Even Groveling Has Its Cave

"Hey, this… I saw it. Slave trader, sir."

It was the bastard who had been spitting on the ground back ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at the Adventurer Guild. He had no intention of starting an all-out fight. He stopped well outside my killing range, both hands raised in surrender. It looked like he had been holding his breath for a while now, secretly watching our hunting method.

Greed swam in his eyes, along with the instinctive terror that came from confirming Elina’s and the slaves’ combat strength.

"That powder you used. With just one of those, you wouldn’t need three or four people scrubbing the floor like rags. Am I right?"

"Guild Regulation Two."

When I recited the number in a flat voice, the bastard gave a slimy smile and picked up the thread.

"Of course I know it. The guild doesn’t get involved in disappearances or deaths that happen in hunting grounds. I’m rather fond of that rule myself."

Even while his fingers toyed with the hilt of his sword, he stayed carefully on the right side of the line and began spinning his twisted logic.

"So why don’t we help each other out? If you plan to keep hunting, we’ll clear a path for you. On the way back, we can even act as escorts."

"That won’t be necessary."

At my firm refusal, the leader’s eyes flickered with cowardice.

"Well, that’s a shame. We’re big guys, see. We make a lot of noise when we walk. One wrong step and the monsters around here might swarm this way in droves. You sure you’re okay with that?"

An absurd threat. The bastard’s real plan was to have his group make a racket and interfere with our hunt. Instead of answering, I gave a small nod toward Elina and the slaves.

"End it."

The moment the words left my mouth, Elina’s figure blurred. The slaves drew their weapons and tightened the encirclement. The air froze in an instant.

The bastard had already realized it while watching us hunt earlier. Against the people now rushing toward him, he wouldn’t last ten seconds, let alone a full minute, before being turned into chunks of meat.

"W-wait! Hold on! It was a joke! Just a joke!"

The leader let out a scream and hurled his weapon to the ground.

"Spare me! I’ll give you information instead! There’s a variant Twin-Head Ogre’s territory nearby—I know where it is!"

I immediately signaled the slaves to stop.

"That thing has three heads! Well, to be exact, there’s one underdeveloped head sprouting from its shoulder. Because of that, its magic response is freakishly higher than normal, and its territorial instincts are way stronger. Even our comrades couldn’t set foot in its range—they were overpowered by its presence!"

"Where are the rest of your companions?"

"I-I’m the fastest, so I came to scout the situation! The others are waiting behind those bushes over there… We’re definitely not planning an ambush!"

Killing them right now would be trivial. As Guild Regulation Two clearly stated, slaughter in the hunting grounds was a perfectly legal rule that no one would question.

But after weighing everything, my conclusion was that it would be an unnecessary action.

If a party vanishes the moment I register, it’s only a matter of time before people ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠start talking.

Even if non-intervention was the principle, if an adventurer party disappeared without a trace near a brand-new registrant, unnecessary attention and suspicion would inevitably follow. From my position—where every practical gain mattered—such social noise would only become an obstacle to my future moves.

Above all, this bastard looked like he had rolled around the guild long enough to have some real experience. Rather than killing him and needlessly provoking the hornets’ nest, it would be far more profitable in the long run to keep him alive and squeeze every drop of local information and guild knowledge out of him.

Especially that word he had spat out—variant. It caught my interest.

A variant isn’t simply a deformity. It possesses traits several times, sometimes dozens of times stronger than a normal specimen. That means the density of magic power and the purity of its blood serum inside its body have been condensed to miraculous levels.

The more special the individual, the more its value skyrockets. The information this piece of trash had brought was nothing short of a gold vein.

"Do you want to live?"

"Of course! I’ll do anything you say!"

"Good. Hand over your guild badge. I’ll keep it as collateral. And bring your companions’ badges as well. Right now."

The moment the order left my mouth, the leader’s face turned as white as paper. With trembling hands he loosened the cord around his neck and offered up a heavy metal plate that gave off a dull golden luster.

A gold-grade badge. It was proof of mid-to-high rank within the guild and a tangible form of power that granted VIP treatment in most cities and passage through gates without inspection. To adventurers, it was an honor more precious than life itself.

"I-I’ll persuade the others… Just wait a moment."

The leader threw himself into the darkness between the trees. Soon after, violent shouts and several dull thuds echoed from beyond the bushes. Whether he was persuading them or beating them into submission, I didn’t care.

When he reappeared, the leader’s hands were full of gold badges—one for each member—along with a few fresh scratches on his own face.

"Here, I brought all of them, including my party members’. That’s enough, right?"

His hands shook like leaves, yet the rough tone he was used to still slipped out. Five gold-grade badges in total.

Gold grade, huh. Seeing their level, I can guess why they were so obsessed with hunting a Twin-Head Ogre.

Judging by the leader’s combat ability, a normal frontal assault on a Twin-Head Ogre would have been close to suicide. They had probably used roundabout tactics or stolen prey that other parties had already weakened. Not an uncommon sight in this world.

I gathered the clinking bundle of gold and tossed it to Elina.

"With these, I now hold your leashes. Until this hunt is over, you will act as perimeter guards on the outskirts of the forest and block any ‘noise.’ If so much as a single rat slips inside, I won’t return your badges to the guild—I’ll plant them in front of your graves."

Despite his tough words, the leader had already thrown his pride away. He had instinctively realized the truth: the man before him didn’t see them as ‘gold-grade adventurers’ but as ‘low-grade disposable parts’ that could be thrown away at any time.

"Y-yes, understood! I’ll block them even if I have to die and come back to life! The variant’s location is a cave behind the waterfall about twenty minutes north from here. You should be careful once you get there."

The miserable back of the once-arrogant gold-grade adventurer disappeared into the forest. The darkness of the woods settled over him even thicker.

A variant Twin-Head Ogre. Just thinking about harvesting that grotesque vitality that was dozens of times greater than a normal specimen made my mouth water.

Leaving the groveling, information-spilling bastard behind, I climbed back into the carriage. The axle creaked as it plunged deeper into the northern forest’s abyss.

The farther we traveled, the heavier the air became. It wasn’t simple humidity. It was the sticky pressure of magic power crushing against the skin—the proof that we had entered the variant’s domain.

Before long, a majestic roar of water pierced the forest’s silence and shook the earth.

"Stop."

At my quiet command the heavy cart halted, kicking up clouds of rough dust. The louder the sound of the waterfall striking the rock face grew, the more the carriage’s vibrations would serve as a clear beacon to the creature.

"Numbers One and Two, guard the carriage here. If even one rat approaches, dispose of it immediately and send a signal."

"We will keep it in mind."

"If the ones who lost their badges approach with impure intentions, kill them on sight."

The two slaves I had pointed out bowed their heads and immediately slipped into the bushes on either side of the carriage.

I scanned the surroundings. An ogre corpse lay sprawled beside a tree. I drew my dagger and sliced open the thick fat layer on the ogre’s belly.

Schlick.

The sharp blade dug between the flesh, revealing sticky yellow fat. I wrapped a rag around the end of some dry firewood I had brought from the carriage and crushed a generous amount of the monster’s oily visceral fat onto it. The stench was awful, but nothing burned longer.

"Elina, along with Numbers Three and Four, will follow me. From here on we move on foot. The variant is more sensitive to vibrations than a normal specimen."

"Understood."

Elina adjusted her grip on her sword hilt and took her place beside me. The waterfall’s white foam flickered like ghosts in the forest gloom. We pushed through the thick mist created by the spray.

When the thunderous roar of water slamming against the rock wall had numbed our eardrums, a massive cavity yawned open in the middle of a sheer cliff.

The cave entrance was large enough for several carriages to pass through at once. Its floor was littered with the corpses of monsters and wild beasts like grotesque decorations. Crushed bones crunched underfoot with a skin-crawling sound. The cave mouth looked exactly like a giant monster opening its jaws.

Chik. Whoooosh—!

I struck flint against the makeshift torch. Acrid smoke rose as orange flames violently drove back the damp cave air. I handed one torch to Slave Number Three and raised mine high.

"Numbers Three and Four, take the rear. I will lead from the front. Elina, stay ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠right behind me and watch the forward blind spots."

With the low command, we stepped deeper into the cave relying on the flickering light. After walking for about ten minutes, a fork appeared where the damp air split.

"Everyone, move left."

At my decision Elina silently adjusted her sword and nodded. The moment we ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠stepped farther inside, a nose-stabbing stench hit us alongside a horrific sight.

What lay scattered across the floor were not beast corpses but human ones. The flesh had not yet fully rotted, so red muscle was still exposed. The bodies were bent at grotesque angles, as if they had been crushed by something.

Drip. Crack.

Viscous fluid fell from the ceiling onto the corpses’ faces. On the far side of the cave, where complete silence had settled and light could not reach, two gleaming eyes split the darkness.

"……!"

Elina’s breathing stopped. But that was only the beginning. To the right of the first pair, two more eyes appeared. Then another two between them. A total of six yellow pupils arranged in a triangular formation pierced through us from the darkness.

And a moment later, beneath those cold eyes, grotesquely torn mouth corners drew an arc and slowly spread open. A cruel smile that almost made one imagine someone giggling in the dark.

It’s here.

The ammonia stench that stabbed deep into the lungs and the rotten metallic reek of blood settled over the air like a weight that could freeze everything solid. The creature had been happily waiting for us to arrive from the very beginning.

"Numbers Three and Four, secure the retreat! Elina, do not take your eyes off its gaze!"

The instant my command echoed hollowly off the cave walls, the smiles lurking in the darkness grew even thicker.