Revenge: The Glowing Blue Crystal
A round crystal glowing blue. Whether the kobold had swallowed it while rolling around somewhere, this crystal found in its stomach was exactly like the one that guy—the second team leader or whatever from the Red Hawk Clan—had shown them earlier. The size, the shape, the faintly shimmering hue... and though he hadn't experienced it firsthand, probably even the energy flowing inside.
"...Who would've thought we'd find it in a monster's gut."
Rikar, who had said to just ignore the Red Hawk Clan from now on, wore a stiff expression now that they had direct evidence linking them to the bastards. I let out a low sigh too, rolling the crystal around on my palm as I asked,
"What now?"
"...Why not just toss it? Holding onto that thing will only drag us into weird shit with them."
Rikar, the eldest and the party's unspoken leader, suggested ditching the found crystal. It wasn't part of the plan to stumble on something like this in the dungeon or get tangled with the Red Hawk Clan anyway.
"Whyy? Didn't those guys say they were looking for it? We take it and hand it over—boom, problem solved. They said they'd reward us for finding it."
Noticing our darkened faces, Kir tilted her head curiously. Yeah, normally speaking, finding a mere crystal like this wouldn't be cause for worry. The problem was...
"Kir. When you overheard their conversation earlier... you said they'd use forceful means if necessary to find this 'key' crystal, right?"
"Yup."
That's the issue. The image of that second team leader guy casually ordering his clanmates to use aggressive tactics without hesitation. I didn't know why they wanted it, but something felt off about them—shady as hell.
"Best to avoid getting mixed up with suspicious types like that altogether."
Screw the reward; cooperating with guys scheming something fishy could bite us later. Especially me, considering my ridiculous streak of bad luck lately.
These fuckers aren't Beast of the End cultists, are they?
These days, I suspected anyone even slightly shady of being cultists. It might be overkill, but after tangling with them three times already...
"Plus, who knows if those forceful types will even honor their promise of a reward. Worst case, they might try to silence us if we're onto their shady plans."
"...Isn't that a bit paranoid? They showed off the crystal so boldly; doesn't seem like they'd pull that."
Kir eyed me dubiously as I spun worst-case scenarios like a conspiracy nut, but I was dead serious. With my cursed luck, I had to assume the absolute worst every time.
"Even if you're right, Yuseong... wouldn't ditching it cause problems too? If we run into them again, we'll get the same questions."
"Ditching it is a problem now?"
"Yeah! I sneaked a listen earlier—they showed us their crystal orb and were checking our breathing and pulses to see if we were lying!"
...Breathing and pulses? Was that what the faint voice I'd heard was about?
"Possible. They say mana-trained superhumans have senses beyond imagination. They could pick up on our agitation the moment we lie and call our bluff."
For real? How the hell...? No, thinking about it, something clicked.
Right after fighting that necromancer, when Clarice grilled me at the temple, she'd suspected and intimidated me way too intensely.
If she saw through my lies back then...?
When she demanded my backstory, I'd hidden my isekai origins and spun a tale—had she pierced that deception? And Karen swallowing those bombshells about the black holy artifacts without question...
"Tricky. If we toss it and run into them again, getting grilled about this crystal the same way..."
"Even if we say we ditched it, they'll make us guide them. Say we didn't see it, and they catch the lie—we'll get interrogated even harder!"
Annoying. If Kir was right, simply dumping the crystal wouldn't solve shit.
In the end, after huddling and agonizing over it, we decided to pocket it.
"All our worries are just hypotheticals anyway. Better to keep it as a bargaining chip for unexpected encounters."
Yeah, I was probably overthinking the doom scenarios. Things could go smoothly—hand it over if we meet them, get rewarded for real, or avoid them till we exit the dungeon.
"Honestly, it's suspicious and worrying, but I wouldn't react as extremely as you..."
"No, Rikar. Stay sharp and suspect everything. They could be demons hiding from humans, Beast of the End cultists hunting hidden ruins in this dungeon, or even a necromancer drawn here to kill adventurers and claim their corpses."
"What the hell have you been through?"
Rikar, who'd been imagining mild criminal vibes, looked horrified at my endless suspicions.
"I was just thinking they might be plotting to monopolize the dungeon..."
"Whoa! Yuseong! You've fought demons too?!"
Unlike Rikar staring at me like I was nuts, Kir's eyes sparkled at something in my words that hooked her.
Don't look at me like that; it's embarrassing... Huh? Kir's ears perked up, Rikar sniffed the air, and I halted.
"People, right? And... quite a few this time."
"Seems so. No other paths around here."
After finding the crystal the Red Hawk Clan desperately sought, our party had been relying on Kir's pathfinding to escape the dungeon. We hadn't reaped huge rewards like planned, but safety first.
"Kir. Any detours?"
"Hmm. To reach the exit, we'd have to loop way around. And that way leads to those second-team guys."
We'd also used Kir's sharp senses to dodge that Red Hawk second team as much as possible. But with no alternatives, human presences approached from our path.
"No choice. Pray they're not Red Hawk and push through."
We couldn't backtrack now, so we advanced toward the presences, hoping it was just another hunting party. We could pass without issue, keeping distance.
But...
"Hey, you there?"
Against expectations, the two presences in the passage bore Red Hawk Clan insignias.
The surprise? Only that one was...
"Yuseong. You know them?"
"...Yeah, I know him."
...The Red Hawk Clan member was Haren, the guy who'd shown up at Karen's place not long ago.
.
.
"Fancy meeting you, you damn bastard...!"
Haren, rejected as Karen's disciple after losing to me and slinking away pathetically, gnashed his teeth and glared with raw hostility.
I was just baffled, though.
"What's with the sudden beef? You're the one who groveled pathetically to Master and got booted."
"Shut up! If not for you, I'd be the Sword Fairy's disciple by now!!"
"Hah."
So that's why he flared up on sight—he thought I was why Karen rejected him.
"Didn't you hear Master? Even without me, your talent was lacking from the start."
"Watch your mouth, you pathetic D-rank adventurer. A C-rank like me doesn't need talent lectures from trash."
"You lost to me."
"...That was just me letting my guard down."
"Even used mana?"
"........."
I wasn't holding back insults either, prodding him just right, and Haren's face flushed crimson. Rikar shook his head, grasping the situation, while Kir giggled.
As Haren's face burned redder, the other Red Hawk Clan member listening from behind scowled in displeasure and butted in.
"Can't stand for that. Adventurer, you're that Sword Fairy's disciple Haren mentioned, right? No shame?"
"...Shame? Me?"
"Yeah. Beating Haren with dirty tricks."
"...???"
Who the hell was this guy talking so casually to me like he'd seen it? More importantly, his words were absurd.
"I beat him with dirty tricks?"
"Yup. Haren told us all about it. You crushed Sir Haren—who challenged you honorably as a swordsman with his pride on the line—using foul play and mocked him?"
"I heard you used some weird magic tool mid-fight."
"And deliberately gave him a rotten wooden sword."
...What the hell? Haren's underlings—D-rank scrubs by the look—clustered, spreading rumor-mill bullshit from who-knows-where. Glancing at Haren's face amid the nonsense, I saw guilt flicker before he schooled it, piecing it together.
This punk...?
After losing fair and square with mana no less, he'd been blabbing outside about cowardly tactics?
"Pathetic."
"...Shut up!"
Knowing his own ugliness deep down, Haren's face burned as he drew his sword—overcoming shame, probably.
"You beat me using mana? No way without some trick... I won't fall for it!"
He aimed his drawn blade at me, resolute, proposing a duel.
"Fight me again. I won't be fooled this time! I'll prove that win was pure luck!"
"Pass."
"What."
I shot down his rematch pitch cold.
"Why should I fight you?"
"...Scared? Fine, you only won dirty before, so you're chickening out against the new me..."
"Think what you want."
Ignoring him, I subtly signaled my party behind me to slip past. But next instant, a chill prickled—I stepped back.
-Slash!!
A silver arc sliced empty air, shearing a few strands of my hair.
"...You."
"No running. For crushing my chance at Sword Fairy discipleship and scarring my face... pay now."
He seemed impulsive, but I hadn't expected an outright swing—my expression hardened coldly. Not lethal, but without dodging, my face would've been gashed bad.
"You sane?"
"Shut up! Because of you, I got sidelined from conquering dungeon level 3—stuck guarding this dump!"
.
.
Failed disciple tryout, humiliated loss to a D-rank—Haren's standing in the clan had tanked. Rumors of the defeat spread somehow, shrinking it further. Constant gazes treating him like sub-D-rank trash had frayed his nerves; stress had half-unhinged him. Proud enough to beg Karen, his shattered pride destabilized him more. To soothe it and flip guild eyes, he'd spread lies of "cowardly tricks." But now, facing me—the source—in front of believers.
Can't let it slip...!!
If exposed as a liar beaten by a D-rank, his clan position was toast. Sensing clanmates might question after hearing our talk if I left, he judged no backing down. Desperate, he wildly shoved his sword at me.
Just drop this guy!!
Show downing the D-rank "victor" publicly, rumors vanish, status rebounds—he thought. Pushed by stress, broken pride, crumbling rep, Haren impulsively blocked and swung without deep thought.
"This is self-defense, right?"
Dodged, but hair trimmed ridiculously—pissed, I drew and faced him.
He definitely used some dirty trick then... no other way!!
Spreading lies but convinced of his narrative, Haren started mana-enhanced, thrusting at me. Clan gear absorbed it, boosting him beyond our duel.
This fucker...
Unlike before, now mana-sensitive, I clocked his use instantly and twisted my swing's angle.
-Whoosh!!
Superhuman midair force warped trajectory; my blade clanged his armor. Heavy impact rocked him, but rage-blinded Haren ignored pain, flailing wildly.
"No improvement, huh."
"Shut up!"
His fury-fueled strikes were sloppier, more predictable. I dodged them all with a bored look.
Emotions make him even more one-note.
Sadly for Haren, he'd lost purely on skill back then. No progress since—defeat poisoned him into regression. Meanwhile, I'd kept sword drills amid mana training, enduring harsher sessions from Karen to fight mana-users.
-Thwack!!
"Guhk..!!"
I pummeled his bull-rush body with far sharper finesse.
"Wh-what do we do? Help Haren..."
"Better stay put."
The hesitant clanmates got blocked sharp by Rikar and Kir. They were flustered too but clocked this as Haren's outburst.
-Thud thud!!
"Kuhk... Wh-why...!!"
Dozens of clashes in seconds—his attacks blocked or whiffed, him just battered—Haren denied reality.
"Why? You lost then; thought a rematch changes shit?"
I thrashed him indifferently but shook out my stinging hand from the rebound.
Tough bastard.
Unlike barehanded wooden sword, full gear now. Mana-infused armor shrugged off solid hits without cracking.
Weak spots for protection... there.
Scanning him quick, wary of reinforcements, I wanted fast end—eased power in our locked blades. Suddenly unresisting, Haren staggered, barely balancing.
That unbalanced instant. Flow mirroring our last duel, Haren felt time slow, hearing my voice.
"Hey."
".....!"
"Bite down hard."
My shout clenching fist. Seeing it, Haren's trauma replayed.
[Bite down hard]
Same words from defeat. Mana-shielded yet KO'd by jaw clean hit—humiliating memory.
"Not like last time....!!"
Same flow as defeat; vowing no repeat, Haren desperately raised guard, focusing face and jaw.
My fist grazed his upraised arm—instant he smirked, not like before.
-Tap.
"...Huh?"
Against resolve, a breeze-like touch on his arm. Of course. Target wasn't face.
My real aim:
Any man's undeniable weak spot.
Deliberately triggered trauma, drawing nerves upward—leaving it wide open.
"Low blow."
A jest-like shout, light as could be.
And with it.
-CRUNCH!!!
My leg slammed straight into Haren's groin.