Chapter 85: Seoul Southern Gate
by fnovelpia
The rocking horse trembled violently.
Was it that happy that I sat on it?
The young girl belatedly kicked the area where she assumed the huge extremity had been.
Crack!
“Wow! What a rotten pervert.”
“Ugh. If you’re not going to transform into an adult, then stay quiet!”
It seems it might be best not to engage with her.
“So, we’re heading into the southern gate of Seoul. Is that all we need? You said it would destroy the ecosystem.”
I nodded at Battle mage’s words.
“Of course not. Our goal is to mess with the anti-returnee faction. Anyone who wants to go through the southern gate, raise your hand.”
Cheonma, Battle mage, and even the knight with 30 years of experience raised their hands.
The rocking horse was still shaking eagerly, as if it wanted to come along.
But since it didn’t seem to have any combat abilities, I decided to pass.
“It’d be good for Battle mage and me to go. I heard that area is quite difficult.”
“Then the agitator leader, Solinderman, and the dwarf will stay behind.”
It’s best for these three to stay for sure.
The agitator might be able to stir up people using the Kanora religion.
“Agitator, you say?”
“Oh, my mistake. Revolutionary leader.”
I accidentally let my thoughts slip out loud.
“Didn’t you do that on purpose?”
“Tsk. What do you take me for?”
But stirring people up is more impressive.
Revolution or not.
The revolutionary leader, who looked displeased, and Solinderman, who seemed suited for office work, along with the dwarf, are definitely better off staying.
“Yoo-jeong, is there a place here for the dwarf to work?”
“Ah, yes. There’s a simple forge in the backyard.”
“Oh, is that so.”
“Yes, most guilds have forges.”
A forge for magical tools, perhaps.
Then I’ll leave the guild’s equipment to the dwarf.
“What about us?”
The fish seemed eager to leave as well.
“Would the fish like to go as supporters? We also need someone to stay behind and guard the guild. The knight will take care of that.”
“Can’t I go too?”
“Do you even hear yourself?”
I’d rather die than make a kid like that act as a knight.
“Then I’ll stay. We should leave one strong member behind, right? I’ll protect the Kanora Church or Kanola-whatever.”
“You’re literally taking out a game console. Are you going to play games?”
“Of course.”
This old lady was far too eager to play.
Looking at the current team composition, it might not be a bad idea for her to stay behind and guard the building.
“What else can that old granny do besides play games?”
Crackle.
The agitator made a comment and then got shocked again.
Yeah.
Honestly, a person should have at least that much guts.
“Anyway, that’s enough of that.”
“We don’t know the structure of the southern gate right now, so I think it’s best to take both the attackers and supporters.”
“Then let’s just leave Slime, Neifir, and the other non-combatants.”
Thus, the first gate raid of the Kanora Church began.
Let’s see how this goes.
***
The southern gate of Seoul is, as the name suggests, located south of Seoul.
Its appearance is just like any other gate.
But according to the hunters, even the entrance is unusually large.
Looking ahead, there were lots of barricades, which seemed impressive.
“Is this the southern gate of Seoul?”
“That’s what they say.”
“Based on the grade, it’s estimated to be A-class. The joint raid is scheduled for tomorrow, May 26.”
“Wow.”
Perfect timing.
Now we can really mess with them.
“Alright, Pixie, let’s get started.”
“Okay, got it.”
First, Pixie was sent in.
Since we needed to scout the map using Pixie’s clairvoyance, we waited while she mapped it out.
“Excuse me, what are you all doing here?”
Some guy who looked like an extra approached us.
He was probably a hunter guarding the gate.
“What do you mean?”
“This place is scheduled for a joint raid tomorrow. Who are you?”
Who else could we be?
I confidently walked up to these foolish guys.
Then,
“Us? We’re civilians from the Kanora Guild.”
“What? What does that even mean?”
“Civilians can enter gates or dungeons, right? Isn’t that true?”
Civilians have invincible entry rights!
“Well, yes, but this place is…”
“Who are you to block our way? Don’t you follow the law?”
“Well, uh…”
They had nothing to say.
We’re civilians, receiving the perks of hunter guilds, so we can enter.
Oh, and returnees are technically civilians too, by the way.
“What’s going on here?”
Some pig-like guy showed up.
Dressed in a sharp black suit, ugh, not my style.
He’s probably a hunter from the joint raid guild.
“Oh, these people say they want to enter the southern gate.”
“Listen, ladies. I’m telling you nicely—just turn back. You’ll get hurt if you go in.”
Wow.
It’s been a while since someone tried to stop me.
The Tower of Destruction was fine since I was the only one there.
Do they really not know who I am?
I thought word had already spread in the hunter community.
Do they not recognize me?
Hmm.
A fun idea just came to me.
“Should I step in?”
“No, Battle mage, you go ahead.”
I stopped Cheonma from stepping forward and decided to send Battle mage instead.
It seems Battle mage would be more useful here.
“Me?”
“If I step in, they might run away when they hear my name.”
I love bloodshed!
Battle mage frowned at my words but reluctantly approached the pig.
I quietly hid behind Battle mage.
“No thanks.”
“What?”
“What does it matter to you if we go in and get torn apart or die?”
It’s ridiculous.
What does it matter to them if we die or not?
Battle mage was saying exactly what I was thinking.
“Well, still, these ladies? Tomorrow, hunters will…”
“That’s for the hunters, but civilian entry isn’t banned. Why do you keep insisting?”
Yeah, they should just stay out of the way.
“These girls just don’t get it. Looks like I’ll have to use force to subdue you.”
The pig laughed as if subduing us would be easy.
“Oh, so you, as a hunter, are going to hit civilians? Go ahead, try it.”
Battle mage took a step closer, sticking her face right in his.
“As hunters, we also have a duty to protect civilians. I have no choice now. I’m going to stop you from entering the dungeon by force!”
The pig finally braced himself and grabbed Battle mage’s shoulder.
It seemed like he was trying to push her away gently, but Battle mage didn’t budge.
She stood there like a tree, like a pillar.
“Uh-oh, you’re touching a civilian.”
“So, can we claim self-defense?”
I quietly asked Battle mage from behind.
“Definitely. We could even accuse him of sexual harassment for touching a woman.”
Yeah.
We could frame it as something like, “Where do you think you’re touching?” and accuse him of harassment.
But, of course, Battle mage is too kind to do that.
I’m a saint, after all, a gentle and kind saint.
And the pig in front of me dared to stop me.
So I lightly…
Crack!
I just punched the pig in the solar plexus, knocking him out.
Pigs should always be hit in the solar plexus.
Anyway, this is self-defense, you see.
Besides, Battle mage is a woman.
And that pig was grabbing a woman.
What if Battle mage had screamed right then?
He should be grateful all I did was hit him.
“This is self-defense, understood?”
“Ugh, you dirty… Do you think you’ll get away with this? What hunter guild are you from? You’ve messed with a united raid hunter, and you think—”
Sensing an opportunity, I pushed my face forward, and the pig blinked in surprise, his mouth agape.
Forget the united raid nonsense.
This place is already ours.
“Civilian threats? Wow, I’m so scared.”
“Wait. You… who are you?”
“Oops, you recognized me? Figured it out, huh?”
I had intended to keep a low profile, but I’ve been caught.
Looking closely, the sly security hunter from earlier also seemed shocked, which means he knows who I am.
“The woman who should be in the Tower of Destruction… why is she here?”
“Well, they cut my funding, so I had to earn some money. Isn’t that obvious?”
If you don’t like it, go try convincing them.
If they restore my funding, I won’t cause any trouble.
“Ugh, but this place hasn’t been properly scouted, and it’s at least an A-rank! I know you’re strong, but it’s better to give up on this dungeon!”
“Don’t worry about that. You should focus on your guild’s results. Our little pixie is very fast, you know. She can edit this maliciously.”
I glanced over at Pixie, who was already holding her phone in a good spot.
Looks like the map-making is already done.
She works fast, doesn’t she?
This pig doesn’t know who should be worrying about whom.
Tsk, tsk, tsk.
Look at that, Pixie’s already taken the shot.
Of what?
The pig grabbing Battle mage while grinning wickedly.
“Fine, I get it. I won’t stop you. But please stop that!”
“Alright, sounds good.”
“Really scary, aren’t you?”
“You called us fish earlier, what do you expect?”
The “fish” that had been holding their breath were now completely ignored.
“Young girl, you’ve finished making the maps, right?”
At some point, her hands were filled with a bunch of maps.
The guards had retreated, so we could now enjoy ourselves fully.
“Yeah, I did. It seems like there are definitely some strong monsters, but nothing we can’t handle.”
“Really?”
“The problem is, there are a lot of different pathways, so we’ll have to split up. It’s like an anthill.”
Looking at the map, it’s indeed complex.
It’s a very twisted and tangled structure.
Right from the entrance, it splits into three paths.
Even further in, the paths twist around but eventually lead to one place.
“What about the boss?”
“The boss is a huge dragon, but it’s all bones.”
A skeletal dragon, huh. Monsters like that are common in games.
“Hmm, so it’s a death dragon.”
“You know about it?”
Battle mage asked.
“I encountered one in my world once. One breath from it rots a person to the bone.”
Just imagining it is horrifying.
I’ve had a similar experience, too.
One of the Demon King’s worst experimental creations was the Death Duke.
Originally a noble from a distant past, he was resurrected by the Demon King into a terrifying being that would melt people to death just by being near them.
Maybe there’s something like that in the Tower of Destruction.
“Hmm. That does sound scary.”
“You just have to be careful of its breath. But the problem is its massive size. Some people get killed because they underestimate it as just a skeleton.”
“So that’s why the hunters teamed up.”
Even if they don’t know it’s a death dragon, they’d have some sense that there’s something big in there.
But our Pixie is competent.
“So, how do we split up?”
“Saintess, Cheonma’s team, Battle mage’s team—that’s how we’ll divide.”
We decided to split up for now.
0 Comments