Episode 163: The Bundle (3)
With a swift, satisfying thud, the heads of the two high-class individuals hit the ground.
This time, neither of them could lift their heads. They lay on the floor, trembling uncontrollably.
“Hmm… I guess I didn’t realize my own strength,” Damian mused.
Thanks to the ‘Feigning Weakness’ technique of the Personality Corrector, they weren’t injured, but the pain was so intense that both of them had fainted.
“Still, that was quite refreshing,” Damian said with a contented smile, stowing his club back into his subspace.
“Hey, you lot,” he called out, gesturing to the knights who had accompanied the high-class duo. They stared at Damian in shock.
“Take these two and get out of here,” he ordered.
The knights hurriedly supported the two high-class individuals and fled the castle in a panic.
“They won’t be spouting nonsense again anytime soon,” Damian remarked with satisfaction, turning his head.
But then he noticed Athena looking at him with a rather peculiar expression.
“What?” he asked.
“Oh, nothing… I just didn’t realize you could be so intimidating,” Athena replied, her voice tinged with a hint of complaint.
“But, you know, it’s kind of impressive too,” she added.
Damian gave her a puzzled look, as if to say, “What on earth are you talking about?”
It was quite some time before Office and Valet, who had been carried out by the knights, finally regained consciousness.
“Huh?”
“What?”
The two knights sat up, glancing around in confusion. It was only then that they realized they were lying in a cart.
“Why… why are we here?” Office muttered, bewildered. The other knights rushed over.
“Sir Office! You’re awake!”
“You were knocked out by that monster… I mean, by Damian Haxen’s club.”
Office and Valet exchanged glances.
High-class individuals like them, knocked out by a single blow from a club? It was hard to accept.
”…I see,” Valet finally spoke, his eyes filled with determination.
“We were too complacent.”
“Hmm? What do you mean?” Office asked.
“Think about it. Did you expect to be ambushed at Baron Varro’s castle?”
“No… we didn’t.”
“We let our guard down too much, both physically and mentally. That’s why we couldn’t react to that guy’s club.”
The surrounding knights looked at them incredulously. That explanation didn’t seem right at all.
”…Indeed,” Office said, taking Valet’s words seriously.
“We were too complacent. We need to reflect on this.”
“Exactly. If we were in our normal state, we could have taken him down in an instant.”
Office and Valet nodded in agreement.
Their words were nothing more than self-justification, but neither of them noticed the absurdity.
“By the way, where are we headed?” Office asked.
“We’re on our way to the Fish estate,” a knight replied.
The Fish estate was not far from where the fight had just taken place. It was also one of the places the knights had been considering as a base, along with Baron Varro’s estate.
“A wise decision. We can trust the Fish family,” Office said.
Just then, a young man came running towards them, shouting urgently.
“Knights! Please, help me!”
The knights stopped in their tracks.
“What is it?” Office asked the young man, who was panting heavily.
“I… I encountered an undead that looked just like a wolf! My companions were all killed, and I barely escaped with my life!”
At the mention of a wolf-like creature, Office and Valet exchanged glances.
It had to be the undead they were pursuing.
“You’re in luck. We’re on our way to deal with that very creature.”
“R-really?”
“Where is it? Do you know its location?”
The young man nodded.
“In the forest! I saw it in the forest! I can guide you there!”
“Good. Lead the way. You’ll get to witness us taking down that creature firsthand,” Office said, thumping his chest confidently. The young man smiled in relief.
“Bringing us such valuable information deserves a reward. Tell us your name,” Office said.
“M-my name? It’s… Garot,” the young man replied, catching his breath.
The lens of the telescope hanging around his neck glinted in the sunlight.
Mungchi was dreaming.
He was running along a path with his master during the evening. When he looked up, he could see the sky, painted red between the tall trees.
-Found you!
His master caught him from behind, wrapping him in a hug. Mungchi wriggled, trying to escape his master’s grasp.
-No way! I’m never letting you go!
Eventually, Mungchi gave up struggling and licked his master’s cheek.
His master laughed joyfully and released him, but Mungchi stayed close, not wanting to leave his master’s side.
-Oh, it tickles. Stop, stay still.
When his master was happy, Mungchi was happy too. When Mungchi was happy, his master was happy.
-Mungchi, you know, I want to become a knight.
Suddenly, his master said.
-The villagers say knights are really strong, really brave, and really powerful. Even monsters can’t stand up to them.
Mungchi didn’t understand a word of what his master was saying.
But just seeing his master happy made him happy too.
-If I become someone as great as a knight… maybe Dad will like me too? Maybe he won’t blame me for being born after Mom died…
His master’s face turned somber. Mungchi felt his own mood darken in response.
Mungchi rubbed his face against his master’s leg. His master gave a bittersweet smile and patted Mungchi’s head.
Then Mungchi woke up from the dream.
The world filled with the red glow of sunset was gone. All that remained was the eerily blue sky and the dark shadows of the forest.
Mungchi slowly got up, looking around with dazed eyes.
Master… I can’t see you…
Even though it was just a dream, having seen his master made the emptiness feel even greater.
Master… where are you?
He missed his master’s voice, his laughter, the touch of his hand stroking his fur.
Mungchi lowered his head and let out a small whimper. In the quiet forest, only Mungchi’s cries could be heard.
Then, he caught a whiff of his master’s scent.
Master?
Mungchi quickly lifted his head, turning in the direction of the scent.
He hadn’t mistaken it. His master’s scent was strong.
Master!
Just as Mungchi was about to dash towards the scent, something tore through the bushes. An invisible blade extended and pierced through Mungchi’s body.
“Yelp!”
It felt like being skewered by a red-hot iron rod. Mungchi cried out in pain, rolling on the ground.
“So it really was here,” a voice said.
Two human men emerged from the bushes.
The moment Mungchi saw their faces, he felt a chill. They were the terrifying humans who had attacked him not long ago.
Why? Where is Master?
Mungchi was confused. When he first met them, they didn’t smell like his master. Why did they now carry his master’s scent?
“Valet, this time let’s make sure to take its head,” one of the men said.
“Yes, Sir Office. Let’s reclaim our honor,” the other replied.
The two men drew their swords. The blades began to shimmer with a heat haze.
Seeing that haze, Mungchi trembled.
He knew all too well from the last encounter how easily those blades could cut through him, and how much pain they could inflict.
“Whimper…”
Mungchi backed away cautiously, eyeing the two men. They sneered at him.
“A monster, scared? We won’t be fooled by such a trick.”
“Trying to catch us off guard again, just like last time.”
The two men charged at Mungchi simultaneously.
They attacked from different directions, swinging their swords in unison.
The haze-covered blades sliced through Mungchi’s flesh like water.
“Yelp! Yelp!”
Mungchi thrashed wildly, trying to shake them off. He clawed at the ground and rammed into trees with his body.
But the two men were relentless. They didn’t back down, continuing to slash at Mungchi’s body.
It hurts! It hurts so much!
The pain was incomparable to being kicked or trampled by humans.
Every time those blades cut him, it felt like his wounds were on fire. As if thorns were sprouting from them.
Master! Master!
Desperately, Mungchi called out for his master. But no one came to protect him.
Why.
Amidst the overwhelming pain, Mungchi questioned.
Why do humans always.
Why do they always hurt me? Why do they only bring me pain?
Why.
I just want to find my master. I just want to meet my master.
Why! Why do they! Always! Always! Always!
“This creature can’t even move this time!” one of the men exclaimed.
“Sir Office! Let’s cut off its head now!” the other urged.
The two men swung their swords down, aiming for Munchi’s neck from both sides.
And then it happened.
A surge of dark energy erupted from Munchi’s body, a massive wave of power that blasted out in all directions.
The dark energy Munchi unleashed was like a storm, overturning the ground and snapping trees like twigs. The two men were caught in the tempest, sent flying backward.
“What… what is this dark power…?”
One of the men stared at Munchi, his face a mask of shock.
Munchi lifted his head high and let out a cry that pierced the sky.
-■■■■■■!
No, it wasn’t a cry. It was something filled with pain and rage.
The sound was so horrific it shook the world, beyond what any human ear could comprehend.
Munchi lowered his head, fixing his gaze on the two men. His once-cloudy eyes now glowed with a fierce red light.
The sheer murderous intent froze the men in their tracks.
Munchi bared his teeth at them. Only one thought consumed his mind.
I’ll kill them!
Rage surged within him, hatred bubbling endlessly.
I’ll crush them under my paws, tear them apart with my teeth. Just like they did to me…
-Munchi~
Suddenly, a familiar voice echoed from his memories, and Munchi’s body stiffened.
-You’re hurt badly…
-You need to eat… to heal.
-Feeling better now?
The dark energy Munchi was emitting calmed in an instant.
He turned away and ran in the opposite direction from where the men stood.
“What… what just happened?”
“How did that…?”
The two men watched Munchi’s retreating figure, bewildered.
They didn’t know why the undead had stopped, but they were certain they’d narrowly escaped danger.
“That wasn’t an ordinary undead…”
“It was far more dangerous than we anticipated.”
As Opis and Valet trembled with fear, a voice called out to them.
“Sir Opis, Sir Valet!”
“Are you both alright?”
Other knights rushed over to them, and the two nodded, indicating they were fine.
Then, they suddenly realized someone was missing.
“Where’s Garot? Where’s that young man?”
Opis asked the knights, who looked around in confusion.
“We don’t know.”
“He was here just a moment ago…”
The knights exchanged puzzled glances.
“I don’t understand why we have to go through all this trouble,” Kardak grumbled.
“Is there a reason you had the knights attack the undead like that?”
Garot asked, peering through a telescope at the fleeing undead.
“When do you think an undead is truly complete?”
“How should I know? I don’t mess around with corpses.”
“Ahaha, I forgot. You don’t deal with corpse poison, do you?”
Garot laughed cheerfully.
“Then I should just tell you the answer. It’s when they find someone to hate.”
Garot added with a hint of regret, “It’s a shame. If it had just crossed the line a little more, it would have been complete… Why didn’t it kill those two?”
After pondering for a moment, Garot spoke again.
“It seems like it’s quite timid for its potential. This won’t do. I’ll have to take it and train it separately.”
Garot’s eyes gleamed.
“Shall we go retrieve it now?”