Chapter 16
In Leon’s world, ranged weapons were cowardly tools used only by the lowborn.
They were utterly unacceptable to knights, who prized honor. Only peasant levies and free soldiers with no need for honor used such things.
Of course, he was a born commander and an undefeated general.
He had used archers, catapults, and cannons countless times.
But ranged weapons had their limits. There was such a thing as draw weight, and the same went for firearms.
Limits to gunpowder, limits to firepower... In the end, they were weapons with a fixed maximum output.
But swords and spears were different.
Whether you swung them or threw them, it all depended on your personal ability.
If you couldn’t split a boulder with a sword, that meant you weren’t skilled enough as a knight.
If your cavalry charge couldn’t smash through an enemy formation, then even against pikemen, a truly fine knight could break through.
In the end, to raise your honor and fame, you had to achieve it through your own strength, not by relying on weapons like bows.
That was why, to the Grail Knights chosen by the Grail after completing their quests, ranged weapons were dishonorable tools that admitted their own lack of prowess.
“Hey, seriously, is something wrong with you?!”
Of course, that wasn’t something a modern person could understand.
“Ha ha ha, what an interesting fellow.”
Oh Kangtae laughed it off, but the other party members didn’t. Each of them started to say something, but the Hunter Association employee hurriedly called out.
“It’s about time we got going!”
“Grr...”
Leon’s role still hadn’t been decided. Gu Daeseong worried this test might be a disaster as he followed the Association employee’s lead.
“How does this test work?”
The Association employee answered Gu Daeseong’s question kindly.
“Basically, you just have to hunt fifty kobolds. Gnolls may also appear in the field, but I’ll step in if things get dangerous.”
The employee said they only needed to hunt kobolds, but Gu Daeseong wanted to earn a higher score.
Naturally, hunting gnolls or the boss monster would earn them more points, and the areas where they appeared were fixed.
“Everyone, I know a spot. How about we go there to hunt?”
“You have more experience than we do, so...”
“This old man doesn’t mind.”
“...”
Three of them agreed, while Leon remained silent. Gu Daeseong led the party toward the forest, planning to leave the meadow behind.
The rookies, Taehoon and Nayeon, tilted their heads as they looked in the direction he was leading them.
“Daeseong, I can see a settlement over there at the edge of the meadow. There should be a lot of them there, right?”
“We shouldn’t approach a settlement recklessly. There aren’t many of us, and we could get surrounded by a large group of kobolds or gnolls.”
Gu Daeseong was a veteran who had challenged the Seoul Station Gate ten times.
Though this Gate was reserved for testing and he couldn’t come often, kobolds and gnolls appeared frequently in other Gates, too.
“We’re going to take on the kobolds living in the cave.”
Gu Daeseong explained the advantages of fighting in a cave.
First, the cramped space and narrow, one-way passage meant there was no risk of being surrounded. Then he plucked a blade of grass he’d spotted along the way and said,
“We’ll set fire to the grass around here and send the smoke inside. That’ll make the cave kobolds easy to take down.”
“Ohh~”
“An experienced Hunter really is different.”
Even as his party members praised him, Gu Daeseong smiled bitterly.
What was so impressive about coming to a test Gate ten times?
If his rank had gone up, the Gate he was tested in would have changed, too. C-ranks were tested at the Samjeon Station Gate, and B-ranks at the 63 Building Gate.
He’d studied and researched every strategy, imagining the day he’d enter a higher-ranked Gate. But all he ever got to see was the Seoul Station Gate.
‘I have to rank up this time. How long am I going to stay a perennial D-rank?’
He wanted to get stronger. He was sick to death of being called a perennial D-rank.
“There are kobolds up ahead!”
Just then, Shin Taehoon, who was at the front as their tank, stopped. But they’d been so loud that the kobolds had spotted them, too.
“Grrr...!”
Kobolds were humanoid monsters with doglike heads. About the height of an elementary school student, they were the lowest-ranking monsters, on a par with goblins.
“Taehoon, block them with your shield!”
“Yes, sir!”
The kobolds’ charge was simple. Direct and straightforward. They tended to rely on a pure contest of strength.
In that case, unless they were vastly outnumbered, the Hunters would win overwhelmingly.
“Kyaaaah!”
The kobold charging straight at them crumpled when Nayeon’s arrow struck it.
The moment one of their comrades went down, the others’ attention shifted to the archer. The kobold that turned toward her slammed headfirst into the shield Taehoon held up, then fell over with a bloody nose.
“What a bunch of idiots.”
Taehoon stabbed his sword into the fallen kobold. Just then, another kobold threw itself at him, startling him so badly that he toppled over.
“Aah...!”
“Taehoon!”
Just as the kobold lunged for him, Daeseong’s sword pierced its neck. Warm blood spilled over Taehoon’s face.
“Don’t let your guard down! They may be weak, but they’re quick!”
Five kobolds remained. But Nayeon had already drawn her bow, and her arrow pierced a second kobold.
“Hmm.”
Old Man Oh Kangtae filled in for the broken front line, punching the kobolds in the face with his gauntleted fists. His jabs were quick.
“Yelp!”
“Yelp?!”
The kobolds’ faces caved in. As Daeseong helped Taehoon up and rejoined the fight, the kobolds fell one after another.
“Phew...”
“S-sorry. I made a mistake.”
Taehoon apologized for falling in surprise and breaking the front line. Daeseong waved a hand and encouraged him.
“It’s all right. Everyone makes mistakes at first.”
He’d made plenty of mistakes against kobolds himself. Compared to his own rookie days, Taehoon’s mistake barely even counted as one.
“Nayeon took down two, too, and thanks to you, sir, nobody got hurt. You all did great.”
He’d been uneasy at first, but this wasn’t a bad party. With one exception.
“Hey, foreigner. You... didn’t do anything while we were fighting, did you?”
“Yeah. You just stood there watching with your hands behind your back! Mister from the Association, is that allowed?”
With Leon offering no response, the complaints were aimed at him. They wanted to kick him out and bring in another party member more than anything.
“Haha... I’ll take that into account, so please don’t worry.”
He meant Leon would receive the lowest score while the others got bonus points. Daeseong needed every party member he could get, but the bonus points made it seem like a decent trade after all.
“In that case... let’s go farther in. We should reach the cave soon.”
As he’d said, they walked farther through the forest and came upon a cave.
“There really is a cave.”
“Hmm... Don’t tell me we have to go in and fight? I hate dark places like that.”
Daeseong wanted to tell Nayeon she’d never be able to work as a Hunter if she felt that way, but he swallowed the words and answered with a smile.
“No. We’re going to ‘clear’ the cave.”
“Clear it?”
“A Hunter’s job is to clear Gates. Everyone, gather up the leaves around us. We’ll set them on fire and send the smoke into the cave.”
“Oh! You’re going to suffocate them with smoke?”
“Wow~ That’s amazing. Then we just have to take down the ones that come running out.”
Exactly. From Gu Daeseong’s experience, the cave was home to more than twenty kobolds.
When clearing a Gate, it was important to conserve stamina. He could kill over twenty kobolds with almost no loss of stamina, so he’d relied on this method ever since his sixth attempt.
As they planned their strategy and gathered fallen leaves and weeds, he spotted Leon standing with his arms crossed and his eyes closed.
“Hey, stop lazing around and give us a hand, will you?”
Leon opened his eyes. His blue gaze pierced Daeseong.
“Do I look to you as though I’m idling?”
What else would it be...? But Daeseong couldn’t bring himself to say that outright.
He couldn’t explain it with logic or reason, but he had a strange instinct that if he said another word, something terrible might happen.
“Hmm... A-anyway! You’ll be getting the lowest score, so just know that!”
Avoiding Leon’s gaze as best he could, that was all Daeseong could manage.
“We’ve gathered them all!”
“Should we use a lighter to start the fire?”
“This old man has a lighter. And don’t get the wrong idea—I quit smoking a long time ago.”
They were just about to light the kindling with the lighter.
“Do you truly believe that is the best you can do?”
Leon suddenly spoke up.
“Hey, what’s with you? You haven’t helped us at all until now!”
“I asked if that is the best you can do. Do not make me ask twice.”
“...I’ve used this method three times. And it worked all three times.”
“So it’s based on experience. Not bad. But how can you rely on experience alone when your experience is so shallow?”
“What the hell have you been going on about this whole time...?”
For a moment, Daeseong wondered if he’d done something wrong, but he didn’t know a better way than this.
“Ah, forget it. You’re a spring chicken. What do you know about experience...?”
He lit the fire and used the large leaves around them to push smoke into the cave.
-Kyaaaaaah!
Roars and thudding footsteps echoed from inside the cave.
“Th-they’re coming!”
As Taehoon shouted with his shield raised, everyone prepared for battle. But when the first group of kobolds burst out of the cave, they stopped at the flames blocking the entrance.
“Now!”
Nayeon’s arrow flew, while the rocks thrown by Old Man Oh and Daeseong caved in the kobolds’ faces.
-Kghk!
-Khaah!
The kobolds fell one after another. After taking down five in an instant, Daeseong cheered inwardly.
‘Just as I thought! My method was right!’
The next group of kobolds rushed out. Perhaps to avoid suffocating in the smoke, they came stumbling out, gasping for breath and showing signs of dizziness.
“Good! Let’s keep taking them down!”
Just as they felled the seventh kobold,
“Grrr...!”
A howl that sounded similar, yet different. Daeseong doubted his own ears for a moment.
“A gnoll?”
He turned toward the sound from the side and saw a gnoll watching them, armed with armor, a shield... and a one-handed axe.
Its head was that of a cruel hyena, and it was a hulking brute one and a half times the size of an ordinary gnoll...
“A Gnoll Captain?!”
The Gnoll Captain was the boss of the Seoul Station Gate, a fixture of the place. Its monster rank was at least C. It was more than a match for them.
“N-no! Why now of all times?”
At that moment, Daeseong remembered what Leon had said ten minutes earlier.
‘Do you truly believe that is the best you can do?’
Hadn’t it sounded as if he’d anticipated this? But how?
“D-Daeseong! What do we do?”
At Nayeon’s panicked shout, Daeseong’s mind raced.
“Sir, you and Nayeon, hold off the kobolds coming out of the cave! Taehoon and I will handle the Gnoll Captain!”
They needed an experienced Hunter on each side. More than anything, a D-rank Hunter fighting a Gnoll Captain without a frontline was suicide.
Though Taehoon was a rookie, all they could do was hope that his shield would let him hold out, even for a little while.
“Kraaaaaah!”
The gnoll charged with a roar. Taehoon stepped forward and raised his shield, but his legs were visibly trembling at the monster’s howl.
He wouldn’t be able to block anything with a stance like that!
“Taehoon! Get a hold of yourself...!”
Before Daeseong could finish, the gnoll swung its axe and smashed Taehoon’s shield. He couldn’t withstand even one blow; he dropped the shield and fell over.
‘Damn it!’
The Gnoll Captain raised its axe to strike Taehoon. Daeseong launched himself forward, trusting his momentum to save him.
“Grr...!”
But the Gnoll Captain easily stopped his charge. Daeseong’s longsword couldn’t break through its shield head-on, and the monster kicked him as he came to a halt.
“Gah...!”
Daeseong’s body folded at the waist as the air rushed out of him. The Gnoll Captain’s axe slammed into his side.
He tumbled pathetically across the ground. The impact his armor hadn’t absorbed made it feel as if his insides were bursting with pain.
“N-no...!”
Just then, he saw Taehoon frozen in terror, the shadow of a huge axe falling across his face.
Had the others not finished dealing with the kobolds yet? Why wasn’t the Association employee stepping in?
He couldn’t dwell on it. Forgetting even to grab his sword, Daeseong raised his shield.
“Taehoon! Get back!”
Using Taehoon’s shield, he blocked the descending axe. The blow carried an unimaginable weight, buckling his knees.
“Ghk!”
But he held on. In that instant, instinctively adjusting the shield’s angle, he deflected the axe to the side.
“Grr...?”
When its weapon slid off, the Gnoll Captain let out an irritated howl and raised its axe again.
Could he block a second blow? If Taehoon could just come to his senses and counterattack, they might still manage somehow.
The axe came down, and Daeseong gritted his teeth—
-...!
The clang he’d expected never came. Gu Daeseong’s pupils widened as he watched the Gnoll Captain’s axe without closing his eyes.
“Well, that’s a passing grade.”
The Gnoll Captain’s axe trembled as Leon held it between his fingers.
“Y-you saved me...”
“Do it again.”
“What... did you say?”
His reactions are slow. His thoughts, too. Back in my day, we had to risk our lives on our journeys of training without any kind of kindhearted help...
“Raise your shield. Face him one more time. If you managed it once, why can’t you do it twice?”
“???”
As Leon let go of the gnoll’s axe and urged him on, both Gu Daeseong and the Gnoll Captain tilted their heads in confusion.