Chapter 242: The Spirit Beast Slayer (5)

“Oh, this is quite usable, isn’t it?”

I whistled while looking at the musket, from which smoke was rising from the muzzle.

It was something Dayle gave me to test out, and the performance was better than I thought.

The destructive power was one thing, but it significantly improved the biggest problem of muskets: accuracy.

The recoil wasn’t bad considering I could shoot it with one hand.

And since there were two barrels horizontally, it was possible to fire two shots consecutively without reloading.

It is indeed that double-barrel seen commonly in modern games.

But, with Dayle’s magic array added here.

So to speak, should I call it ‘Dayle-style Double Barrel Musket’?

“……It was you. Skull Mask.”

The glasses-wearer spoke again at that moment.

Blood was streaming down from his shoulder, which had burst from a direct hit by the musket, but he didn’t seem to care much.

“I have heard a lot about you. You are so very famous within the Cult. I don’t know how honored I am to meet you like this. I am actually your fan.”

“Fan? Really?”

“Sincerely.”

Suddenly a fan meeting atmosphere, what the…….

It’s out of the blue, but it cannot be anything but surprising.

The fact that I, a thief, have a fan is surprising enough, but for that fan to belong to the Cult that I have been poking around and harassing.

And this bastard is a mad scientist.

‘Isn’t he practically Fan No. 1?’

My Fan No. 1 was a pseudo-religious crazy perverted scientist.

Should I be happy about this or not?

“…….”

While I was seriously pondering for a moment, my Fan No. 1 asked.

“But what brings you to this remote mountain? I am extremely happy to meet you, but I am just curious.”

I thought it was human nature to answer kindly as his idol.

I recalled the past days leading up to my arrival here.

After getting a clue about the Green Circle from the hunter Mr. Bedrock, finding and smashing the shelter that was their branch.

And Skull Mask obtains information through a fun game with the two mercenaries who were in charge of the shelter.

The time goes back to then.

***

“Where is your headquarters?”

“Ca, if it’s the camp, it is in the Iron Tree Forest!”

“I guess you call the headquarters a camp? Where is the Iron Tree Forest?”

“It is inside the Mist Valley of the Ludain Mountain Range! If you follow along while touching the largest cliff, a side path appears on the right, and you just have to go straight inside!”

“Then is Yuria there?”

“Yes!”

When I ask a question, answers pop out almost simultaneously from both sides.

As if they were competing with each other.

They seemed quite desperate not to die, so they spilled even unasked information to me smoothly.

“What? You’re saying your goal here is to take care of Laiadon?”

“Yes!”

“Not trying to exterminate it?”

“Yes! That guy! It is the guy we are raising!”

I was dumbfounded for a moment because it was absurd.

“So. You mean the Laiadon you guys are talking about now is that crazy drake, right? The Named Magical Beast.”

“Yes! That is correct!”

Right.

It was so absurd that I even double-checked like this.

Well, it was strange.

Because with the skills of the guys in the shelter, even if they died and woke up again, hunting a basic drake, let alone Laiadon, would be difficult.

“Whose head did that come out of?”

“We don’t know that well either. Since it was an order that came down from above…… It, it is the truth!”

“I don’t know either! Really! Heuk. I don’t want to die!”

When I narrowed my eyes and made a suspicious expression, they showed their sincerity by shedding tears and snot.

“Okay. I will believe you.”

Anyway, crazy Cult bastards. I don’t know what kind of dog-like shit they are pulling again.

“Anything else you want to ask……”

“None.”

“Then…… Are you going to spare us as you promised…….”

Looking at the shelter boss asking cautiously, I nodded.

Then the two guys jumped up and down while tied to the chairs.

“Th, thank you! Thank you so much! I will never forget this grace until I die!”

“Really? Until you die?”

“Yes!”

A smirk came out naturally.

“Sure. I’ll be watching. But untie the ropes yourselves?”

“O, of course!”

As I came out of the shelter, small dwarves with shining eyes in the darkness welcomed me.

Kkii?

It was Gremlins.

The forest cleaners who flocked smelling blood.

They possess low intelligence, poor combat ability, and are even cowardly, so they mainly target corpses, but today must be their feast day.

As I left that place, the Gremlins who were afraid of me watched my reaction and then swarmed into the shelter.

Soon, terrible screams were heard from behind.

[Aaaagh! You son of a bitch──!]

They said they wouldn’t forget the grace until they died, but it gets revealed as a lie in less than 5 minutes.

Well, that’s how guys who do poaching are.

Me?

I kept the promise.

‘Anyway, I didn’t kill them with my own hands.’

Unlike those guys, I was a thief who knew honor.

The Mist Valley arrived like that.

According to their explanation, if I walked through this valley and followed the side path on the right cliff, the Iron Tree Forest would appear.

But for some reason, the side path did not appear.

Thinking ‘Was I confused?’, I examined the left cliff too, but the left was the same. Inside the Mist Valley, there was no side path to the side.

‘What. Was it a lie?’

It was a hard fact to believe.

Telling a lie in a situation where their lives would fly away if they spoke later than the other person or told a lie?

Unless they had nerves of steel, it’s something they couldn’t do.

‘No, that’s hard to do unless they have a mindset that they just want to die.’

And the two mercenary bastards were all full of attachment to life.

In other words, there is a high probability that what they said is the truth, not a lie.

‘Then it means I am missing something important…….’

I continued to search the inside of the valley thoroughly.

Whether I had been like that for quite a long time, soon Ludain Mountain was engulfed in darkness.

The bright moon high in the sky.

Discovering the side path was purely a coincidence.

With a fluttering sound, I saw bats flying up into the sky leaving the valley, but the problem was that the place they popped out from was inside the blocked cliff.

Bats popping out from inside a cliff?

It meant there was a cave where bats went in and out.

I approached there cautiously.

A blocked wall.

However, when I brought my hand close, I saw blue cracks forming on the back of my hand.

It was an illusion-type magic array that deceived the eyes.

“So this is why they told me to follow while touching the cliff with my hand.”

Once perceived, the solution was easy.

“[Disassemble]”

Using the thievery skill [Disassemble], the illusion covering the entrance disappeared smoothly, and a narrow passage revealed itself.

“Shall we go.”

Must have walked for about 10 minutes.

The Iron Tree Forest appeared.

The forest was quiet.

No, it had been quiet.

Until numerous presences approached.

‘What is it? Did I get caught entering the forest?’

A moment later, I realized that wasn’t it.

The guys who were sneaking up on me suddenly stopped and instead started hiding themselves in the surrounding forest.

Camouflaging not only their outfits but even their skin color with green and black to match the surrounding environment looked exactly like they were preparing an ambush.

And the guy who appeared in the open lot.

As soon as I saw that guy, I realized he was the captain leading this group. And I could also hear the name I had been looking for so much from him.

“Soon, Hyung-nim and Yuria will come. When I give the signal, pop out and surround them.”

I quickly analyzed the situation.

Moving right here didn’t seem good in many ways.

I thought securing Yuria’s safety first was the top priority, and while watching for a suitable opportunity, I subdued one underlying mercenary hiding at the very end of the formation and hid pretending to be him.

Meanwhile.

“Where are you going so busily at this dawn, Hyung-nim?”

Yuria, whom they were waiting for, appeared.

With a person who appeared to be her father.

After that, well…… It was a series of shocks.

From Yuria’s past to the secret of her birth, it struck my head hard.

The truth was so shocking that even when the Bishop of the Demon Council, called the Spirit Beast Slayer, appeared, his appearance didn’t even give me much shock.

Before that, I had somewhat expected his identity too.

Anyway.

Because of this twist, stepping out for the rescue was also delayed by one timing, but.

Thanks to the performance of the double-barrel musket modified by Dayle, somehow I was able to complete the entrance right before the worst situation…….

“Are you not going to tell me?”

When he heard his voice suddenly, I woke from my recollection.

“What?”

“I asked because I am curious what brings you all the way here to the south.”

“Ah. That.”

I paused for a moment, opened the barrels, and put bullets inside.

And click, close the barrels.

“But if you ask, do I have to answer?”

Simultaneously with the answer, I pulled the trigger.

Bang!

With a Puck sound, one mercenary was hit by the bullet and bounced away.

He was one of the guys sneaking up on Yuria, but he can’t avoid my eyes.

There was a hole the size of a fist bored in the chest of the guy who bounced away.

“…….”

Again, a heavy silence crushing the surroundings.

Everyone freezes in place and watches my reaction at the terrible destructive power bursting the body, the scary accuracy, and the brutal result.

“……No. You have no obligation to answer.”

“Right? Then just fold your question.”

Click, as I finished reloading anew, the glasses-wearer who answered ‘Understood’ obediently folded his curiosity.

In the midst of that, an arm was growing from that guy’s shoulder.

One might go ‘Eh?’ at the abrupt sight, but literally, it was happening in reality.

Something was crawling out with a crunching sound from the cross-section of the burst shoulder. It was none other than an arm.

An arm growing from inside the body.

One might be surprised at that grotesque scene, but I just looked at it with fascination and wasn’t particularly surprised.

Because I already roughly know his ability.

Spirit Beast Slayer, Lorenz Edric.

A scientist who researches the bizarre method of gaining a spirit beast’s power by consuming the core created as the spirit beast becomes monsterized.

Although he was never directly covered in the original work, there have been mentions describing his characteristics or abilities.

Also about how strong he is.

‘I heard two teams of the Southern Knights dispatched to execute him got blown away by him.’

Although the Southern Knights are the weakest among the knight orders existing in the Frey Empire after the Eastern Knights, it remains unchanged that they are elites composed entirely of Academy graduates.

There is no set ranking among Bishops, but if asked to pick the strongest Bishop in the Demon Council, I would definitely pick this guy.

‘At least he is far above that bastard Papamus.’

Just seeing the burst arm regenerating completely in less than a few minutes shows he is already not human.

I aimed the musket again and fired.

Bang!

One shot.

And two shots.

The special bullets fired with a firing sound that seemed to burst eardrums tore the air to shreds and rushed at him.

However, he simply deflected the bullets by swinging his arm in the air.

Puck!

The deflected bullet burst the head of the mercenary on the right like a watermelon.

“What are you doing standing still? Without attacking that person quickly.”

In the midst of that, the bullet deflected by the arm again pierced another mercenary’s stomach.

“Dying again. Hey there. I told you to attack?”

That was the signal.

“U, uwaaaah!”

The mercenaries ran away.

Right. In the first place, those things weren’t his subordinates.

They were just subordinates of the captain named Johnny who died first.

To them, the guy whose arm regenerated in an instant and who treated human lives like straw was just a monster.

“Hmm. It can’t be helped.”

And he suddenly took off his top, tore his belly skin, and started pouring the contents inside onto the ground.

Splaaash, long things pouring out with crimson blood.

Those things moving while pulsating were definitely ‘Parasitic Magical Beasts’.

“Devour them.”

The parasitic magical beasts chased the fleeing mercenaries and burrowed into their heads, necks, and backs.

“Kuaaagh!”

“S, save meee!”

Amidst that chaos, I stopped firing and put the musket back in.

And after putting down the Half-Moon Wolf cub carefully, I took out a dagger.

“Wait here for a moment.”

Woof!

The place I went to using [Dagger Shift] like that was exactly where Yuria was tied up.

“…….”

Yuria flinched and was surprised to see me appear right in front of her nose.

“You……”

The eyes staring at me are full of confusion and questions.

I used Daybreak to untie the vines binding her.

As if surprising that the vines tightly constricting her body were untied so easily, she blinked a few times for a moment.

“Protect your dad.”

“……Thank you.”

At my words, she expressed gratitude first rather than questions.

Immediately after picking up the dropped sword, she ran straight to her dad.

I raised my body and looked around.

Already, the majority of the fleeing mercenaries had been eaten by the parasitic magical beasts.

To make matters worse.

Kyaooooh!

A massive roar heard from afar.

Its owner must be that guy who was dyeing this whole area with fear.

“Oh dear, now the situation is reversed like this.”

The crazy scientist guy, who was watching the trees falling like dominoes in the distance, looked at me and raised the corners of his mouth.

“You said that is yours too?”

“Huhu. That is right. Well, so that impressive musket doesn’t work anymore, and you are surrounded…… What do you plan to do now?”

What do I mean? What do I do?

I put my hand into my inner pocket.

“Hmm. A musket? I believe I told you that doesn’t work anymore.”

However.

What I took out was not a musket.

“Since you say you will push with numbers, I should match the numbers too.”

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