Chapter 234: Monsterization (2)

The man who was smiling proudly while looking at the bag of bread he was holding raised his head at my call.

And then.

“……Who are you?”

He tilts his head.

He wasn’t pretending not to know.

The one who saved his son Kimi, who was turning into a werewolf during the first suburban activity, was precisely the Academy, and I was at the center of it.

It makes no sense for him to forget my face.

‘Ah.’

A beat late, I realized my mistake.

‘I was so glad to see him that I forgot to take off the face mask. Oops.’

I checked that no one was around and took off the face mask.

Only then did Mr. Bedrock’s face brighten.

“Y-You……!”

His complexion brightened in an instant, showing how glad he was, creating the illusion that the surrounding darkness was lifting.

Worried he might cause a commotion, I hurriedly put a finger to my lips.

“Shh. Be quiet. I’m on a secret mission.”

Mr. Bedrock’s eyes seemed to widen, then his mouth shut tight in an instant.

He whispers quietly in a small voice.

“……I’ve heard of it. The Academy’s intelligence mission. They say it’s called an undercover patrol.”

……Undercover patrol?

Did the Academy have something like that?

‘Where did he hear what?’

Whether he did or not, his face looked quite serious.

“……Well. Let’s say it’s something like that.”

“Phew. As expected. Good. I will help too. What should I do.”

I stared blankly at Bedrock who suddenly immersed himself in a roleplay all alone, then put the face mask back on.

“Uh, yes. For now…… let’s go to a quiet place.”

“Then let’s go to my house.”

“Yes.”

“You have to follow me well. Since I’ll move as fast as possible.”

I already knew where it was, but seeing him go all the way there alone and beckoning me to come quickly, I decided to just let him be.

‘So he was that kind of character. I didn’t know back then because he was soaked in alcohol.’

Asking him as we went, he said he doesn’t drink anymore.

“I have to look after my kid, so it won’t do for a father to be a drunkard. Haha.”

He says his son Kimi’s body also returned to normal as the demonic energy drained out.

And that he goes out to the yard every day to practice swordsmanship.

“That rascal. He sings songs about entering the Academy every day. Thanks to that, it looks like I’ll be spending a ton of money.”

He grumbles, but his voice is filled with love for Kimi and pride in his child.

“He’ll probably be extremely happy if he knows Gerard-gun has come.”

Those words were true.

Kimi, who was sitting on the yard bench swinging his legs, jumped up as soon as he saw us.

And looking at me, he rubbed his eyes a few times and then.

“Gerard Hyungggg!”

He runs over almost as if flying and hugs me.

“Heave-ho!”

Whoa, rascal.

It hasn’t even been a few months, but your weight has increased.

“Have you been well, Kimi?”

“Of course! Why did you come only now! I waited!”

“Sorry, sorry. I had a lot of work. Shall we go inside for now?”

Entering the house, we shared how we’ve been.

I asked my business in earnest.

Actually, up until this point, I thought there was nothing to lose.

Since it’s night anyway and tracking is no longer possible, I thought I’d stay for just one day at Mr. Bedrock’s house whom I happened to meet.

But.

“Ianco Mercenaries? I know them well.”

Surprisingly, Mr. Bedrock knew them.

“Yes? Really? H-How do you know?”

I must have not expected it at all, for I even stammered.

“Hmm. It’s a bit long to tell, but the first time they came to find me would be about two months ago. So time-wise, it would not be long after you folks from the Academy saved Kimi. Since back then Kimi was still a werewolf.”

At first, he thought the purpose of their visit was because of Kimi.

But he said it wasn’t.

“They were looking for Spiritbeasts living in the Ludain Mountain Range.”

“But why come find Mr. Bedrock?”

“Aren’t I a hunter? Not to brag, but our family has made a living by hunting for a long time since my grandfather’s time. I know the geography of this area and the Ludain Mountain Range inside out.”

I had forgotten for a moment due to Kimi’s matter, but Mr. Bedrock was the most famous hunter in Roenberg City.

“So?”

“I told them. Since they said they do good work for Spiritbeasts. No. Thinking about it now, I don’t think I even suspected they would do something strange. Doesn’t one receive heavy punishment for hurting or killing a Spiritbeast?”

“Seeing you speak like that, they must have done something strange to the Spiritbeast.”

A deep shadow cast over Mr. Bedrock’s face.

“……As expected, you’re quick-witted.”

Mr. Bedrock’s story was like this.

The vast Ludain Mountain Range where various kinds of Spiritbeasts live in hiding.

Among them, the Spiritbeast Mr. Bedrock introduced to them was precisely the Vine Ent.

The Vine Ent, which looked as if various plant stems had clumped together tightly, was a gentle life form that loved the forest and pursued peace.

So Mr. Bedrock had unknowingly received help from the Vine Ent while hunting, and wanting to repay it in his own way, he took them to the Vine Ent.

Since they said they were an organization doing good work for Spiritbeasts.

However, what they did once they actually arrived there was ‘something strange’.

“They planted something in the Vine Ent. I don’t know what that is either, but circumstantially it’s clear it makes the Spiritbeast ferocious. Because after that day, the Vine Ent changed.”

A few days later, the Vine Ent changed.

It became violent.

It destroyed the surroundings, and also ate meat.

“……Wait a minute. You said it ate meat?”

“Yes. I saw it clearly.”

The Vine Ent was a Spiritbeast I knew well too.

So I was surprised.

‘The Vine Ent ate meat?’

That wasn’t at the level of changing.

It became a completely different existence.

Right.

Just like a magical beast.

“And as if they had been waiting for that time, they appeared again. Saying the Vine Ent became a magical beast, they unilaterally exterminated it, dug through the carcass, and left taking only the core.”

“Only the core?”

“Yes…….”

Perhaps recalling that time, Mr. Bedrock’s face was flushed red.

I was lost in thought.

Unlike magical beasts, a core existed in Spiritbeasts.

If compared to humans, it’s an organ like the heart, and hearing that they took only that, something I had forgotten seemed to come to mind.

“Do you remember how the core was by any chance?”

“It was dark red.”

And I could remember a part of the original work I had forgotten.

‘It’s the same method the Demon Council bastards used in the original work.’

Among the five sects of the cult, the Demon Council is the development position.

Trash who worship demons and commit inhumane research and experiments wanting to resemble them.

They are active in secret in the southern part of the Frey Empire, and Bishop Papamus, whom I killed during the first suburban activity, was also a bishop of the Demon Council.

Everything was fitting together perfectly.

I organized the current situation by combining the information obtained from Mr. Bedrock and the experience from the original work.

The Ianco Mercenaries is a fake identity made by Green Circle, and they are still hunting Spiritbeasts.

However, the method has changed a little.

If during the Green Circle days they made artifacts using parts from the carcass, now through ‘some act’, they change the Spiritbeast into a magical beast, then kill it, and take only the ‘polluted core’ from the carcass.

‘And behind all this work is the Beltus Cult’s Demon Council.’

……Yuria was in danger.

Well, the Beltus Cult already knows of Yuria’s existence.

Perhaps on the blacklist existing inside the cult, she would be in the top ranks for assassination along with me.

‘Maybe even kidnapping Yuria in the first place was all the Demon Council’s plot.’

I hope it’s a leap, but my heart naturally became urgent.

“Do you happen to know where those bastards are?”

“Of course I know.”

I headed to that place.

***

The place Bedrock told me was a shelter located on the road heading from Roenberg City to the Ludain Mountain Range.

It’s a two-story building, and they said they are using the entire second floor as a camp.

‘Just looking at it, it’s not the headquarters building.’

If you do shady work, you need many temporary lodgings like that.

It was dawn without a single ray of moonlight.

Although all lights were off, when I raised my senses, I could detect several presences moving inside the building.

‘They’re all awake.’

Seeing that it was quite busy, it seemed they were doing some work, but I wasn’t curious.

Also, I had no intention of infiltrating secretly using [Stealth] or going through a familiar.

Stomp stomp-

I boldly passed through the main gate and knocked on the shelter’s door.

Bang bang!

As I knocked on the door, the presence on the second floor stopped for an instant.

As if they needed to grasp the situation, small whispers were heard.

‘What?’

‘Who came?’

‘In this dead of night? Who is it?’

‘I don’t know. Surely it’s not someone from the Imperial City Guard?’

‘I don’t think so? It’s one guy.’

Since there was no sign of coming out, I kept knocking.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang……!

“Stop! Stop!”

When I knocked for the tenth time, the door opened and a man popped out.

He pushed me straight away with an annoyed face and asked.

“Are you crazy when everyone’s sleeping at dawn? Why are you throwing a fit?”

“Sorry. Because I have an urgent request, unavoidably.”

“Huh? Request?”

“Isn’t this the Ianco Mercenaries?”

I didn’t miss the bewilderment spreading in the man’s eyes for a moment.

“Ianco Mercenaries, you say……?”

“Yes. I came knowing that.”

“How did you know?”

“Through hunter Mr. Bedrock’s introduction.”

As I answered with the most innocent expression possible, the man scanned my face and overall appearance with sharp eyes.

Then.

“It’s a request regarding a Spiritbeast.”

He opens his eyes roundly and glances at the second floor once.

“……Come in.”

The man looked around once and let me inside the shelter.

The door closed behind with a thud.

I followed the man up to the second floor.

“He says he came with Bedrock’s introduction, Big Brother.”

At the man’s words, the man who was sitting on the table spread both arms and welcomed me.

“If so, is he a very important guest to us? Welcome. You found us well.”

Laughing haha, he offered me a seat.

Sitting on the chair, I scanned the surroundings.

First, that human in front is the boss.

Including the man who brought me first, five lackeys are surrounding me.

Besides that, there are no hiding personnel, and no danger elements reaching [Detection].

‘……Yuria isn’t here.’

As expected, it seemed she was at the headquarters.

“So. You’re entrusting a request about a Spiritbeast?”

In the meantime, the boss bastard asked.

I answered honestly.

“Actually, it was a lie.”

“What?”

“Sorry for lying. But the request is real. It’s a request to find a person, not a Spiritbeast, named Yuria. Does anyone know where she is?”

What is this bastard doing?

The boss bastard’s expression looking at me was exactly like this.

Hmm. Regrettably, he doesn’t seem to know.

Thinking it might be because information is lacking, I added an explanation of Yuria’s characteristics.

“She’s an Academy cadet. I heard you guys took her.”

At the same time, the boss bastard’s eyes were dyed with murderous intent.

“Kill this bastard right now!”

……A while later.

In front of me, two men were tied up tightly.

The boss bastard and the mercenary lackey punk who guided me first.

The rest of the bastards were all sprawled on the floor.

Since they really came at me to kill, I killed them all.

Only these two are left.

The reason I kept them alive is because I haven’t heard the answer yet.

“Now, from now on, anyone who hesitates to answer my question dies.”

“……!”

“You answer at the same time as much as possible. For reference, if your answers differ from each other, I’ll consider one person lied, and both die.”

Two people flinching and looking at each other.

“Now, then start. Where is your headquarters?”

As soon as the question ended, the two’s mouths opened simultaneously.

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