Dancing with Goblins
14.
Keira Mustang.
The otherworlder who appeared before me one day out of nowhere.
Technically I was the one who summoned her, but it never really felt that way. The explanation that lands closer to the truth is that she simply came to me like a gift.
When I think of Keira, the first thing that comes to mind is…
Her body, of course.
Those smooth thighs, that plump ass, her soft belly, her pillowy breasts, the pink little buds crowning them, the hollow of her collarbone, the sharp drop of her shoulders, her long slender fingers, that clean jawline, her high nose, those mysterious blue eyes…
I’d honestly thought I’d grown a little numb to it. Apparently not. I could keep going for another hour if I wanted. That was how magnetic her body was.
Maybe her personality made it worse. She never pulled away. If anything, the moment you tried to hold back, she closed the distance herself and locked on tight—whether it was her arms, her legs, or that lower mouth of hers.
She hadn’t hesitated even at the start, but she hadn’t exactly been savoring it either. Lately, though, she seemed to enjoy it more than I did. She’d even started trying new things on her own.
Take fellatio. I never asked for it. She somehow learned it somewhere and just did it. And it felt incredible.
There was still one thing I hadn’t done with her.
Fellatio already happened, so what was I even talking about? Did I need anal to feel complete or something?
Anal… yeah, I wanted that too. Someday.
But there was something else first. Depending on how you looked at it, the most basic act in a physical relationship—and depending on how you looked at it, the final stage.
A kiss.
I still hadn’t tasted those soft, moist lips of hers. I couldn’t let her go like this. Don’t die, because we still have to kiss.
…That was a pretty perverted conclusion to land on.
Ahem. Anyway, that was just where my thoughts drifted. Even without that particular reason, I didn’t want to send her away. Simply put, I’d already grown attached. She was already inside my fence. If I could save someone like that and still let her die, that was something I could never accept.
So I had to reveal that I was a mage.
“Garam, could you come over here for a moment?”
I asked my teammates for a second and led Garam away from the group.
“Hmm… what is it this time?”
Garam was already looking at me through tinted glasses. No matter what I said, he was going to have a hard time believing it. Even if I’d been lying, there was nothing to lose by trusting me—so why was he this worked up? Maybe it was because he was a rigid, principle-first kind of guy. Maybe lies themselves just set him off, no matter the situation.
That worked in my favor right now. If this man made a promise, he wouldn’t go around spilling my secret.
“Can I ask you for one promise first?”
“Depends on what the promise is.”
“Just keep my secret.”
“A secret… well, secrets also depend on what they are.”
“You’ll understand once you see it.”
I gathered mana and magic power, shaped a rune, and formed a small fireball.
“This is the ability I’m known for—Fireball Creation.”
“The ability you’re known for…?”
“And…”
I snuffed out the fireball and raised my magic again. Mana followed the flow of power; the rune locked it into place.
Hmmm.
A black sphere formed between my right and left hands. Slowly it stretched, taking the shape of an arrow. This was the black-magic version of Magic Missile.
“…Two abilities?”
No one had ever awakened two abilities before. High-rank Keepers used two or three techniques, sure, but those were always from the same family. If you could make fireballs, you shot flame arrows or called down a rain of fire. No one had ever used two abilities from completely different schools the way I just had.
Of course, I didn’t have two awakened abilities either. I shook my head.
“No. This is magic.”
“Magic!”
Even Garam, who always seemed unshakable, raised his voice. Keepers had always longed for magic like this. They felt its power with their own bodies every single time. We were suffering today because of a shaman who threw around lightning, fire, and spatial displacement. If someone on our side could use magic like that… it would be stranger not to get excited.
“It’s nothing that grand. At best I can light a fire. Anyway, among the spells I can use, there’s one called Search.”
“…A spell that scouts the surroundings?”
“Something like that. That’s how I found Jaehyeok. He’s underground.”
Garam looked back and forth between my face and the Magic Missile floating between my hands. He let out a long breath, then bowed his head.
“I’m sorry. I doubted you.”
Whoa. I hadn’t expected an apology here. This man really was the real deal. Exactly what he looked like on the outside.
“It’s fine. I hid it first. Honestly, I’m just grateful you went along with my stubbornness.”
“Stubbornness… that Fireball on the first day left an impression. I didn’t think you were the type to lie.”
“Ah, that day. So the overreach paid off.”
So that was how the threads connected. The world really worked in funny ways.
“Then the secret you asked me to keep is that ability.”
“Yes. Can you keep it?”
“You’ve already thrown it out there and you’re asking me that… my answer is yes. I’ll protect that secret.”
“Thank you. Shall we go? We’re short on time. Jaehyeok’s food has probably run out by now.”
“You’re right. I’ll gather people.”
Garam said that and vanished toward the camp. Once he moved, all that was left was the rescue. I walked slowly back to where my teammates were waiting.
“Did it go well?”
“What happened? What’s going on?”
Lee Seonmi and Go Hangyeol both turned to me with questions, their faces full of curiosity.
“Garam’s bringing other Keepers. We’re going to dig here—well, over there.”
Digging straight down over where Jaehyeok was sitting would be a bad idea. That spot was the deepest, about fifteen meters. The ground over there was shorter—only about ten meters to the passage. Better to dig down from that side and meet him from below.
“How did you convince him?”
“And how did you even find him?”
“Th-that’s…”
The two of them pressed hard. Honestly, neither of them had been on my radar, so I had no prepared answer. Telling the truth wasn’t an option either. If it spread like that, there really would be no way out.
That was when Soyeon stepped in to help.
“Senior’s got really good ears. Last time we were mining, he heard every sound inside the tunnel. Scared the hell out of me.”
“Yeah. It was faint, but…”
“And that was enough to get that stickler to go along?”
“It’s a rescue. Nothing to lose, right? I just pushed hard.”
I scrambled for cover. I wasn’t even sure the story held together front to back.
“Hmm… well, if that’s the case, good.”
“Right. We’ve got to try something.”
Thankfully, the two of them seemed to accept it—at least to a degree. Being accepted was a relief, but “to a degree” was the problem. It was inevitable, but this was how secrets leaked. The little bit of doubt those two still carried would pass to someone else, and that would become a rumor. Even if Garam kept the secret, it felt like my being a mage would get out sooner rather than later.
Could I lay some kind of foundation before then?
“We’re through! It’s a passage!”
A voice rose from below. At last, empty space. We’d dug down about eleven meters. A full day of hard labor.
“It’s a cave! Everyone come down!”
At that voice, the people around looked at me and Garam. The suspicion that had been sitting in their eyes a moment ago was gone. The “why are we even doing this?” complaints had vanished too.
“Let’s go.”
Garam and I climbed down the shaft. The straight tunnel we’d carved was crude as hell, but doing this much with nothing but swords and daggers—no shovel in sight—was impressive enough.
Thud.
I landed carefully on the ground at the bottom of the vertical shaft. Another passage ran horizontally beneath it—the same one I’d found with Search.
“Which way?”
A few people stood in the tunnel, looking left and right, undecided. One direction led to Park Jaehyeok. The other ran toward the edge of the Gate. Since it was the Gate’s edge, the passage was probably sealed somewhere in the middle by a transparent wall. Why did a blocked passage even exist? Was there something beyond the wall?
Curiosity started chaining itself together, but right now Park Jaehyeok came first. And Keira.
“This way.”
Before I could even point, Garam indicated the direction where Park Jaehyeok was. The receiver seemed to be working properly now. Garam took off first, and the others followed. Footsteps echoed through the cave.
In less than three minutes, the lights caught a figure leaning against the wall. He squinted at us like he’d just woken up.
“Jaehyeok! Are you all right?!”
“Jaehyeok! Do you recognize us?”
Whether it was the bright light or the loud voices, Park Jaehyeok furrowed his brow hard and spoke.
“This… isn’t a dream, right?”
He’d gone three days without food, but he didn’t look that bad. Thank god.
“No! This is real!”
“Jaehyeok’s alive!”
“Let’s go home together!”
The Keepers who’d just witnessed a comrade’s survival wore bright faces. They’d complained the whole time we were digging, and now this. A bunch of tsunderes, the lot of them?
When we stepped out of the Gate, a crowd was waiting to welcome us. We’d been gone nearly a week, and the Association had gone into emergency mode over it.
Garam stepped forward in front of the startled Association staff.
“There were a few complications, but the twenty-three Keepers who set out on the Goblin Village purge expedition have all returned safely.”
For a moment the auditorium went dead quiet.
Then—
Clap clap clap.
Applause broke out from every direction. Had any of the teams that came out late ever returned with every single member alive? Not in my memory. It was the kind of moment that deserved a full emotional bath.
But I was short on time. I went up to Garam and spoke quietly.
“I’m sorry, but I’ve got something urgent. I’ll head out first. Contact me later if you need anything.”
“Huh? No, but still…”
Full safe return meant the Association would hand out rewards and the press would show up. Staying could have built a little reputation as a Keeper. That was what Garam’s attempt to stop me meant.
“It’s fine.”
I left those words behind and slipped quietly out of the auditorium. Right now, nothing mattered more than Keira.
“Hurry. Please. I’m in a rush.”
Maybe the driver felt the urgency. The taxi shot forward like a bullet. It took less than half the usual time.
“Keep the change!”
I threw cash at him and bolted the second the car stopped.
Thud thud thud thud.
I couldn’t wait for the elevator. I tore up the stairs like a madman.
Beep beep beep beep.
I punched in the code, and the scene from my memory unfolded—the studio apartment, the desk, the blue-eyed beauty sitting at it.
“You’re late.”
Keira’s voice was calm. As if nothing at all was wrong.
I didn’t even take off my shoes. I walked straight into the room and stood in front of her.
“Sorry.”
“What are you— mph.”
Her soft, moist lips were sweeter than anything I’d imagined.