The Shrine of Job Advancement (2)
"By the way, you're an Elf, aren't you?"
"Yes. My name is Elena."
The Goddess of Job Advancement had recognized Elena for what she was at a glance.
"But why would an Elf be in a place like this?"
She spoke as though she already knew something about the Elves. At those words, Elena asked whether the goddess might know where her people had gone. The goddess considered the question for a moment, then answered.
"If it's Elves you're asking after, most of them should be at the Temple by now."
"The Temple?"
The Goddess of Job Advancement's words hung in the air. She seemed to know exactly where the other Elves were — and she had said Temple. Could she mean the Hidden Temple?
The moment I heard it, I stepped quickly toward her. Wasn't this precisely the hint I needed to clear the Scenario Quest?
"Would you happen to know where that is?"
"I'm sorry. That is something I cannot tell a human."
"Then you can tell Elena?"
"Yes, of course."
She would not reveal the Temple's location to a human. Still, it was a relief. If Elena learned where it was, we could go together, couldn't we?
"Even if I were to tell Miss Elena, you would not be able to accompany her."
"Pardon? Why not?"
"Because that place cannot be approached by anyone but Elves."
The Goddess of Job Advancement was saying something I couldn't quite grasp. No one but Elves could even approach it? What was that supposed to mean? If we simply knew the way, couldn't we go together?
"Why would that be?"
"Should any race other than Elves set foot there, death is inescapable."
"Then there's no way for me to go there at all?"
"It isn't entirely impossible."
I had been worried there might be no method whatsoever, but apparently that wasn't the case. No matter how many times I pressed her about it, though, the goddess would not readily tell me what that method was.
"Why won't you tell me?"
"Telling you would not be difficult."
"Then why?"
"One ought to keep personal matters separate from official ones, but that damned White Drag— no. Never mind."
"Excuse me?"
The Goddess of Job Advancement. Was she more well-connected than I'd expected? She seemed to know about the White Dragon as well as the Elves. Judging by her reaction, she clearly had some unpleasant memory involving him.
"Hey. What the hell did you do to the goddess?!"
"What did I do?! I don't know anything!"
"She was about to curse, and she's a beautiful goddess. You're telling me you don't know?"
"I don't know. I really don't."
The White Dragon stared at me with the blankest eyes imaginable. Unlike him, who insisted he knew nothing, the Goddess of Job Advancement's expression shifted every time her gaze fell on him. Something had clearly happened between the two of them in the past.
Of course, the White Dragon's claim of ignorance was probably genuine. He still didn't have all the memories of the previous generation's White Dragon. But to think I couldn't get a hint that should have been easy to obtain, all because of this little bastard — my luck really was rotten.
"I don't know what happened, but I apologize on his behalf."
"Not at all. You've done nothing wrong, have you?"
"Then would you please tell me?"
"That's a bit…"
The Goddess of Job Advancement clearly had a great deal piled up against the White Dragon. This was not going to be resolved easily.
"What would it take for you to tell me?"
"You already know, don't you? I'm rather hungry."
I caught on immediately. You'd have to be a fool not to. I had already accepted the job-advancement quest, after all.
The most delicious monster dish in the world. If I cooked that and satisfied the Goddess of Job Advancement, I would obtain both the class advancement and the answer I was looking for.
"Understood. I'll prepare the most delicious dish I can."
"Yes. I shall be looking forward to it."
With that, we all left the Shrine of Job Advancement. The moment we stepped outside, I laid into the White Dragon.
"What the hell have you been doing?"
"Me? I'm a perfect gentleman."
"Aigoo. Forget it."
Watching the way the White Dragon carried himself, I had a pretty decent idea of how things had gone.
"What? What! I'm telling you, it's true!"
"Yeah, yeah. I'll believe you."
"I'm serious!"
If the White Dragon had truly been a gentleman, the Goddess of Job Advancement would never have reacted the way she had.
"Fine. But do you know anything about tasty monsters?"
If the White Dragon were fully evolved, he would be among the highest-tier monsters in existence. A creature like that would have eaten more kinds of monsters than I could count.
"Tasty monsters, huh…"
At my question, the White Dragon smacked his lips, as though sifting through old memories.
"Honestly, that Megalodon in the ocean was seriously delicious."
"That Megalodon?!"
"Obviously. It's incredible. Looks like a fish, but the juices run as rich as any land monster."
A string of drool slipped from the White Dragon's mouth as he lost himself in the thought of eating Megalodon.
"Isn't there something I could actually hunt?"
If I could take down a Megalodon, that would be wonderful — but it was impossible. I'd be lucky not to die just trying to find one.
"Hmm. Well. I wouldn't know. My palate is rather refined, you see. Low-grade monsters simply don't agree with me."
"…"
This damn White Dragon. He was turning out to be almost no help at all.
Should I just look around the area first?
A tasty monster. I had eaten a great many of them by now and sampled no small range of flavors, but the best among them had been Troll. Meat that looked like it would be tough and chewy, yet somehow wasn't. Even simply grilled, it had delivered a taste that was downright insane. If I cooked it properly, I was certain I could produce something genuinely impressive.
But it wasn't enough. The most delicious monster dish in the world. The Troll was plenty tasty, no question — but for the title of most delicious, it was about two percent short.
I'll have to find something new.
None of the ones I had eaten so far quite qualified as truly delicious. And this was food for a goddess. She had surely tasted every exquisite delicacy under the sun. Ordinary monsters would never satisfy her.
Then again… has a goddess even eaten monster meat?
That was a question in itself. Would she even like food made from monsters? Even if it tasted good, a certain instinctive revulsion was hard to avoid.
"Let's head down first and check the System Bulletin Board… huh? Is that a person?"
I had been about to start down the mountain when I spotted a cluster of shadows in the distance. There had been no one here when we climbed up, but now a fair number of people were milling about down below.
They're wearing military uniforms?
Soldiers, then? Three of them, dressed in fatigues, had left a military vehicle nearby and were searching the area, armed with rifles. Soldiers who had appeared out of nowhere. Because they were military, I hesitated to approach, and instead hid behind cover to watch how things unfolded.
Had they come to check on the Military Base here? Or had they escaped from it?
"Sergeant Kim, there doesn't seem to be anyone around here. What should we do?"
"Damn it. We have to find them, no matter what. You know what happens if we don't!"
"That's true, but…"
The soldiers seemed to be looking for something, but whatever it was, they didn't appear to be having any luck. After searching for some time, one of them approached Sergeant Kim.
"Um… Sergeant."
"What is it, Private Kang?"
"What if we just… ran away? Just us?"
"Run away?"
Private First Class Kang's proposal. At those words, Sergeant Kim seemed to sink into grim deliberation. The truth was, he had already been entertaining the thought of fleeing himself, at least to some degree. Seeing that, Private First Class Kang pressed his case.
"Think about it, sir. Even if we find it and go back, it's just more slave labor, isn't it?"
"That's true, but if we don't go back, the others…"
"Sergeant. Do you really think we'll get a better chance to run than this?"
Hearing that, the sergeant wrestled with it, then seemed to make up his mind. He swept a look around, then called the others in.
"Everyone in the vehicle. We're heading down the mountain, now."
"Will we be all right?"
"What, you'd rather stay?"
The remaining soldier spoke with visible unease. But he too seemed to know there was no hope in going back, and he shook his head. That was how much of a hell the Military Base had become. Better to escape and risk being caught and killed than to walk back inside.
"Then let's go."
"Yes, sir."
At Sergeant Kim's order, they all scrambled into the vehicle. The engine growled to life the instant he turned the key, and he wrenched the wheel toward the mountain road and stomped on the accelerator. The vehicle tore down the slope at high speed.
What the hell is going on?
From their conversation, it was clear these men had come out of the Military Base. Something had happened in there — something bad enough that they were fleeing downhill in a stolen vehicle.
Do I even need to worry about this?
They looked like they had already made a clean escape, so I figured they would be fine and tried to turn my attention back to the job-advancement quest. I had a mountain of my own work to do. I was just starting down the mountain, keeping a wary eye on the Military Base, when—
"AAAAAGH!"
"Help me!"
Screams and a ragged burst of gunfire carried up from far below. It had to be the soldiers who had just fled. Had they run into a monster on the way down?
A monster?
They had encountered a monster. Which meant there was a new ingredient down there. I had already fought every monster in this area on the way up, and none of them had been new. But whatever they had run into might be something I had never seen before.
"Did something happen to those people just now?"
"It sounds that way."
"Shouldn't we go help them?"
"Of course."
Elena was worried about them too. So was I. We moved fast, heading toward the direction the noise had come from.
"Damn it! The bullets aren't doing a thing!"
"Sergeant Kim, what do we do?!"
When we reached the source of the sound, we found an overturned vehicle and three soldiers firing desperately from behind it. And the monsters they were fighting—
Mushrooms?
Several enormous green mushrooms, very much alive, were advancing on the soldiers.