Chapter 79
Swoosh-!
“…Leader!”
Leaving Jeokyeom’s shout behind, I grabbed my blade and headed for the epicenter.
The Imugi was usually excellent at hiding its presence and had outstanding movement skills. If I moved slowly, it was obvious the guy would run away.
Swoosh-!
And…, it wasn’t long before I discovered something strange.
-Roooooaaaar-!
“…”
Usually, it was a guy that hid its body like a cockroach just from me looking in its direction.
But this time, even though I scattered my energy and ran over using my Lightness Skill, the guy didn’t hide its body and instead let out a bizarre shriek.
Besides…
“I can feel it.”
…From where the sound was coming, I felt the heaviness of an unknown creature, rather than the usual lightness of a young girl.
“Could it be…, is it fighting someone?”
Feeling a bit of anxiety, I increased my speed. And…
“Wow…”
-Roooooaaaar-!
…I was able to face the Imugi, not as a young girl, but returned to its true form with black scales, blood-red eyes, and a massive body.
* * *
…Have I ever seen such a creature in my life?
No, I can affirmatively say I haven’t.
An elephant? If you stood one next to that Imugi, it would just be a tiny little thing.
I stared blankly at its massive size and majesty for a moment before barely snapping out of it.
“Aaaagh-!”
“S-Save me-!”
Assessing the situation, two men who looked like Merchants were collapsed and screaming in front of the Imugi.
I didn’t let my guard down and approached them first. There was a chance they could be enemies in disguise.
However…
“U-Uh, General Stronghold Master-!”
“Please save us-!”
Instead, as soon as they saw me, they rushed over as if they had seen their life’s Benefactor.
In that moment, gauging their energy, they were ordinary people who hadn’t learned any Martial Arts. They also looked like the Misters whose faces I had seen coming and going.
Realizing they weren’t enemies, I roughly patted the Merchant Misters' shoulders and asked.
“Alright, Misters. What happened? How did you provoke it to make it go on a rampage like that?”
“P-Provoke, what do you mean…! We didn’t do anything…!”
“W-We really didn’t do anything! I-It was just lunchtime, so we sat here trying to eat, but suddenly a shadow the size of a house was cast over us, and then…”
As soon as I heard that, I immediately looked around.
Seeing dumplings, rice balls, and a few pieces of beef jerky rolling around right in front of them, it didn’t seem like the Merchant Misters were lying.
“…You Misters didn’t happen to throw stones at it or harass it, did you?”
Even so, when I asked with suspicious eyes, the Misters shouted as if they were Wronged.
“N-No, we aren’t crazy, how could we throw stones at that monster…!”
“I swear on my entire fortune, we didn’t do anything!”
If Merchants were willing to swear on their entire fortunes, they were truly innocent.
If so, that means that Imugi bastard suddenly threw a fit all by itself…
Slide-.
When I lifted my head and looked, the Imugi was making a flustered expression, as if it hadn’t expected me to come.
-Rooaar…! Rooa…!
The brave roar I heard at first was nowhere to be found, and only a pathetic sound could be heard.
“…”
-…
I know what the look in the Imugi’s eyes as it looks at me means right now. It’s the look my Subordinates give me whenever it’s time to spar.
Namely, fear.
-Kiiii…, kiii…
Usually, beasts are sensitive to their survival instincts, so they become weak when they think someone is stronger than them. Beasts are truly the epitome of being Strong against the weak, weak against the strong.
“If so…, does the guy feel that I am stronger…?”
Because the energy flowing from the Imugi was heterogeneously different from a human’s, I only thought the Imugi was formidable, but I couldn’t gauge exactly what level it was at.
But seeing the Imugi’s reaction with my own eyes, I could be certain. That I was stronger than it…
“I am stronger… Is that so…?”
Smirk-.
Thinking that, I felt various impure thoughts rising in my chest.
The Imugi shouldn’t have lowered its tail on its own in front of me like that.
Because I was originally a bastard who was strong against the strong, and even stronger against the weak.
Swish-.
I raised my fist just like that. And I gathered a massive amount of Aura / Gang Qi over it.
-…!
As soon as it saw that, I felt the Imugi shrink its body immensely.
But you bastard. It’s already too late.
I soared into the air with my fist raised just like that.
And then…
“This bastard won’t go home like I told it to…!”
…After giving the Imugi a warm word.
“Engrave it into your head that leaving home is nothing but dog-like suffering.”
I slammed my fist down onto the Imugi’s head just like that.
CRASH-!!!
When the fist imbued with Aura / Gang Qi made contact with the Imugi’s rock-like head, a deafening roar on a completely different level from the Imugi’s cry echoed widely across the mountain.
Crack-.
Feeling a sensation beneath my hand, it seemed like the Imugi’s skin was breaking.
‘Uh-oh…, I guess it’s not as hard as I thought…’
-…Kiiiiiiik.
It must have hurt a lot, as the Imugi let out a weak scream and fell backward.
Still, I didn’t feel any sense of apology in my heart.
It’s reaping what you sow. Blame your own head for not being a stone head.
Sssss-.
Like that, I came down from the air together with the backward-falling Imugi.
Looking closely, the Imugi’s body wasn’t just falling backward; its size was also shrinking.
“Can it adjust its size however it wants?”
I landed on the ground with a bit of doubt.
And when I came down to the ground and looked ahead, the Imugi hadn’t just shrunk its body size, but had completely returned to its human form.
“Awooo…”
“…”
The Imugi, having returned to the appearance of a young girl at some point, was clutching the crown of its head in pain.
Seeing that sight, I lowered my Aura / Gang Qi-imbued fist.
Of course, only its exterior was a young girl, and inside was a giant snake that had lived for hundreds of years, but…
Fuck, still, I’m not a psychopath, so I’m a bit reluctant to hit a kid.
That didn’t mean I had any intention of going easy on it, though.
Thinking I would draw my blade if push came to shove, I approached the guy who was still agonizing.
Step-.
“…Ugh!”
…Don’t be scared with such an innocent face, you bastard.
It makes me feel like a real bad guy.
“Phew…”
It seemed the Imugi wasn’t going to resist anymore. At this, I let out a sigh and spoke to the guy.
“Hey, you bastard. Didn’t I tell you I’d come find you if you went on a rampage in my Territory / Domain?”
“Ugh…”
When I tapped it with my foot, the Imugi shrank its body as if scared.
“Why did you attack the Ajaes here? To eat them?”
“H-Heok…!”
“It eats people…?”
Hearing my words, the Merchant Misters trembled as if surprised, but the Imugi shook its head as if Wronged.
“I-I don’t eat them…! I don’t eat people anymore…!”
“…”
Saying it doesn’t eat them anymore means it used to eat them in the past.
More than that, is it saying it won’t eat humans anymore because of what I said before?
Feeling a bit proud of it, I asked the guy for the reason again, but then…
“So tell me quickly. Why did you attack those Merchants?”
“That’s…, I-I was so hungry…”
…I was so surprised that I ended up drawing my blade again.
“As expected, this bastard really was trying to eat people.”
Shing-.
When I drew my blade and brought it to the Imugi’s neck as if to cut it, the Imugi desperately shook its head and denied it.
“N-No…! What I was trying to eat wasn’t a person…, no, not a human…!”
“Then what?”
“That…!”
Stretch-.
The young girl’s stubby arm stretched out toward something on the ground.
And that was…
“I-I was trying to eat that…”
“…”
…The lunch the Merchants had dropped on the ground in surprise while eating.
“I was so hungry…, I wanted to eat that…”
“…”
Saying that and tearing up, the Imugi’s appearance looked incredibly pitiful.
* * *
Still, I couldn’t just leave a starving kid alone…, so I brought the humanized Imugi into the Mountain Stronghold and got it some food.
I pondered for a moment whether I should only give it meat since it was an Imugi, or if there was something special an Imugi ate, but…
Chomp chomp.
…Making my worries pointless, the Imugi ate whatever I gave it well.
Chomp chomp.
…No, it ate too well.
Even considering that human form wasn’t its true body, it ate way too much.
“…”
“…”
Staring blankly at that sight, I asked Jeokyeom.
“Hey, Jeokyeom.”
“…Yes, Leader.”
“How many servings of food is that kid eating right now…?”
“Well…”
Jeokyeom, seemingly confused himself, calculated in his head for a moment before telling me.
“…It seems to be eating about three days' worth of rations for the entire personnel of our Muak Mountain Stronghold.”
“This gluttonous bitch…!”
Does the Imugi have no tact? If you’re getting a free meal at someone else’s house, you should eat a moderate amount and get up. Just how much is it stuffing its face?
I slowly gave the Imugi a hint by staring at it with cold eyes, but the Imugi didn’t notice and continued to demolish the food with its sharp, shark-like teeth.
At that sight, I asked the guy with a half-resigned feeling.
“No, if you were that hungry, you should have just caught and eaten a wild boar or something.”
“I tried to…, but this mountain is weird. There are no wild boars. I couldn’t find any at all.”
“Ah…”
Come to think of it, the most popular menu item at our Pavilion Rest Stop is Wild Boar Meat. Is that why they dried up?
Wondering if I should get some pigs from somewhere and release them on the mountain, I finished asking the Imugi.
“But why are you stuck here when I told you to go home? Is there a reason…?”
“Home… Home is too far away, so I don’t know where the path is. And we…, don’t necessarily cling to our home. Wherever we coil up, that place is our home.”
So why are you coiling up on our mountain?
I sighed and was slowly about to kick the guy out, but as if it noticed the signs, the Imugi stopped eating and turned its head toward me.
And then, making a pitiful expression once again, it spoke to me.
“S-So about that…, I want to live here…”
“Don’t give me that bull~shit.”
Naturally, I refused without asking or arguing.
Even without this, the money we earned decreased because of this Imugi bastard. Its food expenses wouldn’t be a joke either, so there was no reason for us to take it in.
Above all…
‘If this kid stays in our Green Forest for a long time, it’ll draw the aggro of the Heavenly Demon Cult.’
Because I stubbornly refused for those various reasons, the Imugi squeezed its eyes shut as if it couldn’t be helped and shouted loudly.
“I-I…! I can only live if I stay here…!”
“What are you talking about? Why does it have to be here…”
“And you too…”
When it continued speaking, the Imugi opened its tightly shut eyes again.
And in those eyes…
“…You can only live if I stay here.”
…Once again, they were filled with something that didn’t suit its young exterior.
At the Imugi’s sudden demeanor, I couldn’t help but flinch.
That didn’t mean I felt any Killing Intent from the Imugi.
Right now, the Imugi was…, not threatening me, but sincerely giving me advice.