Chapter 84

84

“Oh? That actually hit?”

I made a face that said, ‘How did he get hit by that?’

Gulshan’s expression turned a deep shade of red, almost about to burst from anger.

Veins bulged all over his body, twitching violently.

“You filthy insect, I’ll tear you apart…”

Ping!

Swish!

Before he could finish his curse, an arrow flew towards Gulshan.

He quickly dodged it by throwing himself to the side.

“Don’t curse.”

Hiresia, who had shot the arrow, said.

“You damn bastards… Ugh?”

Ping!

Another arrow flew, silencing Gulshan once more.

“I said, don’t curse.”

“Arrghhhh.”

Gulshan now looked like he was on the verge of madness from rage.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

He pounded the ground furiously with his fists, looking savage and terrifying.

He was showing his temper without any restraint.

‘What a lunatic.’

It’s fine when others suffer, but he can’t stand it when he does.

A typical self-centered person.

When such a person is also strong, they become a real menace.

“How did you hit him?”

Ignoring the madman as if he didn’t matter, Hiresia turned her head to ask me.

“He popped out of the shadow earlier, so I just took a shot, and it hit.”

“Hmm, impressive.”

She looked at me with a newfound respect.

It was indeed impressive to have figured that out and successfully attacked in such a short time.

Of course, I had known all along.

“You damn bastards! How dare you ignore me?”

If looks could kill, we would be dead already.

Gulshan’s face was full of murderous intent.

But despite his rage, he didn’t rush at us again.

It wasn’t because he was out of energy from the continuous arrow wounds.

He wasn’t the type to be brought down by such injuries.

Rather.

He had realized an undeniable fact.

That trying to deal with us would mean risking his own life.

No matter how angry he was, he didn’t want to take on that risk.

So he was biding his time, trying to decide whether to go all out or retreat.

Thud!

Gulshan pulled out the arrow lodged in his body, his eyes bloodshot.

He seemed to be checking his condition first.

And then.

“Huh? What’s this?”

He seemed to realize that something was affecting him negatively, beyond just the wounds.

The curse of weakness imbued in Marcus’s bow.

Of course, being a monster, he had immense resistance to various curses, but the curse in Marcus’s bow was no joke.

It could affect even someone like him to some extent.

So he was feeling the curse slowly weakening his condition.

“…You bastard.”

Gulshan glared at me with murderous eyes.

He had figured out the source of the problem.

Wow, scary, really scary.

Not joking, but seriously.

Did I attract too much attention?

But isn’t he a hypocrite? He tried to kill me twice and now he’s glaring at me like this.

…I wanted to retort, but I held back.

There was no benefit in attracting more attention.

In such situations.

Hiding behind a reliable ally is the best.

I subtly hid behind Hiresia.

But that action seemed to provoke Gulshan even more.

“Are you a three-year-old? Come out, you bastard!”

Why is he so angry?

Can’t a man hide behind a woman?

“Who are you messing with?”

Ping!

“Tch.”

Gulshan quickly dodged another arrow from Hiresia.

It seemed like he had moved even further away.

Anyway, senior.

I trusted you.

You’re the best.

Gulshan was grinding his teeth.

But despite his murderous expression, he didn’t attack.

He was still deciding whether to attack or retreat.

Hiresia also didn’t make any special moves.

Probably because she was concerned about me.

If I weren’t here, she would have already moved to take him down.

A tense standoff at a distance.

It might look calm, but it was more dangerous than any other standoff.

Gulshan could ambush us at any moment using shadows, and Hiresia could shoot him with her eyes closed from this distance.

Time passed.

And then…

* * *

“It seems like there’s a problem.”

First-class investigator Sylvia spoke.

“Huh?”

Second-class investigator Ian widened his eyes.

They were from the Department of Investigation, assigned to support this hunting competition.

Since they weren’t obligated to fight at the front, they were leisurely observing the situation from the rear.

That’s when Sylvia spoke up.

“Can’t you see? They’re moving around very busily.”

“Well, they were ambushed unexpectedly, so…”

They knew about the ambush that had mobilized the reserves.

“But it’s different from that, isn’t it? Look at the main camp.”

Sylvia nodded her chin.

Just as she said, the main camp looked chaotic and busy.

Ian, realizing this, tilted his head in confusion.

“Then what’s going on?”

“Do I know? Are you an idiot?”

“Ugh.”

“Anyway, what we can guess is.”

“Yes.”

“Something unusual has happened somewhere. Something that has even the Order in a panic.”

“Hmm, I see.”

“Don’t just agree.”

“Huh?”

“Let’s move.”

“Where to…?”

Ian knew well.

Sylvia disliked moving unless it was for work.

For her to suggest moving first meant.

“Where else? To where the action is.”

* * *

“Aren’t you rushing this too much?”

Ian complained, wiping sweat from his forehead.

“You’re not weak, so why are you whining?”

“You know I hate sweating.”

“You’re quite the odd one.”

Sylvia clicked her tongue.

“Anyway, we need to hurry. There’s no time to relax.”

Orc footprints.

Footprints of the reserves chasing those orcs.

And two other sets of footprints.

Both Sylvia and Ian had confirmed them.

“The battle must have already started… Isn’t it over by now?”

“That’s what you think. But there could be something else going on.”

Intuition.

Sylvia was an investigator with keen intuition.

She had often sensed the scent of a case and prevented incidents in advance.

Her intuition was telling her now.

That something unusual was happening.

“So hurry up.”

Sylvia urged Ian, pushing him along.

How long did they run?

The end of the trail came into view.

“There it is.”

A narrow entrance.

All the tracks led to that spot.

“Oh, did they drive them into a good spot?”

Ian said, sounding pleased.

“Well, we’ll see once we go in.”

Without hesitation, Sylvia entered the entrance.

Ian followed her in.

* * *

An unexpected turn of events.

It comes when you least expect it.

Suddenly, new footsteps were heard from the entrance.

At that moment.

Gulshan’s body sank into the ground.

I realized immediately that he had decided to flee.

But there was only one entrance.

The place he would go was…

Swoosh.

Suddenly, Gulshan popped out from my shadow.

“Ahh!”

Startled, I screamed, and Hiresia quickly grabbed me and pulled me back.

But it seemed Gulshan had no intention of attacking.

He ran towards the narrow entrance to escape.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Ping!

Hiresia swiftly shot an arrow at Gulshan’s back.

“Tch.”

Gulshan flattened himself to dodge the arrow.

And the arrow…

“Ahhh?!”

…flew straight towards a newly arrived blond man.

Thwack!

A woman next to him urgently deflected the arrow with something.

It quickly became clear that it was an umbrella.

“Attempted murder! It’s attempted murder!”

The blond man shouted in agitation.

“Calm down and stop that man first!”

Hiresia shouted.

Before her words even finished.

Swoosh.

Gulshan’s figure sank into the ground again.

“Huh?!”

“What the…?!”

The two newcomers looked shocked.

Gulshan reappeared from the shadow behind them, trying to slip away.

“Behind you, behind you!”

I pointed and shouted.

But it seemed too late… Wait, what?

Thud.

“Hold on. I think we need to check you first.”

A woman had grabbed Gulshan by the nape of his neck.

Even from behind, it was clear that Gulshan was taken aback.

“Damn, who are you?”

Gulshan quickly swung his black hand.

This was dangerous.

But.

I wasn’t too worried.

Because I recognized who the woman was.

“Caught in the act?”

The woman deflected Gulshan’s attack with the dull gray umbrella in her other hand.

“What are you doing? Help me subdue him.”

“Oh. Oh, yes!”

The blond man hurried to assist her.

Wait? Could this really be…?

Could we actually capture him here?

Just as I thought that.

Whoosh.

Suddenly, thick smoke enveloped the area.

The visibility dropped instantly.

Bang!

Crash!

Two loud collision sounds echoed from somewhere unseen.

What on earth…

The answer came quickly.

Hiresia used the wind spirit to blow away the smoke.

“Ah, senior!”

The blond man rushed to the woman who was now sitting on the ground.

“Are you okay?”

“Damn it, he had an accomplice.”

The woman muttered in frustration.

But she seemed uninjured, likely pushed back after blocking with her umbrella.

“Hmm, I see. But there seem to be more suspicious people here…”

“Are you blind?”

“Huh?”

“She’s an academy student.”

“…”

“And a famous one at that. How could you not recognize her?”

“Huh? Oh?”

The blond man seemed to finally recognize Hiresia.

His eyes widened.

“Attempted murder by a high elf?”

“…It wasn’t intentional.”

“Yeah, she wasn’t aiming at you. Though if it hit, you’d have died, but it would have been in the line of duty.”

“…”

Her joke didn’t sound like a joke.

Just like her.

‘Did we really meet here?’

Elite investigator Sylvia.

I wasn’t supposed to encounter her for quite some time.

Yet here we were.

The same went for the blond man, Ian.

He was also an elite investigator.

But that was his public face.

His true identity…

He was a priest of a fanatical group worshiping the dark god, known as the Dark Cult.

A fanatical group wouldn’t usually matter.

Who cares what someone believes?

The problem was that this fanatical group was extremely dangerous.

They harbored a deep hatred for the Order, which had persecuted them for ages, and were always sharpening their blades for revenge.

And one of the main causes of the bloodshed in this world was related to the Dark Cult.

‘Not that I can do anything about it right now.’

Lack of ability.

And the timing wasn’t right to take any action.

But I needed to prepare.

Steadily and surely.

But for now.

‘Did I meet another dangerous person today? What kind of day is this?’

It was a truly strange day.