Red Hawk Encounter and the Blue Key
Everyone gripped their weapons tightly, eyes fixed on the direction of the approaching footsteps. Soon, a group of people armed with gear that looked superior to ours came rushing in.
"Hm?"
The brown-haired man at the front spotted us in our guarded stance, glanced around, and approached without hesitation. "Well now. Did we interrupt your hunt?"
His tone carried no hostility. As I tried to gauge him with all my senses, I shifted my gaze to the emblem on his chest.
A familiar pattern...?
"That emblem... it's the mark of the Red Hawk Clan."
I tilted my head at the nagging sense of recognition, but Rikar beat me to it, naming the clan outright. Hearing that jogged my memory too. Not long ago, that guy named Haren—who'd come begging Karen to take him as a disciple, lost to me, and got chased off—was from the Red Hawk Clan, right?
"That's right. So the beastkin knows us? We're the Red Hawk Clan's Second Hunting Team."
Proud that we'd recognized them, the leader puffed out his chest, proudly displaying the emblem as he boasted their identity. He seemed full of pride in his own skills and the clan's reputation. Then, seeing we still hadn't lowered our guards, he tried to reassure us.
"Relax. We have no intention of causing you any trouble."
"What business does the Red Hawk Clan have with us? If it's you lot, you must've known we were here. Have you forgotten the unwritten rule among adventurers—not to interfere with other parties in a dungeon?"
Even after the brown-haired man's words, Rikar didn't drop his guard, eyeing them suspiciously. The leader was probably at least C-rank, likely qualified for B-rank. Someone that strong would've sensed Rikar and the rest of us from afar—yet they'd come straight toward us anyway.
Considering the dungeon etiquette of ignoring other parties to avoid conflicts, this wasn't a good sign.
"No need to worry. Our clan isn't like those foolish bandits who bully the weak. We just came to ask something."
"Ask something...?"
"While hunting in this dungeon, did you happen to find a round blue crystal about the size of a fist?"
"A crystal?"
It was an oddly out-of-place question for the situation. Caught off guard, our group exchanged confused looks, but Rikar, as the eldest, stepped forward calmly and shook his head.
"I don't know what you're after, but... our party's only just entered the dungeon. All we've found are these ratmen." He gestured to the corpses strewn on the floor, tactfully omitting the mana stones we'd collected.
The brown-haired man listened expressionlessly, then slowly scanned me and Kir with his eyes.
"...Hm."
As if judging our truthfulness, he reached into his pocket and pulled something out.
"Does it look like this...? You really haven't seen one?"
".....?"
A round, glowing blue crystal. Plain in appearance, but it gave off an uncanny aura. He held it up right in front of us, watching our reactions.
"No clue."
"No idea."
"Beats me!"
Naturally, the three of us gave the same answer. The brown-haired man muttered to himself upon hearing it.
"...Pulse... no sweat either... seems true..."
His voice was so faint even my evolved senses barely caught it. Nodding as if convinced, he slipped the crystal back into his pocket and flashed a friendly smile.
"Sorry about that. We lost a key resource from our guild in this dungeon. If you find anything like this inside, please let us know. We'll make it worth your while."
With that, he tucked the orb away and led his comrades off, as if they'd really come all this way just for that one question.
Thud. Thud.
Once their footsteps faded into the dungeon depths, Rikar lowered his weapon with a deep sigh, tension draining from him.
"Phew... at least they're not bandits."
"Rikar, what exactly is the Red Hawk Clan?"
"You don't know? They're the second-largest clan operating around Rivil. They've got five B-rank adventurers and nearly thirty C-ranks—a real powerhouse."
Hmm... impressive? Maybe because my mentor Karen was former A-rank, it didn't hit as hard. Sounded big from what Rikar said, though.
"Rumor has it they secured exclusive rights to explore the third floor... looks like it's true."
"So why are heavyweights like that messing around on the first floor?"
I grumbled, annoyed by their sudden appearance, questions, and abrupt departure. Rikar gave a wry smile and patted my shoulder.
"They said they lost something important to them..."
"It wasn't lost."
"Hm?"
At that moment, Kir—who'd been silent—twitched her ears and spoke up out of nowhere. Eyes closed in concentration, her ears flicked rapidly.
"Lemme see... someone's asking, 'Captain, is it okay to show them the key like that?'..."
"Kir? Are you...?"
"And the guy says, 'It's faster than us searching one by one. You doubting my judgment?'"
"No way—you're listening to them talk from way over there...?"
The Red Hawk group was long gone; no footsteps, no presence. Yet Kir mimicked their voices perfectly, as if eavesdropping in real time.
Mana?
Watching her, I focused and sensed faint mana swirling around her ears. Unlike Karen's refined flow, it was crude and wild—but it rippled as if amplifying her hearing.
"Kir! Were you spying on their conversation? That's dangerous! What if they picked a fight?"
"But they seemed fishy. Even when they asked us, the guys in back kept reaching for their weapons..."
Rikar scolded her for eavesdropping on a major clan like the Red Hawks, but Kir pouted in protest, pointing out how the others had gripped their weapons during the questioning—like they were ready to kill us based on our answers.
"...How'd you do that?"
"This? Close my eyes, focus on my ears, and far-off sounds come in clear. Pretty cool, huh?"
Unlike Rikar, who'd been lecturing her, I'd sensed the mana and stared blankly, pointing at her ear. Kir just grinned, oblivious that she'd used mana instinctively.
Using mana without even realizing it—pure instinct?
Maybe beastkin, with their stronger animal instincts, could pull it off.
"Anyway, from what I heard, that thing they showed us wasn't lost—they found it in this dungeon!"
"In the dungeon?"
"Yeah. They called it a 'key' and said they need another one just like it—gotta find it quick."
Ignoring Rikar's scolding, Kir casually spilled what she'd overheard. Roughly: they called the crystal a key, it wasn't theirs to begin with (contrary to their claim), and they'd use force if needed to get the last one.
"Argh! Whatever they're after, it's none of our business. Kir, don't do anything that risky again! What if they caught you?"
"I've done it tons—never got caught once!"
"Just 'cause it worked before doesn't mean it always will!"
I agreed with Rikar. I'd figured Kir was unpredictable, but spying on a group with B-ranks? Bold.
"So what're they looking for? Aren't you curious?"
"Ignore whatever you heard. We don't have their key anyway, so let's just do our job."
While Kir eyed their retreat spot curiously, Rikar shook his head firmly—it wasn't our concern.
"Come on. With the Red Hawks turning the first floor upside down, we hurry or we'll run out of monsters."
Rikar urged us onward, insisting we had no reason to care about them. Just focus on our quest.
The problem was, things didn't go so smoothly.
...
The first floor had a variety of monsters: ratmen like the ones we'd started with, goblins with odd skin tones, even direwolves that resembled Rikar.
"...Resemble me, huh."
"But it really looks like you, mister!"
"Sigh... I don't mind much, but don't say that to other beastkin. Telling a rat beastkin they look like a ratman could start a duel on the spot."
Sorry, Rikar, but unlike Kir—who looked mostly human—he was straight-up wolf-shaped. The direwolf didn't look that different, honestly.
"...Yuseong? Why's your sword pointed at me?"
"...Kidding."
"Your eyes weren't joking..."
That led to a near-miss where, mid-battle with direwolves, I almost swung at a wolf head that looked too much like him.
"Not a small thing at all."
Anyway, after a few more fights, we gathered usable drops and mined mana stones. About one or two per ten kills, and Rikar said stronger monsters' stones fetched better prices.
"By the time we leave, we might each pocket a few gold."
The mood was good then. Fighting back-to-back built camaraderie, and our teamwork was syncing up. I knew Rikar's skill, but Kir was stronger than expected too.
"Still amazing as ever. You really can't handle mana?"
"Knowing mana doesn't make you super strong. Just beat up a mana user the other day."
"...What the hell have you been through?"
Trouble hit during a kobold hunt—those goblin-gnoll hybrids. Bantering lightly with Rikar post-fight, I scanned for mana stones as usual.
Hm...?
Something off—not a mana stone, but an alien energy from one kobold's gut. Thinking it a special stone, I sliced it open and pulled out the source. Rikar and I both froze.
"Whoa—that orb those guys showed us!"
Kir blurted it out obliviously, but...
"...Why's this in a kobold's stomach...?"
We'd sworn off Red Hawk drama not even a day ago. Now we'd found the key they were desperately hunting.
