Chapter 267. Kahar (1)
I couldn’t reject the request. Since I gave up on grinding stats, Dimensional Mercenary requests didn’t really matter, but to me, Dimensional Mercenary requests were more than a way of obtaining stats and skill points. It was a way of getting one step closer to my final goal.
In Revival, there were two other Dimensional Mercenaries, Hwaya and Daisy. It hasn’t been six months since Daisy last used her Dimensional Travel, so it was still on cooldown. Hwaya was currently dealing with Ciara who was practically a bomb on a short fuse. Hwaya had to stay with Ciara for at least the next few days.
But my Dimensional Travel skill let me bring other people, so I could easily bring Daisy along. If I wanted, I could bring other volunteers from the guild too.
“I’ll have to hear them out first.”
Ellos had asked me to come to Edias continent when I had time. He said he was preparing for the final battle. Although his world faced numerous hardships, it seemed it was heading for salvation.
However, the fact that this request came from an administrative guild rather than Ellos made me feel uneasy. I messaged back, trying to hide this feeling.
[Where should I go?]
[Come to Fairy Garden. You’re more familiar with that place, right? I’ll go first and deal with Loretta. It doesn’t really matter whether I’m hit now or later.]
[Thank you.]
Last time, when Eleine requested me to go on a Dimensional Mercenary mission, Loretta hit her. Because I always met or fought a world’s enemy in my Dimensional Mercenary missions, Loretta was extremely worried about me going. It was understandable. I would have felt the same way. No matter how dangerous Dimensional Mercenary missions were, they shouldn’t be to that degree.
“Shin-nim, what’s wrong?”
“Ah, I got a message about something. Sorry, Sumire. Can you train by yourself for a bit? I have to go do something.”
“Yes, I’ll do my best! Good luck, Shin-nim!”
“Yeah, thanks.”
I smiled sweetly and felt better after seeing Sumire clench her fists. Right, I shouldn’t be so scared before I heard their words. After leaving Sumire, I immediately went to Fairy Garden. When I neared the pavilion, I saw Eleine getting mercilessly beaten up by Loretta while other Fairy Garden members watched from the side.
“I’m going to die! I’m really going to die!”
“It’s okay, I’ll bring you back to life just to beat you up again!”
“Ow! Don’t just watch, save… Aak!”
“Wow.”
When I made a impressed interjection, some of the members noticed me and greeted me. I also waved my hand. I came to Fairy Garden so often that I was being treated like its member.
“How long has she been getting hit?”
“Since the moment she came to Fairy Garden.”
Was he working inside the guild today? The hobgoblin Meladel replied with a cup of green tea in his hands.
“I think she got hit about 1.2 million times.”
“I should praise Loretta for hitting her over a million times in just a short time.”
Loretta was so focused on hitting Eleine that she didn’t realize I’d come. Even I couldn’t follow her arms and legs easily. Still, I improved a lot. I wouldn’t have been able to see anything in the past.
“I. Told. You. Not. To. Involve. Shin. Nim. Didn’t. I?”
“We don’t have enough, ow! People, ow! S-Stop hitting me! You’re going to ruin my skin! Ow!”
“There. Are. Other. Explorers!”
How were Loretta’s slender arms and legs so powerful? I was extremely curious. Next to me, the elf Sikatra murmured as she nodded.
“As expected of the Queen. Using her power of blessing, she’s making her muscles sustain no fatigue. Being able to use the power of magic for such a violent physical attack shows how much of a genius she is.”
“That’s a very scary genius.”
If I saw this side of her earlier, I might not have fallen in love with her.
“Ow! It hurts!”
“I can make it so it doesn’t hurt.”
“J-Just hit me!”
I didn’t want to see a corpse, so I stepped in.
“Loretta, that’s enough.”
“Shin-nim!?”
“Kahuk!”
Loretta stood tall the moment she heard my voice and kicked Eleine. With a short memorable cry, Eleine flew far, far away like a character from a manhwa. After Eleine left everyone’s view, Loretta finally turned around. It seemed she was giving her best in beating Eleine up, as she had tiny droplets of sweat on her forehead.
“Y-You came, Shin-nim? What business do you have? Did you come to play with me? Uhu, Uhuhu.”
“I’ve been watching for a while, so don’t pretend nothing happened.”
“No way.”
Loretta despaired. Meanwhile, the Fairy Garden’s members at the pavilion were betting on whether I’d lose interest in Loretta with what happened. These cruel people…
“Call Eleine here. I have to hear what she has to say.”
“No, Shin-nim. It’s too dangerous.”
“I have a friend in Edias continent. Plus…”
I swallowed my words. It wasn’t something I could say to someone else. Loretta tilted her head, but I just asked her to call Eleine back or bring her back to life. The dejected Loretta then clapped twice. Eleine appeared with her butt pointed up.
“Loretta, you bitch…!”
“Get up before I hit you again.”
“Your big chested violent elf! Hardcore stalker! Muscle fetishist… Kak!”
“Get up before you die.”
After that, Eleine needed some time before she could talk to me.
“Then I’ll keep it simple.”
With both her eyes bruised, Eleine began.
“I was in charge of Edias continent’s Hero, just like how Loretta is in charge of Earth’s Hero now.”
“I see.”
That was why she was so interested in Edias continent’s affairs. When I nodded, Eleine also nodded and opened her scabbed lips.
“To be frank, you and I are pretty much on the same level. Just what did you eat to get so strong at such a young age?”
“I trained a lot, but I was also lucky, very lucky. Anyways, you sure got a beating, Eleine.”
“Shut it!”
She used healing magic on herself again and gave Loretta a deathly glare. When Loretta smiled back at her, Eleine trembled and looked away. It seemed that an instinctive fear was instilled into her. Even so, I didn’t feel particularly sorry for her.
“Edias continent’s allied force went head to head with the continent’s invaders. The Hero was wise and courageous, and he acted as the allied force’s vanguard. After fighting rough battles over and over again, the time for him to fight the world’s enemy was coming close.”
“You’ve been talking in past tense.”
“Right.”
Eleine became quieter ever so slightly.
“I can’t contact him right now. He’s not dead… but I just can’t contact him. I think he’s gone missing.”
“I told you, ask other explorers to take care of it.”
Loretta spoke up coldly.
“You want to involve another Hero after a Hero’s gone missing? Are you insane? What are you going to do if s-something b-bad happens to Shin-nim!?”
“He can run if it’s dangerous!”
“You can’t run from the world’s enemy!”
Eleine then bit her lips. Loretta continued.
“It seems you already involved several other explorers. I know you’ve been taking care of him since the beginning and that you favor him a lot. Even so, risking the safety of another world is foolish. I’m sorry, but Shin-nim’s Earth is more important to me than the Edias continent, just like how Edias continent is more important to you than Earth.”
“But this guy’s mission completion rate is 100%!”
Eleine suddenly shouted.
“He already defeated two worlds’ enemies too! Can’t I be hopeful? He might find the missing Hero, and together, they might even…”
“You… Do you really want to die?”
“Loretta, stop. You’re being scary.”
I stopped Loretta. While Loretta soothed her momentary killing intent, I answered Eleine.
“I’ll accept this request.”
“Really!?”
“Shin-nim!”
“I have a friend in Edias continent. There’s something I’m looking for too. I want to go.”
“Shin-nim, you know what it means for a Hero to go missing, right?”
“Of course.”
I breathed in a long breath, and exhaled.
“It means there’s someone stronger than a Hero.”
“You’re still going to go?”
“Loretta, what I’m looking for is there.”
“Something Shin-nim is looking for…?”
Loretta widened her eyes. For a moment, her cuteness made me speechless. I stroked Loretta’s head and held myself in.
“What I said before… Someone stronger than a Hero.”
“Shin-nim…!”
Loretta jumped. However, I continued with a sinister smile.
“That’s exactly what I need right now. The dungeon is nice, but I need to fight a powerful enemy with my life on the line. I feel like that’s the only way I can achieve what I’m looking for. Something that can’t be expressed with levels.”
“Shin-nim, there’s no need to dive into danger!”
“I never dove into danger, Loretta.”
I rebutted.
“I didn’t need to. Danger came to me instead. Even now, Earth is facing a catastrophic danger. Next time Event Dungeons appear in mass, there will be more of them in higher danger. Loretta, does Earth’s current situation look like any other world’s?”
“I-It might be a bit different.”
“It’s not just a bit. Their speed of invasion and the powerful enemy above them, they’re both far greater than what any other world has to deal with. There’s no way I can be like any other Hero.”
I had to advance my league.
For the current me, fighting a world’s enemy might be dangerous, but it was also a chance. Through Dimensional Mercenary missions, I had improved both physically and mentally. I didn’t think it would be any different this time. Perhaps, this could be a chance for me to complete the technique I felt. That technique that wasn’t Heroic Strike nor the family’s secret technique…
It would be dangerous, extremely dangerous… but I still needed to go to Edias continent. That’s what my instincts were telling me.
“I can’t just keep climbing the dungeon. I need to do everything I can. You can laugh if you think it’s foolish, but still encourage me. I want Loretta to cheer me on.”
“Shin-nim, you…”
Loretta stopped breathing.
“Shin-nim, did you already…”
“Thanks! You’re really a good guy!”
Eleine interrupted Loretta and grabbed my hands.
“Lin was the only one for me, but if it’s you, I wouldn’t mind a one night stan— ugyagyagya!”
“If that’s what Shin-nim decided, I won’t stop you… But I’m still worried about sending you off like this. Go find Lin. He should be mostly finished.”
Loretta stepped on Eleine, who twitched like a worm. After stomping on her twice, she stood on her and looked at me with serious eyes. What a mess. But since her advice was appropriate, I nodded and went to find Lin.
It seemed Loretta notified Lin already, as he was waiting for me. There were two bracelets on his hand. One was thin and small, while the other was thick and fairly big. The former seemed to be for women, while the latter seemed to be for men.
“Good timing, I just finished them today. I’ve been working for two whole months, damn it.”
Lin cursed the moment he saw me. Then, he threw the thick bracelet at me. Because of its dull silver color, I felt suspicious of its effects. I looked at Lin, asking if it was properly made. Lin smirked and spoke.
“Check it out yourself.”
“Okay… Let’s see.”
I opened the item information window. Then, I immediately widened my eyes.
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Bugged! This is bugged!