Chapter 19 – Tracking
#019.
“Ha… Ha!”
As the sun sets, the sound of heavy breathing echoes.
From dawn until now. The long 12-hour hike drained Chorin’s stamina to the ground. She, of course, rested between meals in between, but it was a luxury to hope that she was fine.
Chorin flapped the front of his shirt.
The outline of her undergarments was exposed from sweat, but there was no time to worry about that. Isn’t it annoying to react to each and every one of these things in the yard where even the goddaughter is already being treated?
Gaon doesn’t react much, so it’s not okay to make a fuss by yourself.
As I was wiping the sweat from my forehead, Gaon suddenly stopped. She looked around and saw that she had arrived at an empty lot where not a single tree had grown.
There was just one moderately low hill ahead.
Mr Gaon? Why are you like that?”
“No. It’s nothing.”
Meanwhile, Gaon looked at the hill and was convinced.
‘It’s here.’
This is where the Troll Dungeon is located.
Right now it just looks like a hill, but in fact it’s just hidden by a magic barrier. In the center is a large cave.
When I turn my gaze to one side, I see a boulder tower.
Five such things are located in five directions with the hill as the center.
If you destroy about half of them, 2 or 3 of them, the barrier will collapse and the troll dungeon will appear. It was a very lax security method, but since that was the limit of the goblin shaman, it was unavoidable.
Anyway, if you’ve come this far, you’re at ease.
In the case of Shinsegae, it doesn’t come here often. At best, I only stop by once a week to check on the goblins’ movements.
And the goblins won’t come except to check the status of the barrier. You probably won’t have to worry about it for a while.
“Lee Cho-rin. Let’s hurry The sun will set soon. Looking around, there are few signs. It seems that there are hardly any monsters or people here. Let’s find a place to rest nearby.”
“Thank god. Let’s do our best!”
Chorin shouted bravely to forget her fatigue and gave her a smile. In response, Gaon, who lowered her head, passed the hill and moved further west.
Perhaps in a little while we will reach the end of this space. It’s not like there’s a cliff at the end of the abyss, it’s just blocked by a dome, but the important thing is that there’s another cave nearby.
In addition to that, it is a bonus that there is a lake that extends from the goblin territory not too far away.
Even the place where the cave is located is a little higher, so the panoramic view below comes in at a glance.
What does this mean? That meant not only being able to see the lake, but also being able to spot enemies approaching in case of emergency.
Gaon and Chorin, who climbed the mountain under the pretext of looking for it from a high place, eventually found the cave and were able to see the sky dyed in darkness.
The sun had disappeared over the horizon, and the sky was turning purple. The moon becomes clearer, and the starlight that was hidden by the intense sunlight reveals itself one by one.
“Haaa… I think the only thing I like here is the night sky. It is so beautiful.”
Chorin brushed her hair behind her ears and exhaled. The wind blew and her long straight hair fluttered. Chorin, who had been looking up at the sky with her eyes narrowed in a pleasant breeze, finally lowered her gaze, and she found the lake and opened her eyes wide.
“Oh! Go, Gaon! It’s a lake! There is a lake over there!”
“Okay. Tomorrow, I’ll fill the canteen over there. You will be tired today, so let’s go in and rest.”
“Yes? Ah yes! But aren’t you happy?”
“I’m glad.”
Chorin seems to have been puzzled by Gaon’s calmness than he thought. Yes, Gaon knew from the beginning that there was a lake here, so there is no choice but to have a big difference in his feelings from Chorin.
As a Chorin who does not know such facts, it is natural to think this way.
Chorindo Gaon, who was looking at the lake while looking back at the extension, went into the cave and chased after him, leaving behind his regret.
And they were able to meet the passengers inside the cave. A bear, crouched in the center, in a deep sleep comes into view. He slept so well that it was only when he came right in front of him that he opened his eyes while twitching his nose.
Pooh!
Of course, Gaon didn’t bother waiting for the bear to come to his senses. He carelessly thrust his spear through the bear’s neck, widening the wound with a violent stir. It was a bear struggling with the terrible pain, but it soon stopped breathing.
“Go, Mr. Gaon…”
“Bears are dangerous animals. He had no choice but to kill. Then I will leave it outside and come back.”
“I-I’ll help too!”
An adult bear will weigh approximately 300 to 400 kg. No matter how strong Gaon’s physical ability is, it is too much for him to lead him alone. Without refusing Chorin’s help, the two took the bear and set it down some distance away.
“Lee Cho-rin. Then I will get some firewood.”
“Yes! I will clean the inside of the cave.”
And they started moving in search of their respective roles.
I did the same thing the other day when I first discovered a cave in an orc realm. It was annoying to do the same thing twice, but I couldn’t put it off, so I just quietly picked up firewood.
After collecting firewood and making tools to light a fire like they did before, the two of them simply filled their stomachs with dried fish and fruits.
While we were sitting across from each other and staring at the campfire while eating quietly, Chorin suddenly opened his mouth.
“What did Gaon do on Earth?”
“Yes?”
“I know these words aren’t very helpful, but I’m curious. Aren’t you worried about your family?”
“…”
Family. I miss them, but… It was also that I didn’t have any regrets anymore.
In the second round, I tried my best to find it, but in the end I couldn’t hear any news.
What this meant was obvious.
It is dead. It couldn’t endure a month of survival, and eventually disappeared somewhere.
If I had survived there, I would have been able to get even a trivial piece of information.
Should I say it’s fortunate that thanks to that, I was able to avoid being caught by people who resented and hated Gaon in the second round? Of course, you can say no. A family is not just valued by necessity.
Despite Gaon’s silence, Chorin’s words continued.
“I’m worried about her ex-mother. She’s someone who doesn’t usually know about fighting, but how does she get along… Will we ever see her again?”
Chorin looked at Gaon and asked.
There was half-abandonment in her eyes. She also met a person named Gaon and survived this hard, but she wondered if her mother would be safe?
She could not think that she could keep herself safe from those ferocious monsters. Even at this moment, she might be cooling off somewhere.
Facing such a gaze, Gaon answered calmly enough to plant emotionless as always.
“You will be alive. Based on what Lin Lee has said so far, she has a strong vitality and is a good cook, so she will do a good job as a person. Besides, if she’s mild-mannered, she’ll blend in well with people, and there won’t be any infighting. If you think about it that way, she probably survived well as a group.”
Contrary to my expectations, Chorin was surprised to hear positive words coming out of Gaon’s mouth.
It’s because I didn’t know that this blunt man would continue his speech for a long time, squeezing out words that were and weren’t like this to comfort him.
Gaon sometimes shows a caring side like this unlike usual. It’s just that he did it naturally, but he can’t help but be different from Chorin seen from the side.
And maybe because of that, his heart beats pleasantly every time he does. He probably has been since the first time he ate semen.
From then on, it became more common for me to stare blankly at Gaon at some point, or to strangely look closely at his face while standing vigil.
Even now, in fact, the act of hoping for comfort was correct.
I just didn’t know it would react so fervently. I don’t know if it’s because of Chorin’s mood, but strangely, he felt that the air in the cave had become much warmer.
Chorin felt a corner of his chest warming up and bit into a mouthful of fruit.
What is this sweetness that spreads in your mouth? Chorin did not know.
The night deepens.
***
“Lee Cho-rin. Wake up. It is morning.”
“Um… Yes. Wait a minute.”
Chorin, who had been soundly asleep, woke up softly as he heard a hand shaking his shoulder and a low-pitched voice. And he faced Gaon only after putting his back on his back and finishing arranging his face.
“You waited? Then get out!”
“Before that, I have something to say. About the future.”
Morning training is a daily routine that cannot be missed. She jumped up immediately and took her steps to get out of the cave, but Gaon stopped her. Chorin, who had returned her footsteps to where they were before, quietly sat down in front of him again.
As if she was going to listen, she knelt down on her knees and opened her mouth as Gaon lowered her head to her direct gaze.
“This is a goblin and a new world. It is a location that is narrowly sandwiched between the two realms. Of course, it can be said that there are too many threats than before. Therefore, we must become strong so that we can overcome the crisis at any time. We can’t catch humans, so we have to go into the domain of goblins.”
In fact, there’s nothing she can’t do when it comes to human hunting, but there’s no way Chorin would accept that, and Gaondo didn’t want to become strong enough to do such a thing.
If it were the wicked, I would kill them without remorse, but what kind of crime did the other people who belonged to that power?
Park Gyu-wan is a gangster, but he is a reasonable person in his own way. He has no reason to be hostile.
Of course, by now, the relationship has been halfway broken, but as long as they don’t know that the culprit is them, they can hold hands at any time.
The conclusion drawn from that is this.
“Miss Gaon. But you were attacked just a week or so ago. Would it be okay?”
Chorin showed her concern with her strangely elated face.
“In other words, a week has passed. Besides, there is a considerable distance between that place and this place. They also have a limited number of heads, so this one should be relatively spacious. Besides, aren’t we stronger too? Now, even if I am ambushed by more than 10 monsters, I can overcome it.”
“Then I’m glad. All right. Then, let’s start training!”
“Yes. Let’s go.”
The last crisis was actually largely due to Gaon intentionally getting hurt to prove the theory. I don’t have to do that now, so there won’t be any injuries from the start. Even more so, there is a marked difference between the power then and now.
Of course, Gaon had the confidence to slaughter all the goblins back then, but there were some difficult parts to fighting while protecting even Chorin.
But now, Chorin has become much stronger.
His spearmanship proficiency also rose, he became accustomed to fighting, and his physical strength increased tremendously. 4-5 goblins are more than enough to deal with, so Gaon can rampage to his heart’s content.
Gaon followed Chorin out of the cave, imagining in his head how many goblins he could handle without taking damage.
Then he arrived at a clearing some distance away and began teaching spearmanship.
Now, two weeks after being brought to Union, they are moving forward admirably.
