Companion 2

Veins bulging on his forehead.

Heavy, ragged breathing.

The clenching of his jaw and fists.

Anyone could see that Lee Baek-ho was in a fit of rage. Yet the first thought that came to my mind was, “Unfamiliar.”

“…Huh? Why aren’t you answering? So it’s true?”

It was really strange.

This was Lee Baek-ho, the man who always acted haughtily, doing whatever he pleased as if he were born without self-control.

Then why did seeing him angry feel so unfamiliar?

After thinking about it for a while, the answer soon came to me.

“Come to think of it… he’s never actually been angry.”

Surprisingly, Lee Baek-ho had never been seriously angry before.

We did bicker about killing each other, but it always felt like he was just playing a role. Like he only acted that way because he had a reason to be threatening.

But this time…

“Ha. Didn’t think I’d get screwed over like this.”

…this time was different.

Baek-ho genuinely believed I had attacked him, and his reaction was the kind of raw, unfiltered anger that you only show when you’re deeply provoked.

This means I need to clear up the misunderstanding first.

Because, for one, I hadn’t done anything wrong…

“Wait a second.”

…and more importantly, I needed to understand what the hell was going on.

“…You’re saying the return magic circle was destroyed?”

If that’s true, then I’m in trouble too.

Although the magic circle has a restoration spell, it would take at least a year to fully restore.

“…Look at you, pretending innocence after being caught running away.”

“I wasn’t running away.”

“Then why were you moving away?”

Before I could respond, the GM stepped in.

“There were traces of people near the entrance. We distanced ourselves to avoid being noticed. If it became known that the Baron and I were outside, it would cause problems.”

“…Is that true?”

“I have no reason to lie. And if someone really did destroy the circle on purpose, we don’t have time to stand around arguing.”

“…Hmm. That so?”

At the GM’s words, Lee Baek-ho quickly calmed down.

Honestly, if one sentence was enough to cool him down, why blow up in the first place?

‘Ah, right. He can detect lies.’

It didn’t work on me, but it would on the GM.

Just then—

“Mr. Baek-ho, what they said is true.”

The archer who had followed him out of the cave confirmed our innocence.

“The scent that was inside and the scent of these two are completely different.”

“…Is that so?”

At the archer’s words, Lee Baek-ho made an awkward expression and took a step back.

“The scent leads that way.”

“Got it.”

Immediately, Baek-ho figure shot off like a rubber band towards the direction the archer told him.

After taking the brunt of his anger, we didn’t even get an apology.

“Let’s go too.”

“…Baron?”

Without waiting for an answer, I grabbed the GM and sprinted after Baek-ho.

I needed to see for myself who had caused this mess.

Tap, tap, tap—

As I ran through the forest at full speed, the archer who had been following me caught up with me and passed by.

He could have just gone quietly…

But

“…Excuse me.”

Are rude manners the norm for agility-based characters?

Anyway, after running for a while, I saw Baek-ho and the archer stopped near a patch of bushes.

“Looks like they planned it pretty thoroughly.”

“Yes. It seems they planned this specifically for us.”

“Tch, that means our information was leaked… Who the hell is it?”

“Didn’t we run into the Baron’s group at the old Noark Fortress? The leak might have come from—”

“Bullshit. This reeks of an inside job. Don’t you think so, Baron?”

I couldn’t be sure of anything yet, but if someone had been targeted, it was probably Baek-ho, not me.

“So, what exactly are you looking at?”

“Ah, you should come see.”

When I approached, I saw what had been hidden under the brush—a corpse.

The body was half-melted, revealing nearly half its bones.

“…It must be suicide.”

As expected of a veteran mage, the GM didn’t so much as flinch at the sight of the corpse and murmured while scanning the area. Lee Baek-ho nodded in agreement.

“Right? So you think the same thing too?”

“…Cutting off loose ends like this is a common trick.”

“Find anything else?”

“…Well, he’s probably not a mage, for starters.”

“Probably. Judging by the skeleton, the left rib looks less developed than what you’d expect from a mage.”

“Yes. It’s a phenomenon that occurs because our hearts are larger than those of ordinary people.”

The two spoke as if it were common knowledge, but it was the first I’d ever heard of it.

“Left rib larger than the right… huh.”

I didn’t know why, but I made a mental note. Could be useful someday.

“In my opinion, it’s highly likely that the mage who came with him has returned, and this guy here damaged the magic circle.”

“He came all the way here and died alone to destroy evidence?”

“Yes. Looking at the yellow powder on the leaves here, it appears strong acid fruit powder was used. Ah, by the way, strong acid fruit powder is one of the main components of an item commonly called ‘Blue Curse’…”

“I know. It’s an item often used by the royal family, right?”

Baek-ho’s voice instantly turned sharp and cold.

“…If the royal family were really behind this, they wouldn’t have used such a substance.”

“We can’t be sure. Maybe they wanted us to think that.”

“……”

Anyway, the situation is simple.

Whether their target was Baek-ho or me. This unnamed corpse damaged the magic circle to mess with us.

That means.

“Ha, we’re screwed. Gramps said it would take at least a year.”

We now have to stay outside the city walls until the restoration is complete, whether we like it or not.

***

“It doesn’t seem like we can get anything more here. How about we return to the previous place first? I’d like to check the magic circle myself as well.”

Following the GM’s request, we returned to the cave entrance. There, Baek-ho’s allies were waiting right in front of the entrance…

“Only the old man comes with us. The rest of you stay here, got it?”

“Understood! We’ll make sure no one gets inside!”

Leaving the gatekeeper, the archer, and the mysterious recruit to guard the entrance, the rest of us—me, Baek-ho, the GM, and the Ruin Scholar—went in as two pairs.

“Hmm… maybe we just got caught up in this friend’s fate.” the Ruin Scholar muttered something cryptic again, then fell silent. Neither the GM nor I said anything.

“……”
“……”

Geez, the atmosphere is really awkward.

Thud, thud.

Baek-ho also seemed to have a lot on his mind, as he kept his mouth shut. It stayed that way until we reached the broken magic circle.

“…They really destroyed it thoroughly.”

The floor was covered in pits and scorch marks, as if dynamite had gone off.

“Gramps said we’ll just have to wait. What’s your take?” Baek-ho asked the Gm

“…I agree. There is a way to accelerate the restoration, but—”

“What? There is? Let’s hear it.”

“At the current state, it’s virtually impossible—”

“I’ll be the judge of that. Just tell me.”

The GM frowned briefly at Baek-ho’s tone, then listed the required materials.

As I listened quietly, I could understand why he said it was practically impossible:

Elder Lich’s Force Core.

Soul Winder’s Mana Heart.

Ghoul Lord’s Life Stone…

Every single ingredient was a rare drop found only in labyrinths.
And of course, no one carried such things around casually.

“Hah… Why are they all worthless materials? I’ve got good stuff, like ogre tendons that sell easily.”

“…That’s what I told you. In the current state, it’s practically impossible—”

“Huh? But it’s not completely impossible, right?”

At Lee Baek-ho’s nonchalant words, the GM tilted his head, and the Ruin Scholar explained.

“Indeed, if this is your first time here, you probably haven’t seen it yet.”

“…Haven’t seen what?”

“There are monsters outside the city walls as well.”

Wait—what?

***

Monsters outside the city walls.

Listening to their story, these monsters had several characteristics.

1 For some reason, monsters do not appear near Lafdonia.

2 When defeated, they always drop byproducts. If hunted with Distortion Magic, you can acquire Essences or Magic Stones.

3 The number of monsters is extremely low, but their intelligence is far superior to those in the labyrinth.

Those were the three main points, and from what I could tell, the second was the most important.

“…They always drop materials?”

“Exactly. The opposite of what happens in labyrinths.”

Unlike Labyrinth monsters, the ones outside didn’t vanish into the light when they were killed. They left their bodies behind.

And because of that—

“I actually got rid of a few of those—they were just annoying to deal with. Ugh… and now I’ll have to go all the way back there.”

Apparently, Baek-ho had already gathered plenty of these drops while living outside the walls. However, he’d only kept the valuable ones due to limited space.

“Holy crap…”

A shiver ran down my spine.

A hunting ground where distortion magic always succeeds?

In a way, it’s as groundbreaking as the essence factory on Basement Floor 1.

If you could reliably get monster byproducts and sell them, the profits alone would be massive.

And more importantly—

‘You can bypass the low drop rates!’

For me, that was the most enticing part. After all, barbarians were just as obsessed with materials as mages were. To obtain our Spirit Imprint, we needed monster drops.

That means.

‘It might be possible to get high-tier materials for free?’

Although being stuck outside the walls was unfortunate, it was also the perfect chance to level up my Spirit Imprint—

“Excuse me, Baron? What are you thinking about to be grinning like that?”

“…It’s nothing.”

“Now, let’s go out first? I’ll properly introduce you to my colleagues later. It seems we’ll have to stick together for a while anyway.”

Having to stick together…

“…I understand.”

It wasn’t exactly comforting, given it was Lee Baek-ho, but objectively speaking, sticking with him was the right call.

First of all, he knows much more about the outside world than we do.

For now, following him is the logical move.

“You’ve already met Gramps, Aures, and me last time, so I don’t need to introduce them…”

“This is our archer, Layton Bright”

Human by race, but apparently skilled enough to rival any fairy—

Though Baek-ho quickly added, glancing at me,

“Ah… But he probably still can’t beat the Baron’s fairy archer.”

Of course. My archer can command the spirit king and has consumed a floor lord’s essence. How could he compete with that?

“…A pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard much about you from Miss Karlstein.”

“Likewise,” I replied.

You said:

Well, I’d already heard about that archer guy from Misha, so there wasn’t much left for me to be curious about.

Unlike that mysterious rookie.

“Ah, and this is our team’s healer…”

“I’ll introduce myself.”

Cutting Baek-ho off mid-sentence, the rookie stepped forward.

She still didn’t seem willing to show her face, keeping her hood pulled low over her head.

‘…I was wondering, but sure enough, it’s a woman.’

She is so small.

“Jayna.”

“…And?”

“That’s it.”

I suppose that was fine, but her tone reminded me of Raven.

As I chuckled to myself, Rex Aureus, the tank of Lee Baek-ho’s team, approached with a hearty laugh.

“Wahahahaha! I don’t know how long it’ll be, but let’s get along well, Baron!”

Maybe I can get along with this guy.

 

 

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