The Weight of Duty
The healer’s explanation made Comet nod vaguely in understanding.
“The low-risk monsters are currently under the jurisdiction of the police department, but for the sake of efficient resource management, the Committee handles some of the more troublesome cases. This operation is one such instance.”
“Miss Comet, as long as you don’t interfere with the operation, you’re free to hunt at your leisure.”
“What exactly counts as interfering with the operation?”
“Any action that disrupts the encirclement. For example, luring monsters into a hunt.”
“I may be a Necromancer, but I wouldn’t do something like that in the middle of an operation. Don’t worry.”
The healer nodded in acceptance, picked up his pen, and drew a line across the map. The map showed an enlarged view of a mountain located in Seoul.
“Then, to wrap things up, I’ll explain everything one more time.”
Comet listened with a reasonable amount of focus.
“The objective of this operation is the extermination of a small monster pack that has occupied the mountain. To achieve that, we will form an encirclement and ascend the slopes. Combat personnel will operate in teams of two. To compensate for communication blackouts and insufficient manpower, we will make active use of flares. The signal flare looks like this.”
The healer pointed to a photograph of a flare shooting into the sky with a trail of red smoke.
“And once the encirclement narrows beyond a certain range, we will reorganize into teams of four at our designated positions to prepare for any possible high-risk monsters. Do you understand?”
“Yes. Rather than focusing on hunting monsters myself, I should watch for the flares and join up as needed.”
“Exactly. That would be perfect. I think that covers everything. Any additional questions?”
Comet glanced around at the Committee members stretching in front of the trail, then turned back to the healer.
“Which point is Officer Dan Gayeon responsible for?”
The healer drew a line along the trail with his pen.
“Officer Dan will ascend along this trail, then leave it at this point and head upward in this direction.”
Comet memorized the location and nodded.
“I sparred with Officer Dan once. Her skills are quite decent. I’ll take a different route.”
The healer blinked at her. Comet gave him a bright smile.
Whether the description of a “small monster pack” had been accurate or not, Comet ended up finding monsters later than she had originally hoped.
It was a quadrupedal beast-type monster. If she had to classify it, she would call it a wolf. Comet watched the wolf with an expectant gaze and flicked her knife.
The wolf broke into a sprint, leaping toward her in a graceful arc. Comet simply stared at it with wide eyes, observing. She was disappointed by its slower-than-expected speed. She took two slow steps, lowered her upper body, and thrust the raised knife upward. The blade sliced cleanly through the monster’s underbelly as it passed overhead.
The wolf died spilling its own guts. Comet harvested its soul and frowned in mild frustration.
It was weaker than she had anticipated. If Dan Gayeon died to a monster like this, it would only raise unnecessary suspicion. Still, the Committee had no reason to overcommit on something like this, so it was a predictable outcome.
Comet climbed a tree to gauge the slow pace of the encirclement, then headed toward the summit where stronger monsters were likely to appear.
Near the peak, the monsters were noticeably stronger than the first one she had encountered, but there were no large-scale threats that would cause a catastrophic accident if two-person teams ran into them.
Comet casually ignored the charging monsters, climbed onto a boulder, and surveyed her surroundings. Something bulky was sleeping there.
She jumped down from the rock and approached quickly. Up close, it became obvious—this was a bear-like monster.
Comet crossed her arms and stared at the bear monster, then rolled to the side. A wolf-type monster leaped over the spot where she had been standing and slammed its head straight into the sleeping bear.
Comet clasped her hands behind her back and watched with an innocent expression, as if she had nothing to do with it.
The bear monster rose to its feet and looked down at the wolf. The wolf, which had been backing away, still had some pride left and growled in defiance. A faint tearing sound came from its hide.
The bear’s underbelly split open. Rib bones burst outward like spears and impaled the wolf. Comet’s mouth fell open in delight.
The bear grabbed the wolf with its front paw and shoved it into the gaping wound. The wolf was crushed by raw power and swallowed into the bear’s stomach. When Comet clapped her hands, the bear monster turned to look at her.
Comet waved briefly in greeting, then spun around and ran. The noise chasing after her was enormous.
She glanced back at the monster and pondered for a moment. Delivering it to Dan Gayeon like this would be far too noisy. It would be easier to leave it along a suitable path and wait for them to run into each other.
Comet recalled the route the healer had described for Dan Gayeon, adjusted her direction, and began luring the monster.
Once she reached an appropriate spot, she grabbed a tree and climbed. She hid among the branches, reached the very top, then kicked off a limb.
Comet spun once in midair outside the monster’s field of vision and landed as lightly as a soul on the opposite tree. The tree she had just left shattered with a loud crash.
The monster swung its front paw, but finding no human there, it began looking around in confusion. Comet quickly crossed several more trees and moved far away before it could spot her.
After reaching a safe location, she stretched for a moment before continuing on. Following the expected route, she found Dan Gayeon without much difficulty.
Dan Gayeon was teamed up with some man. Their conversation was stiff and formal, suggesting they weren’t particularly close. They kept their voices low, mindful of nearby monsters.
“If anything goes wrong, this is on you, Officer Dan, right?”
“Yes.”
“I clearly said we should avoid it.”
“Yes, yes.”
The man looked anxiously toward the direction where the bear monster had caused a commotion. Comet scratched her cheek. The distance meant it probably hadn’t been too loud, but it seemed to have drawn their attention anyway.
“I really was against this.”
“Understood. If it gets dangerous, fire a flare. I’ll buy us time.”
“If we had just avoided it, there wouldn’t be any danger.”
“Haha.”
What came out was less a laugh than a dry, hollow sound. Comet blinked. This cold, detached version of Dan Gayeon was new to her.
When a wolf-type monster pushed through the underbrush, their conversation stopped. Dan Gayeon raised her sword while the man fell back. He had no weapon, so he was probably a magic user.
As the monster lunged to bite her leg, Dan Gayeon shifted her stance, dodged naturally, and swung her blade. The sword cut into the monster’s flank. The wound wasn’t deep; the staggering monster charged again.
A single ice arrow flew in and struck it. Dan Gayeon finished off the fallen monster. Ice arrows were a common tactic, so she couldn’t be certain, but the man was likely an elementalist.
“Well done,” Dan Gayeon said, smiling gently at the man.
“Of course I did well. But what were you thinking, dodging like that? What if the monster had come after me instead?”
Dan Gayeon silently swung her sword to shake off the blood. The scattered droplets splattered against a tree.
As they drew closer to where the bear monster was, their intermittent conversation died away completely, as if they were focusing. Dan Gayeon took the lead, carefully parting the bushes, then stopped.
In the sudden silence, they could hear the heavy breathing of a beast. Dan Gayeon gestured to the man, sharing the situation. He peered past the bushes at the bear monster. The two quietly backed away, increasing the distance.
The man whispered to Dan Gayeon.
“We can’t win this.”
“What? No, I think we can manage.”
“Look properly. That fur has magic resistance.”
“I’ll create wounds. If you land magic on top of them, the damage should stick.”
“I know that. Who doesn’t? But if you’re the one dealing damage, who’s going to tank?”
Comet was twirling a strand of hair when she noticed the bear monster turning its head. The whispering pair realized it had noticed them and quickly assumed formation.
The charging monster swung its front paw. Dan Gayeon dodged lightly and swung her sword. The moment a wound appeared, a fire arrow flew in. Flames exploded and the monster roared. Taking advantage of the opening, Dan Gayeon unleashed a flurry of strikes while more elemental magic struck home.
Comet crossed her arms and tilted her head. She watched for a while, but the situation didn’t change. Every time a sword wound appeared, magic followed. The monster wasn’t taking massive damage from the continuous assault, but damage was definitely accumulating.
From the outside it might not look like much, so anyone on the receiving end would naturally grow anxious, but Dan Gayeon moved with calm precision. It was the composure that came from plenty of experience in tense, high-pressure hunts. Her claim that she had mainly played hunting-focused games apparently hadn’t been empty talk.
Comet sat down and searched for a stone. She carefully selected one that would be easy to throw and would stagger the target on impact, then stood back up. The situation remained unchanged.
But from the monster’s perspective, it must have been different. It let out a furious roar. Suddenly, it smashed a nearby boulder. Several attacks landed during that moment, but the monster ignored them, lifted the shattered rock, and hurled it at the mage in the rear.
The man stared blankly at the flying boulder and took the hit head-on. It seemed he had been so focused on dealing damage that he forgot the backline always needed to be ready to move.
Dan Gayeon froze for a moment, unable to process the absurd turn of events, then rolled quickly. Her reaction was a little slow. A tearing sound came from her flesh as ribs burst outward. One of her blocking arms was skewered and mangled. Her sword swung and shattered the protruding bones. A front paw swept across and Dan Gayeon was sent flying, slamming into the ground.
Comet gently set the stone down. Good things were good things.
It was then that the man staggered to his feet. His shirt was soaked in blood and cold sweat ran down his face. He clearly wouldn’t be able to cast any more magic. When he saw Dan Gayeon, battered and using her sword like a cane to stand, his face twisted.
“See? I told you we couldn’t beat it!”
The monster, hearing his shout, turned toward him. The man frantically pulled out a flare. Comet clicked her tongue, picked the stone back up, and assumed a throwing stance—then paused.
The muzzle was pointing in an unexpected direction.
The fired flare left a red trail as it flew and struck Dan Gayeon. The red trail burst and Dan Gayeon staggered. The monster’s front paw slammed down on her.
Comet watched silently as Dan Gayeon endured the attack, her posture collapsing. Black hair and droplets of blood scattered through the air. The monster looked down at the fallen Dan Gayeon and roared.
Comet listened to that roar for a moment, then chased after the fleeing man.
He was stumbling down the mountain. Comet observed the scene, overtook him, and examined the natural obstacles ahead. A protruding tree root lay directly in his path. She kicked it hard. It splintered and the broken root became sharp as a spear.
The man soon passed right in front of it. Comet threw the stone. He staggered and fell, his upper body impaled on the sharpened root. A low scream rang out.
Before long, two hands gripped the root and strained. His legs struggled to find footing. Comet approached leisurely with her hands behind her back, then lifted her foot. She pressed down firmly on his back. A thin scream followed. The man trembled once, then went limp.
“What an embarrassing way to die.”
Comet tore off a few leaves, shredded them, and scattered the pieces over the man’s head. She dusted off her hands, took out a Soul Bead, and collected his soul.
She examined the corpse for a moment, then turned and walked back toward the place where Dan Gayeon should have died.
She had walked about halfway when she heard the sound of leaves being crushed underfoot. Comet’s eyebrows twitched at the unexpected development. She quickly hid in the underbrush. Soon after, Dan Gayeon staggered into view.
With dazed eyes, she followed the trail of blood droplets on the ground. Her sword was nowhere to be seen—only the scabbard remained tied at her waist. She had wrapped her pierced arm in her coat, but blood still dripped steadily.
Dan Gayeon leaned against trees several times as she walked. Before long she discovered the corpse and let out a hollow laugh. Her shoulders shook. Her ragged breaths tangled together, producing strange sounds.
She exhaled deeply, approached the corpse, and yanked it with all her strength. The blood-soaked root was fully exposed as the body came free. Dan Gayeon lost her balance and fell, then crawled over and rummaged through the corpse’s clothes.
A flare was pulled out. The trembling muzzle pointed at the sky. The trigger was pulled. A click sounded.
Dan Gayeon stared at the still-pale sky for a moment, then let her arm drop. The discarded flare struck the corpse and fell. Stones and dirt pelted the body in succession before stopping. Leaves rustled in the wind.
A howling rose from far away. Dan Gayeon, who had been holding back her tears, hoisted the corpse onto her shoulder. Her legs trembled as she stood. She swayed for a single moment, but soon stood straight. The hem of her coat swayed. A single blood-soaked footprint was pressed into the earth. Another footprint followed as she descended the mountain. There were no more after that.
Only the fallen body, wrapped in rustling leaves that rose and settled once more.
Comet approached Dan Gayeon with a blank stare. She moved the corpse aside, turned the body so it faced the sky, knelt, and gently rested the head on her lap.
Glory to a death that fulfilled its duty.
Comet closed her eyes. She could hear the slowing heartbeat. The wind blew. Blades of grass swayed and whispered. The passing wind showed an artificial movement, then retreated.
The sound of running footsteps followed. Comet opened her eyes and blinked. The healer burst through the underbrush, followed by several others.
The healer looked back and forth between Comet and the dying Dan Gayeon, then cast a spell. Comet watched the healer, then looked down at Dan Gayeon. Color was returning to her face. The shining soul was fading from view.
Comet felt somewhat sour.
What a wicked healer.