The Ride Is Unbelievable
“This really seems a bit too much.”
“Pardon?”
“I’m talking about Jeong Yura.”
“Ahhh.”
“Tsk. She’s the type who’s obsessed with results and nothing else… the people under her must have it rough.”
“I see.”
“You don’t need to worry about it too much. I’m sure there isn’t a single person who thinks badly of you, Kiyoung. Even among us at the Mage Guild, everyone’s been saying Jeong Yura was way over the line.”
“That’s a relief. I was worried I might have caused trouble….”
“No, no. There’s always one person who stirs up trouble wherever they go. There’s an old saying that you only learn what kind of person someone is when you go into a dungeon with them, and I’m finally feeling the truth of that. I thought she was at least someone who understood basic manners, but… I don’t think we’ll be collaborating with the Black Swan for a while. Especially not with that woman, Jeong Yura.”
“The same goes for our Red Mercenaries.”
“I can understand it, from my perspective, but….”
“It’s because you’re too kind, Kiyoung. Interfering in another party’s business is overstepping. For her to keep shouting that she was right all the way to the end… She should’ve been offering a sincere apology instead. Even if she did feel wronged, she should’ve handled it through conversation or brought it up with the expedition leader. There are plenty of people who think the guild’s power belongs to them personally. It’s rude of me to say, but if Blue’s influence were still what it used to be, they wouldn’t have dared open their mouths.”
“Hahaha.”
“Anyway, what exactly did she say?”
“Well… I’m not sure if I should even repeat it….”
“Please don’t worry and tell me.”
Of course I had absolutely no intention of not telling him.
There was no reason to keep it secret in the first place.
“She… told us not to fraternize.”
“What? She really said that? She used the word fraternize?”
“Yes. She said she couldn’t tell whether we’d come here to conquer the dungeon or to socialize… that’s what she said. I only wanted to get along with everyone from the Mage Guild, but… I suppose I must have let my guard down.”
“No, not at all. Not in the slightest. Hah, fraternize? Fraternize, my ass….”
“I’m not sure if I should say this either, but….”
“You may.”
“She… asked whether the Mercenary Queen would still be able to protect you even here.”
“That crazy bitch.”
I’d expected an intense reaction, but the Red Mercenary’s unnamed swordsman muttered under his breath with obvious discomfort.
“I-I’m listening.”
“Then listen up. Is she out of her fucking mind? She doesn’t even know her place, and she’s dragging the Mercenary Queen into this? Who the hell does she think she is? What, she thinks we’re invisible or something? Huh? Don’t worry about it, Kiyoung. If that worthless bitch tries to do anything to you over this, I won’t sit still. How dare she… I’m seriously speechless.”
“You really were threatened like that? You should go out right now and file an official complaint. What kind of person does something like that, except criminals….”
“No, no. It’s really fine. I don’t want to make this into a bigger issue.”
“Tsk. Maybe it’s just my prejudice, but I see a lot of people like that among the thief and assassin classes. Is it any wonder people say thieves should stop asking for holy magic and just wrap bandages in the back? That kind of thing comes from women like her.”
“Haha….”
A little halfheartedly playing the role of someone trying to calm things down was important.
The position I had to take was still that of the sister-in-law, and even without stepping to the front myself, the mood had already been shaped to some extent.
Jeong Yura had become the common enemy of all of us.
And it wasn’t just from that one conversation.
After the uproar had passed, everyone offered me a warm word of comfort, and as if they had all rehearsed it together, no one hesitated to say something about Jeong Yura.
For someone who had put us on the chopping block, she was paying a far heavier price than she deserved.
Of course.
Jeong Yura herself, having belatedly realized the severity of the situation, was wandering around trying to poke her nose into this and that, but it was only natural she wasn’t getting anywhere.
Everyone here already knew that she had been the one who said excessive fraternizing was a bad thing in the first place.
All because I’d thoroughly worked her over from behind the scenes.
She was in a situation where even if she wanted to control public opinion, she no longer could.
That’s why it’s important to do well all the time.
Anyone could see she was trying to patch the stable after the horse had already bolted, so of course it was funny.
The more she struggled, the colder the looks that stabbed into her became.
And once it started becoming clear that she had mentioned the Mercenary Queen, her reputation within the Red Mercenary Guild plunged straight to rock bottom.
It got so bad that Choi Younggi, the expedition leader in all but name, had to tell the party members to bear with it a little longer.
In fact, some of them were making a scene about not being able to continue the dungeon conquest with her, so Choi Younggi, standing in the middle as mediator, was probably having a miserable time of it.
“All right, then. Let’s get moving again.”
“Yes.”
To put it simply, Jeong Yura was losing her footing here.
In a situation like this, the only thing she could cling to would be to perform as well as possible during the rest of the raid, but judging by the atmosphere Kim Hyunsung was giving off, that didn’t seem like it would go smoothly either.
The ideal outcome was probably to exploit our mistake and say, “I told you so.”
Bluntly speaking, she might even be hoping for an accident.
“Ah. Then I’ll head back.”
“Yes.”
The party’s atmosphere itself had changed a little. It was already obvious from their faces that no one wanted to make any more mistakes.
Maybe because of Kim Hyunsung’s strange presence, everyone had started focusing.
He really did have leadership in him. He had the power to draw people in, and the power to change the mood.
“You don’t need to be tense, Mr. Deokgu. Just think of it as focusing as much as possible on the rear.”
“Ah, aye.”
“Yeri, don’t worry about anything else. Focus your attacks on the areas where it’s already been wounded by swords… got it? If you can, it’d be better to channel mana into your shots.”
“Yes…….”
“Ms. Hayan and Kiyoung are both doing well.”
“Thank you.”
“Ms. Heeyoung, you don’t need to keep watching me….”
“Yes. I’ll remember that, Hyunsung.”
“Good.”
The other party members were also exuding a strange sort of zeal.
I was starting to wish the monster would just show itself already. We’d only just stepped beyond the safe point when the quiet atmosphere broke.
Archers scanning the surroundings were especially conspicuous, since no one knew when or where those things might come in.
The place might have been called a garden, but the surroundings felt more like a vast jungle.
It was hard enough just to tell which things were plants and which were monsters, so it was only natural to keep every nerve taut.
While I was also checking the situation, Kim Hyunsung’s voice reached me.
“The chant.”
“Yes.”
I didn’t bother asking why I had to start reciting it now.
I already knew that if I did as I was told, light would break through.
Jung Hayan nodded too, slowly adjusting herself to my pace.
“Lord.”
“A power that cannot be taken away.”
“A power that can protect.”
“Flames.”
“Wind.”
Jung Hayan seemed to like the way our voices crossed over each other like that.
I could see her stuffing mana into the chant in time with my speed.
The feeling was a little like building harmony, and I found it rather enjoyable myself.
I fed mana into the catalyst and kept stacking the tower of power higher and higher.
“Preparing for combat.”
Choi Younggi announced the engagement.
At last I understood why he had told us to prepare our chants. What appeared before us was a mid-sized monster with an enormous body.
It was even bigger than the one we’d seen first. The front line was already in place, but it was still impossible not to feel a little intimidated.
And then—
Grrraaaah!
We believed in our regressor.
It was right then that Kim Hyunsung dashed forward.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Jeong Yura’s voice rang out, eager to seize on Kim Hyunsung’s move as if she’d caught him doing something wrong, but nothing he was doing was mistaken.
The monster was clearly staring at Park Deokgu.
Following Kim Hyunsung’s instructions, Sun Heeyoung’s holy magic poured down toward Park Deokgu.
Before the monster’s giant fist could land on him, one of its arms began to split apart.
Who had cut that arm up was obvious.
Hah.
Before anyone even had time to catch their breath, Kim Yeri’s arrows, just as Kim Hyunsung had said, rained down on the monster’s arm.
The creature, now missing one arm in an instant, came into view.
Park Deokgu, who had been preparing to block the next attack, looked a little flustered at the sight, but as if possessed by something, he began shifting his position to the right.
I couldn’t read the front line’s situation clearly, but to my eyes it looked as though Kim Hyunsung had already decided where Park Deokgu was supposed to move.
The monster, trying to bring down its remaining arm and crush Park Deokgu, had just started to smash at the shield when that arm, too, was ripped apart by a sword.
Once its two arms were gone and its chest lay bare, it was obvious what we had to do next.
“Magic.”
“Flame.”
“Storm!”
Almost at the exact same time Kim Hyunsung opened his mouth, I and Jung Hayan chanted together.
It was a collaboration meant to amplify the attack power of the fire spell I’d cast, though in truth it relied heavily on Jung Hayan’s offensive strength.
The storm of flames that rose from beneath the plant giant’s feet swallowed it in an instant, and it soon let out a massive scream before collapsing.
It looked like Park Deokgu might have been inside the area of effect, but since Sun Heeyoung was marking him, he’d probably be fine.
“Next.”
Ha….
Kim Hyunsung’s specs were by no means extraordinary.
In fact, his ability stats weren’t that different from theirs.
This wasn’t a problem of numbers.
Experience. Sense. I couldn’t define it cleanly.
And yet I could feel it—Kim Hyunsung was leading us.
Little Kim Yeri with her twin tails kept telling us exactly when to loose our arrows, and it felt as if Kim Hyunsung was guiding Park Deokgu to where he needed to move.
The same went for me and Jung Hayan.
He was leading us on when to attack and when to cast.
He wasn’t explaining everything one by one in words.
It felt more like he was pointing and saying, Here.
We struck the monsters again and again with magic, right in the instant they revealed an opening, timed perfectly to the moment we refreshed our chants.
Before any other party even had the chance to help Park Deokgu, he was already moving like he’d been possessed.
It’s not even like he’s been possessed by a ghost….
This was the first time hunting had ever felt easy.
All Jung Hayan and I had to do was chant, fire, chant, fire.
Of course, that was only possible because the monsters’ attack patterns were so simple, but even so, I couldn’t make sense of it.
I never imagined I’d be watching one monster fall for every single spell.
The other parties were also focused on the monsters in front of them, but their mouths had fallen open as they stared at how completely different our party had suddenly become.
As for Jeong Yura, she looked frankly stunned.
She was staring this way with the face of someone thinking that if anything was wrong, then everything was wrong.
I did think riding the Regressor Bus would be easy, but….
The actual ride was beyond anything I’d imagined. The seat was so incredibly comfortable that I almost wanted to change pants.
“Next.”
The ride quality is insane.
Before I knew it, the corners of my mouth started to lift at the feeling that I’d somehow joined the monster ranks myself.
So this is what a bus feels like.
In truth, even “bus” wasn’t enough to describe it.
Not even a luxury sedan would be this comfortable.