Chapter 7
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: The Monastery
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Luon rose from his seat at once. Seeing him check his condition while tightening the leather straps of his bracers, Ransel was taken aback.
“You’re going right now?”
“Is there a reason to go later?”
After gaping foolishly for a moment, Ransel nodded. Right, it was better to get it over with quickly.
“A fellow named Ebil will be your guide. He handles supply runs to the monastery, so he knows the mountain paths better than anyone.”
“Where is he?”
Just then, the door opened and a man entered. Scratching his head with an awkward expression, the man spoke.
“...I’m Ebil. I was listening outside and thought I heard my name.”
Luon jutted his chin toward Ebil, who stood there uncertainly.
“Lead the way.”
***
The mountain path was quite rugged. The untended trail clearly showed it was unaccustomed to foot traffic. In fact, Ebil the hunter was the only one from the village who ever used this path. Even now, he was following a route known only to him. The only difference from his usual treks was the large man following close behind him.
Ebil, walking in front, glanced back and carefully broke the silence.
“Are you alright, sir mercenary?”
“Call me Luon.”
“Ah, yes, Mr. Luon. Isn't this difficult for you?”
Luon shrugged.
“It’s no problem.”
Seeing his face, not even beaded with sweat, Ebil remarked.
“You have incredible stamina. Even I get out of breath on this path, but you look completely unfazed. You weren't kidding when you said you didn't mind a rough shortcut, were you?”
Luon smirked.
“I just figured a hunter would have a path or two that only he knew.”
Finding that Luon, despite his intimidating appearance, was surprisingly easy to talk to, Ebil decided to ask the question that had been on his mind.
“Excuse me, Mr. Luon. May I ask you something?”
“No reason you can’t.”
“Are you… really a mercenary?”
Ebil added, clearing away some small branches.
“Coming all this way just on a rumor about a demon… it seems less like a mercenary and more like…”
“Like someone with a death wish?”
“Ah, no, that’s not what I meant! I just mean you don’t seem like someone who moves for money.”
As the flustered Ebil waved his hands in denial, the corners of Luon’s mouth lifted. The man was fun to tease.
Luon said.
“The demons were in the opening cinematic when I started the game. I thought there might be a clue here.”
“Pardon? Game? Open… what’s that?”
“It’s just a thing.”
Finding it awkward to ask more, Ebil quickened his pace. Following behind him, Luon’s eyes grew deeper. Demons…
Back in the days when he’d poured everything into survival, demons were beings he wouldn’t have even dared to get involved with. But now, having accumulated time and formidable strength, Luon planned to include demons within the scope of his journey.
The thought first occurred to him after he had leveled up in Grungrad.
Seeing that level-up, his first in nearly three months, Luon accepted that he could no longer grow through ordinary combat alone. He resolved to confront the beings and stories he had so far avoided.
This monastery was the starting point. Of course, since he had come based solely on a bard’s song and a rumor, he couldn't be sure of its truthfulness yet, but he would find out soon enough.
“Mr. Luon, we’re here.”
Ebil wiped the beads of sweat from his brow with the back of his hand.
Luon walked past Ebil and threw open the lid of the box. A foul stench wafted out, and his eyes fell upon rotten food. He glanced back and forth between the dark gray monastery and the box, then spoke.
“You can go back now.”
“Oh, is that alright?”
Ebil’s face brightened. He must be terrified.
“When you go down, you can just follow that main road over there.”
Luon didn't bother to mention that he had already memorized the shortcut.
“See you later.”
“Please be careful.”
After Ebil left, Luon, now alone, approached the monastery entrance. Reaching the large iron gate, he placed both palms on it, shoulder-width apart. Then, planting his hands firmly, he pushed forward with great force.
Trying to push open a door locked with a crossbar!
Anyone who saw it would have thought him a madman, but the sight that followed was astonishing.
*Creeak, creeak.*
The crossbar on the other side of the iron gate shrieked. The more the snake-like veins on his hands and arms bulged, the more frantic the shriek of metal grew. As it did, the tips of Luon’s boots dug deeper into the ground, but he was not pushed back an inch.
*Creeeak, cre-creeeak, CRACK!*
The iron bracket holding the bar could no longer withstand the immense force unleashed by his contracted muscles.
*Ting, ting, ting!*
It wasn't that he resorted to such a brutish method for lack of a better way. To get in, he could have broken a window, and for a building this large, he surely could have found another entrance.
The reason Luon chose the loud method of shattering the crossbar was that he wanted to feel the increase in his strength stat, which he had recently invested in.
While there might not be a dramatic change, those who wield strength are sensitive to its shifts. As you could see, the result was more than satisfactory.
Luon grabbed the handle and pulled open the now-liberated door. As he stepped inside, the first thing that greeted him was the smell of old earth, characteristic of a stone building.
*Like the set of a horror movie.*
Luon muttered to himself at the eerie feeling of the building, which was devoid of any human presence. According to what he’d heard, this place was home to more than twenty people, including nuns and friars. Even if they were all playing a game of hide-and-seek, it couldn’t possibly be this quiet.
Placing a hand on the hilt of his sword, Luon moved deeper inside. Reaching what appeared to be a kitchen, he frowned at the carnage before him.
Dark red blood was splattered everywhere. Judging by the broken dishes and smashed objects, something terrible had clearly happened here. The strange thing was, despite enough blood having been spilled to suggest at least one person had died, there were no bodies in sight.
A normal person would have screamed and run, but Luon was a warrior who had long forgotten what it was like to be normal, possessing a power that was far beyond it.
Luon steadied his breathing and slowly awakened his senses.
In his mind's eye, Luon saw an image of an unidentified being ambushing the people as they ate.
Two were taken down in an instant. A third, who had been staring in a daze, was next. The last survivor, in a desperate act of resistance, grabbed a kitchen knife but was killed when their carotid artery was severed.
This vivid sequence of events was a product of Luon’s sharpened senses mixed with his imagination—a fantasy. In other words, it was a process of giving form to what was usually called intuition.
For that reason, Luon didn't particularly trust this ability.
It was, after all, just his imagination, a far cry from a cheat-like ability where you could just right-click your mouse and have clues glow red, allowing the protagonist to grasp the situation at a glance.
Nevertheless, Luon chose to follow the traces his imagination had conjured.
Rather than wander around searching for the perfect answer, his consistent method over the past few years had been to charge ahead with whatever was readily available.
Boldly ignoring doors that were half-open or closed, Luon pressed forward without hesitation. Soon, he entered a lobby with a central staircase in view, where he stopped, having spotted something.
Directly in front of the stairs, a man in a tattered habit was staring this way with a vacant expression. His pale face and unfocused, cloudy eyes were somehow unsettling.
The man approached with a slow gait. Luon gripped the hilt of his sword.
“Any closer and I’ll cut you down.”
Despite the sharp warning, the man did not stop. Instead, an ominous light flickered on his forehead. At that moment, the man’s mouth gaped wide.
“Kreeaaaaagh!”
Screeching, the man charged. Without hesitation, Luon swung his sword horizontally. The man’s head flew toward the stairs, spraying a trail of blood. The headless body staggered for a moment before collapsing.
Luon walked over to the severed head and kicked it over to check the man’s forehead. Seeing the symbol, which looked as if it had been branded with a hot iron, he muttered to himself.
“It’s a demon, all right.”