Chapter 21

The officers of the mercenary bands gathered for a meeting.

Woojin naturally took a seat among them. Technically, he was an outsider—but there wasn't a single man present bold enough to openly challenge him.

Jonathan led the discussion.
The Red Horn Mercenary Band and the Iron Shield Mercenary Band had been busy guarding the cargo and standing by, so they had no clear understanding of what had happened.

After Jonathan's long explanation ended… the mood around the room turned restless.

"…What the hell is this supposed to mean?"

Marcus, captain of the Red Horn Mercenary Band, spat out a curse. His tone suggested he'd just heard an absurd joke.

"You're saying the two sons of Golden Maggot suddenly turned into monsters? That's the biggest load of crap I've heard in my entire life. Dylan, what do you think?"

As if asking for backup, Marcus turned to Dylan beside him. But Dylan's reaction remained calm.

"I doubt this is the time for jokes."

"You're actually going to believe that nonsense?"

"What other choice do we have? There's more than one witness, and we have physical evidence. Arguing over it is just a waste of time."

What they needed now was a countermeasure.

When Dylan stated it bluntly, Marcus answered without much thought.

"Do we even need a plan? The two sons of Golden Maggot are dead. That makes all that cargo ownerless property. Why not just split it among ourselves?"

It was a tempting suggestion.
Murmurs of agreement rose from various corners. If they divided Golden Maggot's fortune evenly, everyone present could likely live in luxury for the rest of their lives.

But Jonathan shook his head.

"No. That would be far too dangerous."

"Even if it's risky, isn't it worth it? That's retirement money in one go…"

"A Holy Knight was involved in this. The Church Federation will absolutely launch an investigation. If we make one wrong move, every one of us could lose our heads."

This request involved multiple factions:
the Church Federation, the Pioneer Corps, the merchant guild, and even the Mercenary Guild. If they took the money and ran, the backlash would be catastrophic.

After Jonathan explained, Marcus scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. Hearing it laid out like that, he realized how reckless his suggestion had been.

"Then what do we do?"

"Our best option is to report the situation to the Church Federation. There's no alternative."

"You think those stiff bastards will believe us? If we say the employer turned into a monster mid-mission… they'll tell us to quit talking bullshit."

Even Marcus himself hadn't fully accepted Jonathan's story yet—despite having seen Yungmul's corpse with his own eyes.

Jonathan nodded.

"Of course they won't believe us outright. But a Holy Knight of the Federation survived."

Words carry different weight depending on who speaks them.

If Holy Knight Raymond testified, the Church Federation would take the matter seriously. It would also prove that the three mercenary bands had not neglected their duties.

Dylan, who had been sitting quietly, nodded repeatedly. He seemed to find the reasoning sound.

"In that case, we'll need to travel with the Holy Knight to the Third Pioneer City. Supplies are nearly exhausted anyway, and there's a Federation branch there."

"That's our best move for now."

The Third Pioneer City wasn't far—only two more days on foot. Once they arrived, they could decide their next steps based on how the Church Federation responded.

Having reached that conclusion, Jonathan glanced around.

"Does anyone have a different opinion? If you have a better idea, speak now."

There were none.

Jonathan had summarized the situation well, and the gathered mercenaries accepted his decision without protest.

With the conclusion made, there was no reason to continue the meeting. The mercenaries soon dispersed.

Woojin, who had remained silent throughout, stood and returned to the campsite. Hearing his approach, Rex—lying by the fire—lifted his head.

Claire turned to look at him as well.

"You're back early?"

"Yeah. The meeting ended quickly."

"I figured it would. We don't exactly have many choices."

Claire hadn't attended the meeting. Jonathan had already consulted her beforehand and presented the agreed conclusion there. Since she knew everything in advance, attending would have been pointless.

Woojin had also known, but he had gone anyway—to gauge the atmosphere.

"Thankfully, even though the employer died, morale doesn't seem too bad."

"Your body is your greatest asset. The important thing is that not many people were injured."

For such a serious incident, the damage had been minimal.

Even if the situation itself was a loss, no mercenary had suffered a major injury. That alone seemed enough to steady them.

"Still… it's a shame I didn't get to see the creature myself. Everyone keeps saying it was incredible. Maybe I should've followed you."

Claire regretted not seeing the living Yungmul.

Woojin had warned her not to come, thinking the situation might turn dangerous.

Though she felt disappointed, it had been the right call.

"There was no need for you to follow us into danger. You might've gotten hurt."

"That's true. Someone did die. Raymond seemed to be taking it hard… I hope he overcomes it."

The two sat by the fire, chatting casually.

After a while, Woojin let out a long yawn. Hunting the creature had drained him, and sitting by the warm fire made him drowsy.

"I should turn in early tonight."

"Sleep well."

After exchanging farewells, he entered the tent.

Lying comfortably on his bedding and staring at the ceiling, Woojin reached into his coat and pulled something out.

It was none other than the monster's inner core.

"…I feel a little uneasy about eating this."

Woojin fell into brief contemplation.

Derek and Cedric.
This was something he had obtained by rummaging through the corpse of a monster that had once been human. Would eating it be any different from cannibalism?

Still, it felt wasteful to simply throw away the inner core he had gone through the trouble of obtaining. He wasn't in a position to be picky, either.

In the end, Woojin placed the inner core in his mouth, chewed, and swallowed.

"Ugh, damn… tastes like shit."

Perhaps because he'd been eating well while traveling with the mercenaries, the taste of the inner core—something he hadn't consumed in a long time—felt especially revolting.

After rinsing his mouth with water from his canteen, Woojin lay back down.

Before long, he sank into a deep sleep.

—

…What is this?

Woojin blinked repeatedly.

He looked around. All he could see was pitch-black darkness, as if he had sunk into a pool of ink.

He had lain down to sleep, and now he found himself in this strange place. Was he dreaming?

Just as confusion began to settle in, color suddenly splashed across the dark space—like paint thrown onto a canvas.

Wooden chairs appeared in midair, along with a flower vase, a bed, and various furnishings. In the blink of an eye, Woojin found himself standing inside a luxurious parlor.

Three men stood there.

One man with a sagging belly caught his eye. Too young to be called elderly, too old to be considered middle-aged. An unusually deep shadow hung over his face.

Golden Maggot Wolf.

Though he had never seen the man before, Woojin somehow knew his name. The same went for the two young men standing opposite him.

"Father! Why do you keep making decisions without even consulting us?!"

Derek shouted at the top of his lungs.
The stack of documents in his hand trembled violently. He was furious that his father had secretly sold off the Demon Realm business.

Wolf answered in a low voice.

"There is someone trying to kill us. We must liquidate the businesses quickly and leave this place."

"There's no such person! We've called in the Holy Knights and had them investigate multiple times!"

"That just means they're incompetent."

With that reply, Wolf left the room and shut himself back inside his office.

Golden Maggot.

Watching him go, Derek shouted after him.

"Please! You weren't this much of a coward!"

Unable to contain his anger, Derek yanked at his hair. Beside him, his younger brother Cedric smirked and lightly patted his shoulder.

"Brother, keep that up and you'll go bald."

"Aren't you frustrated at all?"

"It's already done. Getting angry won't change anything. Let's just go out and clear our heads."

"…Fine."

Wolf had warned his sons countless times that the outside of the estate was dangerous.

But the hot-blooded young men had no intention of listening. They believed their father had developed some paranoid mental illness.

Wolf wasn't insane.

…But he was wrong. It wasn't only the outside of the estate that was dangerous.

When the two sons returned from their outing, what awaited them was their father's corpse sprawled across the living room floor.

The moment they saw the eye sockets filled with thick black pus…

The brothers learned what it meant to go mad.

Because the madness they saw was reflected in the mirror—their own faces.

"We have to return inside the Barrier."

The two sons carried on their father's plan. They hired mercenaries and sought help from the Church Federation. After making thorough preparations, Derek and Cedric set out on their journey.

As their destination gradually drew closer, their anxiety began to ease—

"…Ghk?!"

The brothers, who had been drinking, suddenly stiffened.

They collapsed onto the floor of the tent, their bodies trembling in violent spasms. A Holy Knight rushed over at the sight.

Thud!

A sharpened dagger plunged into the Holy Knight's throat.

Like a puppet with its strings cut, he crumpled onto the tent floor.

Through bloodshot eyes, Derek looked toward the owner of the dagger.

A prostitute smiled at him.

"What a shame. Rolling around with you two would've been pretty fun… unlike that dried-up old merchant."

Muttering that, she pressed her foot firmly against Derek's groin.

A cruel smile spread across her face as she shifted her weight onto it.

Derek let out a soundless scream.

Whether from poison or paralysis, his body was too rigid to produce any sound. The prostitute watched his reaction for a moment, savoring it, before lifting her foot.

"Still… it'd be a waste to end it like this. I'll give you boys a chance. If you're lucky, you might get to live happily with me."

She reached into her clothes and pulled out a small vial.

A black potion with an ominous sheen.

Inside, tiny parasites swam in clusters like specks of dust.

Using a small dropper, she drew up the liquid and brought it close to Derek's face.

He wanted to squeeze his eyes shut—but his stiffened body wouldn't allow it.

Drip.

A single drop fell into each of the brothers' eyes.

It felt as if their eyes were burning alive.

Their bodies convulsed violently as black veins spread across their faces and gradually consumed their entire bodies.

The prostitute clicked her tongue in disappointment.

"Tch. Both of you are failures?"

Like father, like sons.

As the witch turned to leave, the brothers finally regained the ability to scream.

"…Guuuaaaargh!!"