Chapter 27
Chapter 27
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: Chapter 8. Unique Item (5)
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10.
“We’re hunting the boss monster.”
When El Pam said that, Dibo was briefly surprised, then nodded.
“Understood. I’ll get ready.”
He had already adapted to El Pam’s style.
But Kiri was different.
“That’s crazy!”
By her common sense, she couldn’t comprehend El Pam’s actions at all.
More than that, she was in a hurry.
“If we die here, it’s all over! Everything that happened in this place will be buried!”
She wasn’t afraid of losing her life. She had already steeled herself for death several times in this place.
“The truth that there are conspirators within the Knights and the merchant group, that there are traitors—it’ll all be buried!”
What terrified her more was the disappearance of such a crucial truth.
“I have two things to tell you.”
On that point, El Pam spoke up.
“First, when you get out, say it like this: We were attacked by unknowns. We barely escaped.”
At those words, Kiri’s eyes narrowed.
“Hide the truth?”
And the moment she spoke, suspicion arose.
Suspicion that El Pam might be a traitor too.
Of course, El Pam was no traitor.
“No, we’re hiding it temporarily precisely because the truth must come out.”
He knew.
“This isn’t some individual’s deviation. Can you be certain there are no more traitors in the Cygnus Knights?”
That the Black Mage’s followers had taken root everywhere in the world, even in the deepest places.
“If we reveal the trolling, one of two things happens: Those involved either hide deeper, or they eliminate any loose ends. Either way, a trainee like you won’t be able to fight back.”
Kiri didn’t know that fact, but she could grasp what El Pam meant.
That the 100-man Mystic Gate trolling, the intentional massacre of adventurers inside, couldn’t have been done by some amateur group.
El Pam also knew.
“And second, there’s a Green Hob here.”
“A Hob? That dwarf Hob?”
“A bit different. It’s a variant—far too massive to call a dwarf. And very clever.”
That the fifteen adventurers who had trolled so perfectly, the Black Mage’s followers, even one with a Phoenix Feather, ultimately failed to leave this place.
‘A Phoenix Feather is a powerful item.’
El Pam knew well the power it held.
‘Yet they couldn’t escape.’
Fifteen adventurers with it had failed to find the exit?
The answer was obvious.
“I guarantee it. The Green Hobs have traps set near the exit and are waiting.”
That the Green Hobs were already prepared.
And Green Hobs were clever and cunning enough monsters to pull it off.
“They’ve probably figured out most of the situation watching the adventurers fight each other.”
There was no way they’d miss what happened in this reed field.
“Plus, they’ve likely recovered quite a few adventurer items.”
Now strengthened by scavenging.
“So if you want to get out, we have to take them down.”
At those words, Kiri could no longer question El Pam’s plan to hunt the boss monster.
The only question left was one.
“So, boss, can you take it down?”
To that question, El Pam answered.
“From now on, Kiri and Dibo, you two will be the bait.”
11.
Hobs.
Dwarves living in Minar Forest, surprisingly threatening monsters.
One reason Hobs were fearsome was that variants were born among them.
The prime example: Green Hobs.
Individuals massive enough that “dwarf” didn’t fit, brutal, and clever.
And the Mystic Gate was full of such variants.
Those Green Hobs were clever, as described, so they knew.
That traveling in a pack was advantageous.
The Green Hobs in the reed forest now were the same: a pack of twenty-one.
That Green Hob pack had various types.
Krur!
The most numerous were warrior Green Hobs clad in armor, wielding swords and shields.
Next were archer Green Hobs with bows.
Two had discarded weapons, donning massive shields and thick armor.
A colorful array of forms.
But one thing in common.
Korruk!
All suffered from starvation.
It was astonishing.
No matter how clever Green Hobs were, at root they were monsters. Bound more to instinct than reason.
Krurr!
Yet the Green Hobs endured their hunger, holding still, because of the shaman Green Hob cloaked in robes and holding a staff.
Kyaa!
The shaman Green Hob said.
Kya! Kya!
Wait for the right moment since the intruders here were killing each other.
Hunt the survivors after they finish each other off.
At those words, the other Green Hobs silently endured their hunger.
Of course, it wasn’t because Green Hobs were highly rational or logical. As said before, they were monsters. More instinct-driven than any other.
That was why.
Kyaa!
They obeyed the shaman Green Hob out of instinct.
Kyi!
The shaman Green Hob wielded utterly different, mystical, and powerful forces from the others.
Kyiii!
Its fire shamanism was on another level from other shamans.
That was why they feared it.
While the Green Hobs held their breath in terror of the shaman Green Hob, waiting for the moment.
That was when it happened.
“Hey, you Hob bastards!”
A voice rang out near the Green Hobs.
“I’m the polearm hero, Dibo! And this is the great Cygnus Knights Commander Kiri!”
At that voice, the Green Hobs held their breath.
Was it time to act?
Kyi!
But the shaman Green Hob ordered all Green Hobs to stay hidden.
It might be a human trap, it thought.
So the shaman Green Hob planned to let them pass.
It intended to show patience.
“What’s that supposed to mean? The Knights Commander is Mikhail, that great one—how could I be him?”
But before the patiently waiting group, the two humans who appeared didn’t back down.
“Oh, come on, is the real polearm hero doing this? What’s bait supposed to do? Thrash around, right? So do it. ‘I’m Cygnus Knights Commander Kiri!’”
“Th-that’s outrageous.”
They even put on a ridiculous skit.
“Hey, didn’t we come here to be bait? Let’s act the part. At least earn our keep, yeah?”
“W-well...”
“The Cygnus Knights can’t even follow the orders of the man who saved their lives? Is that it?”
“...I am Cygnus Knights Commander Kiri!”
“Hey! Too quiet! Can’t you shout louder? Is that all the voice a Knights trainee has?”
“I am Cygnus Knights Commander Kiri!”
“What? I can’t hear you?”
“I am!”
At that spectacle, the Green Hobs’ bodies trembled.
Not because they understood the humans’ words. They didn’t know human language.
But they could feel it.
That the humans were messing around.
The shaman Green Hob felt it too.
That was why.
The shaman Green Hob issued the command.
Kyiiii!
Attack!
Nothing strange about it.
The humans messing around meant they didn’t know the Green Hobs were here.
In other words, no trap.
Even if it was a trap, no matter.
If it told them to endure even fools like that, the other Green Hobs following it would grow discontent, leading to mutiny.
Now was the time to unleash them.
Krea!
The moment the starving, restrained Green Hobs were freed, they charged at the two humans with full force.
Their ferocity was indescribable.
Krea!
Resolved to tear the humans apart alive and fill their bellies, they rushed forward competitively.
Kyi, kyi!
Seeing it, the shaman Green Hob was satisfied.
Starving Green Hobs were more merciless than any monster! In fact, that was why it had starved them deliberately.
At that moment, the shaman Green Hob didn’t doubt victory at all.
Fwoosh!
Then a fire arrow caught the shaman Green Hob’s eye, and upon seeing it, the shaman sneered.
One puny fire arrow couldn’t stop Green Hobs.
Kyi!
Still, the shaman alerted them to the fire arrow, and the warrior Green Hob, deeming it laughable, raised its shield.
That was when.
Swoosh!
The fire arrow arced over the shield, pierced the Green Hob’s right eye, and burst out the left.
Kre!
As the Green Hob screamed, the fire arrow swiftly moved to the next Green Hob.
Pfft!
It pierced the right eye and exited the left again.
In an instant.
Kreaa!
The fire arrow followed the Green Hobs’ cries, turning them into eyeless blinds in one breath.
Kaaaak!
The ferocious roars the Green Hobs had bellowed turned to screams of pain in an instant.
Hearing those screams, the shaman Green Hob felt bewilderment.
Unable to fathom what was happening.
That was when.
Kyuing!
A sound rang right by the shaman Green Hob, and it reflexively turned its head.
Then the shaman Green Hob saw it.
Kyuing!
A single snail.
That was the last sight for the shaman Green Hob.
Pfft!
A fire arrow had already flown in, claiming both its eyes in one go.
Then, into the blinded shaman Green Hob’s ears came a voice.
“You were here.”
12.
The Green Hob hunt was over.
“It ended without any major issues.”
Easier than expected.
“All thanks to the boss.”
Of course, only possible because it was El Pam.
From the start, El Pam had known.
The state of the hidden Green Hobs, how the bait needed to act to lure them out.
Once they bit, it was no challenge.
With the Phoenix Feather, El Pam’s Fire Arrow wielded transcendent power.
Yet El Pam didn’t rejoice or feel satisfied just because it ended easily.
There was something far more important.
“We can celebrate after checking the items.”
Confirming the unique-grade item the Green Hobs possessed.
Ahead of that confirmation, El Pam’s mind was a bit complicated.
‘I hope something I can use drops.’
A unique-grade item’s value was immeasurable, but if he couldn’t use it, its value meant little.
Sure, selling a unusable one would fetch a fortune, but that was tough for El Pam.
‘Selling it secretly would get me caught.’
Trading such an item carried massive risk.
Kyuing!
As El Pam mulled various scenarios, Mano began rummaging through the shaman Hob’s corpse.
Kyuing!
And soon, it brought back an item in its mouth.
“Huh?”
“What’s that?”
Dibo and Kiri looked shocked.
El Pam was the same.
Even El Pam, who rarely showed surprise, was taken aback.
It couldn’t be helped.
“Isn’t that the same as before?”
What dropped this time was none other than another Phoenix Feather.
“Good luck.”
At that fact, El Pam smiled.
He knew.
‘Phoenix Feathers grow stronger with each one possessed.’
That this item’s effects stacked.
Naturally, with two Phoenix Feathers, El Pam’s combat power was off the charts.
Even an orange-grade Mystic Gate wouldn’t threaten him unless it was exceptional.
He had achieved beyond-expected spec growth.
‘Worth the effort coming here.’
It justified El Pam pushing to enter the 100-man Mystic Gate.
Of course, El Pam knew.
‘If I can keep it.’
The truly crucial task remained.
“Now we find the exit.”
That was why.
“And once we find it, Kiri, you have one thing to do.”
El Pam said to Kiri.
“What is it?”
“I need your sword.”
“My sword? Something to cut?”
At her question, El Pam nodded and pointed to his own stomach.
“Cut me.”