LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 235
Chapter 235: I Won’t Hurt You (3)
The day after Yuri and the Bespectacled Man made contact.
Early in the morning, the 51st batch gathered in clusters.
The faces of those gathered showed clear signs of hardship.
However, perhaps because there were fewer competitors to fight with when finding their accommodations, their condition seemed better compared to last year’s 50th batch.
Some even looked quite relaxed.
They gathered in small groups, chatting.
The topics of their conversations varied.
The hardships they had endured over the past twenty days.
Bragging about how great the accommodations they had secured were.
Complaints about the cold and hunger.
Speculations about why they had gathered this time.
It was the usual chatter that surfaced among the new cadets when facing their first quest.
But there was one topic that was unusually prevalent among the 51st batch.
“Did you see it? That creepy-looking castle?”
It was none other than the Demon King’s Castle in the northern forest.
“Of course I saw it. I heard from a senior from the 50th batch that they call it the Demon King’s Castle.”
“The Demon King’s Castle? It certainly looked like one… but why call it that?”
“The senior didn’t go into detail, but apparently, the Demon King and his Four Heavenly Kings live there?”
“What’s that? Some kind of old legend?”
“I don’t really know. But I heard from someone talking earlier… they said a corpse was found there.”
“A c-corpse?”
“Apparently, some of our fellow cadets went in there…”
“And?”
“They all came out dead.”
“R-really?”
“See the ones who aren’t around? They all died in that bizarre castle.”
“N-no way… That can’t be true.”
“It’s true!”
The tragic rumors about the Demon King’s Castle spread rapidly from one mouth to another.
And even if he didn’t want to hear it, Mucci couldn’t help but listen.
‘T-this isn’t good…’
As the Demon King’s Castle continued to build its infamy, Mucci, who was currently playing the role of its gatekeeper, couldn’t help but break into a cold sweat.
Although he hadn’t committed any wrongdoing, he couldn’t shake off the guilty feeling.
Trying to avoid any suspicious glances, he slowly sneaked towards the outskirts.
Then, at that moment—
“Hi there!”
A head suddenly popped up beside Mucci’s side.
“Gah!”
It was a figure that approached without making a sound.
Lisa, who had her hands behind her back and was slightly leaning forward with her head tilted, smiled at Mucci, who flinched in surprise.
“You’re such a scaredy-cat, huh? Hehe.”
With a light smile, Lisa’s refreshing beauty captivated several nearby men, leaving them in a daze.
But Mucci, who had already been burned by her once, snapped to attention and warily eyed Lisa.
“W-what do you want?”
“Hm?”
Lisa, hands behind her back, circled around Mucci.
During that time, Mucci glanced around.
‘Where are her usual followers?’
There should have been those who trailed Lisa like bodyguards.
Sure enough, he spotted a few people watching him from a slight distance.
As Mucci scanned Lisa’s bodyguards stationed nearby—
“Hey.”
A pale face suddenly intruded into Mucci’s line of sight.
The face quickly disappeared downward.
“Yikes!”
Startled by the sudden situation, Mucci stumbled backward.
Lisa, unfazed, continued to jump up and down while giggling.
Standing at about 155 cm, Lisa needed to jump repeatedly to make eye contact with Mucci, who was over 2 meters tall.
Bounce, bounce.
“Who is that… person?”
Lisa’s lemon-colored hair fluttered as she asked her question.
Mucci tilted his head.
“That person?”
Finally, when Mucci turned to look at her, Lisa stopped jumping and replied.
“I saw it. You were with that person at the Demon King’s Castle.”
“W-what are you talking about? I don’t really understand what you’re saying.”
“It’s a bit late to pretend you don’t know. Don’t you think you were standing rather boldly guarding the entrance of the Demon King’s Castle?”
“……”
“And it wasn’t just me who saw you; quite a few others must have noticed as well.”
“R-really?”
“Yep.”
“Haha…”
Mucci awkwardly scratched the back of his head.
“So, who is that person?”
With Lisa’s repeated questioning, Mucci stopped scratching his head and asked back.
“Who are you talking about?”
“That senior from the 50th batch, the one with black hair…”
“Yuri, uh… Yuri, you mean Senior Yuri?”
“Yuri? Ah, so his name is Yuri. Yuri… Yuri-nim, was it?”
Hearing Lisa’s muttered words, Mucci tilted his head in confusion.
‘Nim?’
Though he found it odd, Mucci didn’t voice his thoughts before Lisa posed another question.
“Do you live there?”
“There?”
“I mean the Demon King’s Castle.”
“Oh, um… yes.”
“Hm…”
Looking up at Mucci, Lisa’s expression suddenly became slightly serious as she asked,
“What’s your relationship with Yuri-nim?”
“We’re just acquaintances…”
“Did you know him from before? Before entering the Cradle?”
“Yes.”
“So, you’re close?”
“Y-yeah, I guess?”
Though lately, he was constantly being scolded.
Getting berated as a useless idiot who couldn’t even pay for his meals…
‘S-still, I guess we’re close, right?’
As Mucci hesitantly nodded, Lisa withdrew her intense gaze and smiled softly.
Then she extended a small hand towards Mucci.
“Here, let’s shake hands!”
“…Huh?”
“Sorry about the last time!”
“Uh… that…”
“Shake hands, shake hands!”
While Mucci blinked at the cheerful voice, Lisa clasped his large hand with both of hers and shook it up and down energetically.
“Let’s forget about the bad memories and get along from now on!”
With that, she lightly waved her hand and began to walk away from Mucci.
“……”
Mucci watched Lisa’s retreating figure blankly.
‘What… What was that?’
The Lisa he saw in the Forest of Beginnings and the Lisa he saw today.
They felt like two entirely different people, leaving Mucci mumbling in bewilderment.
“S-she’s a strange one.”
Thanks to Lisa, Mucci, who had been thoroughly flustered, shook his head to regain his composure.
A little while later.
*Rumble—*
The entrance to the Animal Forest opened.
“Begin!”
The leather-gathering quest for the 51st batch officially commenced.
* * *
Time passed quickly.
By the time the sun had started to set toward the western horizon.
At the very center of the Animal Forest.
Between the enormous trees, an old but sturdy-looking hammock was hanging.
Inside, Yuri lay with a thick bundle of fur as his pillow.
“Hehe~.”
Humming a light tune and swinging his legs, he recalled the events of the previous day.
* * *
As expected, the Bespectacled Man sighed at the overwhelming interest Yuri’s presence had generated.
‘Is this really the right thing to do…?’
Traditionally, the role of the tiger in the leather-gathering quest had always been taken on by captains of the Black Sword Corps.
Usually, it was assigned to captains of the official 6th rank, especially those with the least experience.
But the problem this time was that the captain who was supposed to play the role of the tiger had returned injured from a mission.
And the quest was set to begin the very next day.
‘This is a big problem. Is there anyone else who can take this on?’
The Black Sword Corps were already constantly short on manpower.
Among them, those at the captain level, responsible for on-site leadership, were even scarcer.
Recently, due to dealing with external incidents, the already limited manpower had become even more strained.
Thus, the Cradle sought to replace the tiger’s role from all directions but unfortunately found that there were no remaining captains of the official 6th rank within the Cradle.
The best they had were captains of the official 5th rank, who were underqualified for the role.
And it wasn’t feasible to assign deputy commanders of 7th rank or higher to such a task.
Just when they were scrambling for a solution, someone suggested Yuri and Gunther, who had used the Holy Sword in the recent Dragon Tournament.
However, Gunther, though technically just a cadet, had a background that was far from ordinary, so it was impossible to use him for such a trivial quest.
Thus, the only remaining substitute was Yuri.
But the concern lay in the unpredictable nature of Yuri Holland himself.
‘In the past, it might have been different, but now it’s clear what kind of mischief he might get up to… I can’t just sit back and let it happen.’
Look at those bright, eager eyes.
It was all too obvious what he was thinking.
So the Bespectacled Man brought out the measures he had prepared.
“Yuri Holland, if you take on the role of the tiger, you’ll be participating in this quest on behalf of the Black Sword Corps, not as a mere cadet.”
“And?”
“For that reason, any acts of cheating or obtaining unfair advantages through loopholes are strictly prohibited.”
Yuri tilted his head, looking genuinely confused.
“Cheating? Unfair advantages?”
“You are not to use acquaintances or any other means to acquire the leather that should go to the 51st batch or to profit personally from it.”
At the Bespectacled Man’s firm tone, Yuri waved his hand dismissively, laughing.
“
Come on, what do you take me for? Why would I do something like that?”
“At the end of the quest, we will track the accounts of both you and those around you, and if any violations are found, all ill-gotten points will be confiscated.”
“If that’s the case, consider your tiger proposal declined. Good day.”
Even before the Bespectacled Man had finished speaking, Yuri’s expression turned serious, and he turned away.
His swift shift in attitude suggested he saw no further value in the conversation.
‘Why would I take that on if there’s no side income?’
When the Bespectacled Man had proposed the tiger role, Yuri had already mapped out a series of steps in his mind.
1. Join the leather-gathering quest and make contact with Mucci.
2. Secretly assist Mucci, helping him gather leather quickly.
3. Hunt at night, gradually pilfering the leather collected by the 51st batch.
4. During the day, bring Mucci to the tiger’s territory to let him rest.
5. Towards the end of the quest, pretend to be defeated by Mucci, naturally handing over the tiger leather.
6. After the quest ends, pool all the collected leather to Mucci, securing a large amount of points in one go.
The entire plan had taken just a few seconds to formulate.
‘This is a golden opportunity. A chance to score big!’
Though Mucci’s skills were somewhat lacking, with Yuri’s subtle help, there was a chance they could even collect bear leather.
‘Last year, I earned 19 million points.’
Including the 2x multiplier from winning 1st place, it totaled 38 million points.
After deducting Arin and Poppy’s shares, Yuri ended up with around 32 million points.
Though Yuri had earned quite a lot of points through various quests over the year, there hadn’t been a single quest that earned him that much in one go.
‘Although this time I don’t have Arin and Poppy, so it’ll be a bit slower… but if I work Mucci hard enough, I can probably get at least 20 million… no, maybe even 25 million points.’
It was a gold mine like no other.
But they were offering to let him into this gold mine while promising a thorough inspection of his pockets.
Would Yuri, with his nature, agree to that?
All the interest he’d shown just moments ago had vanished.
Showing not a trace of regret, Yuri was about to leave without hesitation.
If not for the voice that called out from behind him.
“Your reward will be ten million points.”
Though the words were brief, they were enough to halt Yuri in his tracks.
He stood still.
But he didn’t turn around.
“……”
He simply stood there in silence.
The Bespectacled Man’s brow furrowed slightly.
“Fifteen million.”
He instantly raised his offer by 5 million points.
Yet, Yuri still showed no sign of turning around.
The Bespectacled Man’s frown deepened as he asked,
“How much do you want?”
Yuri’s reply was simple.
“Thirty million.”
“That’s excessive.”
“If you lift the restrictions, I could make much more than that. If you don’t like it, feel free to find someone else.”
Yuri’s tone was now outright threatening.
He implied that if he wanted to, he could wreck the quest entirely, and the Bespectacled Man clicked his tongue inwardly.
‘Tsk… looks like he’s figured it out.’
It was clear from Yuri’s assertive stance that he had a sense of the situation.
He must have realized that the Cradle, desperate for a replacement, had come to a mere cadet like him with such a proposal.
Yuri’s relaxed demeanor was apparent even from the back of his head.
The Bespectacled Man sighed internally and increased his offer again.
“Twenty million.”
But since Yuri knew the situation was in his favor, there was no way he’d stop there.
“Twenty-seven million, with one condition.”
“……”
The Bespectacled Man paused.
His eyes reflected deep conflict.
Should he accept Yuri’s terms or not?
As time passed, the conflict in his eyes gradually lessened.
Finally, he made up his mind.
‘There’s no other choice…’
Right now, they were the ones in need.
He let out a heavy sigh and said,
“Hah… what’s your condition?”
Before he even finished speaking, Yuri turned around.
“Oh, my condition is nothing much. It’s just…”
Grinning from ear to ear, Yuri approached with a friendly smile, rubbing his hands together as if he had never shown a cold shoulder just moments ago.
The Bespectacled Man sincerely wished he could punch that face just once.
A little while later.
After hearing all of Yuri’s conditions, the Bespectacled Man nodded.
“…Understood.”
He agreed to Yuri’s terms with a nod.
* * *
Yuri opened his eyes quietly, a look of delight shining within them.
He gazed at the creeping darkness, a faint smile on his face.
Rising from the hammock that had been set up by Greta Wigun, who had played the tiger role last year, Yuri got to his feet.
*Clap- Tap-*
With a light kick off the tree, he landed on the ground.
Yuri watched the dimming glow of the remaining sunset.
Then, finally, as the last traces of the crimson sunset disappeared and darkness enveloped the forest, Yuri’s smile grew even broader.
“It’s night.”
The night he had been eagerly waiting for had finally arrived.
It was the time of the beasts.
*Flash.*
Golden eyes gleamed sharply in the darkness.
Two tiger-like eyes traced golden trails as they moved.
*Tap.*
Yuri sprinted through the darkness, holding the leopard-patterned leather vest he had been using as a pillow.