Retire 412
by Cristae412 Butterflies of Memory (2)
“If you die doing bad things, you’ll end up in a place like this.”
Since this was a landscape I’d created with my own hands, I couldn’t bring myself to agree with Han Taekyung’s words. Regardless of agreement.
I swung my sword in silence. The forest was, quite literally, turning to ashes.
If this weren’t a dungeon but the real world, I’d be sued by environmental groups. Of course, I was only able to set fire to my heart’s content because it was a dungeon… That sounds wrong. It’s only because it’s a dungeon that I have no choice but to set it ablaze.
We were still near the gorge. It was a relief I’d brought the same gear I’d used in the mud dungeon. In the end, all dungeon equipment is more or less the same.
The purification rune that blocked the stench of the mud dungeon also kept out the smell of burning forest. Our bodies were protected by gear, but no one was wearing a helmet. Like people living in the desert, we tore cloth and wrapped it around our heads, covering our noses and mouths as much as possible.
‘This is how you do it.’
Here, too, Han Taekyung proved his worth.
‘It’s essential when you’re running desert dungeons!’
Does everyone who works in the Middle East end up like this? Whatever my personal feelings about Han Taekyung, I had to acknowledge his competence….
Well, that was only natural. Even my father wouldn’t have asked someone unqualified to teach at the academy. And Han Taekyung had been the first team leader at the Bureau since its inception. Maybe I was the one who’d been ignoring what that really meant.
Anyway, the forest burned well.
I turned to Robinson, who now looked more dazed than excited.
“Don’t ever think this is what a normal dungeon raid is like.”
“…What?! I won’t, I won’t!”
“I mean it. This… setting things on fire and so on. If you go around suggesting it elsewhere, people will hate you.”
If you go around shouting “Let’s burn it!” you’ll get misunderstood easily. Sure, sometimes it’s the right or only option… but it would be a pity if this poor duckling got scolded somewhere else.
“If you really have to set a fire, do it right in front of the gate and leave the dungeon immediately. Only go back in after plenty of time has passed and you’re fully prepared….”
“I said I won’t!”
“We’re only burning things now because the gate is blocked.”
“Oh… you said there was another new monster, right?”
“Yes.”
Han Taekyung and I didn’t explain any further to Robinson.
I argued that at this point, it was better to tell Robinson exactly what we were doing, but Han Taekyung disagreed. Unlike East Asia, where dungeons with fairies are rare, fairy monsters have a terrible reputation in Europe.
‘I’m not underestimating her. She’s calm for now, but you never know what could happen. I’ve seen a lot of kids like her. If she loses it in the forest, neither of us will be able to cover for her.’
This Han Taekyung was not the Bureau’s First Team Leader Han Taekyung I knew.
But he still had more dungeon-raiding experience than I did. I was confident in analyzing and clearing dungeons, but I couldn’t deny I had little experience entering dungeons with other people.
‘If we were trying to take down the thing near the gate, that would be different. Then we’d have to tell her. But our goal is just to get out, right?’
‘Yes.’
‘So just knowing there’s an unknown monster is enough. If she’s a hunter, she’ll be on guard.’
‘Still, isn’t it better for her to know? In case…’
Han Taekyung ended the conversation with a chilling remark.
‘If she ends up separated from us, that means we’re finished too, so it doesn’t matter anymore.’
…It was an unpleasant thing to say, but I understood what he meant.
‘If she breaks down, better it happens at the gate. At least then we can throw her out.’
He was so adamant, there was no point in insisting on my way. And it wasn’t exactly a lie.
All we knew about those butterflies was that they resembled the fairies Han Taekyung had seen before; we didn’t actually know if they were fairies. We were just preparing for the worst.
“That thing is blocking the gate. There might be other monsters in the forest we don’t know about… but clearing the gate comes first.”
“I know. You’ve explained it over and over. I’ll keep my wits about me so I don’t lose track of you and Han.”
“Don’t ever let your guard down. Most of the gorillas should be dead by now…”
They were never much of a threat to begin with, and they were helpless against fire saturated with mana. The few that managed to escape the burning forest were quickly dealt with by Han Taekyung. With no trees near the gorge, they were easy to spot. Monsters running out with their bodies on fire were no problem at all.
Han Taekyung had also taken care of the pterosaurs lurking nearby. If those cunning things had attacked from behind at the right moment, it would have been a disaster.
Fortunately, no new monsters emerged from the forest besides the gorillas and pterosaurs.
“I’ll go check real quick!”
Han Taekyung climbed a large tree we’d deliberately left unburned, to check the gate.
The plan was simple.
Burn the forest. Wait until the fire spread close to the gate. Since the dungeon’s trees were saturated with mana, I didn’t need to do anything more.
And if the butterflies reacted to the fire… Ideally, they’d just fly away to avoid it.
Hmm. When does a dungeon ever go as I expect? If it did, every dungeon in the world would have been closed by now.
“The fire hasn’t reached the gate yet. We need to wait a bit longer.”
“How much farther?”
“We’re about two-thirds of the way there.”
“Any reaction?”
“Nothing yet, sunbae.”
After that, it was just more of the same. Check that the rune cloths on our heads weren’t damaged, deal with the occasional gorilla or pterosaur, climb a tree to check the situation….
And just as the last of the gorillas stopped appearing—
Something changed in the dungeon.
It was a change so obvious, we didn’t even need to take turns climbing the tree to notice.
First:
Boom!
The ground shook violently.
It wasn’t an earthquake. Something massive had struck somewhere underground. The vibration came with a sound. It was like when the eel had slammed into the cliff while we were in the crevice with Robinson, except this time it was coming from beneath the ground.
Second:
A wind blew through the forest.
A wind strong enough to be called a gale. Not just a brief gust, but a constant, blinding wind. If the fire burning the forest hadn’t been magical, the wind might have changed its direction.
It was an unnatural wind, as unnatural as the fire. Almost like magic.
Third:
The butterflies took to the sky.
The specks scattered across the sky were the mana that had been swirling above the gate. It looked strange, but there wasn’t much of it. It seemed like the butterflies were carrying the mana with them, but I couldn’t be sure.
In any case, the butterflies didn’t stray far from the gate. They fluttered around it, clustering together like some grotesque swarm.
Then the butterflies—the pink butterflies—rose high into the sky.
The fire reached the gate. I gripped my sword and took the lead. Robinson was in the middle, Han Taekyung at the rear.
Before we set off, I joked to Han Taekyung,
“They’re the exact same pink as Chaecy.”
Han Taekyung, who had been watching the butterflies fill the sky with a grim set to his mouth, slowly turned his gaze to me.
He took off his sunglasses and tucked them into his shirt, grumbling,
“How can you say that, sunbae?”
His gold-flecked eyes saw straight through things even I couldn’t see.
“Don’t compare our Chaecy to those bugs!”
As long as I held my sister’s sword, the blue flames moved according to my will.
Right. In truth, I couldn’t control such a blazing fire completely as I wished. But at least, I could clear a path wide enough for us to pass.
To be called Hong Seokyoung’s disciple, you had to be able to cut even things without form. I swung my sword with the intent to slice through any wall that blocked our way. The flames at my feet died down. There were still embers, but nothing dangerous. I stomped out the embers and charged ahead. Robinson and Han Taekyung followed behind.
Anything could happen. Our goal was to get through the gate, but depending on the “fairy,” we might have to retreat. Instead of letting the fire run wild, I left a path open behind us.
Climbing the tree earlier had also been to check our direction. No detours—straight ahead. The fastest route to the gate.
While I made the path, Han Taekyung handled everything else.
“They’re coming!”
Because of the mana-fueled fire, my vision was useless. The burnt forest was a mess of mana.
But Han Taekyung’s eyes could see beyond that mana. I didn’t know exactly what he saw. Maybe he didn’t either. Hope had tried to gloss over it by saying, “The ‘eyes’ work differently for everyone.”
He’d tried to explain. What was it again?
“My eyes were never that good, so I wouldn’t know!”
Useless guy.
Aside from Choi Jinwoo’s magic, only Han Taekyung could find a path even in Park Seohyun’s shadows.
“Duck!”
As I lowered my head, something swept through the spot where it had just been.
Still, I didn’t slow down. Robinson, though staggering, gritted her teeth and kept up. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Han Taekyung swinging his sickle like he was dancing. Something struck by the blade fell, and he stomped it down. His attacks flowed smoothly, like water. All the while, he kept right behind us.
That wasn’t just a matter of good eyesight. Cutting down butterflies attacking at near-invisible speed in this chaotic forest, without slowing down?
This was it. The reason my father, for all his headaches, couldn’t help but keep Han Taekyung tied to the Bureau. The reason Han Taekyung always ended up back at the Bureau, no matter how much he was cursed out.
Han Taekyung, First Team Leader of the Bureau of Paranormal Management.
And I’d played a part in helping that talent blossom this time… Hmm. Han Taekyung should be grateful to me for the rest of his life.
But the butterflies weren’t the only things in our way.
Boom!
“Ah!”
“Don’t let your guard down!”
Another shock came from below. Robinson lost her balance for a moment, but Han Taekyung caught her and kept running.
“Run!”
“Okay!”
The butterflies kept coming, more and more of them. The ones popping up in front of me forced me to slow down. Even for me, it was too dangerous to just ignore them and keep running.
“That’s not an eel, it’s a loach, isn’t it? It’s burrowing through the ground!”
“That might not even be the same fish!”
“That’s even worse! How many kinds of monsters are in this dungeon?!”
“You sound lively enough to keep going.”
“I can see the gate up ahead!”
But I couldn’t relax.
I had a feeling the real challenge was just beginning. We’d taken out a lot of butterflies, but compared to the swarm I’d seen from the tree, it was nothing. If they’d all burned up in the fire, that would have been ideal…
No, the swarm had burned, but the butterflies themselves had not died.
<*%^!@!!!*&>
A sound, not in my ears but transmitted directly into my skull.
The butterfly shook its wings. I didn’t know anything about insect communication, but I’d bet Hong Seokyoung’s bank account that was a gesture of rage.