#39 Uprooting
#39 Uprooting
"......!"
As soon as I stepped out of the dungeon, Baekrok sprang to his feet as if he'd been waiting an eternity. He asked if I was all right, and I nodded.
"I'm fine. But."
I shared what I had confirmed inside. First, that the boss, the Volcanic Horned Dragon, pursued intruders, so it was best not to enter. Next, that the surface-dwelling monsters had been nearly wiped out. And finally, that the monsters living beneath the lava were unlikely to leave the dungeon, so there was no great cause for concern.
"......."
Baekrok fell strangely silent. Perhaps he was mulling over the information. When Perry fluttered down and settled beside me, I checked—her weight had already surpassed 600 grams.
'She seems to grow as much as she eats.'
She wasn't getting fat—she was putting on roughly 100 grams almost every day. I didn't know how long this growth spurt would last, but the next time we met, she might shock the fairy.
"Kyuuuut~!"
As I stroked her for a while, the System message about the Level 20 achievement condition surfaced in my mind.
'It said to root out the hidden turncoats.'
By turncoats, it undoubtedly meant the Prodigal Sons.
'And by hidden.'
The Prodigal Sons were all hidden in the first place. Specifying the word "hidden" likely referred to turncoats who had infiltrated the various clans.
'The condition fits.'
With the Neverland raid not far off, it would be a serious problem if they started running amok. An enemy within was more frightening than an enemy outside. It was something that wouldn't have happened under the original plot, but now that the future had warped, nothing could be taken for granted.
'The problem is how to find them.'
The Prodigal Sons I knew for certain had already been dealt with: Gu Sang-seop, Gu Ma-jun, even Lee Baek-seom. Even so, I wasn't without ideas.
"Kyu?"
When I looked at her, she tilted her head as if to ask what was up.
'Perry might be able to find them.'
If only she could sense something, the way she found the flesh chunks when we cleared the west coast island. Of course, that didn't apply to the Prodigal Sons themselves. Those bastards who turned their backs on humanity wouldn't be carrying an aura Perry could pick up on.
'Baekrok called them unfinished products of incidental results. And he said they contained Malice.'
The Fairy Dragon, he'd said, tracked down and consumed exactly that Malice. Whatever else, she should be able to find the unfinished products, even if not the Prodigal Sons themselves.
'If that works.'
I could track the bastards and extract information. The unfinished products would become a clue leading me to the network of enemies strung together like a spider's web. As long as I found them first, dealing with them was a non-issue.
'Now it's time to return to the Reality Realm.'
By the time I'd organized my thoughts, Baekrok had composed himself as well.
"...You'll be heading back, I assume?"
"Yes."
There was no reason to stay now that my objective was complete. Abruptly, Baekrok looked up at the sea and let out an emotional breath. Then, slowly, he bowed his head.
"I am truly grateful."
"......?"
"Come back to the Illusion Realm. Any time, come back."
His tone was calm, but I'd watched Baekrok long enough to read the emotion behind it. His words—come back—I could tell they were sincere.
"......."
It was a bit overwhelming. To me, Baekrok was a mentor, a teacher who had taught me so much. It wasn't just the training. When I still couldn't trust anyone after my reincarnation and everything that came with it, Baekrok was the one who told me to try believing in someone else. Without him, I might never have been able to stay with Perry. I might have worn myself down and given up long ago.
At the end of that deep train of thought, I let out a long breath of my own.
'—To the Reality Realm for now.'
As the World shifted around me, I faintly caught Baekrok's final words.
"If you ever wish it, I will come to your aid."
***
"......."
There were urgent matters to handle before I could dwell on Baekrok's farewell. Returning to the Reality Realm with Perry, I confirmed once more that my Stealth was holding steady.
'Namsan.'
The dungeon in the Illusion Realm had been situated in Namsan, and this was somewhere nearby. Perry, having noticed the presence of people, flew a little away from me and soared high into the air.
'Go-won is out of the question, for now.'
Even in the novel's content, there was no mention of a traitor in the Go-won Clan. Or maybe the protagonist simply hadn't known... In any case, I had no desire to go anywhere near Go-won.
'Because Gwanghwi is there.'
The fortunate thing was that Go-won's location was described in relative detail within the novel. I seem to recall it being on a mountain somewhere in Dobong-gu.
'As long as I don't go there, it's fine.'
As long as Gwanghwi was present, even setting foot in Dobong-gu was a serious risk. Even with the C-rank Stealth that had fooled the Volcanic Horned Dragon, I had no illusions about deceiving Gwanghwi.
'In the worst case, I have Perry anyway.'
Since we could retreat to the Illusion Realm, it wouldn't be a fatal issue, but I didn't want to stir up trouble for nothing. I decided to move while excluding Dobong-gu for now and instructed Perry to let me know if she sensed an aura like last time.
"Kyuuuut!"
Watching her nod her head as if to say "leave it to me" made me feel a little strange.
'She seems to understand my words perfectly.'
On the flip side, it was frustrating not being able to understand her speech. I searched to see if there was a skill like a Phantom Beast Language, but nothing came up.
'There's no Fairy Language skill, to begin with.'
It was a skill the Queen had gifted me, but it didn't exist in the System's list of acquirable skills. Perhaps it was a skill whose proficiency couldn't be raised any further.
'Baekrok seemed to converse with Perry just fine...'
I'd ask about it next time I visited the Illusion Realm. For the moment, I needed to patrol Seoul.
***
[With the opening of Neverland imminent...]
[The clans announced to be participating in the raid are...]
The news on the TV was entirely fixated on Neverland. With Muno's funeral concluded, the Neverland raid was once again right around the corner.
"It's already over? There are still two weeks left..."
Two weeks—that was the projected window for Neverland to open. Dawn, having already secured the necessary supplies, had completed every preparation so they could participate even if Neverland opened right that moment.
"That's exactly why we did it. You remember, right? That you're going too."
"I know, but..."
As Lee Eun-ha trailed off, sounding unsure, Hong Yuri didn't hesitate to land a flick straight to her forehead.
"You cheeky—."
Lee Eun-ha reflexively defended with magical power, but Hong Yuri displayed the uncanny skill of infusing her flick with exactly enough magic to cancel it out. The result was Lee Eun-ha slumping down and clutching her forehead.
"What's a hunter doing getting scared?"
"But... I'm D-class, aren't I."
"Who said you're fighting? You're just the detection shuttle, I told you."
A detection shuttle—they meant Lee Eun-ha's C-rank Mana Detection. Even without a skill, one could use mana to detect things, but doing it through mana alone had its shortcomings. Both in performance and mana consumption. Efficiency in every aspect was different with a proper skill.
"...I know that, but."
It was the greatest Malicious dungeon, un-cleared for 15 years. To make matters worse, this time the raid was widely expected to fail. Lee Eun-ha's anxiety wasn't unreasonable.
"Don't be a chicken, you moron. That's settled, so let's get coffee—no, wait."
The supply preparations had only just finished. Hadn't they been cooped up in the clan building for days because of it? Stepping out for a change of mood didn't seem like a bad idea.
"Shit."
They had been buried in a corner for so long that the sunlight was actually blinding. Hong Yuri checked her haggard face on her phone and let out a long sigh.
"...Coffee, my ass."
***
'To think I'd find one this easily...'
I had expected there might be lackeys within Seoul, but an idiot who'd stashed an unfinished product in the very heart of the city? I hadn't even let myself hope for something like this.
'I didn't actually expect anything.'
It was uncharacteristic behavior for the Prodigal Sons. Why would they do this? Mulling it over reminded me of something I'd overheard in passing before.
[Five. To be used in Seongdong-gu and Dobong-gu respectively.]
The Witch's Calamity. The Prodigal Sons had thrown all of Seoul into chaos to disrupt the Academy. And as it happened, we were in Seongdong-gu. It was hard to believe this was all a coincidence.
'Because I killed those bastards?'
If I had killed the ones originally meant to use it... If that left them unable to use an unfinished product they'd prepared in advance... The theory fit: a belated order came down to retrieve the item.
'...I can't be sure about the details, but it's a lucky break.'
After waiting for two full days, I finally sensed someone entering the abandoned building.
'It's not certain yet.'
It could be a building manager who just happened to stop by. I waited to be sure, but when I watched them climb all the way up here and brighten at the sight of the unfinished product, there was little room for doubt.
'.......'
The one disappointment was using Insight to check and confirming the bastard was nothing more than a low-level grunt. If he were somebody important, his stats would be around B-class at least.
'......?'
I was about to pounce immediately when a good idea suddenly struck me. Was there any real need to do that?
'I can deal with this guy anytime.'
Even tail-end members aren't a threat to me anymore, let alone a mere grunt. If he collected the package, he'd certainly take some kind of action. Maybe he would carry it to their base, or maybe hand it off to another Prodigal Son. Either way, tailing him...
'Is the right move.'
How much could a grunt possibly know, anyway? More efficient in every way to tail this one. In the worst case, a guy who was just a low-level operative might know absolutely nothing about his organization's infiltration operations.
"......."
He tucked the unfinished product into his coat and slipped out of the building without ever spotting me. I'd prepared to quietly dispose of him if he headed toward Dobong-gu where Go-won was based, but instead, he ducked below ground at Geumho Station.
'This is a bit hard to enter.'
With the subway, there might be staff monitoring the CCTV. My Stealth could deceive human eyes but not a camera lens. Worried it might cause a pointless disturbance, I hung back and kept some distance. A presence—like a door being opened. Soon enough, the man emerged from a different exit, clutching a cell phone in one hand.
'It doesn't matter, I've memorized the scent of the unfinished product.'
It's not just the sense of smell, there's Detection too. If anyone moves around with the unfinished product, I can track them immediately. That item was important to their organization, so I wouldn't have to wait very long.
'Let's deal with that first.'
The idiot had probably stashed the unfinished product in a locker. I shadowed him for a short while until he slipped into an alley and finished his call.
[...Yes. It's done.]
I confirmed it was a Blind Spot invisible to bystanders, then I descended upon him.
'I figured he'd be a dead end, but to actually be a dead end...'
I quickly returned to Geumho Station and huddled on the rooftop of a nearby building. All I had to show for it was the man's phone and the number he'd just called. For now... I needed to wait a little longer.