Chapter 122
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Chungcheongbuk-do Buan-gun.
Outside the barrier, at the entrance to Sobaeksan Mountain Field.
Lush trees decorated the surroundings on both sides as Moon Ga-eun and I walked side by side.
…With Seong Na-yeon quietly following behind us.
Glancing back at Seong Na-yeon, I moved a little closer to Moon Ga-eun and said.
“….I’ll take responsibility.”
At those words, Moon Ga-eun was startled and replied.
“Wh, wh, what? What responsibility?”
What the.
Why is she so surprised?
I looked at her with a blank expression.
“She is a clan guard assigned by the Royals. I need to take responsibility and convince Holder Seong Na-yeon naturally.”
“Ah, that responsibility… Phew… I thought….”
What is she thinking?
Moon Ga-eun, who had just heaved a sigh of relief, suddenly looked at me sullenly.
“You said you weren’t worried at all because it’s clan security.”
“What? Hey, that’s different from this. That was a promise…!!”
I suddenly stopped talking.
It seemed my voice had gotten too loud.
So I discreetly looked back.
“…….”
Sure enough.
Seong Na-yeon was watching us from afar with a delighted face.
…Damn it.
She probably sees this as a lover’s quarrel too.
We’ve been firmly stamped as a couple.
I whispered to Moon Ga-eun again.
“This is a broken promise. You clearly said we just had to greet your father.”
Moon Ga-eun’s fake boyfriend role.
It was clearly supposed to end after just one meal with Moon Jung-hyuk, and the roleplay was successful at the time.
I had played the boyfriend role more perfectly than Moon Ga-eun had asked, and was able to leave a positive impression at the subsequent drinking session with Moon Jung-hyuk.
I had stubbornly transformed her lies into truth.
But the roleplay I thought had ended was still ongoing.
…And against one of the core members of the <Royals>, Seong Na-yeon, no less.
Moon Ga-eun also seemed not to have expected this, with an embarrassed look on her face.
“I’m really sorry about that… I clearly told Dad it was a secret….”
She mumbled on.
“He was probably worried because of Villain, so he must’ve said things he shouldn’t have.”
“…….”
An invincible shield deployed.
A father’s worry for his daughter…
It wasn’t hard to understand.
The <Villain> side’s raid had only been 2 weeks ago, and the <Anti-Villain> circle had just been established last week.
And after that, she was going hunting in the field with the circle president, so of course he’d be worried.
Especially since Moon Jung-hyuk was a father who cared deeply for his daughter.
‘…….’
Of course, I don’t know if that’s a reason enough to say we’re in a relationship.
I lightly sighed and said,
“Can’t be helped. Anyway, once we start hunting, she probably won’t pay much attention. I already told her we came here to hunt, so she’ll understand.”
“…Yeah. I’m really sorry.”
“Hey, if you sincerely apologize, what happens to me? I was just saying it. I’m not mad.”
Seeing Moon Ga-eun so crestfallen, I panicked.
Since I was the one who suggested the hunt and Moon Ga-eun just came along, I felt bad blaming her.
…I hope she’s not upset?
Scratching my head, I asked.
“Should we hold hands like last time?”
At that, Moon Ga-eun quickly raised her head and replied.
“No! I think it’ll be okay! I’ll convince Holder Seong Na-yeon well!”
Such a stubborn refusal.
Yup, she’s definitely sulking.
***
Ippotranslation
***
The field outside the barrier, where monsters gather.
Each field has different terrain and monster tendencies, but Sobaeksan Mountain Field in particular doesn’t have monsters appearing in the early stages.
Past the hiking trail, in the open hills.
Monsters don’t start appearing until you reach the mid-stages of the field.
Thanks to that, we hadn’t encountered any monsters after hiking up the early stages.
“I think they’ll start appearing soon.”
I tensed up a bit and scanned the surroundings.
The [Sword of Penitent] was already in my hand.
I was fully prepared to fight whenever monsters appeared.
Moon Ga-eun placed her hand on the ground for a moment, then said.
“Nothing on scan yet. We’ll have to go further in.”
This is why archer-type Holders are essential in a party.
They can detect monsters that can appear at any time using scouting runes.
Of course, I also had [Prey Search], but it is now a subsidiary rune of [Descendant of the Barbarian King] . So I could scan as well.
Moon Ga-eun, who had gotten up from her spot, picked up her bow again.
Looking around, she said.
“There aren’t many Holders here hunting though. Did everyone stay back because of the vacation?”
As she said, the area was too quiet.
Not a single person, let alone monsters, was in sight.
From the entrance to our current position, we hadn’t run into a single Holder.
The only signs of life were me, Moon Ga-eun, and Seong Na-yeon quietly following behind us.
But the lack of people wasn’t just because today was a holiday.
“Sobaeksan Mountain Field was always a less popular hunting ground.”
“Why?”
“The monsters’ attack patterns here are difficult. Since most are aerial-type, hunting is tough and most people have little experience fighting them.”
Aerial monsters are extremely tricky for the hunting Holders.
Warrior-types have to closely mark the attacks from monsters flying in from who knows where, and dealers also have to hunt carefully, as they can be attacked at any time.
Unlike normal monsters that attack in straight lines, aerial monsters could strike from any angle.
“And they’re not low-grade either.”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Sobaeksan Mountain Field was quite a high-level hunting ground.
It doesn’t have any clumsy D-grade or C-grade monsters.
There are barely any monsters in the early stages, but B-grade monsters start wandering around the mid-stages. Go further up and A-grade monsters frequently appear as well.
It was on the level of ‘Seoraksan Mountain Field’, which I had visited before to clear the Stained Rock Pile dungeon. It’s such a high-level field, but even the monsters that appear are floating in the sky?
It was normal for everyone to not like it.
“But it’s not all disadvantages.Unlike beast-types that move in packs, they move alone here, so it’s easier to take them out one-by-one. And since they can fly, they tend to lack other tricky abilities… So it can be surprisingly easy to hunt if you get used to it.”
If you adapt, Sobaeksan Mountain Field is actually not a bad hunting ground.
…Of course, people don’t come because adapting is a hassle.
Moon Ga-eun looked at me like I was being pretentious.
“Do Jae-hyun, you know surprisingly a lot about field hunting. I didn’t know much of this.”
At that, I hesitated for a moment.
Truthfully, it’s all just theory for me, theory only.
Since I’ve read so much about it in articles.
That’s why I don’t attend the common classes on dungeons and fields.
I know too much, to the point that it’s become boring.
“Ahem, well, you know I’m very interested in hunting. You’ve never been with the clan?”
“Nope. When I’ve been dispatched, it’s almost always to Inwangsan Mountain Field or Seoraksan Mountain Field.”
I nodded at that as well.
Two of the most popular domestic hunting grounds.
If you need to hunt or gain experience, there’s no need to specifically go to Sobaeksan Mountain Field when you have those two spots.
If not for the ‘clue about Wyvern’, I probably wouldn’t have come to such a tricky hunting ground either…
Kkyuuuu-
Kkyuuk-!
And then.
A creepy cry echoed from high up ahead.
Now in the mid-stages, after walking for so long from the entrance.
The monsters of Sobaeksan Mountain Field had finally appeared.
Moon Ga-eun quickly started drawing her bow, and I tensely looked up at the sky as well.
Soon, the monster with the grotesque face appeared.
As soon as I saw it, I could identify it.
“Harpy.”
B-grade monster, harpy.
With the head of a human-like face and the body of a bird, it had a peculiar form.
Though they were known to generally have the faces of women, they were so badly distorted and crude due to being monsters that they were simply creepy.
“Ga-eun, prepare a strong blow.”
“How are you going to do it?”
“Harpies are fast. You likely won’t be able to hit it immediately even using focusing runes. I’ll first shock it with a dagger and stop its movements. Then hit the thing with your strongest support fire. That’ll make hunting much easier.”
The harpy is basically a monster-type focused on physical enhancement.
It has some magic runes to manipulate water, but the abilities are very weak.
Its main attack routes were undoubtedly its fast speed and aerial domination for sudden raids.
The counter to these attacks is taking the lead and attacking first.
I had to restrict its movements and drag it down to the ground before it could fly freely in the sky.
‘Throwing daggers are optimized for that kind of attack.’
Though I’ve mainly been learning Short Sword Swordsmanship from Yoo Eun-seol recently, my primary dagger use before that was still throwing daggers.
The four daggers at my waist.
I temporarily stored the [Sword of Penitent] in my magic bag and took out the daggers.
Kkyuuuu-!!
Kkyuk-!
The harpy kept making its bizarre cries as it approached nearby.
Its’ body was finally within range.
Without hesitation, I threw all four daggers at it.
‘Quarter Knife!’
[Quarter Knife], attacking with one dagger imbued with magic.
I wouldn’t be able to take down the harpy with this, but I could make an opening for Moon Ga-eun to attack for sure.
The subsidiary rune [Ice-Cold Focus] steadied my shaking focus.
“Lucky.”
Two missed, but the other two stabbed into the harpy’s torso and leg.
And the dagger in its leg seemed to be imbued with magic.
Kkyuk-? Kkyuuuu-!!
The instant I saw the harpy’s movements restricted, I shouted,
“Moon Ga-eun, now…?”
But I suddenly trailed off at the end.
Because of course…
Kwaa, kwaaaang!!
Kkyuuuk-?!
All of a sudden, a tremendous roar.
The harpy’s leg exploded.
Having directly received the massive impact, the harpy flapped its wings clumsily, its leg blown apart.
Seeing that.
Moon Ga-eun’s focused expression as she drew her bow went blank.
“This is…”
Only then did I realize it too.
The dagger bomb with [Explosive Sword Aura] triggered.
I added that explosive property because I was worried the power would be insufficient…
But damn, this is way more powerful than I thought.
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