Chapter 2
Chapter 2
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: Fey Leblanc
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"Hic... Hiccup... Sniff..."
"Are you okay?"
I approached the woman sprawled dramatically on the ground, sobbing her heart out, and asked.
She looks a total mess.
Her robe, which was clearly high-end, was filthy, and with her head buried in her hands as she huddled on the dirt, she might as well have been a mud monster.
"Please... spare me... just once... just ooonce..."
"Sure, I'll spare you just this once. Be good from now on."
"Y-Yes!!! I will!! I wi... Huh?"
After reassuring the trembling, rain-soaked woman, her head finally turned toward me.
"A person?"
She lightly grabbed the hand I offered, then let go.
"A person... for real?"
She stared at my face more closely, and once convinced I was human, grabbed it again.
"Yep, real human here."
"Th-then... that thing just now..."
"That? You mean the talking dog? The one with the black fur?"
-Nod nod.
"It got spooked and ran off."
"...Huh? Spooked...?"
"Yeah."
A woman much bigger than it was crying and carrying on like that—even I'd get embarrassed and leave. With that harmless look, it probably just followed her wanting to play.
But the woman freaked out even more at my words.
"H-how...? It ran away? That 'Black Dog'...?"
"Yeah."
"No way! They say it never lets go of prey once it spots them!"
"Huh?"
It's just a puppy...
Looked like it'd spill food even if you hand-fed it.
What's going on here?
I pondered the gap between what she saw and what I saw, then reached a conclusion.
'Classic newbie traveler.'
It happens sometimes when people try camping abroad for the first time.
They say a startled heart from seeing a rabbit panics at a pot lid.
In reality, it's just a small wild animal or the wind, but all tensed up, they mistake it for a beast.
'And being in the jungle didn't help.'
Dim light heightening tension. Extreme vigilance plus rumors creating an imaginary monster.
"I think you mistook it. It was just a cute little puppy."
"N-no way...!"
Shake shake-
The woman shook her head in denial.
"That was definitely a Tintal, the 'Black Dog'! Purgatory's unwelcome guest! Hellhound from the depths! Number one cause of death for novice explorers!!"
"Nah, you must've seen wrong."
"What do you take me for? I'm a top-tier mage and scholar of magitech..."
"But not a top-tier traveler, right?"
"Huh?"
"That outfit and those shoes look like they'd be a pain to run in. First time traveling?"
The clothes she wore screamed luxury even to me, freshly possessing this body. Long sleeves too—perfect for tripping. She looked like a college girl all dolled up for an Instagram shoot. Total newbie.
"W-well, that's true, but... it was definitely..."
She faltered, my words hitting home.
"Probably a misunderstanding. Plus, if it was what you say, we'd both be dead. But... we're not dead, are we?"
"That's... true... but..."
"So doesn't the mix-up make more logical sense?"
"Ugh... umm... yeah..."
She trailed off, suspicion lingering, but eventually nodded in acceptance.
"W-well, shall we introduce ourselves? Your name..."
Ah, names.
Right.
This body I possessed must have one too.
"Kim Joo-hyuk... no, Thomas..."
I tried to brush it off with a fake name—
"It's on your sword. Can I call you Will?"
"Ah, yep."
Sure enough, 'Will' was engraved on the hilt.
Enchanting every single item. The original owner was one diligent guy.
"...I'm Fey. Fey Leblanc."
"Got it. Since we crossed paths, mind if I tag along?"
"...Sure. I owe you one anyway."
'Score!'
Natural party formed.
Now head to a village for info on this place and figure out next steps.
"Oh, then do you know how to get to a village from here..."
-Flinch!
"Y-yes?! Oh, v-v-village?!"
I just asked casually, but Fey stammered in panic.
'No wonder she seems a bit scared of me.'
What'd I do wrong?
Felt a little hurt.
'...He's definitely suspicious.'
That was Fey Leblanc's conclusion about the man casually strolling behind her.
'No matter how panicked I was, there's no way I'd mistake that dog for something else!'
Tintal, the hazard-class beast. Nicknamed the 'Black Dog'.
Among beasts that could raze a city single-handedly, Tintal reigned supreme in this region.
A demonic hound with a dog's head, born of hellfire and devilry. Even seasoned adventurers pissed themselves at its ferocious aura.
Attack power that shredded experts in a blink. Tenacity that never released marked prey.
That alone was enough.
But its true horror was—
'In this beginner-heavy route, no other monster radiates that menace!'
Unlike deep-dungeon dwellers, it prowled the entrance zones.
Like a demon king spawning on floor 1 to wipe the protagonist.
'And that Tintal got scared and fled?'
The infamous killer that turned Gold-rank adventurers into cold corpses?
If so, how strong was this outwardly ordinary man?
'Plus, hiding his name.'
He'd started to say another name before she pointed it out.
Like borrowing someone else's clothes and identity to conceal his own.
'Good thing is, he's not hostile toward me...'
He was her savior. No intent to harm confirmed.
But that only made her more uneasy.
-Fey, maybe the real danger here isn't the dungeon—it's people. And among them...
Her sister's words: the one you must never make an enemy in this dungeon...
'The one who strolls the dungeon like a walk in the park.'
Simple reason.
In a place where people die like weeds, the calm ones are either insane or freakishly strong.
Like this man humming behind her, full of openings.
'Seems his goal is traveling with me for now, so no need to pry and stir trouble.'
Without knowing his aim, priority was sending him to the village as he suggested.
Thus, Fey guided the enigmatic Will to her party's base camp.
And then,
"..."
"What the—? Miss, you're..."
Fey soon faced it.
Her temporary party members, grinning as they rifled through her bags for valuables.
"What... are you doing right now."
"H-how are you back...?! No, Miss Fey, this is..."
Their faces paled like they'd seen a ghost.
-Crunch.
Seeing that, Fey understood everything.
"You...! You tricked me... into that Black Dog's territory...!"
Finally, the pieces fell into place in her mind.
"You knew each other's hometowns right from the first meeting, went scouting together but subtly ditched with a stomachache excuse!"
And most of all,
"You gave me this pendant as a 'hometown talisman'...!"
All part of their filthy scheme.
Feed her to the dog, steal her loot.
"N-no! Miss Fey! Wait, it's not what you think...!"
"Shut up! How dare you, against the Magic Tower's top elite...!"
Ignoring their pleas, Fey drew her wand from her waist and aimed at her ex-party.
-Crack!
"Gah!!"
The party member's jaw snapped back like an uppercut.
"Shock! Shock!"
Fey's merciless spells flew.
"Aaaagh!"
"Please! Sorry! We were wrong!"
Her chanting didn't stop despite their apologies.
"W-we did steal! Sorry about that for real! But the Black Dog was a total accident!"
The eldest-looking one started explaining.
"Liar! Then why did it show up at that exact timing?!"
"That was... bad luck, right?! That dog slaughters explorers in newbie zones all the time!"
"Well!"
Fey searched for a retort but came up empty.
Their words weren't entirely wrong.
"And you! You came back alive! Was it even the Black Dog to begin with?!"
Her survival lent credence to their claim.
"An artifact that summons the Black Dog? How would small-time thieves like us get that?!"
"We're really sorry for the theft! But we swear the dog wasn't us!!"
The men begged desperately, rolling on the ground.
"Ugh..."
After nearly dying to that dog, she'd love to burn them all.
But from an outsider's view without the full story—
"Uh, not that I have any right to say, but maybe ease up?"
The man watching from afar seemed more sensible.
"Breaking thieves' hands is standard, but killing them for real is a bit much."
"...Yeah."
Chill—
His words cooled her rage-boiling head.
'A... warning?'
Right, she'd forgotten.
This man was hiding his identity.
He wouldn't want this commotion.
"Let's get your stuff back first. These pickpockets—beating them gets your valuables back easier anyway."
Sensible reaction. Looked like ending it without losses on either side.
'But that's camouflage.'
His real aim: prevent escalation exposing himself.
"...Fine. We'll do that."
A guy who scared off a Tintal—no desire to make an enemy.
"Alright, let's check your gear. I'll help."
"...Okay."
Moments later, he confirmed her restored bags.
"Nothing missing?"
Nod—
"Then let's go. No point dragging this out—it'll just sour the mood."
"...If I catch you next time, you're dead. Got it?"
Still fuming, Fey shot a final warning at the men.
"Yes! Truly sorry!!"
"We'll live honestly from now on!"
She glared at the awkwardly apologizing ex-party, then followed waiting Will toward the jungle exit.
'Sigh, how'd my first expedition tangle me with these monsters.'
Bandits, Black Dog, mystery man.
'Just wanna roll around in my cozy bed...'
Fey already missed her warm home bed.
Moments later, Fey's ex-party dusted themselves off and grumbled one by one.
"Fuck. Failed. What is this? Got scammed?"
The leader-looking one snarled, hurling the pendant.
The silver pendant, spiked like sunrays, stabbed into the dirt.
"No, we paid big to a corpse-grubber for it! Supposed to draw Tintal's attention and kill the prey..."
"Then why'd that bitch come back?! And who's the guy with her?!"
"How should I know!"
Their bickering echoed through the jungle.
"Damn, thought we'd scored a naive city girl. Shouldn't trust sketchy artifacts."
"No, last hunt it totally..."
Then,
The bald party member picking up the pendant went wide-eyed.
"What? Why'd you stop talking?"
The leader asked, but the bald one just stared, eyes bulging.
Jingle jangle.
The spiky pendant dangled from his hand like sunlight.
"Ha."
Suddenly, the bald man laughed.
"Hee hee."
He raised the pendant.
-Slash!
And slashed his throat viciously.
-Spurt!
Blood sprayed wildly from the deep gash.
"Ugh!"
"W-what?! Crazy?!"
The leader and others recoiled in horror.
'No way.'
Ominous premonition flooded his mind.
'No, it can't be.'
Grass rustled without wind.
Something approached from behind.
'Impossible. No way it'd come now.'
A comrade looking back vanished from view.
'No no no no no no no.'
-Splash.
Hot liquid poured down his back.
-Roll roll.
His comrade's head tumbled forward.
A dumb, unaware expression in death.
The severed neck's mouth opened. Tongue wagged, uttering one syllable.
"Dog."
The leader realized then.
Why his comrade smiled slashing his throat.
He'd fled terror faster than anyone.
Darkness fell.
The blackest darkness.