His clothes were stained with blood as he soon stepped outside.
Siwon met everyone’s gazes directed toward him and spoke kindly.
“Ah, don’t worry about the inside of the warehouse. I cleaned everything up so the acorns wouldn’t get dirty.”
How?
Gru and Cheche recalled Siwon’s appearance on the first day and hugged each other tightly. That figure laughing while drenched in blood, as if covered in red paint.
A terrifying S-Rank omnivorous squirrel…….
“By the way, why is the Seolpyo general targeting the flying squirrel? Do you know?”
It was far too excessive a reaction to say he was hurrying them because the acorn delivery was late.
“Ah.”
Sereuhi suddenly opened his mouth. He had remembered. Hamhonggi.
He ruffled his hair in annoyance.
“That general is Hamhonggi.”
“Huh?”
“Huh?”
Gru and Siwon echoed simultaneously.
“Hamhonggi is the general of the Seolpyo clan.”
And he was the one being controlled by Naohyeong, who had planted an 'Eye'.
“Sister-in-law.”
Contamination Zone. Seolpyo camp barracks.
Hamhonggi, seated in the place of honor, smirked as he called to Cheongyuri.
Cheongyuri looked up at the ceiling and took a deep, steadying breath.
“Hunter Hamhonggi, how many times have I told you to call me Guild Master?”
In response, Hamhonggi scoffed and put both feet on the table.
[Activating Skill ‘General’s Order (Special)’.]
The moment the skill activated, Cheongyuri’s body stiffened rigidly. She could endure to this extent thanks to her S-Rank stats; the other Seolpyo would have been prostrated on the floor, unable to move.
The special skill Hamhonggi had received upon becoming general was a compulsory command authority over the Seolpyo.
“Listen to me. I’m the general here, aren’t I?”
“…….”
Cheongyuri, her mouth shut tight, clenched her fist.
She had ultimately brought a living bomb into this shitty role-play with her own two hands.
She had been complacent.
There was an insurmountable wall of power between Hamhonggi and her. Because of that, she had believed she could resolve everything within the bounds of her own strength.
‘To think it would come to this…….’
Who would have thought a special skill would appear? RP dungeons themselves were rare, so it was a mistake born from lack of information.
“Sister-in-law, isn’t this skill totally awesome? I should be able to use this outside, too. Then I could just use it every time Mom cuts my card. Right? Don’t you agree?”
“…….”
Hamhonggi quietly looked at Cheongyuri, who was glaring at him without a word, and asked.
“Why are you so unhappy about bringing the flying squirrel, sister-in-law?”
Cheongyuri rather wanted to ask him: why on earth was he suddenly going on about the flying squirrel?
Even now, she had rushed over upon hearing that Hamhonggi had sent Seolpyo to the squirrel farm.
“It’s because the acorn supply isn’t coming in. We have to purify the Contamination Zone and clear it to go home and use the card, don’t we?”
She swallowed the words, ‘I’m talking about your precious card, you little shit.’
“There are other squirrels. Didn’t you say the flying squirrel isn’t strictly necessary for the farm?”
“Who?”
“Just. Everyone was saying that.”
Cheongyuri’s eyebrows twitched.
‘Everyone? Not him?’
A strange man beside Hamhonggi stood with his arms crossed, eyes closed.
‘Did they say his name was Naohyeong?’
He was a mercenary who had joined from Freepole, a subordinate guild of Brom.
He wasn’t a familiar face for his fairly high rank, but she had thought nothing of it since mercenaries often moved from place to place.
“Fine. I won’t object for now.”
Something felt off. Cheongyuri narrowed her eyes.
Given that all of Brom’s subordinate guild members had sortied to the Contamination Zone, the mere fact that he remained by Hamhonggi’s side was enough to……
He had always kept company with low-quality guys, so having a weirdo at his side didn’t look particularly unusual.
But if that weirdo gave the impression of trying to obstruct the conquest, her judgment would have to change.
‘Something smells fishy.’
While Cheongyuri was sending him a suspicious look.
Naohyeong subtly opened one eye.
‘The sister-in-law must be suspicious.’
It seemed due to the unreasonable demand to bring the flying squirrel.
He had succeeded in rummaging through Hamhonggi’s mind to demand the flying squirrel be brought, but the S-Rank Cheongyuri was indeed a problem.
If his power were just a bit stronger, he would rather have controlled Cheongyuri.
But planting an Eye in Hamhonggi, who was lower-class even among B-Ranks, had barely been possible; Cheongyuri was an impossible ambition.
It was a stroke of luck that Hamhonggi had been assigned the role of general.
On top of that, Sereuhi had disappeared somewhere.
Seeing that the mannequin troops stationed nearby had also vanished, it might be the work of a Gnosis hunter.
‘To follow me all the way here. Persistent bastard.’
He didn’t know where Sereuhi went, what he was doing, or whether he was alive or dead, nor did he care. There would never be a better opportunity than this.
He had to bring that child while Sereuhi’s surveillance was absent.
Flying squirrel.
When he planted an Eye on a bird and sent it to scout the squirrel farm, he discovered the flying squirrel.
‘That child from the auction house.’
His blood boiled.
This was surely a revelation from heaven.
Telling him to take the item that child possessed.
‘Unmeasurable.’
That alone was something he had to possess.
Birdsong heralding the early morning could be heard.
‘Scrub, scrub.’
Gru washed his face with a scrubbing sound, then rubbed his eyes.
[Updating…….]
Mephisto, asleep on a small cushion, showed no signs of waking.
‘When is this updating going to end.’
To receive filial piety points, he needed to find something called ‘Mephisto’s Fragment.’ If Mephisto didn’t wake, there was no way to find it.
‘I might not clear this filial piety quest.’
Gru quelled his disappointment and got dressed.
Squirming as he pushed his head through the clothes and pulled his arms through.
“Haaaahm—”
Gru let out a big yawn and stepped outside.
His eyes were heavy and his body drooped limply, but he had to move.
Because he needed to grow the acorns quickly.
“Gru, you’re already up?”
A kind voice asked.
“What? We haven’t cleaned them up yet.”
A grumpy voice added.
Fallen Seolpyo were strewn about the farm.
Mmm. Breathing in the fresh morning air, Gru took a deep sniff.
A squirrel and a Seolpyo were busily at work, dragging the night guests to the warehouse.
‘Two S-Ranks…….’
Come to think of it, he had heard on a hunter special program that two combat S-Ranks were comparable in firepower to the national defense of a small country.
One was injured and not at full strength, but seemed to have the fundamentals down, so it wasn’t a big issue.
In other words, this tiny farm’s defense was at the level of national defense.
Gru raised his head toward the blazing sun.
‘Warm, warm.’
The sunlight cascading over the farm was warm.
‘Peace…….’
Gru quietly watched the sprinkler spray water with a whoosh, then said.
“Cheche, you know. Trees grow well in soil where bodies are buried.”
“Huh?!”
Cheche looked at Gru with eyes full of shock.
Gru hummed a song he had made up and toddled toward the oak tree.
“With good nutrients~ the acorns are stwurdy~”
After cleaning up the Seolpyo.
Gru, Siwon, and Sereuhi sat together on a tree stump in the center of the farm.
“Looking at the situation, it seems the general may be deliberately obstructing the RP dungeon conquest.”
“Hmm.”
“Why?! Because he hates Gru that much?!”
“It’s probably not for that reason. I suspect it might be related to Gnosis.”
“I’m the bad guy? Then is Hamhonggi Gnosis?”
“It’s more likely he’s being controlled.”
“Gasp!”
Like Sister Iromi? Back then, Iromi had said she was being controlled by someone. Then was that person Gnosis too?
Jin Siwon put his arm around Gru’s shoulder and gently stroked it.
“Don’t worry. Uncle will protect Gru.”
Gru nodded, and Sereuhi bowed his head in silence.