I Told You to Behave
"We're screwed."
One of the three failures who hadn't passed the dragon's trial, Geomju thought to himself.
This situation was well and truly screwed.
Geomju had failed to pass the trial for months on end, and the reason was simple.
It's way too hard.
Running three thousand laps around the nest was, to him, pure insanity. Even in real life he hated jogging a single lap around a track — how was he supposed to run three thousand with the constant risk of getting his skull caved in?
Sure, his body here overflowed with strength in a way his real one never had, but running was still something he preferred to avoid. He'd tried smashing the golem instead, and that had failed too. In the end, all Geomju could do was quietly practice the mana cultivation method he'd snuck a look at.
"Damn it."
He could have given up and gone elsewhere, but dragon quests were vanishingly rare. Lea had already declared she wouldn't take any more disciples, and if he let this chance slip, he might never get another dragon-related hidden quest again. Hidden content was precious enough as it was.
So he muddled through his training, half-heartedly, until the thought of quitting started to take root — and that was when the offer came.
Give me the info and I'll pay you. Hell, I'll even throw in a weapon I looted. How about it?
The man making the proposal was Heurisk — Rank 7, a top-tier ranker who'd recently challenged Nya-nya and gotten thoroughly wrecked. Tell him the nest's layout, and he'd hand over gold coins worth millions plus a weapon. Geomju accepted without a second's hesitation. He had no real shot at passing anyway, so he might as well make some money.
Of course, Heurisk would almost certainly fail — but that had nothing to do with him.
Now this is a hidden quest.
He'd been giddily fondling the wad of gold Heurisk had given him when he saw it.
Ah. So this is the thieves' prison.
Figured I'd lock him up for about fifty years.
Funny, right?
The fate of a man who'd dared try to steal the supreme dragon's treasure and gotten caught. The mention of fifty years had made the nest's users — who'd been scrambling to stay in Lea's good graces — flinch, but none of them were truly terrified. Getting caught once meant a permanent ban-level sentence, sure, but Lea had only locked Heurisk up because he'd tried to rob her. She worked her disciples to the bone and made them suffer through brutal training, but she'd never imprisoned or killed anyone without cause. Stick to the basics and there was nothing to worry about.
Geomju, however, was different.
...Am I screwed?
He was the traitor who'd sold the nest's internal information. If that ever came to light, he might not get fifty years like Heurisk, but a long stretch behind bars was all but guaranteed. Only he and Heurisk's guild knew the truth — for now — but there was no telling when it might leak. Geomju decided to watch for an opening and leave the nest. Leaving at a time like this would look a little suspicious, sure, but deserters weren't unheard of.
That had been the plan, until—
That bastard. Seriously.
Heurisk — the root of this whole mess — was summoning him. Was he trying to drag Geomju down with him?
Geomju considered leaving right then and there, but hesitated. The dragon might come after him. And even if he somehow escaped, being branded a traitor would poison everything he tried to do going forward. If he'd actually gained something from all this, maybe it would be worth the risk — but right now he had nothing. Pure high risk, zero return.
"Ah, for real…"
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Don't worry about it."
Geomju shook his head at the user who'd been practicing the incomplete mana cultivation method alongside him, then stood up.
Torn between heaven and hell, he made his way to where Lea slept — and there it was, a tiny iron cage.
Clang! Clang!
"Kuuuuuh…"
Lea was still sleeping soundly, utterly at peace.
Clack.
"What."
"You came."
"Spit it out. I'm leaving the second we're done."
"If you're going, it'd be nice if you took my cage with you."
"If you're going to talk nonsense, get lost. I'm walking out right now."
Geomju turned without a moment's hesitation. A waste of time, just as he'd expected. He needed to move before Lea woke up—
"Kill me."
"...What?"
"More precisely — take the legendary weapons and gear I stole, then kill me. I'll come find you afterward."
"...You want me to kill you?"
"Yes."
"And what exactly do I gain from killing you? All I'd do is piss off the dragon."
As far as Geomju was concerned, this was a complete non-starter. Things were already dangerous enough — and now he was supposed to help Heurisk escape by killing him? That was the same as volunteering to sit in a cage next to Heurisk for fifty years. No matter how much he feared Heurisk talking, this wasn't it.
Heurisk shoved the legendary weapons and equipment through the bars of the cage, his expression deadly serious.
"Think carefully. Just one of these could flip the entire meta. You wouldn't need to waste time running laps around a nest or grinding mana cultivation."
"……"
"Half the stolen treasure. No — eighty percent. Take whatever you want."
"……"
"You'd be number one, guaranteed. You wouldn't have to care about some dragon's mood ever again."
"...If I just kill you."
"That's right."
Geomju wrestled with it. Was this really the right call? Shouldn't he just tell Heurisk to shut up and run without looking back? And even if he ran — could legendary gear alone keep him alive?
He agonized.
"Yeah. Kill him."
"That's right. Kill him. Then you'll be number one."
"Open your eyes."
"Go go go!"
The greed inside him whispered, seductive and relentless. Fine. Let's do it. He'd been about to quit the quest anyway. Think of it as a high-difficulty hidden quest instead — kill the thief-hero, snatch the weapons, and make a run for it.
Following his inner greed's advice, Geomju carefully lifted the iron cage. Killing Heurisk here might tip someone off, so he'd get out of the nest first and do it afterward. All he had to do was slip away…
"But he's actually pretty brave, huh? Doing something like this?"
"Right? I don't think I could ever do that."
"Hey, open your eyes already."
"Lady Lea blocked his vision."
"But could he have actually killed him?"
"If he stuck a sword through the gaps, maybe…"
"...?"
Something about his inner greed felt… off.
"Huh?"
Geomju finally opened his eyes. His tunnel vision snapped wide, and he felt a throng of people standing right behind him.
"Hiii!"
"...Uh?"
At some point, a whole crowd of users had gathered at his back — led by his so-called inner greed, who was actually Haring.
Geomju spun toward the cage in a panic, but Heurisk looked just as stunned.
Clack.
The iron cage was already in Lea's hands. She stared at the flustered Geomju and smiled.
"Did you come to make him a friend so he wouldn't be lonely?"
"L-Lady Lea, th-that's not—"
"Then I'll do just that."
"I'm sor—"
Clack!
"These heroes sure are arrogant lately…"
I shook my head. Just a little while ago, I'd been enjoying a rare deep sleep when I sensed someone nearby. The thief thrashing around trying to escape wasn't worth my attention — but then the guy started staring into empty air, doing something, and called another hero over.
Geomju. Not a passer, but a hero who'd been hanging around the nest for a while. Curious, I blocked their external vision and watched quietly. Then another hero showed up behind them.
Huh?
"No way… Lady Lea? You're awake?"
"Yeah."
It was Haring. She shot Geomju a look of pure distaste and filled me in. A hero had leaked the nest's internal information, and Haring and a few others had been hunting the culprit. At first I'd wondered if they were overreacting — but listening to the thieves' conversation left me genuinely speechless.
"W-We lived honestly!"
"That's right! We have nothing to do with that guy!"
"Really?"
"Of course!"
"Yes!"
At my question, the other two failures nodded furiously. They looked terrified that this incident would splash onto them too. I stared at them for a moment, then turned away.
Honestly, whether they'd leaked anything or not barely mattered. I'd already planned to kick all three out if they didn't show results within a month. I couldn't keep them around forever.
I watched the heroes flocking over again, as if trying to cheer me up, and thought. I'd tried to stay hands-off, but they kept crossing the line. I'd figured the thief incident would settle them down — yet they couldn't even wait that long before pulling another stunt like this.
Are all immortals like this?
With hundreds of heroes around — not just ten — if this kept happening, I was going to be exhausted. And I couldn't exactly catch them all like Pokémon…
"This won't do."
"Today's cookies are— wait, what?"
"Bring me parchment. And a pen."
"...Ah. Yes, ma'am!"
At my words, Hidene — who'd been standing farthest away — scrambled over with a box of parchment stacked in the corner. I unfolded a table, lifted a fine pen tip over a sheet of high-quality parchment, and began to write.
Tweet~
Three days later, at a villa in the Legion royal capital.
A messenger bird shaped like a small statue arrived before Bahamart, the former emperor, who was leisurely sipping tea as usual. He accepted the letter naturally and unfolded it.
I told you to behave.
"Haha… What a spectacle."