Chapter 26
Chapter 26
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: The Thousand-Slaying Star Stands Alone
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Enoch sprinted with all his might, as if unleashing his fury.
His hair whipped wildly in the onslaught of wind.
After running for a good while, he paused to catch his breath.
Now that he took a moment to check himself, he was in pajamas with no shoes.
No money, of course—just his body and his mercenary tag.
Well, that was enough.
Enoch pursed his lips and started running again.
‘Head to Dendal?’
No.
He might run into Leone.
Somewhere else, then.
He picked a direction at random.
[Nng…?]
Eri poked her head out from his chest, sensing her master’s confusion.
Enoch pressed down on Eri’s head, shoving her back inside.
“Stay put.”
[Ngk.]
“It’s fine.”
[Meng?]
“Quiet.”
Now that he had a destination, he pressed on.
His condition wasn’t all that bad.
From his faint memories of that night, he’d reached Master rank.
He’d wondered when he’d get there, but real combat on the line was the best teacher, huh?
Still, it didn’t feel like he’d fully ascended to Master yet.
The insights from that night were hazy.
If he tried Thunder God Transformation once more, maybe this time…
Enoch pondered briefly, then shook his head.
‘You gotta be kidding, Enoch. You nearly died this time. Sis was… Sis was so worried… Ugh… Do you even know how she felt…? Sniff…’
The image of Leone crying flashed in his mind.
He didn’t want to worry her again for no reason.
Or maybe she wouldn’t worry about him anymore?
He’d stormed out of the house, after all.
Leone might be so fed up she’d treat him like some stranger’s kid.
“…….”
Should he go back?
The thought didn’t last.
A surge of pointless pride spurred him to run even faster.
*
He crossed the forest for days on end.
Enoch, now quite at home in the woods, didn’t struggle much.
Just rest, run, rest, run.
Lost in thoughtless motion, he soon reached the forest’s edge.
The dense trees thinned out, and he began sensing people nearby.
Enoch brushed the leaves off himself and headed for the city’s main gate.
“Um….”
The guard eyed his pajamas and bare feet suspiciously, but the mercenary tag got him in without issue.
Now what?
Clothes first.
Food and shelter could be handled in the forest, so no big deal there.
“Hmm.”
But clothes didn’t grow on trees.
He’d have to buy them or threaten someone with a blade—one or the other.
‘What do you mean, no choice! Enoch, why do you always try to solve everything with fights, huh?’
Pursing his lips, Enoch wandered toward the mercenary guild.
Ignoring the stares, he arrived at the guild.
“Wahaha! What’s with that pajama moron!”
“Did he run away from home and lose his mom or something?”
He ignored them and headed to the nearby bulletin board.
Small papers were plastered together.
Quest notices.
Enoch scanned for D-rank quests he could handle.
Among them, four paid more than a set amount.
Three were gathering herbs or the like, one was goblin village extermination.
After a moment’s thought, he tore them all down.
The receptionist gave an awkward smile as he approached the counter with the quests.
“Uh… What can I do for you?”
Enoch handed over the notices.
Her expression grew even stranger as she looked them over.
“Um… You know there are penalties for failure, right? Your rank could drop.”
“Yeah.”
“Gathering quests aside, extermination in that timeframe… Do you have a party?”
“It’s fine.”
The receptionist took the notices reluctantly as Enoch pushed them forward.
“I’ll… process them for you.”
Good enough.
Enoch turned to leave.
The vibe suggested more trouble if he stuck around.
Honestly, he didn’t care, but Leone’s words nagged at him.
“Hmph.”
Enoch kicked the guild door open on his way out.
*
Not long after entering the city, Enoch left it again.
Come to think of it, he didn’t even know the city’s name.
He’d look it up later.
Something caught his eye.
“No, this way’s right, I’m telling you.”
“You’re holding the map upside down—what bullshit! That way!”
“No, definitely this way.”
“Fuckin’ hell.”
A party bickering noisily.
Enoch’s gaze lingered.
‘To raise awareness, you need varied experiences, right?’
After these quests, maybe team up with others?
It’d be inefficient, but grinding quests didn’t yield much anyway.
Just money.
He’d never placed much value on it.
Lost in such thoughts as he walked the forest, Enoch’s nose twitched.
A sharp, bitter scent.
The herb from the quest notice.
He veered that way and soon found it.
Under a rock.
He smashed the rock with a swing, pulled the herb, and shook off the dirt from the roots.
One down.
The rest were easy.
On the way to the goblin village, he finished the three gathering quests, then idly kicked a tree stump.
All things Leone had taught him.
For a moment, he wondered if running away was too much.
[Krit!]
Eri popped out and climbed onto his shoulder.
She patted his head with her tiny paws.
“Stop it.”
[Kyuung.]
Eri, now perched obediently on his head, looked quite different from before.
Her aura was bigger, her eyes a different color.
They’d once been a deep sapphire blue; now they were violet.
Leone said it was from Enoch’s brain lightning influence—her element had solidified as thunder, too.
“Come to think of it…”
Enoch grabbed Eri by the scruff and lifted her.
Leone had once said she knew why the spirit was a fox; now he saw the resemblance.
That lord of the forest.
White fur, blue eyes.
Eri’s had been blue before turning violet.
“Tch.”
His mood soured.
What a mess all this was because of that fox.
Enoch casually said something that would make the forest lord explode if he heard, then pointed.
“See it?”
[Ngk!]
“Kill.”
Eri shot forward at the command.
Enoch had pointed to a goblin village glimpsed through the dense trees.
Violet lightning soon cloaked Eri’s body,
Rumble—!
She streaked through the trees, leaving a purple trail.
Enoch, who’d smacked a spirit around, strolled casually after.
Eri rampaged wildly, as if paying back all the mana he’d fed her, slaughtering goblins left and right.
Piercing them like arrows, blasting them with lightning, smashing heads with her tail.
Killing them like it was play, explosions popping lightly—it was somewhat endearing.
‘Finally useful.’
Clearing the village took less than ten minutes.
*
Enoch returned to the guild.
About an hour since he’d left?
Some familiar faces were still around.
“Hey, that idiot’s back.”
“Kehehe, dumbass took four quests at once.”
Enoch ignored them, pulling out the herbs and handing them to the receptionist.
“Yes, Pakulamin, Kaldakcho, Samumcho. All confirmed.”
She vanished after saying wait a moment, soon returning with a pouch.
“Your quest rewards.”
A peek showed the amount was right.
Not a fortune since they were easy quests, but enough for some clothes.
“So, just the goblin village extermination left, right?”
Enoch raised a brow at her words.
“Done that too.”
Wahaha—! Laughter erupted from behind.
The receptionist smiled professionally, looking troubled.
“Well… For village exterminations, we have to verify before paying.”
“Come back later?”
“Uh….”
It put her in a tough spot.
Goblin villages sounded minor, but they were surprisingly tough quests.
Not just the numbers—local goblins were clever, riddled with bizarre traps.
D-ranks needed a solid party; solo needed C-rank at least.
This fast? B-rank minimum.
And this kid was B-rank level?
Miracles happened, but it wasn’t easy to buy.
“I’ll come back later, then.”
Enoch shrugged it off and turned to go.
The mercenaries’ stares bored into him.
Full of mockery.
Kill half if one started shit?
Wouldn’t that be solving everything with fights?
As Enoch pondered,
“Hey, you assholes! Mind your own damn business instead of this moronic crap!”
A booming voice silenced the guild.
Strange.
Mercenaries lived by violence and brawls.
Most couldn’t tell shit from miso without tasting.
Yet one shout shut them all up.
Enoch’s gaze turned to the voice.
“Hey, kid. See ya.”
A rough-looking bald middle-aged man.
Like a dwarf tripled in size.
Especially that shiny glass-bead dome—begging for a smack.
“Oh.”
Enoch left just those words and walked out.
*
Enoch bought some clothes after leaving the guild.
A few comfy outfits, an oversized hood for his frame, and a bizarre mask from a street stall.
He crammed them into a cheap bag and checked himself in the shop window.
A bit short, but plenty of short people around.
A dark, gloomy hood and crazy-looking mask? Mercenaries had a few like that.
“Hm.”
Not bad.
No one’d treat him like a kid outright.
Enoch left the city again, found a Satis tree in the forest.
A weird tree that smelled like Leone in the breeze.
He climbed up and sprawled on a branch.
Gear hung on a nearby limb.
“Idiot.”
He already missed Leone a bit.
*
[Ngk!]
A suffocating sensation woke Enoch.
Opening his eyes, fluffy white fur filled his vision.
[Kek…!]
He grabbed Eri and dropped her, yawning as he climbed down.
Eri hopped onto his shoulder familiarly, licking his cheek.
“Today…”
Maybe find a party?
Hard to grasp, but relationships brought insights, apparently.
Leone said so, so it must be true.
Suppressing the urge to just go home, Enoch headed to the city.
But passing the gate, the mood felt off.
It thickened in the guild.
“So? They’re handing it out as a quest?”
“Who knows. Could be conscription.”
“Fuck that! Tell ‘em no!”
“Lord says strip, you strip. Try refusing.”
“Real pretty way to say drop dead, huh?”
“Don’t like conscription? Shoulda hit Master yourself.”
“Goddamn it.”
What, war break out or something?