209. Master and Disciple Journey (2)
209. Master and Disciple Journey (2)
With a drone camera floating above their heads, Jin Yu-ha and Baek Seol-hee made their way to the Velvet Hunter Academy Request Office.
"Disciple, what sort of request do you intend to accept?"
Jin Yu-ha scanned the holographic window in front of him and rubbed his chin, a thoughtful look on his face.
"Hmm, I'm wrestling with that. I think it would be better to do a dungeon conquest posted by the Hunter Management Bureau rather than a request."
"I see."
Baek Seol-hee nodded in agreement.
Requests certainly varied wildly in the time they took depending on the type.
But a dungeon permanently listed by the Hunter Management Bureau could be conquered within a short time.
'Using the pretext of a request to deepen the bond between master and disciple... The girl came up with a decent plan.'
Last time, thanks to the deal with Shin Se-hee, she had gotten quite a decent opportunity.
'There is no ulterior motive. All of this is for my own growth.'
If her disciple's affection rose by another 1%, she too could become 1% stronger.
To Baek Seol-hee, 1% was not a mere 1%—it was a significant power she must never let slip.
And since she even had such a valid justification, there was nothing holding her back.
"This is one of the few times you can be apart from your party members, so it would be wise to select carefully. This time is for master and disciple."
However, she made sure to emphasize this point clearly.
If she did not make it clear from the start that no other party members could intrude on this request, the same thing as last time might happen.
The Demonized Human kidnapping incident.
She had not forgotten that time when she had clearly summoned one disciple, yet Im Ga-eul and Sofia had come trailing dutifully along behind Jin Yu-ha.
"Huh? Ah, of course. This request is just you and me, Master. Only the two of us."
Jin Yu-ha replied as if stating the obvious.
'Hmm, was it a needless worry...'
Master and disciple.
No one else could intrude.
'Just the two of us.'
Those words from Jin Yu-ha's mouth carried a considerable weight.
And so, just as beneath her rigid expression she was feeling a soft resonance that ill-suited her—
"Hmm, I've pulled up a shortlist of things we could do. Would you mind taking a look?"
Jin Yu-ha selected a few requests and showed them to Baek Seol-hee.
And the moment she checked the list, her expression instantly hardened.
'These are mostly places too dangerous for his current skill level.'
Of course, since she would be accompanying him, they could somehow resolve it, but...
Baek Seol-hee knew that this matter was meant to be a plan for Jin Yu-ha's rest.
He was a fool of a disciple who only ever sprinted desperately toward his destination.
Even Baek Seol-hee, who never missed her harsh daily training and never neglected her assigned duties,
even she thought Jin Yu-ha's current schedule was packed far too tightly.
'Hmm, should I follow my disciple's will here? Or should I stop him?'
For Baek Seol-hee, who was a master for the first time, everything was too difficult.
Then, among the list, she spotted gates that were both unfamiliar and yet familiar at the same time.
Maldives Gate.
Bali Gate.
Jeju Island Gate.
'These are the places I heard about last time...'
*
At dawn the other day.
The moment Baek Seol-hee received Shin Se-hee's plan, she summoned the members of the Demonized Human Extermination Squad at the ass-crack of dawn.
"Is there a good hunting ground to go to with a disciple of a different gender?"
When Baek Seol-hee had suddenly called them at such an early hour,
the squad members had rushed out in full gear, thinking some emergency had broken out. They couldn't hide their dumbfounded expressions at her words.
"...Excuse me?"
"It seems I will be departing with my disciple soon. If there is a place where the bond between master and student can be deepened, speak up."
There wasn't a single person here who didn't know that the disciple she spoke of referred to Jin Yu-ha, the youngest candidate of the Demonized Human Extermination Squad.
For starters, Baek Seol-hee's love for her disciple was exceptional.
And Jin Yu-ha was a refreshing, clear ion drink among the utterly somber and dreary squad members!
There was an entire truckload of people desperately waiting for him to graduate from the academy and join the squad.
But still. Even so.
Was that a good enough reason to summon them at the ass-crack of dawn just to ask one question?
'And meanwhile, you've never once looked after the rest of us, slaving away at the bottom!'
Honestly, resentment rose to the tips of their tongues, but no one here had the guts to voice it aloud.
They just racked their brains desperately.
They had learned from experience that if you said the right thing at a time like this, you got hit a little less during the training sessions that followed.
"What about the Maldives Gate!?"
"I've heard the Bali Gate is also good!"
"Hmm, domestically the Jeju Island Gate... I hear it's lovely."
The hunting grounds the squad members recommended were dungeons they'd fantasized about going to someday, if they ever got boyfriends.
Places that were dangerous, with beautiful scenery.
Places where you could impress a man by coolly rescuing him from danger, appealing to them as a woman of force and charisma.
"Bali. I've never been, but they say the atmosphere is to die for! Especially the ocean and the sunset scenery...!"
"Seriously, you rescue them from a truly dangerous spot, and then under that sunset, the guy clings to you and says, 'Noona, thank you.' I would literally lose my mind."
"Mm-hmm, originally, when you rescue someone from danger, they get so moved they marry you."
"But haven't we rescued quite a lot so far? Why haven't we gotten married?"
"......"
And so, once the topic of men started, perhaps all sleep fled them.
They began to unpack all sorts of delusions.
Since they all spent every single day wrestling with Demonized Humans, they had no experience with men.
The sad part was that none of them realized how weird it was to go on a date with the opposite sex at a hunting ground in the first place.
And the same was true for Baek Seol-hee.
'Hmm, these brats. Considering their pathetic skills, they certainly are exceptional at things like this.'
*
'Bali, Maldives, Jeju Island... Right, these were all the places the squad mentioned.'
"How about one of these three?"
"Oh!"
Baek Seol-hee had never paid any particular attention to these three locations, so she didn't know how dangerous they were or what monsters appeared.
She had simply chosen them based on the comments about their good atmosphere.
But Jin Yu-ha's reaction was dramatic.
"As expected, you think so too, Master!? I was agonizing over these exact three the most!"
"Mm."
Thinking she had chosen the right answer, Baek Seol-hee smiled faintly, a hint of satisfaction coloring her expression.
"Hmmm... If I had to choose one out of these three, then of course... it's gotta be Jeju Island. This place gives you the best efficiency within three days."
'My disciple has domestic tastes.'
Baek Seol-hee didn't really understand the efficiency criteria Jin Yu-ha was talking about,
but she mentally noted it down first and then nodded.
"Yes, I think the same."
"Then let's go right away, Master!"
* * *
The first gate we headed to was an A-Rank Gate on Jeju Island.
《Land of Blue Wolf》
This was a dungeon inhabited by bipedal, muscular wolves.
Located on the outskirts with a low Magic Stone drop rate, there was nothing much to gain here.
Nothing but a pain in the ass, which was why people rarely bothered with it.
'That's why the Dungeon Break that will happen later causes quite a lot of damage.'
This place was similar to Camela Forest, which we had conquered in the early stages.
Eventually, an Elite Monster called the 'Blue Wolf King' would appear.
That bastard would rally the monsters packed inside and then burst out of the dungeon.
Of course, it gets put down right away by the Velvet Hunter Academy hunters dispatched.
But by then, it will have already left some pretty deep scars on the people living on Jeju Island.
'So I'd always thought I should conquer it someday, but our party's level isn't high enough for it yet, so I'd been putting it off.'
Of course, even if you exterminate the monsters, you can't prevent an Elite Monster from being born later on.
But if you reduce the number of monsters inside just once, that thing's threat level would plummet.
Then the hunters stationed on Jeju Island alone would be able to handle it.
"...I'm sorry, Master, but starting now, could you please approach the conquest with genuine seriousness?"
I spoke to my master in front of the gate.
I knew it was an impudent thing to dare say to her.
But from here on out, speed is also essential, you see.
Because after this, we have to thoroughly clean out four more Gates, right down to their Unknown Routes.
Time is tighter than expected.
"Hoh, you mean you want to finish quickly and have some spare time...?"
Baek Seol-hee, who had been murmuring something to herself, readily nodded.
"Very well, understood. It is true that this is a good opportunity for you to clearly ascertain just what level your master is at."
'I finally get to see my master's true, serious power...!'
I still had never seen my master get serious.
Of course, it had definitely gotten better compared to the early days, when she would face me with a wooden stick without even drawing her sword.
But I was still far from capable of drawing out my master's full strength.
Moreover, her usual battlefield was in the shadows.
Subduing Demonized Humans behind the scenes was her primary duty, so witnessing her skills firsthand was inevitably a far-off prospect.
At her consent, I forcibly calmed my pounding heart and swallowed hard.
Shing—
My master drew the jet-black sword she always wore at her hip.
And then.
Whirrrr—
A small dagger spun in her other hand before being caught in a reverse grip.
'...A dagger?'
I was slightly flustered by the unfamiliar weapon.
"Disciple."
"...Yes?"
"If you intend to match my pace from this point onward, you will have to give it your absolute all."
"My absolute all...?"
Step.
Step.
"Hmm, you see, once I focus, I tend not to see my surroundings very well."
Baek Seol-hee's eyes sank low as she walked toward the gate.