81 – 16 – Species Alliance – 1

—You soared through the sky in fantastic harmony with the griffin, showing off amazing riding skills. The level of the [Riding (R)] skill reached 5.

—You soared through the sky in fantastic harmony with the griffin, showing off amazing riding skills. The level of the [Riding (R)] skill reached 5.

The griffin landed just before Cor, and once the party members all got off the carriage, it waddled over and acted cute toward Gi-jun again.

As Gi-jun stroked the space beneath its chin, he saw the sky carriage connected to its waist gradually shrink in size.

—Grrrrr…

Before long, when the carriage shrank to the size of a rugby ball, the creature rubbed its head against Gi-jun one last time as if in regret, stepped back, spread its wings again, and soared up.

The griffin flying through the sky, dangling a rugby ball.

It flew over the towering walls of Cor without any hindrance and went inside.

“Outsiders cannot enter without going through inspection, so that is why it dropped us off here…”

Unika, who had been in a near-death state due to the long flight, barely regained her senses and said so.

It happened to be evening.

Gi-jun healed his staggering companions one by one, and then quickly entered Cor before the city gates closed.

“Halt, from where and for what purpose…”

“Here.”

They were able to pass the inspection itself easily.

When Unika showed some kind of token, the guards drew back all at once and saluted.

“Glory to the holy bloodline that protects Gratia! Welcome to Cor!”

“We wish you a pleasant journey.”

Come to think of it, Unika was strictly a member of the nobility that made up the Gratia Kingdom, and the direct heir of a lord at that.

Although she did not show it, Unika looked quite proud, making him want to play some kind of joke on her, but before he could say anything, Gin and Laura were already making a fuss, so he decided to leave it be.

“Unika-nim, you were a noble!”

“Come to think of it, we’ve been eating in the same house so naturally lately that I forgot…! If I have been rude to you in any way so far, I apologize, Unika-nim!”

“E-Even so, I am just a noble from the frontier, so could you please not mention nobility so much? Don’t you see the people around us looking…!”

Gi-jun stepped in between them to save Unika and asked.

“So, what should we do? Do we go straight to the guild alliance?”

“J-Jun-nim. Ahem… Well, of course, since the griffin went back, they might have found out that we entered the capital, but—they probably did not expect us to arrive at this time.”

“They must have thought it would take at least two more days,” Unika added.

“So it would be best to visit tomorrow morning. I have already found the lodging the lord used to stay at whenever he came to Cor and contacted them in advance, so let us go there. They will have a room empty for us. It should be this way… Ohhh.”

Although her words were very reassuring, the sight of Unika looking around with sparkling eyes at the scenery of Cor, where even the width of the roads was on a completely different level from Turis, was the very image of someone who had just moved from the countryside to the city.

Gin, who had been trapped inside ruins his entire life, and Laura, who had never left Turis and had spent most of her life praying in the temple, were in no different state than Unika.

Gi-jun gave a wink to Scintilla and Ji-hye, who were at least somewhat reliable, asking them to look after the party members, and then sent a message to Viv that they had arrived in Cor.

[Partner (Leta): I’ll visit you once you arrive at the lodging. I also need to update your mini-map.]

[Me: Do you know anything about Demander, the Union of Summoner Species Guilds?]

[Partner (Leta): They are terrible customers who keep trying to slash the price while claiming they will buy in bulk, and they make a lot of demanding requests. If I were you, I wouldn’t get involved with them.]

[Me: …]

[Partner (Leta): Ah, but since it’s a multi-species alliance, there are decent ones among them. Orcs are simple and ignorant, so dealing with them makes me lose my temper, but they have loyalty, and Cait Siths are clever but they don’t tend to stab you in the back.]

[Me: No, categorizing by species is a bit… Just tell me if there is anyone I should be careful of.]

[Partner (Leta): It is a bit awkward to tell you this, Gi-jun-nim, but I suppose humans are the most dangerous. Goblins too, for that matter. Only a small minority of goblin civilizations that do not follow evil gods are incorporated into the Faction of Light, but apart from that, those bastards are malicious. Why are such things in the Faction of Light? Goblins are no different from cockroaches, so if you find them, beating them to death is the only answer!]

[Me: I told you not to speak in terms of species. Anyway, I get it for now, so could you calm down?]

He decided to keep goblins and, though it left a bitter taste in his mouth, humans in mind for now.

However, since the first figure from the Faction of Light that Gi-jun had become hostile with after falling into Leta was an Orc, judging a person solely by their species was something that should never happen.

“Ah, it’s this way! You can come this way, Jun-nim!”

“Okay.”

Gi-jun let out a sigh as he felt the gazes pouring in from all directions, and followed behind Unika.

The lodging she guided them to was exclusively for Letans, and one that could not be entered unless one was a noble, but fortunately, because of Unika, everyone was able to stay.

Gi-jun, who ended up staying alone in a large room equipped with a bathroom and a toilet, proposed to Gin, his only male companion, that they share the room, but Gin, feeling unworthy and saying he could not dare to do so, rented a cheap, narrow room instead and slipped right in.

Unika, who was watching his retreating figure, quietly muttered.

“Even though I am the one paying anyway.”

“Ah, I’ll pay you back. Gin is my party member.”

“No, I was just joking. I plan to bill the Species Guild Alliance tomorrow anyway.”

With a broad smile, she took the receipt from the front desk clerk and dragged all the female members upstairs to their rooms, including Scintilla, who was trying to stick by Gi-jun’s side no matter what.

However, when Gi-jun washed up and stepped out of his room intending to meet and talk with Viv, he spotted Scintilla leaning against the corridor wall, having somehow bypassed Unika’s guard.

“There’s a bar on the third floor. Jun, want to have a drink?”

“Sure, that works out well.”

Gi-jun, who had been thinking that he needed to talk to Scintilla more anyway, readily agreed.

After sending a message to Viv asking her to come tomorrow morning, the two walked side-by-side into the third-floor bar, which was said to be accessible only to guests, and as expected, he could feel all the scattered people inside paying attention to them.

Perhaps noticing Gi-jun being conscious of the stares, Scintilla whispered to him with a reassuring expression that would make anyone fall for her.

“It’s okay, Jun. No matter who the opponent is, I will protect you.”

“No, that kind of appeal is unnecessary.”

—This woman, it is a bit annoying how she keeps trying to seduce my contractor…

‘There’s no way that’s the case.’

—I’m telling you, the contractor underestimates his own charm too much!

Ordering decent drinks and sitting down, the two decently passed the time, sharing decent conversation over decent snacks.

In any case, they could not bring up private topics right away, and for now, it was enough just to spend time with Scintilla and get closer to her.

To put it a bit bluntly, it was work to build up her favorability.

Moreover, since Gi-jun still had much he did not know about Leta, many of the things Scintilla talked about were quite helpful to him.

For instance, there was a story like this.

“If a Letan and a summoned person have a child, there is a high probability they will acquire the privileges of the Summoned… I see, so that is why Laura.”

“Letans have status windows too, but things like inventory, quests, and achievements are exclusive to the Summoned. The Letaphone is the same.”

“Are achievements only allowed for the Summoned too? Then what about titles?”

“Since there are monsters that possess titles, pure Letans can of course obtain titles too. Although it would be much harder to get compared to us, who receive assistance from achievements.”

“Assistance from achievements, hearing that, it certainly is true… We were obtaining titles relatively easily.”

There was a mixed-blood of a Letan and a summoned person in Gi-jun’s party as well, and that was Laura.

At first he had thought she was just a summoned person who had lived in Leta for a long time, but he later found out she was a Turis native.

Of course, being a summoned person did not only bring merits.

Fortunately, a child born as a mixed-blood would not be involved in the Civilization War, but once they became an adult, they had to pay taxes in Leta Points without fail.

That was also why Laura had registered as a mercenary upon becoming an adult.

“Then, if a summoned person meets another and they have a child, that child will naturally become one of the Summoned.”

“Correct. Unlike Letan mixed-bloods, they will also participate in the Civilization War. They will follow the hometown of one of their parents.”

“That is too cruel.”

“I think so too.”

Scintilla quietly agreed and looked at Gi-jun.

Just when he began to feel that her gaze was a bit burdensome, she emptied her glass and chuckled.

“At the very least, if you aren’t confident in protecting a child until you can raise them perfectly, it is better not to have one.”

“I agree.”

“On top of that, I would want to pass down the strongest genes possible so they can survive on the continent of Leta.”

“That too… certainly.”

It sounded as if the weak had no right to leave children behind, which made him feel a bit uncomfortable, but now that he was starting to vaguely understand how great a sin weakness was on this continent of Leta, it was a pity that he could not entirely deny it.

“I’m not saying this because of that, but, ahem, I am quite strong.”

“I know that well too…”

—Contractor, watch out!

It was at that moment that Lucy’s voice rang out loudly in his ears.

Gi-jun pulled back in surprise, and he saw Scintilla’s hand being placed right where his hand had just been.

Wait, this woman, could she be…

—What did I tell you? She is definitely aiming for the contractor!

‘I take back what I said about not believing you, Lucy…!’

“…”

Scintilla quietly stared at his hand that had pulled back.

The twitching of her hand suggested that she still had not given up, but Gi-jun had no intention of making progress with her in such a haphazard manner.

As a brief silence ensued amidst such suffocating tension,

“You were indeed here, you two.”

“Unika!”

The person who would rescue him from this endlessly awkward atmosphere had arrived.

“May I sit down next to you too?”

“Of course, glad you came! My treat.”

“Tch.”

While Scintilla quietly clicked her tongue at Unika’s appearance, Laura and Ji-hye poked their heads out from behind her.

“Jun-nim, I came too… I wanted to learn how to drink this time…!”

“Wow, I’m visiting a bar with such a nice atmosphere here, somewhere I hadn’t even been to back in my hometown.”

“Ah, did you all come together? Then we should move to a table.”

If five people were drinking instead of two, there was no way the atmosphere would become strange.

Gi-jun, feeling much more relieved, settled at a table with the party, but he did not notice the murderous glares sent his way from here and there by others who saw a single man sitting surrounded by four women.

“Hmm, but it feels like something is missing.”

“Should we order some snacks too? We barely ate dinner because we were moving.”

“Good idea.”

“Jun-nim, by any chance, could you recommend a drink suitable for a beginner…?”

“Oppa, me too!”

“A beginner, then I should probably recommend a sweet cocktail with low alcohol content first…”

However, Gi-jun only realized the next morning, when he saw Gin coming down to the dining room while rubbing his eyes, that what had actually been missing from that gathering was not snacks.

Exchanging quick glances with everyone, Gi-jun succeeded in reaching a tacit agreement to pretend last night’s drinking session had never happened.

Viv, who arrived a short while later, sensed a strangely awkward atmosphere and became tense, wondering if something had happened, but no one told her what had occurred last night.

* * *

After meeting with Viv and having various information updated, Gi-jun left the other members to train and set out, taking only Unika along.

Of course, Scintilla protested and tried to follow him, but Gi-jun succeeded in leaving her behind by asking her to help the members with their training.

Ji-hye screamed like a pterodactyl again, but the fact that she was screaming meant that sparring with Scintilla was definitely of help to her as well.

“Ugh… Fine, then take this little one with you at least.”

—Kyoo!

Scintilla, also understanding Gi-jun’s desire to help the members grow, had no choice but to remain behind, but saying that she could not just send him off like that, she placed her Red Flame Beast, Rodim, on his shoulder.

Since one of his shoulders was already occupied by Ur, both of his shoulders ended up filled.

“Her obsession with you seems truly severe, Jun-nim…”

On their way to the headquarters of the Species Guild Alliance, which was located within Cor, she shook her head and said so.

When Rodim let out a short cry as if in agreement, Gi-jun chuckled looking at the little one and replied to Unika.

“What can I do? Since we are already entangled, I have to endure it.”

“…You don’t seem to dislike it, do you?”

“It’s definitely not that I like it, though.”

“I know that she tried to seduce you yesterday. What I am trying to discuss is not romantic feelings, but human feelings.”

Gi-jun’s shoulders twitched as if hit where it hurt by Unika’s sharp tone.

As if noticing his soft heart, she sighed and continued.

“If you were truly weak, that would be one thing, but you are someone who has already hunted a divine beast. It even makes me uncomfortable to see Scintilla-nim, who has no actual connection to you, worrying about you like a child left near water and interfering in every single matter.”

“Ah—that is not true, Unika. A bond has already been formed.”

“Already been made…”

“Just because it started with a misunderstanding, I have no intention of denying the relationship that grew from it as a whole. Besides, I’ve already found out too much…”

Recalling the materials he had received from the general manager of the Turis Mercenary Guild and the messages that had arrived from Biche, Gi-jun smacked his lips bitterly.

“Scintilla is my party member now. I want to do something for her, somehow.”

“Jun-nim, if you take one wrong step from there, you will become a pushover. Fortunately, Scintilla’s abilities alone are outstanding, but…”

“Yeah, I can’t help it since I have this kind of personality.”

Gi-jun chuckled as he replied, and then added.

“So, please help me out a lot in the future as well so I don’t become a pushover.”

“…”

He had said that meaning he trusted Unika in his own way… but did it perhaps sound like an irresponsible and lax remark? Unika did not open her mouth after that, looking quite angry.

Gi-jun tried to make excuses, saying he did not mean to place all the burden on her, but she did not seem to be listening properly, and on top of that, even Lucy sulked for some reason.

And Rodim just quietly watched the flustered Gi-jun.