A month had already passed since I began training.
By now, the iron mace in my hand somehow felt more natural than a staff.
My win rate in sparring had risen noticeably, too. My body had grown sturdier than before.
Of course, if I went up against guys like Tral or Jeminic, I still got smashed. I still had a long way to go.
Even so, this was a satisfying result.
‘That aside, what should I do today?’
Old Man Brigan was away today.
Something about going somewhere or other. He hadn’t really explained.
Thanks to that, I had free time for the first time in a while.
But now that I actually had time to spare, I had no idea what to do with it.
‘The weather’s nice… Maybe I should check out that lake.’
The lake Millen had mentioned before suddenly came to mind.
“The lake? If you follow the eastern forest path, you’ll find it.”
“The eastern forest… Got it.”
When I asked the innkeeper, it seemed the location wasn’t all that far.
Thinking I’d make a quick trip, I only took my pouch and staff.
As I walked along the eastern forest path, the cabin I’d seen before came into view.
Tsk. It made me uneasy for no reason. Even though nothing was going to happen, I found myself tensing up.
It was probably just my imagination. I hurried my steps a little more.
After walking for quite a while past the cabin, I finally saw a large lake through the trees.
‘Is this it?’
It definitely seemed to be the lake Millen had talked about.
I approached the water’s edge and carefully looked around.
It was still and quiet.
The lake looked, at a rough estimate, about the size of three or four school fields.
Clear, calm water. Sunlight slid over the ripples.
‘Hmm, I don’t really… see anything.’
Millen had said there was a monster around here, but there was nothing.
A deer was drinking at the water’s edge, and small birds flew overhead.
The lake nestled in the middle of the forest was incredibly peaceful.
‘Since I’m here, I might as well practice magic before I go.’
Just as I was about to take out my staff…
The animals around me all bolted at once, as if something were chasing them.
The deer fled into the forest in a panic, and the birds shot into the sky like arrows.
…What?
At that moment, in the middle of the lake.
Something black began to slowly rise from beneath the water.
Ripples spread across the once-quiet lake.
Fwaaaash!
What burst up through the water was a formless blue mass.
Its shape was indistinct, but within it, I could sense an oddly alien movement.
It had no eyes.
And yet, it was clearly looking at me.
More precisely… it was glaring at me.
“I-it really is a monster?”
Only after those words slipped out did my heart beat a moment late.
My body froze, and my feet wouldn’t move, as if they were glued to the ground.
Wuuung… wuuung…
That was when it happened.
A vibration began to hum from my inner pocket.
At first I thought I was imagining it, but the vibration grew stronger and stronger.
Wuuung… wuuung… wuuung… wuuung…
I reached into my pocket and rummaged around, and a ring caught on my fingers.
The blue gemstone ring I’d gotten from that commission with Drek and Baldik.
The thing I had forgotten about was now trembling like mad.
Even when I placed it on my palm, the ring did not stop vibrating.
It was reacting as if it sensed something.
‘Don’t tell me… because of that monster?’
When I suddenly shifted my gaze, the blue monster was staring at the ring.
It had no expression, but I could definitely feel it.
Wuuung… wuuung… wuuung… wuuung…
The monster stopped moving for a moment, as if flustered.
It was as though it recognized the ring… That was the feeling it gave off.
‘What am I supposed to do with this?’
The ring, and the monster.
It was a combination that made no sense whatsoever.
Suppressing my confusion, I carefully flowed mana into it.
Wuuung—
The ring, which had been vibrating without pause, grew quiet the moment mana touched it.
Ziiing—
The next instant, blue light shot out of the ring.
The beam of light flew toward the monster, and the moment it struck, the monster twisted its body and flailed.
At first, I thought it was just a simple reaction.
But as time passed, the monster’s size gradually began to shrink.
Ziiiiing—
A pressure like the two were pushing against each other.
The monster resisted, and the ring pulled it in.
Instinctively, I poured more mana into the ring.
Only after I had pushed my mana in to the limit…
The monster warped like a stream of water, then vanished as if seeping into the ring.
“……What the hell was that…”
A mutter slipped out with an empty breath.
A monster had burst out, and the ring had sucked it in.
If I told someone about this situation… would anyone even believe me?
I carefully looked down at the ring.
The thing that had swallowed a monster just moments ago…
Now sat still, as if nothing had happened at all, like an ordinary ring.
‘…So it wasn’t just a ring.’
Thinking back, I could understand why that guy had tried to pay such a generous commission fee.
He hadn’t been acting generous for no reason. Or maybe he just had good instincts.
Well, I still didn’t know what kind of value this thing held.
Just in case, I flowed a tiny bit of mana into it again.
Wuuung—
The vibration started once more, and this time as well, the ring spat blue light into the air.
The light quietly swirled around, then at some point condensed into a small shape.
Tuk.
Something fell to the ground.
Reflexively, I lowered my head.
“A blue… crab?”
The small, round thing was unmistakably a “crab.”
The very same “crab” used for soy sauce marinated crab and spicy marinated crab.
No, judging by the size, maybe it was more like the kind used for frying.
“…What kind of situation is this now…?”
There was no way to explain the scene before my eyes.
A ring that sucked in monsters, and seafood suddenly popping out.
On top of that, the crab was alive.
Click. Click.
It slowly crawled around in front of me, twitching its little pincers.
I looked back and forth between the ring and the crab, thinking for a long while.
‘Don’t tell me… this is a MonXter Ball?’
All of a sudden, I thought of that game everyone loved, young and old, men and women alike.
It sucked in monsters and summoned them. Wasn’t it way too similar?
I couldn’t know the answer for certain.
But what was clear was that this ring was no ordinary item.
Click. Click.
The crab looked at me for a moment, then slowly approached and tapped the top of my foot.
“…Are you, by any chance, following me?”
I said it like a joke,
but the crab stopped quietly at my feet, as if answering.
The way it lightly clacked its pincers twice somehow seemed like a “yes.”
‘…Don’t tell me it understands me?’
With uneasy eyes, I glanced down at the ring.
But strangely, the energy I had felt inside the ring just a moment ago had now vanished completely.
As if it had finished what it needed to do.
“…Don’t tell me this thing is disposable?”
If that were true, then I had just invested some unknown relic into a crab.
Of course, considering its first appearance, it might actually be an incredible being.
But right now, on the outside, it was just a crab.
The kind that wouldn’t look out of place in the tank at a neighborhood raw fish restaurant.
“…Well, still, it’s better than nothing. Yeah. …Right?”
With an awkward smile, I carefully picked up the crab and sat it on top of my pouch.
The crab sat on the pouch without a word, rattling its pincers.
…It was kind of cute.
Whether this would turn out to be a gain or a loss for me…
I’d have to watch a little longer to find out.
I flopped down on the dirt by the lakeside and tried talking to the crab.
“Hey, you. What can you do?”
At my words, the crab sitting on the pouch lifted its pincers as if shrugging.
Did that mean it didn’t know either? Cheeky little thing.
This guy definitely didn’t seem like an ordinary crab.
“Looks like you can understand me, at least.”
Hmm. Did it really have no abilities?
But I couldn’t run any more experiments. I was out of mana.
“Since it’s come to this, should I at least give you a name?”
When I said that, the crab stared intently at my mouth.
…Was it expecting something?
But when it actually came time to name it, it wasn’t easy.
Maybe because of how it looked, only names that made my mouth water kept coming to mind.
“Yangnyeom is a bit much… and Ganjang is even worse…”
After just smacking my lips, I tossed out a name.
“Then… Gerang. For now, temporarily, let’s go with Gerang.”
It wasn’t a name with any grand meaning.
I had taken it from that flower-crab-shaped snack.
Names were best kept simple, after all.
The crab clacked its pincers together once. It sounded like it liked it.
“…Do you really like it?”
Before I knew it, a small laugh escaped me.
“Fine. Gerang. Since it’s come to this, let’s get along.”
In response, Gerang tapped my pouch with its pincers.
As if it had been waiting for those words.
Right. What did usefulness matter?
I’d just think of it as having gained a pet. The ring hadn’t been mine to begin with anyway.
And so, with one pet-slash-companion in tow, I returned to the inn.
***
“What? You dealt with the monster in the lake?”
After hearing what I said, Millen couldn’t hide his surprise.
Why was he so shocked?
“Yes. It just sort of happened.”
“I-I see. Actually, I saw it once when I was quite young. I’m just surprised.”
Ah, was it because of trauma?
If so, I could understand.
“In any case, thank you. I can’t give you anything particularly amazing, but… please wait a moment.”
“Ah, yes.”
After saying that, Millen left his seat.
Was he going to bring me something? Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much.
In truth, Gerang sleeping in my pouch was already a pretty big gain for me.
A short while later, Millen came hurrying back with something in his hands.
It was a pair of leather boots that looked fairly sturdy.
“These… were left behind by the late Uncle Kal. There’s no one to use them now, so if it’s all right with you, please take them.”
Millen carefully held out the boots.
They were sturdy leather boots, their black color slightly faded.
They looked old on the outside, but when I actually examined them, there were almost no signs they had been worn.
They had been well maintained, and the soles were firm.
“These are quite good, aren’t they?”
“Yes. They’re really good. They’re made from calfskin, after all.”
Millen smiled shyly.
Calfskin? When I tilted my head, he added an explanation.
“Ah, it means leather from a miscarried calf. Only nobles wear it, but they were left in the cabin.”
In other words, they were a proven luxury item.
I held the boots and hesitated for a moment.
Since they were belongings left behind by the dead, it weighed on my mind for no reason, but…
Considering my current shoes were falling apart, did I have any reason to refuse?
“Good shoes are precious. I’ll use them well.”
“Yes. I’m sure Uncle Kal would want that too.”
“…I hope so.”
We quietly observed a moment of silence for the deceased Kal.
May he have gone to a better place…
***
With nothing else to do, I returned to the inn.
When I stepped inside, a few members of the Baret Mercenary Corps were gathered around a table, tilting back cups of alcohol.
The sound of them grumbling and chatting was quite loud.
“Hey, today was a bust again. Where the hell are those goblin bastards hiding?”
“They say the north was completely empty. Not even a rat.”
“Damn it… Are we supposed to search under the forest floor too?”
I sat down in an empty seat near the kitchen and changed my shoes.
Fortunately, the leather boots I had just received fit my feet perfectly.
They weren’t heavy, and the way they softly wrapped around my feet with every step felt quite nice.
So this was why everyone wanted expensive shoes.
“Oh, those new shoes look great.”
“Coward Piren,” sitting at the next table, looked at my feet and said with a smile.
Recently, I had gotten fairly close with the people in the mercenary corps.
Staying in the same village, sparring every day, and exchanging pointless small talk had somehow led to that.
Anyway, Piren had apparently gone looking for goblins in the forest this time and screamed when a rabbit jumped out.
Because of that, everyone had started calling him “Coward Piren.”
Well.
With his still-childish face and his unimpressive performance in sparring, I could understand why.
“I got lucky.”
I brushed it off with a vague smile and asked Piren,
“What happened with the goblin subjugation commission?”
“Ah, we’re still tracking them. We caught a few, but it looks like they have a main base somewhere else.”
At Piren’s answer, I fell into thought for a moment.
The commission had already been going on for a month.
Every day, someone went into the forest, and someone returned looking exhausted.
Progress was slow. Apparently, the goblins were more cunning and organized than expected.
There was even talk that there might be a higher-ranking individual among them.
The villagers had put up the commission with their lives on the line, so there was no way it would end easily.
Maybe it was only natural.
Anyway, a higher-ranking goblin…
‘Something like a Hobgoblin?’
The only monsters I’d encountered were goblins and a mimic, so there was no way I could properly guess.
So when I asked casually, they said there were not only Hobgoblins, but also things like Goblin Shamans and Goblin Chieftains.
‘Last time too, those goblin bastards were nothing but trouble.’
I vaguely recalled the time I had been chased by a horde of goblins.
If I ever got the chance, I’d have to discipline them properly.
“Would you be interested in searching with us starting tomorrow?”
Fatty Charlie beside me spoke up carefully.
He was a mercenary who had newly joined in Mondak.
Like Tral, he said he had come from a backwater village called Marils, but Charlie was at least on the polite side.
As his nickname suggested, he was big enough that he might as well have been rolling around.
“…Together?”
“Yes. The more people, the better. It’ll mostly be reconnaissance, so it shouldn’t be dangerous.”
“Shouldn’t you ask Mr. Baret?”
When I said that, the mercenaries chuckled.
“I’m sure he’ll welcome it. The captain sings Lord Liv’s praises day in and day out.”
“…”
Baret, just what was up with that man?
Well, since things had turned out this way, moving my body a bit didn’t seem bad.
Living in the village didn’t cost much, but that didn’t mean I was exactly flush with money either.
“Then, could you come with us at dawn tomorrow?”
“Yes. Understood.”
I answered briefly and emptied my cup of water.
Looks like I’ll be busy again starting tomorrow.
Still, I was gradually getting used to life in this world.