211. Master and Disciple Journey (4)
211. Master and Disciple Journey (4)
Having become convinced that Jin Yu-ha didn't recoil from her, Baek Seol-hee no longer had any reason to hesitate.
And when Jin Yu-ha, who had only been watching until that moment, joined the dungeon clearing as well,
WHOOOOSH—
WHOOOOSH—
the speed at which they tore through the dungeon accelerated.
Slice—
Slice-slice-slice—!
"Kreeeeyaaaaaak──!!!"
THUD!
All eight legs of the giant spider monster were severed.
Sticky venom poured from its abdomen, dissolving the floor.
Huff─
Huff─
Drenched in sweat, Jin Yu-ha gasped roughly.
In contrast, Baek Seol-hee still hadn't shed a single drop of sweat.
With this, they had already conquered six dungeons.
This performance far exceeded the daily quota Jin Yu-ha had initially anticipated,
thinking four dungeons a day would be the limit.
"Hooo... Master! Shall we stop here for today? At this pace, I think we can finish everything by tomorrow!"
Jin Yu-ha said, wiping the beads of sweat from his forehead.
And Baek Seol-hee quietly observed her disciple's appearance.
'To think Jeju Island was this dangerous...'
She hadn't realized it until she came here with her disciple.
The dungeons they had cleared together today were all hidden in remote corners, places people rarely found.
Moreover, two of them were dungeons whose very existence had been unknown.
On top of that, they were filled with extremely dangerous creatures, and it was clear that if any of them had broken open, it would have been a catastrophe.
'...If even one of these had exploded, Jeju Island would have been turned into a wasteland that day.'
It was as if a curse had been placed by a god;
a malevolent intent to destroy Jeju Island could almost be glimpsed.
However, how Jin Yu-ha had known Jeju Island was dangerous and came here,
and how he had found dungeons no one else knew about,
Baek Seol-hee was not curious.
That was because she still remembered the first plea her disciple had ever made to her.
The time was probably early on, right after he enrolled.
She remembered it was not long after she had taken Jin Yu-ha as her disciple.
─ Then, Instructor. Can you trust me just this once, no matter what I say? And can you not ask me the reason why?
At that time, Jin Yu-ha had made that plea,
and also informed her that Ryu Jin-ju of the Hunter Management Bureau planned to demote the current head and take that position herself.
And thanks to that, they were able to prevent corruption within the Hunter Management Bureau.
Of course, the disciple had attached the condition of "just once,"
but by then, Baek Seol-hee had already made up her mind.
If it was her disciple's words, she would simply not doubt them and trust them implicitly.
He was a child who lived with heavy burdens piled on his small shoulders anyway.
If that was the case, shouldn't there be at least one person who trusted him no matter what he said?
'That is the simplest thing a lacking master like me can do for a disciple who's too good for me.'
*
After clearing the dungeons like that, they emerged outside the gate
to find that it had already become a deep, dark night.
Once outside the gate, Baek Seol-hee pressed her earpiece firmly and whispered in a quiet voice.
─ Demonized Human Extermination Squad. Respond.
Crackle.
─ Huh...? The hotline, suddenly? Is that you, Squad Leader? I thought you were on vacation starting today...
─ Right, I'm on vacation, but you're not.
─ Well, we've been training hard in our own way...
─ Enough. Those dungeons you wanted to go to. Bali and the Maldives.
─ Huh? What? Did a Demonized Human show up there or something?
─ From now on, form teams and clear out every last dungeon in Bali and the Maldives. If you leave even one, you won't like what happens.
─ What? Dungeon clearing!? There aren't even any Demonized Humans there! We're not Hunters who make money selling monsters! Why, when there wasn't even a request! And I said I wanted to go with a guy, not some gloomy girls—
Click.
Blathering could be heard from the other end of the earpiece,
but having said what she wanted to say, Baek Seol-hee casually hung up.
'Hmm, Jin Yu-ha had initially debated whether to go to Bali and the Maldives as well. The situation there was probably similar to here.'
Baek Seol-hee nodded indifferently.
"Mm. They wanted to go to those gates so badly, so they probably won't complain much."
Of course, there was plenty of complaining.
In response to the sudden overseas dungeon clearing order, the Extermination Squad members were showering her with curses and resentment.
─ Baek Seol-hee, you bastaaard!
* * *
The gate we dealt with last was located on an uninhabited island near Jeju Island.
'Hmm, it's too remote a place to find lodgings...'
Crossing the sea on a pitch-black night without even a light was extremely dangerous.
If we ran into a sea monster in the middle of the night like this, we'd be in trouble.
'It's probably best to camp here tonight and leave in the morning.'
"Master. I'm sorry, but would it be all right to camp here tonight?"
"Sure."
Master nodded as if it didn't matter to her.
'Then first, let's get a fire going and set up the tent.'
I took out a fire steel and various camping supplies from my Subspace Tattoo.
"Then, I'll..."
"Ah-ah, Master, please just stay seated."
As I started preparing the camp next to her,
Master tried to help with something, but I pressed her shoulders down and stopped her.
After all, if a master and disciple are camping together, the disciple should be the one doing the work, shouldn't he?
Of course, I know it's strange for a man to do that sort of thing alone in this world, but
the Confucian dragon I harbored before I transmigrated wouldn't allow it.
Because I already had camping gear in my Subspace Tattoo that solved everything with the push of a button, setting up camp was finished quickly.
And next, something indispensable for camping.
That is, cooking!
Actually, I'd promised a long time ago to treat Master to a meal I cooked myself,
but I hadn't really had the opportunity until now.
In other words, this was the first dish I would be presenting to Master!
Fwoosh—
I heated the wok over the fire flickering its crimson tongue, lost in thought.
'Hmm, what should I make?'
I glanced over at Master.
She was sitting hugging her knees, staring at me.
'She must be tired.'
She didn't say it, but she was probably quite exhausted.
Of course, there was no way she wouldn't be tired after smashing through six gates by herself.
I did assist her,
but honestly, I was too busy just trying to keep up with Master once she went into full-serious mode.
'Ah, now that I think about it, I have that, don't I?'
Dressed chicken, eel, and abalone, all frozen.
'I should make her a haeshintang with all sorts of ingredients good for stamina. Hmm, and should I put this in too...? Vitamins are essential for recovery, after all. Yeah, let's do it!'
Swish—slash!
Once I started cooking like that,
the dish came together in no time.
Unlike usual, when I'm always overflowing with an experimental spirit whenever I cook, this time I didn't try many experiments.
Well, that's because there's so much outcry whenever I so much as pick up a pan...
Chicken, eel, and abalone.
Ingredients kept fresh in my Subspace Tattoo.
And a broth made with crushed tomatoes, rich in vitamins.
I called it Jin Yu-ha's Special Tomato Haeshintang!
It might be a little... unfamiliar to have tomatoes in a haeshintang, but
'I mean, there's such a thing as tomato soup anyway!'
It was a stamina-recovery dish where the tomatoes enveloped all the ingredients, resulting in an explosion of savory flavor.
"Thank you for the meal."
I ladled a generous bowl of the finished tomato haeshintang and offered it to her.
Master started eating without much change in expression.
I watched her eat intently.
Then.
Master glanced up at me.
"Mm, it's delicious..."
And as if to prove those words weren't just lip service, she scraped the bowl clean.
It was a first.
Someone finishing a dish I had cooked entirely.
"Then let's get some sleep. We have plans tomorrow, so it would be best to rest."
"Ah, okay."
Since this camping wasn't part of the original plan, we'd only brought one tent.
Accordingly, Master said she would sleep outside, but
'Haah!'
Once again, the Confucian dragon roared inside me.
"Absolutely not! What kind of disciple lets his master sleep outside!"
"...I usually sleep outside. When you're on Extermination Squad duty..."
"No! This isn't an Extermination Squad outing today. I absolutely can't allow it!"
"But..."
"Then, let's sleep together!"
"...What?"
"Anyway, this tent is big enough for two people to lie down and sleep!"
As I spoke firmly,
Master's mouth fell open as if she were at a loss for words.
I pushed Master, who kept stubbornly insisting on sleeping outside, into the tent.
Still, she didn't seem to be trying to go back out, so I was relieved.
Flump.
Once I found my spot and lay down first, Master kept trying to move to a corner.
"Lie down here comfortably. If you keep doing that, it makes me uncomfortable."
I said, patting the spot next to me.
"...All right."
Wriggle wriggle─
Master's body, wrapped in a sleeping bag, wriggled its way over with a blank expression.
'She's showing a lot of new sides today.'
In the end, Master lay down right next to me, her back turned to me.
That was when we were about to try to sleep.
"Disciple. Are you asleep?"
Suddenly, Master called out to me.
"Huh? Did you call me?"
I turned my head to answer.
"...Actually, I lied to you a moment ago."
Master spoke with difficulty, as if hesitating.
"A lie?"
"Yes. Saying the food was delicious was a lie."
"......!"
It was a shock as if lightning had struck my head.
I knew I shouldn't feel this way, but honestly, I felt a deep sense of betrayal.
"However, I don't want to lie to you after all."
Master, still lying with her back turned, murmured in a low voice.
"The truth is, I can't perceive 'taste' itself."
"...What?"
"I'm sure the dish you made was delicious. But I can't feel that taste."
What did she mean by that?
As I stared at her back like that,
Baek Seol-hee turned her body to meet my eyes and opened her mouth.
"Are you curious?"
"...Yes, I'm curious."
"Mm, it's not a particularly fun story... but I'll tell you a bit about my past."
And so, Baek Seol-hee began to unravel a story about herself that she had never told anyone before.