Chapter 37

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I’d heard that there were monsters that are attracted to particularly shiny jewels, but now that I looked at them, they seemed to be fascinated by all of them.

Could it be that these two had been hiding their jewels as a hideout here? These guys, now that I saw it, were really rich!

It was so dark that it was hard to tell in detail, but from a rough estimate, this s.p.a.ce seemed very large. And jewels were packed to the end of the invisible wall. If these were all jewels, Popo and Griffin would be richer than my father.

“Oh my lord.”

How would it feel to be buried in a jewel mountain? I decided to forget my dignity as a human being for a moment. When else would I be able to lie on a jewel mountain?

“Hey, you guys are amazing! You’re awesome! The best!”

We were playing like such young children, while I felt overwhelmed by the sensation of jewels bouncing around. As I slid down the most curved part like a sled, I found a huge gem right at my feet.

What was this? A jewel I didn’t know about?

It looked bigger than my fist.

In addition, in this darkness, it was shining a golden bright, enough to be seen clearly.

It was then that the golden gem slowly began to rise into the air. It had a shape that was close to a sphere, but there was something unusual about the center…No, it would be right to say that the buried jewel mountain began to rise. As it rose higher and higher, countless jewels cascaded down.

Only the golden jewels kept rising up.

It took a long time to realize that they were eyes, not jewels. The eyes of powerful creatures that I had never met or imagined meeting.

It seemed right to say that when a person encountered a phenomenon that deviated from his or her common sense, when he or she dared to confront or experienced the fear of something invincible, he or she just stayed put.

Before leaving Romagna, I remembered a book I had read for reference.

Unlike the intellectual, arrogant, and defiled images encountered in the media from my previous life, ‘he’ was close to being the top predator among the monsters, endangered by the stigma of being Satan’s servant.

It was said that he last appeared in the North decades ago.

But…

The rain that had stopped for a while began to pour again.

As they pa.s.sed through the deepest part of the forest and the border, the underground tunnels dug by the rats and webs set up by the spiders prevented the smooth expedition.

The dreary cries of the frost wolf in all directions added on to it.

“Sir.”

Izek stopped and looked back at his companions who followed. There were only six elite men, including himself, Ivan and Galar– those who were able to withstand and could be trusted within a high-risk zone. Andymion, of course, was an exception. Izek couldn’t understand why the coward wanted to keep up with them, but he decided to let it slide.

If anything happens, Galar would take care of it. He was his brother.

“Are you serious? The crazy woman said…”

There was a lack of clues. Everything was not logical in the first place. It was unsure how the poacher had escaped the border area alone. The half-deaf poacher claimed that the racc.o.o.n monster ate all her friends and threw her to the spot where she was found.

Before, Izek would have decided that it was nonsense and immediately become angry as usual. If only she hadn’t told her that she had seen a blonde witch in Rom’s cave.

One of the most beautiful creatures in the frost forest was the one who enticed humans by creating the illusion of beauty. As a trained Paladin, it was something to keep in mind, and Izek had never fallen for such a trick. Nevertheless, the word ‘blonde’ made him come all the way here, since he had no other choice– he was desperate for the slightest possibility.

“Your trainee is right. Iz, think again now. Even if what the poacher said is true, there’s no chance that it’s your wife…”

“If you’re going to keep on chattering, you guys can go back together now.”

“You son of a b*tch……” Ivan cursed until even his colleagues, who were accustomed to his harsh words, frowned, but he didn’t back down.

“…Ah, f*ck. Why did you ask us to come with you?”

“What do you want to hear?”

“This b*s…”

“Archbishop Lee… I can’t trust the people outside right now.”

The most reliable Paladins exchanged their gazes with each other as they were moved. What was up with this personality wrecker who always believed in himself? As expected, it seemed that he couldn’t handle the lack of sleep.

Izek then rushed to Rom’s cave, which was huge. He himself couldn’t tell what kind of blind hope he was holding.

If Rudbeckia had come in here in the first place, there would be no chance of her being alive by now.

‘Can monsters understand what humans say?’

The morning after their first night, the question she asked while nibbling at the stew, took over his head at this moment. It wasn’t like he inferred anything from there. She was just in a dazed state. But what was she thinking that morning? Why did she look so surprised when he asked her to visit the temple? Why did he think about when she’d made a bouquet of flowers with her slender hands with the flowers she gathered?

“I should have accepted it…”

“What? What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

He should have accepted it then. He should have accepted the flowers she gave with a smile. He should’ve let her go instead of blaming her hands for being messed up.

“Hey, Iz, stop for a second. I really don’t feel good right now.”

And yet she had kissed him on the cheek. As a wife did to her husband, as his mother did to his father. He felt like his head was turning white for a moment.

Maybe, that was foreshadowing?

“Ivan, stop…”

“You guys stay still. Iz, you know how Rom’s cave is like these days. Ha, sh*t, if your wife is in that cave, then by now…”

Ivan seemed determined to say the word out loud.

That if he could handle seeing her dead body, and if he would be able to live after seeing her torn body…

“……Argh!”

A sudden scream erupted.

It was an unthinkable noise in this place.

Silence came in an instant. It was a meaningful moment when Izek and the rest of the boys, who whipped their heads back, clenched their teeth. It was not known who opened his mouth first– probably Galar. The moment he tried to speak up again for the first time in a while, once again, his words were blocked by an overwhelming roar that shook heaven and earth.

[KRUUUUAAA-]

“Aaahhhhh!”

I shouldn’t have screamed.

No matter how terrified I was by this Cosmic-horror cla.s.s monster, I shouldn’t have screamed.

It was impossible to look pretty in the eyes of the landlord after being nosy as to pluck the nose hair of the sleeping landlord, after barging in freely. The landlord, or well, the endangered top monster, of course, responded to my scream with a frightening roar.

[KRUUUUAAA-]

Heaven and earth seemed to shake.

The jewel mountains rocked and jewels splashed like pebbles.

It was amazing that the cave did not crumble down like this. For a moment, I was completely out of it. Only when I felt poor Popo and Griffin clinging to me with their huge sizes did I feel a little bit awake.

“I-I’m sorry, please save me! I didn’t know you were here! I just ran away and I came here somehow! None of us stole your jewels! I’ll go right out!”

The dragon, who glared at me as I spouted gibberish, looked solemn for a moment. I thought it might have been a Wyvern earlier, but Wyverns couldn’t be that big.

Wyvern’s eyes were green like other sea creatures, and not bright gold.

“Grrrrrrrrr……”

“L-Lett me off the hook…” My struggling body rose into the air.

From a chick in an eagle’s claw to a chick in a dragon’s claw. G.o.d, will you end me like this? No, I can’t die a dog-death like this! Save me, Izek!

“Po, po… po, po, po, po!”

“Popo! Run!”

My eyes spun with the wind that shook my body relentlessly. Popo flapped its arms, jumping and biting the ankle of a dragon.

I’m touched, but run away first, you idiot!

There was a whistle above my head.

Griffin was spinning in the air trying to shoot the dragon in the neck. Of course, the dragon, who topped the food chain in the world of monsters, did not budge. No, he didn’t even look at them at all. There was no way to win if the fight was like this.

“Grrrrraa…” A giant snout came close to my face. His huge nostrils, the scales tinged indigo, and his creepy golden eyes were vicious as the beast himself.

Hot breath flowed to my face.

“I-I’m sorry…”

It was then that the dragon, who’d sniffed me, suddenly dropped me off. As if he had never done anything, he put me down on a pile of jewels and just stared at me.

Did he understand me like other monsters……? Or did he just let me go because he was lazy?

I crept up on my feet and pretended to move. The mysterious dragon was still watching me. Finally, I was going to move to the side from where I came in earlier. Just when I was about to run, his leg shifted and blocked my way!