“I see. I certainly had not noticed.”
Sa Ujin let out a nasal hum of interest.
I briefly explained the truth about the Princess and the Demon, the problem with this kingdom, and the fact that the Gate would be considered cleared only if the kingdom was destroyed.
Sa Ujin and everyone else opened their status windows on the spot and checked the Gate Quest again, confirming that the clear condition had changed.
However, I did not mention that a Quest reward had been added.
The contents of the Hidden Quest were visible only to me. In the other Hunters’ Quest windows, the Quest details would be blank, while the clear condition would have changed to ‘The destruction of the Leporia Kingdom.’
“And you, Sa Ujin.”
“I still do not like your choice of words. Why?”
I pointed at Hwa Yejin with my thumb.
“You were right. I asked Hwa Yejin to keep you occupied.”
“That is quite shameless. Why?”
“Why, you crazy b×stard?!”
I circled a finger around the surroundings, telling him to look.
The Hunters and people Sa Ujin had killed, bloodstains everywhere, the charcoal-like corpses, and everything else.
“Because you turned the surroundings into this mess after I left you alone for a moment! I did it because I did not want to get caught up in this and die!”
Sa Ujin looked at me with great pity.
If I put a description to that gaze, it said something like, ‘How pitiful. Being weak must be terrible if you have to worry about death over something so minor.’
“All right, I understand. You came to the ninth Gate to grow stronger or obtain an item, so you could remain safer in the tenth Gate.”
He arrived at the most plausible answer with only that much explanation. It was convenient that this intelligent man looked down on me.
“……You really are perceptive.”
If I only showed a little that he had seen through me like this, I could get past it appropriately.
There had been times when I acted without laying this kind of groundwork, only for Sa Ujin to cut off my head.
- The matter was resolved well, but that does not change the fact that you ordered that child to attack me.
That had been after the Required Gates in the late twenties, so it was far from this point in time. Still, one could never be too careful around extinguished fires and lunatics.
Rather than suffer a meaningless death like that, it was better to act as though I had been seen through.
“So, what should we do?”
Hwa Yejin naturally stepped between Sa Ujin and me as she asked.
She stood as though she intended to protect me from Sa Ujin.
“We need to destroy the kingdom.”
Leia and Hwa Yejin’s faces darkened at those words. It was understandable.
Leia had already lost her home after Hunters destroyed her homeland. Hwa Yejin was someone deeply opposed to taking the lives of others.
“You do not need to capture and kill every person in the kingdom, so both of you should relax your expressions.”
“Huh? But it says destruction…….”
“That is what I mean. We do not need to kill everyone.”
My gaze moved toward Harmon.
Everyone’s eyes followed mine.
“……W-Why?”
A sense of foreboding gradually appeared on Harmon’s face.
***
The Hunters who had entered the ninth Gate gathered around us one by one.
“Do we need to stay here?”
“Yeah. We will start soon, so you can each warm up if you want.”
The Hunter who had asked me nodded and returned to the others. Sa Ujin asked with a bored expression,
“Was there any need to bring even that rabble here?”
Calling them rabble.
More than eighty percent of the Hunters there were stronger than me.
“I explained it enough, did I not? The Lust Demons have separate work to do, and neither you nor Hwa Yejin can accomplish this alone.”
“All right, I understand. However.”
Sa Ujin’s eyes curved unpleasantly.
I had told that crazy b×stard to stop smiling like that.
“You need to keep your promise.”
“I know.”
If I did not, I would be unable to keep my head. There was no way I would do anything foolish.
I left the madman behind and approached Hwa Yejin.
This side was far more psychologically stable.
[Hwa Yejin has used the Skill 「Hermes’ Journey」(B).]
[Hwa Yejin has used the Skill 「Hermes’ Journey」(B).]
She was using a Skill with an effect similar to telepathy to contact every Hunter inside the Gate at once.
Unlike Sa Ujin, Hwa Yejin inspired enough trust in other Hunters that around eighty or ninety percent would gather at her call.
Because she had repeatedly used the same Skill, Hwa Yejin’s complexion had become somewhat pale.
“Rest while doing it.”
“No, it is fine. If I do it around two more times, I will be able to contact every Hunter in the Gate. But……. will this really be all right?”
“What will?”
Hwa Yejin accepted the Mana Potion I handed her, drank it, and looked around.
The Hunters, who had numbered only around ten at first, had become a large crowd of perhaps several hundred.
“There may be differences in disposition, but Hunters are fundamentally difficult to control. Even those belonging to Guilds sometimes leave control. Can we truly control this many independent Hunters completely?”
“Ah, that? It will probably go well.”
“Yeah?”
As a smile unknowingly spread across my face, Hwa Yejin looked at me with an exhausted expression for some reason.
***
“Now, has everyone gathered?”
Standing on a platform before the assembled Hunters, I lightly clapped twice.
Their unfriendly gazes landed on me.
I understood.
They were probably thinking something like, ‘Who is this unknown Hunter acting important when he is neither Hwa Yejin nor Sa Ujin?’
“Everyone, you do not look very pleased.”
Among them, a particularly large man with a muscular build and a rugged appearance raised one hand.
“Yes, Hunter over there.”
“Before that, who are you? Are you Hunter Sa Ujin’s subordinate? If not, are you a Mage from All Magic Tower? If you gathered people like this, should you not introduce yourself first?”
He spoke indirectly, but hostility flowed from his expression.
“Ah, so you are dissatisfied because someone like me, who looks weak and frail, is acting as though I am the commander?”
When I suddenly spoke bluntly, the man looked slightly flustered. However, he soon nodded.
Hunters were always like this.
Even if they realized something was strange, they could not back down when there were so many people watching.
I gestured with the brightest smile I could manage.
“You have a point. It seems I was rude. I should tell you at least something about myself first. Then, would you come up here for a moment?”
The man climbed onto the platform with a guarded expression.
“Now, sir, may I ask your rank?”
“……Physical Rank B, Mana Rank C. I am a B-Rank Hunter.”
“Ah, I see! I am a D-Rank Hunter with Physical Rank D and Mana Rank D. You are incredible!”
The man looked enormously shocked. However, his expression soon changed to displeasure and contempt.
“A mere D-Rank is standing before us. What are you trying to do? Are you acting important only because you have S-Ranks backing you?”
“Wait, you should watch your words……!”
I shook my head at Hwa Yejin, who tried to intervene.
Come now, why would you do that? This was a situation I could enjoy.
“Now, we do not have time, so let us prove it quickly.”
“Prove it?”
I put both hands into my pockets and grinned.
“I will keep my hands in my pockets and use neither Abilities nor Skills. In that state, you will attack me exactly ten times. If I am hit even once, I will apologize for my rudeness and give you this.”
Leia walked forward while wearing the expression she used when pretending to be a normal goddess.
She held a cloak in her hands.
The murmuring among the man and nearby Hunters gradually grew louder.
“T-That is…….”
“Are those Ignil’s Wings? The cloak the Empress always wears!”
“He is giving that away? Is he insane? That triples the power of magic-type Skills and the Mana recovery rate!”
“The Empress used to wear it? That is impossible. I need to obtain that! A cloak saturated with the Empress’s scent!”
At the final remark, Hwa Yejin’s expression began approaching contempt. I tried my best to ignore it.
As her gaze slowly turned toward me, I ignored it even more thoroughly.
That woman did not trust me, even though I had boldly declared that there was absolutely no chance of losing it.
“……Are you serious? Forget the cloak. If you are hit incorrectly, you could die.”
“In exchange, if you lose, you will grant one request of mine afterward. It will not be anything unreasonable, and you can refuse if you believe you cannot do it.”
The man eventually nodded.
He seemed to have judged that there was no disadvantage for him.
“Yes, then I will begin.”
“You.”
“Yes?”
The man took a stance and spoke seriously.
“You may be overconfident, but I do not think you intend to insult us. If what I said earlier offended you, I apologize.”
“No, it is fine.”
“And you may use Abilities and Skills. Excessive bravado is not good, so value your life first.”
What a stubborn person.
I bounced lightly in place as I replied.
“That is fine as well.”
“……Haa. I am Park Seok-hwan.”
“I am Kang Seon.”
After those words, Park Seok-hwan rushed at me with tremendous speed.
An attack that a D-Rank body could never avoid.
Furthermore, if I did not use even my Ability, Rapid Reading, there was no chance that I could react at my own speed.
However.
“……!”
“One.”
I lightly avoided Park Seok-hwan’s attack and bounced around casually.
Rather than trying to understand the situation, Park Seok-hwan rapidly launched a barrage of attacks.
“Two, three, four…….”
His expression gradually twisted.
Even Hwa Yejin and Sa Ujin’s expressions were wavering.
Those two must have realized that I was avoiding his attacks without using Rapid Reading.
The method was simple.
How many times had I seen this situation throughout 7,200 regressions?
I had made this kind of bet with Park Seok-hwan at least a hundred times.
By now, I could avoid Park Seok-hwan’s attack patterns even after waking from sleep.
“Nine.”
Regardless, I evaded his attacks one by one until it was finally time for the tenth attack.
Park Seok-hwan ground his teeth and clenched his fist.
Black light swirled around his fist.
[Park Seok-hwan has used the Skill 「Earth-Horn Transformation Fist」(B)……]
However, Park Seok-hwan could not continue his attack.
He dropped to one knee on the spot.
“……I lost.”
“You did not make the tenth attack.”
“If I call myself a B-Rank Hunter, I should be able to defeat a D-Rank Hunter like you without Skills. Even more so when you are not using any Skills. However, I almost used a Skill without realizing it. From that moment, I had already lost.”
I nodded as though I had no choice.
Then I turned toward the other Hunters and waved.
“Now, I believe you understand that I possess at least a minimum amount of skill. Shall we return to the main matter?”
The Hunters’ focus was clearly different from before. However, that was not enough.
“Before I tell you what you need to do, I will explain the reward and penalty.”
I pointed at Sa Ujin with one hand.
“First, every one of you who participates in this operation will receive 10,000 Coins from the ‘Labyrinth Dollmaker’ here!”
Nobody made a sound because they were watching Sa Ujin’s reaction, but their eyes were definitely shining.
Sa Ujin’s shoulder twitched slightly.
Were you surprised?
His gaze said, ‘What is he doing?’
Accept it. How many times had I suffered because of you throughout my regressions?
Your interest in me had grown after the test with Park Seok-hwan, so you could not kill me now, could you?
And you would think it damaged your pride if you refused to pay.
“And for the penalty, now!”
It had already been prepared while I was betting with Park Seok-hwan.
Figures identical to the assembled Hunters began appearing around us one by one.
I had told the Lust Demons to each take responsibility for copying one of those Hunters.
As the people murmured in confusion, I sat on the edge of the platform.
The Lust Demons, all wearing the forms of different Hunters regardless of gender or age, placed their hands on the waists of their pants at once.
“Anyone who tries to skip out from now on will be seen doing various things that should not be seen with those people’s faces. Perhaps you will even end up on the news.”
Hwa Yejin stared at me with her mouth agape.
Hunters were difficult to control?
I knew that very well.
Perhaps that was why threatening Hunters who did not listen was the most fun.