Chapter 175

Chapter 175

Gio wasn’t particularly angry at Sanarae.

“Why would I go out of my way to do that?”

“Mm, I see.”

Sanarae said with a languid smile.

“Most people get mad.”

“I think that could happen.”

“You’re tougher than I expected.”

Contrary to the bad reputation people had spread about him, Sanarae was surprisingly cooperative.

“If you’re not upset, then should we start by finding our house?”

“A house?”

As Gio blinked at his words, Curator Garasani, who stood at his side, whispered.

“‘House’ is slang for a resting place inside the dungeon where hunters can stay, even briefly. If the raid won’t end in a day or two, it’s convenient to prepare a hideout or base in advance.”

After finishing, Garasani looked around and spoke.

“The temperature and humidity are high, and there are many poisonous plants. Let’s look for an open area with firm ground if possible, or if we can’t find a suitable place, we’ll cut down the plants and make space.”

“Personally, I think just making one will be faster. I don’t know where the other teams are, but I don’t smell any dry ground around here... we’ll have to walk a bit, probably?”

Sanarae swept his gaze around and sniffed.

“The humidity here is seriously high.”

The dense, luxuriant vegetation growing without a single gap underfoot likely contributed to that humidity, too. It was hard to breathe, like they’d come to a sauna.

“They said it rains regularly, the kind that drives people crazy—does it evaporate and make it even more annoying...”

“They said even the time when the fake sun is up changes at random. Making a space to shelter from the rain should come first.”

At the words of Sanarae and Yeongwon, one of the Daecheong guild members turned to Gio.

“I heard you’re a tamer... could you scout out a spot for us?”

The answer came not from Gio but from Yeongwon.

“That’s irreverent.”

“Pardon?”

“That was irreverent.”

“Uh, uh...”

She was so firm that the Daecheong guild member sincerely wondered for a moment if he’d committed a sin worthy of death, and even Gio was seized by the delusion that he might actually be King Sejong reincarnated.

Soon, Giovanni, having shaken off the useless stray thoughts, gave an awkward smile.

“Ms. Yeongwon, are you teasing me by calling me ‘young master’ too?”

“I’m sorry, that wasn’t my intention, but...”

“In a place where securing visibility is this hard, the tamer should step up.”

Wasn’t that why he’d been added to the raid party in the first place?

“Then excuse me for a moment.”

Gio tugged his hood down and looked for his kid. Maybe the dungeon’s high humidity suited him, because he was sprawled out.

“Honey.”

“Kkur.”

“Oh.”

Before Honey could even peek out, Sanarae exclaimed. When Gio looked at him in confusion, he saw Sanarae nodding with his chin propped in his hand. He seemed to be admiring something.

“When your face reaches that level, even saying ‘Honey’ doesn’t look cringey—this is amazing.”

“Thank you for admiring my face. I also think I have quite a nice face.”

It was thanks to his mother, who had painstakingly sculpted Seo Gio from his fetal days through infancy.

“It’s pretty well made, isn’t it?”

“Huh, that’s a fresh reaction. Did you get work done?”

“No, it’s natural. This is a face fate sculpted.”

“Yeah, a face like that doesn’t come out even with money. My bad.”

Sanarae laughed, playing it up.

“You said ‘made,’ so I thought you’d had something done. You talk really oddly for a young master.”

“I’m sorry for leaving room for misunderstanding. Since we both share responsibility, let’s say it’s no one’s fault.”

When Gio held out his hand, Honey plopped onto it. Feeling the sensation and weight, Gio murmured softly, smile intact.

“...Did you gain weight?”

“Kung kung kung...!!”

“Even if I look like this, I can fly.”

“Kung kung kung kung kung!!!”

“Honey, find us a house.”

With a light pat, Honey stopped squirming.

“We have to make a decent house before that rain that hurts people starts falling.”

“...Kkurruk.”

“It’d be nice if it’s not too far—can you do it?”

“Kkur.”

With a light flap, Honey shot off between the dense trees. The hunters marveled at the speed, astonishing for such a small body. Contrary to its looks, it was quite a nimble bird.

A Daecheong guild member said as if impressed.

“Amazing, Hunter Seo Gio. To think a monster listens this well...”

“I am a tamer in name, am I not?”

“Even for a tamer, it’s rare to be this close.”

In a way, it was only natural. By the time a tamer subdues a monster, how many people has it killed, and how many wounds has the tamer suffered? From a human perspective, you wouldn’t want to get friendly for no reason.

“Ah, come to think of it...”

Another guild member asked.

“Where is the anticat that was the talk of the town this time?”

“Huh? That was an anticat? The size was totally different.”

“Uh... well, I don’t really know either.”

“Was Hunter Seo Gio’s cat really an anticat?”

Gio nodded.

“If you mean the gem cat that lives in the ‘Vein of Jewels,’ then yes.”

“Wow, that’s incredible. It’s a monster that hardly ever comes near humans...”

“It seemed sensitive to the unfamiliar environment, so I separated it for the moment.”

“So you did bring it into the dungeon. Do you use a separate cage?”

A “cage” was an item tamers used to carry their tamed monsters when traveling, usually shaped like an accessory for easy carrying. Gio, wearing his usual smile, lifted his cloak slightly.

“No, it’s in here.”

“In your cloak...?”

“More precisely, in my shadow.”

“...Did an anticat have an ability like that?”

“Who knows. It just happened, so I’m not sure.”

“That’s really fascinating.”

The Daecheong hunter nodded as if he understood.

“Anticats are a species with especially strong hatred of humans among monsters. From what you say, it seems the monsters trust and follow you quite a lot, Hunter Seo Gio. In that case, it’ll definitely feel more secure staying close to its master.”

Around then, Honey returned. People looked startled at how quickly the little monster came back—faster than they’d imagined.

“Kkurrrrurk!”

“Was there a house?”

“Kkurng.”

Honey set what it had been holding in its mouth onto Gio’s hand.

“Oh, that’s...”

“Dirt.”

Healer Yeongwon came over and touched the dirt. It crumbled at the tips of her snow-white fingers.

“It’s dry soil. The texture is firm, too.”

She looked at the honey-colored waterbird as if astonished.

“In a rainforest this humid, how did it find soil like this?”

“I’m not sure myself, but I’m glad it seems to have found a decent spot.”

Seo Gio smiled brightly.

“Right?”

It seems like my kid did something, but it wasn’t my problem.

* * *

“...”

“Priest Kang Seodam?”

“...Ah, yes, Ms. Yu Jina. I’m listening.”

“Did something happen?”

“It’s not that, but...”

He’d just flinched because he felt the sun’s aura from far away.

“...Yes, it’s nothing. Truly.”

Somehow, it felt like the Sun Goddess had been spamming miracles over the tiniest issue, and with Kang Seodam already exhausted from being dragged into the rainforest, he really didn’t want to acknowledge it.

He wisely decided to keep his mouth shut.

* * *

Arriving at the place Honey led them to, Sanarae tilted his head.

“...?”

“What is it?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Sanarae sniffed.

“Because it smells like sunlight?”

“I guess sunlight reaches even a place like this.”

“Mm, more than that... hmm...”

“Hunter Sanarae?”

“...”

Ignoring the Daecheong hunter, Sanarae turned toward Seo Gio.

“...”

“That’s a relief. It seems Honey found a good spot.”

“...This is a place that was here originally, right?”

“I don’t know why you’re asking, but if not, what other possibility would there be?”

At Gio’s words, Garasani added.

“Surely a spot this prime didn’t appear in an instant.”

“And since there are no traces of monsters even after looking around, I feel at ease.”

Well, well.

‘The two Collector folks are really batting it back and forth...’

With his characteristic dead-fish eyes, Sanarae swept the area.

This “pupil,” big enough for fifty more people to fit, was a space carved inside a tree even larger than that.

This tree was a common kind of vegetation here. But among them, there were none with a “pupil” like this.

‘Then this space was created artificially by something.’

There were no obvious traces of human tampering. The ground, being dry, had hardened firmly, and this tree’s “pupil” looked natural, as if it had formed over several hundred years. There were no unnaturally cut or scratched sections, nor any scorched parts.

Even the entrance to the pupil was hung with long vines like a doorway curtain, blocking the dampness outside. It would also help a lot in hiding from monsters.

‘But the scent of sunlight is strong.’

And that smell...

“...”

is the same scent that comes from that hunter’s waterbird.

‘...Even so, it’s still something I can’t explain.’

It wasn’t a space you could make just by cutting and destroying.

Hunter Sanarae felt a powerful vitality here. It was a space that couldn’t be produced by a short-term artificial process, but only created through a long period of “growth.”

“...Mmm, I don’t know.”

“What is it that you don’t know?”

“Your identity, young master.”

“Ah-ha.”

Hunter Seo Gio asked with a rather clear smile.

“Shall I tell you?”

“Oh, really?”

“I’m actually a priest who serves the Sun God of another dimension.”

“Huh...?”

“So I begged nicely, and the sun bestowed this fine house upon us.”

“...”

Hunter Sanarae’s smile twisted awkwardly.

“...Is it because I teased you too much? Don’t be mad, yeah? You know I didn’t mean anything bad, young master.”

“Ahaha, that’s a funny reaction too. Was it too ridiculous?”

“If you hate being called ‘young master’ that much, I won’t do it anymore...”

“Oh dear, I told you earlier—I’m not angry.”

It sounded sincere enough that Sanarae exclaimed, unlike some common empty flattery.

“It’s weird—it seems real.”

“What’s so strange about that?”

“It’s not like I spoke nicely.”

“How admirable that you have that self-awareness.”

“Are you really mocking me...?”

“Of course not.”

Seo Gio put on a troubled expression. The expression displayed such an idealized “troubled” that Sanarae suddenly felt a sense of incongruity he couldn’t put into words.

“In the first place, I don’t know why you thought I’d be angry.”

“...Usually when I talk to someone, they get angry, so I wondered if you were like that too.”

“Then I suppose you could call that a faulty generalization.”

“Is that what you say in a situation like this?”

“Of course, at first I was a bit scared.”

“...”

All the hunters, including Sanarae, turned to look at Seo Gio.

“Why is everyone looking like that?”

“Hunter Seo Gio really has no talent for jokes... Well, humans can’t be perfect.”

“I really was scared. It felt like I’d gotten picked on by a scary person on my very first day of work.”

“And now you’re not—why?”

“Well, somehow...”

Seo Gio stared at Sanarae.

“...”

“...”

Just as his eyes seemed to turn gold for a moment, Seo Gio smiled.

“...Haha.”

Saying that, Seo Gio grinned and roughly ruffled Sanarae’s hair.

“Agh...!”

“In socializing, it’s best to be honest, Hunter Sanarae.”

“Ugh... huh? Huh?”

“Let’s stop the small talk here, and start by sorting out our luggage, shall we?”

“Wait a second, Hunter—what did you just do?”

To the dumbfounded Sanarae, the Collector’s curator, Garasani, approached.

“One of our guild members has inconvenienced you. Is there anything that bothers you?”

“Huh? No, it’s not that, but... is Hunter Seo Gio always like that?”

“He does have rather strong opinions. I ask for your understanding.”

“You’re saying ‘stop teasing him,’ right? Man, Collector people really do talk so elegantly.”

Trying to untangle the mess in his head, Sanarae muttered.

“Do people normally think like that?”

He was a truly strange person.

‘The way he thinks is really something else.’

I mean, he’s the kind of person it doesn’t hurt to keep as a good connection, but...

* * *

“...”

And five hours later, after finishing the overall search, Sanarae realized it.

“So you’re the wicked old witch.”

“Pardon? You’re hungry?”

“So you really are planning to eat me?”

“If you’re spouting nonsense, is your stomach still empty...?”

“Are you a tyrant? This is torture by food.”

Holding something like a cream stew, Sanarae tilted his head.

“How do you get this flavor out of plants that grow in a rainforest...?”

“For flavors you can’t get from plants, I supplemented with the bacon I brought.”

“So why are you bringing bacon into a dungeon? And how did you even bring it in the first place?”

“Is there any reason not to bring delicious bacon?”

“Wow, amazing. There are plenty of reasons, but why do I feel like you won’t listen to a single one?”

Seo Gio’s true identity was none other than the witch granny of the candy house.

“Are you a hunter or a pig...?”

At Sanarae’s words, the hunters lying around twitched. The hunters gathered in a circle were sprawled out like defeated troops, guilty that they’d overeaten.

During a raid, it was an unspoken rule not to stuff yourself, but in the face of overwhelming taste, that reason dulled.

“So this is why Hansel and Gretel got lured so stupidly.”

“I’m utterly delighted that you praise my cooking so highly.”

“Mm, well? Strictly speaking, I don’t think that was a compliment...”

“Then what is it, exactly?”

“Like an exclamation right before being executed. Or the dying cry before a monster.”

Gio asked calmly.

“Who’s dying?”

“If a hunter becomes a pig, they have to die.”

“Then why be a hunter?”

“Your way of thinking is really unique.”

He was a truly strange person.

“Granny, one more bowl here.”

“Seeing you eat well—how wonderful that is.”

“Alright, alright—if you build a candy house, let me know. I’ll come see it.”

“A candy house—I like it. I’ll keep it in mind for my creative work.”

And the way he ladled out another bowl looked genuinely happy, which was kind of funny.

(To be continued in the next episode)