episode_0095

Brin.

For one of Ret’s harem members to suddenly appear and ask for help. I thought we’d gone our separate ways after the battle on the fifth floor, but I was wrong.

A confusing situation, setting aside the happy dungeon exploration.

“To suddenly pop up and ask for help, what exactly…”

Jeong Yushin trailed off and shook his head.

He didn’t have time to talk to this woman right now.

“Wait. First, I need to check on the condition of the party members. Wait here.”

Jeong Yushin got up and approached his backpack.

He opened the backpack and took out a white cloth and a small leather pouch.

He opened the leather pouch and took out black powder.

“Wh…what is that?”

Brin, who had approached unnoticed, asked.

“Charcoal powder. I heard it’s useful for getting rid of poison. I’m not sure if it’s true.”

He had vaguely heard about it during chemical warfare training in the past, so he prepared it.

Will it work?

I don’t know. I have to try.

He sprinkled plenty of fine charcoal powder on the cloth and wiped his body.

He carefully wiped away the fluid, paying attention to every gap in his armor.

The white cloth quickly became dirty, showing how much poison he had been covered in from the fierce battle just now.

He carefully wiped himself from his helmet to his toes.

He was worried that his party members, who were in close contact with him, might get poisoned even if he was okay.

After detoxifying himself, he took out an antidote and potion and approached Maas.

Maas’s face was a mess.

His face, swollen from being punched, was covered in monster fluid and the black liquid he had vomited up during the possession.

He took out a new cloth, sprinkled charcoal powder on it, wiped away the dirt from Maas’s face, slightly opened his mouth, and fed him the antidote.

Maas made a strange groan and gulped down the antidote Jeong Yushin gave him.

He took off his gloves, put potion on his hands, and smeared it all over Maas’s face.

“Gheeeeek.”

Maas groaned and twisted his body.

“It’s a recovery potion. Drink it.”

Finally, he poured the remaining potion into Maas’s mouth.

Only then did Maas stop wheezing and start breathing comfortably.

Jeong Yushin got up and approached the dwarf priest.

Iron Mask was diagnosing the dwarf’s condition. He seemed to be having an easier time than with Maas since he was only wearing his underwear.

“Is Kubo okay?”

“I’m okay.”

Iron Mask was asked, but Kubo answered.

Jeong Yushin scanned the dwarf priest’s body up and down.

He didn’t have a hobby of appreciating the dwarf’s semi-nudity, but he had no choice but to concentrate since it was a matter of life and death.

‘Amazing.’

It was clearly a spider the size of a person with sharp teeth, but how could he be unharmed?

Is this the ability of the Naturalist engraving?

There was a reason why he went around naked. It was a defense stronger than most armor.

“Kubo, how come you don’t have a single scratch on your body?”

“I do have some.”

Kubo turned his body and showed his back.

“There is.”

There was a small wound near Kubo’s nape.

There were two small holes, as if he had been bitten by sharp teeth.

It was small, but there was a possibility of being poisoned.

“You should drink the antidote just in case. I have some potion left, do you need it?”

“I’m fine. I have both, so I’ll take care of it myself.”

“Okay.”

Jeong Yushin straightened his bent back and faced Iron Mask.

“Scar, I’m sorry. You were fighting a tough battle alone.”

Jeong Yushin shook his head. He didn’t want to hear the leader’s apology anymore.

“It was something I had to do as a vanguard. Rather, I’m sorry. I’m ashamed that our party’s priest was injured, even if it wasn’t a major injury.”

“Scar, aren’t you being too modest? I think it’s something to be proud of.”

Iron Mask looked around and said.

The forest path was a mess.

The corpses of mushroom people, chopped up and torn, and the dug-up ground.

Toxic fluids and fungus-filled flesh were scattered on the trees and the road.

“It was nothing. It’s not like this is the first time I’ve experienced something like this. By the way, did you really cut the leather plate?”

At Jeong Yushin’s question, Iron Mask shook his head.

“No. I went partway and came back. No matter how right Priest Kubo’s words were, I judged it too dangerous to leave the party behind.”

Jeong Yushin nodded.

After cooling his hot head and thinking carefully, it didn’t make sense.

No matter how slowly they walked, Jeong Yushin’s party had been moving forward for hours.

The expectation that he would have arrived at that watchtower in just a few tens of minutes was close to delusional.

Wait.

“…”

His spine tingled.

He immediately turned his body, grabbed Kubo’s shoulders, and shook him.

“Kubo, you said the possession was lifted?! Iron Mask said he didn’t cut the leather plate? Why are you just listening?”

“Wh-what?! Bu…but the possession was lifted.”

The dwarf priest, Kubo, wore a blank expression for a moment, then hardened his face and asserted.

What is it?

Jeong Yushin looked at his fist.

‘Do I really have a talent for exorcism?’

Possession released by punching.

Is my pure life residing in my fist?

His heart was pounding.

“Kubo, did I really drive out the evil spirit?”

“Yes…it’s hard to believe, but it’s true. How could a barbarian…?”

Kubo had a dazed look on his face, as if he had been slapped in the cheek while sleeping.

“I am a bit holy.”

“…”

When Jeong Yushin shrugged and said that, the party members shut their mouths and just stared blankly at Jeong Yushin’s face.

Kubo opened his mouth.

“…But it’s strange. The ritual to drive out devils is only possible for priests. You’re not a priest, are you?”

“Kubo, why couldn’t you drive it out?”

“Because it’s difficult. I haven’t worshiped the Fire Spirit God for very long. And exorcism is a dangerous ritual in which the possessed person can lose their life. It requires a skilled person.”

Jeong Yushin crossed his arms.

“Wasn’t it because the evil spirit left because of my Sacred Weapon?”

“That’s not enough.”

Kubo said firmly.

Jeong Yushin slumped to the floor and took off his helmet.

“Then what is it?”

He asked, pouring water from a canteen into his eyes.

The lukewarm water washed away the poisonous liquid on his eyes and flowed down.

“Scar, have you ever consistently touched anything sacred?”

“For example?”

“Like a sacred object full of divine power?”

Jeong Yushin took a white towel and wiped his eyes clean.

After finishing all the work, he thought about it for a moment.

‘Divine power. Divine power.’

He took Mion’s class at the Great Earth Mother Temple. He also tutored next to her.

But that was all. There was nothing special. Mion had never told him to believe in the Great Earth Mother either.

‘A sacred object full of divine power?’

It was hard to grasp at all.

Did Mion secretly cast a sacred magic on him?

It might be possible if it were the kind priestess Mion.

But that was just in the realm of imagination.

It was a problem without a clear answer. Judging from the expression on the naked dwarf priest, it didn’t seem like something that could be solved right now.

Jeong Yushin swept back his sweat-soaked hair.

“Kubo, are you sure the evil spirit that possessed Maas is gone?”

“I’m sure. I can bet my life on it.”

Kubo’s expression was full of determination as he answered. He could have been more trustworthy if he wasn’t naked and only wearing his underwear.

“I understand.”

He decided to believe the priest’s words.

Jeong Yushin got up and looked down at Brin.

One of Ret’s harem party members.

A timid-looking woman with brownish hair who looked a little young.

“Your name was Brin, right? To be honest, to suddenly pop up and ask for help out of the blue. Do we look like such philanthropists? If you think we’ll listen to unreasonable demands just because we have a priest with us, you’re mistaken.”

“Th…that’s…”

Brin hesitated and couldn’t continue speaking. Jeong Yushin’s eyebrows furrowed.

“What? Isn’t it a request to save your party? As you can see, we just finished a battle…”

Brin interrupted Jeong Yushin’s words.

“Th…that’s not it. It’s a request to help ‘me’ only. Just take me out of here…please.”

What?

Jeong Yushin moved his mouth.

Is there a twist coming out here?

His head was dizzy, as if he had been hit in the back of the head with a blunt instrument.

“Wh…wh-what? Just help ‘you’? Just let us join our party?”

“Ye…yes. I won’t get in the way. Just let me follow you quietly.”

“Wh…weren’t you Ret’s girlfriend?”

Jeong Yushin asked cautiously.

“Sh…shit. D…do you think I have no taste?”

Brin suddenly swore and sped up.

“…”

All the party members, like Jeong Yushin, opened their mouths and stared at Brin.

He thought she was an introverted friend because she looked timid and stuttered.

He was terribly mistaken.

She was a realistic friend who said what she had to say.

“…If you didn’t like Ret, you didn’t have to form a party with him, did you?”

“I…I was deceived too.”

“By whom?”

“By the explorer’s guild guide. It was the explorer’s guild in the so…southern district, and they pushed me into this party with a bothered expression.”

“You could have said you didn’t want to. Was there a need to join?”

“I…I’m a timid person, so I’m not good at saying what’s on my mind.”

“…”

She’s saying everything she wants to say? It just seemed like she was a character who spat everything out without hiding anything. It seemed that this friend had some strange self-consciousness.

Jeong Yushin scratched his head.

‘I can’t think of anything to say.’

He thought he had never been defeated in terms of speaking skills while rolling around in the labyrinth city. But it was a misjudgment. It was the first time he had met a human being who made it impossible to say anything from the beginning.

Where the hell does a human like this come from?

He was so curious about her identity.

“So you want to come along? How do I trust you?”

“I…I’m Brin Caleone. I’m a student at the Labyrinth Academy.”

Jeong Yushin’s eyes widened.

The Labyrinth Academy?

The school that Darmeong briefly mentioned when he first tried to learn to write.

He heard that it cost a tremendous amount of money to attend for just one semester.

Several questions arose, but he suppressed them.

“Do you have a way to prove your identity?”

“He…here.”

Brin fidgeted inside her robe and handed over a gold badge.

Jeong Yushin took the badge and showed it to the party members.

“Is this authentic?”

“It’s authentic. She’s a student. She’ll be graduating soon, seeing as she’s a senior.”

Iron Mask nodded and said.

I see.

Next question.

“Why did you come here alone? What happened to Ret’s party members?”

Brin opened her mouth, but Iron Mask cut in.

“Now that we’ve confirmed her identity, let’s go to a safe place and hear the rest of the story.”

Jeong Yushin looked at Iron Mask.

It seemed like he was defending Brin. As if he were treating her like someone he already knew.

“I understand.”

Jeong Yushin put his helmet back on and approached Maas.

Maas, who had regained consciousness, rolled his eyes and looked at Jeong Yushin.

“Can you get up?”

Jeong Yushin asked.

“It’s a little difficult. I have no strength in my body.”

A hoarse voice leaked from Maas’s mouth.

“I’ll carry you on my back.”

“But what the hell happened? Where is this?”

“It’s still the forest floor. You saw the leather writing and got possessed.”

Maas’s face turned white.

“H…how am I okay?”

“I drove it out.”

“Ho-how?”

“I reasoned with it well.”

Maas stared blankly up at Jeong Yushin and then opened his mouth again.

“…But my face hurts so much. It feels like I’ve been hit with a sledgehammer.”

Looking closely, the swelling on Maas’s face hadn’t subsided much.

“That’s because you fell on the floor.”

“And something’s a little strange.”

He wondered what he was so curious about. Seeing Maas lying down and chattering when they had a long way to go, anger surged up.

“What? Tell me.”

“When I look at you.”

Maas wore a confused expression, closed his mouth for a long time, then opened it.

“My body trembles and my heart beats like crazy. What is this feeling?”

“…”

A quiet forest path.

Everyone closed their mouths and stared at Jeong Yushin.