Chapter 176
Chapter 176
The raid on West Mountain had gone very smoothly.
We passed the sentries’ inspection without any trouble, and every time we encountered a monster, we smashed it in an instant as we headed toward the summit.
Whenever a monster appeared, my gaze naturally went to Polia.
‘……She said she doesn’t take disciples.’
Opportunities to observe her swordsmanship up close were limited to the raids on West Mountain and North Mountain. Just two times.
‘I should watch and analyze as much as I can. Even if it’s only enough to apply.’
If I couldn’t learn from her directly, then I could at least take it for myself.
……Of course, it would only be imitation on the surface.
But even that, if I went through enough application and training, might become a usable sword style.
It was a swordsmanship I wanted by any means.
“Let’s take a short break.”
Around the mid-slope of West Mountain, a small cave came into view.
We decided to use it as a temporary shelter.
Polia sat inside the cave, resting, and was chewing on something.
What she took out of her pocket looked like a hardtack-like snack.
Sensing my gaze, she held out the hardtack in her hand.
“Do you want some too?”
“Thanks, nom.”
I shook my head, but Rapin accepted it just as Polia offered.
Watching the two of them calmly chew and swallow the hardtack, I opened my subspace.
I took out a glass jar of strawberry jam, scooped some into a bowl, and held it out.
“It’s a bit bland if you eat it plain. Try spreading this on it. I made this jam on my farm.”
“……A farm? Looks like you tend even a small garden. I’ll enjoy it, boy.”
Polia spread a generous amount of jam onto the hardtack and put it into her mouth.
“……!”
As she chewed, her eyes gradually widened.
She looked back and forth between me and the jam, swallowed, and then almost shouted.
“Boy, did you really make this yourself?”
“I made it myself with strawberries harvested from my farm.”
“The soil must be quite fertile. This is on a whole different level. Being surprised by taste like this…… it’s been a really long time.”
“Yeah, it’s good.”
Rapin dipped her hardtack into the jam too, and starlight practically poured from her eyes.
Polia asked me cautiously.
“Boy, that jam…… are you thinking of selling it?”
“If you want, I can just give it to you.”
“Really……?”
Her voice trembled slightly, as if she were deeply moved.
“When everything’s over, I’ll give you a few jars of homemade jam. Not just strawberry—there’s blueberry and peanut too.”
“There were other jams too? Thank you so much, boy!”
“No. I’m the one who’s grateful.”
Thanks to Polia, we were finishing what would have taken a long time far more easily than expected.
Repaying her with just a few jars of jam almost felt insufficient.
……After taking a short rest like that, we headed back toward the summit to continue the raid.
There was no blizzard, and everything proceeded smoothly.
Taking a shortcut, we quickly reached the peak.
There, the ‘king’ was waiting.
Ice Rishi Wild Boar
The King of West Mountain was a gigantic boar-type monster.
Even in the game, Wild Boar meat had been one of the high-grade ingredients—truly excellent.
“Rapin, if we catch that, should we have a meat party? Whether grilled or boiled, it’s delicious no matter how you eat it.”
“Oh…… that sounds nice.”
There wasn’t a hint of tension in Rapin’s eyes as she looked at the monster. Rather, her eyes sparkled as if she were looking at food, and she swallowed.
“Then, Polia. I’ll be counting on you.”
“If the boy is cooking himself, I’m more than happy!”
Polia, too, looked at the King of West Mountain as if it were meat.
“Just don’t smash it too badly so the meat doesn’t spoil.”
“Leave it to me. I’ll handle it cleanly so the texture stays intact.”
Boasting confidently, Polia walked toward the beast.
Kueeeng!
As if recognizing Polia as an enemy, the King of West Mountain let out a roar.
Handling the boss was her job, so I didn’t need to worry about it.
‘Then I’ll do my part.’
I had to look for Moonlight Herb again.
I looked around.
Since the terrain was broader than Dong Mountain or South Mountain, I thought it might be a bit harder to find Moonlight Herb.
‘Moonlight Herb seems to grow only at the summit of each mountain, so it should be around somewhere.’
I took out one Moonlight Herb from my subspace.
“Rapin, smell this.”
“Mmm, it’s fragrant.”
Rapin closed her eyes, seeming to like it. She looked intoxicated by the scent.
“If you find a withered flower with a similar scent, let me know. It’ll probably be mixed with a rotten smell too.”
“Got it.”
“Alright, let’s split up.”
We divided up and began combing the area thoroughly.
……How much time had passed?
Rapin, who had come up close at some point, tapped my shoulder with her finger.
“Billet, I think I found it.”
“Already? That was fast. You’re good at finding things, aren’t you?”
“Mm-hm.”
Looking proud, Rapin straightened her shoulders, lightly tugged at my collar, and led the way.
“It’s here.”
Where Rapin pointed, there was a plant withered brown.
Seeing the faint bluish color still clinging to the tips of its leaves, it was clearly Moonlight Herb.
I knelt on one knee and pulled Pau’s card out into the air.
I reached my hand toward the flower, brown and rotting, its blue glow slowly collapsing.
‘……Come back to life.’
Light spread from my fingertips, and vitality fully returned to the dying Moonlight Herb.
I quickly placed the revived Moonlight Herb into my subspace.
‘That makes three.’
I stood up and turned my gaze toward where Polia was. She seemed to be finished as well; a fallen boar lay at her feet.
Once again, we managed to clear the mountain without any major trouble.
Just as I started walking toward Polia to collect the boss loot—
……Jingle, jingle.
A bell rang.
The ‘Danger Detection’ Skill had activated.
Rapin, as if she sensed something too, fixed her gaze in one direction.
‘……What is it?’
A chill ran down my spine.
Every nerve stood on edge.
I felt killing intent.
……An overwhelming killing intent, unlike anything I had ever experienced before.
Instinctively, I knew that an ‘enormous existence’ was approaching.
“Rapin.”
It was an urgent situation.
I didn’t even have time to turn around.
“……Be careful!”
The moment I shouted—
Kwaaang—!
Something unidentified plummeted to the ground at high speed.
“Urgh!”
The ground shook as if it were twisting. The shock slammed into my entire body.
Paaaak—!
Snow burst upward, and a white haze covered the surroundings.
Jingle, jingle, jingle, jingle.
The bell rang far faster and more violently than before.
My sense of unease surged.
This kind of resonance was something I had never experienced.
……It was dangerous.
My eyes stung because of the snow scattered through the air, but I did not close them.
The moment I gave up my vision could have meant death.
In the urgent situation, I pulled out a buckler from my subspace and equipped it quickly. In my other hand, I held the Titanium Sword, and I slipped Shuck’s card between my fingers.
I stared at the shadow beyond the snowy haze.
As the fog slowly cleared……
An unidentified blue gleam flashed in one corner of my vision.
Grrrr…….
……A mane of dark light caught my eye.
I had seen large monsters countless times.
But the existence standing before me now was on an entirely different level from all of them.
‘What is this?’
A wolf the size of a small hill was glaring at me from right in front of my face.
‘A huge wolf……?’
I had seen it before, even in the game.
I remembered it clearly, because I had once defeated this wolf in the game.
The only difference was…….
Like heterochromia, one eye was stained a murky violet, while the other eye was clear and shone with a pure blue light.
‘When I saw it in the game, both eyes were violet.’
……No, that wasn’t what mattered right now.
Clink, clink, clink, clink!
Never before had the bell signaling ‘Danger Detection’ rung this fast and this violently.
‘An extremely dangerous enemy…… or.’
It might mean that it was impossible to win.
Even if I fought using Shuck’s abilities, I might still lose.
‘I have to grab Rapin and run immediately.’
Even if I couldn’t defeat it, escaping should be possible.
With my explosive speed and Rapin’s ‘time interference’ ability, it could be done.
I slowly moved my left hand holding Shuck’s card behind my back.
‘Grab my hand, Rapin.’
With the wolf openly showing hostility right in front of us, I couldn’t open my mouth to speak to Rapin.
Instead, I reached out my hand and spoke to her in my mind.
Had my intention reached her?
……I felt Rapin’s hand tightly grasping mine.
‘Let’s escape like this.’
Just as I took a deep breath and was about to use Shuck’s ability—
Papak-!
In an instant, Polia scattered snow as she cut in front of me.
Then she slowly pointed her sword at the gigantic wolf.
“Go.”
A low, subdued voice that threatened the opponent.
Polia was standing with her back to me, so I couldn’t see what her expression looked like.
But.
Grrrr…….
Even as the wolf bared its teeth, it began to slowly step backward.
And then.
Kwaang-!
With a tremendous roar, the enormous figure within the snowy haze vanished just like that.
“Ha, haa…….”
As soon as the wolf disappeared, Polia seemed to lose her tension. She let her sword drop as if tossing it away and collapsed to the ground.
“I almost died without being able to do anything.”
Since there was still the danger that the wolf could reappear at any moment, I couldn’t let go of Rapin’s hand.
While keeping my guard up, I spoke to Polia.
“It was completely different from the other monsters. It was threatening.”
Polia let out a sigh and nodded in agreement.
“That wolf just now is the de facto lord of this place. Kirhen’s guardian deity. Even I can’t handle it.”
“……Even you can’t defeat it, Polia?”
“That’s right. It’s a guardian deity that has protected this place for hundreds of years. How could I possibly win against something like that?”
“…….”
I blinked after hearing her words.
Then I tossed out a thought.
“Polia, if that wolf attacks us again, what if we try fighting it? If the three of us join forces, it feels like it might be possible.”
Polia slowly turned her gaze toward me. In her eyes, which had been vacant when she collapsed from released tension, there wasn’t the slightest hint of playfulness.
“Boy.”
A low, resolute voice.
“I’m warning you, drop that foolish idea. And don’t go saying such nonsense to anyone else either.”
“…….”
I felt a ‘certain contradiction,’ and I was about to respond to Polia, but in the end, I closed my mouth.
I realized belatedly that there was no need to ask.
“I was joking, Polia. How could we possibly defeat something like that? But if it’s a guardian deity, why did it threaten us?”
“……I don’t know.”
Polia said that while lowering her gaze to her sword.
I answered with what I had felt.
“That wolf looked like it was in pain.”
“……It looked like it was in pain?”
Polia blinked and looked back at me.
“That’s how it seemed to me. One eye was clear and intelligent, but the other looked like it was injured or infected—it was completely clouded over in violet.”
“…….”
Polia fell silent, as if deep in thought.
“Polia, you said that wolf has protected Kirhen for hundreds of years, right?”
“That’s what I’ve heard.”
“But just now, it tried to harm us. And the recent ban on entering Kirhen’s mountains must also be because of that wolf.”
After hearing my words, Polia nodded belatedly.
“……That’s probably true. Even ten years ago, there were no restricted areas in Kirhen.”
“Then before that…… it didn’t harm people?”
“That’s right.”
I didn’t know the reason, but monsters instinctively harm humans.
Monsters don’t possess enough intelligence or reason to weigh objective differences in power. Whether the opponent is strong or weak, they simply attack anything that enters their sight.
But.
That wolf just now was different.
It threatened us, but in the end, it never attempted an attack. That meant there was at least a trace of ‘reason.’
The wolf I remembered from the game had attacked the player indiscriminately the moment it saw them.
It was clearly different from how it was now.
“Then that wolf isn’t a monster.”
I met her gaze head-on as I spoke.
“At least, not until now.”