The Silent Hunter
Traps (Revised) — Adventurers who venture into dangerous places always carry a distress signal artifact. When activated, it sends a signal to adventurers within a several-kilometer radius. The moment I used it, a strange wave rippled outward from the device. After waiting a short while, the sound of running footsteps approached, and a three-person party appeared.
"We received the distress signal!"
"Where's the injured person?!"
The three adventurers spotted the Ikelos gathered around me and stared with greedy eyes. Sensing their alarm, I raised both hands to calm them down.
"Easy now. This is dangerous, but it's not an emergency."
Seeing the Ikelos sitting quietly beside me, the party relaxed their guard, though their expressions turned disappointed. The group—two swordsmen and one mage—showed their adventurer badges and asked,
"Your behavior seemed odd. So those are your summons?"
"We thought they were a new monster species and got excited."
They had probably been hoping to hunt what they assumed was a new monster. Fortunately, since we met in the open, they hadn't attacked outright. After proving we were fellow adventurers with my badge, I showed them the silver gorilla's hide.
"What's this?"
"As you can see, it's a hide tainted by an ominous power. Probably black mana."
The adventurers examined the silver gorilla hide with serious expressions.
"That's definitely not something you'd see under normal circumstances."
"As the mage here, I can confirm it. This is black mana."
Once the party's mage vouched for it, their gazes shifted—from wary looks at a dangerous object to something that could bring them honor.
"Didn't they say black mana doesn't occur from ordinary natural phenomena?"
"Aside from Mystery phenomena, all black mana is artificial."
"Then this black mana is most likely artificial as well."
At the adventurer's words, everyone's eyes met. Adventurers aren't fools. If they were sane, they wouldn't be fighting monsters in the North. Adventurers are warriors. They push through the harsh environment created by monsters, explore the wilderness, and seek out battles—they are the North's warriors. Following a thousand years of history and tradition, inheriting the will of the First Great Warrior, they carry pride even at low ranks. They possess the courage not to turn a blind eye to dangerous omens. That's why their conclusion was unanimous.
"Looks like a black mage has secretly built a hideout near the mountains."
"A black mage! Never dreamed we'd run into shady types in the North!"
"Even in the Central region they're rare, let alone here. Taking one down should fetch a hefty reward, right?"
Hunting the black mage responsible for this power had been my intention since confirming the lingering traces from the silver gorilla. After waiting another ten minutes with no additional adventurers arriving, we exchanged introductions.
"Let's keep introductions brief. I'm Argo. As you can see, I'm a summoner who just became an adventurer today."
Following my lead, the adventurers introduced themselves.
"I'll start. I'm Liliye, the scout of our party."
"I'm Karam, the vanguard and tank!"
"I'm Lahan, the mage."
A rabbit beastman scout named Liliye, a sturdy orc vanguard named Karam, and a human mage named Lahan. We greeted one another and memorized each other's faces. From now on we'd be sharing life and death together, so knowing names and faces would help when we needed to coordinate.
Liliye, who had been watching me curiously, perked up her rabbit ears with a surprised expression.
"That's right! Guild employee! Argo, you're that guild employee, aren't you?"
"Now that you mention it, your face did seem familiar. You were the employee we saw around the guild quite often."
"Did you quit to become an adventurer?"
At Liliye's words, the other two adventurers also recognized my face and looked pleased. I hadn't even worked at the reception desk, yet they remembered me.
"I awakened a Mystery a few days ago and became an adventurer."
"Ohoho. If you left the guild to become an adventurer, you must have gotten a good Mystery."
"New adventurers are always welcome."
While the adventurers congratulated me and created a warm atmosphere, Liliye, the party's scout, began preparing to track.
"This gorilla probably came from the black mage's hideout, right?"
"We can follow its movement path."
"Just in case, I'll use black mana tracking magic too."
"Black mana tracking magic? You learned that even though there's no use for it here?"
"Studying interesting magic is my hobby. It's paying off now that I'm bored."
Thanks to our cooperation, the tracking went quickly. With the combined efforts of the mage and scouts, we reverse-traced the silver gorilla's path and discovered a cleverly concealed cave about thirty minutes away. The gorilla's traces led inside. Sensing faint traces of black mana beyond the cave, we felt our bodies heat up at the realization that we had truly found a black mage.
Hiding in the bushes and staring at the cave, we took a short rest and shared our thoughts.
"That must be the black mage's hideout."
"What do we do? Rush in ourselves? Or go back to the Adventurer's Guild for reinforcements?"
Various opinions were exchanged before all eyes turned to me. Since I had found the black mage's traces, they seemed willing to follow my lead. Under their gazes, I considered carefully. Contacting the Adventurer's Guild for backup in case of emergency was a good option. We didn't know what might be inside the hideout. But I had called the adventurers here with the intention of catching the black mage. If I had only wanted to confirm the location and retreat, I wouldn't have used the distress signal in the first place.
"Judging by the level of the presumed test subjects, the black mage's skill probably isn't much. Let's just handle it ourselves."
"But what if it's a trap?"
To Lahan's cautious question, I answered with absolute confidence.
"That's impossible. Monsters hate black mana just as much as we do."
They don't just hate it—they loathe it. Once they detect it, they go berserk and chase after the black mana user to kill them. To an outsider, it would look like they had encountered a mortal enemy. Many scholars have taken interest in this reaction. The prevailing theory is that black mana pollutes their ecosystem, though I don't know the exact reason either. What I do know is that monsters detest black mana. If the black mage inside the cave was sane, they wouldn't have deliberately released test subjects tainted with black mana outside, drawing monster aggro. If I hadn't found them, the visitors to the cave might have been monsters instead of adventurers.
After I explained my reasoning, certainty filled their eyes. Realizing there was no trap and they could freely beat the black mage, they wrapped mana around their weapons like children receiving gifts. Watching them with satisfaction, I took nuts from my pocket just in case.
"Tweet!"
I raised them high and whistled a thin, high note. A small bird flew down from the branches and landed on my palm.
"Chirp chirp."
"Good boy. This is an advance payment. I'll give you more if you do the job."
This bird wasn't tamed like Rata—it was a truly wild bird. Even under the influence of my affinity, it remained wary, hesitating as it pecked at the nuts. To ask the small bird for help, I took Rata from my pocket and asked for mediation.
"Rata. Calm that bird down."
"Kii!"
At my words, Rata nodded as if to say it understood, then explained something to the bird. The bird chirped clearly, still not lowering its guard. It had accepted the request after hearing Rata's explanation.
"Thanks. Then, can you deliver this letter to the Adventurer's Guild in Edenberg?"
It would be difficult for a small bird to understand, but I wasn't worried. If I strongly thought about what I wanted while making the request, a clear image would be conveyed, allowing it to act accordingly. After tying a small piece of paper to the bird's leg, I watched it fly off powerfully and smiled in satisfaction.
"Good. That takes care of sending word to the Adventurer's Guild in case of emergency. Now..."
Muttering to myself, I noticed everyone's eyes focused on me and tilted my head in confusion.
"What exactly did you just do?"
"Huh? You mean asking the bird for help?"
"Don't tell me your Mystery ability is controlling animals?"
"No, it isn't. My Mystery is related to summons."
"That makes even less sense."
At my words, Lahan wore an incredulous expression. Perhaps because he was a mage with extensive knowledge, he kept muttering in disbelief.
"To me, that seems more like a Mystery phenomenon."
"Right? I find it amazing sometimes too."
When I responded casually, he tilted his head, looking confused.
"Hmm. Maybe not? This world is full of extraordinary things, after all."
"Is it a Tamer-type ability?"
"No. Similar but different. Still, I can't figure out the exact details either..."
Lahan muttered various things to himself before finally shaking his head.
"I don't know what kind of ability it is. If you want to learn more about that power, try visiting the Edenberg Magic Tower. The mages there would be happy to examine it for free."
Those people can't control their curiosity, after all. I nodded at Lahan's advice and stood up from the bushes.
"Rest time is over. Let's move."
"My body's itching to catch that black mage."
"Let's go!"
Now that we'd come this far, the only thing left was to finish it quickly.
"Move according to the plan! My summons, the Ikelos, will go in first to check for traps, then the vanguard will follow!"
To prevent the black mage inside the cave from reacting, we burst from the bushes in an instant and charged with the Ikelos leading the way. The Ikelos that entered first searched the area and sent a short cry as a signal. Karam followed right after. After the vanguard entered with his sturdy shield raised, Lahan appeared and spread detection magic throughout the cave.
"Safety confirmed! No magical reactions inside!"
Receiving the signal that it was safe from him, who had been focusing on detection with his eyes closed, we quickly entered the cave. The interior was ordinary. Aside from piles of rocks and logs on the floor, it wasn't strange compared to a normal cave. The deeper we went, the more our expressions remained tense.
"Something's wrong."
"This is going too smoothly?"
There were no magical traps, let alone physical ones. Just as I was beginning to wonder if we had entered an ordinary cave—were it not for the increasingly strong traces of black mana—I heard a signal from the Ikelos that had entered first.
"Woof woof!"
The Ikelos had found the black mage. Following the signal, we rushed deeper inside and discovered the black mage cowering in a corner of a large cavern. In the center of the cavern were several animals, including the silver gorilla. They stared blankly into the air, seemingly consumed by black mana. They looked like they would die with just a few weapon swings, so we only kept watch over them and ran toward the black mage.
"H-Hieeeek! Don't come any cloooser!"
But the black mage's condition was poor. His once-handsome face was a mess, completely consumed by terror.
"Hey! What are you doing here?"
"His state looks abnormal."
At the sight of something clearly wrong, our expressions hardened. The warriors scanned the cavern for anything unusual while the mages cast detection magic to search for living beings. Meanwhile, several adventurers tried to talk to the black mage, but he was too panicked for conversation to work.
"Eheheheek! I'm scared! Save me!"
Even when we tried shock therapy by punching him in the face, he showed no signs of coming to his senses. As we shook our heads, thinking something was wrong, the black mage's frantically darting eyes met mine. His gaze fixed on me, and he half-crawled, half-ran over to grab my shoulders.
"That guy! That guy's coming! The hunter is coming to catch me!"
At the black mage's ominous behavior, we realized something had gone terribly wrong. At the same time, the alarm trap the scouts had set at the entrance activated.
"....What about detection magic?"
"....Nothing's being detected."
The detection magic still couldn't sense any living beings.