Ride of comfort (1)
“I think she’s being too much.”
“Really?”
“After all, it’s Jung Yura.”
“Ah…”
“Tsk. Maybe she’s too obsessed with achievements… Those under her command will also end up suffering a lot.”
“If you say so…”
“You don’t have to worry too much. No one thinks of you badly, Kiyoung. There were a lot of rumors about Jung Yura’s personality within the Magic Guild.”
“That’s fortunate. I was worried that I was really hindering everyone…”
“No, no. wherever you go, there will always be people who will try to stir up trouble. The most important thing you should take note of in an expedition is your humanity. I thought she would at least have some basic manners… It seems that there will be no collaboration with the Black Swan for the foreseeable future. Especially with Jung Yura, that woman.”
“The same goes for our Red Mercenaries.”
“I don’t understand at all…”
“It’s because Kiyoung is well-liked by people. Anyway, it’s not right to meddle too much in other people’s affairs. At least show some basic respect. Even if it annoys you, you must bring it up to the expedition leader. Forgive me for saying this, but if the Blue Guild’s prestige was like how it was before, the Black Swans wouldn’t dare do this.”
“Hahaha.”
“By the way, what exactly did she say?”
“This is… I don’t know if I can tell you…”
“I would like you to speak without worries.”
Of course, I found no reason to hide this. It worked in my favor, after all.
“That… She told me not to fraternize with the rest of you.”
“Whoa, really? What else did she say?”
“S-She said she didn’t know if I came to explore the dungeon or to socialize. She said I just wanted to become friends with the guilds and that I wasn’t being vigilant enough.”
“Friendship, huh…”
“I don’t know if I can tell you what she said afterwards, too.”
“Go ahead. You’re free to say it.”
“That… she said she doubted if the Mercenary Queen can protect me here too.”
“What a mad bitch.”
I thought Choi Young-ki would exhibit a violent reaction, but it seemed that he only felt uncomfortable.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
“Listen. She’s just being crazy. Does she really think we’d let anyone who tries to hurt you get away? How cocky she is! You don’t have to worry, Mr. Kiyoung. If a woman like that beggar ever tries to stir up trouble with you or with the expedition… Well, I won’t let that happen.”
“Do you still feel threatened? Do you want to start a formal protest?”
“No, I’m okay. I don’t want to make things bigger than they already are.”
“Tsk. I just feel like she’s prejudiced against you. A lot of people are like that, especially among the veterans. People like her disgust me.”
“Haha…”
Throughout this whole ordeal, I made sure to look as if I was still shaken up. However, things were already working in my favor. The atmosphere had shifted.
This was the kind of situation that Jung Yura had imposed upon herself for inciting me. With a single mistake, her influence over the guild had crumbled.
Even a veteran like her must know that snooping around so straightforwardly would come with serious repercussions. Everyone had a negative opinion of her now because she had stated that making friends was a bad thing. At this point, even if she tried to cozy up to the others, she would not regain her influential position.
‘That’s why it’s important to act your best at all times.’
No matter how much she struggled, I doubted any other parties would show her any sympathy. Especially not from the Red Mercenary Guild! After she doubted Cha Hee-ra’s power, their opinion of her had permanently crumbled.
However, I knew Choi Young-ki’s leadership would suffer because of this. It would be hard to maintain formation if the atmosphere wasn’t a friendly one.
“Now, then, let’s start again.”
“Yes, sure.”
In summary, Jung Yura’s influential hold over the group had disappeared. I knew Kim Hyunsung wouldn’t let her try to boss anyone around ever again. His ominous demeanor hinted that he wasn’t at all interested in letting her doubt his authority over again.
“Okay. I’ll go and take my position now.”
“Sure.”
Because of the sudden turn of events, there was a strange type of pressure in the atmosphere. Everyone had started to put their full concentration on the expedition. I could guess that this was because of Kim Hyunsung’s somber mood.
I knew Kim Hyunsung had the quality to be a leader everywhere he went.
“You don’t have to be nervous, Deokgu. Just focus as much as possible.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Ye-ri, don’t hit anywhere else. Focus on the area where our melee lacks in range, got it? It would be better to load the magic power in advance.”
“Yes, noted.”
“Miss Hayan and Mr. Kiyoung are both doing well.”
“Thank you.”
“Even if Hee-young won’t look at me…”
“Don’t worry, Mr. Hyunsung. I know my role.”
“Good.”
The party members were also exuding enthusiasm. At this point, I wanted the monsters to appear as soon as possible. I just wanted us to get to the next safe point.
Despite it being called a Garden, it resembled a huge, jungle-like environment. As it was difficult to distinguish which one is a plant and which one is a monster, it was only natural that we would be more careful.
While I tried to assess our situation, Kim Hyunsung spoke from behind me.
“Kiyoung?”
“I’m on it.”
I did not bother to ask why I should incite a spell right away. I trusted Hyunsung. Jung Hayan nodded as well and began to match her magic to sync with mine.
“Lord…”
“Grant us the power that cannot be taken away…”
“The strength to keep…”
“Magic power…”
“As strong as wind…”
The combination of our voice resonated within the area, the urgency of our spells intensifying the already pressuring atmosphere. One look at Jung Hayan revealed that she enjoyed the fact that we were combining enchantments to create more powerful spells together. I had to admit this also felt fun to me. Together, slowly, we were building up a tower of magic.
“Prepare for battle!” Choi Young-ki announced.
I could see why they had ordered us to prepare spells so early. The monster we were now facing was a larger creature than the ones we had already stumbled across, and it looked even more dangerous than them. It was frantically approaching our group.
However, I believed in our group’s leaders. We would win this.
It was then that Kim Hyunsung ran forward.
“W-What are you doing?!” I heard Jung Yura’s startled voice ringing after him as he lunged himself forward without any warning.
That only meant one thing – the monster had singled Park Deokgu out as its sole target.
Following Hyunsung’s advice, Sun Hee-young’s divine magic poured entirely onto Park Deokgu. Before one of the monster’s tendril-like arms could reach Park Deokgu, it had already been severed.
It was obvious as to who had inflicted the first hit.
Also following Kim Hyunsung’s orders was Kim Ye-ri, who was already readying her next arrow. Meanwhile, the monster had already recovered from its initial shock and howled in both anger and pain. Park Deokgu looked embarrassed to have all the attention on him, but he still readied himself to block the next attack, moving to the right as if by instinct. It seemed that Kim Hyunsung had already warned him.
In the next moment, Kim Hyunsung had already split through the monster’s torso. I stiffened, and so did Jung Hayan. Everyone else had done their part; it was up to us now.
“Cast it!”
“Flame!”
“Storm!”
Jung Hayan and I released the incantations we had been holding in at the same time.
The spell we had created was a collaboration of magic power and alchemy. It increased the power of the fire spell Jung Hayan, and I created, except that it relied more on Jung Hayan’s magical capacity than mine, thus making it stronger.
The flames storm flew towards the monster and trapped it in a fiery spiral, eventually swallowing the screaming monster and turning it into ashes. Park Deokgu would have also gotten hurt from the spell’s range, but since Sun Hee-young had marked him, he remained unhurt.
“Who’s next?!”
‘Huh…’
I felt quite surprised. It wasn’t long ago that I had observed our lack of teamwork. The earlier incident must have incited Kim Hyunsung to act as our leader even when on the offense, and it felt right that he was the one leading us. Everyone had followed his orders to the letter and thus defeated the monster in one efficient combo.
This wasn’t just following orders, either. It was like we knew when one’s role would start and end, and when the next role would begin.
However, we weren’t given the time to ponder over these changes. The next monster had come, but we were all in the perfect mindset and stance to take it on once more.
This was the first time I felt that we were doing hunting right.
For our part in the rear, it was easy. All Jung Hayan and I had to do was memorize, chant, and aim the spells at the monsters when they were properly weakened or distracted. Of course, this was made easy because their attack patterns were easy to memorize, but something felt off.
I couldn’t believe that monsters of this size and power would fall from just one concentrated combo. The other parties were also focusing on their charges, but it was apparent that they felt surprised by our party’s sudden change.
Jung Yura, in particular, looked astonished.
She had been keeping a close eye on us, ready to admonish in the case of a mistake, but there were none – even when we kept up our stream of offensive combos.
‘This actually feels fun…’
It felt like I didn’t even need to exert any effort in this part of the expedition – my fellow party members were doing all the work for me. All I had to do was sit back and relax from a safe distance, all while riding on the team’s bus.
“Again! Who’s next!?”
‘Ah, I wonder how long it’ll be before I get tired of this ride…’
Slowly, it felt like I was growing stronger from this expedition.
I wouldn’t even call this a bus ride carrying me towards potential growth. A luxury sedan would be a more fitting description.