Chapter 32: The Female Knight's Counterattack (5)
Chapter 32: The Female Knight's Counterattack (5)
After taking down the Tree Evil Spirit Lesh, Grace and I cleared two more dungeons—one F-Rank and one E-Rank.
The empty dungeons appeared with slight intervals between them, so we took brief rests before diving straight into the next portals.
I flicked my blade, shaking off the blood clinging to the steel.
Before me, a green-skinned midget of a monster collapsed backward, its head missing.
Thud!
"Whew..."
"Well done, Han Shin."
"Thanks. You worked hard too, Grace."
All around Grace and me, the cold corpses of green-skinned runts were cooling on the ground.
The one I had just taken down was a Hobgoblin, the chieftain of the tribe.
In the final E-Rank dungeon, we had to subjugate an entire goblin village within a forest.
Individually, a single goblin was, of course, incredibly weak. In a way, even an ordinary adult male could handle one if he had a club.
The problem, however, was their numbers.
For a typical five-person party of Awakeners, this would have been an incredibly easy dungeon—a "honey dungeon," so to speak. But since it was just the two of us, and I was a clear novice, the difficulty felt significantly higher.
Goblins stood about a meter tall. They were small and weak, but their sheer numbers and the way they rushed us with all sorts of hidden weapons and blades were hard to ignore.
If I hadn't been there, Grace probably would have ground them into dust in an instant...
I could tell she was fighting defensively, protecting me while allowing me to gain real combat experience. To her, these goblins were nothing more than "trash mobs" in a video game.
From my perspective, though, it was anything but easy.
Poisoned blades flew at me from all directions at a moment's notice, and they charged in swinging clubs. They even spat poisoned needles, forcing me to keep my body moving frantically.
It seemed the signature color of this goblin tribe was green. I could tell immediately by the way their leather armor was dyed entirely green and how their weapons were coated in the same pigment.
It feels a bit funny to say, but the way Grace had run me ragged this morning was actually quite effective.
It might seem strange for such training to show results so quickly, but having already experienced a long bout of continuous combat once today made it much easier to handle the relentless waves of goblin attacks.
I reached out toward the goblin chieftain and absorbed the mana from the dungeon core, then looked over at Grace.
Grace, who had closed the distance to my side, took my hand.
"Shall we move then, Han Shin?"
"Yeah."
We had already decided that after this dungeon raid, we wouldn't go back to my house, but rather to Grace's Sanctuary.
The reason was that when I returned to my room after the first raid on Lesh, I was covered in the monster's red fluids. Naturally, my room became a disaster.
Up until then, I hadn't gotten that dirty, so returning home only required a quick wipe-down of some dirt. I hadn't given it much thought, and that had been my mistake.
To make matters worse, when Noona saw the state I was in, she thought I was hurt. She rushed over in a panic, asking if I was okay, and her clothes got ruined in the process too.
It took quite a bit of effort to calm her down, explaining that I wasn't injured and that it was just Lesh's sap...
Between that and the mess in the house, we decided to head straight to the Sanctuary after clearing the dungeons.
Fortunately, Grace had already been to my house, so she could set the spatial coordinates. Since we could exit back to my room instead of this dungeon later, I agreed to her suggestion.
By now, I was somewhat used to the sensation of my body feeling weightless.
A moment later, as my vision returned, I confirmed we had arrived at Grace's Sanctuary.
Usually, we would move straight to the training area, but this time was a little different.
It was a place Grace had introduced to me once before—the living space where she had spent most of her time waiting for the call as a follower of Tiamat.
The walls were lined with countless books, and I saw a large bed, chairs, and tables.
The high-quality wood grain caught my eye; I had heard that through Tiamat's authority, such items could be used freely within this space.
But why here...?
Grace's voice from right beside me answered my silent question.
"Han Shin. Why don't you wash up here before you go?"
"Ah... that's a good idea, Grace."
Right now, both Grace and I were in a state where goblin blood was splattered on our armor, and traces of poison from needles and arrows were still lingering. It wasn't exactly a condition to go straight home in.
Being able to wash up here was more than welcome.
"This way..."
Grace led me straight to the bathroom.
As we approached the wall opposite the bookshelves, there was a door. Upon opening it, I saw hot water flowing directly from the wall into a curved, oval bathtub, with steam rising in thick clouds.
Strangely enough, the layout wasn't much different from a bathroom on Earth.
I guess people live similarly everywhere...?
Come to think of it, Grace hadn't shown any particular reaction when she washed up at my house, either.
"Han Shin, if you wash first, I will go after you."
Ah... since this was a place where Grace lived alone, there was only one bathroom. I suppose there was no need for more.
"Okay, I'll be out quickly."
I felt I should hurry for Grace's sake.
As I stepped into the bathroom, Grace spoke again.
"And, Han Shin..."
Having called my name, Grace couldn't seem to find the words. She averted her gaze slightly, her voice trailing off.
She seemed to be contemplating something for a moment.
I was curious, but since it was Grace, I figured she had something important to say, so I waited patiently without a word.
After a brief hesitation, as if she had made up her mind, she looked at me and spoke.
"I have something important to tell you after you've finished washing."
It sounded serious... I wondered what it could be.
"Got it."
I had no reason to refuse, so I accepted immediately.
At my answer, Grace gave a small nod with a smile and closed the door.
I was curious about what she wanted to say, but for now, washing up was the priority.
I quickly deactivated my full body armor and stripped off the rest of my clothes.
Hmm... It felt a bit awkward wearing a round-neck tee and shorts under the armor.
I used to wonder why other Awakeners wore skin-tight suits like diving gear under their equipment, but now I understood. With the sweat pouring off me, the loose clothes felt cumbersome and uncomfortable.
I'd have to ask Noona for some advice on this later.
This was my first time using a luxury bath that only the wealthy would typically enjoy. However, because I was trying to be quick, I couldn't afford to soak in the tub.
The fact that Grace was waiting for me was what weighed most on my mind.
But just as I was finishing up...
I hit a major snag.
A change of clothes.
I realized too late that I didn't have any.
Ah... I'm screwed. What do I do? Should I put my old clothes back on?
They were soaked in sweat and now damp from the bathroom's humidity. It felt gross to even think about putting them back on...
Just then, it seemed Grace had anticipated my situation.
"Han Shin, I will leave a towel and some clothes outside the door."
"Ah... thank you! Grace!"
Since she had solved my predicament, my voice came out louder than intended.
I went over and cracked the door open. Grace had already stepped away to give me privacy, and in front of the door sat a neatly folded large towel and a set of clothes.
Phew... thank goodness.
Grace had mentioned before that she could easily obtain simple necessities within her Sanctuary, and it seemed she had prepared these quickly using that ability.
It was a white silk robe that covered the whole body and ivory-colored trunks.
Well, at least it covers everything.
I immediately put on the trunks Grace provided, threw on the soft robe, and stepped out, carrying my dirty laundry.
Meeting Grace in a slightly awkward atmosphere, I quickly moved out of her way.
"I'll go wash up now."
"Okay..."
I purposely sat in a chair with my back to the bathroom to avoid letting my eyes wander toward it. I pulled out my smartphone and opened the Manager App.
Since we had cleared three dungeons today, I wanted to see if anything had changed.
Besides, there wasn't much else to do here...
So far, nothing seemed different.
Hmm... no new functions opened...
No change in level for either Grace or me...
Only my stored mana, which I had absorbed from the dungeon cores, was displayed as a numerical value of 1200.
Ah... wait... I really do need to level up...
A thought I had been intentionally avoiding finally resurfaced in my mind.