Chapter 33
Hunter's follower.
While "Hunter" is also the nickname of the protagonist in Snow Castle, there are people called "Hunters" who hunt Outer Gods in cities other than Rondan.
In other words, they can be seen as those who follow individuals with the name "Hunter".
However, this man, while he had been a Hunter's follower, was on a different track from them.
The man who belonged there didn't have much respect or awe for the Hunter.
He only had the ulterior motive of being able to act on the back of his achievements and that there might be something to gain from there.
In the process of being a follower, he acquired a special skill to identify or judge something by smell.
The most useful part of this was being able to sense the fragrance of Outer Gods as colors.
The color changes depending on the rank of the Outer God, and when the man encountered a Greater Outer God once, he detected the color red.
It could be seen as an ability highly specialized for survival.
After that, judging that he would have more to lose when weighing the interests, the man quickly left there and became a Candle.
The activities as a Candle weren't bad.
No, rather, it could be said that he was lucky to be able to enter there.
Wandering in the snow and stripping people to eat wasn't bad business as he thought.
He was quite satisfied because there was no shortage of supplies if he just hijacked the trains connecting cities here and stole goods or robbed merchants' luggage.
Rather, it was much freer than living under control near the hearth.
Even among the Candles with the largest forces, and the Outer Gods in the blizzard, there wasn't much problem if he smelled them and avoided them well.
I'm lucky.
No, it's because my skills and judgment are good that I rode the line well.
That's what I thought, but.
'What is that?'
It was a dog.
No, a wolf?
It could be a fox, no, it wasn't any of those.
It was eyes.
Eyes that seemed to pierce through him as if trying to taxidermy all of him.
The protective talisman he had obtained by plundering a knight was burning up.
His head became dizzy, and a nosebleed flowed from inside his mask, soaking the snow-covered ground.
His thoughts weren't functioning properly.
He forcibly closed his bloodshot eyes to block his vision.
Then he smelled danger all over the world.
Red color.
Yes, everything is red.
Why, why, why?
Why did an Outer God suddenly appear?
Then a different scent other than red flowed into his nose.
Another Outer God?
No, it wasn't.
Clearly, the source of that smell was taking the exact form of a human.
And the faint scent of embers flowing out.
Yes, the owner of this smell was the human from Rondan we were trying to rob.
White hair, looking frail enough to make girls cry.
He had a face that looked like we could rob everything with a little threat.
However, now that Rondan human didn't look human at all.
The scent had changed drastically since that Outer God came out just now.
It's black.
As if it had all potential, it was black, neither red nor any other color.
The alarm bell in the brain of the man, who had never been in such a dangerous situation, rang madly.
What on earth is that human?
No, is it even human to begin with?
The man's reason began to be paralyzed by overwhelming fear.
***
"Ah, I'm becoming transparent again!"
Has the time limit for coming out been reached again?
Bell's body gradually started to become transparent again, and eventually disappeared completely.
Soon, Bell's disappointed voice was heard.
"Hiing, I've come back again."
In a corner of my mind, I heard the sound of the Observer lying flat and scratching or licking the wall where the hole had disappeared.
I'm really flattered that she likes me so much.
I'm sorry to Bell, but I didn't have the leisure to respond to that now.
Because a shiver ran through my whole body.
Even though it was a short summon, the power of the Outer God called "Observer" was impressive.
It seemed that I couldn't feel it elsewhere due to the mode, but when I saw such a sight, I could feel how strong they were.
I tightly gripped the party flute in my hand.
It was good that they were strong, but the time Bell could come out had become much shorter than before.
I didn't know what the cause was, but there was something I could predict.
The answer was probably the number of Outer Gods encountered.
Although there was the restriction of the hearth, Bell, who had only been able to put her body out of the rift until meeting the Chef, this time completely put her body outside and even saved me.
The cooldown of the ability was long, and the time I could summon Bell or the Gardener was somewhat concerning.
Nevertheless, it was quite useful to be able to call a Greater Outer God in an emergency situation, even if for a short time.
"...Hmm."
What's this?
This voice that suddenly makes my spine slightly chill...
"...I said I'd help too, but I guess you don't really need it."
Um, well.
Is it my imagination that the voice sounds subtly disappointed?
...I thought I should definitely call the Gardener first if there's a need to call someone next time.
While I was lost in thought, the Candles who had been showing strong killing intent until just now were trembling and looking scared, perhaps thanks to Bell's appearance.
"What on earth happened?"
"My head hurts."
"My nose is bleeding..."
Was it to protect their brains from indescribable fear?
Some seemed to have lost their memories, shocked by the Observer's brief descent.
The others, if they had endured, threw away their weapons and started to flee in a hurry.
One of the fleeing group was the Candle guy who said he could smell well.
As expected, he has no loyalty to match his appearance.
Well, what loyalty would plunderers have anyway?
Bang!
The sound of gunfire was heard.
Huh.
When I turned my head to look, a Candle who had hidden a gun in his cloak was pointing the muzzle at me.
Right.
If the Hunter uses a gun, there's no way these guys wouldn't have guns.
However.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Despite the gunshots ringing out several times, the one who fired the gun is confused.
"D-damn it! Why didn't it hit?"
Perhaps thanks to the food the Chef gave me, even though Bell had disappeared.
I was able to dodge the flying bullets with just small movements.
Yeah, let's test the Chef's food buff now.
Since I've come to a dark fantasy world, it's do or die!
When the gun didn't work, I charged forward this time to catch those trying to escape.
As I got closer, he took out a dagger with quick hand movements from somewhere and threw it at me.
He must be planning to create distance like this since he's no match.
The judgment was good.
However.
I still couldn't control my strength, just like in the Chef's restaurant.
"Ugh, aaargh!"
"W-what the! Aaargh!"
Now that my physical specs are up, my body moves as I think.
I grabbed the flying dagger and threw it back.
I didn't hear the cruel sound of stabbing.
I only heard a "pyong" sound and they fell without injury.
It felt like playing a game.
When I swung my fist at the guy sneaking up behind me, there was a "bung" sound and he was slammed to the ground with his armor.
Even though I hated scary things, I was more serious than anyone when it came to PVP games.
But with impact sounds like this, it feels somewhat anticlimactic.
Perhaps because I moved vigorously once.
"Ouch..."
My fist hurt, as if the durability didn't overwhelmingly improve along with it.
Isn't it usually the case that when physical abilities improve, other things improve accordingly?
Why did only my strength increase?
This too was a mystery of Outer Gods.
Still, I thought this would be enough to take down all the remaining Candles and more.
I stood up again to take down even one more quickly, not knowing how long this heat gained from the Americano would last.
"D-don't move! Or this one's safety won't be guaranteed!"
At that moment, one Candle put a knife to the Immortal Woman's neck and threatened.
Ah, right.
I was so focused on the idea of seeing through them that I left the Immortal Woman alone.
I guess I left her because I thought it would be fine since she doesn't die even if she dies.
The Immortal Woman caught by the Candle had a blank expression and stayed still.
Even though it's a dangerous situation, she's just carefree.
"Can't you hear! If you don't surrender and follow our words, this one will be in danger!"
As expected of people who catch humans.
It seems they've taken the approach of using a hostage since they can't match up in strength.
I wanted to say "Go ahead, try cutting once" if I could, but I decided to keep quiet because I thought I could use this to find an angle to take them down.
Even if they really cut, she won't die, so I could take advantage of the opening created then to subdue them.
While I was thinking that.
Boing!
Suddenly, a loud sound like a spring popping was heard.
"...?"
My mouth dropped open at the scene unfolding before my eyes.
The Immortal Woman, who had been still, pulled out her right hand that was being held, then hit the Candle who was holding her near the face with the back of her clenched fist.
That was all, but the Candle's head separated like a Lego piece and scattered in all directions.
Tudududuk.
Thanks to the mode, I heard the sound of plastic falling on the floor, as if it was recognized as real Lego.
"Eh, huh?"