Chapter 124
“Sniffle..! So noble..!”
“E, eee….”
“I’m sorry! I just can’t sully such a pure princess!”
“No, I’m really fine, though..?”
Bradamante suddenly started saying strange things and knelt before me, bawling her eyes out. Then she abruptly wiped away her tears and, still on one knee, put on a solemn expression. You could practically call it bipolar.
“Princess, I’ll wait for the day you summon me again.”
“B-Bradamante..?”
“Since Bradamante was only temporarily summoned through your Summon skill, that time limit will soon be up.”
“N-no way….”
I jumped to my feet and looked at Bradamante. Come to think of it, that was right. Bradamante had been urgently called in with the Summon skill, and the status window had said it was temporary.
“Bradamante! I’ll definitely summon you again as soon as possible!”
“Yes! Princess! I’ll be looking forward to it!”
After saying that, Bradamante slowly turned her gaze to the side. Suri, apparently having enjoyed fighting Bradamante after so long, sat on the floor and stared at her intently.
“….”
ㅡKiiit….
“Let’s run together again.”
ㅡFlash!
Bradamante disappeared in a wash of blue light. Clang, clatter—the metal parts fell to the ground, and the lance and engine, along with the slightly worn liquid fuel tank and the hollow, used-up magic stones inside, spilled out.
“H-Huh…. That young lady was a golem just now..?”
“No, do golems really come out that pretty these days?”
“That’s the problem, idiot. Her combat power is the real issue.”
“….”
Suri walked up to the scattered parts Bradamante had vanished into, pecked at them with her beak, then pressed the top of her head against them and rubbed against them over and over.
“Waaah!! Suri!! I’ll definitely, definitely bring your big sister back real, real soon—!!!”
ㅡKiiit
“Uuugh…. How am I supposed not to cry…. when you’re this sad….”
ㅡKiiit….
“Ah. You’re telling me to stop crying because it’s noisy? Got it. Sorry.”
* * * * *
After regrouping with the forensics guys who had been huddled up and shivering inside the watch post, and the veteran mage hunter who had been maintaining barrier magic for a while to protect them,
“Hey, did you enjoy coasting?”
“Hah…. What are you talking about? I’m completely out of mana and already downed three potions. I even made some pajeon over there, so try a bite if you want.”
“Ugh, seriously.”
It seemed they had their own thoughts on the matter too.
“It’s a hardship.”
“Ah, hardship.”
They said they’d been chugging mana potions, the kind that make your stomach feel nauseous if you drink too many. The forensic guys must have been scared of being trapped, because the moment the door opened they dashed out in a hurry.
“Pajeon? Come to think of it, is it past lunchtime? You even cooked?”
“Ah, no, kiddo…. That’s not it.”
“Princess. ‘Pajeon’ is a metaphor for the vomit you throw up and leave on the floor.”
“Ah….”
Apparently the problem wasn’t being locked up, but being stuck next to pajeon—(ugh, blegh). Anyway, the sky was bright and clear, and there wasn’t a single monster in sight.
“Then... let’s head back quickly. This was a bigger deal than I expected. The investigation is finished, right?”
“Ah, yes! It’s finished. You can head back now.”
“Hey, Joo Jeong-hye. Do you know how hard this kid fought for us?”
Even as we headed toward the yellow pillar of light, the hunter uncles kept piling on stories about my exploits until my cheeks were burning. Still, it felt good.
ㅡSwoooosh….
“Ha, finally getting out.”
The veteran hunters exhaled in relief as they stood in front of the portal, and Grandpa Galahad laughed heartily, kwahaha.
ㅡGrrr
“Dangdang, it’s heavy, isn’t it? Thanks for carrying the bags?”
ㅡGrrr….
The luggage was put back into the bag, and Dangdang carried it. It felt kind of weird to have Suri carry it.
Everyone was safe, and there wasn’t anything left behind. What a relief—this godawful crap-fart dungeon. Why is it called Silent Laboratory? The forensic guys said it was probably because the last Orders Guild colluded with a research company to jack up the price and deliberately gave it a weird name.
It wasn’t completely silent, and it wasn’t a laboratory either.
ㅡFlash!
As we stepped out through the portal, countless camera shutters started clicking. With flashes going off left and right, I got to experience that celebrity treatment you only see on the internet.
“Eek.”
“Princess, I’ll take your hand. Please close your eyes.”
“Y-yes….”
With this many cameras, Dangdang’s electronic photo-jamming was useless. We walked along the path laid out like a red carpet, climbed into the ride Nova had prepared, and the forensic team split off into a separate vehicle.
Since it was a mountainous area, the roads were rough, but on the way back I conked out so hard I don’t remember a single thing.
When I woke up, we were already at the Nova Guild building, and it was almost evening before I came to.
“Ugh, where is this…. Who am I….”
“Princess, you’re awake.”
“Ah, Ophelia.”
“It’s dinnertime. Are you hungry?”
“M-mayor!? Have I gotten that famous..?! But to run for mayor I’d need campaign funds too…. And I’d have to work an insane amount….”
“...A-are you hungry?”
“My stomach’s growling like crazy.”
Grandpa Galahad, Minyum, and Suri must have gone back to the forge. Ophelia even lifted Grandpa Galahad’s beer limit, telling him to rest easy for a few days.
“Ah, Eve! You’re up? Hungry? Want to go get something to eat?”
“Chaerin unnie! Is everyone else okay too?”
“Everyone’s injuries have healed, and there’s no problem. They’re all eating right now.”
“Hee, that’s a relief.”
Anyway, it seemed the matter had ended well. Chaerin unnie, Ophelia, and I headed off to eat the Nova HQ staff meal. Dangdang was by my side, still sound asleep and snoring away.
“Hmmm..! Didn’t I do something pretty huge today..!”
At times like this, what you definitely need to see is the gallery bros’ reactions..! With just a meal and the gallery bros’ reactions, I could eat fifteen hundred bowls.
[ㅇㅇ : Today’s Sarap investigation team.jpg
(photo)
‘That’ Nova lineup from back then, damn. But having the gallery star in there is ridiculously cute lol]
-Ellel : But seriously, who the hell is that gigantic old man over there?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ : Isn’t he a foreign hunter? There’s no info out, so nobody knows ㅇㅇ
ㄴ Ellel : What do you mean there’s suddenly a foreign hunter in Nova’s lineup?
-RamzcabilGOA : Isn’t that old man’s photo edited? What the hell is that build lol
ㄴ Yanggigeon : That size looks like he’d be about 3 meters tall, for real
-ㅇㅇ : But why does the number of people look so high? Doesn’t seem like 12
ㄴ ㅇㅇ : Isn’t it because they included summons?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ : No, there really are just a lot of people
-Yubuyasking : Haven’t seen that Gundam in a while
ㄴ ㅇㅇ : Is that the one who sliced off the Sphinx’s neck at Ansan Hwangneung back then? Seeing him in person, he’s huge too
-Melgaegurim : Damn, what is this cool-beauty maid? I’m dying
ㄴ ㅇㅇ : She really could kill you
ㄴ Melgaegurim : Why you gotta be scary
ㄴ ㅇㅇ : That’s what cool-beauty girls are like
-ㅇㅇ : But what’s that huge wolf? I don’t think it was there on the way in
ㄴ Gedrong : Must be a summon
“Uuung….”
It feels like there are more comments about our golems and that sort of thing than about me. Of course, talking about the golems is good for me too, but… that’s not the vibe..!
“Tch. Those guys.”
[Inseng-an-mang-het-da: Hey, I worked like crazy today
Please hurry up and praise me]
-ㅇㅇ : What was it like inside?
ㄴ Inseng-an-mang-het-da : Not telling you
-Maekhaemtong : Did you have fun?
ㄴ Inseng-an-mang-het-da : I said I worked;;
ㄴ Maekhaemtong : You watched from the side while the adults worked, huh
ㄴ Inseng-an-mang-het-da : Hey;?
-Ellel : What is that old man’s identity?
ㄴ Inseng-an-mang-het-da : He’s my grandfather, duhㅡㅡ
ㄴ Ellel : For real????
ㄴ Gedrong : Is that for real??
ㄴ Husta : Is that really true?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ : No cap
ㄴ Gyahong : @ㅇㅇ What kind of way is that to talk to our princess, you damn bastard
ㄴ ㅇㅇ : @Gyahong Shit, I picked the wrong guy to mess with
ㄴ Kim Heukgan : Those genes are insanely good, for real
ㄴ Yanggigeon : @Kim Heukgan Didn’t the genes disappear? The gallery star is way too small
“Mwahaha... No, how am I small anywhere..!?”
I’m going to grow to 200 meters someday, just you wait..! And not one of these punks even gave me a single compliment!
“Princess, please eat first.”
“Ah, yup.”
* * * * *
A few days later.
The investigation results on the former Sarap, now renamed Invaded Outpost, were publicly released in full. Things like the internal policies, the types of monsters that appear, and the difficulty.
Of course, since we’d only gone as far as the 10th floor, this still didn’t tell us everything, but at least one thing was clear.
“A+ difficulty? That’s insanely hard….”
It had been classified as A+-rank difficulty, so despite being a medieval-type dungeon, which is unpopular worldwide, it drew enormous attention.
And as for the reward Nova sent over, the amount was….
“One, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand, hundred thousand, million, ten million, one hundred million…. three billion!?”
“That is correct.”
An utterly enormous sum of 3 billion. That’s enough to just buy a Gangnam apartment outright.
We’d received three-fifths of the amount proposed by the Dungeon Association, and apparently it was approved thanks to the loud voices of the veteran hunters inside.
The Nova management and its parent company, Oseong Group, were skeptical, but the hunters who had gone with me weren’t just anybody—they were seasoned enough to have deep roots inside Nova. Those veteran hunters got it approved by saying, “If you don’t give me this money, I’m quitting Nova!”
“Hooe….”
“And thanks to that, we were able to prepare a little faster.”
“Sniff sniff, thank goodness.”
Right now I’m at the forge. The reason, you ask....
“Suri! Aren’t you excited!”
ㅡKiiit….
“Mmm-hmm, if you like it, say you like it~”
To summon Bradamante for real again—the kingdom’s cavalry captain and Suri’s original owner. This time it would take as long as 80 hours, but that’s fine. I don’t have any schedule anyway.
The metal we used last time, the engine, the liquid fuel, and the mana stones. Since the mana stone consumption was so severe, we had to get new ones, which took a while.
And because manifesting her through the Summon skill also drains a huge amount of my mana, she’s supposed to be summoned in a much stronger state than when I make her as a golem like this. A shame, but maybe she won’t end up as strong as the version she showed in the dungeon. Still, she was a little overpowered, what with swatting wyverns like flies.
Still, I’m happy. She’s a cavalry captain, after all. And she can help cure Suri’s depression too, so it’s a total win.
“Phew….”
“Take your time, Princess.”
“Kwahaha! This is great, Suri!”
ㅡKiiit….
ㅡClack..!
ㅡBeep-beep-beep!!
Under everyone’s hopeful eyes, I slowly reached my hand out over the materials.
“Golem creation..! Cavalry Captain Bradamante! Answer the princess’s call ㅡ !!”
ㅡFlash!!
With a bright burst of light, the materials turned into a gooey, sludgy mass and mixed together in round lumps. Before long, the materials transformed into perfect octahedral crystals, which floated up into the air and slowly drifted toward my hand.
ㅡTing!
With a clear, ringing sound, Bradamante’s... egg? Whatever.
[ The fragment of the fallen kingdom has reached maximum completion. Attempting to synthesize it into a new form. {Remaining time : 79:59:54} ]
“Hehe, I’m glad to see you again.”
ㅡKiiit….
“You’re happy too, right, Suri?”
I wish time would pass quickly.