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Chapter 82
I took my father’s silence as his approval, and I didn’t have to hesitate anymore.
I immediately started to pack my bag to cross over South Mountain to Eight-Lake.
Irene was leaning against a wall with her arms crossed when she asked me,
“Are you trying to become like me?”
“Yes. You’re right. I’ll be an illegal immigrant.”
“Hmm… Sure. Then I’ll go with you. I’m already illegally here, what’s wrong with being double illegal?”
Crossing the national border, and her confidence in which she could disregard this act.
We definitely had some things in common.
I smiled and nodded.
“I won’t be bored thanks to you.”
The ‘Eight-Lake expedition team’ had been formed.
Members: 2
Supplies: 42 400 gold
Goal: Making the deal
The person to see us off was Ruina.
“Irene. You’ll return, right…?”
“Of course. We still have a lot of days left of break.”
“Yeah…… Alright. Be safe.”
Ruina leaned on the horse that Irene was riding on, teary eyed.
It was as if she was in pain, like someone sending their family off to war.
But contrary to that…
“Ruina, aren’t you gonna ask your brother?”
“Bro, please don’t make a scene.”
“……”
I just got scolded.
I can be jealous of this, right?
“Where’s father?”
I asked Chief Baggins, and he shrugged.
“He told me to tell you this if you were to ask about his whereabouts. ‘It’s hard for a father to send off a son who’s confidently smuggling himself across the national border.’ ”
“Ahh……”
It was understandable.
He couldn’t stop his son from doing it, but he couldn’t encourage it either.
“Then, I’ll be going.”
“Ruin! Irene! Be safe!”
In any case, we left toward the eastern side of Ardell.
Toward the border between Ardell and Eight-Lake.
Toward South Mountain.
* * *
South Mountain.
Since humans had no presence in this mountain for over 100 years, it naturally had no paved roads.
Rather, we had to make our own roads by relying on the map and compass……
This… wasn’t easy in the slightest.
It was hard enough for me to question how Irene managed to navigate over the mountain alone.
However, there was a very simple answer to this.
“Trace.”
Humanoid tracking magic, Trace.
It was a tracking spell that, without designating a target, would find the nearest humanoid.
Since the closest town to South Mountain was Eight-Lake, this purplish light should lead us right over the mountain.
The part I was surprised about was that Irene used this magic as if it was the most natural thing to do.
“Should you be doing this?”
“Why shouldn’t I be?”
“We’re still students. The oath for the break should be the same across the whole continent.”
“Who cares? We’re illegal immigrants anyway.”
“……”
Ah, was that so?
Should I call her cool, or an outlaw?
Well, following Irene’s logic on illegality, this wasn’t the most severe offense.
In any case, Trace started to lead us to the closest humanoid.
We had some cases where we needed to follow it into a dark cave or over a bridgeless ridge…
“Light.”
“……”
“Should we use skiing magic for this?”
“……”
Irene used magic effectively to overcome them.
I now understood.
Irene was a pro.
A natural born adventurer.
However, there was still one thing that this confident adventurer had overlooked.
“Wait. The trace stopped.”
“Eh? Oh, it did…… That’s strange. We should still be quite far from Eight-Lake……”
Trace didn’t only track ‘humans’.
It didn’t target deers, elk, rabbits, or other types of wild animals, but ‘humanoids’ which walked on two legs were all fair game.
Meaning…
“……I think we just willingly walked into a monster’s den.”
It could theoretically lead us to a humanoid monster’s lair.
The purple trace didn’t move any more, and this meant that we had arrived at our destination.
Yeah.
This uneasy gut feeling was never wrong.
“Neigh—!”
The horses, instinctively feeling danger, reared back and neighed.
In that moment…
Flutter—!
A few hundred bats fluttered past our faces.
“Above us!”
In this narrow gorge, lots of shadows started to emerge.
“Werewolf……”
It was the gray-furred werewolves.
* * *
Werewolves.
A type of wolf-human.
As a humanoid monster that walked on two legs, their bodies were human, but their heads were a wolf’s.
These guys boasted a size 1.5 times greater than the average man.
“Growl…………”
“……”
And they didn’t hesitate to expose their teeth and claws to prey which willingly walked into their territory.
Just from a glance I could see dozens of them.
“Hah. Hahah……”
Their teeth were bared and dripping with saliva.
It seemed they were treating Irene and I as just some delicious dinner.
However…
“I guess we don’t need to worry about the oath. Do you have any good ideas?”
“Just go all out. I’ll protect you.”
“That sounds pretty good.”
We didn’t climb this mountain just to become some random monster’s dinner.
“Growl—!”
A werewolf from the top of the gorge lept down toward Irene.
“Lightning Roof.”
Irene completed her spell in an instant and created a loop around us out of lightning.
Crackle—!
A few werewolves who charged us instantly got electrocuted and became burnt werewolf meat.
Irene didn’t slow down and continued her assault.
“Blizzard!”
This snow storm that covered this narrow gorge would’ve been quite the unexpected sight to these guys who had been living here for hundreds of years.
Maybe that was why…
“Kung! Kukuung!”
They started to panic, and the ones at the very front barked at us as they stepped back.
However, this was only for a moment.
“Growl……”
“Looks like that guy’s the packleader.”
Between all the gray-furred werewolves was one silver-furred one that was bigger than the rest.
The werewolves started to get back into formation.
They didn’t charge recklessly, forming a siege around us instead.
They flashed their teeth and barked more fiercely.
Growwwwlll— !
They didn’t leave a single opening, and they slowly started to close the distance.
“This…… Looks like we’ve enraged them even more.”
We were definitely in danger.
If dozens of wolf-men charged us at one, it would be very hard for us to fully defend against it.
However, even in this dangerous situation, Irene was calm.
She was holding on to one thing.
Me.
“Between werewolves, there’s a tendency for a pack leader to rule them, right?”
“Yes. At least in theory.”
“Show them. Show that we’re not their prey.”
“……”
Yeah.
Wasn’t this all over if I just defeated their leader?
I tightly gripped the Knuckles of Kunkhan’s Will and clenched my fists.
Pang—!
A powerful wave reverberated in this narrow gorge, and this wave of strength was strong enough to frighten a few werewolves.
Of course, this wasn’t close to the strongest I could be.
“Do we still look like food to you?”
Skill: Chieftain’s Will
The image of Kunkhan immediately formed above my head, and Irene muttered to herself at the spectacle,
“A-an ogre……”
It was only natural since it was the first time she was seeing this.
Because this wasn’t magic.
The werewolves were also shocked.
“Growl—?”
An ogre.
The apex predator of the monster world.
Against the unexpected appearance of an ogre, the frightened ones started to back away while barking loudly.
The werewolf leader became worried as he barked at his subordinates to attack.
“Kung!’
“Kung! Kukukung!”
In an instant, werewolves from all sides lunged to attack me.
North, South, East, West.
Dodging them was impossible.
That was why I faced them head on.
Volcanic Hammer.
Fwooosh!
The fire that formed atop my fist created the form of a giant hammer before falling like a meteor, and it started to hit the ground around us.
Bang! Boom! Bang!
“Keng! Kekeang!”
Like kneading dough, the fiery hammer turned the werewolves into mush.
1 vs many.
This wasn’t even a problem.
They never stood a chance against me when I had an ogre behind my back.
While I was holding their attention…
“Now!”
Irene used Teleport to move out from the danger zone and atop the cliff face of the gorge.
What is the scariest magician in the world?
A magician who is out of reach and has the high ground.
Irene started to cast a powerful spell, intending to kill everything in the gorge while standing above it.
The mana was intense enough to split the sky and change the cloud formations.
The pack leader saw this and commanded his lackeys to attack Irene.
However…
“Your opponent is me.”
“……Growl.”
I beat up all the werewolves that came for me and ran in, targeting the leader’s back.
Of course, it wasn’t a leader for nothing.
Woosh—!
Using its animalistic instincts, it jumped high into the air and dodged my fist, landing lightly on the ground before making its own attacks.
Using its superior body as its weapon, it charged at me.
Head.
Stomach.
Legs.
Right hand, left hand.
We exchanged multiple blows in an instant, but not a single attack landed true.
Either my fist would destroy him, or his claws would gore me.
One attack would spell death for both of us.
While this was happening, a dozen of them started to climb out of the gorge to target Irene.
I needed to finish this up quickly.
“Growl!”
The leader charged at me once again, and I used Teleport to disappear from his view.
Then using Bend Time, I instantly charged into his blind spot.
“……!”
I feinted an attack at his legs and then immediately punched his head.
Crack!
My fist hit the leader straight in his jaw, and he flew up as his jaw crumbled.
I didn’t stop my assault and jumped out, kneeing his head.
This blow was fatal, killing him instantly.
“……Growl?”
As the pack leader fell dead, the werewolves climbing after Irene stopped in their tracks.
The way they dispersed after their leader died was just like the werewolf characteristics I learnt of before.
Confusion, then fear.
Like dogs, they ran away and hid somewhere in the cavern.
The fight was over.
“Fuu……”
I could catch my breath a little.
Then…
「You have acquired ‘Silver Werewolf’s Mane’.」
Maybe I got it when I twisted its head before, but in my hand was a clump of that silver fur……
And on this furball, a status window opened.
‘Silver Werewolf’s Mane’
Quest Item
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