Chapter 28 : New Friend (2)

“…Go lay down.”

“…Yes, my lord.”

As punishment for excessively hitting Hunter Hanyul, I made her lie down with three skeletons placed on top of her until our conversation was over.

“…Are you alright?”

“…!!”

Perhaps because she had gone through something rough once, Hunter Hanyul cautiously hid behind Chanseok, glaring at me.

Well, I knew this kind of reaction would come.

The healing was done by the Spirit on her own, after all.

“…What is your goal?”

Chanseok looked at me, his face scrunched in frustration.

‘I just wanted to ask if they could take care of the child.’

It seemed like the Spirit was really scared of the tower, so I thought it would be good if someone calmed her down.

“…Could you calm her down?”

“…?”

I pointed to the Spirit, who was trembling in my arms, looking at Chanseok and Hanyul.

“She can’t calm down because she’s in my arms.”

Since I brought her here, she had been crying and causing a scene in my arms, and I thought I was going to die.

But I couldn’t just leave her behind.

Even the Death Knight treats residents like beggar slaves.

What if the Hwarang or Sword Demon, who are more reckless than a moderate Death Knight, finds her?

‘…What is this, a new toy?’

‘How dare you be by my lord’s side!!’

One would probably toy with her for fun, and the Sword Demon might suddenly snap and hurt the Spirit.

‘…They still need some education.’

I had no choice but to keep her with me.

I thought she might calm down if I met with humans, so I brought her along.

“Excuse me?”

I told him my goal, but this guy just stared at me blankly, not responding.

What now?

“…I asked if you could calm her down.”

“…P-Please don’t get angry…”

“S-Sorry! I won’t get angry.”

I ended up speaking in an annoyed tone because he was just blankly staring without saying anything.

Perhaps the Spirit, who was sensitive to good and Evil, caught my irritation perfectly.

“See, I’m not angry~”

When I smiled, the Spirit trembled and squeaked, “Eek?!”

‘…Did I play too much with her?’

It seems like the prank I pulled on the Spirit became the root of the issue.

‘I should put her down for now. I’ve brought her all the way here, so there’s no need to hold her any longer.’

I hurriedly set the Spirit down on the ground.

She trembled and started looking around while on the ground.

She seemed scared after seeing the skeletons passing by, and she suddenly clung to my leg tightly.

‘…Wasn’t she afraid of me?’

I stared at her, wondering if she was scared of me, but she flinched and immediately lay down on the ground, apologizing.

“Ah, no, what’s wrong?”

“…Wah, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I won’t touch you… I’m sorry for touching you…”

I couldn’t understand how badly she had been treated to end up like this.

She was anxious, but I couldn’t comfort her.

It was quite a dilemma.

‘…Maybe the reason she’s less scared of me is because I’m human?’

There’s a saying that Spirits can see souls.

I’m not sure if it’s true or not since the Spirits don’t tell me, but anyway, is she less afraid of me because I have a human soul?

At that moment, while I was deep in thought,”…Excuse me, teacher…”

“Yes?”

Hunter Hanyul, who had been hiding behind Chanseok, peeked out and looked at me.

Trembling in fear, she quickly averted her gaze after making eye contact.

‘…You don’t need to be that scared.’

I wanted to tell her not to be afraid, but I kept my mouth shut.

Whenever I told someone not to be scared, they would often make a bigger fuss, so I decided to stay quiet.

“Take your time speaking.”

“…Ah, thank you.”

The Hanyul Hunter that was shown on the media was definitely not this polite.

The youngest ranker at 18 years old.

The genius high school student hunter known as Jang Hanyul usually appeared with a neutral expression wherever she went.

She often showed a rather rude demeanor, and I once even did a background check on her, thinking she might be a bad person.

‘…But she only did good deeds.’

I never would have guessed that she was sharing half of her top coin earnings and donating various artifacts to an orphanage.

It seemed that her rude behavior was just part of the concept pushed by her guild leaders and the media.

“Hey, Jang Hanyul.”

“Shut up, oppa.”

“…?”

Wait, was that not right?

Hunter Hanyul, brushing off Chanseok’s attempt to stop her, looked at me directly.

“I… I’ve been curious for a while. Is it true?”

“…What do you mean?”

“The part about hoping for an alliance with humans…”

It seemed that Hunter Hanyul had a slightly different purpose for being here than Chanseok.

Chanseok probably came here trying to avoid me, but Hanyul seemed like she came here to meet me.

‘…What did the Death Knight do to this hardworking kid?!’

It seemed like more punishment was needed.

When the hunters leave, the Death Knight should be sent straight to the construction site.

For now, I’ll leave the gatekeeper to the Hwarang.

Putting those stray thoughts aside, I answered Hanyul’s question.

“Yes, I want to become friends.”

“…I see….”

When I smiled, Hanyul once again avoided my gaze.

“Honestly, I had doubts…”

“Is that so?”

“…Yes.”

She had doubts.

It was clearly in the past tense.

Does that mean she no longer doubts me?

“So, you don’t doubt me now?”

“…That’s right….”

I wondered why.

The way I had behaved until now wasn’t exactly something that would make someone drop their doubts so easily.

After all, just a moment ago, this person nearly died at the hands of my subordinate.

“Why is that?”

“Well, you saved me… and the Spirit earlier ran away from the monsters and sought refuge with the Gumiho.”

“Is that a valid reason?”

I smiled as I asked, and Hanyul nodded as if she already knew the answer.

“…Spirits are extremely sensitive to good and Evil.”

“They are especially hostile to monsters. Despite that, the Spirit ran away from the monsters and went to the Gumiho, not a human… that means…”

“You think the Spirit judged the Gumiho to be kinder, right?”

She explained logically but lost some confidence at the end, clearly still a student.

“So, that’s why you no longer doubt me?”

“…Yes.”

“Even after almost dying at the hands of my subordinate?”

“That… That was because I mocked them.”

“Eh?”

“You mocked them? Who? The Death Knight?”

What a ridiculous thing to say.

What on earth had happened?

Just as I was thinking that, the Death Knight, still lying on the ground, shouted:

“Wait a moment!! Human woman!! Stop, stop right there!!”

“…Yikes?!”

“Death Knight? Stop shouting.”

What could be the reason for the Death Knight getting so agitated and rampaging like this?

‘He always had a calm knight image, which was pretty cool, but this kind of ruins it.’

Well, it’s probably a personal matter, so it’s best not to pry too much.

“So, you’re saying there was some kind of incident between the two of you?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

I looked at Hunter Hanyul, who gave an awkward smile, and then called the Spirit.

“…Spirit… No, what’s your name?”

“…Stella…”

The Spirit shuddered slightly but obediently told me its name.

Could it be that little by little, it’s starting to open up?

“Okay, Stella, this sister isn’t scary, right?”

“Hello, Stella?”

“…Hello.”

Stella, not seeming scared, quickly ran over to greet me.

I felt a little bit sad, but this is just the limit of being a monster.

Since I was reborn as a monster, this is something I can’t help, and it’s likely a wall I may never be able to overcome in my lifetime.

“Stick close to me, and don’t go outside the tower. You can look around inside and get used to it.”

“…I… can’t go out?”

“Yeah, sorry, you want to go out, don’t you?”

Stella looked longingly at the gate with a wistful expression.

It can’t be helped.

I’m not ready to leave yet.

If I were to go out, it would cause a commotion.

Right now, I’m in the process of building trust with people.

The basic expectations that those who have started to open up to me have are tied to staying inside the tower.

So, I can’t just go out as I please.

I feel sorry for the Spirit.

“You can go anywhere inside the tower, though.”

“If you want, I can even give you a floor.”

Saying that, I patted Stella’s head.

Stella flinched slightly at the touch.

“U-Um, Gumiho-nim, I think Stella is still scared.”

“…I see. Well, please take care of her, Hunter.”

“Please call me Jang Hanyul. Isn’t ‘sister’ a bit too formal? You can speak comfortably with me.”

Technically, she’s a year younger.

If you count my past life, I’m actually older, so I guess it’s true, in a way?

Yeah, it’s probably better to be called “sister” than calling someone younger that way.

“Okay, Hanyul, I’ll leave it to you.”

“Yes.”

Hanyul bowed her head and took Stella’s hand, walking off for a stroll.

‘…Seeing how polite she is, the media is really scary. What kind of frame are they putting on this kid?’

I’ve been in that industry too, but it’s still terrifying when you realize it.

The power of prejudice is stronger than you think, and there are more than a few people whose lives have been ruined by it.

Thinking about that, I turned my gaze to Chanseok, who was still lying on the ground, glaring at me.

‘…He’s a good guy too, though…’

Basically, this kid is also a good person.

You can tell just by seeing how Hunter Hanseong keeps him around.

“…Do you still distrust me? I think Hanyul heard everything.”

“I… don’t trust you. I’m not a Spirit, so how can I trust your soul’s story?”

“Sigh…”

If there’s a problem, it’s that this person’s family was massacred by monsters, so he harbors extreme hostility toward them.