is (2)

A warning. Pressure that said, do not come near me.

It wasn't some middle-school-syndrome act, and it wasn't confidence in my own power either.

I needed to buy time—time enough that no one could approach me until I had built my own force to perfection.

On top of that, I had just conquered a second dungeon. The summons and creations I had made from the corner of my room had already cleared two dungeons on strength alone. And they had only been picking the troublesome ones.

I had issued a warning, but the Hunter Association and the villains lurking in the dark would absolutely try to find me. Depending on which side I chose, the balance of power and influence would shift.

Especially the Hunter Association. By now they must have drawn up a long list of EX-rank candidates and started narrowing it down.

The Hunter Association would work in the light; the ones called villains, in the shadows. Anyone who wanted to push their own ideal world forward needed overwhelming power.

Thinking that far made me want to create a proxy as soon as possible. The summon I made next would need more than raw strength—it would have to serve as my agent. Someone who gave off a black-curtain, shadowy vibe. The soul stone that had come out of this latest dungeon conquest would suit that perfectly.

Which meant I needed to scrape together more money and buy better materials. I still had enough funds to get by, but special materials and items ran expensive. Some single items cost as much as a house—or an entire building.

"Ugh… uahahaha! I knew she'd pull something like this."

Right in the middle of those thoughts, news of that woman's failure reached me—the one I couldn't even bring myself to call "sis."

Back when I still held the guild master seat, I had run the numbers. Clearing that dungeon required someone with pain resistance, someone who ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠actually enjoyed pain. Even elites under her command couldn't simply shrug pain off.

Mental agony in particular, and the way a sacrifice who hit their limit would spread that pain outward to everyone around them—once you knew that, the conclusion was obvious.

And yet she had only looked at the dungeons she had conquered so far with money and power, then assembled her raid team accordingly. From what I dug up, the odds of a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠successful clear sat right around one hundred percent failure. She had climbed into the guild master seat of a guild that served as a key stronghold for Cheonwoo Guild—and crashed on her very first attempt.

Worse, she hadn't even been humble before going in. She had sworn they would succeed. Now she would have to eat the full backlash. The chairman would almost certainly drag her in and tear her apart.

What would that woman do next once she swallowed her rage? I didn't even need to look. She would remember that an EX-rank ability user had been at the same dungeon and try to make contact immediately.

The entire world was hunting for an EX-rank right now. If she reached out first and managed to pull even a mildly positive response… she could paper over the failure and spin the whole thing into a win.

I had already left a warning, but her emotions would still drive her to contact me somehow. At first she would clearly just be testing the waters.

And just as I expected, it landed.

On paper alone, it was a magnificent post. Self-aware, reflective, pride set aside. Exactly the attitude a guild master leading a guild ought to have.

But…?

Most of the public reaction was ugly.

She was family by blood, two years older than me, and still technically my sister—but even from where I stood, she was a lost cause. Classic bully-the-weak, bootlick-the-strong type, with a side of total refusal to bend her own stubborn will.

Honestly, if she hadn't been an A-rank hunter, her sitting in a seat like that wouldn't even make sense. She'd have been better off operating alone for image management alone.

Part of me wanted to drop a comment right there. But engaging someone so far beneath my level would only cost me. I pulled my eyes off the hunter board and sank into thought instead—how to raise funds, and what kind of summon could serve as my proxy.

"Master~ I'm back. And I brought this weird woman with me."

"Haaahn… that was the best…♡"

Time had slipped past before I noticed, and both summons had returned home safely. I had meant to welcome them back and ask if either of them was hurt—then I saw the state they were in.

The moment she came through, Iris collapsed onto the floor, gasping for breath. I was about to demand an explanation from Luna.

"I didn't do it! She went and tasted every pain there was, and then she got like this."

"S-so goood~ the pain sinks into every inch of me… hehe…"

"……"

A flustered Luna shook her head hard. Fair enough—that really wasn't her personality.

I stepped closer and looked down at Iris.

"You went and enjoyed every last bit of pain, huh? Any injuries? Anything wrong?"

"Y-yes… yesss… th-there's something I want to ask, though…"

"A request?"

Iris somehow pushed herself up. Her face was flushed like she'd been drinking, her expression pitiful as she looked at me. Her breathing was rough; she barely held back the drool threatening to slip from her lips.

"Um… from now on… would you take me on walks?"

Walks. The word came so far out of left field that I couldn't even process what she meant.

"You know those walking collars… the ones dogs use… I want to wear one of those and go for night walks…♡"

It wasn't a lie. She genuinely, sincerely wanted it.

"Are you sick? Cursed? Do I need to force-feed you holy water?"

"It's not that, Master. That one's real. But if there's a walk, shouldn't I be the one going?"

"……"

A wolf. Canine. Of course Luna was the more natural fit for a walk—wait. What the hell was I even thinking right now?

"Walks or no walks, rest would be better for now. Lunch is soon, so go wash up and take it easy."

"Auhn… I worked so hard, though… please promise you'll take me on a walk…"

I wanted to know exactly what had happened to her. Sure, her nature was to enjoy pain, but this was bordering on a full personality override. What had broken her this badly?

I opened her status window and checked Iris's condition. Surprisingly, everything was normal. Even her Quirks hadn't changed.

Which meant this… was just Iris being Iris.

"A walk… crawling on all fours while Master takes away my freedom… I want that so baaad…♡"

At that sight, Luna sighed and shook her head.

"Taking the pain head-on and beating the curse alone? That was a huge help. Without Iris, we never could have conquered that dungeon."

Luna crossed her arms as she spoke.

"But it was so bad I was embarrassed someone might see… ugh… thank god the fight was intense. Going forward, we need to think carefully about using Iris as a shield or a sacrifice."

Luna's serious advice, plus the Iris currently melting on my floor, made me nod.

"Heeung… that's so meeean… I just did my best… eh…"

"Rest for a bit. We'll talk later."

I reverse-summoned Iris alone. For all that she was a powerful creation, she was still, by ability, my summon. The reverse-summon went through without trouble.

"Heeeh… so meeean… abandonment play… aah…! That might be even better?"

Those were the last weird words Iris got out before she vanished. Asking for a reward was fine, but collaring her and taking her for a walk felt like something neither of us should ever do.

I turned my gaze back to Luna.

"You're not hurt anywhere? Nothing weird?"

"Nope. Perfectly fine! Master. Aside from being hungry, I'm fine. Ah! I have something to say, Master."

She uncrossed her arms, tail swaying—then suddenly her tail shot straight up.

"I conquered the dungeon exactly as ordered. I was about to collect the rewards. Then suddenly the rewards got sucked straight into my body. Look closely, Master."

Luna stretched out her right arm. A cascade of items clattered down in front of her—various pieces of dungeon loot, and nestled among them, a soul stone as well.

"Just like I thought, I can store items! Like there's a space somewhere inside me."

A spatial inventory. Any ability user could use one, though number and weight limits scaled with rank. But a summon using one? I had never heard of that.

Do the summons I create not count as summons at all—do they count as real people?

Maybe only ones with human-mixed forms could do it, or maybe every summon of mine could regardless of shape. I'd test that later.

"That so? Then from now on, conquer ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠dungeons and bring the rewards back just like this. Good work."

I praised Luna, who had almost certainly wiped out every enemy alone. At that, she quietly dropped to one knee in front of me and pushed her head toward me—exactly like a well-trained dog asking her master for head pats. The motion was so natural that I simply reached out and stroked her hair.

"Awooong~ this is Master's praise."

Her tail whipped back and forth so hard I could tell she genuinely loved it.

"Master. You're not actually going to walk Iris, right?"

"Huh? Of course not."

"Then… since I'm a wolf… wouldn't I be able to…?"

"……"

Her expression had been restless for a while now. Had she wanted a walk too?

"Is that your kind of thing?"

"Ah… no! I mean… walks are instinct, so I just asked in case. I absolutely do not want one! Awooong!"

She said that, but her tail drooped limp, which looked an awful lot like disappointment. That dungeon really must have carried a powerful curse. I was starting to seriously consider buying holy water for both of them when—

"Ah! Master. There's something more important."

"What is it?"

Luna suddenly stood up straight and locked eyes with me. Unlike before, her expression had hardened a little.

"Just in case, we came back quietly and carefully—and I confirmed suspicious humans watching this way, plus their gazes."

"Suspicious humans?"

"Yes. Not hostile, exactly, but not a good feeling either."

Hunter Association? A major guild? Villains?

"Of course the two of us returned in secret. I'm certain we weren't spotted! So, Master. Should I go capture the suspicious humans and bring them in?"

I shook my head at Luna's suggestion.

"No. Acting first might just make things messier. You did well too. I'll call you a bit later—want to rest for a while?"

"Awooong… so I'm reverse-summoned too? Did I do something wrong?"

Luna was reading my face. For all her mature bearing, she was a cute little wolf who watched my moods and wore her feelings openly.

"No. I just think I need to be alone for a bit. If things get dangerous, I'll call you—so take care of me then."

"Mm! Woo-woo-woong! Of course Master needs me. Got it. Call me anytime!"

I soothed Luna properly and reverse-summoned her. Alone in the room again, I fretted for a moment over who exactly was watching me.

Don't tell me the chairman is so worried he assigned bodyguards?

He'd talked about cutting me off, but maybe he couldn't throw me away that easily… no. That man had no blood and no tears. There was no way he thought kindly of a talentless son born from another womb.

If it was someone from another faction, then the top priority was creating a proxy as soon as possible and diverting every gaze aimed at me.

I opened my status window and put a message through to the black market—the side that guaranteed secret, discreet trades.

Almost at the same moment—

Knock, knock, knock!

A polite knock sounded at the door.