Chapter 21
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Wow! Javelin Throw!
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Wow! Javelin Throw!
[You have reached the level limit for 1★. The mana required for promotion has greatly increased.]
“I was wondering why I only gained two levels... Guess it takes a ton of EXP to rank up. Anyway! This isn’t the time. Is everyone okay?”
I hurriedly checked on the goblins. Luckily, they were all seriously injured but not fatally so.
Gobling had the worst of it, with blade shards embedded all over his body, but I pulled them out one by one and slapped on some madecassia leaves in their place.
“Ugh... bitter.”
Everyone was in rough shape, so I had no choice but to chew the madecassia leaves myself. The bitterness was beyond imagination.
No wonder Gobling had bragged about chewing them himself. And here I was, oblivious, ordering him to headbutt the orc...
Sigh. Lesson learned.
“We seem to have passed the worst of it now, Master.”
Once the basic first aid was done, Moemoe-chan let out a sigh of relief. Watching her like that kinda pissed me off.
Here I was, the Demon King, personally chewing this nasty stuff to nurse my minions, and she just floated there watching because she was a spirit.
“From the way you say it, it sounds like you saved them all? All you did was chatter from the sidelines.”
“Chatter? It was advice. Advice! Would you have even thought to use madecassia leaves without me?”
“I could’ve figured that much out! You calling me stupid? Ack!”
I snapped at her, and a jolt of electricity shot through my side. I took off my outer shirt to check— the spot grazed by the orc’s tusk was turning black and necrotic.
“Looks like a cracked rib? You’ll need madecassia leaves here too, Master.”
“Again? Damn it, this is torture.”
I forced down more madecassia leaves while chewing and asked,
“But what the hell happened? A 2★ monster just barging in out of nowhere?”
“Looks like we left too much spare mana in the dungeon crystal.”
“Only two left over, and that’s too much?”
“Honestly, I didn’t expect this either. Normally, even if a dungeon crystal is full of mana, it doesn’t attract monsters of such a high rank.”
“So I’m a special case, huh... Ya-re ya-re. Being too special is a problem too.”
“......”
I could feel the contempt in her eyes. It had been a while since I got that look—my lips curled up without me realizing.
“Pervert.”
Her words hit right on the mark, stirring something deep inside. I’d noticed it before, but Moemoe-chan had an uncanny grasp of my fetishes.
“Truly, a master I’d be ashamed to show anyone...”
“What was that?”
“Nothing.”
“You definitely said embarrassing...”
As I pressed her, Moemoe-chan quickly changed the subject.
“This is just my guess, but it might be because you spend so much time away from the dungeon, Master.”
“Huh? What’s that mean?”
Moemoe-chan adjusted some imaginary glasses and launched into her analysis.
“Normally, other dungeon keepers stay in their dungeons 24/7. But you spend almost all your time outside, so... to invaders, our dungeon looks like easy pickings.”
“Hmm. So basically, I need to hang out in the dungeon all the time... Any other options? I need like three hours a day for anime.”
“Master...”
“No, wait, I mean during academy hours, I have to be away. To get weapons, I’ve got no choice. Gotta get that hunter license.”
‘Why am I even making excuses?’ I thought, but Moemoe-chan’s pitiful gaze had me rambling anyway.
“Sigh. Another option would be to use up as much mana as possible to eliminate any surplus.”
Moemoe-chan sighed and suggested a solution. She looked just like Zhuge Liang schooling Liu Bei—kinda depressing. Was I really that hopeless?
“But even that’s not foolproof. Your mana has this... monster-magnet quality? Hard to explain, but it draws them in even when you’re just sitting there. A natural charm, maybe? My guess is it’s due to your noble bloodline.”
“Noble bloodline?”
“Yes. You’re the Demon King’s descendant, after all.”
“A noble bloodline that attracts enemies... Damn, I’m not Liu Bei or anything.”
Liu Bei from Romance of the Three Kingdoms was famous for drawing in talent—and enemies. Wherever he went, wars broke out, lands changed hands. He was basically the Three Kingdoms’ Detective Conan, a human psyker emitter, a walking plague.
“Ugh! Take that back! I hate Liu Bei. I don’t wanna ‘Yiling’ myself. I’d rather be Dongwu’s virtuous king!”
“The leaves are all chewed up, Master. Time to apply them to the wound.”
“Huh? Oh, yeah.”
Slapping the madecassia leaves on my side brought the pain and fever down with it. Madecassia really worked fast.
With my mind clearer, I started thinking.
‘First things first, I need to lower my mana reserves again. Leveled up and now I’ve got four spare again. Could attract a 4★ if I’m not careful.’
I scrolled through the recruitable minion list. We’d caught quite a few invaders, so it was packed.
A succubus or two popped up here and there, but mostly goblins. Then I spotted Hobgoblin and paused.
“Oh yeah. I’m level 10 now. Doesn’t that mean I can revive the hobgoblin from last time? Kills two birds—one, reduces mana to cut down on invasions. Perfect.”
“You’re just realizing that now...”
“What?”
“Very perceptive of you, Master.”
“Cut it out, seriously.”
“Yessir!”
“Ugh. What kinda minion is this...”
Sighing, I recruited the hobgoblin. A card-draw beam shot from the dungeon crystal, and poof—a hobgoblin appeared in midair.
[Hobgoblin A. Lv 10.] [Goblin (★)]
[Strength 18, Agility 14, Vitality 10, Intelligence 5]
Impressive stats for a goblin. And it only cost 1 mana despite being 1.5★ level—nice.
Recruiting it unlocked a new skill too.
[You can acquire a new skill.]
[Smash (F-grade): Attack with greater-than-normal strength. Increases attack power by 10%, but requires 1 second of preparation.]
Learned it right away. The wind-up was a bummer, but +10% attack power was huge.
In the last fight, with Smash, I could’ve finished the orc while it was dazed from smashing into the wall.
‘Alright. While I’m at it, let’s allocate stats.’
[Cha In-hyeok. Lv 10. (0.2%)] [Mana 2/10]
[Strength 28, Agility 28, Vitality 30, Intelligence 28]
Even distribution overall, with a bit extra in Vitality for better healing.
I’d considered skipping Intelligence since mental magic didn’t work on higher-rank foes, but Moemoe-chan changed my mind.
“Higher stats can overcome rank differences to some extent. You beat the orc because of your Strength and Agility, right? If Intelligence had been higher, you might’ve landed Illusion even briefly.”
“Like with the hobgoblin?”
“I wasn’t there, so I don’t know, but it’d definitely help, Master.”
Stats should maximize skill use, for sure.
With Smash (Strength), Stealth (Agility), and Illusion (Intelligence), balanced investment made sense.
Decision made, I picked up the axe the orc dropped. The blade wasn’t super sharp, but it was hefty—would pack a punch.
I handed it to the hobgoblin. It looked small in the orc’s hands, but now he needed both to swing it.
[Orc Clan Axe (E)]
[Attack Power 22. Durability 25. Weight 20]
Weight of 20—eight times heavier than my spear. A true heavy weapon.
The orc swinging this one-handed so easily was insane.
“When I hit 2★, revive an orc right away. Ahh, I’m orc-hunting now!”
I’d keep mana at 2 steady. Need it for orcs at 2★, plus skills like Charge and Frenzy.
Might attract another 2★, but no biggie.
‘Hunt it like today. Leveled up, so next time’ll be easier. Goblins leveled too.’
Goblins jumped from 2-3 to 5 just from that skirmish. Badly hurt and weapons trashed, but not a total loss.
‘Broken weapons are a problem though. Make time to snag goblin daggers? Wait, or steal training weapons to arm them?’
Training gear, but aimed at realism—properly sharpened blades. Way better than rusty bronze daggers.
“Alright! Rest up, guys. I’ll snag some decent weapons for you soon!”
Time to head back to the training grounds. Goblins seemed past the crisis, and my side ached but I could move.
Couldn’t risk suspicion from being too late.
* * *
“Trainee 19? Don’t tell me you’ve been in the bathroom this whole time?”
“S-sorry. Bad stomach issues...”
The instructor recoiled in disgust.
‘Yeah, I’m the shitter. Think whatever. Easier for me that way.’
I shuffled into the training area. Rib injury made moving tough.
Stuck using the stomach excuse to rest on the side. Felt lame just sitting, so I bugged the instructor with questions.
“Um... Instructor? Can you learn javelin throwing here?”
Felt it in the orc fight. Javelin power.
Downside: left unarmed after. But the impact? Undeniable. No wonder primitives to Roman legionaries used it for ages.
“Javelin? Sure, you can learn it, but I don’t recommend... Throws away weapons each time, spears too big to carry many. Maybe one or two max, and the time, effort, cost? Not worth it. Plus, that guy’s teaching it...”
“But if I learn it, maybe I’ll use it someday?”
“Eh, won’t stop you. Archery range’s that way. Throwing range next door.”
Even Romans threw one pilum at battle start, then fought with gladius and shield.
They bought all gear themselves too. Same boat as me—javelins as main weapon? Bankruptcy city.
‘But I’ve got inventory. And tons of training spears here.’
Sneak a few each session, stockpile in dungeon. Solves it.
Don’t overdo or get caught. Pace it over a year.
‘Stealing stings the conscience a bit... but gotta survive.’
Found the archery range as directed. Decent crowd practicing.
Throwing range next door—totally empty. Guess everyone bailed on the downsides.
“Huh? Here to learn throwing?”
The instructor lit up as I entered.
“Y-yeah.”
“Awesome! Was worried no one’d show again. Come on in!”
He clapped, beaming. Kinda surreal. Last time a girl welcomed me like this? Those ‘psychology students’ asking for directions—I bought ’em burger sets.
I eyed him suspiciously. Not another cultist, right?
Mid-170s height, lean build, X-band across his chest loaded with throwing knives.
Thigh holsters for shuriken, throwing axe on back.
‘What’s this guy? Sichuan Tang Clan?’
Dazed, I asked,
“Uh... wanna learn javelin throwing.”
“Wow! Javelin! You know your stuff! FYI, javelins slap hard.”
His eyes sparkled like a kid’s.