Chapter 22
“…So I was wondering if we should give her the one remaining goblin heart.”
“Oh, to Isabel?”
“Her name is Isabel?”
“Mm-hmm. More precisely, it’s Kim Isabel. …Oh, ‘Kim-i’ isn’t the surname—‘Kim’ is the surname, so don’t get confused, Seonho, okay?”
Judging by the way she said that, she must have already gotten confused once herself. Classic Cha Eun-joo.
The fact that she had even exchanged names while I’d left her with Eun-joo for a moment suggested that they had talked to some extent. Kim Isabel was pathologically afraid only of men, after all, so she could converse normally with other women.
“Anyway, if you want to be precise, Isabel over there also contributed by drawing the monsters all the way here. It happened by chance, but she did put in some effort, so it’d feel a little wrong for her to go back without getting anything.”
“Seonho really is kind…. I didn’t even think that far….”
“By the way, where’s the companion she came with? Surely a Recovery student wouldn’t enter a dungeon alone.”
“Ah, well. Apparently there was an accident just before they entered the dungeon….”
Apparently, she had lost hold of the hands of her two companions, a Spear Arts student and a Support student, just before entering and had been transferred alone. Up to this point, everything was following the original story exactly.
The traitor was probably Min Ye-won of Myeongwol Hunter Academy. I had already confirmed that she had been with Kim Isabel in the waiting room earlier, so there was no doubt about it.
‘I’ll deal with Min Ye-won’s punishment separately later.’
In a broad sense, I had gotten the chance to win over Kim Isabel thanks to her, but that was separate from the fact that she had to pay for putting my woman in danger.
That was that. For now, my priority was building up Isabel’s favorability while she was isolated inside the dungeon.
No matter how afraid of men Kim Isabel was, she wouldn’t say she wanted to abandon Cha Eun-joo and me and wander around the dungeon alone.
“Then I’ll go tell Isabel. I’ll say we have one goblin heart left and can fill her materials pouch if she needs it.”
“I-I’ll go!”
“Why?”
“I heard earlier that she isn’t used to men, so it’s hard for her to talk to them.”
“Ahh, so that’s why she couldn’t properly respond when I spoke to her earlier.”
Although I already knew that, I nodded as though I had just learned it.
“Oh, and she asked me to thank Seonho for saving her. She said it was hard to tell you herself.”
“I didn’t do anything, though. Eun-joo, you killed all the goblins.”
“E-even so, Isabel was the one Seonho found first. Besides, I can’t really fight without your buff, Seonho.”
“Sure, let’s say that’s how it is. Anyway, go tell her. One heart for her materials pouch, and… Ah, since she doesn’t have a partner anyway, maybe we should give her some extra materials too?”
“We don’t collect brains or ears separately, either. Including the heart, we could fill about seven slots at once, couldn’t we? Even if they’re somewhat cheaper materials, that’s better than leaving it completely empty.”
“Ah, you’re right! Then I’ll ask her about that too and come back!”
“Okay. Go ask her and come back. Bring Kim Isabel’s materials pouch when you return, too.”
“Okay!”
…In truth, because so many people had dropped out of this practical exam, Recovery and Support students were practically guaranteed to pass just by entering the dungeon.
There was no harm in building up some favorability through these little things.
⁎ ⁎ ⁎
“Have you found the target?”
「Yes. We just found her.」
“Good. Where is she now?”
「She is currently stationary in Area 14.」
“Lure her to Area 25 by driving monsters toward her. We’ll capture her there.”
「Um… but a problem has come up.」
“What problem?”
「The target has made contact with another party of applicants. One of them is a mage.」
“So what? Drive some orcs toward them and force them apart. If they’re only at applicant level, a few orcs will come out and they’ll drop her and run on their own.”
「The thing is…the mage appears to be quite skilled. Judging by how she used Shadow Ball with multiple simultaneous incantations from the start, I’m not sure she’ll run just because they’re orcs….」
“……Tsk.”
…She certainly was lucky. After I had gone to the trouble of isolating her and sending her into the dungeon, she had met another applicant and was receiving help from them.
I had wanted to capture her without attracting attention if possible, but if I wasted any more time here, it would interfere with the plan.
“You have the summoning magic circle I gave you for emergencies, right?”
「Yes. I have it.」
“Summon it and lure it to Area 25. It’s a monster designed to track the target’s divine power, so it’ll move on its own.”
「Is that okay? If signs of monster summoning appear, won’t Cheonmu Academy notice?」
“Even if we delay like this, it’s only a matter of time before we’re found out. Move to secure and retrieve the target as quickly as possible.”
「Understood.」
The people in that other party were the ones who ended up suffering.
Well, if they didn’t want to get dragged into this, they shouldn’t have taken an interest in someone else’s property in the first place.
⁎ ⁎ ⁎
“A-are you sure it’s okay for me to accept this…? Won’t I cause you two any trouble….”
“Ah, no. Seonho was the one who suggested it first, and I don’t really intend to oppose him.”
“But if my presence lowers your practical-exam scores….”
“Making full use of the allotted time is probably also an evaluation criterion for the practical exam. …That’s what Seonho said.”
“Still, I really didn’t do anything at all in hunting the goblins….”
“You did your part just by driving the monsters right up to us. …Seonho said that too, so you don’t need to worry!”
The three of us moved to another area after finishing dismantling the goblins.
Kim Isabel’s materials pouch had gone from zero filled slots to seven in one go, and she kept asking in a worried voice whether it was really all right. To reassure her, Cha Eun-joo repeatedly told her not to worry.
Because Isabel couldn’t speak directly to a man, Eun-joo had to work hard relaying my words the entire time.
I wondered whether the ‘Potion of Courage’ affected communication skills to some extent; it was rather fascinating to see Cha Eun-joo chatting so comfortably with Kim Isabel, whom she had only met today.
‘There’s no harm in getting friendly with each other from now on.’
Eventually, both of them would be crawling beneath my cock anyway.
If I wanted to have them do something like fellatio on either side of a single cock, it would be best to eliminate as much of their aversion to each other as possible.
It was around then, as I wandered around the dungeon in search of Han Sora (+ Seo Woojin), the final piece of this event.
‘Grrrrrrr…!!’
…An ominous, unidentified howl began to echo from nearby.
‘Looks like it’s starting soon.’
A heavy, deep howl that carried far.
It was obviously the howl of a monster making its presence fully known, so not only I but also Cha Eun-joo and Kim Isabel failed to hide their tension.
“W-what…? Did you hear that just now, Seonho?”
“…Yeah, I heard it.”
“Could it be an orc…? But do orcs make a sound like that…?”
“I don’t think it’s an orc…. They didn’t make sounds like this when we dealt with the orcs earlier, did they…?”
“Yeah, that’s right. I’ve never heard a sound like this before, either.”
…I still hadn’t found Han Sora, so this might be a potentially dangerous situation.
I kept myself ready to run at any moment and quickened my pace. I held tightly onto Cha Eun-joo’s hand in case I lost her.
“Let’s get out of here quickly for now. It sounds like it might be a dangerous monster.”
“Yeah….”
“……”
I held Cha Eun-joo’s hand, while Kim Isabel held her other hand, and we began to jog lightly.
‘Grrrrrrrr!!’
The howl that had sounded fairly distant just moments ago had drawn much closer.
“Damn it, run!”
“…Y-yeah!”
“……!”
Encountering an Owlbear with our current group would be dangerous.
Cha Eun-joo’s magic could apparently hold the Owlbear down temporarily, but she lacked the power to kill it outright. To defeat the monster completely, we absolutely needed Han Sora’s arrows and ability.
My ability was not suited for use against monsters, and neither was Kim Isabel’s healing ability.
Unless we were fully prepared to face it, we had to run for now. Protecting the heroines’ lives was naturally more important than earning their favor.
-Patter, patter, patter!
“Haa, haa, haa….”
-Thud, thud, thud!
The sound of the three of us running through the forest path, along with the loud footsteps of something approaching from somewhere a short distance away.
-Crack, crack.
…And whenever the sound of something as thick as a tree snapping effortlessly closed in around us, my heart pounded.
I had expected something like this to happen if I moved around with Kim Isabel, but it was impossible to stop fear from seeping into my heart once we were actually in the middle of it.
Even I, who had known this was coming, found it terrifying. How badly must Cha Eun-joo and Kim Isabel be trembling inside?
-Squeeze.
I gripped Cha Eun-joo’s hand a little more tightly as she ran beside me, making sure I wouldn’t lose her no matter what.
“Let’s get out into an open area first! I don’t know what it is, but we seem slower in the forest!”
“O-okay…!”
In the original story, the place where Han Sora and Seo Woojin had been was also a broad plain spacious enough that the battle with the Owlbear would not be obstructed.
Of course, I wasn’t gambling solely on that. The plain was also more advantageous than the forest for escaping from the monster.
If we could somehow reach the plain, or even just happen to run into Han Sora…
-Plod, plod….
“Haa, haa, haaa…ugh!!”
…Oh no.
Come to think of it, I hadn’t considered Cha Eun-joo’s stamina.
Kim Isabel was not quite as much of a shut-in as Cha Eun-joo, so she had some stamina, but Eun-joo was so severely unathletic that she found any physical activity difficult.
On top of that, running with those enormous breasts was no small ordeal. I should have taken that into account from the beginning.
‘Grrrrrrrrrr!!’
“Haa, u-urp…!! U-urp, ngh…!!”
The Owlbear’s howl had drawn even closer, and Cha Eun-joo had begun retching from exhaustion.
We couldn’t waste any more time here. Our top priority was meeting Han Sora somehow, and if Cha Eun-joo slowed us down, it would be fatal for all of us.
…I felt sorry for Cha Eun-joo, but there was no helping it.
「Suggestion : Adrenaline Explosion ※ Target : Lee Seonho」
-Flash.
“…U, uhh?!”
“Sorry, Cha Eun-joo. I’ll carry you like this until we get out of the forest.”
Cha Eun-joo was startled when I suddenly scooped her up with both arms in the middle of our run.
I had been slightly worried that she would be heavy because of her breasts, but perhaps because she was short, she was manageable to carry while running.
“Haaah?! S-Seonho?!”
“Wrap your arms around my neck and hold on tight. Right now, getting out of here as quickly as possible is what matters.”
“O-okay, okay! W-we can’t help it right now, so…yeah…!”
After picking up the flustered Cha Eun-joo in a princess carry, I hurried out of the forest with her.
The strength training I had consistently received from Choi Mari was finally shining at the crucial moment.