Ch.219Chapter 219 – The Masked Woman (3)

The first attack by the Hell Hounds wasn’t difficult to handle.

Their fire-breathing couldn’t penetrate Chris’s holy magic, and Sera’s various potions slowed them down or poisoned them.

Beatrice boldly charged in, sending them flying or launching them into the air, while Eve, Eina, and I cut them down with our weapons.

*Clap clap clap*

After easily defeating all the Hell Hounds, Mask applauded and said:

“This doesn’t seem difficult at all for you. Good teamwork too.”

“We’ve become rather accustomed to fighting, as it happens,” Eve said elegantly as she sheathed her sword.

She was sweating slightly but didn’t appear physically exhausted.

“So what’s next… What are you doing?”

“I didn’t want to waste these fangs.”

Sera approached the Hell Hound corpses and began pulling out their sharp fangs with her bare hands.

Then she looked back at Asam and asked:

“Aren’t these used a lot in magic? As catalysts?”

“They’re used a lot. Very much so. Especially by Bea.”

“That’s why I’m collecting them now. Sister, yes, that’s how you pull them out.”

Following Beatrice’s voice, I saw that she too was happily pulling out fangs along with Chris.

Watching them, Eve quietly said:

“Should we collect some as well?”

“Do they sell for a lot?”

“They’re not extremely expensive, but money is money, right?”

Can’t argue with that logic.

I joined Eve and began working on extracting fangs as well.

Soon, instead of hiking as we were supposed to, we were all focused on pulling fangs from the Hell Hound carcasses.

“Is this really okay?”

“I’m on hiatus for personal reasons, but as an adventurer, you should always collect these things.”

I chided Eina as she expressed doubt while pulling fangs, and continued diligently extracting them myself.

With everyone’s help, we easily collected the fangs and neatly packed them into our pouches. Eve smiled and said:

“We’ve earned some extra income.”

Like a true merchant, she seemed pleased thinking about the money these would bring.

Mask, who had been blankly watching us, finally spoke up:

“…Let’s get going. There are many more monsters ahead.”

“Do you know what kinds we’ll encounter?”

After pondering my question briefly, Mask replied:

“Well, creatures that breathe or eat fire are common here. Besides those, trolls that have adapted to the environment?”

Beatrice nodded at Mask’s words and added:

“In this environment, rare monsters like salamanders might live here too.”

“Rare monsters mean abundant rare alchemy materials. That’s all money, isn’t it?”

“And if we spot any rare ore along the way, we should mine it and take it with us.”

Sera and Eve seemed slightly excited.

Chris, who had somehow appeared beside me, smiled and said:

“It would be nice to catch trolls too. Their blood fetches a good price.”

Our companions were starting to scare me a bit.

Apparently feeling the same way, Mask scratched his cheek awkwardly and said:

“Sorry to interrupt your fun, but we should get going.”

“Right.”

Everyone picked up their bags and resumed hiking.

After a while, I noticed Mask’s lips curling up slightly.

“What is it?”

“Just remembering old times.”

Mask said with a smile.

“It reminds me of how my companions and I used to enjoy ourselves thinking about rewards, even during dangerous and difficult tasks.”

Her voice sounded cheerful, as if she too was reminiscing.

Though her voice trembled slightly when mentioning companions.

+

The volcano had somehow been renamed “Treasure Mountain” by now.

Beatrice and Asam kept spotting powerful or rare monsters around us, and each time, we eagerly hunted them down.

“Didn’t I tell you? I said salamanders would live here.”

Beatrice looked satisfied as she pointed at a huge red lizard with a concave head.

“We must take its heart.”

“And extract its blood too.”

“I heard the eyes are expensive. The meat too.”

Beatrice, Sera, and Eve were seriously discussing which parts to take from the lizard’s carcass.

Watching them, Asam said in a serious tone:

“Don’t forget the tail, Bea.”

Soon, the four women began harvesting the valuable or expensive parts from the salamander’s body.

Watching them, Perry laughed awkwardly and said:

“My, everyone’s so busy gathering materials.”

“Indeed.”

“Ah, the bones make good weapon materials too. I should convince them to take some.”

I suddenly remembered he was a blacksmith too.

Perry started walking toward the salamander’s carcass, and Lara, who was standing next to me, looked around and shouted:

“Ah! I smell something over there!”

“Is it ore?”

“Yes! Please help me, Eina!”

Lara put down her hammer, picked up a pickaxe from who knows where, and disappeared with Eina.

She dragged Chris along too.

“Wait, why me?”

“Come bless us! To make us stronger! So we can mine more!”

As everyone busily moved about, Mask burst into laughter and said:

“Well, I can’t tell if we’re heading to a dragon’s lair by invitation or just enjoying a hike.”

“It’s nice to see, though.”

It was better than being tense and on edge from constant vigilance.

Though it did feel a bit too relaxed.

Mask agreed with my response.

“Aren’t you going to join them?”

“I’m keeping watch, believe it or not.”

As I’d told Mask, I was surveying our surroundings, particularly listening for any unusual sounds.

Fun was good, but someone needed to stay alert.

“I must say, I didn’t expect monster encounters to turn into festive occasions.”

“That’s what happens when rare and expensive materials show up.”

At some point, our hiking time had transformed into eagerly anticipating what monsters might appear next.

The fact that rare materials meant stronger and more dangerous creatures didn’t matter much, since the monsters were significantly weaker than our group.

‘Come to think of it, the Dwarf royal family restricts access here.’

That meant this environment hadn’t been much disturbed by outside interference.

That’s probably why so many rare creatures had proliferated here.

“At least everyone’s enthusiastically hiking, so we’ve reached today’s target spot without even noticing the time passing.”

“Should we set up camp?”

Mask nodded at my question.

“We should. Tomorrow we’ll be climbing more treacherous terrain, so we need to rest.”

“Got it.”

I agreed with Mask and went to tell the others who were still dissecting the salamander that we’d be setting up camp.

A little while later…

After completing our camp, we lit a fire in the clearing.

“I’ve set up barriers, so there won’t be any attacks tonight. Still, we should post sentries.”

“Thanks.”

I handed Beatrice a cup of water.

“Good thing we brought the pot.”

“…Indeed.”

A pot that Sera had brought was now set up in the clearing, emitting delicious aromas.

As Sera had mentioned, we now had plenty of “fresh” meat, making our meal quite luxurious.

“…I wonder if it tastes good. That lizard.”

“I’ve heard it tastes similar to beef.”

Beatrice added that she’d never tried it because it was needlessly expensive.

The high price was due to salamanders being both dangerous and rare.

“Seraphina said she’d cut it to make it palatable, so we can just eat without worrying.”

“Right.”

Sera was already cutting the salamander’s leg meat and adding it to the pot.

She was cutting only the flesh into bite-sized pieces to make it unrecognizable.

Beside her, Chris was preparing other dishes, having volunteered to help Sera.

“But what about the smell?”

“Don’t worry. Do you think Asam and I wouldn’t have thought of that?”

Beatrice said this as she drank her water.

She reached into her pocket, perhaps craving a cigarette, but when Chris somehow noticed and smiled at her without stopping her cooking, Beatrice immediately gave up.

Shortly after, at Sera’s announcement that the meal was ready, everyone gathered to eat.

“Sera is definitely a good cook.”

“Thank you.”

Sera smiled and sat down next to me.

Chris sat on her other side, and Eve sat opposite me as they began to eat.

Across from me, Mask was taking a spoonful of stew.

“…Delicious.”

“Does it suit your taste?”

Mask nodded gently at Sera’s question.

“I feel bad—I only guided the way today, and now I’m getting fed too.”

“It’s fine. Please eat.”

With a “Well then,” Mask resumed eating the stew.

“You said tomorrow’s path would be more difficult?”

“It won’t be as enjoyable as today’s climb.”

Mask apologetically replied to Eve’s question.

“But there won’t be any monsters, so you don’t need to worry about that during the journey.”

“Why not?”

“Remember what I said before we set out? There’s a separate entrance for guests.”

I nodded at Mask’s explanation.

“So they’ve driven away monsters from that area to make it comfortable for guests.”

“That’s right. Nothing special, just instilling fear to make monsters avoid the area.”

Mask called it an application of Dragon Fear.

“What about us?”

“As invited guests, we’re naturally permitted. But the path is still rough, so be careful of that.”

I nodded at those words and quietly looked at our luggage.

“Where should we hide all that?”

“Hmm…”

Mask hesitated momentarily, looking at the ore and materials we’d mined and harvested.

She too seemed unsure what to do with them.

‘Actually, Sera could probably carry it all.’

Plus, we had Lara.

Between the two of them, carrying everything shouldn’t be a problem.

As if overhearing our conversation, Asam spoke up:

“Don’t worry about our treasures. Bea and I have already thought of a solution.”

“Really?”

Having magicians help was certainly convenient.

Though they were doing it for their own benefit too.

“By the way, Mask, I have a question.”

“What is it?”

“Do you know why the dragon is summoning me?”

Mask shook her head at my question.

“I haven’t been told either.”

“I see.”

“But if I had to guess…”

Mask pointed at me.

More precisely, at where my heart was.

“It might have something to do with your heart, and the dragon’s will that I sense from you.”

“Will?”

“You know. The two dragons.”

At Mask’s words, my expression involuntarily sharpened.

‘Pia and Yuto.’

If it’s about the will of two dragons, it must be those two.

‘But how?’

I had never mentioned those two.

However, Mask smiled slightly and said:

“Don’t make such a face. Perhaps it’s from wielding a sword for so long, but sometimes I sense strange things.”

“Strange things?”

“Yes. Something like the lingering will of someone, invisible to the eye.”

Mask laughed, saying it was a vague sensation even for her.

“Couldn’t it just be some kind of heightened sensitivity?”

“That’s possible… Have you heard of ‘the realm’?”

I quietly nodded at Mask’s question.

Indeed, “the realm” was something both Ludger and the Demon King had mentioned to me.

Mask smiled and said:

“They say a swordsman, after continuously wielding a sword and fighting, eventually reaches ‘the realm.'”

“Do you know exactly what that is?”

“Well, if I had to explain…”

Mask thought for a moment before speaking.

“It’s when the sword wielder understands ‘for what purpose’ and ‘to achieve what’ they swing their sword, and can imbue that intent into the blade… Usually, they say once you reach that point, you can do anything with a single sword.”

Mask added that the “anything” part was probably an exaggeration.

Then she looked at me briefly and smiled before continuing:

“I can’t express it well. Just know it’s something like that.”

“Alright.”

“But… let me share something I heard from someone.”

Mask pointed at me with her spoon.

“They say you only glimpse the realm when you overcome—or try to overcome—a crisis where you might lose your life or something equivalent. That’s when you understand what it means to imbue intent.”

“Is that so?”

“There are opposite views too… but the point is, when the time comes, you’ll see it. They say if you wield a sword long enough, you’ll eventually get a vague understanding of what the realm is, though individual experiences vary.”

Mask thought for a moment and then quietly said:

“But listen, don’t strive to reach the realm or whatever. From what I’ve heard, that would mean facing situations where you might lose something precious or your life. Isn’t it best if such things never happen in the first place?”

“…That’s true.”

Avoiding dangerous situations is always the best option.

Reaching some “realm” isn’t more important than the lives of your companions.

‘I should put this aside for now.’

I should heed Mask’s words and at least for today, postpone thinking about this.

“Kei?”

“Ah, sorry.”

Sera gently called out to me, perhaps worried that the stew was getting cold.

I apologized with a smile and took a bite of the meat from the stew.

It really did taste like beef.