63 – 13 – Master of the Ruins – 3

Immediately after discovering a rock grave that appeared to have been artificially formed.

Thinking that something was suspicious, Gi-jun tossed the rocks aside after lifting them easily with his Unique-grade Strength, and sure enough, he was able to unearth a massive rock presumed to be part of a mineral vein.

The moment the rock was exposed to the outside, Gi-jun also felt a faint light rising from within it, which made him think that the Vrykolakas pack had felt this and hastily thrown rocks all over it to prevent the energy from leaking out.

“If we turn this entire area upside down, we’ll reach a conclusion one way or another.”

“Ugh— I’m not really into working while getting covered in dirt.”

He had expected her to act that way, but as expected, Armilka stepped back in horror.

“I won’t work, and I won’t touch anything mined from there at all. I only need to get my share of the Moon-Welcoming Stones we got from the wolves earlier. Leader, deal?”

“Do as you wish.”

It was only natural, but the werewolf pack that the JAHIL party fought earlier each had Moon-Welcoming Stones on their bodies, and they had even crafted and equipped weapons or armor with them.

Since splitting those among just the five of them would likely yield enough for what she wanted, Armilka’s cheeky intention to back out of such a tedious and difficult job was completely transparent, drawing a snort from him.

“It’s enough for me to do it alone.”

“Will you be alright?”

“I was planning to do so from the start.”

Gi-jun snorted and replied to Hervunt, who asked in surprise.

“I’d like you to keep watch of our surroundings while I mine.”

“Haha… Indeed, monitoring the surroundings will be necessary. Understood, let’s do that. Miss Armilka, let’s go.”

“What?! I was talking to our Lau—ra… Ah, wait!”

Laura let out a sigh of relief as the older sister who was obsessed with her was dragged away by Hervunt and disappeared.

In, who was about to roll up his sleeves to help Gi-jun, blinked in embarrassment as Hervunt led Armilka away and disappeared.

“I… was going to help.”

“Just protect Laura properly. Isn’t that the most important mission?”

“Mmm. Indeed, leaving Laura’s safety to that woman is out of the question.”

Laura, who felt a bit embarrassed with the two men talking about protecting her or saying they would protect her, scratched her cheek bashfully.

Gi-jun activated Moonlight Blood Fangs on the King of the Well and began to smash the rocks in earnest as he continued speaking.

-Clang!

“I didn’t know Laura was a priestess of such a strong goddess.”

-Clang!

“Ahahaha… You were surprised, right? Lady Ishtar’s divinity is so complex and she demands so much from her believers that it has been hard to find a priest lately.”

-Clang!

“As expected, they are rare. Is the qualification complex?”

-Clang!

Instead of the silver that was supposed to come out, Moon-Welcoming Stones were pouring out.

To be precise, it wasn’t that there was no silver at all, but the silver holding the moonlight that Gin’s mother had mentioned was nowhere to be seen.

Gi-jun increased the durability of the King of the Well with Adamant, took a deep breath, and began to break the rocks at a faster pace.

-Clang!

“That’s not the reason.”

-Clang!

“Hmm?”

-Clang!

Before long, Gi-jun’s body was buried in the pile of rocks and was barely visible.

As Gi-jun was breaking the surrounding rocks evenly, In’s voice was heard from above.

-Clang!

“The Goddess of the Morning Star, Ishtar, is certainly a deity of high and powerful status, but it has been a long time since she showed herself on this continent of Leta.”

-Clang!

“A long time has passed?”

-Clang!

“Indeed. It has already been over several decades since she stopped delivering divine revelations or granting blessings to her believers. Since the voice of the god cannot be heard, who would believe in them? Naturally, the believers vanished, and the priests lost their faith as well.”

-Clang!

Then, how did Laura become a priestess of Ishtar?

Of course, it was In who resolved Gi-jun’s doubt.

-Clang!

“That is why Laura’s awakening was very surprising. It is the first time in decades that someone has prayed for years to a silent god and received a greater miracle through their body.”

-Clang!

“It’s embarrassing when you say it like that…!”

-Clang!

“It hasn’t been long, so her name is only known in Turis for now… but I am confident that if Laura increases her divine power just a bit more, she will soon become a priestess who makes a name for herself throughout the Gratia Kingdom.”

-Clang!

Gi-jun suddenly felt something vibrating weakly at his feet, emitting a blue light.

Although he could not verify it with the naked eye yet, if he dug in this direction, he would surely be able to obtain what he wanted.

Licking his lips, Gi-jun put all his strength into both hands and quickly dug down into the ground as he threw a question to In.

-Clang! Clang!

“By the way, how do you know all this so well?”

-Clang! Clang!

“There is probably no one in the Turis Mercenary Guild who doesn’t know of Laura’s Holy Blood awakening. And… I am also a believer of Ishtar.”

-Clang!

“That’s right, Mr. Jun. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Oppa In and I already know each other.”

My goodness, In was a church oppa!

Looking at how In actively tried to protect Laura, and how Laura, who felt awkward and kept her distance from Armilka and Hervunt, did not do so with In, he had wondered if that was the case.

Sure enough, was the strange bond between the two due to sharing the same religion?

Gi-jun nodded in natural understanding, and—finally picked up the blue-glowing silver that had revealed itself from the ground.

“You said it has been over several decades since Ishtar disappeared, so how did you two become believers of Ishtar? Ah, of course, if it’s hard to answer, you don’t have to force yourself…”

“It is not something to hide. My father was a priest of Ishtar.”

“…Me too.”

Coincidentally, the two gave the same answer.

Gi-jun nodded and landed after leaping out of the pit.

Looking at the large, self-luminous silver ore held in his hand, the two let out exclamations of admiration at the same time.

“You found it!”

“Even after removing the impurities and extracting only pure silver, it should weigh about two kilograms.”

“That much is enough.”

While the three of them admired the mysterious magical metal side by side, which radiated a color and luster different from both the Moon-Welcoming Stones and, of course, ordinary silver, Laura suddenly looked down at the pit and spoke.

“It seems that was the only one in this area.”

Turning his gaze at her words, Gi-jun also realized that the light and warm energy that had lingered in the area had vanished, and he nodded.

After all, it would have been difficult for such a miraculous item to spring up in abundance.

Gi-jun shrugged his shoulders and stored it in his inventory.

Along with the countless Moon-Welcoming Stones that had popped out during the mining process.

“Now, let’s call the others and head back.”

“I hope we are not too late, though.”

“It will be fine. Surely.”

Laura said, clenching her hands into fists.

Gi-jun felt a bit uneasy as he recalled what Hervunt had said, but he shook his head and tried to brush the thought away.

For the record, Hervunt and Armilka, who were found halfway up the mountain, were surprisingly sharing chocolate amicably!

—Wait… are they really dating?

‘I will not believe Lucy’s words from now on.’

Of course, the two violently denied the suspicion of ‘actually being on good terms,’ but it was unavoidable that the remaining party members’ gazes looking at them became lukewarm.

Even as they ran down the mountain and toward the village, they were busy grabbing one person each and rattling on with what they called excuses.

“I’m telling you, it’s not like that, really! That guy begged and pleaded to eat, so I just broke off one piece for him! Lau—ra, you know how I feel, right? I only have you, Laura!”

“U-Um, I’m sorry, but I like men more than women…”

“Jun, could you please not look at me with strange eyes? I have my own tastes too.”

“Coincidentally, my eyes are burning, so detailed facial expressions are impossible. If you feel it’s strange, that is just your misunderstanding.”

Perhaps because they were sprinting while completely abandoning the idea of moving stealthily, a massive number of werewolves appeared and blocked their path on the way back as well.

Of course, since there would be no end if they fought each one of them, they decided to shake off the monsters by sprinting.

Laura, who lacked Strength and Endurance because she was a priestess, was forced to ride on Armilka’s back, while In, whose movements were somewhat sluggish, rode on Gi-jun’s back.

“No, wait a minute!”

Hervunt, who had been watching Laura being carried on Armilka’s back with anxious eyes, gaped when he saw Gi-jun carrying In.

“Are you really alright? Not that I mean to insult In, but can you run at speed while carrying that bulk?”

“Compared to my usual training, this is nothing. Let’s go.”

“Well… sorry about this.”

“I said it’s fine.”

And Gi-jun truly ran at a speed that did not fall behind Armilka and Hervunt.

Who could possibly say anything after seeing Gi-jun running at a speed that shook off werewolves while carrying a Half-Orc who easily exceeded 100 kilograms in full plate armor?

“Honestly, you shatter my imagination every time…”

“It is a bit surprising. Ah, Lau—ra. Do you want some chocolate?”

“I’m fine.”

“Sigh, it should be about time you open your heart to your big sister…”

The group, who had not lost their composure even while sprinting across the plains, all had their expressions crumple by the time the entrance to the village came into view.

The reason was simple.

It was because the fog surrounding the area where the village was located had vanished.

Not only that, but because the werewolves were swarming in the area, it was easy to assume that the village’s location had been discovered and that a tragedy was occurring inside.

“Just as I thought.”

Hervunt muttered while gritting his teeth, then sped up even further and forged ahead.

“I will go ahead and check first!”

“Ah, that guy is really…!”

Armilka, seemingly annoyed that Hervunt was overtaking her, gritted her teeth and sped up as well.

Gi-jun also gritted his teeth and accelerated further.

Salutaris enveloped his spirit and body, rotating mana and spiritual power even more fiercely.

“D-Don’t push yourself!”

“It’s not pushing myself—!”

In a situation where innocent people could die, was it really the time to argue about pushing oneself or not—?!

Gi-jun’s speed grew faster and faster.

Gi-jun, who strengthened both legs with Adamant, propelled his body forward powerfully at every moment, spreading Lucy’s spirit power throughout his body to awaken his potential as a Light Human.

‘I have to chase the light even a bit more, I must become faster…!’

—You are doing well, Contractor. It seems that kid Gin is still fine, so hurry up a bit more!

—Kieee!

Right now, he did not even have the leisure to fear his identity being exposed.

As a dazzling golden light soared from Gi-jun’s entire body, Ur hurriedly overlaid his flames to hide Gi-jun’s identity, but—In, who was carried on his back, gasped as if noticing his foreign energy.

Nonetheless, In pretended not to notice, merely tightening his grip on Gi-jun’s shoulders slightly as he spoke.

“Let us hurry.”

“Yeah!”

Boom! A roar sounded as if a thunderbolt had fallen.

Following that, boom! Then boom! As three roars resounded in succession, Gi-jun realized it was the sound made by a triple-barrel shotgun.

—Kyahaha!

—Kill them all—!

The voices of the intelligent werewolves echoed loudly across the grassland.

As the distance to the village shortened, the werewolves surrounding the village, numbering easily in the thousands, turned back to look at them, their eyes flashing.

Armilka shouted in a shrill voice.

“Leader—! Do something about these things!”

“In! Go and protect Laura!”

“Understood, my apologies!”

Leaping off Gi-jun’s back, In ran desperately and caught up with Armilka.

“You bastards, come at me—!”

Confirming that, Gi-jun immediately cast Luminescent Provocation to draw the attention of the wolves, but Armilka, Laura, and In were already buried among the wolves and were nowhere to be seen.

Although all five party members had been gathered together just a moment ago, they were now scattered in all directions.

He bit his lip as he broke, tore off, and ripped apart the heads of the werewolves pouncing on him.

“Did I underestimate them? Was I complacent?”

—Contractor, you did your best. You can’t control every situation unless you are a god, right? It’s just that an event we couldn’t prepare for occurred, and the path has just become a bit more complicated because of it.

Lucy spoke in a calm voice, expanding the light spirit power drawn from Gi-jun’s spiritual power to scan the area.

—You know where to go now, right? Move forward, Contractor.

—Kihieee!

“…Yeah. Let’s go!”

Gi-jun, who had shared that information, climbed onto the back of Ur, who had now materialized to the size of a giant tiger, and gritted his teeth.

‘It won’t go according to your wishes…!’

Ur, who had shared even Lucy’s memories and radiant light through the spiritual power flowing in Gi-jun’s body, kicked off the ground as he ignited an even more dazzling flame all over his body.

Of course, since Gi-jun’s Luminescent Provocation was still active, werewolves were swarming from the front, back, left, and right, but nothing could stop Ur’s charge.

‘Hervunt… I’m counting on you.’

Even though he had shown a negative attitude throughout this quest, ironically, he muttered the name of the party member he could trust the most in this situation.

Gi-jun, along with Ur, forged through the wave of wolves and advanced toward the center of the village.

The curtain rose on a night that was as long as the Overflow.

* * *

On the way back after defeating the vampire Gnoll Centurion found in the dungeon and securing spoils from him.

Among the members of Ye-min’s party, who were burning with resolve to immediately report the discovery of the vampire to the guild and receive the large-scale quest that would follow, only Ji-hye muttered coldly.

“This isn’t enough.”

Ye-min tilted her head at Ji-hye’s words.

“Hye-ji, what is not enough? We have clear evidence.”

“Our standing is insufficient. And don’t call me Hye-ji.”

At those sharp words, Ye-min indeed had no choice but to shut her mouth.

Eun-shin spoke in her stead.

“It’s because we are humans, right?”

“Besides, we are also rookies. Even if we go around advertising that vampires have appeared, nothing good will come of it.”

“That makes sense. Then what should we do?”

Ji-hye replied to Mok-su’s words as if she had been waiting.

“There will be more cases like this. These bastards haven’t just been hiding for a day or two. Let’s just search the entire area. We’ll handle what we can solve with our own strength directly, and compile reports on what we can’t solve.”

“Securing samples, that is a good method. The problem is that it will ultimately mean nothing to those who refuse to believe our words.”

“That’s right. That’s why… Shin-ah.”

“Y-Yes?”

Ji-hye suddenly stretched out both hands and grabbed Eun-shin’s shoulders.

To Eun-shin, who was flustered by her careless skinship but tried to react calmly, she made a request with a serious expression.

“Our Shin-ah, let’s do some undercover work at the guild for a bit. We’re looking for someone among the guild staff who seems likely to listen to us.”

“I can go undercover as much as you want, but… would such a person exist?”

To Eun-shin, who couldn’t help but wear a distrustful expression as he had experienced enough of the contempt for humans on the continent of Leta, Ji-hye held out the candidate list she had compiled.

“First, I compiled a list of employees with good reputations in the guild. Please observe these people carefully for a few days. Let’s decide on the best person among them.”

“As expected, Hye-nuna has a plan for everything…!”

After stalking… no, covertly observing the candidates selected by Ji-hye for a few days, Eun-shin was unexpectedly able to find a highly suitable person.

A noble woman who, despite her beautiful appearance, was not easily approached by men because she was strict with both herself and others, and probed into everything tiresomely—the vice master of the Ars Mercenary Guild was that very person.

However, through his days of undercover work, he could be certain that her strictness was strictly about a person’s character and ability, and that her prejudice or discrimination against races was low or almost nonexistent.

‘Good, this person will do. …Hm?’

However, the problem arose elsewhere, as one of the people Ji-hye had checked showed suspicious behavior.

‘…What, where is that person going?’

Seeing that employee stealthily disappear in the dead of night along with a few mercenaries, Eun-shin followed behind them, only to discover a highly shocking scene.

“Ha, how much longer do we have to hide like this and suck animal blood?”

“I heard the higher classes carry portable rations specially manufactured by mixing high-quality human blood.”

“If you’re envious of that, you should raise your grade. Damn it, when that time truly comes, I will personally wipe out the humans…”

“Bella, I want to suck Bella’s blood!”

“Sure, in a year. I get it, so just eat quietly.”

It was none other than them sucking the blood of freshly slaughtered animals.

The vampires were already hiding and active within the domain of humans.