Chapter 62: Mage and Alchemist (Rare)
Chapter 62: Mage and Alchemist (Rare)
〈Flashback〉
“I won’t say I’m sorry. I had no other choice.”
“You’re not crazy.”
“You still believe in me? Really? You trust me?”
“If you truly believe… then trust me… and let my spear hit you. Please.”
“Will you… die for me?”
*
“Waaaah… Wuh…”
Ahn Sol was still sobbing in my arms, tears streaming down her face. After hearing the full story, Ahn Hyun was glaring at Yoojung, his face flushed with anger, looking like he could burn a hole right through her. If I hadn't been there, he might have swung the spear in his hands without a second thought. His lips parted as if he wanted to say something, but he clamped them shut, breathing heavily.
“Sol. Oppa is so sorry. It’s my fault. That’s right. Good girl. Stop crying now.”
“Hic… hic… r-really… Oppa… me… bait…” (Did Oppa really tell you to use me as bait?)
She couldn’t form a proper sentence through her hiccups, but I got the gist of what she was trying to ask. I immediately shook my head and told her I had no idea. To be honest, I had a hunch, but Yoojung had never told me the truth directly.
Hearing my answer, Sol seemed to relax a little and finally stopped crying. Of course, she was still hiccuping and sniffling, but I figured it was enough. I stopped stroking her hair and tried to gently pull her away, but she immediately looked like she was about to cry again. I quickly pulled her back into an embrace and resumed patting her head. The tear tracks on her face and the way she wiped at her eyes were heartbreaking to see.
Yoojung was kneeling in front of Sol with her hands raised in surrender. The thought that she was pulling such a ridiculous stunt inside a dungeon made something well up inside me. I, too, was getting swept up in the kids’ mood. But Ahn Hyun’s anger was so immense that I decided to just pretend I didn’t notice.
Yoojung hung her head, completely dejected. Both Ahn Hyun and I looked grim, and the atmosphere had become extremely heavy. She usually fooled around without restraint, but at moments like this she watched everyone cautiously, exactly like a cat.
“Well, then. At least make an excuse.”
At Ahn Hyun’s sharp words, Yoojung’s lips jutted out in a pout before she quickly pulled them back in. She glanced at Sol, then began to speak in a hesitant voice.
“So… the reason I did that was…”
“Abububu…”
I soothed Sol as she rubbed her face against my chest, still overcome with sorrow. I saw a spark ignite in Yoojung’s eyes as she watched us. But, perhaps because of her guilt, she just bit her lip and continued in a repentant tone.
“Well… I heard Sol has good intuition. Since there were four holes… I thought… she could use that intuition to tell the safe ones from the dangerous ones…”
So that was the real reason she’d brought her to the holes. Hmm. It wasn’t a completely nonsensical idea, so I stroked my chin and nodded. But at that moment, I felt Sol fidgeting and whining in my arms, unable to stay still, and I started patting her back again as if calming a baby. What in the world was I even doing?
Luck was the least researched Stat. The only reliable fact I knew was that it influenced magical effects more strongly than physical force. A few other minor claims existed, but they were all unsupported rumors.
Ahn Hyun’s expression was conflicted. But he eventually seemed to accept it, nodding before tapping Yoojung’s head with the tip of his spear. That had to be annoying, but Yoojung didn’t seem to object.
“Then you should have just said so from the start. What’s this about bait? There are things you can and can’t say. Hyung. You need to say something to Yoojung, too. You’re always spoiling her and letting her get away with everything. That’s why she’s so ill-mannered.”
“S-Sorry… What?”
The moment Ahn Hyun finished speaking, both Yoojung and I were dumbfounded. What kind of nonsense was he spouting now? Yoojung also looked deeply wronged, smacking her lips and tilting her head. Still, Yoojung was clearly in the wrong, and Sol was staring at me with pleading eyes, so I felt cornered.
*
After settling the commotion, we finally resumed our advance. I groaned softly as I looked at Sol’s red, swollen eyes, a sullen Yoojung, and the tight-lipped Hyun. Just when I thought we had built momentum, everything had returned to square one.
“Oh. This one feels pretty good.”
In the end, we chose the second hole. We had decided to give it a try and had Sol stand in front of all four holes. The results were remarkably clear. She shivered in front of the first hole and subtly tilted her head at the second. She made a face of disgust at the third and immediately ran away from the fourth.
With Third Eye and Sensing giving me a rough grasp of the situation, I couldn’t suppress my surprise. As a Priestess, Magic Power was Sol’s most important Stat, but I found myself wondering what would happen if even one point were invested in Luck. Seeing 100 Luck produce an uncertain effect partly resembling Third Eye made the idea unexpectedly tempting.
As if she’d heard my praise, Sol, who was walking beside me, straightened her back. She held her slender white neck high, which, combined with her puffy eyes, was honestly hilarious.
I walked with a calm mind, sensing my surroundings. My gut told me we’d walked far enough that another wave of monsters was due. Soon enough, my senses picked something up. When I stopped, the others flinched. We had fought a battle nearly every time I’d stopped walking, so they seemed to tense up naturally.
“We should be careful from here on out.”
As I muttered those cryptic words with a strange expression, their faces hardened as well. I was detecting two types of monsters ahead, but there were only three of them in total. One life-form and two statues. Having a good idea of what was going on, I felt the need to give the others a heads-up before they got confused. I started walking again, looked at Sol, who was still puffed up with pride, and spoke in a gentle voice.
“Sol.”
“Yes.”
Her usual soft voice reached my ears, seemingly all her anger toward me gone. As I was about to continue, looking at her beaming smile, a voice rang out.
“Help me! Please, help!”
A delicate voice echoed through the air, and I frowned. The creature had beaten me to the punch just as I was about to explain. As expected, Hyun and Yoojung’s faces changed color at the voice coming from deeper inside.
“Hyung. I think that might be one of the other Users the person we met earlier mentioned.”
“It seems they were kidnapped and brought here…”
“Enough. I was in the middle of talking.”
I cut Yoojung off with a stern voice, and they immediately fell silent. However, their anxious faces clearly expressed their frustration about why we weren’t rushing to the rescue. I clicked my tongue and was about to continue speaking.
“Is anyone there?! I’m begging you! Please help me!”
“……”
It was a clever bastard, alright. And incredibly annoying. Honestly, I’d been fuming ever since we wasted time at the holes, but since I was partially responsible, I’d been holding it in. Plus, it didn’t feel right to take my anger out on the kids. But I couldn’t take it anymore. At this rate, my old personality was about to surface.
I drew my sword, swung it lightly toward the front, and sheathed it again. I had sent out a wave of sword energy imbued with magic, so subtle that the others wouldn’t have noticed. If the creature had any intelligence, it would take it as a signal to shut its mouth.
“Help m—Kieeeeeegh!”
After confirming that my sword wave had cleanly sliced off the creature’s right arm, I let out a sigh. The others just looked dazed. I had used such a high-level Control Ability that they hadn’t noticed the attack itself, but the horrible shriek at the end seemed to have tipped them off that something was wrong.
“Ahem. Let me try again. Sol, have you ever heard of a monster called a Ramic?”
“Eh… A Ramic? Ummm…”
Watching Sol deep in thought, I smacked my lips. It clearly wasn’t a major monster, so she seemed to be having trouble remembering. But the answer came from an unexpected direction. Yoojung, who had been dejectedly fiddling with her dagger, cautiously raised her hand.
“Oppa. Isn’t a Ramic… a variant of a doppelgänger?”
“Hmm?”
I looked at Yoojung in surprise. When I signaled for her to continue, she seemed to gain confidence and spoke in a low voice.
“I heard that unlike a doppelgänger, it can’t perfectly and permanently change its appearance, but it can mimic voices. Its physical abilities aren’t that great, but that’s only against skilled Users, so new Users need to be careful. They often set traps and provoke a User’s emotions to lure them in, so you should never rush in recklessly…”
“…Correct. But how did you know that? The Ramic shouldn’t have been covered in much detail.”
“Just by chance.”
I gazed at Yoojung, who stuck out her tongue as she answered, with a look of pride. Ahn Sol pouted and muttered, “I knew that, too…” Ahn Hyun shook his head with a stunned expression, then turned to me.
“Hyung. Then does that mean the voice we just heard was made by a Ramic?”
“That’s right. It probably ate the vocal cords of an intruding User to mimic their voice.”
As expected, Ahn Hyun was the quickest at assessing a situation and thinking on his feet. With a little more basic knowledge, he’d be perfect. While I lamented that gap, Ahn Hyun suddenly aimed his spear at Yoojung. In that instant, sparks flew from my eyes before I even realized it.
Clang!
Whirrr! Thud!
With a movement like lightning, I drew my sword and struck the spear. Ahn Hyun didn’t even have time to react before the weapon was knocked from his grasp. It spun violently through the air and slammed into a corner. It all happened so fast that the others could only stand there frozen, their mouths agape.
Ahn Hyun, in particular, seemed to be in deep shock. He glanced back and forth between me and his spear before speaking in a stuttering voice.
“H-Hyung. It was just a joke…”
“What kind of joke?”
“Well… I was suspicious that Yoojung might be a Ramic…”
Normally Yoojung would’ve protested immediately, but my murderous aura left her unable to make a sound. The anger I’d suppressed since the Black Forest finally erupted. Whether intentional or not, aiming a weapon at an ally touched one of my traumas and was among the things I hated most.
“Ahn Hyun. Ahn Sol. Lee Yoojung. Have you all lost your minds? You’re acting like you came here for a damn picnic. Are you going to keep this up? Is this what you want?”
“……”
My accusation rendered them speechless. But I didn’t stop, continuing to lash out.
“Do I look like a pushover just because I’ve smiled, indulged you, and let things slide? When it’s time to work, do your jobs. How long are you going to stay wrapped up in this lax mood? And Ahn Hyun—a joke? You aimed your spear at Yoojung as a joke? How could even you do this?”
“N-No, Oppa. I did the same thing to Sol. It’s fine. I’m not angry. So calm down, okay? Oppaaa~.”
“Hyung. I’m sorry.”
I saw Yoojung attempting clumsy aegyo while Hyun immediately bowed, but my anger didn’t subside. Having fun while working was fine within limits. Since the battle with the Rengas, their attitudes had relaxed sharply. The farther we went inside, the more vigilant they should have become, yet they were moving in the opposite direction.
If they recalled the warnings I’d given them in the Black Forest, they would understand how far their conduct had gone. I’d never heard of a caravan behaving this way, and even if one existed, I couldn’t comprehend it. I rebuked Ahn Hyun in a cold voice.
“The prank you pulled on Sol was harsh, but it had some logic to it and was within an acceptable range, so I could let it slide. But now. Inside a dungeon. During a real battle, no less. You point your weapon at an ally? Do you think that’s something a sane person would do? A joke? Should I try the same joke on you?”
Hyun, who had previously experienced my Coercion at the inn, waved his hands frantically with a horrified expression. The remorse on his face suggested that he understood, at least vaguely, what I meant.
A moment of silence passed before I gave a curt nod, my expression still frigid. Ahn Hyun hung his head and sheepishly retrieved his spear. Sol, who had been watching the whole affair, swallowed hard and gripped her staff tightly.
After staring at the three of them with a look of disappointment for a while, I finally let out a deep sigh and opened my mouth.