163 – The Artisan’s Promise – 2

It was a succession of interesting stories, but neither Ptah, the tsukumogami, nor the orichalcum had anything to do with the Divine Beast that was currently making the volcano erupt wildly.

When Gi-jun took the ‘Damaged Jarnvidr Pass’—which had been vibrating frantically and spewing light ever since he entered this region—out of his inventory and explained that the Divine Beast was staying in the volcano, Glittertoss immediately shouted in excitement.

“No, then that means the reason Uralta is in such a mess right now is because of you!”

“Blame the dwarves who just sat around looking for their god even though it’s been nearly two months since the incident occurred, and the Summoned who don’t realize the severity of the situation at all.”

“That’s…”

Glittertoss shut his mouth tightly at Gi-jun’s point.

Although he pretended not to be, he seemed to be constantly worrying about the fact that he had ruined the ritual fifty years ago.

Although he was less extreme compared to the other dwarves who sought Ptah whenever anything happened, he was also a very devout believer of the blacksmith god.

That was probably why Glittertoss had dared to make a new sword out of orichalcum again, even at the risk of being questioned by the other dwarves.

Gi-jun, who could guess to some extent the complex feelings Glittertoss must be experiencing, spoke as if to comfort him.

“Of course, I feel a sense of responsibility as well. That is why I am trying to hunt the Divine Beast right now. Glittertoss, Ptah will not get angry like you are worried about, so just wait here quietly. While getting ready to make our party’s armor with materials from the dragon and the Divine Beast, that is.”

“There is no need for Jun to feel responsible, though. In fact, Jun only hunted the Divine Beast, and you have no responsibility to control the Divine Beast of Uralta.”

Tilla said those words with an infinitely serious expression and smiled bitterly, but Gi-jun, who actually heard those words, was the one who felt like smiling bitterly.

He had forgotten because Tilla had shown a very stable state lately, but she originally had a very blind side…

If in the past such a stubborn attitude had seemed like it would collapse at any moment because it was built on an unstable mind and misconception, now it was rather supported by conviction and affection, giving a sense of unshakeable stability.

To be honest, her attitude, which changed instantly the moment someone pointed their blade at Gi-jun, was to the point of being a bit chilling.

Although it was very reassuring—since she was now a Legendary-grade existence who could face a city on her own, he would have to pay a little more attention to her in the future.

“Her words are not… wrong. Yes, it is a thankful thing just that the Divine Beast Hunter is willing to step forward at the moment the Divine Beast must be hunted.”

Glittertoss, who had already guessed the inherent danger within Tilla when his beard was grabbed earlier, nodded and covered his own beard for no reason.

Unika, who was looking at such a dwarf with pathetic eyes, turned her gaze to Gi-jun and asked.

“How will you organize the party? If the opponent is a Divine Beast, we will not be able to just rush in blindly with everyone.”

“That’s right. First of all, it would be best for Nabinya to sit out. It was pitiful to see her panting even on the way to Uralta.”

“It can’t be helped, nya… This battlefield is too disadvantageous for Nabinya, nya. But you must let me enter the dungeon with you later, nya.”

At Gi-jun’s words, Nabinya could not bring herself to refute them and only licked her front paws.

Although Nabinya’s stealth ability was outstanding, her general combat ability was still below the average of the Rare grade.

Perhaps because she was already a cat covered in fur, it was to the point that she had difficulty even advancing through the volcanic region without sharing Gi-jun’s unique skill, so she had to sit out this time if only to save his mana.

“Tilla and I are fixed of course, and next is… Laura?”

“If the opponent is a Divine Beast that wields the power of fire, it will be hard to make use of my abilities as a vampire. However, as a priest of light, I should be able to help suppress the heat and light it radiates. It is not as if a sword won’t pierce it just because it is a Divine Beast. If it bleeds, it will rot too, I suppose.”

Laura, who had become even bolder as she accepted herself as a vampire, did not think of stepping back even though she knew the opponent was a Divine Beast.

Naturally, when Gi-jun’s gaze turned to Eun-shin, the last remaining party member, he shook his head in surprise.

“I am going too, of course?! I barely managed to join the party, so I can’t just sit out as soon as an opportunity to play an active role comes along.”

Even as he said those words, the way he kept glancing at Laura made it seem as though he was still bothered by having fallen behind her on the way to Uralta.

If one only looked at their current weight class, it was definitely Laura’s overwhelming victory, but Eun-shin was the possessor of a talent that even Biche, the former Hero of Light, recognized.

Thinking that Eun-shin would surely be able to grow quickly if he harbored a sense of rivalry toward Laura and worked hard, Gi-jun chuckled and patted Eun-shin on the shoulder.

“Alright, then let’s go together. Look for an opportunity and stab it in the eye or something.”

“I will show you that my sneak attack is not to be underestimated either, seriously.”

When the discussion was concluded with everyone except Nabinya going, Laura quietly muttered.

“It’s a bit of a pity that Mr. Gin isn’t here. His ability would have been a perfect counter to the Divine Beast of the Sun.”

If Ji-hye had seen Laura, who had provided a by no means small cause for Gin leaving the party, saying such things, she would have screamed, ‘You killed him!’ but fortunately, she was not here.

“That was Gin’s choice, so it couldn’t be helped. Now, I’ll make a dish that increases our resistance to fire as much as possible, so let’s eat together and leave right away.”

“Please wait a moment.”

However, as Gi-jun finished speaking and was about to stand up, Unika hurriedly held him back.

“Why don’t you ask me, Lord Jun?”

“What? …Surely you don’t mean you want to come along too, Unika?”

“Of course, I am extremely scared! But… right now, I have hit a wall. For the sake of growth, I need to risk my life at least once.”

Unika said so as she stroked the horn on her forehead.

Gi-jun, who guessed what the growth she spoke of was, was lost for words.

She was joining the Divine Beast hunt just to cut off a better horn for him, so what on earth could he say in response?

“If I have to risk my life anyway, I want to entrust my back to Lord Jun. Would I be a burden?”

“Honestly, I don’t think you will be of much help.”

“Ugh.”

Unika lost her spirit as Gi-jun spoke so bluntly.

Of course, Gi-jun’s words were not finished yet.

“But since I’ve received a lot from Unika in many ways, I’ll let you join this once. I will do my best as well, but you have to be as careful as possible.”

“Lord Jun! Thank you…!”

Of course, if even one of Gi-jun or Tilla had not evolved their grade, he would never have put Unika in the party—but honestly, Gi-jun had plenty of leeway.

With the current capabilities of the party, it did not seem like it would be very difficult to catch the Divine Beast.

No matter how unfavorable the compatibility was, hadn’t he hunted a Divine Beast with just the power of the two of them, aided by Ruthven’s support, back when he was only at the Rare grade!

“Alright, then we will leave right after we eat, so check your equipment one last time!”

““Yes!””

And so, the party formation was complete.

Gi-jun prepared dishes that seemed as related to fire as possible with the sole intention of increasing fire resistance, but when Eun-shin found out that the first menu item was Egg in Hell (shakshuka), he completely abandoned any expectation of gaining resistance from cooking.

For reference, the second menu item and main dish was an oil fondue using the meat of Hati, the brother of Skoll whom they were going to hunt today, as the main ingredient; it was a dish where meat and other sub-ingredients were submerged and cooked in boiling oil, then dipped in various sauces.

While Egg in Hell was also simple, this one practically had no room for the chef’s skill to be showcased.

However, Gi-jun spoke proudly to his party members who were staring at him with eyes demanding an explanation.

“Both of them are boiling hot, so it feels like just eating them will make us stronger against the heat.”

“Honestly, I don’t think it has any connection at all, but it looks delicious, so I’ll eat it gratefully, Brother.”

The surprising thing was the change that occurred as soon as they ate it.

—You consumed a magical dish in which a chef who reached the supreme state poured his heart and soul into perfectly recreating boiling lava. Until the food was digested, resistance to lava increased by 50% and resistance to heat increased by 30%.

—You consumed a dish in which strong light and heat were reinforced by infusing them with spiritual power. Until the food was digested, resistance to light and heat increased by 35%.

—You consumed a magical dish in which a chef who reached the supreme state poured his heart and soul into perfectly recreating boiling lava. Until the food was digested, resistance to lava increased by 50% and resistance to heat increased by 30%.

—You consumed a dish in which strong light and heat were reinforced by infusing them with spiritual power. Until the food was digested, resistance to light and heat increased by 35%.

Eun-shin, who checked the system messages, shook his head and spoke.

“No, I can’t accept this. This is not right.”

—That’s right, it’s simply because the Contractor’s cooking skill level is too high that it turned out like this. Contractor, slice some more of this over here.

Even while making such a sharp observation, Lucy refilled the shakshuka twice and fried and ate one kilogram of Hati’s meat all by herself.

However, just as the Lumen party, full and satisfied, was about to set off immediately with Unika, Gi-jun suddenly felt an extremely ominous sensation.

At the moment he was about to open his mouth and say something to his party members due to a feeling he could not pinpoint, an unfamiliar system message popped up before his eyes.

—Through the effect of the title [Terminator of the Overflow (R)], the occurrence of an overflow was detected. The flow of mana was becoming excessively violent. A mana earthquake would strike within one hour! This overflow would reconstruct all lifeforms harboring mana into wolves of the fire attribute with a fiercely burning flow of magical power. Before then, find a safe place to hide as much as possible, or complete your best preparations to repel a large number of fire-attribute monsters!

—Through the effect of the title [Terminator of the Overflow (R)], the occurrence of an overflow was detected. The flow of mana was becoming excessively violent. A mana earthquake would strike within one hour! This overflow would reconstruct all lifeforms harboring mana into wolves of the fire attribute with a fiercely burning flow of magical power. Before then, find a safe place to hide as much as possible, or complete your best preparations to repel a large number of fire-attribute monsters!

“Urrrgh…”

A groan escaped his lips of its own accord.

Right, the title he had obtained previously definitely had this kind of effect.

Since he had not experienced an overflow after that, he had forgotten about it.

It would have been better if he remained ignorant of it in the future as well—but with ‘flame’ and ‘wolf,’ there was no denying it at this point.

The Divine Beast already sensed that Gi-jun had arrived in Uralta.

It was trying to cause an overflow to avenge its brother.

No matter how thick-skinned Gi-jun was, he could not just overlook this.

Even Tilla would not dare to do so.

“What is the matter, Lord Jun? Are we not leaving right away?”

“Leaving… it seems we won’t be able to do that, after all.”

Would it be possible for them to climb to the top of that high volcano and hunt the Divine Beast within an hour?

No matter how much they hurried, that was impossible.

If so, they had no choice but to block the overflow here for now.

One hour, one hour.

“Unika.”

“Yes!”

Unika immediately responded to Gi-jun’s suddenly changed atmosphere.

“Go out right now and gather all the Summoned… no, everyone who can fight. Make sure that the people who are currently outside the city can get inside as much as possible, too. Prepare to defend the city by mobilizing every means available in the city. Is it possible?”

“If I use my name, plus my father’s name, His Majesty the King’s name, and even Lord Jun’s name, I can manage it somehow… but by any chance.”

As expected of someone who had already experienced an overflow once in Turis, Unika’s face turned pale as she realized what his words implied.

“Are you saying an overflow is coming to Uralta? In this situation?”

“What, an overflow?! That’s absurd, there is no place where monster hunting is as active as Uralta!”

Glittertoss, who was listening behind them, cried out in shock.

However, there was no way the effect of Gi-jun’s title would lie.

“Isn’t it because the activities of the Summoned were dampened due to the intense volcanic activity? No, in the first place, the continuous volcanic eruptions recently might have been a precursor to the Divine Beast trying to trigger an overflow.”

“Ugh, I indeed heard that was the case, but then the order of events—aaah! Now is not the time to be arguing about which came first!”

Glittertoss ran into the blacksmith shop and gathered all the weapons rolling on the floor into his inventory.

“Those fools won’t just stand by if they know an overflow is starting! VVIP, is it certain that an overflow is coming?”

“Do you want me to bet my life on it?”

“If you only stake your honor, that’s enough! There are few people in this city who would doubt what the Hero of Gratia says!”

“Uuuugh… then I will leave right now!”

Certainly, having high charm and reputation made things convenient in this sense.

Gi-jun, somewhat relieved, held back Unika and Glittertoss, who were about to rush outside at any moment, and spoke.

“Within one hour, tell everyone who can fight to gather at the square where Glittertoss was hanging earlier.”

“Pardon? Are you planning to give a speech or something before the battle begins?”

“No.”

Gi-jun spoke while quietly looking at the two pots that the group had emptied completely.

“To give those people a fire resistance buff.”

One hour later.

The free food stall of the hero who saved Gratia was set up in the square.

The menu was, of course, shakshuka and oil fondue.