Chapter 41: Uninvited Guest

“A reward?”

“Didn’t I already say so, that there would be an appropriate reward for you who successfully completed the mission. Surely you didn’t think Winter Castle would repay your efforts?”

Come to think of it, I felt like he had mentioned something like that briefly…….

To be honest, I wasn’t really looking forward to it, but since he said he’d give it, there was no need to refuse.

“What exactly is the reward?”

“The reward money is 15 Gold in total, of which Vell gets 10 Gold, and Alicia gets 5 Gold. Also, all of you will be given a one-month reward vacation.”

To be honest, a reward of 10 Gold wasn’t that big a number for me at this point, but of course, having it was better than not.

Besides that, there was something else important.

“A one-month vacation?”

“That’s right. You could see it as a fitting rest for all your hard work.”

A whopping one-month-long unconventional vacation.

This was a gain I hadn’t expected.

As Winter Castle was adjacent to the Demonic Realm, countless opportunities to become stronger were scattered about, and one month was enough time to seize one of those opportunities.

“Can I use the vacation whenever I want?”

“Of course. Even right now, if you say you want to go, I’ll send you off.”

It was truly a hearty response typical of Edric, but I soon shook my head.

A month’s time was clearly very useful and also a good opportunity, but at least now was not the time to use the vacation.

‘It’s probably right to think it’s not time yet.’

To get what I want here, I inevitably need to enter the Demonic Realm.

But unfortunately, even though I had a lot right now, it was also true that I wasn’t confident enough to survive in the Demonic Realm just yet.

‘Besides, considering the variable of mutants, it’s best to prepare as much as possible before entering the Demonic Realm.’

I didn’t know many facts about the recently appeared mutants either, so it was best to be careful about what I could.

Uncontrolled variables always tend to cause unexpected dangers.

“I will tell you about the vacation separately later.”

“Tell me anytime.”

Edric chuckled and slightly shifted his gaze toward Alicia.

“Then what about you?”

“I’ll also tell you next time.”

“Got it. Tell me anytime.”

“Ah, and there’s one more thing I’d like to ask.”

“Speak.”

“The rumor that spread about me, was that by any chance you’re doing, Captain? The one about the Mage of Thunder or whatever.”

Edric chuckled.

“Surely you didn’t see me as a shameless man who steals his subordinate’s achievements? Rest assured. It’s because I widely publicized your achievements.”

“…….”

No matter how I looked at it, it seemed like he did it on purpose to mess with me, but I didn’t say any more about it.

It was because if I reacted more to this, Edric, who found it fun, would likely spread even weirder rumors.

“Is that all you have to say?”

“What more could there be?”

“That’s a relief.”

Edric chuckled as always.

***

The days of training continued once again.

However, you could see them as days that were a little different from before, and the biggest reason was, as expected, Alicia’s presence.

“Where are you going?”

“……Restroom.”

“Can’t I go with you?”

“No.”

Ever since the subjugation of the Mage of Blazing Fire, Alicia had been following me around to a strange degree, and Conlan and Albino, seeing this sight for the first time, watched the scene with horrified expressions.

“……What in the world happened? Did they fall for each other or something?”

“Well, I don’t think that’s it.”

“Then what is it?”

“How would I know?”

“Anyway, Mage of Thunder…… That’s quite the fitting nickname.”

“I agree.”

Amidst the peaceful, if you could call them that, days.

There were occasional attacks by demonic beasts toward Winter Castle, but there weren’t many special situations that required the 4th Special Task Force to be dispatched.

In the first place, since the 4th Special Task Force itself had the nature of a special forces unit, the higher-ups’ judgment was that in normal situations, it was more efficient to preserve their strength than to forcibly dispatch them, or so I heard.

‘It’s a good thing for me.’

Anyway, thanks to that, I was able to train in the training ground and, in between, check the Anonymous Bulletin Board to get various pieces of information.

Among them, what particularly caught my eye was, as expected, information about mutants.

-KimSubak : Is the situation in the eastern part of the Empire okay? I heard mutants are appearing there lately.

News of mutant appearances in the eastern part of the Empire.

Naturally, various users took an interest in it and left comments.

-Anonymous21 : Mutants? East? going.

└KimSubak : Not a normal mutant. It’s named-level.

└Anonymous21 : Weren’t all mutants named-level originally?So random.

└KimSubak : I mean, it’s an exceptional one among them.

└KimSubak : …Nevermind. Just do whatever you want.

-Hihiking : Resigning himself is hilarious.

-Chureureup : If Subak is talking like that, it must be a really dangerous one? I haven’t seen that one guy who was acting tough, saying he’d hunt mutants, lately.

-Fallen : IKR , Lol

Mutants held quite a special meaning not just for me, but also for the users of the Anonymous Bulletin Board.

It couldn’t be helped.

The existence of a mutant itself meant a demonic beast corrupted by an Ascension Stone Fragment, and naturally, if you caught a mutant, you could get an Ascension Stone Fragment.

Ascension Stone Fragment.

Or ■■■ Fragment.

That was a very special object to the users on the Anonymous Bulletin Board, who were foreigners in this world.

Why did we come here?

How can we return?

What should we do now?

Because the closest clue to knowing the answers to that was the Ascension Stone Fragment, in other words, the ■■■ Fragment.

It is no exaggeration to say that the Ascension Stone Fragment holds the greatest secret of this world.

That’s why it wasn’t that I wasn’t interested in mutants either, but I postponed it for now.

The mutants I had dealt with so far were individuals whose original species’ strength wasn’t relatively that strong, but if I were to meet a mutant of a genuine demonic beast, it was difficult to guarantee the outcome.

‘There’s no need to rush.’

If I stay in Winter Castle, I’m bound to encounter mutants to a sickening degree anyway.

The border with the Demonic Realm.

That story meant it was a place where demonic beasts constantly flooded in, and it meant I could see mutants, which others searched for with their eyes wide open, even while sitting still.

‘Though that’s not necessarily good news.’

Anyway, setting aside the matter of mutants for a moment, I soon shifted my gaze to other posts.

It was because there was a lot of quality information on the Anonymous Bulletin Board, not just about mutants, so it was good to look through it whenever I had time.

This world was a very familiar world to me, and at the same time, an utterly unfamiliar world.

It might sound like a contradictory statement at first glance, but it was actually true.

That’s why I couldn’t be lazy about acquiring information.

-Anonymous7454 : Ha… want to go home.

-MyFaceIsAllBurnt : The south is so hot I can’t stand it. If I get a chance, I’m gonna bolt to the north.

-Newdeulbak77 : Is the newbie who came last time still alive? If so, reply.

Of course, due to the nature of the Anonymous Bulletin Board, the frequency of junk posts was overwhelmingly higher than quality information, but I didn’t stop checking the Anonymous Bulletin Board.

-SpeculativeHeadcanon3 : A study on the Newbie hunter, who is he.txt

Hmm, this one is pretty good.

-Magician114 : That Mage of Blazing Fire who supposedly appeared last time, where is he now?

He’s dead.

-Dr. Kim : A few simple experiments on the hardness and strength of the ■■■ Fragment.

This one might be a little interesting.

‘There isn’t a lot of incredibly important information…… but still, there’s quite a lot of decent-level information.’

It was while I was doing that.

I found a user with a familiar nickname on the Anonymous Bulletin Board.

-Luna : Luna’s cooking time) Today I tried frying chicken!

Luna.

The user from the Anonymous Bulletin Board who, for some reason, had been looking for me.

It wasn’t that the post had any special content, but the person Luna herself was someone I couldn’t help but be concerned about, so I looked at Luna’s post for a moment.

-Luna : The weather is especially nice today!

-Luna : Proof of today’s hunt.

-Luna : Hungry… I should make curry today.

‘……Hmm?’

While doing so, I could soon feel a strange sense of dissonance.

I didn’t know if it was just my imagination, but I felt that the atmosphere of the posts Luna wrote was quite different from before.

Writing junk posts was the same as usual, but there was one thing that had changed in those patterns.

‘Hmm.’

Most of Luna’s posts I had seen before were always posts looking for someone, and it was right to see that target as me, given the reactions on the board and various circumstances.

But from a certain point in time, she no longer looked for or mentioned Cain.

‘Is it a coincidence?’

There could be two main reasons why Luna, who had been looking for Cain so much, was no longer looking for him.

She had given up on Cain now.

Or, she had already found Cain.

Considering that Cain no longer existed in this world, the former was naturally more likely, but for some reason, I couldn’t just think of it that way.

The time when Luna’s posts changed.

It was because that time period felt familiar for some reason.

‘It almost coincides with the time I obtained Haima’s Pendant at the auction house.’

Haima’s Pendant was an item that Cain himself carried, and also used in the battle against the Destruction Dragon.

What did it mean that Luna’s behavior, who had been so eagerly searching for Cain, changed as soon as I got my hands on that item?

Could all of this really be dismissed as a coincidence?

‘Hmm…….’

I couldn’t tell if Luna’s sudden change in behavior was a coincidence or if it really had some kind of relationship with Haima’s Pendant.

But one thing was certain: unlike before, I felt the need to keep an eye on Luna.

‘She’s an unpredictable variable. If she seems like she’s about to take some action, I need to respond.’

The feelings Luna showed for Cain on the Anonymous Bulletin Board were clearly favorable, but there was no way to know if they were genuine or not.

Of course, from my perspective, it would be good if that favor was genuine, but if I rashly approached Luna with such a complacent thought, I didn’t know what might happen.

Who knows? Luna’s very existence might be a trap to draw Cain out.

‘It’s probably best to watch for now.’

Having put the matter of Luna on hold for now, I checked the Anonymous Bulletin Board again.

It was to see if there was any other information that could be a threat to me.

It was while I was doing that.

That I discovered a variable other than Luna.

No, rather, depending on the perspective, this one could be seen as a much bigger variable.

In Luna’s case, she was a variable I already knew about, but the variable that had just appeared was one that even I had not expected at all.

-Anonymous999 : By any chance, is Aichuwong still around?

The first post I saw was just a post asking about Aichuwong’s whereabouts.

Aichuwong.

The user who dug a trap with the Orb of Water and waited, only to be killed by me.

‘Looking for Aichuwong now, of all times…….’

I naturally ignored this post, and the owner of the post also seemed to have gained nothing in particular, and the post seemed to get buried.

Before that post came up again.

-Anonymous999 : Has anyone seen Aichuwong?

Unfortunately, this time there was quite a bit of progress.

A user who knew about Aichuwong had appeared.

-Anonymous123 : Aichuwong? Didn’t they say he was in the Demonic Realm?

-Children : What, didn’t he ask how to use some orb?

-gkwtr : Ah, nim, are you by any chance looking for the Orb of Winter or something?

Although few comments were posted, those comments delivered the information to Anonymous999 that Aichuwong was in the Demonic Realm area.

From then on, a flow that I could no longer stop had already formed.

-Anonymous999 : Hmm… thx for the info. I’d better go see for myself.

-Anonymous999 : Departing for the north.

-Anonymous999 : The north is really fuuucking cold… There’s no floor heating system, how do people live here?

-Anonymous999 : Arriving at Winter Castle soon.

The shadow of an uninvited guest began to loom over Winter Castle.

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