Episode 46
Ian smiled brightly at Eva’s question.
Seeing that smile made me feel like my eyes were getting brighter.
Jerome’s crush on Ian was understandable.
“Well, they say they’ll give it to you, but I don’t know.”
“Ah… yes. He’s a guy with that level of ability, so maybe he didn’t give it to me? Why, sorry?”
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“Ahh. No. Absolutely not.”
Ian waved his hand and said.
“Ha ha. Just kidding. But Jerome isn’t the kind of guy to give up so easily.”
“At the end, he said that there would be no favors from next time, as if threatening something.”
“Ah. He’s a madman, but he’s a guy who puts into practice what he says. Having said that much, you’d better be a little more careful about going out in the future.”
“I want to do that too, but I have a plan in advance. I don’t think it will be difficult.”
“So you’re going to go out?”
“yes.”
Eva couldn’t understand Ian’s behavior at times.
It seems to be pursuing practical benefits, but at times, it has shown a firm will not to consider profit or loss.
Eva was genuinely concerned for Ian’s safety.
“Then, why don’t you join our mercenary corps and travel with me? It’s because if your brother goes alone, something really dangerous might happen. Huh?”
The offer to join has already been made several times.
Again, Ian’s answer did not change.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t have any plans to join the mercenary corps yet. By the way, sister, how good is Jerome?”
“Jerome? It’s annoying, but he’s insanely good. As far as is known, he reached the eighth rank a few years ago. These days, he seems to have hit his limit in breaking through the narrow boundary, so he doesn’t practice and just plays.”
Crossing the small boundary of the introductory or advanced sutra is like running.
However, it was difficult for the master, not just running, but like climbing a high and steep mountain.
If you put in time and effort, you can definitely climb the high ground, but the height of the mountain you have to climb was similar to that of a faraway place.
Working hard with a spirit of improvement is also a talent.
In the end, there were many cases in which people gave up training in the middle if they lacked talent and finances.
Jerome is a genius who rose to the 8th rank without much difficulty thanks to his crazy talent.
As they accomplished everything with ease, they lacked effort and persistence compared to those who lacked talent.
Currently, Jerome gave up training and was living in pleasure.
‘But because of that bastard, my sister is training non-stop.’
Sister Bowin almost suffered something bad from Jerome in the past.
After Luna risked her life to resist, Jerome left, saying that interest had cooled, but at that moment, the Bowen sisters had to experience deep shame and humiliation at the same time.
Luna trained day and night to avenge her actions.
Every time Eva saw Luna giving up her daily life for revenge and immersing herself in training, her heart ached.
Luna’s goal is to reach the ninth rank.
To counter Jerome’s magic sword, he had to climb to the ninth tier, where he could emit outside air, to be an opponent.
However, Eva had no doubt that Luna, a hard-working genius, would one day rise to the ninth rank.
“He doesn’t look that old. He’s amazing.”
“I don’t know why the sky gave such a talent to such a guy. Anyway, don’t forget to be careful when going far. Just in case, I’ll let you know if I see any suspicious movements.”
At Eva’s words, Ian opened his eyes wide and asked.
“I’m grateful if you do, but would it be okay if I went that far? I’m not a member of the same mercenary group, so I thought others would look at me badly.”
“Don’t worry about that. We always keep an eye on him because we have circumstances.”
“Okay. Thanks, sister. By the way, sister. Do you know anything about Northern Simche?”
“Why Simcheo?”
Even in the North, there is a place called Simcheo, which is a demonic landscape that even masters and experts do not dare to set foot in.
It was useless information to find out for a skilled warrior.
“It’s nothing else. After seeing Griffon at that time, I was curious about what kind of place it was. Even when I asked people around me, they didn’t know anything. If it’s as close as your sister’s, isn’t there some information?”
“Well, only ordinary people know better. In the past, I used to go often because my sister was training. But even with her skills, it was dangerous to go around the center, so I only went there at the beginning. .”
“It’s okay if I just tell you what I know.”
Eva pondered for a moment on where to start.
“Hmm. First of all, do you know where Simche is called?”
“You mean above the ogre habitat?”
“That’s true, but usually the habitat of a monster species changes little by little according to the outbreak of monsters. However, the range of the sim is always constant. If you continue northward past the ogre habitat, you will find an area where mana becomes abundant starting from a certain boundary. From there, you can say it’s the real simcheo. Usually dozens of ogres live in a colony at the beginning of the simcheo.”
When the story about Simcheo started in earnest, Ian pricked up his ears and concentrated.
“Are there dozens of ogres? Then monsters like griffons seem to live beyond the realm of ogres?”
“No. After passing through the ogre territory, the next step is the troll territory. My sister has only been there once, and she said that there are hundreds of trolls in colonies just from what she saw.”
“Hundreds?”
“Yeah. But you should know. The demon servants living in the depths of the earth can be considered completely different from the demon beasts we know. My sister said that the demon beasts living in the depths of the earth can talk as if they were talking to people.”
“Have a conversation? With a demon servant?”
Ian asked in surprise.
When Ian, who was normally calm, showed a surprise, Eva continued talking excitedly.
“Yes. When my sister entered the troll realm, she met a troll mage and fought a battle. But she said that she tried to talk to the troll before she died. According to her, I didn’t feel the difference from talking to a human. Ah! You shouldn’t be mistaken that you can have real conversations with the demon servants. They see humans as prey, too.”
“He’s a troll mage who can talk. I can’t believe it. Then, what comes out of the troll territory?”
“I heard that Orcs and Goblins live in cities or kingdoms…”
Eva told Ian all the information about Simcheo, adding the story she heard from Luna and the knowledge she knew.
***
He persuaded Eva, who kept shouting for another drink, and managed to take her to the mercenaries.
It was a dark night when I returned to the inn.
As it was late, he gave the inn staff a silver coin as a fee and asked for bath water.
It’s alcohol, it’s a state of being awake long ago.
While soaking in warm water, I reviewed my plans for the future.
I recently went to Wonha and felt the lack of prey.
The battle against the ogre lasted for a few minutes at most.
The problem was that it took several days to find the ogres.
Ogres use tens of kilometers of territory as hunting grounds to maintain their huge bodies.
It was never easy to find an ogre by wandering around that wide area.
If it weren’t for his superhuman physical abilities, he would have been able to only hunt one or two at best.
So what I thought was to hunt in a place overflowing with demon beasts.
‘To think that dozens of ogres were swarming around. Just hearing the story is horrific.’
No matter how great a body I have, it is difficult to overcome the weight difference.
It was clear that on the day he was to be caught by an ogre, he would become bloody on that day.
I thought about it for a while, but in the end, it was impossible to hunt in the depths.
Currently, even if the efficiency is low, there was no other way but to hunt in the ogre habitat.
Entering Simcheo was something to think about only after becoming a master.
next day.
I left the inn early in the morning to go on a long trip.
When I was with my colleagues, I took a break for about 15 days, but now I don’t have to.
Since I plan to hunt for more than a month this time, I stopped at a general store and bought another large backpack.
However, there was one thing that kept bothering me from the time I left the inn.
‘what?’
My five senses have transcended biological limits and developed to a level close to the sixth.
It was not difficult to detect that someone was following him.
People moved to the bustling market street.
After arriving at the fruit store, I pretended to examine the fruit on the shelf and looked away slightly.
‘That’s the guy who came to the inn with Jerome.’
He was dressed like an ordinary city dweller to hide his identity, but he couldn’t fool my eyes.
The strengthening effect of spring water also affected the brain.
Unfortunately, I did not have genius-like learning ability or creativity.
But once I saw it, my memory improved to the point where I couldn’t forget it.
‘Is the person to be followed after all Jerome?’
I expected to do something, but I didn’t know that I would act so quickly.
He was a quick-tempered guy.
‘Are you going to send a subordinate? Or directly?’
There’s nothing to be afraid of, no matter how many idiots come, but it’s a different story if Jerome comes in person.
If Jerome was determined and attacked, all I could do was run away.
‘But will the masters do their best against the skilled warriors?’
No one knows my real skill.
If you think of me as just a skilled warrior and look down on me, you will be in big trouble.
I calmly moved to the north gate.
Whether or not he was followed, he decided to go ahead as planned.
I can’t stay in Erita forever just because I’m afraid of Jerome.
If it was something I had to go through anyway, I chose to fight it rather than avoid it.
This decision was inherent in the confidence that he could escape even against the master.
After passing the border barrier, we set our destination to a deserted place.
I moved by stepping on hard stones as much as possible so as not to leave any traces.
after some time to do that.
The sound of something approaching quickly reached my ears.
I hurried on my way while acting as an ordinary skilled warrior.
After a while.
I heard someone fly through the air and land on the ground.
As I turned around with a surprised expression, Jerome was standing there as expected.
He was wearing the same casual clothes as in Erita.
‘There are no weapons there.’
Aside from the clothes she was wearing, all she could see was a leather pouch hanging from her waist.
I could see how much he ignored me just by looking at his outfit.
“How is Jerome-sama here…”
“Choose. Will you be my lover or will you die here.”
Jerome said the matter without a hint.
I spoke carefully with a troubled expression.
“I respect Jerome’s taste, but I’m just a normal guy. If you want a friend, I’ll do it.”
“So you’re saying you want to die now?”
“No. That’s not what I mean, how about we talk a little bit?”
“You insulted me the moment I rejected the offer. That’s twice. It’s a pity that I can’t hold you, but instead I’ll make it into a stuffed animal and keep it for a long time.”
‘He’s a crazy guy.’
Jerome walked towards me with a cold face.
Feigning fear, I exclaimed urgently.
“Okay! I’ll do whatever you want.”
“I think you’re mistaken. No matter how much I’m interested in you, your values don’t outweigh my pride. Anyway, why don’t you rebel before you die? I wonder what you’ll do in a hopeless situation.”
“Please calm down and listen to me.”
I raised my hands and begged Jerome.
However, Jerome walked silently with a sneer on him.
“Are you going to keep standing like that? Hurry up and run away.”
“Where will I run away with my skills. So please listen to me for a moment.”
Jerome raised one corner of his mouth, perhaps it was funny that I was in a hurry.
It was a funny expression.
“Jerome, I will kneel down and pray.”
Around the time the distance with Jerome narrowed to two meters.
I slowly lowered my stance as if I were about to kneel.
Seeing that, Jerome snorted and slightly raised his head.
‘now!’
opportunity only once.
I kicked the ground with all my might.
visor!
A clear metallic sound resounded, and at the same time, silver sword light flashed.
The true silver sword passed through Jerome’s body without any resistance.
Red blood was scattered into the air following the sword’s trajectory.