Episode 030.
I took Gareth into the Adventurer's Guild.
The lobby, which would normally be bustling, was filled only with a strange silence.
"Where did everyone go?"
Gran, tilting his glass in the corner, answered my question.
"The monsters suddenly multiplied, so everyone left on missions. The forest near Artem has become a complete monster den."
"Is that so?"
"Is it the Demon King's doing? This is getting strange."
This certainly didn't make much sense.
A few ominous possibilities flashed through my mind.
However, right now, subjugating the 'Monster of Invium' was the priority.
Because if I just left it alone, it could lead to game over.
"But why didn't you go?"
"Your big brother stayed behind to help you."
"Not because you're looking forward to the drinks I'll buy?"
"That too."
Gran chuckled.
I turned to Gareth, who was standing at the entrance.
Perhaps because the ferocious aura radiating from beneath his hunter's hat was so menacing, the quick-witted Gran could visibly be seen shrinking back slightly.
"He's a comrade, so don't worry."
"That is quite reassuring."
I grabbed my things and approached the old man.
"Old man."
"...Brat, I believe I told you not to speak to me unnecessarily."
"I brought the evidence you requested, but if you don't need it, forget it."
As I turned to leave without hesitation, a low voice called out.
"...I'll see it."
"Huh?"
"...I said I'll see it."
I took out the roughly cut piece of the Abyssal Jewel from inside my jacket and held it out.
His pupils shook violently.
"The Abyssal Jewel...."
"What do you think?"
"It's certain."
He glared at the jewel with an expression that seemed almost joyful, yet filled with deep-seated hatred.
Like a man meeting his lifelong nemesis, he strode out of the guild the moment he confirmed the jewel.
Outside, Priscia was running around giggling with Gareth's granddaughter, Ellen.
"Priscia unnie!"
Upon seeing that sight, Gareth's expression softened ever so slightly.
"What a marvel. Ellen is usually so painfully shy she barely speaks to anyone."
"Well, they seem to get along well."
"It seems so."
Gareth adjusted his hunter's hat and asked.
"When do we depart?"
"Because of the rules, well, it's rather..."
When I deliberately trailed off, Gareth smirked as if seeing right through my ploy.
"Brat, so this is why you called me?"
"Was that rude of me?"
"No, as long as we can catch that thing, use me however you wish."
Gareth went back inside the guild and pulled out an old bell from his chest pocket, ringing it loudly.
*Clang! Clang!*
At the sound, a commotion erupted from the second floor as someone hurriedly ran down.
It was the Guild Master.
"Sir Gareth! What brings you here... without even contacting us!"
"It's been a while, you fool."
"Fool?"
The eyes of the remaining adventurers in the vicinity all turned to the Guild Master at once.
The Guild Master's face turned red as he let out a dry cough.
"Ahem! That's an old story from over ten years ago. Things are different now."
"They'd better be. Otherwise, you wouldn't have any reason to sit in that chair, now would you? I have a request. I intend to subjugate a monster."
"You don't need to tell me such things, however...."
"The Monster of Invium."
"......!"
The Guild Master's complexion turned pale in an instant.
He turned to look at me, and I simply shrugged.
"According to the rules, you need at least five teams for a subjugation, don't you?"
Even a Shadow Lord with a danger rating of 30 required three teams at minimum.
"That's correct. But that is a rule for minimum safety, and for that monster, you would need at least ten teams...."
"Three."
"Sir Gareth, that's a bit...."
"Am I not here? And this time, we intend to go only as a vanguard for reconnaissance, so don't worry."
"......."
"Can't that suffice? Everyone seems busy with missions. If anything goes wrong, I will take full responsibility."
In the end, the Guild Master sighed, gathered some documents, and went inside.
Gareth turned to me and asked.
"When do we depart?"
I grinned and answered.
"Tonight. Right away."
"Excellent."
The old man laughed heartily, showing all his teeth.
That night,
people gathered one by one at the gates of Artem.
Team 1 consisted of me, Priscia, the Priestess we often partied with, Gran, and Gareth and Ellen.
Team 2 was...
"What are you doing here?"
"Don't get the wrong idea. I only came because the Guild Master begged me."
Zeke's party.
The final Team 3 consisted of faces I didn't recognize.
According to Gran, they were veterans who had just returned from completing a supply escort mission on the eastern front.
When Gareth said he would take Ellen with him,
"Huh? That's a bit...."
"Won't it be dangerous?"
Gran and the Priestess tried to dissuade him with worried expressions.
But I spoke firmly.
"I recruited him under those conditions to begin with. Let's just go."
At those words, everyone nodded and fell silent.
Then, Vizans, the leader of Team 3, snorted and opened his mouth.
"Ha! This is absurd. Do you think we're going on a gathering mission?"
"Shut up. Vizans, they're more helpful than you."
Gran snapped back, but he didn't stop.
"Heh... At least make sense. Do you know how tedious it is to babysit those brats? Zeke, why don't you say something too? A baby and little kids. Do you think this is right?"
"I am an adult!"
Priscia shouted in annoyance, but Vizans pretended not to hear.
"......."
Zeke seemed to recall his past self; he remained silent, simply holding his position and averting his gaze.
*Wham!*
"Kuaaak!"
I kicked Vizans's legs out from under him, knocking him flat,
then twisted his hair to wrench his head up.
"Khk! Wh-what are you...."
"Hey. If you don't want to earn money, get lost. Don't muddy the waters."
Priscia, Ellen—all of that was just an excuse.
He wasn't truly angry; he merely wanted to seize the initiative and take a bigger cut for himself.
His shallow tricks were obvious, and it irritated me.
"Get lost. There are plenty of people willing to do this."
"W-wait...!"
It wasn't an empty threat.
The Guild Master had only assigned top-tier adventurers for safety's sake.
There were plenty of F-rank and E-rank adventurers lazing around the guild right now.
The damage dealing would be done by Gareth and Priscia anyway.
Of course, I didn't have the authority to expel anyone, but pressuring him like this would make things easier going forward.
"Well, speak up. Are you doing it or not?"
"......."
"Answer."
"I-I'll do it...."
*Slap!*
I lightly slapped his cheek before letting him go.
"Let's do this right."
"Y-yes...."
There was a brief commotion, but
as befitting high-ranking adventurers, they moved swiftly.
Deep in the mountains, in a valley terrain that narrowed like an alley, we positioned ourselves atop a large rocky hill.
We set up barriers and traps at the point Milene had indicated and waited.
One hour, two hours...
Around the time midnight had passed, something revealed itself at the end of the alley.
"...A horned rabbit?"
It was the lowest of low F-rank monsters.
Even though we had definitely installed warding stones to prevent other monsters from coming.
It sniffed around, surveying its surroundings.
Zeke also looked at me with a puzzled expression.
"Old man."
"...This isn't good. Let's move from here for now."
"I was thinking the same thing. ...We need to gather as many troops as possible and deal with it at once."
The old man muttered as if he couldn't believe it.
"Strange... There's no way it could have grown that much... To think it's already a complete form..."
I had planned to catch it when it revealed its true size, but this wasn't the stage for catching or not catching.
Because this was practically a game over waiting to happen.
'Is this good luck or bad luck?'
But it was still fine.
We had safely achieved our reconnaissance objective, and all we needed to do was bring a large force and deal with it in one fell swoop.
The reward was a shame to pass up, but life was more important.
With our current forces, it would be too difficult, so regrouping was the priority.
But then, Vizans, who had been watching for an opportunity from the opposite side, shouted and leaped out.
"We waited all this time just to catch a horned rabbit? Are you kidding me? You cowards!"
No, that bastard?
I shouted to Zeke, who was stationed at the center.
"Zeke! Stop him!"
Despite my shout, while Zeke's party was flustered and frozen in place, Vizans brought his sword down toward the horned rabbit.
At that moment,
dozens of tentacles burst forth from the horned rabbit's back with a wet sound,
and its small forelegs instantly grew as large as houses.
*Shluck!*
"......!"
Vizans was split in half without even being able to scream!
The horned rabbit's body split vertically with a sickening tear and gulped down the corpse.
The reason Gareth hadn't been able to find the Monster of Invium until now
was because the monster could mimic the things it devoured. The stronger it was, the more perfect the mimicry.
"Uwaaah! Vizans!"
The moment the members of Team 3 screamed and tried to flee, I shouted immediately.
"What are you doing! Attack now!"
Because it seemed to be digesting, it had transformed into a 'human form' and wasn't moving.
Holy light, lightning, blazing plum blossoms, and a black crossbow assaulted the monster simultaneously.
*Kwa-boom!!*
A flash of light blazed and the wind howled.
"Kieeeek!"
It vomited up the corpse it had just swallowed along with blue blood.
"It worked! Just a little more!"
"One more time... ugh!"
I immediately snatched Priscia by the waist and hoisted her up.
"Run! Now!"
The moment the words left my mouth, a massive tentacle shot out with a whoosh.
"Dodge!"
Zeke had tried to block with his shield, but rolled pathetically across the ground at my command.
*Boom!*
A crater several meters deep was carved out where Zeke had been standing.
"...To think a disaster-class monster like this existed...!"
"Run faster, you idiots!"
We ran without looking back, but the Monster of Invium chased us, demolishing everything in the forest.
"Are you guys crazy?!"
Gran shouted in anger.
The survivors of Team 3 answered with sobs.
"W-we just thought it was a horned rabbit...."
"Did you think we're idiots who would just sit still?"
"Stop it. You can fight after you survive."
I glanced back.
It was still chasing us in human form, but if it came to its senses and transformed into a rabbit or a bird to pursue us...
that would be the end of us.
"At this rate, we'll all die."
"Tanash, then what do we do? Do you have a plan?"
"I'll be the bait."
Because I was the fastest and sturdiest one here.
"That's too dangerous!"
Priscia strongly objected, but there was no time.
"The lady is right. You don't need to sacrifice yourself for us!"
I shook my head vigorously.
"The barrier we set up earlier. I'll lure it to the very center of it."
"Think about this again...."
"Old man."
"...I promise I will deal with it by any means necessary."
In the first place, its Predation skill could only absorb a target when it was dead.
In other words, as long as I remained alive, it was nothing more than a sandbag.
++
[Passive: Regeneration Aura]
[Recovery: Ironclad Vow]
++
...I was confident I could endure.
"Master! No!! Don't go!"
Priscia screamed as if pleading.
I took out the Abyssal Jewel and jumped down beneath the trees.
The moment the monster sensed the jewel's energy, it immediately changed direction to target me.
*Kwaang!*
Dodging the massive tentacle by a paper's breadth, I continued running deeper into the alley,
heading toward a dead end.
"Oh no! No!!"
I deliberately let out an exaggerated scream.
The monster grinned as if it had won and opened its mouth wide with a grotesque creak,
and without hesitation, swallowed me whole!
"Master!!"
At that moment,
*Woooooom—*
A blue barrier immediately imprisoned the monster.
Its body slowed, and spears of light flew in, but the monster stood motionless in place, seemingly attempting something, and gradually began enlarging its body.
Regardless,
from inside its stomach, I drew my sword and swung.
"Krrrrrrrrk?!"
As I began slashing from the inside, black blood gushed forth.
'For sure, hitting from the inside counts as a valid strike.'
However,
damage output alone was insufficient.
Moreover, khaki-colored liquid spurted from all directions, and my clothes and shoes slowly began to melt.
Thanks to Ironclad Vow and Regeneration Aura, I was fine for the moment, but...
*Sizzle—*
The sound of burning flesh pierced my ears.
"At this rate, I'll melt before it does?"
Resolving myself, I prepared to draw out even my last innate true qi.
##