48 – My Miseries – 3

“A secret mission…?”

Chabanvesh’s eyes sparkled at those words carefully spoken by Tolchi, who had appeared from concealment.

When the other Orcs tried to raise their voices as well, Tolchi silenced everyone by raising his index finger and bringing it to his lips.

“I said it was a secret mission. It is a mission where I must take only those who can be trusted.”

“Is it because of Jun?”

“Of course that is the case, but there are difficulties in resolving it with just the two of us. The Lord’s judgment is that we can trust and entrust this to you all, who have formed a friendly relationship with Jun and made great achievements in this defensive battle.”

“Ooooh…!”

“Tolchi and the Lord have acknowledged us. It is an honor!”

Tolchi smiled as he watched the Orcs, who could not hide their excitement even while keeping their voices down.

“Since we are of the same race, there is naturally more trust, but as a knight, I cannot appear to discriminate against other races. I ask that you please keep this a secret.”

“If Tolchi trusts us, we will gladly repay that trust.”

“We are ready at any time.”

Having won the Orcs’ support, Tolchi turned to Gi-jun and said,

“Of course, I believe you will join us, but—”

“Mmm.”

Gi-jun pretended to contemplate for a moment—no, in truth, he really did contemplate, but since he was unwavering in the thought that the final decision was ultimately his,

“I will join you.”

Ultimately, he nodded his head heavily.

Tolchi smiled with satisfaction and stood up.

“Then let us meet outside at dawn. Everyone must sneak out without telling anyone. We cannot worry people more than necessary.”

“Of course. We will prepare thoroughly and slip out carefully.”

“Mmh.”

Nodding, Tolchi quietly vanished from sight.

Gi-jun and the Orcs continued to chat, laugh, and enjoy their food and drinks afterward to avoid revealing that he had visited, but Chabanvesh suddenly murmured sadly,

“Jun… is really smart.”

“That’s not true. Someone just warned me.”

Once Lucy checked the surroundings and confirmed that no one else was listening, he nodded, allowing Chabanvesh to continue speaking.

He lowered his head deeply and spoke as if lamenting,

“I would have rather Jun not be smart. I wished for Tolchi to remain as a being who shined glory upon our Orc race. But that was just my own delusion and greed…”

“Leader, do not be disappointed.”

The bald Orc poured alcohol into Chabanvesh’s cup and comforted him.

“It is fine if you become such a shining Orc, Leader. No, you can definitely become one.”

“Kipuz…!”

Gi-jun learned the bald Orc’s name for the first time, but the image of Teacher Jeong Yak-yong was already too strongly engraved in his mind.

Wasn’t such wisdom dripping from the words he was speaking to Chabanvesh right now?

“But Kipuz is already shining. His head reflects the lamplight and sparkles.”

“Pfft!”

At that moment, due to a joke suddenly thrown by another Orc beside him, Gi-jun could not help but burst into laughter.

He hastily tried to compose his face, but it was already far too late to gloss it over, and all the Orcs were staring at him.

Soon, Kipuz rejoiced and held his cup high.

“I made Jun laugh! I am the man who made the hero laugh!”

“Amazing, Kipuz!”

“As expected, you are a cool Orc!”

“A shining Orc!”

As the Orcs raised their cups in unison, Gi-jun also raised his cup, deciding to subtly blend into the cheerful atmosphere.

Indeed, he admired Kipuz anew, thinking he was an Orc who had realized the teachings of Teacher Jeong Yak-yong.

“I’ll pay for this round.”

“Oooooh! As expected, Jun is a cool warrior!”

“Jun is a hero who knows his comrades and knows loyalty!”

Of course, because he felt so guilty for laughing at him, he did not forget to atone with a bribe.

* * *

At dawn that day, the group slipped out of the city as secretly as possible, just as Tolchi had said.

Of course, no matter how secretly they acted, it was impossible to avoid being noticed by anyone when six massive bodies were moving.

If they had slipped out one by one under the cover of night, it might have been different, but as long as they moved together, it was unavoidable.

And crucially,

“Oh, Mage!”

“Shh.”

They had no choice but to show themselves to the guard guarding the gate.

“At this hour of the dawn… I see, you are going out to sweep up the remnants with your comrades. I truly respect you.”

“Yes. I will be back.”

“I will be waiting for your safe return, Mage!”

As they left the city gate and entered the hills under the quiet support of the guard, Chabanvesh murmured quietly,

“Did he intend for this? If so…”

“He probably hoped for this.”

“He… seems to have really slipped out secretly without being caught by anyone.”

“Because after going to such lengths, he wouldn’t want to leave any trace of himself.”

Instead of Chabanvesh, who fell silent upon realizing what that implied, Kipuz spoke up.

“We are Orcs. What we are told not to say, we do not say. However, Jun could have told others, so I do not know why he chose this method.”

“That’s because I pretended in front of him.”

Gi-jun said calmly.

“From the moment I began to suspect him, I tried to treat him even more sincerely. It was a half-and-half mix of hoping he would change his mind and inducing him to perceive me as more naive.”

For example, praising him by saying Tolchi’s contribution was greater after defeating the leader, or trying to hand over the Estoc to him without hesitation.

Having shown such behavior, he probably wouldn’t have thought Gi-jun would go around telling others about his dealings with Tolchi.

Even if the matter did leak by some chance, as long as there were five targets here to shift the blame to, it would be difficult for suspicion to fall on Tolchi.

“Is that so? As expected, Jun is wise.”

“He is coming.”

When Gi-jun, who had received Lucy’s signal, spoke briefly, the Orcs closed their mouths all at once.

Not long after that, the group was able to join Tolchi, who wore a cloak over his armor so that no one could recognize him.

“Then, let’s go.”

“Where are we going?”

“A dungeon.”

At the somewhat expected words, Gi-jun nodded silently and asked back,

“Is it a Unique-grade dungeon?”

“Exactly. Perhaps the remnants are still in that dungeon, or there might be some information about this overflow. It is an urgent, important, and dangerous matter.”

If it were truly an important and dangerous task, wouldn’t he have selected the knights of the estate, including Tolchi, to conduct the exploration safely and surely?

Perhaps the Lord was indeed making such plans.

That was why Tolchi had made his move so quickly.

To ensure he achieved his goal.

“I will speed up a bit. Someone might blindly enter the dungeon and end up in danger.”

“Understood.”

Gi-jun ran alongside Tolchi, and the Orcs followed behind them with tense faces.

How much time had passed since then? They were able to find a small stone cave in the middle of the wasteland.

Surprisingly, it was the entrance to the Unique-grade dungeon; normally, there would have been soldiers guarding it, but due to the overflow, all the original guards had died, and the replacement soldiers had not yet been dispatched.

Before entering the dungeon, Tolchi paused for a moment and bowed his head halfway.

“Let us pay a moment of silent tribute to the soldiers who fulfilled their duties to the end and sacrificed themselves.”

“I will gladly do so.”

As he raised his head after bowing, Gi-jun sincerely agonized over this irony.

Could sympathy for the weak and hatred for the strong coexist?

Was it ugliness, or some sort of sense of duty?

—He’s just a disgusting, ugly murderer.

When Lucy summed it up so simply, Gi-jun could not help but laugh inwardly.

At the same time, his title, Conqueror of the Hidden Dungeon, was activated, delivering approximate information about the dungeon they were facing.

Thinking once again that this title was cheat-like—Gi-jun urged Tolchi forward.

“Let’s go in now.”

“Yes. Avenging their grudges is also our duty.”

With Gi-jun, the five Orc warriors, and Tolchi added, seven summoned ones entered the dungeon.

—Upon entering the dungeon, the effect of the title [Conqueror of the Hidden Dungeon (L)] was activated. All stats and skill effects increased by 20%.

—Upon entering the dungeon, the effect of the title [Conqueror of the Hidden Dungeon (L)] was activated. All stats and skill effects increased by 20%.

Although the initial section was a place where light entered, after walking for about ten minutes, the surroundings quickly became pitch-black.

Only the faint light emanating from Gi-jun, the self-proclaimed Flame Human, barely lit the path.

Of course, not to mention Gi-jun and Tolchi, even the Orc warriors who were already in their fifth year since entering Leta possessed eyes that could pierce through the darkness.

Gi-jun, in particular, was a little flustered.

‘It’s not that I was weak against the dark originally… Is it thanks to Flame Eyes? I can see as brightly as broad daylight.’

When fighting on top of the castle wall last night, flames were flying everywhere and the moonlight was bright, so he hadn’t fully realized it, but entering a dungeon where absolutely no light reached made it clear.

“Will there be any live monsters?”

“There are.”

At the words murmured by one of the Orcs, Tolchi nodded and said,

“Dungeons that have not been completely cleared always generate monsters, and since some of the surviving monsters from the overflow fled to escape pursuit, they might have returned inside the dungeon.”

“We must be on guard.”

“O brave Orc warriors, none of you will die today.”

Tolchi declared, thumping his chest as he growled.

The Orcs thumped their chests as well in response.

It seemed to be a ritual to share mutual trust.

Before long, monsters did indeed appear from the darkness—but their numbers were very few and they were not that strong.

While Gi-jun and Tolchi guarded the surroundings, the Orcs dispatched them.

“It was a good experience. Of course, in the future, we should be able to enter this kind of dungeon with just our own strength.”

“It will definitely be so.”

Fortunately, no particularly strong enemies appeared after that either.

How many hours had passed while exploring the dark cave like that? Tolchi let out a sigh and declared,

“This area seems safe, so let’s rest for a moment. I have brought some food.”

As the seven warriors sat in a circle, Tolchi took a large thermos out of his inventory and poured hot stew into the cups he had brought out, distributing them to the group.

Receiving his share of the stew, Gi-jun mocked himself for having wondered if he might be an NPC when they first met, simply because he was a knight of the Lord.

—Contractor, there’s an extremely potent sleeping pill in here. If you eat it without any preparation, even a Rare-grade race won’t be able to endure it.

At the sign sent by Lucy the moment she saw the stew, since he had expected it anyway, he nodded silently and asked,

‘What about detoxification?’

—Of course it’s possible. It would have been fine originally, but now you also have the title you obtained.

The Unique-grade title, [Spirits’ Attending Physician], which he had obtained in the process of restoring Ur’s vitality.

This title possessed the cheat-like characteristic of not only making it easier to receive love from spiritual entities including spirits, but also increasing the effect of all healing techniques by twenty percent.

Gi-jun nodded once more at Lucy’s reliable words, then spoke aloud as he ate the stew filled with meat.

“It is truly delicious.”

“It should be delicious. It is a stew simmered by the chef of the Lord’s Castle.”

At Tolchi’s words spoken with a smirk, the Orcs also finished their stew in unison, making sounds of appreciation.

Then, they collapsed to the floor one by one and fell asleep.

“…”

Watching them, Gi-jun took another sip of the stew.

Even without Lucy having to step in, a drug of this level was easily blocked by his Unfailing Body Clock.

“As expected, you endure.”

“You…”

Watching Tolchi murmur as if lamenting, Gi-jun furrowed his eyebrows.

“Why did you do this?”

“To test if you are a true hero!”

He thought the man would at least make some sort of excuse.

Without even doing that, Tolchi launched a surprise attack on Gi-jun.

With the flat side of his blood-stained greatsword, he struck and sent Gi-jun flying as if batting a baseball.

It seemed he had figured that it would be difficult to kill him in one blow, but what was he aiming for by going this far—

—Crack, shatter!

“Ah.”

The moment he was thrown at a furious speed and slammed into the cave wall, something buried inside exploded and emitted a terrible chill, instantly freezing Gi-jun’s entire body and forming countless ice pillars around him to bind him.

The probability of such a trap being installed in the dungeon from the beginning was slim, so Tolchi had likely set it up beforehand.

Had he busied himself moving as soon as the overflow ended?

—Contractor.

‘Yeah, I’ve already made my judgment.’

Honestly, he hadn’t let himself get hit on purpose, but because that determined guy swung his greatsword at a speed difficult for even Gi-jun to react to, he had no choice but to be blown away.

If it had at least been the blade, it would have stopped at digging into his body a bit before backing off—but it seemed he had pushed himself, even using a skill, determined to throw him into this trap at all costs.

“Flame Humans are a rare race, but they are a strong race whose individual power can never be underestimated.”

Seeing that Gi-jun’s entire body was frozen, Tolchi spoke with a satisfied smile.

However, Gi-jun was flustered by the fact that Flame Humans actually existed and that Tolchi even knew about that race.

“They command a phantom beast named Red Flame Beast () that is with them from the moment of birth, and both the master and the beast are incredibly powerful, but…”

There was even such a thing?!

He had inwardly wondered if he was being perceived as a Flame Human spirit summoner, but had even that matched the race’s setting?!

While he was so dumbfounded by such a coincidence that he couldn’t speak, Tolchi, who judged that he had been completely weakened, continued to speak in an increasingly passionate voice.

“There is only one fatal weakness, and that is temperature. If the body temperature is lowered to the extreme, the Flame Human’s mana becomes sluggish and almost stops, and the phantom beast cannot receive strength from its master to materialize. Ever since that weakness was revealed, most Flame Humans died off. Here in Leta, that is.”

“Did you… know?”

“I pretended not to know. For this very moment.”

Tolchi said coldly, pointing his greatsword at him.

“If you are truly a hero, you will be able to survive. But if you are not, if a weakling dared to get greedy, steal the achievements that were meant to be mine, and take the Lord’s horn—you will die here.”

“If I give you the horn, will you let me live?”

“I will help you meet a glorious death. But if you do not,”

Tolchi cast his gaze toward the darkness.

Gi-jun’s eyes widened as he discovered something that looked like a vampire slowly emerging from within.

“You will become a ghoul that hungers for human flesh and blood, neither dead nor alive, and wander this world in a miserable state forever.”

“You…?”

“Do not misunderstand. I contacted them after the overflow ended. When I offered to hand you over, they were more than happy to cooperate.”

—Kyahahaha!

The vampire who revealed herself burst into a shrill laugh.

Perhaps because she was of a lower class than the one he had defeated in the defensive battle, the Limit Surpasser title did not react.

—To think the first and second place in contribution of this incident would fight among themselves, is there anything more amusing! As expected, even if a slight chance of success arises, you immediately sabotage each other and drag each other down to hell! How delightful!

“Quiet, vampire. I am only keeping you alive to make things a little less troublesome.”

Tolchi, who growled at the vampire, looked at Gi-jun and spoke again.

“Decide. Will you become undead, or will you hand over the horn?”

“Before that, there are two things I want to say.”

“Speak.”

“First, there are those watching from behind.”

Tolchi’s body stiffened as he obediently looked back.

The Orc warriors, who had already been detoxified by Lucy long ago and quietly stood up, were pointing their weapons at Tolchi with unwavering expressions.

“You… guys… could it be, from the beginning…”

“I was greatly disappointed, dirty Orc Tolchi. You did not want to protect the weak; you merely wanted to make everyone except yourself weak.”

As Chabanvesh spat out his words, the other Orcs chimed in one by one.

“There is probably no Orc in the world as dirty and disgusting as you.”

“Trying to shift your own crime to others—you are a disgrace to Orcs.”

“Jealous of someone else’s achievement to the point of driving them to death, you’re a bastard who would tear off another man’s penis.”

“Strong? Knight? Even a mutt would snort at that. Mutt Tolchi!”

“…I will have to change my words, Orc comrades.”

Tolchi ground his teeth as he pointed his greatsword at them again.

“You all die here today. No one leaves.”

“Second,”

Gi-jun smiled bitterly at the amusing sight and continued speaking.

The next moment, Gi-jun, who quickly shattered the ice and leaped out, caught the vampire in his hand before she even had a chance to flee.

“I cannot be held back by this much.”

—Kyaaaaak! Sp-spare—

A dazzling holy fire flared up from Gi-jun’s hand clutching the vampire’s neck.

As Gi-jun thought that he was somehow getting more used to raising holy fire,

the vampire died and disappeared without leaving a trace.

—Additional secret quest objective achieved!

—Additional secret quest objective achieved!

And the system messages popped up as if mocking everyone.