Arcana Online
When I logged in early that morning, Yongyong came out to greet me—and his face looked like it had lost half its flesh. What in the world had happened?
“What happened to you!?”
“Kkyuuu.”
“What do you mean, ‘Kkyuuu’!?”
He looked positively gaunt as he ate the Magic Stones I took out for him, saying he’d spent some strength protecting me. Honestly, it was kind of pitiful…
After Yongyong finished his meal, I hugged him tight. Ernia wasn’t here right now, so this felt like my chance to escape.
According to Yongyong, the mark had been erased, so she shouldn’t be able to keep chasing me anymore, right?
The moment I pulled a Teleport Scroll from my inventory and used it, a bright flash carried me to the guild headquarters in the commercial city of Talisa.
When I opened the door and went inside, the guild members stared at me with wide-eyed shock.
Shasha, the stalker—no, big sister Shasha—grabbed my shoulders and looked me over from head to toe, her face full of worry.
“Where have you been all this time!? I was worried because we couldn’t reach you!”
“Ahaha… Sorry. I was kidnapped by Ernia and just escaped.”
“Ernia…? Who’s that?”
At that exact moment, Sister Lea dropped the cup she was holding.
“The Demon Dragon King, Ernia…”
*
*
*
I felt a surge of magic power and went into the room, only to find Yuna nowhere in sight and a neatly made bed left behind in her place.
“So she got away.”
“What a shame. I wanted to say goodbye…”
“There’ll be another chance someday. I’m sure our little one will like Yuna too.”
“Really? Now I’m looking forward to it.”
Our little one smiled, mischief practically spilling off her face.
I was worried about who she’d taken after to become so endlessly playful.
“Be good to her.”
“Don’t worry, Mom.”
She smiled brightly, which only made me more anxious.
Well, our Yuna would probably manage just fine on her own.
*
*
*
“Achoo!”
“Kkyuung!?”
“No, no. I’m fine.”
I patted Yongyong’s head as he worried over me and told him not to fuss, but honestly, I was more worried about him than I was about myself.
His face looked half-starved, yet he wouldn’t tell me what had happened, so how was I supposed to know?
I held Yongyong in my arms, feeling an uneasy sense that I’d forgotten something important, and the moment I stepped out of the village and saw Lan’s face, it hit me.
“My savior…”
“Ah…”
Right. I’d left Lan behind in the lair. And somehow, he’d made it out…?
I apologized and handed him some Magic Stones, and he accepted them while saying it was fine.
With a promise that he could call on his clan whenever he needed help, Lan headed back to his village.
After I waved him off and set out toward the hunting grounds with Yongyong, I heard a voice calling to me.
“Little one.”
“Huh? Me?”
When I turned around, there was an old woman sitting on a mat in what had, just moments ago, been an empty stretch of plain.
“Would you like your fortune told? Only 10,000 gold.”
“Goodbye.”
Just as I was about to take my leave after the polite farewell—
“Oh dear, sorry, old man. Looks like we’ll be going hungry again tonight.”
I turned around and walked back to her.
She frowned as she looked at my face.
“You’ve had a hard time lately, haven’t you?”
“How did you know!?”
The old woman held out her hand to me.
After I gave her 10,000 gold, I listened closely to her words while she sighed and gently patted Yongyong’s head, who was letting out a weary little breath.
“Your parents have been making life difficult for you lately, haven’t they?”
“They passed away.”
“……”
She froze for a moment, then fumbled in her robes and pulled out a crystal ball, rubbing it with frantic concentration.
“I mean… you have siblings, don’t you!”
“I’ve got one older sister.”
“R-right. And your sister has been giving you trouble lately, hasn’t she!?”
“She passed away too and followed my parents down that long road.”
“……”
Avoiding my eyes, the old woman wore a completely stunned expression.
I told her she didn’t need to give the money back, and just as I was about to leave, she stopped me.
“I wasn’t planning to use this, but sorry, old man.”
She reached into her robes again and pulled something else out.
A tarot card…?
“Draw one card.”
I picked a card from the spread she laid out, and it turned out to be a knight on horseback.
“Oooh! To draw such a fine card! Little one, you possess the Number of Heaven’s Path! It means a fate that reaches the heavens, which is to say—”
“It’s a skeleton knight, though.”
“……”
She took out her glasses and stared at the card again. Sure enough, there was a skeleton in armor riding a horse.
“What I mean is! It signifies that a dead man has recently returned, doesn’t it!”
At that moment, Yongyong nodded and said that was right.
“Yongyong says you’re right.”
“Yongyong…? In any case! Since you drew such a wonderful card, I’ll give our little one a very fine gift.”
Something kept coming out of her robes. Did she have a spatial pouch hidden inside there or something?
She took out a glowing orb and handed it to me.
??? Treasure Map
It looked like a marble, but it was actually a map.
“Go to the marked location. The map will guide your way.”
It probably wouldn’t be wise to say, Isn’t the map supposed to help me find the way?
I thanked her, stared hard at the orb, and then, the very next moment—
A fierce gust of wind made me squeeze my eyes shut. When I opened them again, the old woman who had been standing in front of me a second ago was gone.
Had I been possessed by a ghost?
“When we get back, should we have a shamanic rite or something?”
“Kkyuung?”
I patted Yongyong’s head as he asked what a shamanic rite was, then activated the orb. In a flash of light, the orb vanished, and a voice whispered in my ear.
Route guidance has begun.
“W-what was that!?”
“Kkyuu!?”
Yongyong seemed to hear it too, because he was just as flustered as I was.
Turn right in 1 kilometer.
“How far do I have to go?”
Calculating estimated arrival time.
14 days on foot.
“Are you kidding me!?”
I stood there, dumbfounded by that absurd answer, thinking it over for a long while before finally, helplessly, letting out a whistle between two fingers.
‘Piiiii!’
Yongyong looked at me, puzzled by my behavior.
A little while later, I heard the sound of something charging toward us from far away.
It was a bear taxi!
“GRAAAAH!”
“You charge extra for tolls!? That’s so unfair!”
Riding on the bear’s back, I followed the map—no, the navigation—through day after day of travel until I finally reached the destination.
It turned out to be a fishing village by the sea. What kind of treasure was supposed to be here, anyway!?
You have arrived at your destination.
Ending navigation.
“Are you kidding me!?”
How was I supposed to find a treasure without navigation!?
With a hollow laugh, I paid the bear his taxi fare and sent him away before heading into the village.
But something about the atmosphere was off.
This didn’t feel like an ordinary village. It felt cold and slick, like I’d wandered into a den of criminals.
As I was looking around, suspicious figures approached me.
They were holding ropes in their hands.
“Miss. What brings you to our village?”
“I came sightseeing!”
“To a place this out of the way?”
“Yep!”
I answered brightly, and the other side seemed to have nothing to say for a moment. They exchanged glances with each other.
The man holding the rope turned away and said, “No matter how much of a bastard we are, taking it out on a kid that young is going too far, isn’t it?”
“What the hell are you talking about? Do you think this is our first or second day in the business!?”
“I agree. Going after a child that young….”
Except for the man who’d raised his voice, the others scattered in all directions. The one left behind sighed when his eyes met mine and told me to leave the village.
“This isn’t a normal village, miss. So get out while you can. Before you end up in a nasty mess.”
“What kind of village is it?”
“If I tell you, I’ll die.”
The man who’d warned me disappeared, and I was left alone. I started moving again, looking around in every direction.
Like an assassin slipping from shadow to shadow!
“Kkyuung.”
“You can see right through me!? No way!?”
In the end, I gave up and kept looking around, and the more I did, the stranger it seemed.
Not just suspicious. Plainly suspicious.
I’d arrived at a place packed with several huge wagons, and from inside them came a sound.
It sounded like metal being scraped. Or maybe screams. I couldn’t tell at all.
Taking advantage of the moment when the men on watch stepped away for a bit, I slipped into one of the wagons—and the instant I looked inside—
“This is too far.”
“Kkyuung.”
Inside the wagons, newborn monsters and beastkin alike were locked in iron cages—every living thing except humans, imprisoned there.
Their wrists and ankles were fitted with shackles, just like slaves.
I checked the other wagons too, hoping it might be different, but inside the many wagons there were…
I wanted to free them, but by myself, I wasn’t strong enough.
That was when the Eunho Tribe came to mind.
They told me to call if I ever needed help, didn’t they?
Then how was I supposed to ask for help? While I was thinking desperately about it, an idea flashed through my mind.
Help me!!!
Help Me! skill effect activates summoning.