“Where are you from, young lady? You seem to be the daughter of a very special family.”
Satin’s eyes widened as she looked at the princess. She had asked a difficult question.
It was a story he hadn’t even told the child.
“Mister went to a dangerous place, and he found me there. So he brought me with him.”
“So he’s your lifesaver.”
“That’s right.”
A smile touched the princess’s lips.
“There are heroes in every world. And here, there is a very strong and wonderful hero. I’m envious.”
“Doesn’t your country have a hero, unnie?”
“There was. He’s gone now.”
“I see. Then ask our mister for help!”
“Should I? I suppose I should.”
“Can you go down the stairs?”
Kang Gyeol interrupted the conversation and looked at the princess.
“There’s a room downstairs. You can use that.”
“Alright.”
He should also move Satin’s bed. From now on, she would be staying with the princess.
It would also be helpful for the princess.
Satin’s demonic energy would have a good effect on her core.
“It’s not as good as the royal palace, but it’ll do. If you need anything, just tell me. I’ll get it for you.”
“I will.”
He had to buy things for the princess. A bed, a wardrobe… did she need one?
It didn’t seem like she would be going out much.
Audrey stumbled on the stairs. Kang Gyeol caught her before she fell.
She hadn’t regained her strength yet. He carried her down the stairs.
Satin went ahead and opened the door.
It was a room made for her, but it had been empty for a while.
She hadn’t wanted to leave Kang Gyeol’s room, which she had used since she was a baby.
He roughly laid out a blanket and put Audrey down.
Satin sat next to her and carefully examined her face.
“Does it hurt a lot?”
“It doesn’t hurt. I’m just weak.”
“Would you like some warm milk?”
“Should I?”
Satin quickly got up and ran to the kitchen.
Audrey looked at her softly.
“She’s a pretty child.”
“Give me your hand.”
“What?”
Audrey extended her hand, flustered.
Gyeol wrapped an Ether bracelet around her wrist.
A transparent thread of Ether connected to his wrist.
Satin on his left wrist, Audrey on his right.
His two hands were connected to their wrists, receiving their sensations.
“It’s to protect you. With this, I can feel you wherever you are.”
Audrey looked at her wrist.
It was invisible and she couldn’t feel it.
It was hard to believe someone could manipulate Ether like this.
“I understand, for now. Let’s talk again later.”
She looked at his face with a bewildered expression.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
He hadn’t opened the restaurant for three days.
Audrey’s recovery was the priority. Satin diligently cared for her.
Bang, bang, a knock on the door.
“Boss!”
An unfamiliar voice. He didn’t sense any hostility.
Kang Gyeol unlocked the door and opened it.
A middle-aged man knelt before him.
“Boss! Please listen to my story.”
He was clearly a civilian.
How did he get here? To such a dangerous place? The man’s face was stained with tears.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but please get up.”
“Please save my son. What should I do?”
His son had entered a dungeon yesterday afternoon. And he hadn’t returned, even after a day had passed.
It was his first dungeon after getting his hunter’s license.
His son, who had left with a bright smile, promising to buy him something delicious with his earnings.
“Have you contacted the Hunter Management Agency?”
“They said there was nothing they could do since it’s a privately owned dungeon. They said they would take a missing person report, but the procedure is complicated since it’s a hunter. They said they can’t send an investigator to the dungeon until tomorrow…”
Tears welled up in the man’s eyes again.
“Something must have happened. I have to save my son now.”
Dungeon raids were always done one level lower than one’s own.
It was natural to come out earlier than expected.
If a day had passed, something was wrong.
“I tried to find some mercenaries, but I couldn’t afford it with the money I have. And even if I did, they said they wouldn’t be able to enter a privately owned dungeon.”
A privately owned dungeon.
There were people who kept the dungeon hearts intact and repeatedly summoned monsters to make a business out of it.
It was a popular training ground for new hunters.
“My son always talked about you, boss. He dreamed of becoming a hunter because of you. He even joked that he became a hunter just to come to your restaurant, and he left with a smile yesterday.”
The man crawled forward and grabbed his legs.
“Please, save my son. I’m begging you.”
Between all of humanity and one person’s life, which was more precious? The answer was simple.
One person’s life was someone’s whole world. But that world had to be protected by oneself.
It wasn’t a world that could be protected just because someone helped.
But in this case, the state of the dungeon was suspicious. If it wasn’t a simple level change but a gate had opened, he had to go and check.
He couldn’t feel any demonic energy, but he couldn’t be sure. The Devil King might find a way if he was determined.
“Let’s go.”
“What? Yes! Thank you. Thank you!”
Kang Gyeol turned and looked at Satin and Audrey.
Audrey’s Ether core was definitely reacting to Satin’s demonic energy.
An Ether core suppressed demonic energy just by its existence.
It was broken and not normal, but it would be fine for a few hours.
He called Satin.
“Can you stay with Audrey for a while?”
“What about you, mister?”
“I have to go somewhere for a bit.”
“No. I want to go with you.”
They hadn’t been apart for a moment in the past ten years. It couldn’t be like that forever.
He had to create some distance, little by little.
“Audrey is sick. You have to take care of her.”
Satin, who had always been protected.
For the first time in her life, she had someone to take care of.
Satin gulped and looked at Audrey.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be back soon.”
“Mister…”
“I’d like you to do it. Can you?”
He could feel her heart pounding from here.
“Yes. I’ll do it.”
It was a relief that she was a good child.
Satin had been like that since she was a baby. She didn’t whine or cry.
She understood when he explained, and she accepted when he persuaded her.
He closed the door.
He surrounded the restaurant with an Ether barrier.
It couldn’t be opened or broken by force.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
He drove with the man in the car.
He overtook all the other cars and arrived at the dungeon in Paju.
There was an iron gate at the entrance. A sturdy man blocked the car.
“This is private property. Go back.”
“Isn’t this a training dungeon? I’ll buy a ticket.”
“We’re closed since yesterday. We’re not taking customers.”
The man shouted at him, “My son is in there!”
“The internal situation is confidential, so I can’t disclose it. He’ll come out when the time comes. Wait at home.”
“He promised to go to his mother’s grave this afternoon! He said he wanted to show off that he had entered his first dungeon as a hunter! He’s not a child who would be this late!”
“I don’t know, I don’t know. Go back.”
Kang Gyeol got out of the car.
He approached the iron gate and kicked it. The gate crumpled and fell to the ground.
Along with the gate, half of the guard post was also torn off. The man looked back and forth between the ruined guard post and him.
“What is this!”
“If you don’t know, then keep pretending you don’t. Or do you want me to really make you not know?”
The man, reading his expression, flinched and stepped back.
Kang Gyeol passed him and approached the dungeon entrance with the man.
It was a dungeon with a cold aura. It wasn’t common for the temperature to drop this much.
He slowly walked into the dungeon. It was a low-level dungeon.
The monsters that appeared were mostly cave rats. But the temperature was suspicious.
There was a possibility that a double dungeon had opened or a portal had appeared.
It was a short dungeon, so he soon arrived at the last room. As he turned the corner, a silver portal came into view.
It was so small that he had to squat to pass through. A young hunter was sitting in front of it.
Blood was flowing from his side.
“Son!”
The man shouted.
He grabbed him as he was about to run and pushed him back. He looked at the injured hunter.
He had seen his face before.
A twenty-one-year-old hunter who was excited about getting his license. And a girl.
A girl with a pouty face was standing with her arms crossed.
He pointed at the portal with his finger.
“Did you dig that?”
“Yeah.”
An elf.
Many creatures came from the other world, but elves were a rare species.
“Are you a rat? A mole? Why are you digging a hole in someone else’s world?”
“Curiosity?”
“Good for you. You can’t even go home because of that damn curiosity, and you’re about to be captured as a slave. Are you happy?”
The elf gestured at his back with her eyes.
A cold blade touched his neck.
A man with a grim expression had been standing by the cave wall since before.
Kang Gyeol didn’t look at him.
“It’s not your turn yet.”
“The hunter with the baby? It’s an honor to see you here, but you should stay out of it today. Don’t interfere.”
The man drew a second sword and placed it on the other side of his neck.
The two blades pressed against his neck.
Kang Gyeol didn’t care and slowly looked around.
The situation was clear.
A portal had opened during a dungeon raid, and an elf had come through.
She looked like a young elf.
She would probably sell for a high price. He must have had to block the portal before she escaped.
Using the elf’s weakness. He checked the condition of the hunter sitting in front of the portal.
His injuries were severe, but he was holding on. The man holding the swords tightened his grip.
“I told you not to interfere.”
Swoosh, the sword qi passed through his neck.
But his skin remained smooth.
The man was flustered and his eyes widened. This shouldn’t be happening.
This was a sword that could cut off an orc’s neck in one blow!
The man’s thoughts were transparent.
Kang Gyeol slowly approached him.
The flustered man’s eyes widened as if they were about to pop out.
“Why is this…”
“A person to a person.”
The man flinched and stepped back.
Kang Gyeol pointed at the man’s forehead with his finger.
“As a hostage?”
“What’s it to you…”
“What are you going to do with the elf? Sell her?”
Kang Gyeol flicked his finger and poked the man’s forehead.
Whack!
A terrible sound was heard.
The man clutched his forehead and rolled on the ground.
The elf approached.
“Thanks. I’m leaving now.”
“You should have left earlier.”
“How could I? He was blocking the portal.”
“You could have just pushed him and left.”
The elf looked at the man on the ground. “He also threatened to kill him if I moved.”
“It has nothing to do with you.”
“Elves can’t stand to see people die.”
“That’s why your race is on the verge of extinction.”
The man clutched his forehead and rolled on the ground, bumping into his foot.
So this was the story.
The man had stabbed the young hunter, blocked the portal entrance, and then used him as a hostage to threaten the elf.
It was the most pathetic thing he had heard recently.
Kang Gyeol kicked the man, and he screamed.
“You stabbed a human to catch an elf?”
“Ugh!”
“A human, using a human as a hostage?”
Every time he kicked, the man foamed at the mouth and rolled on the ground.
The man rushed to his son. He held his son and poured a recovery potion into his mouth.
That wouldn’t be enough.
Kang Gyeol raised his right hand.
A transparent chain of Ether shimmered and shook Audrey’s wrist from afar.
“Do you see that person?”
Audrey’s trembling voice came to him through his senses.
– My god.
– What is this?
