Entering the Lower Floors
"...I found a place they call a Hunting Ground this time."
"A Hunting Ground?"
"It's something like a field-type dungeon. Kill a monster and it dissolves into particles of light the same way it would in a dungeon, and it doesn't leave any items behind. The experience, though, seemed decent enough."
"...So that's where they fought. Their stats must have been reduced, too. I take it they put on a worse showing than you'd expected?"
"Yes, that's right. I had the two of them fight so I could get a real measure of their ability. Without me there, Nam Eun-ju would have died."
If I hadn't been there in the first place, the two of them would have run. Looking at Nam Eun-ju's current condition, putting the two of them into a fight together wasn't a good idea.
"What kind of monsters came out of the Hunting Ground you found? Gnolls, I assume?"
"No. Goblins."
"...Goblins... so that's why they ended up like that..."
"It was only a lack of offensive power. Their actual defense wasn't bad. Yoo-jin fought well enough, but Eun-ju came up a little short."
"Yoo-jin didn't look like he was in great shape either, though?"
"Well, if he'd handled his own part a little better, they would have won. Next time there's a chance to learn a skill, I should get him Dagger Mastery. If he'd had that, the two of them probably would have won."
I laid out the details of the fight for Joo Ha-yeon.
"So that's how it is for both of them."
"Eun-ju seems to harbor an inferiority complex toward Seoyun, whether she realizes it or not. She said earlier that if it had been Seoyun instead of her, they would have won."
"...Seoyun really is something of a genius. No — she's a genius, period."
As a priest herself, Joo Ha-yeon understood just how difficult it was to cast magic without a skill. She still had nothing she could use besides the Solid Shield of Earth she had learned as a skill. She couldn't even manage a basic Heal or Shield. Blessings and Purification — the next tier up — were completely out of reach.
And yet Na Seoyun was already using two kinds of magic, and even imbuing them with properties like explosion and penetration. Of everyone in the party besides me, Joo Ha-yeon was probably the one who understood Na Seoyun's talent best. Na-yeon was an exception — her spirits did all the work for her.
"Thanks to that, I know exactly what Eun-ju needs to learn. I've already put together a training plan for it, too. I built plenty of time into the schedule. It should be reasonably effective. Eun-ju's Agility is actually fairly high, but she isn't using it properly. So..."
Joo Ha-yeon had been watching me with a worried look, but as I kept talking, the light in her eyes gradually shifted into something harder to read. That gaze was so piercing I had no choice but to stop mid-sentence and ask.
"Why... are you looking at me like that?"
"No reason. I was just thinking you're quite the operator. You weaken the kids, throw them into combat, put them in danger, then make a dramatic entrance at the critical moment to save them. You confirm their skill, shake their confidence, then try to build it back up with training... That push-and-pull of yours..."
"...That's not what this is."
"Oh, please. I still remember, you know? Hus. Band?"
A mischievous face. I knew why she was reacting this way, so all I could do was offer a wry smile.
She'd probably been worried I was going to abandon them again. Then, when I not only showed no intention of dumping anyone but rattled off a whole list of ways to shore up their weaknesses, she relaxed — and started teasing me for no good reason. I still couldn't figure out why I looked like such a piece of garbage in these people's heads.
"You're being mischievous. That was about building justification."
"My, so you were toying with our feelings?"
"...It's not funny if you keep this up."
"Ooh, scary."
Joo Ha-yeon laughed off my threat.
"All right, all right. Still, thank you. Things have been really nice lately. We even have some breathing room."
"...What do you mean?"
"At first I thought you were incredible. Then somewhere along the way I started leaning on you. And through all of that, you only ever thought about climbing higher, and you kept pushing the team without us quite realizing it... and still the gap in ability just kept getting worse. Watching Seoyun and you, Shin-hoo, the difference grew so wide I was terrified we'd be left behind. But lately I've started thinking I don't have to worry about that anymore. I began to sense it back in the Labyrinth, and after today, I suppose I'm sure of it."
Joo Ha-yeon laid it all out lightly, the kind of thing most people would have kept to themselves.
"...I think we've had a similar conversation before. I believe I made my position perfectly clear then. I never intended to abandon anyone. The pushing was all for that purpose. If the gap ever got too wide... I would have assigned you a different role, at least."
"A different role... you don't mean..."
Joo Ha-yeon's gaze traveled, ever so slightly, between my upper body and my lower body.
"...Have you always been like this?"
"I get a little like this once I get close to someone. You're not going to tell me we aren't close, are you? I'd be hurt."
Good grief. I had no choice but to sigh. I could have played along if I wanted, but I'd only lose in the end. I decided to extract myself after one last remark.
"If possible, train together with Eun-ju. Now that you know where the Goblin Forest is, it wouldn't be a bad idea for the party to go there for live combat practice. With three or more people, there shouldn't be any real danger."
Nam Eun-ju was weakened, but if you assumed they were only playing defense, three or more of them could handle twice as many goblins as before. That was the power of combination.
"I will. Thank you."
"I don't know why you're thanking me, but all right."
"For not abandoning Eun-ju."
"...I keep telling you I wouldn't. Why on earth..."
"And thank you for looking out for her, too."
"I'm the party leader. That's a given."
She snorted a little laugh.
"Fine, fine."
Joo Ha-yeon raised a hand as if conceding defeat and left before I did. She tossed one last remark over her shoulder.
And without waiting for an answer, she went upstairs. Judging by the direction, she was heading to Nam Eun-ju.
...Getting someone to trust you is a real pain in the ass...
The words slipped out before I could stop them.
Before, I'd just shrugged off those miserable false accusations and moved on. I'd thought we'd gotten a bit closer after that, but apparently she still hadn't fully let her guard down. Maybe she'd even twisted my talk about taking things slowly into me planning to recruit new companions. That was possible enough.
Good grief.
Still, it was done now. Joo Ha-yeon had been the tallest mountain to climb, and now that she'd opened her heart completely, I should be able to earn the others' trust not just as a party leader, but as a person. Especially given her attitude today — she might start approaching me more familiarly in private from now on.
I should still be a little careful, though. Given that odd behavior just now, a bit of caution seemed in order. She hadn't quite washed Earth's influence off yet.
I pushed another escaping sigh behind me and turned my thoughts to the rest of the day's schedule. I'd already finished sharing the information on the Goblin Forest, so around evening I could teach Nam Eun-ju how to make use of her Agility and a training method to get comfortable with it.
I had nothing else planned. I considered doing some training of my own, then realized that while Joo Ha-yeon had gone to see Nam Eun-ju, no one had gone to Ha Yoo-jin. Come to think of it, he was only eight, and he'd looked pretty dejected. I couldn't just ignore him entirely.
With no other choice, I went to find Ha Yoo-jin's room. I knocked, and he opened the door himself. Contrary to what I'd expected, his expression was reasonably all right.
"Oh, hyung. What brings you here?"
"Mm... nothing. You look better than I expected."
"Yeah. I was just... thinking about how I could do better."
Ha Yoo-jin figured out why I'd come in an instant. Sharp as a tack, even at his age. He drew the dagger at his waist and spoke.
"My skills are specialized for ambushes, so I don't think I was able to use my full strength. I really need something like a sword technique. If I'd had a proper sword art, I think I could have taken three or four of them head-on... Hyung, if I hadn't gone for that last ambush and just fought them from the front the whole time, could I have taken them down before noona got exhausted?"
"...You could have. Watching you fight earlier, it looked possible."
In fact, at the end Ha Yoo-jin had drawn three warriors and taken all three down by himself. He hadn't used stealth then, and it hadn't taken that long, either. What was certain was that it would have ended faster than the fight where he'd kept vanishing and ambushing. In other words, he had the skill to win — he'd just chosen the safer path and run out of time.
"I knew it... if I'd been a little bolder, we would have won... I fought that way the whole time because I figured warriors and an archer together were too dangerous."
It was understandable he lacked confidence. That was probably the first time he'd ever fought like that on his own. Back in the Labyrinth, Ha Yoo-jin's position had been closer to supporting the Keeper than anything else. Because he filled that role, Na-yeon's firepower could be directed at the front.
But he couldn't stay in that position forever. It was better for him to learn a role that suited him more and move in that direction. Still, I liked that he wasn't wallowing in self-reproach for long — that he was already looking for a way to improve, a way to fix it.
"Next time you can pick up a skill, let's start by learning a weapon art."
"...Those are expensive, though..."
"I have that much money. Don't worry about it."
"...Thank you, hyung. I'll do better."
Ha Yoo-jin bowed his head in thanks, then broke into a sheepish grin.
I'd thought it last time, too — his adaptability was ridiculous. Were all Supreme-tier talents like this? Na Seoyun, and now this kid. Compared to my past self, it was enough to make me embarrassed.
Ha Yoo-jin asked me to teach him more weapon techniques if I had the time, and since I had nothing to do until evening anyway, I agreed readily.
The weapon Ha Yoo-jin used was a dagger. I wasn't an expert in dagger technique, but I still knew more than he did. More importantly, the skill I had was Weapon Mastery, which provided a correction for every melee weapon — after swinging a few times, I could at least show him the basic movements thanks to that bonus. Of course, it still fell short of a dedicated dagger art.
Weapon Mastery was closer to a generalist than a specialist to begin with, so there was no helping that. Besides, looking at my own talent and skills, it was better to use multiple weapons as the situation demanded rather than focusing on one — that was why I'd made that choice. I wasn't using anything but a sword at the moment, but I planned to pick up a few more weapons once we reached District 25.
Ha Yoo-jin absorbed my teaching at a startling pace. I lost track of time showing him techniques, and before I knew it evening had arrived. Sure enough, Na-yeon came looking for us to call us down.
"We're eating dinner together, right?"
"Yeah. I'll be down in a minute."
I took Ha Yoo-jin with me down to the first floor. The rest of the party was already there waiting. I glanced at Nam Eun-ju — her expression was definitely better. Joo Ha-yeon caught my eye and discreetly gave me a thumbs-up.
...Now that she considered us close, her private demeanor had changed completely. She might as well have been a different person. I didn't think that was a bad result.
I spoke to Nam Eun-ju.
"Come see me after dinner."
"...Okay, Shin-hoo oppa."
"I don't know if Joo Ha-yeon already told you, but I'll go over a training method and a schedule. Train the way I tell you for a while. It should help."
"Thank you."
Her speech still mixed formal and informal, but it was better than it had been that afternoon.
"Oppa, you haven't forgotten about tomorrow, have you?"
Na Seoyun cut in out of nowhere. Tomorrow. We'd promised to go out.
"Right. We did say we'd take tomorrow off. But there's not going to be much to do around here, is there?"
That was the truth. Unlike Earth, which was full of things to do for fun, you could search this place with a magnifying glass and find nothing. There were no traveling performers visiting the village right now, and a backwater like this wasn't about to have a theater. There probably wouldn't be one even at the castle. This wasn't a wealthy territory — it was a fortress sitting on the border. Something like that was never going to exist. The lord wasn't the decadent type, as I recalled.
"We can look around the market, at least!"
Na Seoyun showed no intention of giving up.
"Fine, then."
I'd already given my word, so I agreed.
The next morning, Na Seoyun came looking for me first thing. I'd just finished morning training and washed up, and it happened to be time for breakfast, so I was a little surprised — but I opened the door.
"Aren't you here a little early?"
"I get you all to myself today!"
I gave a wry smile at that. I'd intended to make her follow me, but the effect had been a bit too strong.
"We're still eating breakfast together, though."
"Okay!"
Na Seoyun darted downstairs as if she had wings. After a light meal, she all but dragged me out of the inn.
From behind us, Joo Ha-yeon called out a warning that I wasn't supposed to lay a hand on a minor. I gave her a look of pure disbelief, then turned my head away. Ignoring remarks like that was the best policy.
Nam Eun-ju and Na-yeon watched the two of us with faintly startled expressions. It was true I'd almost never played along with that kind of joke before.
Leaving the party behind, I headed out of the inn with Na Seoyun.