A Public Servant Hunter Who Exploits Skill Combinations – Chapter 45
Translated by: Hanzo
Chapter 45: Think Long, Act Fast (2)
Thud.
The lord’s head fell to the ground and rolled.
My friends’ faces hardened, and Hye-ri shouted.
“What... what are you doing!?”
They were shocked by my actions.
As expected.
There was no notification saying that the quest had failed.
“This is strange.”
“You’re the strange one! The reward was right in front of us!”
“No. Think carefully.”
“Think about what?”
“I believe... this quest has two possible paths.”
“Two paths...?”
“Oh, should I say it has two endings?”
“There’s a quest like that?”
I explained my thoughts based on the information I had.
“Didn’t you think it was suspicious that this supposed lord was locked up in the dungeon?”
“You seem more suspicious to me...”
They took a step away from me.
What’s with this distance?
“No, listen carefully.”
I calmly continued.
“What if this lord is actually an imposter?”
Their expressions showed they still didn’t understand.
“An imposter...? What do you mean?”
“Yeah. What if this lord is actually a servant of the witch?”
Seo Ye-rin looked at me with sharp eyes.
“What makes you think that?”
I began explaining with reasonable examples.
“First of all, the fact that the so-called lord was locked in the dungeon.
Also, the knights guarding the castle entrance wearing armor with the same emblem as the one on the castle’s flag.
And finally, the monsters swarming outside the castle walls.”
“Well... couldn’t the witch have done that?”
“That could be a trick.”
Hye-ri responded quite logically.
“But if the monsters are surrounding the castle, doesn’t that mean they’re making sure these people can’t escape?”
“What if those monsters actually gathered to attack the castle?”
“Hmm...”
“What if the imposter lord and the witch locked away at the top of the castle are the ones the monsters came to rescue?”
Ye-rin, deep in thought, finally spoke.
“If Tae-sung is right, then it was indeed strange that he was trapped in his own castle. The knights guarding the entrance are weird too. And there being no furniture at all is also strange.”
I added to her explanation.
“Exactly. And the lord said all the furniture was burned, but there isn’t a single trace of fire damage. You know how fire leaves scorch marks, right? Did anyone see any burn marks? No one, right? It’s like someone just packed up and moved out.”
“Oh, that’s true...”
“And do you remember the last question I asked him?”
“You asked where he was planning to go?”
“That’s right. There’s a secret passage inside the castle that leads out, so he could leave without dealing with the monsters. If he were the real lord, he wouldn’t have planned to walk out the front gate.”
“Now that you mention it, that does make sense.”
“There’d be no need to fight at all!”
“You’re right. If I were the lord, I’d use the secret passage too.”
I delivered the final blow to my argument.
“Most importantly, even though I just cut off his head, there was no notification that the quest had failed.”
“Oh!”
Ye-rin and Hye-ri, after thinking for a moment, finally spoke.
“I agree with Tae-sung’s idea.”
“Me too.”
“...”
Everyone’s gaze turned to Jun-hyuk.
“I was on Tae-sung’s side from the start! I'm 100% with him!”
“That means our next target... is the witch behind that door.”
Jun-hyuk murmured in disappointment.
“So she’s not a princess after all...”
“...”
Creak.
As we opened the fourth-floor door, a woman of unimaginable beauty sat quietly with her eyes closed.
She was bound by chains on her arms and legs, held firmly in place, yet they were immaculately clean, as if they had just been put on her.
See? Everything about this is suspicious.
Someone who’s been imprisoned this long shouldn’t look so pristine.
“Uh, excuse me...?”
Jun-hyuk cautiously called out to her.
She slowly opened her eyes and looked at us.
“Did... you come to rescue me?”
“Are you the princess?”
“Yes... I am.”
“I knew it! No wonder you’re so beautiful.”
Hye-ri elbowed Jun-hyuk in the side.
“But... what about my father?”
“Your father?”
“Didn’t you find my father, who was locked in the dungeon?”
Feigning ignorance, I responded indifferently.
“We came straight up to the fourth floor.”
“Oh, I see. Please untie me first. I will reward you as much as you desire.”
“All we have to do is free you?”
“Yes.”
“And then what?”
“You will receive your reward and leave.”
So basically, she’s telling us to take our reward and get lost?
“And what will happen to you?”
“I need to rescue my father and escape this castle.”
“Isn’t this your home?”
“Well... the monsters have already taken over this place...”
“What happened to all the furniture?”
“The monsters took everything.”
I was just checking, but it turns out they hadn’t even coordinated their lies.
Watching her lie so blatantly when the truth was obvious made me sick.
Sure, whatever happens inside a gate is separate from the real world...
I noticed there was no keyhole here either, meaning it likely worked the same way as before—getting close with the key would make one appear.
I kind of wanted to keep this key.
I moved closer to her, pretending to untie her while secretly slipping the key into my pocket.
“You thought I was actually going to free you?”
Her eyes instantly changed.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“A witch like you should drop the act already.”
“...”
Jun-hyuk, watching quietly, spoke.
“I can’t believe the witch looks like this...”
“Huh?”
“I mean, shouldn’t she look like an old hag or something? She’s way too pretty. Damn.”
Could you not sound so genuinely disappointed...?
“Witches feed off human energy, which is how they maintain their youth and beauty. She’s probably older than your great-grandmother.”
“So what do we do now?”
“We kill her.”
“That easily?”
“Normally, most people would assume this quest is about rescuing her. Almost no one would think about killing her. That’s why it shouldn’t be too difficult.”
I drew my sword and infused it with mana.
Woo-woong!
The sword hummed as the mana surged through it.
When I first wielded this sword, it had felt incredibly heavy, but now it felt so light that I no longer needed the gloves the headmaster had given me.
I never imagined I would grow this fast...
I needed to grow even faster and reap the benefits sooner.
With my resolve strengthened, I forcefully thrusted my sword into the witch’s chest.
With a sickening squelch, the sword pierced her heart.
***
The Three Springs faction was growing more and more exhausted as they fought off the endless waves of alligator monsters.
“Damn, this is tough.”
“We’ve been fighting for over an hour, but there’s no sign of them thinning out.”
“If you have time to talk, use it to kill at least one more.”
“Yes, sir...”
Even Heo Chun-Sam had a brain.
Not knowing what enemies awaited inside the castle, he couldn’t afford to expend all his strength here.
He could gather all his mana and wipe them out in one go, but then the real challenge would come afterward.
Still, if this continued, they would be too exhausted for the next phase.
At this rate…
“Guys! Cover me!”
“You don’t mean…!? Sir, are you planning to use that?”
“That’s right!”
Heo Chun-Sam decided to use a skill he had recently stolen from an opponent.
He possessed two artifacts—one that tracked invisible gates and another that copied an opponent’s skill.
However, the copying artifact had strict limitations.
It could only copy one skill from a single person, and he had no control over which skill was copied. If he copied a useless skill, it would be pointless.
Additionally, once used, it couldn’t be activated again for a month, so it had to be used wisely.
Luckily, he had managed to steal Storm Blade, a wind-based skill.
As someone naturally attuned to the wind attribute, his wind-based attacks were already powerful, and this skill suited him perfectly.
However, it was far beyond his current rank, meaning it consumed an enormous amount of mana.
Using it once would leave him unable to use any other skills for at least half a day.
But since it created a massive storm, it was perfect for water-based monsters.
At that moment, the alligator monsters before him were an ideal target.
After gathering his mana, Heo Chun-Sam unleashed the skill, and most of the monsters were torn apart in an instant.
“Huff… Huff… Let’s take five minutes… and then move on…”
Drained from the exertion, Heo Chun-Sam lay flat on the ground, breathing heavily.
His subordinates began finishing off the few remaining monsters.
They were accustomed to this routine, their movements practiced and efficient.
“Boss, we’ve taken care of them all.”
“We still have plenty of time left.”
“But the guys inside… they’re not coming out, huh?”
“The quest isn’t marked as complete yet, so they must still be struggling in there.”
“Looks like we’ll have to go finish the job. Hahaha.”
Even in their exhaustion, they kept their spirits high as they made their way into the castle.
***
“What do you think you’re doing to my body?”
“!?”
At the unfamiliar voice, everyone turned their heads in shock.
There, standing with her arms crossed, was a woman identical to the witch who had been bound by chains.
Just looking at her seductive figure made it feel like she could steal their hearts at any moment.
'What the hell? I was told she was sealed…'
<Do not be deceived. That is an illusion.>
'So that means… she’s not actually dead?'
<She must have moved her heart the moment you drew your sword.>
She moved her heart?
Even in a sealed state, she could perform magic like that?
I needed to buy time.
Time to find her real heart.
“You truly are a witch, using such wicked sorcery.”
“How did you know?”
“What do you mean, how did I know?”
“How did you know I was a witch?”
“Oh, well…”
Phew, that startled me.
I thought she was asking how I knew she had moved her heart.
I stalled for time while scanning the room.
Where would she have hidden her heart…?
A bound witch in an empty room… where could she have moved it?
“This place is supposed to be surrounded by monsters. But in reality, weren’t they here to rescue you?”
“You say they… So, you’ve been to the underground prison?”
At that moment, I noticed a candle on the wall.
All the candles inside the castle had been white.
But the ones in this room were red.
That meant… her heart was most likely inside one of those candles.
'Those candles are suspicious.'
<It could be in the flame itself.>
'She can move her heart into a flame? But fire and a heart are completely different materials—'
<What do you think magic is?>
Oh, right.
Magic defies all common sense.
It lets people conjure flames from their bare hands, summon water out of nowhere, and make ice bloom in an instant.
So why would it be strange for a heart to be transferred into a flame?
<If you don’t destroy it in one strike, it will be nearly impossible to find again.>
That makes sense.
Candle or flame?
No.
Now that I thought about it, I had been too narrow-minded.
It was too obvious.
The only objects sticking out in this room were the candles and the candle holder.
Did she really think I wouldn’t expect her to move her heart?
That would be too easy.
If I were Seo Ye-rin, how would I see this?
If I looked at the bigger picture…
Could it be in the floor? The walls? The ceiling?
Screw it—I’ll just destroy everything.
‘Mir.’
<What now?>
‘Can you lend me some mana?’
<What are you planning this time?>
‘I’m going to give you something tasty.’
<...Fine.>
Mir quietly settled on my back.
I could feel his mana flowing into my own mana pathways.
Alright. With this power…
Destroying this entire room would be a piece of cake.
Before entering the dungeon, I had visited the skill card shop to create a crafting card.
At that time, I had bought several skill cards.
I already had Lightning Slash and Flame Slash, and I had crafted Wind Slash, Ice Slash, and Flash Slash.
But elemental slashes tended to cause misunderstandings.
Once, I mistakenly used Lightning Slash, and people started spreading rumors that I was a lightning-attribute fighter.
So, I combined all my elemental slashes to create the a slash of the next level—Moonlight Slash.
The first stage: Crescent Moon Slash.
A strike that emitted an enormous flash of light, obliterating everything in its path.
Until now, I hadn’t had enough money to buy skill cards.
Even if I learned it, I wouldn’t have been able to use Moonlight Slash properly.
But now, I had earned a decent amount of money, my mana pathways were fixed and even expanded, and my rank had risen.
It felt like I could finally use it.
And this seemed like the perfect opportunity for its debut.
Using Moonlight Slash just to cut down a witch’s heart seemed a bit excessive…
But still,
Why not give it a try?
Standing in front of my friends, I swung my sword in a wide arc.
I wanted to shout 'Moonlight Slash!', but that would’ve been too cringe and embarrassing.
From the tip of my sword, a radiant golden light flared.
A crescent-shaped beam of mana burst forth—
At that exact moment, the door swung open, and someone walked in.
Comments
Post a Comment