## Chapter 20 – Escorting the Merchant Guild
The commotion woke me up. Judging by the surroundings, it seemed like it was almost time to get up. My throat felt numb, probably because it got so damn cold last night that I thought my mouth was going to twist off and I’d die. Still, everyone was alive, so it seemed like there hadn’t been any attacks.
I tried to warm up since I was already awake, but the campfire had long gone out, leaving only charred branches behind. I was instantly pissed off.
I was about to collapse from being as cold as a corpse, and there was no fire? Are you kidding me? I was already maxed out on stress the moment I opened my eyes.
“Seriously, what the hell? No fire.”
But it was too late to start a new fire, so I did some simple exercises and stretches to warm up. As I was doing that, people started announcing that it was time to get up, probably because it was almost departure time. One by one, people got up, and before long, the lead carriage started moving.
The adventurers who had been on watch looked exhausted. But they would be able to get a good night’s sleep tonight. I was the one who was worried. Because I had to stand guard tonight.
The fatigue of waking up, standing guard, and then trying to sleep again was a torment that only those who had experienced it knew. I was going to be depressed from now until my watch ended.
ㅡThud, thud.
I walked along the road aimlessly. Since we were still about a day away from the city, the road conditions were decent.
But on both sides of the road, countless trees and plants were growing. It wouldn’t be strange if monsters hiding in those places suddenly jumped out and attacked. I was nervous, but I was so tired that I couldn’t even see them.
Whether they jumped out or not, it was a story from another world right now.
Just getting to the next city was this exhausting? Honestly, it felt like exploring the outback. My hopeful heart from when we first set out had long since been buried in the mud.
Jairo, who was on the opposite side of the carriage, kept glancing at me. I think I got caught up with the wrong guy. It looked like he was planning to talk to me when he got the chance, but the only conversation I could have now was a conversation of fists.
And so, the journey continued tediously without any major incidents.
It used to take almost a day to go down to my hometown for Lunar New Year, but this was the first time I’d ever spent five days traveling somewhere. I vowed never to take a long trip again. It was a moment that proved the greatness of the automobile.
ㅡSwoosh.
That’s when it happened.
For some reason, up ahead. Something that looked like a tree or a weed growing by the side of the road was leaning forward.
What was that?
With my sleepy eyes, it looked like that green thing was simply a tree or vine falling over. That’s what I thought for three seconds.
“Hey, what the hell…”
I couldn’t finish my sentence.
“Keeaaaaaack!!!”
A bloodcurdling scream echoed. The martial artist who had volunteered for the night watch yesterday was being `lifted` higher than the carriage.
“Damn it! Prepare for battle!”
“It’s a Giant Mantis!”
The attacker was a giant mantis bigger than the carriage! It looked quite different from a mantis, but its sharp, scythe-like forelimbs and overall appearance were similar.
It grabbed the martial artist with its forelimbs, lifted him up, and roared.
ㅡKweeek!!
Son of a bitch, this was the first time I’d ever seen a monster like that in this world! If I had a monster encyclopedia, it would have been registered with a NEW!! mark right away! What a crazy monster! So inhuman!
The giant green mantis suddenly jumped out of the bushes and snatched the martial artist.
“Save meeeeee!!!”
The martial artist screamed, clutching his waist.
I had a bad feeling about this.
If that guy died here, one less person would be on watch. I couldn’t allow that to happen. I had to rescue him no matter what. As I realized that, my fighting spirit ignited.
The Giant Mantis lifted the martial artist and walked into the middle of the road. The martial artist couldn’t do anything but scream like a crab spewing foam.
ㅡKweeek! Kweeek!
“Aaaaaaaack!!!”
What a dumbass.
There were more than ten people here who could fight, but maybe it was because it was an insect, but it seemed a bit slow-witted. If it had any sense, it would have quickly disappeared back into the forest after snatching a person.
“Everyone! Surround the monster!”
At the command of a middle-aged man in a green hat, the guild’s soldiers were the first to rush out. The adventurers seemed intimidated by the giant monster and hesitated.
“What are you doing! If you don’t fulfill your contract, you won’t get paid!”
A stern order was issued to those adventurers. Only when they heard about the money did they run out. I also sprinted at this time and was the first to take the position at the rear of the Giant Mantis.
Positioning was important to deal damage effectively.
“Kreooreoreock!”
Judging by its appearance, it looked like a monster that would have cut the martial artist in half a long time ago, but it was just leisurely grabbing the martial artist and trying to gnaw on him. But when I looked closer, it seemed like it couldn’t chew properly because of the martial arts uniform.
Was this the general feeling of insect-type monsters?
“Everyone, commence attack!”
At that command, the soldiers stabbed spears into the mantis’s body. Pshoo! Unpleasant green liquids splattered. The adventurers also took out their respective tools and began to beat the legs and body. Only then did the Giant Mantis realize that its feet were on fire, and like an angry mantis, it swung its forelimbs. It was a sharp attack like the Grim Reaper’s scythe, but its accuracy was terrible. Everyone seemed to be dodging appropriately.
It was literally a raid to hunt a large monster.
The adventurers rolled around to avoid attacks, swarmed around, and managed to land effective hits. As the damage accumulated, green blood spurted out.
Unexpectedly, the slow movement of the guy triggered my competitive spirit, and I approached its thin-looking hind legs. Because it was an insect’s leg, it looked very thin and weak.
“Die!”
I put my sword on the Giant Mantis’s hind leg and sawed at it like I was using a saw.
“You bastard! I’ll cut off your legs!”
ㅡKweeek!
Then, it convulsed in pain and twisted its body. When I saw the blade tearing through the carapace, I knew this would work, so I desperately clung on and succeeded in sawing off one of its legs.
It was a more refreshing sawing than Heungbu sawing a gourd.
ㅡKweeek!
The Giant Mantis, who lost a leg, let out a bizarre scream like a runner who lost a leg in an unfortunate accident. From the moment its leg was cut off, its ability to change direction was greatly reduced.
“Nice one!”
Someone shouted.
Seeing me sawing off its leg, everyone seemed to have gotten some strange inspiration, and with the intention of plagiarizing me, they all clung to the Giant Mantis’s legs and tore them off.
It was like watching a mantis being attacked by ants. No matter how big and powerful a predator is, it couldn’t stand up to ants ganging up on it.
ㅡKweet!
The Giant Mantis, who had lost all its legs except for its forelimbs in an instant, fell to the ground with a thud! Seeing that huge body wriggling while dripping green fluids made me want to vomit. Without its legs, its belly just looked like a giant larva.
“Kill it!”
People gleefully hacked at the Giant Mantis, who could no longer resist.
All that would do was make them tired and dirty their clothes, but for those who had been stressed out by the repeated marches, violence was the best entertainment. They made joyful exclamations as they turned the fallen monster into a rag.
“It’s just big, but it was just a pushover.”
That was my impression of the Giant Mantis, who was sprawled out and dying.
It was too bland for a body that was bigger than a carriage. I don’t know if it was just because we had a lot of people, but in my opinion, giving it two stars [Giant Mantis ★★] would be appropriate. I learned the lesson that strength is not proportional to size.
“You son of a bitch!”
The martial artist, who had been captured and crying pathetically until just now, seemed to have come to his senses and was furiously unleashing attacks.
There were bloodstains on his uniform, but it didn’t look like he had any major injuries. Every time a Dempsey roll and soccer kick hit, a cheerful sound of hitting a heavy sandbag echoed. It was a relief that he looked healthy.
The Giant Mantis, who was not subjected to corpse manners, was torn to pieces and drooped.
I slung one of the legs I had sawed off over my shoulder and asked an adventurer nearby to satisfy my curiosity.
“Hey, buddy. Is there anything on this mantis that’s worth money?”
“Unless you’re talking about the head or the forelimbs, not really. The hind leg you’re holding won’t fetch a good price either.”
I didn’t want to hear that. Damn it.
The fact was that making money by killing monsters was a bit of an ambiguous concept.
The income was terrible compared to the effort, and the things that were worth money were limited to useful parts. Only organs that could be used to make tools or something were worth money.
Mainly leather, carapace, and bones were representative.
So, it made sense that there was nothing on this mantis that was worth money. Would you make armor or weapons out of this? At best, it’s a decoration. Judging by how it was cut by my sword, the durability wouldn’t be that good either.
I ran out first because it looked like it would be worth some money, but now I was disappointed. I was so disappointed that my hands and feet were trembling. What a useless bastard.
“Damn it.”
Since it really wasn’t worth any money, the merchants only cut off the forelimbs and head and put them on the roof of the carriage, leaving the rest of the carcass behind. The hind legs I was holding were the same. No one took them, so I just threw them away too.
It felt like my heart was being torn apart. I managed to succeed in the raid, but it only dropped trash items. How am I supposed to enjoy hunting like this?
“Let’s start again!”
Leaving a bitter aftertaste, we left the scene. Leaving the corpse of such a monster would be a nuisance in terms of traffic, but eventually, scavenger monsters that smelled the corpse would come and clean it up.
I tore off some large leaves nearby and cleaned my sword. Green fluid was sticking to the sword, and if I put it in the scabbard like this, the sword would be ruined. It would be troublesome if the sword didn’t come out at a crucial moment, and if it rusted, I would have to pay to remove it.
I carefully wiped off the fluid with the leaves. As I was killing time, it was time for another break, and Jairo, who didn’t seem to get tired of it, approached me. Jairo, with his androgynous face, spoke to me as I was eating dried rations.
“There are many minorities in our Cheondo Society. Surely, Mr. Katte…”
In my opinion, this Cheondo Society was definitely an evil cult that lured minorities who were oppressed and discriminated against in society with sweet words and sucked their blood.
It was clear that this Jairo guy was some kind of broker and would be getting a commission per person.
“Fuck off.”
“Didn’t you say you would listen to me in exchange for volunteering for the night watch yesterday?”
“That’s why I’m standing guard today. Just get lost if you don’t want to die.”
I’ve seen so many strange people in my life.
I had a lot of these approaches when I was a homeless person and when I was living as an F-class adventurer. So, I’m a bit immune.
When they created a homeless shelter and gathered vagrants (I was dragged there almost by force) and made them do forced labor of murderous intensity, I felt like I was going to die, so I smashed the supervisor’s head with a rock and ran away.
That place was not a shelter at all, and they didn’t even give us proper food for the work we did.
What a tumultuous life it was. Back then, life was a continuous struggle. For me, who had lived such a life, these cult bastards trying to suck my blood was out of the question.
Anyway, I was so angry that I was going to hit Jairo, but he seemed to have sensed the atmosphere and went back to his seat.
