Retire 459

459 Frustrating (2)

There’s a part that civilians and hot-blooded rookie hunters often overlook: dungeon raids, for the most part, are conducted in silence. The dungeons I entered with the students from Yangseong High or with Eva Robinson were focused on learning, not true raids. The countless dungeons Han Taekyung was put through were the same.

But to make noise in a dungeon you’re raiding for real? To cause a commotion?

That only means you’re inexperienced.

There’s a reason for the saying, “Empty wagons make the most noise.” It wasn’t coined for nothing. The same applies to dungeon raids.

Sound is one of the most basic ways to gather information. Dungeons, surprisingly, are full of sounds—especially when you consider the heightened senses of Awakened.

If you can’t hear the monsters because of the noise you’re making, what a ridiculous situation that is. Monsters might even flee at the sound you make. That’s why hunters develop ways to communicate without speaking, like sign language.

Even if you’ve scouted the dungeon and know what’s inside, the same rule applies. You’ll base your tactics on your findings, so speed is crucial. There’s no time—or reason—to stand around chatting.

And generally, if you’ve worked together for a long time, or if you trust your teammates, you don’t even need words.

“……!”

And so, Guild Mimi’s raid proceeded in silence.

There was no need for exchanged glances. We all knew, without looking, where everyone was and what role they were playing.

“Kyaaaaah!!”

The only sounds filling the dungeon were the monsters’ screams. Razor-sharp claws lashed out to snatch the hunters attacking it. I wedged my spear between the claws, blocking its movement. Alex Hope, who had been clinging to my back, leapt up onto the monster’s claws in an instant. The massive monster, looking like a cross between an eagle and a lion, screamed with an ear-splitting cry, annoyed by the tiny human weaving through its feathers. It raised its forepaw, curling its claws tightly around my spear as if determined not to let me go.

But the monster’s attempt failed. At some point, a rose vine had sprouted at its feet, binding its forepaw. Hope used the momentary pause to climb higher.

Annoyed by the human approaching it, the monster shook itself like a wet dog. The vine snapped with an ominous crack. But Kim Chaemin didn’t care, winding more vines around its legs.

Whiiit!

At the sound of a short whistle, I immediately ducked my head.

My father’s spear whistled past overhead. The spear he’d just used to kill the fledglings was now slick with a blue-tinged black liquid—monster blood.

After throwing the spear, my father grabbed the vine. With a sharp inhale, he yanked it hard. Astonishingly, the monster, its gray wings spread wide as it tried to take flight, was pulled up short by his strength.

“Kyaaaaaaaah!!!!”

Then my father’s spear struck the base of the outstretched wing. Hope grabbed the spear and somersaulted through the air. As dark blue blood sprayed, Hope yanked the spear free and landed atop the wing. At the same time, I let go of my spear, and my father released the vine.

The monster reared up to its full height.

Hope, gripping the spear in reverse, stabbed it again into the wing. With the monster lifting its torso, Hope slid down along the wing’s base, dragging the spear with him. The monster thrashed in agony, black blood falling like rain.

Hope never let go of the spear. Using teleportation to cushion his fall, he rolled across the ground. The monster, its right wing now ragged and limp, stomped down in a rage to crush Hope.

At that moment, a sword came flying from somewhere. My spear was still wedged between the claws, preventing them from closing and exposing the tender flesh inside. The sword struck exactly there. As the monster screamed again, Hope slipped away unharmed.

Instead of retrieving his thrown sword, Han Taekyung drew a new weapon from his coat and charged at the monster’s rear. The monster, torn between pain and fury, lashed out at every human in sight.

Thanks to that, the dungeon core the monster had been guarding in its nest was left completely exposed.

“Touchdown!!”

Han Taekyung shouted as he plunged his sword into the core.

---

There’s always something strangely lyrical about a collapsing dungeon. Gamble would love this view. I remembered how she had once admired the ruins of Lee Miseon’s pension after it was destroyed in an explosion.

The monster Americans called a griffin lay collapsed near the core, barely clinging to life. There was a brief lull before the dungeon fully collapsed.

“This dungeon was thoroughly scouted.”

“Well… they said they didn’t raid it because of the griffin feathers, right?”

“Even just the feathers that fell to the ground would have been worth a lot.”

My father pointed his chin at Kim Chaemin.

“Ms. Kim wanted the feathers, so we went ahead and took down something we didn’t really need to.”

“Plucking griffin feathers isn’t exactly easy, you know.”

I shrugged.

“Well… thanks to that, we could leave Daniel behind for a bit.”

“We could have just said it was for guild bonding.”

“Don’t talk like one of those evil bosses who force everyone into company hiking clubs.”

“Want me to show you what a real evil boss is?”

“I’ll sue.”

My father laughed uproariously at my words. I was about to retort, but stopped myself. The longer the conversation, the more I’d just become the butt of his jokes.

When I didn’t respond, my father quickly stopped laughing.

“Come on, don’t be so stiff when it’s just us.”

“I’m on duty.”

“If you call this duty…”

“Work is work.”

“Hmmph.”

He grunted, but finally nodded.

“It’s true, it’s awkward to talk outside.”

“I didn’t know you cared about that sort of thing.”

“Of course I do! Information is valuable. We have to be careful. I can block sound from leaking out, but it’s not perfect. The world’s a big place, and there are plenty of people. Someone could be eavesdropping.”

Ironically, his words made me think of Park Seohyun.

She’d tried—and succeeded—in eavesdropping on a conversation between me and Kim Chaemin. If Kim Chaemin hadn’t told me later, I’d never have noticed.

“And I can’t do anything about machines. The news is always warning about hacking.”

“Well… Gamble probably took care of that.”

“That’s true.”

“She’s more careful than she looks. She took my phone for security reasons, so I’m sure it’s fine.”

“She’s thorough.”

“Unlike some people.”

“…Who?”

I didn’t answer.

Kim Chaemin, apparently determined to collect as many feathers as possible, didn’t even glance our way during the conversation. Instead, she pressed Han Taekyung into service as an assistant. He followed her around, helping gather feathers.

It looked oddly awkward.

There was nothing strange about it, and yet it felt off.

Sometimes, you only see things from a distance. Back when I used to raid dungeons with Han Taekyung, I never noticed. But now, I could see he was deliberately focusing on anything but the collapsing dungeon sky—on Kim Chaemin, on the griffin feathers, on whatever else.

What did the dungeon’s sky look like through his eyes?

“Ugh, what a mess.”

Hope came over, struggling to wipe monster blood from his hair.

“Will this wash out with just water?”

“Griffin blood is toxic. You need a special solution.”

“What? Poisonous?”

“It’s only dangerous if you inhale it as vapor. I told you to read the plan carefully, didn’t I?”

“……Of course I read it! How else would I have followed the strategy so well?”

“Make sure you know the warnings, too.”

Hope gave up on cleaning his hair.

“Hey, it all worked out!”

“The result isn’t the only thing that matters…”

I sighed. The raid had gone well, but everything else was more of a headache.

My father chuckled at our exchange, but his laughter didn’t last.

After all, this was why we wanted to talk privately.

“You remember what dungeon we’re going into next, right?”

“…Well. I’m just glad we didn’t run into it unprepared.”

The mood grew heavy in an instant.

But it was true—we were lucky.

“Be careful.”

Gamble’s weary warning.

After checking the document my sister left, I understood why she’d said that. Why she’d told me to come ask her for an explanation.

But there was no one left to explain.

The document itself was unfinished. I’d expected information about Mont-Saint-Michel, but instead, it contained things I hadn’t anticipated. Not that it was unrelated to Mont-Saint-Michel.

Well, the focus had always been on it being a notorious, off-limits dungeon, but the dungeon itself wasn’t all that secret. With the right connections, you could easily find out what was inside. I’d pulled the strings of Jean Robinson and Nicolas de Funes.

Those were personal connections, and since there’d be no record, it was a good choice. If I’d had no other options, I’d have used the names of Hong Seokyoung or Lee Miseon to go through the Association. Kim Chaemin’s name would have worked, too. But that would have drawn too much attention—people might think we were trying to sneak into Mont-Saint-Michel.

In any case, Mont-Saint-Michel dungeon wasn’t completely unknowable. If my sister, who didn’t have to be as cautious as we are now, had wanted, she could have gotten the data easily. In fact, she probably scraped up all the raid records from France. There might be information in those records that I never heard, but… if she’d hidden only the details about Mont-Saint-Michel, I’d have been disappointed.

But my sister didn’t let me down.

“There were no fairies in the dungeon data from America.”

“But there are fairies in the data Gamble gave us.”

“Which do you trust more?”

“Obviously Sandra!”

“It’s our data.”

Data my sister, almost certainly with my father, had put together.

Unfinished. She hadn’t completed it.

But I could tell what she was trying to do. It was obvious why she’d researched it, and what she’d discovered.

She’d left data not on Mont-Saint-Michel, but on “fairies.”

Their appearance. Abilities. The dungeons where they appeared.

The original was just like something left by someone who couldn’t even keep her room tidy—only traces of an attempt at organization.

But Sandra Gamble, in that short time, had managed to organize it and send it to me.

She’d even marked the fairies with certain features that my sister had paid special attention to.

And the next dungeon America had asked Guild Mimi to raid—the one we’d be tackling next—was on that list.