Chapter 37 - Wolf's Village (1)
So.
I was now standing at the entrance of the Wolf's Village, the first condition for clearing the quest.
And I was waving to the Conquest Team that had just arrived nearby.
”You’re here early?“
”…“
Hmm.
The expression on everyone's face said, "Are you the one who should be saying that?"
“Why the long faces?”
Sensing a strange atmosphere, I tried to lighten the mood with those words, but the expressions on the faces of the entire Conquest Team showed no sign of changing.
Anyone would think they had seen a ghost.
“No, it would be less surprising to see a ghost…”
Seo Hye-in said with a look that said she was too tired to even show a surprised reaction anymore.
“I have a mountain of questions… but let's narrow it down to one. How did you survive?”
I tossed the Vanquisher, its barrel on the verge of breaking from being fired so much, to Jeong Woo-jin and answered.
“I shot down everything that came my way.”
“…What about the boy who was with you?”
“I hid him in a safe place. I have to leave him like that for a while.”
“Are you saying you went alone just to do something like that?”
“To call it 'just something like that', if I hadn't done it, none of you would have arrived here safely, you know?”
“…”
At these words, Seo Hye-in flinched and shut her mouth.
Seeing her not argue at all, it seemed she had heard something from Lee Si-yeong.
The words that followed made it certain.
“That boy, I heard he's something like… a sacrifice. Does that mean anything, by any chance-”
“No.”
“Pardon?”
“It won't help if anyone other than me knows about it.”
Seo Hye-in's mouth snapped shut.
It was probably one of the expressions that came out when one's disbelief was ascending to the heavens.
“…It's obviously important information, isn't it? If we don't know about it and something goes wrong-”
“I'll handle it.”
“By yourself?”
“By myself.”
“...”
Seo Hye-in stared at me for a moment with a speechless expression, then rubbed her temples and let out a deep sigh.
“...You're not lying, are you?”
“Why would I do something like that?”
“Understood. I will trust you.”
Hmm, what's this.
Her agreeing with me this easily felt like a lower hurdle than I thought.
It seemed that a good amount of trust had been built up in the meantime.
“But it's still dangerous nonetheless, so if such a situation arises, please be sure to tell us-”
Seo Hye-in, who was about to say that, cut herself off and looked back.
Someone was poking her shoulder.
When Seo Hye-in turned her gaze, she saw Seo Ah-in shaking her head with a look of resignation.
It was a gesture that exuded a strong sense that there was no need to worry about me at all.
“…”
Seeing Seo Hye-in also fall silent as if she agreed, I chuckled and turned around.
“Well, shall we go in then?”
I shouted and walked steadily towards the village.
Although it was called a village, what lay before me was a huge stone building that could be called a castle.
And at its entrance, a barrier-like thing was spread out in yellow.
Wolf's Village.
The most important setting for the key event to be unraveled on the 11th floor.
“Hmm.”
I exhaled through my nose and scanned the area near the barrier.
It was the exact same color as the gems embedded in the heads of the wolves I had been shooting down so relentlessly.
A fact that implied quite a lot.
“Wait a minute, Mr. Kim Gyu-sik?”
I heard a voice from behind me.
She was probably worried about me approaching an unknown place alone like this, but when I waved my hand as if to say it was fine, she quickly quieted down.
It seemed that others were slowly learning that it was better to let me act impulsively.
In fact, just looking at Seo Hye-in, it was clear she had judged that it would be more efficient to take more productive actions in the time it would take to question me.
That was evident just from the way she was looking around the barrier and analyzing it carefully.
”It's a barrier made with very... complex techniques. At least at my level, I can't even analyze it. I'd like to hear a mage's opinion.“
”Thanks for the expectation, but I can't really say anything about that either. If we're going to break through that, we'll have to go through some trouble-“
Lee Si-yeong's sentence was cut short.
That was because the barrier in front of me was smoothly opening up to create an entrance, as if it had 'recognized' a 'visitor'.
Well, the barrier was amazing in its own right, but.
I had received a certain ability from the 'sacrifice' I had hidden.
Opening this door was a piece of cake.
”...How did you do that? No, please, stop startling people, you...“
“Well, you don't need to be surprised by something like that.”
To Lee Si-yeong's flustered, stuttering sentence, I chuckled and said so.
“There are even greater things inside.”
***
The society of Climbers, while seeming wide, was actually quite a narrow one.
It seemed like a lot of people were engaged in it, but for people at the level of A-class Climbers, they were all familiar faces, just one degree of separation away.
The situation unfolding here right now could be understood as being of that kind.
“Wait. Section Chief Seo? You're the Hunting Alliance's Section Chief Seo, right?”
“Climber Han Seong-wook? What on earth are you doing here…?”
After entering the barrier, Seo Hye-in, who had run into an elderly middle-aged man at the village entrance, opened her mouth in a flustered voice.
Both of their expressions were quite a sight, as if they hadn't expected to meet at all.
‘But, Han Seong-wook…’
I remembered the name.
He was one of the more prominent supporting characters.
The nickname he gave himself was definitely… ‘Cheetah’.
“…”
I wondered.
Of all the animals, why a cheetah?
Isn't that a bit of a subtle choice?
As I was thinking that, the conversation between Han Seong-wook and Seo Hye-in brushed past my ears.
“We entered the 11th Floor as your follow-up team.”
“Are you saying another conquest team entered after us?”
“Of course, man. The Association, two major guilds, and even the Magic Tower rolled up their sleeves. Does it make sense for the other guilds to just sit on their hands? We all have to help each other out.”
At those words, Seo Hye-in forced a social smile.
It was better than confronting him to his face and asking if they hadn't hastily followed because they didn't want their profits monopolized.
“Is that so. Then all the Climbers around here are…?”
“Yes. They're the follow-up conquest teams. But when we came to our senses, we were all… 'transported' here. So far, we haven't done anything but wander in the fog.”
“I see. That's a relief.”
“Of course, it's a relief! Still, we managed to get here somehow! We did it, didn't we!”
Han Seong-wook, who said that, burst into a series of laughs that seemed deliberately exaggerated.
Seo Hye-in's eyebrows were twitching as soon as she heard the word ‘we’.
‘She has every right to be annoyed.’
These people were now trying to just put a spoon on a table that was already set.
In reality, they had just been sitting around and had been flown over here, but they were trying to frame it as if they had also contributed to the discovery of this village.
From this person's perspective, they were trying to take credit for something that would benefit her guild, so how could she be pleased?
“…Excuse me, Climber Han Seong-wook.”
Seo Hye-in opened her mouth with a look of barely swallowing something boiling inside her.
“I don't think the word 'we' is very appropriate.”
See, doesn't she draw the line just like that?
As expected of a high-ranking member of a major guild, her work was done crisply…
“Neither the Supervisor nor I contributed much to finding this place. The progress of this floor's conquest so far has all been done by that man over there. Please pass the credit to him.”
Seo Hye-in said that and pointed at me.
“…”
No.
I mean, that's technically correct.
But if you told people that an F-class had broken through here alone, they would hardly believe it.
“…Section Chief Seo? Are you joking right now?”
Just look at Han Seong-wook's incredulous response.
But Seo Hye-in still showed no sign of backing down.
A sense of justice, as if she couldn't let someone else take the opportunity for me to stand out, was burning in her eyes.
“I'm not joking. If you want to get a free ride, get permission from that man, not me.”
“…Hey. Section Chief Seo. A free ride? What's with that upsetting word?”
Han Seong-wook deliberately lowered his voice in protest, but Lee Si-yeong, who had been standing silently with her arms crossed, snorted as soon as she heard it and chimed in.
“Well, let's put that aside for now. No matter how I look at it, it doesn't seem like you were just wandering around here like you said. How many injured people do you have there right now?”
Indeed, Han Seong-wook's conquest team members were all unable to even stand properly.
In other words, they were like defeated soldiers fleeing after losing a battle.
“…Well, we had a bit of a tough time.”
As Han Seong-wook said awkwardly, Lee Si-yeong seized on his words and shot back sharply.
“You call more than half of your entire force being seriously injured a tough time? If you had a tough time twice, everyone would have been dead, wouldn't they?”
“…What are you trying to say?”
“Let's get the facts straight.”
Lee Si-yeong said that and pointed at the barrier they had just entered.
“Now that we've 'passed' through here, you all were transported here too. In other words, we saved your lives, didn't we?”
“How can I believe that…”
“Take it up with the Magic Tower that certified me as a 3rd-grade mage. At least, according to my analysis, that's certain.”
“…”
To Han Seong-wook, whose expression hardened, Lee Si-yeong continued in a sharp voice.
“'Getting a free ride'… is actually too mild an expression. In my view, the right word is mooching, you know? Know your place. What a pathetic thing to do.”
“…That's not a very pleasant tone, mage.”
“Pleasant or not, if you check the facts, that's right. The conquest team led by the Hunting Alliance was the first to enter here, and you did nothing. Understood?”
Han Seong-wook shut his mouth with a furious expression, but he didn't openly argue with Lee Si-yeong's words.
Now that Lee Si-yeong had mentioned the Magic Tower's name, it was as good as nailing it down as their 'official position'.
To oppose this would be an act of antagonizing the Magic Tower, so even if he wanted to, he couldn't say much.
‘Smart.’
This was probably a plan to eliminate any trouble by hammering in a nail with authority in advance.
At least in the current situation, that was much more effective than bringing up my name.
And Lee Si-yeong, who had spouted those words one-sidedly, then shrugged and pulled Seo Hye-in's sleeve.
“Let's go. We're done talking here.”
“Pardon? No. It wasn't the Hunting Alliance's conquest team that did it, but purely Mr. Kim Gyu-sik alone-”
“…Shut up and just follow me, you idiot.”
Though she ended up spewing insults as she dragged away Seo Hye-in, who looked like she was the most wronged person in the world.
“…”
And as we moved away, leaving Han Seong-wook's conquest team behind.
I alone subtly turned my head to look at them.
He was glaring at us with menacingly shining eyes.
As if he would cause some trouble sooner or later.
‘I'm counting on you.’
I thought and smirked.
Yes, please do that.
That would make the progression from here on much easier.