Chapter 141
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Akiba Miyura is a shrine maiden of Shintoism(*the ethnic religion of Japan).
Since she was very young, she has been trained in etiquette and spirituality as a shrine maiden of Atsuta Shrine. After awakening as a Holder, she has also been active as a ‘battle shrine maiden’, hunting nearby fields and dungeons.
With her long period of hunting and growth, her Holder rank reached B-grade.
She possesses the epic-grade rune [Archer’s Guardian], so she is of the archer class.
However, even after becoming a Holder, she has always tried not to lose sight of herself as a shrine maiden.
Devout faith and mindset of respecting others.
The consciousness of believing without doubt and wanting to trust.
This could also be seen as her identity.
This is also why Akiba always has a polite attitude in her interpersonal relationships.
“Miyura. There are guys defiling the sanctuary.”
One day while continuing her life as both a Holder and a shrine maiden.
Akiba heard rumors about ‘smugglers’ from a senior shrine maiden of the shrine.
That there are criminals operating ‘unauthorized warp gates’ near shrines and temples in Nagoya, buying and selling illegal items. And that civilians and believers are being victimized in the process – it was unbelievable news.
After that day, Akiba immediately went looking for the criminals.
She gathered related clues and asked around various places about their whereabouts.
But for an individual, finding those who move in a point-to-point organization was a hopeless task.
She searched as far as her abilities allowed, but there were limits.
“So you wish to join our clan?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“What? A shrine maiden from Atsuta Shrine is unsatisfied with something…”
The clan she joined was <Man’s Term>.
<Man’s Term> was a clan renowned for intermediary trade in Nagoya.
Contrary to its name, it also had a considerable number of female clan members.
Since the clan’s main focus was commerce, they lacked the manpower to investigate sites, but they could identify locations that were suspected to be contact points for the criminals, owing to the large scale of the clan.
And finally, the opportunity to subdue the criminals arrived.
It was a collaboration with powerful Korean Holders.
” … Team A will consist of only the 5 team members from the Hunting Division, and Team B will include the anti-villain members, as well as Ms. Akiba. Please go through the two forked paths thoroughly. We’ll meet in front of the boss room after the search.”
Akiba looked at the man who was calmly giving out instructions.
Do Jae-hyun.
The project manager in charge of this collaboration project, and a ‘student’ from the Seoul Holder Academy.
He’s only 20 years old, yet has already reached B-grade like herself.
Despite being suddenly put in charge, he demonstrated skilled leadership without panic.
Just like when he chose the dangerous spots without hesitation while investigating the site, his judgment was quite fast and cold-headed.
‘Amazing.’
Akiba felt an unfamiliar feeling from his appearance.
The people she had met so far were always full of doubts.
Does this criminal suppression have any realism?
Even if so, is it possible within the scope that doesn’t harm our clan?
Is this person someone I need?
Does anything change believing in god?
Both as a shrine maiden and as a Holder.
Many people she met doubted her words and actions, and these behaviors always brought disappointment to Akiba.
The fact that the <Man’s Term> clan wasn’t proactively participating in the suppression of smuggling crimes also stemmed from such doubts.
‘Mr. Jae-hyun seems to be someone with built trust.’
But Jae-hyun had trust.
He completely believed the words of a clan member from a foreign clan he saw for the first time today, on the premise of expertise. And the words of a team member that he, an A-grade Holder, could lead the party better, he also trusted without much opposition.
Above all…
He had faith in himself.
That they would be able to find the unauthorized warp gates by searching suspicious areas.
That he could take on the party leader role without issues.
He accepted those dramatic premises without any sense of refusal.
‘I hope he can be rewarded for that trust.’
Seeing that, Akiba sincerely cheered for him.
She had only obtained disappointment from the trust she gave others, but she hoped that Do Jae-hyun at least could be rewarded.
As a shrine maiden with faith in god.
And as a fellow human respecting humanity.
And…
As a member of the team he leads.
She sincerely wished for a positive outcome.
“Prepare for battle.”
And such trust was.
Immediately proven in the battle that happened shortly after.
***
Ippotranslation
***
In the right forked path Team B entered, a monster appeared in less than 10 minutes.
A messy body and bulging muscles.
A horn in the middle of its head, and a single eye below it.
Skin the color of blood as if drenched in blood.
And a huge, chubby club in one hand.
The main monster of the ‘Humid Ghost Cave’.
B-grade monster, Red Cyclops.
There wasn’t much information about Japanese monsters called Ghost, but we had thoroughly examined them through the PPT Akiba showed in the briefing room earlier.
I lightly took out my weapon and said to Park Jin-woo.
“Park Jin-woo. You remember how to deal with them from earlier, right?”
“Oh yeah. Of course… I forgot.”
I knew it.
This guy had the style of grasping information by crashing into it with his body.
“They have overwhelmingly high strength and endurance. Their skin is tough and sturdy, so physical attacks absolutely won’t pierce through, so we have to take them down with magic support as much as possible. But their speed is damn slow, so don’t be too scared.”
“Okay. In short, they’re lizardmen on steroids?”
“You surprisingly understand things well.”
I’ve felt it multiple times, but Park Jin-woo’s head works unnecessarily well in useless areas.
I turned my head and looked at Akiba.
“Ms. Akiba. Do you know how to use Magic Tracking?”
[Mana Tracking] was a high-level derivative skill acquired when Exploration-type runes and [Magic Control] reached high levels.
Since Akiba is a B-grade archer, the probability of her possessing it was quite high.
“Yes? Ah, I can use it, but…”
Akiba was slightly flustered by my sudden question and answered.
I nodded and continued asking,
“Then while we fight, can you trace the surroundings for any hidden warp gates with Magic Tracking?”
“Right now?”
“Yes. Anyway, we have to take down the Red Cyclops with magic. As long as the Tanks do their job properly, and the Mages provide firepower support… it shouldn’t take long to deal with them.”
The main purpose of this operation was searching, not hunting.
Although a B-grade archer would be greatly helpful in battle, extracting her for searching while utilizing only the Mages against the monsters was more efficient.
Hearing that, Akiba looked at me with quite surprised eyes.
Perhaps she hadn’t thought that far.
It was understandable, as it was an operation focused on extreme efficiency.
Akiba soon nodded and answered.
“Understood. I’ll do as Mr. Jae-hyun intends.”
“Yes?”
…Those words could be largely misunderstood if heard by someone else.
Ku, eueueu-!!
Kuu, kuuuu!!
While briefly explaining the plan like that.
The Red Cyclopes couldn’t hold themselves and started shouting.
And dragging their hulking bodies, they began approaching us.
Their numbers were considerable.
At a glance, 8… no, 9?
Most dungeon monsters have the tendency to move in groups, but these guys seemed especially so.
No matter how our party consisted of B-grades, we could be in danger if we didn’t fight strategically.
I hurriedly turned around and asked the Mages.
“Kang Juyeon! Vice president! You both know without me saying, right?!”
” …Yeah.”
“I’m already casting.”
The core of this battle were the Mages.
Their fire magic had to accurately pierce into the monsters’ bodies.
Fortunately, befitting experienced high-rank Holders, the two had already begun preparing their magic without needing to be told.
Hearing their concise answers, I felt relieved and immediately leapt forward.
“You pig bastards. Eat this first!”
Park Jin-woo fearlessly charged into the battlefield, using the derivative skill [Leah Slash] of [The Unstoppable Swift Sword].
‘…Why does that guy look so excited?’
Was it because it was party hunting after a long time?
He was blazing right from the start, not holding back his skills one bit.
I also began charging at the cyclopes.
Utilizing [The Greatest Racehorse Under Heaven ], my speed was considerably fast.
‘Let’s save Quarter Knife…’
[Quarter Knife], the skill I use most frequently when trying to attack first.
Now that it even has the additional effect of Rainbow Bomb, it’s become one of my ace skills, but it doesn’t have the best efficiency against multiple opponents like this.
To preserve the skill’s cooldown and allow flexible maneuvering, I held back on using skills.
Instead, I stabbed into their bodies using [Wave Sword Technique] and [Water Sword Technique].
Although I can’t deal big damage with physical attacks, I should at least be able to hold aggro in a form of evasion…
“Huh?”
Kuu, kuuuee-?!
Kuuu!! Kuuuu-!!
But something strange happened.
I lightly moved as if loosening my body, stabbing into the monsters, but the monsters I stabbed writhed in pain as if in excruciating agony.
Seeing the inexplicable scene, I involuntarily became flustered.
“Why are these punks like this?”
It was like…
Zombies pained from the bright light.
Tl/n: Happy year guys.. sorry about the late post, been a little busy. Also, I have some sad news, suppport for this novel and the site in general has basically died down, so ill mostly be reducing the chs per week starting next week and that is untill the chapters have reached a certain point… To which if it reaches that point. Ill be droping this novel.
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