114 – Men in Golden – 4

The struggle of the Gi-jun-less Gi-jun party was truly remarkable.

Thanks to Ji-hye, who was eager to advance her rank, pushing the pace limitlessly――by the time Viv came to find them, they had surprisingly already completed their rank advancement!

“Haa, haa… Ji-hye Noona, can we rest now?”

“How on earth is someone who would collapse in less than ten minutes every time they sparred with Jun-nim so energetic now?”

“Nya-nyat, I am also at my limit, nya. If I move any more, my tail will snap off and run away, nya.”

Of course, in return, the remaining three except for the always-relaxed Tilla ended up rolling on the dungeon floor, but――in any case, their species ranks, even including Nabinya, who was treated as Gi-jun’s asset, were already Rare.

Ji-hye, who would be second to none when it came to comparing herself to others and harboring a subtle sense of inferiority, only now felt a little more at ease.

“It’s similar to how it’s hard to stay sane during a Monday morning lecture for even twenty minutes, but you can easily endure playing games for forty-eight hours straight on the weekend.”

While Ji-hye, who had completed her advancement to the Rare rank and was emitting an even more powerful mana from her entire body, boasted and spoke words that no one could understand, Viv, who had come to find them, clapped her hands lightly and declared.

“Anyway, you’ve completed your advancement and you’re perfectly fine, right? That’s great, the party-scale quest starts now.”

“No, wait a minute. I told you we need to rest!”

“We were about to have a party to celebrate our rank advancement, what do you mean…”

“Jun-nim is waiting.”

Viv silenced the exhausted party members with that single phrase and immediately sent them straight to Animo.

They had taken the teleport gate by consuming their precious gold coins and Leta points, but fortunately, the fee for the teleport gate from Cor to Animo was not that expensive.

“Oh, ooh…?”

“It was amazing when we first arrived in Cor, but this place is just as big. Wow…”

“Ah, it seems there is a magic tool shop over there!”

“I see a huge tower! I heard there is a Magic Tower in Gratia, could that be it!”

Viv, who possessed spatial teleportation abilities and had no need to use the teleport gate, immediately activated her power to catch up with them――and then, leading the group who were acting like such country bumpkins that they might get their noses sliced off if left alone, she headed toward Gi-jun.

For reference, Gi-jun’s group, who had arrived in Animo before the rest of the party, was preparing at a villa held in the name of the royal family.

“Call me Middle Human from now on, Oppa!”

Ji-hye, who spotted Gi-jun sitting on the sofa in the villa lobby polishing his shield, squared her shoulders proudly and shouted.

Was it ‘Middle Human’ because it was the step before High Human?

Gi-jun snorted at those words and replied.

“Don’t lie. What’s the name of your race?”

“Ah, you didn’t fall for it…”

“They are called Mana Blood Humans because mana flows like blood.”

“Sister!”

Tilla, who was laughing beside them, gave the correct answer instead of her.

Ji-hye seemed to think that the name of that race was incredibly tacky, but if so, she had not yet faced the true abyss.

Gi-jun resolved that he would never tell his race name to Ji-hye, of all people.

“Mana Blood Human? Could she be aiming for High Human?”

“I thought it was rare since she is a human… but impressive.”

While the two proud humans had a nerve war over the race name, Fatum and Lectus reacted with considerable surprise.

He had already heard from Viv that advancing to a High Human was difficult, but was it really to that extent?

When Gi-jun sent a questioning look, Lectus explained.

“To challenge the possibility of transcendence beyond the root of one’s race using only one’s own power, without easily compromising by giving up mana or relying on faith—how could it not be surprising? High Humans are humans worthy of respect.”

“Though she is still lacking in all aspects――the potential can be felt.”

Even Fatum, who babbled about light and darkness whenever he opened his mouth, readily praised Ji-hye this time.

Ji-hye did not know exactly who Lectus and Fatum were, but her shoulders puffed up with pride after receiving praise from people who seemed quite impressive.

Meanwhile, Laura, who had taken a hit out of nowhere for ‘easily compromising by relying on faith,’ glared at Lectus and quickly hid behind Gi-jun’s back.

“Hmph.”

“Ahaha…”

Seeing Laura’s coy behavior, which made it hard to believe she had been an infinitely pure and kind priest until not long ago, Gin twitched the triangular ears on his head, laughed softly, and asked Gi-jun.

“So, what should we do, Jun-nim?”

“Combat, of course. I’m warning you in advance, it’ll be extremely dangerous.”

However, infiltrating the vampire kingdom would be far more dangerous than that.

Was there a saying about resting since one had already fallen?

This impromptu quest to deal with the black magicians and the monsters of the dark faction would be of great help in terms of confirming the synergy of the Lumen party and establishing party tactics.

“It will be a good opportunity to test how far your power as adversaries will work.”

“We’ll have to prepare silver bullets.”

“If that is what Jun-nim wishes…”

Although it was for a short period, Gin and Laura, who had trained in the dungeon away from Gi-jun, showed an even more intense yet calmly organized aura and nodded reliably.

Since both of them had advanced through events that could only be called destiny, in terms of status averages alone, they were overwhelmingly in the upper tier of the Rare rank.

As long as they could efficiently operate their stats and skills, they would be able to play an active role anywhere.

“Then I will go and investigate the shopping districts and main streets.”

Viv, who had been watching the group exchange greetings of reunion, suddenly spoke.

Now that all the combat personnel had gathered, he thought Viv would gradually withdraw from the dangerous scene, but it seemed she intended to participate in the quest in this manner.

“The part about the poison being taken kept bothering me. Perhaps they distributed that poison, or other byproducts of the experiment, to Animo in some way.”

“That is a good point.”

“Okay. Then, Nabinya.”

“Nyat?”

Nabinya, who had crossed over for free without paying the gate fee alone thanks to being treated as a possession, stopped rubbing her forehead against Gi-jun’s waist and raised her head.

“Why are you calling, nya? If it is not a busy matter, I want to rub more of my scent onto Master, nya.”

“Ah, so you were marking me with your scent.”

Since Ur only looked like a cat but did not do a single cat-like thing, on the contrary, there were times when Nabinya’s behavior felt very novel.

As he stroked the nape of her neck because she felt cute, Viv pulled Nabinya away from Gi-jun with a spiteful smile.

“It is a busy matter, so follow me. Since you smelled Jun-nim to your heart’s content, you must have smelled the black magician’s scent mixed in there as well, right?”

“I did smell an annoying fishy smell… Nyak! That moth keeps trying to use me as her assistant as she pleases, nya!”

“You shouldn’t call her a moth, Nabinya.”

“Got it, nya. Then she is Tinkerbell, nya.”

“I hate that even more!”

Nabinya followed Viv, grumbling but having no choice.

Since that duo had already pulled off a big job last time, Gi-jun could trust them and leave it to them.

“Cait Sith… They solve cases in the realm of intense intuition and luck that could sometimes be called a miracle. You have brought in a good subordinate.”

“It just happened to turn out that way.”

Seeing Fatum speak while nodding with satisfaction, it seemed that how and with whom Gi-jun formed relationships was also part of the evaluation criteria for the hero trial.

Just as Gi-jun’s party members were starting to avoid Fatum, who had been fully occupied with observing and evaluating everything related to Gi-jun since a while ago.

“Then, in the meantime, we…”

Lectus looked around the remaining group, adjusted his helmet, and suggested.

“It would be best to find the Lord and ask for cooperation in resolving the incident. If he should take the entire city hostage and run wild, things will get extremely complicated.”

“Are you going to evacuate everyone in the city? It’ll only add unnecessary confusion and might make him notice. Wouldn’t it be better to find his location and strike quickly, subduing him before he has a chance to act?”

“Mmm…”

Lectus, who was frowning and agonizing over Gi-jun’s refutation, turned his gaze to Fatum.

He intended to leave all decisions to him, the hero.

Fatum seemed to think for a moment, and soon voiced an idea that neither of them had thought of.

“Is there no possibility that the Lord is on his side? At the point where he is deliberately staying quietly in a large city like this, I believe there is plenty of room to suspect the Lord.”

“What? Hmm…”

Gi-jun, who asked back reflexively, nodded at the thought that it was entirely possible on the Leta continent he had experienced so far, while Lectus replied with disgust.

“Fatum, the Lord of Animo is not a vampire. Since the last incident, all nobles in important positions have been checked.”

“Even if he isn’t a vampire, there is every possibility that he is supporting him.”

Fatum let out a light sigh and spoke.

“The reason why Frankenstein was able to start a massive war twenty years ago. It was not only because his research revived the dark faction, but also because there were those in the light faction who colluded with him to achieve their own goals. The desires of both factions overflowed and eventually caused a fierce clash, which is why it became a disaster that remained in history.”

“Supporting Frankenstein’s research… to resurrect the dead?”

“Or perhaps they wanted an army that would follow their orders.”

Either way, it was not a matter that could be judged right now.

In the end, the group decided to discuss future matters again after Viv completed her investigation.

“Phew, then in the meantime…”

—It’s a party!

“Please give me a party to celebrate my rank advancement, Oppa!”

Right now, Lucy was hiding her presence, so her voice shouldn’t even be heard, but it synchronized spectacularly with Ji-hye.

Gi-jun glared at the two of them in turn with an expression that asked if they had deposited something with him, but he ultimately chuckled.

Since it was true that they had to eat heartily before fighting a battle.

“Fine, then I’ll prepare a feast with ingredients full of immunity-boosting properties so you won’t catch anything strange.”

“I can guarantee you, Oppa, no matter how good the immunity-boosting ingredients are, they mean absolutely nothing against curses or poisons.”

He decided to ignore Ji-hye, who attempted to deliver a scathing remark as always.

* * *

The place where the group was currently staying was a villa owned by the royal family, and since they had entered under the authority of the Crown Prince Lectus, it was extremely safe.

“Since it’s a party, there has to be pizza. Today’s main menu is pizza topped with plenty of mushrooms and garlic, surrounded by sweet potato mousse.”

“You have no intention of giving up on the immunity theme, Oppa.”

Gi-jun kneaded the pizza dough and quickly stretched it into a large circular shape, spread tomato sauce on top, and piled it high with toppings.

Since it would be disappointing if pizza lacked meat, he also sliced and placed Hati meat along with the mushrooms and garlic, and then covered the top in pure white with cheese.

Mixing milk, honey, and salt into softly boiled sweet potatoes to make a sweet and salty sweet potato mousse, he finished it by wrapping it around the crust.

“Hmm… I always think about it, but Jun really has a rich repertoire. You could open a high-end restaurant later.”

Tilla, who approached behind him while he was cooking, poked her index finger out to taste the sweet potato mousse and said with a chuckle.

Gi-jun shrugged his shoulders as he placed the pizza, which was infused to the brim with Light Mana and Light Spirit power, into the oven.

“A restaurant, not bad. I should think about it once I get some free time.”

“As a Flame Human, I’m also confident in my cooking. Leave the fire control to me.”

Tilla, adding, ‘Surely you aren’t thinking of starting a restaurant without me?’ laughed with her eyes narrowed.

While Gi-jun was blinking in fluster at those words, Tilla burst into laughter.

Her hair tied up behind her head bouncing up and down like a ponytail was very attractive.

“I’m grateful that you’re considering it seriously. I didn’t say that to put pressure on you, though. Then, how about testing it out first?”

“W-what kind of test?”

Gi-jun, who instantly thought of countless possibilities in his head, was agonizing over how to refuse without negatively affecting the mental health of this delicate Flame Human, when

“I mean the hiring test for restaurant staff.”

At her added words, Gi-jun felt as if he had been hit.

“Ah, right. That’s a good idea.”

“Right?”

Tilla smiled with her eyes and laughed slyly.

Gi-jun was convinced that she had definitely spoken in a confusing way on purpose.

However, since it would be his defeat if he got flustered for nothing or got angry and mentioned that fact now――

With the mask of the Flame Human, he could not completely hide his emotions from her, a fellow Flame Human.

The mask of the cold vampire hunter was not suitable for dealing with her, an ally.

Therefore.

Gi-jun summoned the armor of personality to confront the difficulty, the Persona ‘Master Chef’!

“If you go that far, shall we test it? You must make a delicious soup with this sweet pumpkin full of immunity. I will grade you strictly.”

“Ah, that won’t do. Because the soup Jun makes is the most delicious.”

Tilla shook her head as soon as the word soup fell.

Although Master Chef firmly resolved that under no circumstances should he ever hire this person as an employee, the steak she grilled by utilizing her flame control ability was indeed as delicious as she was confident.

“I found out right away, Jun-nim. That person――is in the Magic Tower! They’re buried in the crowd of stuck-up and arrogant magicians, shamelessly pretending to be a magician!”

The problem was that the fresh news Viv brought immediately after completely killed his appetite.