Chapter 27

Woojin went down to the river and washed himself. As he roughly scrubbed off the rat entrails clinging to his body, fish of all sizes swarmed in to feed on them.

A magical beast came as well. It must have been circling the riverbank before catching the scent of blood.

"Fetch it."

Woojin muttered the command. The moment the words left his mouth, Rex lunged forward like a bolt of lightning and clamped his jaws around the beast's neck. The two magical beasts tangled together, thrashing and making a deafening racket.

Listening to the commotion, Woojin calmly continued his laundry. He rinsed the clothes he had taken off earlier and twisted them hard.

Drip—

Dark red blood poured out in streams. Like wringing a rag, he repeated the motion several times until the blood soaking the fabric visibly faded.

Woojin examined the wrung-out clothes. The scent of blood had clearly lessened. Instead, the entire outfit was hopelessly wrinkled and looked rather shabby.

'It'll have to do.'

He had no spare clothes to change into. He had brought extras, but his pack had been soaked through with blood, and everything inside was in poor condition.

After confirming that, Woojin discarded the contents of the bag without hesitation. Then he filled the newly emptied space with rat tails. He had no idea how many—there were far too many to even think about counting.

Woojin soon finished the washing. The sounds of the two beasts fighting also died down.

'Already over.'

A beast with its throat torn open lay collapsed on the dirt. Judging by its appearance, it was a badger-type magical beast. Rex dragged the corpse over and dropped it in front of Woojin.

It didn't seem to be a beast with a bounty on it. He didn't recall seeing anything like it on the posted requests.

"I'll just take the core and leave the rest."

Woojin slit open the badger's belly and removed the inner core. He felt a gaze on him. Rex was staring at the core with expectant eyes.

"Here."

Without much thought, he tossed the core to Rex. The wolf snapped it up midair and swallowed it. After watching for a moment, Woojin turned his head to check that his pack and the queen rat's corpse were still where he had left them.

The queen rat hadn't been mentioned in the request, so he wasn't sure how its price would be assessed… but he had secured the intact body. Holding the queen rat's head in his left hand, Woojin kicked the remaining torso toward Rex.

"You carry this."

After feeding him the core, it was time for the wolf to earn his keep. Rex must have thought the same, as he obediently bit down on the rat's body.

The wolf and the hunter walked toward the city.

What followed…

Was not exactly smooth.

He was stopped at the city gate inspection. Even though he had washed in the river, the stench of blood was still too strong.

And even after finally getting through the inspection, people's eyes followed him wherever he went.

He probably needed to buy a new set of clothes… but he didn't have much money, he was exhausted, and he wanted to get rid of the damned rat tails as soon as possible, so he headed straight for the Order Alliance.

Thud!

Woojin set his pack and the queen rat's corpse down on the floor. The priest in charge of bounty payments stared, his eyes shaking violently.

"…I-Is all of this leech rat tails?"
"Yes. There's also an intact corpse here, so you can compare them."

Woojin rummaged through a side pocket of the bag and pulled out a leech rat corpse. Since he had strangled it to death, the body appeared whole and unblemished.

The priest dug through the pack, took out one of the rat tails, and examined it under a magnifying glass, alternating between it and the tail of the leech rat corpse.

"They're definitely identical in appearance. And the large one placed beside the bag…?"
"It's their leader. It seemed to play a role like a queen bee within the swarm."

The priest's expression turned strange as he listened to the explanation.

"…This seems too significant for me to authorize compensation on my own. Please wait a moment."

The priest rose from his seat and hurried off somewhere, likely to fetch a superior. Left alone, Woojin sat down and waited patiently.

The wait was not long.

Before long, a middle-aged man entered the room. With neatly combed hair and a modest priest's robe, he approached Woojin with a warm smile.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Conrad. May I ask your name, brother?"
"Call me Jin."

At that, Conrad nodded repeatedly, looking intrigued.

"So you're the one who has made quite a name for yourself recently. I hope we'll have many chances to meet again."

It seemed that rumors about Woojin were still circulating within the frontier city. That was unavoidable. Mercenaries loosened their tongues over drinks, and what Woojin had done was bound to become talk.

After exchanging greetings, Conrad's gaze shifted to the items Jin had brought.

"The amount of spoils is astounding at a glance… Did you perhaps see the end of that cave?"
"Yes. The leader was in the deepest part."

At that answer, Conrad reached into his robe and pulled out a sheet of parchment. In the center was an illustration.

He held it out.

"Did you happen to see this inside the cave?"

Woojin accepted the parchment and examined the drawing. A grotesque object attached to a rock wall—its shape resembled a giant heart ensnared in a web.

Woojin knew its name. It was frequently mentioned in the Chronicles of the Demonic Realm.

"A Rift Core."

A Rift Core was like a seed that spread the Demonic Realm. Just as a plant takes root, the area around where a Rift Core forms gradually transforms into the Demonic Realm.

To purify a region corrupted by the Demonic Realm, the Rift Core had to be destroyed. That was why identifying its location was one of the Order Alliance's primary missions.

"There was no Rift Core inside the cave."

At Woojin's firm declaration, Conrad let out a disappointed sigh.

"That's unfortunate. We believed there was a high chance of a Rift Core being inside that cave… Still, learning that there isn't one is itself a great gain."

To locate Rift Cores, many dangerous areas had to be explored. In that sense, the leech rat cave had been a troublesome site that would have needed to be investigated eventually once an expedition began.

But thanks to Woojin stepping in, the Order Alliance was spared that effort. Conrad had a duty to compensate him for his labor.

"We will reward you with two hundred gold coins."
"…Isn't that too much?"

For a moment, Woojin thought he had misheard. The amount was far greater than he had expected. Conrad waved his hand with a smile.

"It's merely two hundred. It's a task that would have required deploying several veteran paladins, and if something went wrong, casualties could have occurred."

Considering the supplies, manpower, and risk involved, paying two hundred gold coins was only proper.

"But first, we must verify the truth. It feels somewhat rude to bring this up… but would you be willing to accompany us to the leech rat cave tomorrow? After inspecting the interior, we will ensure you are properly compensated."

It was possible that Woojin had simply failed to notice the Rift Core. They would send an investigation team for cross-verification, and if a Rift Core were discovered, they would add another hundred gold coins.

It was a reasonable request, so Woojin nodded. Even so, the amount of money being mentioned was so large that the situation felt unreal.

'…I really picked a pointless fight with Claire.'

Just a few days ago, arguing over a mere hundred gold coins now felt foolish.

The next morning.

After eating a simple meal at the inn, Woojin headed to the Order Alliance. As if waiting for him, Conrad stood in front of the cathedral building.

"Please, lead the way."

"…You're coming personally?"

It seemed Conrad intended to follow them himself. Since exploring a cave could be dangerous, Woojin voiced his concern.

Conrad only smiled and gestured behind him.

"My brothers will accompany us, so there is no need to worry."

Two large-built paladins stood with their arms crossed. At a glance, they were clearly exceptional warriors. It felt almost insulting to compare them to Raymond.

Seeing that, Woojin nodded. With them along, it was unlikely anything would go wrong.

They left the city and began walking toward the cave. Along the way, Conrad suddenly asked a question, as if something had come to mind.

"By the way, where is the wolf? According to rumor, Skullcrusher commands a wolf-type magical beast like a hunting hound."

Since there were many people accompanying him, Woojin had not intended to call Rex, but Conrad seemed eager to see the rumored wolf.

There was no harm in making a good impression on one's employer.

'Might as well give him breakfast while I'm at it.'

Woojin whistled. A red wolf hesitantly emerged from the forest. He took half a turkey out of his bag and handed it over.

Crunch, crack—

Rex settled down and began tearing into the turkey. Conrad could not hide his admiration.

"Incredible… To think you've tamed a wolf-type magical beast. The Order of Harmony would be envious."
"Is there a particular reason?"
"Wolves are one of the symbols of the Goddess Ea. For that reason, the Order of Harmony has made many efforts to tame wolf-type magical beasts."

Hearing that, Woojin recalled that Raymond had also been a devotee of the Goddess of Harmony.

'So that's why. There was a reason he was so obsessed with taming wolf-type beasts.'

The times Raymond had sought him out whenever he had the chance must have been part of his efforts for the Order.

After that, Conrad shared various bits of knowledge about the Orders. Listening to him, time passed quickly. Before they knew it, the leech rat cave came into view.

"Follow carefully. The cave is damp, so the floor may be slippery."

After offering the warning, Woojin stepped into the cave with Rex. Conrad and the two paladins followed behind, torches in hand. The four of them advanced deeper inside.

…But they were not the first visitors.

"Skreeee!!"

Three large badgers bared their fangs at them. Their claws were long like pitchforks, and dried blood clung thickly around their mouths.

They were the same kind Rex had hunted the day before.

'If I recall correctly… they're called Rake Badgers?'

Not especially strong, but extremely aggressive. That was simply the nature of badgers. On Earth, they were even listed in the Guinness records as the most fearless animal.

Judging by the situation… they had likely gathered to feast on the rat carcasses Woojin had left behind.

"I'll handle this."

He said, drawing his machete. He couldn't very well let his employer step in against creatures like these. He had been paid well; it was time to earn it.

The paladins thought differently. Watching one man face three magical beasts alone was not honorable. With that in mind, the two placed their hands on their sword hilts and stepped forward.

But Conrad stopped them.

"Leave him. He says he'll handle it alone."

Let's see what he can do.

Thus spoke Conrad, Archbishop and ruler of the First Frontier City, as he fixed his gaze on Woojin's movements.