Chapter 99
Chapter 99
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 99
Chapter Title: Giant Glass Slug
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In the end, it was a matter of experience. Faruzan had never left the desert her entire life.
She had faced countless monsters, but they were all creatures that lived in the same environment.
The Faruzan of her previous life, still living as a bound hunter, had compensated for her lack of experience with the power from her curse.
The current Faruzan couldn't do that. She could no longer draw strength from the curse.
She had no regrets. She didn't need help from humans swayed by external forces.
So from now on, Damian would make up for her lack of experience.
‘It’s simple.’
All he had to do was give her opportunities. Once she gained new experiences, she would make them her own on her own.
‘Of course, she’ll accompany me on the northern journey too.’
It was a world completely opposite to the environment she had lived in. And with winter approaching, the shock would be doubled.
That was precisely what made it valuable. There was no time to leisurely build up experience.
Just like Saliba, Faruzan needed aggressive growth as well.
“…….”
Faruzan led the way with a pouty expression. The clones no longer blocked the pair’s path.
She wasn’t in a good mood. She had wanted to prove herself, but she had fallen short by one step at the end.
Damian said nothing about it.
If he had pitied her or teased her in any way, it might have eased this uncomfortable feeling even a little.
Her desire to become his arrow was sincere.
Only a few months had passed since then, but the intensity of her training was incomparable to past years.
Even so, it wasn’t the result Faruzan wanted.
She had wanted to become someone Damian could rely on more, but once again, she had received his help.
It was no different from when she had hunted the adult salamander in the past.
“Isn’t Agnes strong?”
Faruzan suddenly asked about Agnes.
“You said I was strong too.”
“I’m asking for your thoughts, Damian.”
She had heard that Agnes was Damian’s fiancée.
But Faruzan didn’t put much weight on such formal relationships.
‘It’s not just that kind of relationship.’
There was something between them that couldn’t be expressed by the word “fiancée.”
Faruzan had envied it, though she couldn’t say so in front of Agnes.
“She’s strong. She’s someone I can trust.”
Agnes was a constant.
He hoped she would face enemies by leveraging her strengths with the sword she had honed her entire life.
“…….”
Faruzan’s face grew even gloomier upon hearing the answer.
It wasn’t jealousy toward Agnes. It was dissatisfaction with herself.
“I trust you too. You promised to become my arrow.”
“Yeah, yeah!”
It was just a few words, but Faruzan’s expression brightened radiantly.
He had felt her efforts from the moment they reunited. But Faruzan couldn’t afford to be satisfied with that.
‘Growth comes from discomfort.’
She needed to harbor a bit of dissatisfaction to avoid complacency and aim higher.
Faruzan was a variable.
He hoped she would use her animalistic instincts to find enemies’ weaknesses and deal with them.
Anya, Saliba, Dylan, Anton, and Lien. And the guerrilla comrades he would meet again.
He had his own expectations for those he wanted to make his own people.
But his greatest hopes were pinned on Agnes and Faruzan. They had the highest potential.
“That it?”
At the end of the cave. In a place overrun with glowing plants sat a massive creature.
It shared the same material as the lures that had previously blocked Damian and Faruzan.
───. There were no other notable movements. It was in hibernation.
However, it was slowly absorbing mana from the glowing plants, growing its body bit by bit.
In a few more years, it would awaken and rampage through the imperial palace with its bloated form.
“Does that thing have a name too?”
“Giant glass slug.”
“Weird name. …Why are you looking at me like that?”
Faruzan was the one who had come up with that odd name.
“You see the organs in the center?”
“Clear as day. If I target just those quickly….”
“That’s not it. I need those organs.”
The giant glass slug’s organs were a rare elixir.
They could rapidly increase the consumer’s mana, but the problem was they could become poison after a certain level of growth.
That made them perfect for Saliba.
She could use magic to some extent thanks to her innate talent, but her mana reserves were woefully insufficient.
If he could fulfill that in the short term, her growth rate would skyrocket.
“Hold up.”
Faruzan said, assuming a vigilant stance. Her 《Pursuit》 had sensed danger once more.
The giant monster’s body shuddered violently. Bubble-like protrusions formed on its surface, creating new clones.
‘It’s coming at us like this….’
He had thought it couldn’t make any more clones. But that was Faruzan’s misjudgment. It had set a trap even while hibernating.
Dealing with them like before would be easy.
Since the giant glass slug shared the same material as the clones, the ceiling rocks would suffice.
However, using that method meant he couldn’t secure the organs.
Hunting wasn’t just about winning—it was about achieving the goal.
The old method allowed victory, but not the hunt.
“It’s fine.”
Damian stepped forward to calm Faruzan.
Bubble bubble bubble. Black mud spread widely to both sides.
There was no need for Damian to move, so suppressing them with black magic—Nightmare—was safest.
The clones had no way of knowing the black mud’s power. Those trapped in the mire couldn’t even resist properly.
‘A-Amazing….’
Faruzan gulped in astonishment. She had already experienced Damian’s strength.
She knew he had grown leaps and bounds since then, having kept up with the news.
But seeing it firsthand surpassed her imagination.
If she was running, Damian was practically flying.
‘I need to work harder.’
At least to not fall behind. To not be a burden to him.
“You can do it now, right?”
“O-Of course.”
Faruzan moved through the path Damian had cleared.
“Eugh. It’s so slimy.”
Touching the giant glass slug’s skin gave a bizarre sensation.
Faruzan felt its texture as she searched for the right spot to cut.
Felling a monster and extracting byproducts from it were different matters.
Especially organs required delicate handling, or they would be ruined.
‘Here!’
Her eyes sparkled as she sliced into the monster’s body. It was sharp in a different sense from Agnes’s sword.
Sizzle. Fluids leaked from the gash. Faruzan grimaced at the white smoke, but it wasn’t poisonous.
Once the blue liquid had drained out, Faruzan entered the body and neatly extracted the organs.
Whoosh. The giant glass slug’s body shriveled up.
The clones bound in the black mud shrank in the same manner.
‘It was easier than expected.’
It hadn’t fully matured yet, but its end was pathetic compared to the terror it had inflicted on the palace.
“It’s huge. But you’re gonna feed this to her? That kid’ll faint just from the smell.”
Monster organs generally didn’t taste good. The more potent the effect, the worse.
“But this place feels off. Something’s here.”
Faruzan frowned. Her 《Pursuit》 sharpened her senses again.
“Someone probably made this place artificially.”
Maybe an experiment site from before the palace was built. Or perhaps someone in the palace created it.
All records had vanished now. The giant glass slug had been isolated here for so long.
“It’s not just that.”
Faruzan crouched and sniffed the ground. She even licked the stone floor.
“Someone besides us was here. At least a month ago.”
But the mana-blocking stone beneath the mirror lake had stayed put until Damian arrived.
Was there another passage? But Faruzan’s investigation hadn’t found any.
That meant they used magic or a magic tool.
The chances they had managed the giant monster from the start were low. But they clearly had some purpose.
Was the rampage from before her regression their doing too? If so, was it connected to that terrorist incident?
Rubia had killed Anna and Felix, but the terrorist perpetrator was never caught.
It wasn’t clear if it was the reformists or the orthodox faction.
‘Or it could be a completely separate organization.’
The Seekers, who used Ishtar’s power, came to mind first.
Of course, changes from regression made it hard to predict easily, but caution was needed.
They would block Damian’s path in some way, after all.
“Can you track it?”
“Not right now, I think. But I’ve memorized the scent here for sure, so if we meet, I’ll recognize them immediately.”
“If you spot them, don’t get excited—report to me first.”
“O-Of course I will. Who do you think I am….”
It was less “child” and more “wild animal,” but he didn’t say it.
Faruzan was changing little by little, after all.
* * *
The two swam back against the lake water. The current had calmed, so it wasn’t too taxing.
The mirror lake they returned to was still pristinely clear, without a single ripple.
With the internal monster gone, some change was inevitable. That would be the palace’s problem now.
The sunset glow was rushing in. Not wanting to worry Anna unnecessarily, they dried off and returned to the annex.
“D-Damian bro!! S-Save me!!”
Saliba, dressed impeccably, came running with a scream.
If his sister Shea saw him, she might have shed tears.
“Stop right there, Saliba! Your lessons aren’t over yet!”
“That’s right, there are still so many clothes left. It’s great we kept the ones Master Damian wore as a child instead of throwing them out!”
“I-I’ll just read magic books. Or give me any other chore. Please, just get these people off me!”
Imperial etiquette was utterly uncomfortable for a boy from the Byzantine alleys.
But he had to get used to it. Even Dennis, of the same clan, managed to some extent.
“Young master. No separate plans for dinner, right?”
Damian nodded at Anna’s question. The servants’ gazes turned to Faruzan.
“Now, Miss Faruzan needs to change too. It’d be a shame to waste such a pretty face.”
“D-Damian….”
Faruzan was dragged away, her arms restrained by two female servants.
Contrary to Damian’s expectations, she didn’t resist with force. She had that much sense.
Instead, she pleaded for help with her eyes.
But Damian just smiled with his eyes.
“Take good care of her.”
If it got too intense and she resisted physically, he could hand her off to Agnes by then.
“Come along, Miss Faruzan.”
With the master’s permission, Anna and the servants had no more reservations.
Damian had long grown accustomed to etiquette, so this was a rare sight for him.
Faruzan found the approaching servants’ smiles more terrifying than any monster.
“D-Damian. No, Lord Damian!”
Even calling him that didn’t make him turn around.
Faruzan sensed that life in the annex wouldn’t be smooth sailing.