Chapter 181: Preparing for the Spider Hunt
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 181: Preparing for the Spider Hunt
After Jang Ye Ri left the East to attend a meeting of the great city leaders, the Brother's Land grew a little more lively. It was only natural for the settlement to regain its energy with the chieftains returning after a long absence, but the continuously rising birth rate was also a source of great joy for me as a chieftain and an observer.
Today alone, two Green Skin mothers had already given birth successfully, and many more were awaiting their turn.
The young Green Skins, seeing even younger ones begin to appear, quickly filled the settlement with their bustling energy. Among them, Nicole and Kim Yoora were particularly interested in the newborns. If Nicole and the rescued humans and Green Skins were the first generation, then these recently born children were the second.
Though it was much sooner than I expected, it seemed Mev’s due date was also approaching. Perhaps fairies had a shorter gestation period than other Green Skins.
A noisy clamor made me turn my head, and sure enough, the young Green Skins were gathered around, looking at a newborn baby.
“A baby Green Skin was born!”
It was Nicole’s voice. She and the other young ones were clustered together, endlessly fascinated by the baby. Kim Yoora was there as well. In my eyes, they were both still just kids, but it seemed they already thought of themselves as being close to adults.
“So tiny. Its arms and legs are really this small!”
“A strong baby. I want to play with it soon.”
They’d be able to run around together in just a year, so it wouldn’t be too bad. As I walked over to the chattering group, the children immediately swarmed me.
“Fow Bwood Dagger!”
“For Blood Dagger!”
Seeing that some of the kids could now pronounce it correctly, I couldn't help but feel how quickly time was passing.
I hugged the other children one by one, then lifted Nicole into my arms and stroked her head. She beamed with a happy grin, and her face momentarily overlapped with Najin’s in my mind. I stroked her head again, and she shouted even more cheerfully.
“Fow Bwood Dagger!”
Naturally, Kim Yoora shot me a peculiar look at the sight. Favoritism wasn’t good, so I patted the heads of the other human children, including Kim Yoora. She, however, ducked her head low, seemingly embarrassed.
“Th-thank you.”
Kim Yoora was certainly a bit more mature than the other kids. It was an unfamiliar sight. The mother goblin who had just given birth held her child with a joyful expression, and only after commending her for her hard work was I able to leave.
As I continued walking, a few of the kids who had been focused on the baby began to follow me. I must have looked like the Pied Piper, but it wasn’t a bad feeling.
My destination was the new construction site, where Orc laborers and human slave blacksmiths were being managed and supervised by Lee Wanyong.
When I appeared, a figure who had jumped in surprise came into view, bowing deeply.
“Wh-what brings you all the way out here…”
“How is the work progressing?”
“W-we are proceeding as quickly as possible. Building the school is no problem, but we’re a little short on time to create the books… We are discussing methods with the human alchemists.”
It was a school where young Green Skins would learn history, combat theory, and even strategy, tactics, and architecture. In the end, I had accepted Lee Wanyong’s proposal. I felt that the first step had to be a good one, as the ultimate plan was for this culture to take root not just here in our Brother's Land, but eventually throughout the entire East, and then all Green Skins.
“It’s fine if it takes a little longer, so I want it to be made as well as possible. This is a place for the children.”
“Ah, yes, of course. I-I will make sure it is completed by the time your child is born and able to walk.”
That wasn’t why I was building the school, but it seemed to be Lee Wanyong’s own brand of flattery. The thought of Mev and my child attending this place certainly wasn’t a bad one. I nodded at him. I felt this was the perfect distance to maintain with the man, so I didn’t praise his efforts or pat his shoulder in encouragement, but he seemed satisfied enough.
He was probably thinking it was a miracle he was still alive. But regardless of his character, the man still needed to live for now.
What was important was that he was constantly searching for a path forward in his own way. In truth, it was something to be emulated. It was the chieftain’s duty to present the path the clan and tribe should take. We were not stagnant and were constantly developing, but it was difficult to determine what that development was for.
Goff’s path was to become the Great Tribe Leader, to create the greatest tribe. Black Spear, too, was surely running his clan with his own vision.
In my case, I had the personal goal of revenge, but I felt I was slightly lacking a clear direction in which to lead the clan.
I thought about it, but no answer came. At times like this, the right thing to do was to solve the closest problem first.
‘The Spider.’
Naturally, my next target was them, and specifically, Park Hyeri. A good deal of time had passed, but of course, I could never forget.
‘For Blood Dagg—!’
The goblin assassin, Kurajin, his head severed.
‘The price for disobeying the Chieftain’s command is dea—th…!’
Gaon, who died with a sword in his neck while carrying me.
‘I am a father who has lost his honor. A father who disobeyed his Chieftain. Kkik. Kkik! Tell him… I’m… sorry…’
Najin, who fell while shouting for Blood Dagger until his last breath.
I remembered it all vividly. They weren’t the only Green Skins who had died in battle, but with them, I owed a debt that could only be paid with a life.
After looking around the entire settlement, I started walking back to my tent. On the way, I saw Ragia and Gark approaching.
Ragia hesitated, looking at me as if she had something to say. I spoke to her first.
“Do you have something to report?”
“It is nothing, my lord.”
It was a short exchange, but I felt like she was avoiding me. Gark was the same. It was because I had been unknowingly emitting killing intent. Thinking about Park Hyeri must have made me a little hot-headed.
I entered the tent and began to read through the documents Jang Ye Ri had given me. Of course, I already knew a fair amount about the Spider Clan.
Much about them was shrouded in mystery, but there were definitely famous members known as Named Monsters. While some, like Park Hyeri, didn’t reveal themselves, there were also some rather wild ones.
First, there was a man I knew of named Go Woongjin.
He became famous for tearing apart quite a few well-known summoners in the North. His main weapon was a blunt instrument, like Park Han Cheol’s, and the trouble he caused in the North was the catalyst that made the Queen of the North start hunting them down.
The North back then was in an era of warring states, but now that it was already being unified by the Queen of the North, Han So-Hye, I figured the events of the past wouldn’t happen again.
Another one who had earned quite a bit of infamy was Lee Hyunhak.
If Go Woongjin was a homicidal maniac, this one was more of a quiet psychopath. While Go Woongjin committed various crimes like murder and rape, always leaving traces behind out of a desire to show he had been there, Lee Hyunhak was an extremely quiet man.
True to his nickname, the Mad Perverted Psycho, he mainly enjoyed dissection and had been bold enough to set up a base inside a western city, which was how he got caught. If I remembered correctly, the Sword Saint had dealt with him.
I still hadn't grasped any details about the Spider Clan's master or other members, but I could roughly guess that the Clan Master possessed power comparable to a city's ruler.
The information was insufficient.
I didn’t know the exact number of members in the Spider Clan, what level of skilled fighters they had, or what kind of activities they were engaged in. However, the Spiders were both individuals and a group. They only used the clan structure for convenience and mostly acted alone, so I felt I didn’t need to worry too much about their numbers.
For now, the target was one person: Park Hyeri.
As I slowly read the documents from Jang Ye Ri, various pieces of information I had requested, besides the map, caught my eye. The clan had ten members in total. It seemed this was difficult information to obtain even with Jang Ye Ri’s intelligence network, as there were quite a few missing parts.
[ The estimated number of Spider Clan members is around 10. However, this cannot be confirmed. The Clan Master’s abilities and location are unknown. The Master is known to have appeared about 15 years ago. There is no camaraderie. They would have scattered long ago without the Clan Master. ]
[ Park Hyeri - An assassin who uses sound as a weapon, primarily active in the East. She appeared in the West a few years ago, but the reason is presumed to be a simple whim. Female, 25 years old. A member for 9 years. Three years after being summoned, she killed all her own clan members and joined the Spider Clan. Usually quiet, but is said to reveal herself from time to time. Believed to be the cause of the incident in the Forest Earthworm Tunnels and the annihilation of the Rough Wind Clan in the Eastern Swamp. Overwhelmingly commits crimes targeting groups rather than individuals. ]
Much of it was information I already knew. Although my intelligence was lacking compared to Jang Ye Ri’s, I had gathered some on my own.
To summarize, she was someone who was usually quiet but would occasionally go on a killing spree as if she’d lost her mind. I didn’t know if she had some kind of mental illness, but that wasn’t important to me.
I slowly recalled my memories of Park Hyeri.
‘So there are monsters, too…’
‘Oh? You can speak our language? Is that why you were here? No… is it a little different…’
Given the context, what she had been talking about was most likely affection. Things like love and friendship. Park Hyeri was clearly obsessed with such things. Targeting our clan in the first place was a coincidence. The reason she killed humans like rats was likely not for the visual or physical pleasure of the result, but for the process.
She was undoubtedly obsessed with human emotions—the reactions when people die for each other, or when they watch helplessly as a comrade dies. The reason she reacted to the way I acted after losing my goblins was because I had shown affection. The reason she dealt with the goblins who threw themselves in my way first, rather than me, was also for that same reason.
The original Spider Clan, including Go Woongjin and Lee Hyunhak, was a gathering of lunatics, but this woman was also completely insane and twisted.
If someone asked me about my chances of winning, it would be a bit ambiguous, but I was confident I could win. Even assuming she had grown stronger since last time, I felt it was a fight with a real possibility of victory. I had climbed that high.