Captured a Wild Hidden Boss (2)
“I… was your servant.”
“Uh…. Does that make a barking noise?”
“……I shall explain it as your kin.”
Arkiël had subtly adjusted her posture at some point and was now kneeling with her hands politely clasped together.
A pose like she was prostrating herself before me in abject apology.
Not content with that, she bowed her waist again to press her forehead to the floor, so I hurriedly stopped her.
If Arkiël slammed her head into the bed, those sharp horns would gouge right into it too. The mattress would end up with a gaping hole punched through it for sure.
What if she made me pay for a new bed?
“But I am not even worthy to gaze upon your countenance……”
“L-Look all you want at my face or whatever. I give permission. No refusals!”
“……How can you be so merciful……”
Arkiël sniffled again, her voice thick with tears.
At this point, I was starting to panic. What the hell had I even done?
It felt like I was the trashy jerk who’d made a girl cry, so I straight-up banned her from crying.
*Whisper whisper.*
“…So what’s a ‘countenance’ anyway? It’s not something weird, right?”
“…Your face.”
“Aha.”
I asked Kim A-rin what the word meant—it had a bit of an odd ring to it—then turned back to Arkiël.
Her mouth opened hesitantly, with visible effort.
But I couldn’t make out a word she was saying.
“I am ■■■■■■■…. ■■■■■….”
“Uh…. What’d you say?”
“■■■■■■. …■■■■■no see.”
Her lips were clearly moving, but it felt impossible to hear her. Was it just me? I checked with Kim A-rin next to me, but she just shook her head with a baffled look.
Was there some kind of magic on Arkiël’s voice?
“Could it be……you remember nothing at all?”
“Mm…. Not really sure.”
As I kept tilting my head, Arkiël bit her lower lip, her face twisting in anguish.
There was definitely some backstory here, that much was clear.
But I didn’t know a damn thing about it.
I’d only met Arkiël today, after all.
“If I may……be so bold as to commit this impertinence. I shall offer my neck later as penance for this sin……”
“N-No need for your neck! Just… explain first, okay?”
Typical hidden boss—her thinking was extremely extreme. She kept offering her life at the drop of a hat.
I didn’t particularly want to see Arkiël chopping her own head off in front of me.
“I wish to……peer into your current state. Please, grant me permission……”
“P-Permission granted. Okay. Go for it.”
This wasn’t getting anywhere, so I just told Arkiël to do whatever.
I was invincible right now anyway. No way she could hurt me.
“…Very well, then. Just a moment.”
Dragon Eye (A): Activated!
[Entity Name: Arkiël is confirming the memories possessed by Entity Name: Lee Ji-woo………]
“……Hic.”
No, why was she crying again? Were hidden bosses supposed to be this weepy?
I ended up more flustered than her as she peered into my state and her eyes welled up anew.
It’d been what, mere seconds since I banned crying?
“Forgive me. The hardships you’ve endured all this time are just too…… …Hic……”
“I-I’m fine, though?”
“……This too is my sin. I accept it gladly……”
Soon enough, Arkiël launched into apologies.
About how I’d grown up without parents since childhood, and barely scraped by with convenience store gigs just to put food on the table, and lived in that rundown rooftop room, and so on.
Everything about my tough life was apparently all her fault, and she kept saying she was sorry.
…Was this what they called a “pity party” or whatever?
Suddenly feeling like the world’s most pitiful person left me with a weird vibe.
“Haa…… Forgive my unseemly display. You’re the one who’s suffered all this time.”
“…Ahem.”
“Then, allow me to continue……”
The rest of her story came through clearly now, unlike before.
I could actually hear what Arkiël was saying. Most of the words were ones I knew, too.
“I was… your escort.”
“Escort? Oh, like a bodyguard.”
“Yes. Long ago, you trusted me and placed your safety in my hands. And yet I……”
“Th-That story can wait. Honestly, I still don’t get it.”
Anyway, something about my past life and us being close or whatever. That was enough.
The past life I couldn’t remember was less important than the present.
“Anyway, you’re here to protect me, right?”
“…If you permit it. This time, without fail. I shall never repeat that grievous sin from before──”
“Fr-From now on, answer with yes or no.”
Too much information. She needed to cut it down.
Hearing about a past life I didn’t remember just gave me a headache.
Plus, Kim A-rin kept looking anxious beside me.
“Alright, I’m on Lee Ji-woo’s side. Yes or no.”
“…Yes. I am on your side.”
“Next. You have no plans to kill humans.”
“…If you command it, at any time.”
“I-I’m not giving that order. So no, right?”
*Nod.*
“See? No plans to kill.”
Once I’d confirmed to Kim A-rin that Arkiël was safe, a soft sigh was her reply.
Well, better than her rampaging about massacring all humanity right now.
I decided to think positive.
Why turn down such a powerful hidden boss offering to join my side? That’d be idiotic.
“Hey, sis.”
“Yeah?”
“One more thing……”
*Whisper whisper.*
*Whisper whisper.*
“…Huh. Really?”
“Necessary question. Gotta ask.”
Kim A-rin was firm, so I had no choice but to repeat to Arkiël what I’d just heard.
“Um…. Arkiël won’t take any independent actions without Lee Ji-woo’s permission. Yes or no.”
“Yes. I shall heed only your commands.”
“Good?”
“…Haa……”
Kim A-rin, her face a mask of utter complexity, plopped down into the chair right beside us.
Arkiël didn’t care a bit, of course.
She’d only had eyes for me this whole time.
Still, I had one more question for her.
“Hey, Arkiël.”
“…Please speak casually to me. Such titles are far too grand for one like me.”
“Uh, then…. Should I just call you by name?”
“No, even my name is too much for──!”
“Arkiël, Arkiël. Shh…! Be quiet or the downstairs neighbors will come up.”
“S-Sorry.”
“Anyway, Arkiël. Can you fight?”
“…Command me, and I shall reduce any foe to ashes and lay them at your feet.”
“N-No need for ashes. Anyway…. You’ll fight if I ask?”
“Yes.”
Okay, Arkiël. You’re mine now.
Finally, I had something like a summon.
Hell, way more powerful than a regular summon, really.
She was a hidden boss, after all.
Most monsters probably wouldn’t even scratch her. She’d grown huge earlier, too.
Man, an S-rank hunter commanding a hidden boss as a summon……
…World conquest might actually be on the table.
“What the hell did you do, past-life me……”
“…Long ago, you sought to──”
“Th-That was just mumbling to myself.”
I cut off Arkiël as she geared up for another “back in the day” tale.
I was curious, sure, but I was exhausted right now. Stories could wait.
Still, I’d been feeling this nagging sense that I was forgetting something.
…Oh. My side dishes.
“K-Kim A-rin. Where’re my side dishes? Oh no, they must’ve all gone bad by now……!”
In my rush to drag Arkiël back to my place, I’d totally forgotten about them.
They were probably all spoiled and inedible by now.
I’d become ultra-trash.
“Kim A-rin……”
“?”
“Buy some trash stickers and stick ’em on me…. I need to get stickered and thrown out…. Or I’ll get fined……”
“…??”
Kim A-rin looked baffled at my words, but my chest ached with guilt—I was about to keel over.
Turned out the one who really needed to prostrate wasn’t Arkiël, but me.
Those side dishes……
“Hey, sis.”
“…Whaaat……”
“Sis’s side dishes are in the fridge.”
“What.”
I bolted to the kitchen and yanked open the fridge. Sure enough, the store manager’s side dishes were there.
Hadn’t I left them in the rooftop room?
When did they get moved?
“While we were in the gate.”
“Huh?”
“S-rank on it… so it’s safe.”
Kim A-rin explained.
Moving company workers usually had to evacuate during gate shocks, but they’d kept going when she said she was heading into the gate herself.
They trusted her to resolve the shock, so they’d driven the truck straight to my place instead of a shelter.
I’d thought they were just big-talkers, but their actions were straight-up manly.
“P-Pay them extra for transport.”
“…Yeah. Was gonna.”
Anyway, crisis averted. One worry down.
Braised beef, galbi jjim, seasoned veggies—all neatly packed safe in the fridge.
Dinner tonight was secured.
“But, sis.”
“Yeah?”
“We…… gotta go to the Association. We’re late already.”
“Oh.”
Turned out I’d forgotten two things.
Today was the day we’d planned to visit the Association.
Glancing at the clock: exactly 5 p.m.
The Hunter Association shut down sharp at 6, so we had to hustle.
“But wait, sis.”
“Wh-What else did I forget? What was it?”
“No, not that…. Your clothes.”
“Clothes? Why?”
“A bit… torn. Change before we go.”
Looking down, my sleeve was ripped.
Must’ve happened tussling with those flasher ogres earlier.
Kim A-rin would grab fresh clothes from the closet soon, I’d change, and we’d head out.
That was the plan.
“Hold on.”
“Uh…. Arkiël? What’s up?”
“You must go forth even more beautifully. You are the most noble and exalted being in the world──”
“St-Stop. Hard stop.”
This time, Arkiël blocked my way.
With a pretty firm glare, too.
“……Is this truly all the garb you possess? No, how can one who serves her wear such──!”
“Th-This is plenty cute! …What do you know about sis!”
“You insolent wretch!!”
“St-Stop. Why’re you two fighting all of a sudden.”
Ignoring me completely, Arkiël and Kim A-rin started raising their voices in debate.
About what I should wear.
It was fiercer—and way more childish—than I’d imagined.
“S-Sis looks better in casual looks like this──!”
“You barbaric human, she shines more brilliantly than the sun, more elegant than the moon──!”
…A hidden boss and one of Korea’s rare S-rank hunters, arguing like this.
My heart felt all stuffy.
It was stuffy to begin with, but still.
“Uh, what if I just wear a fresh hoodie……”
“No way!” / “Slay me first!”
“…Yeah. My bad.”
“Sis, check your phone real quick.”
“Mm……”
“Looks fine.”
“N-Not lying down. Get up and check.”
“…Can we just head out already?”