Parasite (2)

“So, how long do we have to wait?”

“I don’t know. They said the boss is working hard on it right now.”

“Is that woman really that pretty?”

“How would I know? But I guess she’s not the type you can just shake down and be done with.”

“Damn, the boss is still in his prime.”

“You’d be dead if he heard you say that.”

“Did you pass on the message to him?”

“Pass what on? If I told him something like that, he’d start cursing me out immediately.”

“But besides that one meeting he went to, it doesn’t seem like he’s done jack shit, does it?”

“The boss is surprisingly weak when it comes to this stuff.”

“How innocent.”

“Still, for her to be active right here of all places…”

“That’s why we’re cooped up here, isn’t it? What was it again? He said he was going to give her the rights to run the black market as a gift?”

“Man, the boss… is he trying to be romantic? Where’d the man who used to cut people down without a second thought go? Now he’s losing sleep over a one-sided crush—”

“Hey, he’s a warm-hearted man to his woman, you hear?”

“Who said anything? Anyway, even if he hands over the rights as planned, you think she’ll like it? It’s not like people won’t die, and they’re her colleagues, in a way.”

“Who knows. How are we supposed to know what the boss is thinking?”

“The boss, man. The more I know him, the less I understand.”

“That’s how all strong guys are. Or, uh, strong people. I heard that one guy, what was he, A-rank or something? His personality is supposedly really weird.”

“True. Small fry like us have to at least have a good personality… Ah, fuck. It’s my turn for night watch. I’m heading out. You guys should get some sleep soon.”

“Yeah. Have fun with that.”

I stepped out of the tent—

“Huh?”

The first thing I saw wasn’t the person who had been standing guard, but a woman. Fucking beautiful.

…Could she be the one—

CRACK—!

*

The man collapsed with a single punch.

The sound was… a little louder than I’d intended. I hope they didn’t hear—

Ah. They noticed.

The murmuring inside the tent died down, and soon I heard a faint rustling from deep within.

I gave a silent signal that we’d been spotted. We moved into the positions we’d planned on the way here.

The Enhancement-types took the front and back, while the Magic-types stayed at a distance where they could cover both sides.

The key was to let one or two survive, ensuring no one escaped. We had to at least ask them why they were here.

However, I had my doubts about the elemental control of the Magic-type, Namgung Yoon, who wielded fire—

So my role and Bae Yeon-woo’s were crucial. We had to decide who to spare and who to send on their way.

Namgung Yoon’s job was just to keep anyone from escaping (and not accidentally burn everyone to a crisp). Song Gi-woo would support the battle with timely buffs and debuffs, and Kim Hee-an would provide support from a distance with potions (if he could).

Rustle— Rustle—

The shadows cast by the light inside the tent flickered.

When should we go in?

I really screwed up by making that punch so loud.

Charging into a tent full of tense enemies was… a bad idea.

…Do I really have to go in?

Change of plans.

I gave Namgung Yoon a look, and at the same time, I swiped my flaming fingertips across the tent—

SWOOSH—

“Fire!”

Why should I go in? You guys come out.

Immediately after, Namgung Yoon’s flames also engulfed the tent. The clang of metal rang out from inside, and then—

RIIIP—!

The tent was torn open from all sides as figures burst out.

One, two, three, four, five. All five of them staggered.

“What the fuck!”

Song Gi-woo’s vertigo debuff. One of them accidentally missed a step and dived headfirst into the flames.

“Aaargh!”

“Hyeong-cheol!”

CLANG—

The swordsman who had shouted “Hyeong-cheol!” barely managed to block Bae Yeon-woo’s blade.

That left three.

I went for the one closest to me—

Skill: Elemental Link.

I channeled the full rotation of my body into an explosive strike, my fist crackling with lightning.

And then—

THWACK!

“Ugh.”

Lightning spread out from the point of impact.

The man who took the direct hit collapsed to the ground without so much as a scream.

“Dammit! Dammit!” “How, how did— Urp.”

The remaining men panicked at the sight of their fallen comrade, not knowing what to do. And why was one of them still unable to stand straight?

“Huh? Fuck, we surrender! We surren— Gack, we surrender… is what I….”

The swordsman facing Bae Yeon-woo had tried to surrender, but in the process of lowering his guard, Bae Yeon-woo’s sword found its mark. In his neck.

Clutching his bleeding throat, the swordsman fell to his knees. The other two, who still seemed lucid, also dropped to their knees and raised their hands.

“We surrender! We’ll surrender!”

The man who had staggered into the fire was thrashing less and less.

The one I’d punched was just twitching intermittently, his eyes rolled back in his head.

“…What, is it over?”

“Looks like it’s over.”

It was a bit anticlimactic, but the situation was resolved.

To be honest, I’d sized up these parasites and figured they were between C- and D-rank on average, so there was a pretty big gap in our power levels.

Still, it felt like it ended a little too quickly.

“Gack, gurgle—”

“This guy’s dying. I’ll call Hee-an. Kim Hee-an! Get over here!”

At Bae Yeon-woo’s call, Kim Hee-an came running. He was probably calling him over to heal the man with a potion. But—

“Wait a minute.”

“Hm? Why?”

Bae Yeon-woo turned to look at me.

“Do we really need to save him?”

“Huh?”

“We have two others alive anyway.”

“I guess so?”

Bae Yeon-woo glanced at Song Gi-woo. Receiving the look, Song Gi-woo said,

“Why are you looking at me? …Honestly, two is enough, but the problem is that guy might know the most. You all felt it, right? He was the strongest one here.”

That was true.

“So, should I get a potion? For that kind of wound… the one for lacerations should—”

I stopped Kim Hee-an as he was about to run off again to get a potion.

“We can just ask. Hey. Tell me the truth. Who here knows the most?”

I laced my voice with Essense, using ‘Devil’s Whisper’.

“Gurgle, gack— That… that guy….”

Whether it was because he was slowly dying and his mind was fading, he answered obediently. He pointed to the green-haired man among the two who were still relatively unharmed.

He’s probably not… lying. In this situation, you’d say it was you if you wanted to live.

“What?” “Hey! Shin Cheol-jin!”

The reaction from his companion boosted his credibility. I’m good.

The person ‘Shin Cheol-jin’ pointed at was the man who still looked like he hadn’t recovered from the vertigo debuff.

“So we don’t need the potion?”

“Seems like it. For now, just grab all the stuff over there and come here.”

“Nice. I didn’t want to waste a potion anyway.”

Kim Hee-an ran off again to collect their belongings.

I glanced at Song Gi-woo, who just shrugged.

Seeing the gesture, Bae Yeon-woo swung his sword—

“Guk!” “Ack.” “Ugh.”

He stabbed Shin Cheol-jin and the two men who had been on the ground since before the fight even started.

Stab, stab, stab. Without hesitation or any wasted motion.

Hmm… so our Yeon-woo is a very decisive friend.

“We surrendered, so why….”

The green-haired man stared blankly at the scene. Song Gi-woo glared back at him.

“Shut the fuck up and just answer the questions.”

Then he nodded in my direction, passing the lead to me.

“Ahem. Right. Speak honestly, and only the truth. Got it? Where are you from? What organization?”

“Honestly… I’m from the Swallow Faction.”

“The Swallow Faction? From the Swallowtail Faction?”

“Yes.”

“Why? Their leader made a deal with me—I mean, with our side… a negotiation? Something like that, anyway.”

“Could you be… the one? The woman our boss has been meeting with—”

SLAP—!

The green-haired man’s words were cut off by Song Gi-woo’s crisp slap.

“Don’t ask questions, just answer them, you bastard.”

“Gi-woo, stay out of it for a second. What was your question?”

“Are… are you the woman who’s been meeting with our boss… I mean, our representative?”

“Yeah. That’s me. What about it?”

“Ah, this is….”

“Stop changing the subject and talk.”

I grabbed one of his arms and sent a jolt of electricity through it. The green-haired man flinched violently.

“Urk!”

“Hurry up.”

“Our… our boss said he was going to hand this place over to you.”

“Hm?”

“In exchange for letting him run the black market here, he would—with you—”

SLAP!

This time, I was the one who hit him.

“How dare you say that.”

“Looking at you now… it seems you already have it, though.”

“So, for that, you were holed up here like parasites? To wipe this place clean and then hand it over to me?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm, well, fine. I’m looking forward to our next meeting. When was he planning to come?”

“He’s… already on his way.”

“…What? How?”

“…”

“Spit it out. How can he get here so fast?”

Silence.

I raised a hand to stop Song Gi-woo from slapping him again and moved to the other survivor.

“You can talk, right? How can he get here so fast? Tell me what you’re hiding.”

“What we’re hiding… is… Chae-woon can use telepathy.”

“Hey! You son of a— Mmph!”

The green-haired man, Chae-woon, was quickly silenced by Bae Yeon-woo.

“Telepathy?”

“Yes. He’s probably… sending a message right now.”

“…Really? Hey. Green-hair. How much did you send? Quickly, tell me the truth!”

My forces are being exposed in real-time?

“Kgh, keuh, just… everything….”

“Everything?”

“That you’re the real master of this place, that you have the power to make people tell the truth, and this entire situation, all of it— Urp.”

At a flick of Song Gi-woo’s finger, the man called Chae-woon staggered violently and started dry-heaving.

“We need to get back quickly. I’ve maxed out the vertigo intensity for now… but killing them would be cleaner, right?”

Bae Yeon-woo drew his sword and strode forward.

“Wait, wai— ugh, urp, wait a minute!”

“Save your excuses for hell—”

“A message came! He says he’s sorry! Ugh.”

“What?”

“From the boss, urp, blegh, can you stop this?”

“Let him go.”

“Cough, thank you. Cough, anyway, he said he’s sorry…. He’s asking you to… spare us.”

“…Five out of seven of you are already dead.”

“Just the two of us… My trait, telepathy, is rare….”

Telepathy. Now that I thought about it, it was an incredibly useful trait.

The fact that he could communicate with someone inside the gate even though he was outside—since the black market wasn’t open—proved it.

It was just annoying that I had to be the one on the receiving end of that useful trait.

“But is a simple ‘sorry’ supposed to be enough? ‘Ah, we were trying to snatch it, but we got caught, sorry about that. Please spare the men you have there.’ Do we look like pushovers?”

“Of course, of course not! No, you’re not. He said he would offer compensation.”

“Compensation?”

“Yes.”

“With what?”

“He’s coming to discuss that….”

“Hah… Fine. Tell him to come tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

“You want to meet now? I just have to keep you two alive until tomorrow. Right?”

“Yes, yes! And….”

“And?”

“He asks if you could… take care of the bodies….”

“Take care of the bodies? He’s got some nerve. Even if I wanted to, I can’t right now. It’s too much. Tell him to come and do it himself tomorrow. I’ll assign some people to help then.”

“For now… I understand.”

“Good. Hey. Do you have a blindfold and earplugs? We need to cover this guy’s eyes and ears. He said he’s sending everything.”

Kim Hee-an, who had finished gathering the supplies, tossed me a small sack. I pulled it right over the man’s head.

“We don’t have earplugs, so I guess we’ll have to be quiet on the way back. Ah, let’s put one on this guy too. Even if he doesn’t have telepathy. Give me another sack.”

…Looking at us now, we look like kidnappers.

Am I really a kidnapper?

*

The kidnapping… was exhausting.

It wasn’t just the non-stop moving, but kidnapping two people without a vehicle….

Worse, since we’d blindfolded them, they kept tripping and falling. We’d help them up, they’d fall again, we’d help them up again.

In the end, Bae Yeon-woo just slung the green-haired telepath over his shoulder. We took the sack off the other guy.

And so we returned to base camp.

When I explained the situation to the people who were looking at us with bewilderment, they immediately went into high alert, rushing around busily.

Well, it was a situation where we could have all been wiped out.

For now, I had the two prisoners locked up separately in case they tried to conspire. We’d tied their arms and legs after putting sacks over their heads.

“You’ve all worked hard, so please get some rest. We’ll handle the cleanup.”

“Looks like I did a good job picking the guild master for Blue Forest.”

Park Eun-su and Ahn Yu-su said they would take care of things.

He might be coming to negotiate, but I had no idea what he might try to pull when he got here. I needed to get my body into optimal condition.

“Well then, get some rest.”

“Yeah. See you tomorrow.”

But my feet didn’t lead me to my temporary quarters.

Instead, I headed for one of the cells.

Specifically… the one holding the man who couldn’t use telepathy.

All I have to do is keep him alive, right?

I did use up a bit of Essense earlier, after all.