Ch.83Interrupting NPC. (3)

I ran at what was probably my top speed, with every ounce of my being, after remembering my past life in this world.

“What?! What’s happening?! Ira!!”

“Oppa!!”

“Jack!!”

“Huh?! We’re all naked here?!!”

My eyes take in the sight of Ira, Rey, and Ragni, all in their natural state.

Normally, I would have immediately looked away, but unfortunately, I’m not the protagonist of a shounen manga or romance comic. This world is fundamentally a dark fantasy setting.

Unless I’m certain the cause of the screaming is just some bug or something trivial, I have no intention of taking my eyes off our kids for safety’s sake.

“Rey! What happened?!”

“Someone was peeping at us!”

“Oppa! Miss Miho and Gor!!”

“We’re all naked, yet you’re so composed.”

Despite saying that, Ragni doesn’t even try to turn around while holding Ira in her arms. She approaches me, grabs a towel from the ground, covers Ira’s body first, and then wraps one around herself.

Wait, someone was peeping on our kids? My veteran ranger senses didn’t detect anything? Who the hell was it?!

“Miho sensed it first and ran after them, then Gor immediately followed.”

“I’ll chase after them too!”

“No. Protect Ira and Ragni. Where’s your sword?”

“It’s over there! I have my ring too!”

Our ladies clearly know no shame. Rey boldly runs to grab her sword first while I’m watching, then declares she’ll chase the enemy wearing only her underwear.

Huh? Wait. Are they really shameless? Didn’t they just scream?

“You. What nonsense are you talking about?”

“Why should we be embarrassed about showing our naked bodies to Jack, who came running out of concern for us?”

“It doesn’t matter if Oppa sees everything, right?”

I can understand Ira saying that, but you two are really pushing it, aren’t you? I stand in front of them as if to shield them while immediately trying to sense Gor and Miho’s presence.

I can feel them moving quickly not far from here. They seem to have successfully tracked the target and are moving back and forth in place.

But what’s this? I can’t sense the presence of their opponent at all.

*Rub rub. Rub rub.*

Half-naked Ragni finishes drying Ira’s body first, then roughly dries her own hair before drawing the gun that was tied to her clothes.

“Let’s go after them. Whoever it is saw our bodies, so I need to shoot their eyeballs out.”

“That’s right! I wanted Jack to be the first to see! I’ll have to split their brain in half to erase their memory!!”

“Oppa. I was scared.”

“…You two should take Ira back to the carriage. You’ll catch cold if you stay like this. I’ll chase after the enemy.”

Both of them want to pursue the enemy wearing nothing but underwear, not even a towel, but they seem more angry than embarrassed. However, I don’t want them to go after whoever it is.

“Then, Rey. You go with Ira. I’ll go with Jack to chase the enemy…”

“No. Ragni, you go too.”

“What?”

“…Jack, why are you trying to send all of us away?”

Rey has surpassed level 200, and Ragni is a mid-400 raid boss. They’re well aware of their own capabilities by now.

It’s not wrong for them to want to personally punish whoever made them scream and saw their bodies. But that’s not the issue here.

“Anyway, both of you go back. I’ll catch up to Miho and send her back too.”

After saying that, I pick up Ira and immediately place her in Ragni’s arms. Though surprised, she accepts the child well, and I immediately start tracking Miho and Gor…

*BOOM!!!*

“KYAANG?!!”

*THUD!!*

“Ugh!”

Just as I’m about to run into the forest, with the sound of the forest exploding, Miho suddenly comes flying from not far away. I throw myself at full speed to catch her.

Miho is also in her natural state like the others, but again, there’s no time to enjoy this view.

“Kuh! *cough*!!”

“Damn it. Miho!! Wake up!!”

“…M-Miss Miho?!”

“What the hell?! Where did she fly in from?!!”

Whether she took a solid hit from the opponent or not, Miho has large bruises on her arms and stomach, and she’s even coughing up blood.

Damn it. Someone who can do this to a girl who’s at least half as strong as Gor with just one hit?

“Rey. Take Miho back to the carriage too. No, get in the carriage and drive to the city.”

When I hand her over to Rey, she looks surprised, her blue eyes widening as she looks back and forth between me and Miho.

“No time to space out, hurry up and go.”

“Ugh. Be careful!”

“…Oppa, don’t get hurt, okay?”

“If it gets dangerous, run away immediately.”

“Alright, I understand. Let’s go quickly.”

After confirming that the two of them are fleeing with Ira and Miho, carrying only their clothes, I immediately throw myself into the forest.

It’s not that I think their full strength wouldn’t be helpful. The problem is the opponent.

An enemy that doesn’t register at all on my [Veteran Ranger Skill] detection. The fact that such a being is “still” fighting with Gor raises the potential danger level of the opponent.

And as I run through the forest, not far away, I can hear explosive sounds shaking the trees.

*THUD, THUD!! BOOM!!!*

“Gor!!!”

[Master, the enemy is stronger than expected.]

Gor calmly reports this while retreating after exchanging a flurry of punches with a humanoid enemy and taking just as many hits in return. It made me wonder if this was really a crisis, but I didn’t need to think too deeply about it.

——-

[Slime Golem: Level 145]

[HP: 108,720]

[MP: 210]

[Skills: Mimicry, Absorption, Gigantification.]

[Skill Mimicry activated: Target Rock Elemental.]

——-

[Rock Elemental(Status?): Level 146]

[HP: 7,230]

——-

What’s with the status question mark?

“Was that the peeping tom?”

[No. I apologize. The peeper summoned this elemental after blasting Miho away, then fled.]

At first glance, it looked human because it was standing upright, but after seeing the status window and looking at it again, I realize it has no face. It’s an ugly rock elemental with stones protruding here and there.

Ugh. If I had trypophobia, I would’ve screamed.

[Yes, Master. Do you intend to pursue?]

“Yeah. Which way did they go?”

[The direction is that way, but I’m sorry. The opponent’s presence cannot be tracked.]

I see. My veteran ranger senses aren’t working either, which is annoying. And this elemental doesn’t register either?

I know the direction, so I’ll just have to track them that way. But first…

“Gor. This is an order. Use gigantification and end this quickly, then return to the others.”

[Shall I use it at maximum?]

“Don’t hold back.”

[Understood.]

[Slime Golem Tamer Effect: When giving direct orders to a golem, grants additional stats proportional to your own stats to its strength and agility.]

[Skill Slime Golem Tamer activated: Target: Slime Golem. Additional stats proportional to Tamer [Ranger Jack]’s stats are being granted.]

[Strength: 291 + 150]

[Agility: 203 + 150]

[Luck: 0+??+ 10]

[Intelligence: 77+6]

I already confirmed this when using gigantification before, but the maximum additional stat seems to be capped at 150. Well, maybe it will increase as our skill level or our levels rise.

Still, these stats are literally a natural disaster for people in this world. It’s equivalent to level 500 specs. And then…

*GROOOOOWL*

[Maximum Gigantification activated. 20M. Consumes MP at a rate of x0.02 per second.]

Literally, a beautifully formed massive rock mountain appeared on the spot. Gor with enhanced specs from my command, plus the gigantification skill we extracted from a demon. With this combo, any opponent that doesn’t go down in one turn must be one of the Seven Deadly Sins or a deus ex machina.

“When people are talking, if you just stand there only trying to block, you deserve to die, don’t you?”

The rock elemental, which had just been standing there trying to block us even after I appeared, seemed to flinch at the sight of the gigantified Gor, but I don’t care. From the beginning…

“You pockmarked bread-faced bastard. If you’re an elemental, you should at least look as pretty as this—this is what a real rock elemental looks like.”

There’s no forgiveness for daring to reduce our baby’s HP.

The mountain moves. And the ugly pockmarked bread becomes a flattened pockmarked bread.

*

[GROOOOOOOOOO⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯!!!!]

“…What the hell is that.”

The man let out a bewildered voice as he watched what looked like the golem that had been chasing him move like a mountain and crush the elemental connected to him by contract.

“First that beastkin, and now that golem. Do they possess [Skills]?”

After one leap, the man turned his back as he confirmed the golem’s position had immediately disappeared.

Fortunately, it seemed the golem couldn’t continue to move and chase at that size.

He had come here sensing strong magical power, hoping to obtain useful materials, but ended up encountering something unbelievable.

Thinking that if he were chased by such a thing, everything he had prepared so far would be ruined, the man fled without hesitation, crossing the forest and climbing up a low mountain rather than heading toward the road.

He moved while perfectly erasing his traces using the power of another elemental. Although he had lost something without gaining anything, he also felt it was fortunate in a way.

Those beautiful female adventurers and the little girl were probably heading toward [Neity]. He had seen their faces, but they hadn’t seen his face or sensed his power, so even if they met again there, he could just pretend not to know them and pass by.

As he quickly crossed the low mountain, the Land of Knowledge, Neity, could be seen in the distance.

“…Hah. What a shame. They would have made good materials. It’s difficult to capture them right now, but I’ll inform my colleagues and devise a plan to catch those women.”

Thinking he was completely alone now, the man slowly walks down the mountain. After walking for some time…

“Those assassin bastards, and now this bastard too. When facing a ranger, why do they run to the mountains and act so leisurely? What the hell is going through their heads?”

*Rustle*

“Huh?”

The voice came first, then the sound of branches shaking, and a gray-haired man with no presence whatsoever appeared in his path under the sunset-tinged sky.

“Elementalist. Are you a demon-kin?”

And those orange eyes were filled with irritation.