Subjugation
After dumping the detection-blocking liquid over my head, I smeared more of it across my body and rubbed it in evenly.
“I’m glad I can fly… But Hahwi looks sexy even when he’s rubbing pee on himself…”
Seo I-eung muttered under her breath.
I heard every word, but I made a point of pretending I hadn’t.
Once I’d finished coating myself, I walked over to Isabella. Roughly half the liquid still remained in the glass bottle.
“Doing this alone is kind of a pain. Isabella, I’ll put it on for you, so take them off.”
“Huh? Take what off?”
“Your clothes.”
“Wh-why do I have to take my clothes off…!?”
Isabella flinched and shuffled backward.
“…What exactly are you imagining right now? You have to take off the clothes you’re wearing so I can apply this. You’re not planning to throw those clothes away, are you?”
“Ah…”
I could have just slapped the stuff on myself with no problem—I hadn’t been wearing a top to begin with. Isabella, however, needed to undress. We hadn’t brought any spare clothes.
“Can’t I just put it on my head?”
“No. You need it applied at least up to your upper body. Lotus root.”
Suptoto’s reply was firm. Isabella fidgeted with the hem of her top, looking thoroughly put out, then slowly lifted it with a shy expression.
“It’s a little embarrassing with a guy watching…”
The moment she peeled the top off, the two massive breasts barely contained by her underwear swayed with almost violent force. Under normal circumstances that sight would have sparked some lewd thoughts, but right now I felt nothing at all. A woman’s chest seen through angel eyes was nothing more than lumps of fat.
Isabella started to push her pants down as well, but—
“No need to apply it to the lower half. Lotus root.”
—she yanked them back up the instant she heard Instructor Suptoto, cheeks burning with embarrassment.
“I’ll hold the clothes you took off. Lotus root.”
“Thank you.”
I stepped closer with the bottle in hand.
“All right, I’m putting it on.”
“I can do it myself…”
“I already told you. It’s hard to reach everywhere alone.”
I poured a little over the crown of her head, then let the rest trickle down both shoulders. After that I carefully worked the liquid in—starting from her shoulders, across her back, down her arms and over her stomach—avoiding the more sensitive areas as much as possible. Her chest, of course, I never touched.
“Hup…!”
Isabella sucked in a sharp breath and squeezed her eyes shut. Strange little sounds slipped out of her now and then. Probably ticklish.
While I was still coating her skin, Seo I-eung sent me an openly envious look.
“Ah… Maybe I should’ve said I can’t fly either…”
This time she muttered loud enough for Suptoto and Isabella to hear. When every head turned toward her, Seo I-eung’s cheeks flared scarlet and she whipped her face away.
“I-I didn’t say anything.”
No one had even accused her of anything.
At any rate, I finished applying every last drop to Isabella’s body.
“Ugh, the smell’s fine… but it still feels weird. Sticky, too…”
Preparations were complete.
Seo I-eung flapped her wings and glided freely through the air.
“This should be about right.”
She stopped directly above a giant earthworm’s head and extended her right arm, now transformed into a cobra.
“Lotus root. Aim for the cloth-like band covering the middle of its body.”
Suptoto, flying alongside her, offered the advice.
“You mean the clitellum? Is that the weak point?”
“Correct. A giant earthworm’s body is as tough as steel, but that section is soft compared to the rest and vulnerable to attack. Lotus root.”
Seo I-eung nodded, then—
Pshook-!
—a purple venom needle shot from the cobra’s mouth.
“Kieeeek!”
The needle struck the clitellum dead center. The giant earthworm thrashed wildly, screaming, until its entire body turned purple and it finally went still, dead.
Seo I-eung smirked and gave a little shrug.
“Easier than I expected.”
“That’s because you’re flying. If you’d approached on foot you would’ve been hit before you could even attack. Lotus root.”
“Would it kill you to throw in a little praise?”
“Looking at that smug face makes me not want to. Lotus root.”
While the two bantered, Isabella held her breath and crept toward another giant earthworm with catlike steps. Even when she was right beside it, the creature never noticed her presence. The liquid’s detection-blocking effect was even better than expected.
Isabella took the talismans she was holding—one, two, three, four—and plastered them thickly over the clitellum.
“Heehee.”
Wearing a thoroughly satisfied expression, she then bolted for safety. I still don’t understand why she runs with her arms flailing like that.
Once she had put a solid distance between herself and the worm—
Kwaang-!
—the talismans flared with light and a massive explosion bloomed. When the smoke cleared, no trace of the giant earthworm remained.
Isabella’s pretty good too.
Now it was my turn. I walked right up beside another worm’s clitellum. This one also failed to notice me.
The pee effect is seriously impressive. Maybe it really is used as an elixir ingredient…
I stretched my arm toward the clitellum. At this range I could probably have hit any part of it and still been fine, but better to be certain.
【Pass Judgment.】
The instant I intoned the words in the angelic tongue, a brilliant light burst from my palm. Naturally it struck the clitellum dead-on. Missing from this distance would have made me less than human.
“Kie… eek…”
The giant earthworm, body split cleanly in half, let out a final groan before withering away and dying. Knowing the strategy made everything easy.
From that point on we continued the subjugation without a hitch—no crises, no injuries, just one-sided slaughter.
Once the dungeon practice ended, we stepped out of the Illusion Dungeon and gathered. The other students had all finished and come out as well.
Everyone looks fine. Guess no one actually died inside the Illusion Dungeon.
That made sense. Instructors had been right beside them, and they’d known the strategy going in. The students stood around chatting with bored expressions.
“Wasn’t that way too easy? Next practice we should just go for a D-grade or C-grade, right?”
“I told you F-grades are boring.”
“It was easy because we knew the strategy. Without it we would’ve struggled pretty hard.”
“True. The body itself is insanely tough—attacks just bounce off. If you don’t kill it in one shot it counterattacks immediately. Without the detection block we’d have been dead on the spot.”
“But once you know the weak point and slap on detection block, there’s no thrill left.”
“Yeah. Kind of takes the fun out of fighting.”
“Honestly it felt a little cheap, too.”
Instructor Suptoto let out a long sigh after listening to them. Then she stomped the ground hard enough to draw every eye.
“You foolish girls. Lotus root!”
“You think fighting with a known strategy is cheap? Idiots! Strategy is the precious legacy left behind by the hunters who came before us!”
Her furious bellow shut every mouth. Suptoto’s face was twisted with genuine anger as she continued.
“And you—the one who just called the practice boring!”
“Y-yes…!”
“Does subjugation look like a game to you? Something you’re supposed to enjoy?”
“N-no…”
Kwachik!
Suptoto snapped the carrot she was holding clean in half.
“Listen carefully! A hunter is a hunter who subjugates monsters—not a fighter who seeks fair, honorable combat against them! Avoiding danger as much as possible and fighting safely is the fundamental attitude of a hunter!”
The students hung their heads. There was nothing they could say in reply.
“Remember this! An outstanding hunter is not only a strong hunter! A hunter who survives as long as possible and subjugates as many monsters as possible is also an outstanding hunter!”
It was an unexpected side of her. So this is what it means to be an instructor, huh? I never imagined Suptoto had this kind of serious side.
“I-I’m sorry…”
“I’m sorry too. I wasn’t thinking…”
One by one the students who had let success go to their heads and spouted nonsense offered their apologies. And only then did I understand why Suptoto so rarely praised anyone: she was deliberately keeping the students from growing arrogant.
Pervert or not, this rabbit has the makings of a real educator.
After that single speech, the way I looked at her shifted a little. Before, she had been nothing more than a perverted rabbit; now she looked like a teacher worth respecting.
Once she had thoroughly chewed the students out, Suptoto quickly mastered her temper and launched into an explanation of the next dungeon practice. When that finished she opened the floor for questions before ending class.
A few students raised their hands.
“Instructor, how is someone who can’t fly supposed to deal with a giant earthworm? We can’t exactly collect your pee every single time.”
“If you can’t fly and have no way to block detection, then you simply don’t fight the giant earthworm. Only fight monsters you can beat. Refusing a subjugation you have no chance of winning is the correct basic attitude of a hunter. Lotus root.”
“Instructor! If I’m confident I can beat a giant earthworm head-on, it’s fine to just fight it, right?”
“Of course. But you would die instantly in a frontal fight, so don’t even try. Lotus root.”
“Even after we become official hunters, should we just avoid monsters whose strategies aren’t known yet?”
“Being the first to face an unknown monster and discovering its strategy is the role of A-grade hunters and above. Once you reach A-grade or higher, you’ll do it. For the record, the high death rate among A-grade and higher hunters is entirely because they fight unknown monsters. From A-grade onward you’re less a hunter and more a pioneer. That’s why they get treated like heroes. Lotus root.”
Suptoto finished answering. No more hands went up.
“No more questions, I take it. Lotus root.”
She swept her gaze across the students.
“One last thing. This isn’t something a hunter-training instructor should say, but if you value your life I recommend stopping at B-grade. I don’t particularly want to hear that any of my students have died.”
With that, the Q&A ended and today’s dungeon practice came to a close.
After class I headed straight home. Transforming into an angel and pouring out power during the dungeon practice had left my body aching, so the moment I got inside I threw myself onto the mattress.
I was lying there, still unwashed, trying to rest when—
Thud thud!
—someone pounded on the front door.
Who at this hour? There wasn’t anyone who would drop by. The only person who might was my landlord, Cha Seolyu.
I forced my stiff body upright, approached the door, and carefully opened it.
No one was there.
What the…? Did some knock-and-run villain just show up?
While that thought was still forming—
“Carrot carrot~”
“Lotus root lotus root~”
—familiar voices rose from below. I looked down and found Professor Santoto and Instructor Suptoto cheerfully dancing in place.
What are these rabbits doing? Why are they dancing in front of my door?
“…Professor, Instructor, what business do you have at my place?”
“We came to give you a present. Carrot.”
“A heart-pounding surprise present. Lotus root.”
With those answers the rabbits strode straight into my apartment. They glanced around, studying the layout of the room, then casually tore open a spatial rift with a wave of their hands.
“Carrot. Installing it right here should work.”
“The size looks perfect too. Lotus root.”
From the other side of the torn space the rabbits hauled out a large object.
It was a bed.
“Last time we visited you didn’t have one, so we got you one. Carrot.”
“Quality sleep comes from a quality bed. Get rid of that mattress and use the one we brought from now on. Lotus root.”
It was a completely unexpected gift out of nowhere.