Chapter 438: The Correct Way to Use Plant Magic (3)

“I don’t know what kind of offer that child made to keep you, but if you join my party, I’ll give you double that.”

“……Double?”

“Yes. Double. Whether that’s money, items, or anything else.”

…What the hell is this crazy bitch saying.

The very first thought that popped into my head the moment I heard Do Yehee’s absurd offer almost burst out of my mouth without any filter.

Has she been stealing Sihee’s connections for herself like this all this time?

I’d considered that the relationships between chaebols might be a bit different from those of ordinary people, but I never expected such a blatant offer.

It was such an unexpectedly brazen offer that even I couldn’t help but be dumbfounded by her words.

And though I don’t know the details, it must mean that the connections Sihee had made until now were swayed by Do Yehee’s blatant offer and abandoned Sihee.

She probably spoke much more indirectly to a commoner Hunter like me, but the essential content of the conversation itself wouldn’t likely be much different.

‘I can give more than Do Sihee.’

‘I am closer to being the successor of Dokyung Group than Do Sihee.’

‘I possess more potential than Do Sihee.’

She must have gained the upper hand in the succession competition by gradually absorbing Sihee’s connections with stories like these.

Of course, regardless of that, the words that would come out of my mouth were already decided from the start.

“What if you refuse?”

“Why would I refuse? It’s an offer I made.”

“Yeah, no.”

“You’re more of a gold digger than I thought. Perhaps double isn’t enough?”

“Double or ten times, it doesn’t change anything. Sihee and I aren’t connected materially in the first place, so there was no reason to even consider your offer.”

Of course, if you ask whether I’ve received anything material from Sihee at all, regrettably, that’s not true.

These clothes I’m wearing now were bought by Sihee at the department store on our first date, and on every date, it was mostly Sihee’s role to arrange restaurants or plan date courses.

In contrast, what I’ve done is contribute less than half the cost of meals towards hotel expenses, and just sex, which I enjoy and go along with every time, at a slightly more intense level.

If we only consider whether I receive or give something to Sihee, it was mostly a relationship where I only received.

But that was merely an unavoidable phenomenon arising from the difference in gender and status.

Even if Sihee’s family were to go bankrupt and she became a commoner, or if I suddenly won the overseas lottery and became nouveau riche.

Our current relationship, where we desire each other’s bodies and share love, would not change in the future.

If I were the type to judge people by money, I couldn’t have become friends with Min-ah in the first place, nor would I have paid for the twins’ custom weapons.

“If it’s not a material relationship, then what is it?”

“What do you mean, ‘what’? Are you the type who can’t make friends unless you pay ‘friendship fees’?”

“Are you claiming that friendship has sprouted between a commoner Hunter and a foundation Hunter? You’re telling an amusing story.”

Friendship? At least it’s a much deeper relationship than friendship.

It was bound to be a much more serious and sticky relationship than anything that woman could imagine.

“Anyway, since you’ve heard what you needed to hear, get lost now. I have nothing more to say regarding the offer you made to me.”

“…….”

“You said yourself you just came to talk, right? The conversation with you is all over now, so hurry up and get lost.”

“Hmm….”

Hearing my answer, Do Yehee suddenly let out a hum with a serious gaze.

With a serious expression, as if contemplating something, she remained at the entrance and began muttering something to herself.

“…This time, it seems I’ve made a proper acquaintance after a long time.”

“………?”

“But that rude attitude and vulgar mouth habits will need correcting. It seems it’s not good for Sihee’s emotional well-being…”

“What are you muttering to yourself? I told you to get lost already!”

“…For now, shall I start by making you behave?”

Chwareureuk. With a sound, Do Yehee folded the fan that had been covering half her face.

Centered around that fan, her red magic spread out and began to flow into the ground.

Sensing an ominous energy, I quickly took a spear and a Scutum shield from my spatial pocket and equipped them in both hands.

This flow of magic was almost identical to when Cha Yuri was about to use her full magic.

I could be sure of at least this: this woman wouldn’t just back down after hearing my refusal.

Chideok.

Chideok, chideok.

An unpleasant sound, like something made of mud and clumps of earth wriggling and emerging.

Even though it wasn’t a common sound, I could discern what its source was.

Because I had vaguely heard a similar sound near my ears during the duel with Do Yehee in the past.

“Since I’m a lady, I’ll make sure it doesn’t hurt if you behave yourself.”

“And if you don’t?”

“…Well, I’ll still try not to hurt you ‘as much as possible’. After all, you are Sihee’s acquaintance.”

Then, several strands of mud tentacles suddenly rose up from behind Do Yehee.

Those unpleasant summoned creatures, which I had witnessed even in the previous duel, took a stance and were wriggling as if about to rush towards me any moment now.

Holding my spear and shield so I could respond at any time, I made eye contact with the unwelcome woman.

Paak!

“……!”

A strand of Do Yehee’s mud tentacle burst into the house without warning, at high speed.

Thinking it would be best to eliminate them one by one, I slashed the closest tentacle in half with the spear I was holding and deflected it.

The mud tentacle that flew in from the opposite direction immediately after was blocked with the Scutum shield.

“…….”

Pa-aak!

Whether I blocked her summoned creatures or not, Do Yehee silently summoned another tentacle and thrust it at me.

As it is earth magic that requires borrowing earth power, I thought she wouldn’t be able to suddenly use her abilities indoors.

Judging by the fact she deliberately started talking in front of the entrance, it seemed she had predicted this situation from the beginning.

As a contingency for when I didn’t readily agree to the conversation, or like now, when I didn’t agree to the conditions she set.

“This…!”

Chwa-aak!

The fortunate thing is that she was an opponent I had won against once in a previous duel. And perhaps, with past experience, I had some knowledge on how to deal with mud summons.

The problem, however, was the even more troublesome penalties holding me back.

In an environment not at all favorable for fighting freely like usual, I blocked Do Yehee’s tentacles rushing towards me with limited movements.

“……!”

“Why are you acting like this? Instead of actively wielding your sword and shield and rushing forward like last time.”

“………!”

“Well, in such a narrow battlefield, it’s likely difficult to move freely like back then. Unlike a regular dungeon, this place isn’t something you can just break and destroy carelessly.”

…You damn coward.

Deliberately cornering me inside the house while she herself is drawing mud tentacles from outside the house-she was truly cunning.

She herself is using her awakened abilities without limit to her heart’s content, pressuring me, but conversely, my awakened abilities could not exert maximum output.

If I swung my shield or spear even slightly wider in such a confined space, the walls and doors would surely be smashed to pieces.

Besides, I couldn’t respond using archery, which I haven’t even practiced once yet, and fire magic was also far too dangerous to use in this situation.

At least plant magic could gain an advantage against earth magic, but to use plant magic, I needed at least a handful of soil to root.

Ideally, I wanted to use plant magic on those incoming clumps of earth to retaliate, but…

Hwi-iik!

“Keu-euk!”

“What’s your scheme? Are you thinking of grabbing my mud tentacles with your bare hands?”

“…….”

“It will be useless. They aren’t soft enough to grab with bare hands in the first place; grabbing a flying blade would be a much more realistic scenario.”

…Yeah, you’re so great, you bitch.

Casting magic on moving earth was practically impossible, so I had to somehow grab and stop those mud clumps.

The problem was that Do Yehee’s rapidly moving tentacles rarely gave me even that slight opening.

Perhaps if it wasn’t a spear but a greatsword, there might have been a slightly greater possibility.

If I used a greatsword, I could have cut off a part of that group of mud tentacles and tried using plant magic on it.

But with a spear, no matter how I attacked, it only managed to split or pierce; those split and pierced mud tentacles would reseal the area and continue to maintain their original form.

Unfortunately, leaving the greatsword at Areum’s workshop was just regrettable in many ways.

…If possible, I really didn’t want to resort to this method, but…

Pa-aak!

“Be obediently bound to my summoned creatures!”

“…Oh, coldness, freeze!”

“…Huh?”

With my incantation, the cold magic ‘Frost Touch’ emitted from my fingertips.

It seemed she hadn’t expected me to use magic at all, as obvious panic could be felt from Do Yehee’s expression.

Because of that, her movement delayed by a step, one strand of her mud tentacle solidified in mid-air and became frozen for a moment.

‘Got it.’

I had somehow succeeded in temporarily stopping and fixing the mud tentacles’ movement, so now only cutting this lump of mud remained.

If I just had a handful of soil that allows me to use plant magic, I could sufficiently subdue that woman even in this narrow space.

The moment I gripped the spearhead tightly in my hand, easy to swing up close, and swung down to cut the mud clump.

“…Using petty tricks, I see.”

“……!”

The mud tentacle, frozen by the cold magic, instantly cut off the frozen part by itself and the remaining part instantly wrapped around my arm.

“Seeing you use a sword, shield, and spear, I vaguely thought you were a multi-awakened user, but I never imagined you could use magic in the opposite direction.”

“Keu-euk…!”

“I too have become interested in someone else after a long time.”