"I'm Essel, the eldest daughter of the Radir family, and our family is—" "Not that."
Jin-Woo cut Essel off. What he wanted to know wasn't some monster's detailed backstory but rather why monsters and dungeons existed in the first place. How should he phrase the question to get an answer from a monster's mouth? No—even an answer would be fine. Even a single clue would be enough. He had tried the same thing with the beasts, but all he had learned was that a command to "kill humans" constantly echoed inside their heads.
'Then are these guys also receiving some kind of order?'
Jin-Woo simplified his question to make it comparable to what he had asked the beasts.
"Do you also keep hearing a voice telling you to kill humans?" "Excuse me?"
Essel lifted her head and stared right at him. She was still prostrate on the ground, and to meet her gaze he had to keep looking down, which was oddly uncomfortable.
'Tch.'
Jin-Woo clicked his tongue lightly and picked her up like a child, hoisting her to her feet. Then he faced her again. Perhaps frightened by the unexpected contact, her heartbeat quickened—he could hear it plainly. Jin-Woo asked once more.
"I'm asking whether someone keeps whispering in your head to kill humans." "Ah…"
Essel hesitated, deliberating, then opened her mouth.
"No. But I do keep hearing a different voice." "What kind?" "To guard the space we are in…"
Essel spoke cautiously, watching Jin-Woo's expression.
'So monsters have a different purpose from beasts.'
Beasts existed to kill people; monsters existed to guard the dungeons. Their orientations were fundamentally different.
'Wait a second…'
Come to think of it, to the monsters, am I a beast-like existence? Looking at Essel, whose face had gone pale after facing his killing intent head-on, he felt a tiny bit sorry for her. A very tiny bit.
"How long have you been hearing that voice?" "Ever since we opened our eyes here." 'Opened their eyes here?'
If that was the case, these guys had been living somewhere else before. Whether the memory was real or fabricated, that was what had been engraved in their minds. It might just be a clue leading to the essence of the System. Jin-Woo pressed on.
"So before you opened your eyes here, where were you?" "In the Demon Realm. The next thing I knew, I was here." "What were you doing in the Demon Realm?" "Preparing for… war." "War?" "Yes."
Had she recalled the memories of that time? A solemn resolve hung over Essel's face—entirely different from when she had been begging for her life.
"We were facing a war against an enemy so terrifyingly powerful that every demon scattered across the Demon Realm would have to gather."
That was where Essel's words stopped.
"…"
No—more precisely, Essel was still talking. Her lips were moving. But her voice could not be heard. Instead, a mechanical voice from the System rang out.
[Conversational access has been blocked because the information threshold has been exceeded.] [Conversational access has been blocked because the information threshold has been exceeded.] [Conversational access has been blocked because the—]
The same message repeated until Essel's answer was finished. Jin-Woo's eyes gleamed.
'If the System hadn't done that, I might never have noticed.'
He might have dismissed her explanation as simply a setting the System had assigned to the monsters. Leveling up, dungeons, quests, the rewards and penalties for missions, and the job advancement process. It had all been so game-like that adding game-like settings to monsters would not have seemed strange. But the moment the System had forcibly intervened, Jin-Woo was certain.
'This conversation can be a lead.'
It was an obvious mistake by the System.
"D-Did I say something wrong?"
When Jin-Woo's expression turned serious, Essel's face darkened as well.
'Is what the System wants to hide the enemy the demons were fighting, or the reason or outcome of the war?'
To find out, Jin-Woo narrowed the scope of his question.
"So what was this terrifyingly powerful enemy?"
But just then, Essel froze like a battery-dead toy. However, only for a moment.
"Ah…"
She soon lost consciousness and crumpled to the ground. Jin-Woo caught her swiftly and laid her down. Her breathing was steady, so there did not seem to be a serious problem. But seeing her furrowed brow, she looked somewhat distressed. She seemed to be having a little trouble breathing. Jin-Woo ripped off her armor by hand to help her rest comfortably. Crrrk. The armor came off easily. He then cut the cape attached behind the armor, rolled it up, and propped it under her head as a pillow. It was a tedious thing to do for a monster, but it was not excessive kindness—after all, thanks to her being in this state, he had obtained a few clues.
'The enemy the demons were fighting…'
The System had reacted hypersensitively to the identity of those enemies.
'Could it be that there is something about them?'
If they possessed transcendental power and, for some reason, were affecting Earth or him… Jin-Woo brought up the shop. He tried using a potion to wake Essel, but there was no noticeable improvement.
'Guess I have no choice but to wait.'
Thump. Jin-Woo sat down beside Essel. And until she opened her eyes, he calmly organized every piece of the puzzle he had obtained from her, one by one, inside his head.
***
"Huh?"
Essel bolted upright. Sensing the presence beside her, she turned and spotted Jin-Woo sitting there silently, and her shoulders flinched.
'It wasn't a dream.'
As reality slowly sank in, Essel looked around. Everywhere she looked, the corpses of high-ranking demons lay in heaps. Her eyes went wide. Demons without intelligence did not regard intelligent demons as kin. She, who lacked awareness, would have been nothing but good prey to them. And yet—she was alive and well.
"You… you protected me?"
Jin-Woo answered by rising to his feet. He then extended his hand toward Essel. With a deeply moved expression, Essel took his hand and carefully stood up.
"Thank you." "How far is it to the place with the entrance permit?" "It's close from here. I'll guide you."
Essel held both wrists together and offered them to Jin-Woo.
"…?" "…?"
Both Jin-Woo and Essel exchanged puzzled looks. Essel, growing impatient, spoke first.
"I am your prisoner, so you should tie my hands together to move me." "Forget it."
He was confident he could prevent any resistance or escape attempt without resorting to bindings. There was no time to waste on pointless things. Jin-Woo turned Essel around and gave her back a light push. Her heartbeat quickened slightly—perhaps she was still frightened—but Jin-Woo showed no reaction. His gaze fell on the horses the monsters had arrived on.
"The horses?" "I'll bring them."
With a flushed face, Essel seized the reins of three horses and took the lead. Jin-Woo quietly followed behind her.
***
Just as Essel had said, it was not long before they reached the place that would house the entrance permit. It was a massive fortress.
'A castle inside a demon castle…'
If the demon castle dungeon was called a castle but was shaped like a tower, the fortress before them truly looked as though it had been modeled on a medieval stronghold. The soldiers guarding the gate tensed the moment they saw Jin-Woo. But—
"Guest."
Essel said impassively, giving a nod of her chin, and the soldiers promptly opened the gate. Soon a group of knights emerged in a cluster from inside.
"Lady Essel, we have been expecting you." "Where is my father?" "In the audience chamber." "Understood."
A knight glanced at Jin-Woo and asked.
"Lady Essel… the man behind you?" "He is an important guest. Show proper courtesy."
At Essel's stern command, the knights parted the way and bowed their heads. Jin-Woo followed Essel into the deepest part of the castle. After walking down a long corridor, they found a room as wide as a boss chamber in a dungeon.
'So this is the audience chamber?'
Jin-Woo looked around. Aside from pillars here and there stretching up toward the ceiling on either side, the space was empty. It looked like a place built for fighting.
'If I had come while fighting, the boss battle would have started right here.'
If that was the case, the demon noble sitting on the massive chair atop the dais at the far end of the audience chamber was this building's boss. Essel and Jin-Woo stopped in front of the boss. The boss spoke first.
"Essel." "Father, this man is—"
Before Essel could explain, the boss locked eyes with Jin-Woo, and his eyes went wide. The boss's pupils trembled.
"You— you! Who in the world have you brought?!" "Father. He is here as a guest—"
Despite Essel's desperate explanation, the boss's agitation did not subside easily.
"A guest? What sort of guest storms into another's home with an army?!" "Excuse me?"
Essel turned to look at Jin-Woo. Where on earth was this army the boss was talking about? The boss did not take his eyes off Jin-Woo and spoke in a trembling voice.
"Essel, can you not see? The countless soldiers hiding in that man's shadow."
Jin-Woo's gaze sharpened. Startled by the shift in atmosphere, Essel took a step back. Jin-Woo looked mildly surprised.
'So his perception is sharp?'
It seemed the boss could actually see the soldiers concealed within the shadows.
'Is this a good thing or a bad thing?'
Just in case a fight broke out, he had recalled all the shadow soldiers he had dispersed across the area back into the shadows.
"You dare bring soldiers into my home?!"
Hearing the boss's rising voice, the knights poured in from every direction.
"Father!"
Essel called out to the boss in a loud voice. The boss was already on his feet, glaring with fury. Jin-Woo, who had been silently watching the situation unfold, finally opened his mouth.
"I made a promise."
Seeing no trace of tension whatsoever on Jin-Woo's face, the boss's brow twitched.
"What promise?" "The entrance permit."
Jin-Woo took one step forward.
"If you hand over the entrance permit, I'll leave quietly."
The boss swallowed hard.
'So this is the man who has been cutting through demons at a terrifying pace?'
When he had heard that even Vulcan and Metus had been taken down, his world had gone dark. Even though they were a noble family, the Radir clan was one of the weakest, ranked merely twentieth among the demon hierarchy. If the enemy who had subdued Vulcan and Metus with such ease was standing before him, he would have to brace for considerable losses. And yet this fearsome enemy was offering to leave of his own accord.
'Can I trust this…?'
The boss asked, half-skeptical.
"Is that your only condition?"
Jin-Woo answered as though he had been waiting for the question.
"And one more."
Just as expected. The boss's brow furrowed before Jin-Woo even finished. Demands from the powerful never ended. Before he even heard what outrageous demand would be hurled next to humiliate his family and provoke his soldiers, his chest was already tightening. Sure enough, the man placed a hand on his daughter's shoulder and spoke.
"I'd like to borrow this one for a while." "What?!"
The boss and the knights let out a collective gasp of horror. Jin-Woo's gaze swept across the room.
'…?'
Essel had said she knew where the upper-level entrance permits were. He only meant to borrow her briefly to guide him to the permit's location, so he could receive directions… Did he say something wrong?
Jin-Woo tilted his head, looking at the trembling boss, the horrified knights, and the bright-red-faced Essel.
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