102 – New Persona – 2

[Gi-jun (1st Year): Earth Representative]

[Title — The Last Hero (Legendary) and 12 others]

[Light Human (R) Guide of Light (U) Lv70]

[Strength (U) — 82+30]

[Dexterity (L) — 46+20]

[Endurance (U) — 81+20]

[Light Mana (L) — 61+25]

[Charm (L) — 39+20]

[Spiritual Power (L) — 62+20]

[Gi-jun (1st Year): Earth Representative]

[Title — The Last Hero (Legendary) and 12 others]

[Light Human (R) Guide of Light (U) Lv70]

[Strength (U) — 82+30]

[Dexterity (L) — 46+20]

[Endurance (U) — 81+20]

[Light Mana (L) — 61+25]

[Charm (L) — 39+20]

[Spiritual Power (L) — 62+20]

On the road back to Cor, after leaving the royal palace upon finishing his conversation with the king.

Gi-jun was marveling as he looked at his status window, which had been organized after a long time.

‘I didn’t expect my growth to be this fast.’

It had not even been two months since he crossed over to Leta, yet he had already reached level 70 of the Rare grade.

Of course, it was partly because he got involved in major incidents wherever he went, but it was also thanks to performing appropriate quests each time.

In particular, he had not imagined at all that this request would be treated as a quest, but perhaps because the royal family was involved or because it was related to the Gratia raid, it was treated as a quest of much higher importance than he had imagined, and an experience bomb was literally showered upon him.

Since his stats had even increased additionally every time he completed a quest in the meantime, combined with the growth from training, actual combat, and achievements, his stats had settled in the mid-tier of the Legendary grade before he knew it.

In the case of Strength and Endurance, which were still stuck at the Unique grade, they had grown intensively every time his level rose recently, and both eventually exceeded 80… so it was about time to think about upgrading their grades.

‘The Legendary grade isn’t a realm that can be reached just by blindly leveling up or training. …At the very least, I have to fight fiercely against an opponent of a higher rank than me and win.’

Thinking back, hadn’t most of his stats—and his major skills, to boot—grown to the Legendary grade after a bloody battle with Biche?

Gi-jun stopped in his tracks for a moment as he recalled the expression she had made back then.

He knew she wasn’t dead.

They even exchanged messages every day, but every time he recalled that moment, he kept—

Because the feelings he had harbored back then came back to him, he.

—Contractor… are you thinking about that woman right now by any chance?

At the pointing out of Lucy, whose perception was so excellent that she could now even read Gi-jun’s mind, Gi-jun chuckled awkwardly and glossed over it.

“I was just thinking about what to do next.”

—Hmph, right. They looked like they would hand over a quest right away if you asked for one.

Snorting as if she would let it slide even though she knew, Lucy responded to his words and changed the subject.

Gi-jun nodded but replied firmly.

“Of course they would have, but that would ultimately become a debt. Right now, I have the royal family in my debt. I can’t reverse that relationship just to make the path a bit easier.”

—That’s true. Besides, you have two cards, Contractor.

That was certainly true.

One was the damaged Jarnvidr pass obtained by hunting a Divine Beast in the ruins Ruthven had guided him to.

He was speculating that if he followed the path guided by this pass, he might be able to meet Skoll, a Divine Beast with the opposite attribute of Hati.

The other was the blood-colored key that Gin was said to have received from Ruthven.

A means to guide him to a place where he was expected to obtain weapons that would be effective when dealing with vampires.

‘Even so, Skoll is probably still too much.’

Of course, Gi-jun had grown a lot since defeating Hati, but there was still no guarantee that he could defeat and win against a Legendary-grade Divine Beast.

Naturally, only one option remained, but the problem was that only one person could challenge these ruins.

Still, he couldn’t put it off forever—it seemed better to take this opportunity to finish this cleanly as well and then think about the party-scale actions afterward.

“Gi-jun Oppa!”

While having various thoughts, Gi-jun, who passed through the streets of Cor and arrived at the lodging where the Lumen party was staying, blinked his eyes upon spotting Ji-hye standing in front of the lodging.

“What is this, coming out to greet me? I’m touched.”

“Oppa, that’s not the problem right now, I heard you met Min-i!”

Give me back my emotion.

Gi-jun nodded with a lukewarm expression as he looked at Ji-hye, who looked pale.

“Right, we ran right into each other at the destination of the request. But how do you know that?”

“Lady Bella came by and delivered the news! She said she’s going to kill me!”

“It must be a joke.”

“Right? She wasn’t actually that angry, right?”

“Of course, Min-i did say she was going to kill you, though.”

“Kieeeek!”

Gi-jun dragged Ji-hye, who was screeching like a pterodactyl out of habit, and went into the lodging.

The rest of the party was dedicated to training in the backyard of the lodging today as well, and currently, Lora and Gin were double-teaming Tilla.

While Gin kept Rodim in check with gunfire, Lora charged from the front to press Tilla, and when a gap was created, this time Gin charged to attack Tilla’s lower body, trying to somehow break her balance and score a win.

Of course, since Tilla was at a level close to becoming a legend, she endured it without much difficulty and even launched a counterattack, but compared to when Gin and Lora first started training, it was a sparring match that naturally elicited admiration.

“Hup—!”

“That was close!”

“Haaaat!”

While Gi-jun was smiling as he watched the two synchronize their movements smoothly, perhaps thanks to having undergone so much hellish training in the meantime, Ji-hye, who had been completely slumped until now, suddenly gritted her teeth and charged toward Tilla.

“I can’t be the only one dying like this punch—!”

Discharging energy spheres could be seen gathering in both of Ji-hye’s hands, sparks flying as she charged toward Tilla.

As Gi-jun watched with a gleam in his eyes at the sight of Ji-hye charging with a speed that could never be produced by a Common-grade Strength level, Ji-hye swung her fists with quite decent body movements, just like Tilla did, to attack her.

“Not bad—!”

“Now is the time!”

“Understood!”

As if they had been waiting, Gin and Lora attacked Tilla in sync with her—and after spending a bit more time than before, all three ended up sprawled on the ground.

Seeing the wonderful sparring match that showed how hard they had trained while he was away, he couldn’t help but applaud.

“Ah, Jun—!”

Tilla, who had knocked down all three, turned around at the sound of applause, and upon discovering Gi-jun, ran over with a bright smile on her face.

Her pupils, which had been unfocused and swaying here and there, had regained a certain degree of focus, and her impression of deep boredom had also greatly improved.

What’s more, she originally had quite dark circles under her eyes, but now they were reduced to less than half.

Both her mind and body were returning to normal.

“I missed you so much…”

“Me too. Thanks for welcoming me.”

Gi-jun replied as he also held and shook Tilla’s hands, which were tightly grasping both of his.

“Thanks for training the kids. It looks like you even passed down physical combat techniques to Ji-hye.”

“To increase stats, learning how to move the body is indeed the best way. How did it look?”

“Excellent, I was impressed.”

To think she would even pass down techniques.

Although their relationship had been awkward until not long ago, now they had become close enough to truly call themselves the same party.

If Gi-jun, Gin, Lora, and Ji-hye had managed to take even a small place in her empty heart that had nothing left, it was a massive success.

Gi-jun smiled with a pleased heart and let go of her hand… let go of her hand…

She tightly held his hand and would not let go.

“Tilla?”

When Gi-jun called her name, only then did Tilla let go of his hand, backing away as she stuck her tongue out slightly.

“Hehe, sorry. I know in my head, but my body won’t listen.”

—Wow, look at her sticking her tongue out so slyly. Is she trying to act like the older one now?

Lucy’s hatred of Tilla was breaking new record highs day by day.

The problem was that Lora, who was sprawled out behind them, was also gritting her teeth as she watched that scene.

“Let’s do… one more time…! 3 against 1!”

“Understood, Miss Lora!”

“Uh, that’s impossible for me.”

Unlike Gin, who immediately stood up and replied vigorously to Lora’s words, Ji-hye replied in a voice devoid of all energy as she remained lying spread-eagle on the ground.

“Ji-hye Unni, please!”

“Hmph, if you call me Unni, I have no choice but to live up to expectations…!”

As soon as Lora called her Unni, didn’t she stand up from that spot like a lie and resume her mana circuit?

Even Carmilla, who had been a vampire, wanted to be called Unni by Lora so badly, so perhaps there was some kind of magical power in that title that Gi-jun did not know of?

‘Anyway, it’s a relief that everyone got along well while I was gone. I almost feel a bit left out.’

—Does the Contractor really think so?

Just as he was about to press her on what she meant by Lucy’s words, which left a strangely uncomfortable feeling,

Gi-jun’s head was shaded.

“Huh?”

—Piyoooooo!

Looking up, he saw the Griffin, a mythical beast owned by the species guild alliance Demander, slowly descending.

Wondering if another problem had arisen in the alliance, he watched quietly as the Griffin landed on the ground with leisurely wingbeats, and two cats—no, Cait Siths—jumped down from its back.

“Were you waiting, Jun, nya?!”

“Master, nya!”

Boots, the master of the guild Imagine which belonged to the alliance, and Nabinya, who had contracted with Gi-jun to become the Puss in Flats.

Nabinya had not been seen since the trial, making him wonder where she had gone, but it seemed she had been with Boots.

“Have you been well?”

“Nya, nyat.”

Gi-jun caught Nabinya as she leaped toward him, tickling the scruff of her neck as he faced Boots.

“What do you mean you were waiting for me?”

“How absurd, nya. Did you forget that you haven’t even received the reward for completing the request from Demander yet, nya?”

“Ah.”

At Boots’s words, Gi-jun let out a dumbfounded exclamation.

He had forgotten about it because he got into a dispute with them, but come to think of it, he had normally concluded the faction war and fulfilled the terms of the contract.

Because that damn goblin had dragged him to court instead of fulfilling the contract, he had thought that getting a reward from Demander was out of the question, but—

“That contract was signed not only by the deceased Honeypup and Christian, but also by the Orc representative Musox and the Beast-kin representative Susaz, nya. If they continue to hold out and not fulfill it, the two of them will face penalties, so they had to pay the compensation as soon as possible, nya.”

“Sorry, I completely forgot about it.”

The success reward that Gi-jun was supposed to receive when he signed the magic contract was simple.

Namely, 5,000 gold coins and the exclusive rights to conquer a dungeon owned by Demander.

Like when he traded the Moon-Welcoming Stones last time, because Gi-jun earned gold coins in units of thousands every time, it was easy to look down on it, but one gold coin was a currency worth about 900,000 to 1,000,000 Korean won when converted.

Five thousand gold coins meant an amount that could buy a decent mansion even in the metropolis of Cor, where house prices were incredibly expensive.

“I have certainly received the 5,000 gold coins.”

Although he didn’t count it, he thought that the gold coins he had earned so far would easily be close to 20,000.

On top of that, since he still had the jewelry decorations obtained when he raided the previous vampire hideout, if he sold those as well… perhaps he could secure a really large plot of land and even build a decent guild building.

‘No, because the king talked about a guild, I ended up thinking about something that has nothing to do with me for no reason.’

When he had just seen nothing but bad things from being entangled with a guild alliance, what was he going to do by gathering people?

Smiling bitterly, Gi-jun even received and checked the document containing the dungeon information from Boots.

He could tell even with a brief glance.

It was a goldmine of a dungeon with few traps and plenty of monsters, truly suitable for raising guild members.

As he was marveling at the dungeon, which had good conditions that far exceeded the minimum conditions set back then, Boots, who noticed this, stroked his whiskers and said proudly,

“The period is three months from when you want, nya. I pushed it through while the other guys jumped up and down saying it was impossible, nya. You seem to want to raise your party members, so the difficulty should be appropriate, nya.”

“Thanks, Boots.”

“In addition, this fellow as well, nya.”

“Nya!”

Nabinya, who had been purring in Gi-jun’s arms, leaped down and stood at attention upon receiving Boots’s gaze.

Boots nodded with satisfaction and said,

“To celebrate her independence after receiving shoes, I personally held and taught her for a few days, nya. The combat methods of a normal Cait Sith and a Cait Sith wearing shoes are different from the start, nya. Nabinya is quick-footed and has good eyes, so if she utilizes those characteristics to handle a swift sword, she will achieve great success, nya.”

“I’m embarrassed that the captain praises me so much, nya.”

“However, she still lacks real combat experience, nya. She must completely master the combat style I taught in that dungeon, nya.”

“Understood, nya!”

It was distracting to have the meowing cat bastards hold a conversation.

Just as he was about to search for some food in his inventory, thinking they might quiet down if he fed them something, Boots cleared his throat and continued.

“Then, that’s it for the request reward… next is compensation, nya.”

“Compensation?”

“You could also call it damages, nya. Since we dragged in an innocent person and caused a lot of trouble, we can’t just pass it over without any compensation from the alliance, nya.”

To tell the truth, he had been satisfied enough just with the death of Honeypup, the death of the ogres, and the complete expulsion of humans and goblins from the alliance, so those words were unexpected.

While Gi-jun stared at Boots, blinking his eyes, the Cait Sith shrugged and raised a paw to point behind his back.

There stood the Griffin, looking as if it wanted to run over to Gi-jun at any moment.

Realizing the meaning, Gi-jun’s mouth fell open.

No, they said it was extremely rare.

“…Really?”

“Indeed, nya. Even to restore the fallen image of the alliance, this much compensation is necessary, nya.”

Boots, who had declared firmly, soon added with a sheepish expression.

“Actually, the Griffin no longer listens to us, nya. Just as the Griffin is picky in choosing its owner, its loyalty is also strong, but—it seems the alliance was never recognized as the Griffin’s complete owner until now, nya. Furthermore, didn’t that kind of thing happen this time, nya?”

Colluding with vampires, dragging in ogres, killing innocent humans, and trapping Tilla.

The Griffin was not a simple beast but a high-ranking mythical beast; it must have captured every single bit of the alliance’s darkness in its sharp eyes.

No matter how big of a mistake the alliance had made, they wouldn’t have originally thought of giving away the Griffin.

But since the Griffin no longer listened to anyone in the alliance, there was no point in keeping it there anymore.

“Griffin…?”

—Piyoooo…!

When Gi-jun called, the creature approached as if it had been waiting and nuzzled its head against his chest.

When Gi-jun stroked its head, it let out a pleasant cry and closed its eyes tightly.

Seeing that, Boots also nodded with a bitter smile.

“It seems the Griffin had made up its mind long ago, nya.”

“If you give it, I’ll take it. I’m not returning it.”

“Of course, nya. It would be good to give it a new name, nya. It rejected the name we gave it, but it seems it would accept a name given by Jun, nya.”

—Piyo?

At the mention of a name, the Griffin raised its head and looked at Gi-jun.

Gi-jun thought seriously for a moment, but soon recalled the fact that Gratia was absolutely obsessed with Latin, and decided to name the creature in Latin as well.

Although he didn’t know many Latin words, he would choose a good one among them—

“Alright, your name is Fortis.”

—Piiiiiiii!

Fortis is an adjective in Latin meaning robust, brave, strong, solid, powerful, and so on.

As if the Griffin liked the name Gi-jun had given it, it let out a loud cry and once again buried its head in his chest, rubbing against him vigorously.

At the moment he chuckled at its intense display of affection,

A system message he had somewhat anticipated popped up.

—You have been recognized as the owner of the Griffin, which has an extremely picky temperament even among mythical beasts and only follows those with a strong and righteous heart. Due to achieving an extremely unique accomplishment, Charm (L) has increased by 1. As an achievement completion reward, you have obtained 10,000 points.

—The title [Sky Rider] has grown into the Unique-grade title [Griffin Rider]. Due to the title’s effect, all kinds of speed increase by 20% when mounted, and it becomes very easy to win the favor of all animals, especially mythical beasts.

—You have been recognized as the owner of the Griffin, which has an extremely picky temperament even among mythical beasts and only follows those with a strong and righteous heart. Due to achieving an extremely unique accomplishment, Charm (L) has increased by 1. As an achievement completion reward, you have obtained 10,000 points.

—The title [Sky Rider] has grown into the Unique-grade title [Griffin Rider]. Due to the title’s effect, all kinds of speed increase by 20% when mounted, and it becomes very easy to win the favor of all animals, especially mythical beasts.

He obtained exclusive rights to a dungeon that was good for his party members to explore.

He had also obtained a Griffin that could fly quickly anywhere.

Gi-jun felt intuitively that the time had come to check Ruthven’s legacy.