The Heavenly Slaughter Star Stands Alone
Enoch, bearing the Heavenly Slaughter Star, ran with all his might as if exploding with anger. His hair whipped wildly in the rushing wind. After a while, he stopped briefly to catch his breath. Only then did he notice he was in his pajamas with no shoes. Of course, he had no money, only his body and his mercenary badge. Well, that was enough. Enoch pursed his lips and started running again. 'Should I head to Dendalo?' No. He might run into Rionne for no reason. Then somewhere else. He picked a direction at random.
[Whine…?] Eri poked her head out from his chest, sensing her master's turmoil. Enoch pressed down on Eri's head and stuffed her back inside. "Stay still."
[Yip.]
"It's fine."
[Meow?]
"Shut up."
With a destination in mind, he pressed on. His condition wasn't too bad. From the faint memories of that night, he had reached the Master realm. He'd been unsure when he'd get there, but perhaps life-or-death battles really were the best? Still, it seemed he hadn't fully ascended to Master yet. The enlightenment he'd gained that day was hazy. If he used the Thunder God Myth one more time, this time… Enoch shook his head after a moment's thought. 'Don't be ridiculous, Enoch. You almost died for real this time. Do you know what Noona was feeling… ugh… what she was feeling? Sob…' The image of Rionne crying flashed through his mind. He didn't want to worry her again for no reason. No, maybe she wouldn't worry anymore? Since he'd run away from home. Maybe Rionne, fed up, would treat him like someone else's child.
"……."
Should he go back? The thought lasted only a moment. Driven by a sudden stubbornness, he picked up the pace a little more.
*
He crossed the forest for several days. Having grown quite familiar with the forest by now, Enoch didn't struggle much. He simply repeated the cycle of resting and running. Before he knew it, he'd reached the forest's boundary while running without a thought. The dense trees thinned out, and he began to sense people's presence. Enoch brushed the leaves off his body and headed for the city's main gate.
"Um…"
The guard gave Enoch a strange look—pajamas and barefoot—but after showing his mercenary badge, he entered without issue. Now what? First, he needed clothes. Food and shelter weren't a problem since he could handle them in the forest.
"Hmm."
But clothes didn't grow on trees. He'd have to either buy them with money or threaten someone with a sword. 'What do you mean "no choice"! Enoch, why do you always try to solve everything with a fight? Huh?' Enoch pursed his lips and wandered toward the mercenary guild. Ignoring the odd stares from passersby, he arrived at the mercenary guild.
"Wahaha…! What's with that idiot!"
"Did he lose his mom after leaving home?"
Ignoring them, he headed for the nearby bulletin board. Palm-sized papers were plastered all over it. Request forms. Enoch searched for requests that even a D-rank mercenary could handle. Among the ones he found, four offered rewards above a certain amount. Three were herb-gathering requests, and one was a goblin village subjugation request. After a brief hesitation, he tore all four off.
When he brought the request forms to the counter, the receptionist gave him an awkward smile. "Uh… What can I do for you?"
Enoch held out the request forms. The receptionist's expression grew even stranger as he examined them. "Uh… You do know there are penalties for failure, right? It could even lower your rank."
"Yeah."
"Even if the gathering requests are fine, you'll be short on time if you take the subjugation request too…. Do you have a party?"
"It's fine."
When Enoch pushed the forms forward, the receptionist took them reluctantly. "Well then…, I'll process them for you."
That was enough. Enoch turned his back immediately. From the atmosphere, it seemed like more trouble would come if he stayed. Honestly, he didn't care, but Rionne's words weighed on his mind.
"Hmph."
Enoch kicked the guild door open for no reason and left.
*
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 have to find out later, he thought, when something caught his eye.
"No, I told you this way is right!"
"What the hell are you talking about with the map upside down! It's that way!"
"No, I'm sure it's this way."
"Ah, fuck."
It was a party bickering among themselves. Enoch's gaze lingered on them for a moment. 'They said you need diverse experiences to raise your realm.' Maybe he should try working with others once this request was done? It might be counterproductive in terms of efficiency, but doing requests diligently wouldn't yield anything anyway. At best, money. He'd never placed much importance on money.
As Enoch walked through the forest with these thoughts, his nose twitched. A sharp yet bitter scent. It was the scent of the herb from the request form. He changed direction and walked a bit, and found the herb. Under a rock. He swung his hand to smash the rock, pulled out the herb, and shook the dirt off the roots. That was one done. The rest of the requests weren't difficult either. After finishing all three gathering requests on the way to the goblin village, Enoch idly kicked the base of a tree. All things Rionne had taught him. Suddenly, he wondered if running away had been too much.
[Kyu!] Eri suddenly popped out and climbed onto his shoulder. Then she stretched out her small paw and tapped Enoch's head.
"Don't."
[Whine.]
Eri, who had climbed obediently onto Enoch's head, looked quite different from before. Her energy's size, or the color of her eyes. Her once sapphire-blue eyes had turned purple. According to Rionne, it seemed she'd been influenced by Enoch's lightning, and as a result, Eri's attribute had also solidified into lightning.
"Come to think of it…." Enoch grabbed Eri by the scruff of her neck and lifted her up. He thought he understood now why Rionne had said the spirit looked like a fox. It resembled that being called the Forest's Owner. White fur and blue eyes. Eri's eyes had been blue before turning purple.
"Tsk."
His mood soured. Because of that fox, what a mess this all was. Enoch, who had casually said something that would make the Forest's Owner blow a gasket if he heard it, stretched out his finger.
"See that?"
[Yip!]
"Kill them."
At the command, Eri shot forward. The place Enoch pointed to was the goblin village faintly visible between the dense trees of the forest. Soon, purple lightning enveloped Eri's entire body, and with a rumble—! She left a purple trail as she flew between the trees and charged. Enoch, who had been slacking off on the spirit, walked slowly. As if to prove she'd been fed plenty of mana, Eri rampaged in all directions, slaughtering the goblins. Piercing them like an arrow, frying them with lightning, or smashing their heads with her tail. It was somewhat admirable how she casually blew them up as if playing a game.
'She's finally being a bit helpful.'
Cleaning up the goblin village took less than ten minutes.
*
Enoch returned to the mercenary guild. Had it only been about an hour since he left? That explained why some of the faces from earlier were still there.
"Hey, hey, that idiot from before is back."
"Kuhuhu, moron. He took four requests at once."
Enoch, who had consistently ignored them, rummaged through his things and handed the herbs to the receptionist.
"Yes, Pakulramins, Bitterweed, and Three-Yin Herb. Confirmed."
The receptionist disappeared after saying to wait a moment, then returned with a pouch. "Your reward for the requests."
A quick peek inside showed the amount was correct. It wasn't much since they weren't difficult requests, but it was enough to buy a few sets of clothes.
"Now you have one goblin village subjugation request left, right?"
At the receptionist's words, Enoch raised an eyebrow. "I finished that too."
Wahaha—! Laughter erupted from behind. The receptionist forced a business smile and said, "Well…, for requests like goblin village subjugation, we can only pay the reward after we've confirmed it on our end."
"So I should come back later?"
"Umm…." The receptionist was in a difficult position. A goblin village might not seem like much, but it was surprisingly high difficulty. Not only were there many of them, but the goblins in this area were smart, so the place was full of all sorts of bizarre traps. Naturally, D-rank mercenaries needed to form a party of considerable size, and to handle it alone, one needed to be at least C-rank. To finish it this quickly, they'd have to be B-rank. But the kid in front of him was at B-rank mercenary level? No matter how many strange things happened in the world, it wasn't an easy story to believe.
"Then I'll come back later."
Thinking they'd check it out themselves, Enoch turned around. The mercenaries' stares were blatant. Full of mockery. If someone picked a fight, would it be okay to beat them half to death? Wasn't that solving everything with a fight? As Enoch pondered,
"Hey, you bastards! Why don't you do your jobs instead of pulling this moronic shit?"
With the loud voice, the guild fell silent. It was a strange sight. Weren't these mercenaries who lived by violence and brawling? Most of them were the type who had to taste something to know if it was shit or soybean paste. Yet they all shut their mouths at a single shout. Enoch's gaze turned to the owner of the voice.
"Hey, kid. See you again."
It was a bald middle-aged man with a fierce appearance. If you enlarged a dwarf three times, wouldn't he look like that? Especially his shiny bald head like a glass marble made you want to smack it at least once.
"Oh."
Leaving only that one word, Enoch left the guild.
*
Enoch left the guild and bought some clothes at random. A few comfortable outfits, one oversized hood, and a bizarre mask from a street stall made the list. After stuffing the clothes into a cheap bag he'd bought, Enoch looked at his reflection in a shop window. Though a bit short, there were quite a few short people. Someone in a dark, gloomy hood with a weird-looking mask—there were probably a few like that among the mercenaries.
"Hmm."
This should be fine. They wouldn't treat him like a kid right away. Enoch left the city again and searched the forest for a Sathis tree. It was a strange tree that smelled similar to Rionne when the wind blew. Enoch climbed the tree and sprawled out on a branch. He'd hung his belongings on a nearby branch.
"Idiot."
He already missed Rionne a little.
*
[Yip!] With a suffocating sensation, Enoch opened his eyes. As soon as he opened them, white, fluffy fur filled his vision.
[Kek…!] Enoch dropped Eri and yawned as he climbed down from the tree. Eri, as if accustomed to it, settled on Enoch's shoulder and licked his cheek.
"Today…"
Should he try forming a party? It was hard to understand, but apparently there was enlightenment to be gained even in relationships between people. Since Rionne said it, it must be true. Enoch, who had thoroughly suppressed his desire to just go home, walked toward the city.
However, as he passed through the gates and entered the city, something about the atmosphere felt off. When he entered the mercenary guild, the atmosphere was even more intense.
"So? They're handing out conscription notices?"
"Who knows. Might get drafted."
"Damn it! Tell them to stop bullshitting!"
"If the lord says jump, you jump. Try saying you don't want to."
"They're putting 'die' in pretty words, aren't they?"
"If you hate conscription so much, you should've become a Master too."
"Fuck off."
Did a war break out or something?