Chapter 49

"..."

"..."

'Wh-what do I do?'

'I blurted it out, but...'

Cha A-ra's legs were trembling like a newborn fawn's.

'Shit.'

Cha A-ra's knees, which grew endlessly servile before the strong, were already prepared to kneel, but in most life-or-death situations, a human's knees were not valuable enough to guarantee their owner's survival.

'Especially when the other party isn't human.'

For now, she knew the other party was not human.

No, she had no choice but to know.

His face was merely hidden in the darkness, yet it felt as though it did not exist at all, so how could she not sense this dizzying wrongness?

'... Fuck, fuck, what do I do? But the fact that we're talking means he intends to talk to me, right? Of course, if he doesn't like me, he could kill me in one blow... but for now...'

Cha A-ra was not what one would call an "educated Hunter."

She had only received the basic training given by the Hunter Association, and did not know the exact ecology of monsters or how to deal with them.

But even Cha A-ra knew how dangerous humanoid monsters were.

'They said if you meet a humanoid monster, anyone C-class or below should just pray for a painless death...'

At home, her pig of an older brother and her rabbit-like youngest sibling were waiting for her.

Cha A-ra could not simply die, so she decided to beg first.

'For now, language works, and he has the will to talk... He seems to. Right? He does, right?'

Cha A-ra opened her mouth even as she trembled.

"I-I'm... I'm a porter, you see. Would you perhaps have any need for a slave..."

"... Porter?"

"Ah."

Not every humanoid monster was well versed in human culture.

Cha A-ra only belatedly remembered that, but the fact that the other party showed interest in her words was good news.

Cha A-ra brightened and answered.

She could faintly see a path to survival.

"Someone who carries luggage. And, um, I can do a lot of other things too. I'm good at cleaning, I'm good at cooking, and I can run errands amazingly well too, so if you spare me just this once, I'll do my absolute best to..."

"I am good at those as well."

"... Pardon?"

"I am good at cooking and cleaning."

"..."

What kind of mindset led someone to say, "I am useful too," to a human trying to survive by appealing to her own usefulness?

Cha A-ra felt like she was going to cough up blood.

'What kind of conversation style is he expecting from me? Is he saying he won't spare me? That I'm useless? Or, or...'

In what had been a long enough life as a porter, Cha A-ra had thought she had some talent for pleasing others, but even that maxed-out tact was useless in front of a monster.

'... N-no, it's too early to give up. As long as we speak the same language and the other party is showing a willingness to communicate, I can definitely interpret what that monster wants and why he said that. I can do this... Humanity will triumph...'

Soon, Cha A-ra thought of something.

'... Is he trying to find common ground between me and himself right now?'

The exchange of names earlier, and what he was saying now too, made it obvious that he was trying to guide Cha A-ra into feeling goodwill or intimacy toward him.

"..."

The problem was that it was so awkward it only made the wrongness grow stronger.

"Uh, um..."

Cha A-ra forced herself to hold back the retort that reflexively rose in her mind and obediently yielded before overwhelming power.

"... I see! That's amazing!"

"Thank you."

"Cooking and cleaning aren't things just anyone can do! Your skills must be truly incredible! That's so cool!"

"The same goes for you, Ms. Cha A-ra."

"..."

She was at a loss for words.

'In front of a humanoid monster said to have such strong pride, I have ended up praising myself.'

She desperately needed a return stone.

'Brother, youngest, I'm going on ahead.'

As Cha A-ra flinched, preparing herself for a painful death, a soft rustling sound came from the other side.

Judging by the fact that he was wearing a black cloak, he had probably tilted his head.

'So he does have a head.'

Just as a strange sense of relief and terror crashed over her at the same time, the monster spoke.

"I am sorry, but I do not need a slave."

"..."

I'm sorry, youngest.

I love you, you bastard of a brother.

Cha A-ra once again braced herself for an absolutely horrible death.

'A-ra dies here.'

She prayed that the bastards who had abandoned her would appear on the nine o'clock news, get beaten down by the entire country, and never be able to show their faces in this industry again.

'Get so damn infamous that you'll be pelted with eggs if you don't cover your faces even when you go to the convenience store to buy snacks, you bastards.'

As she poured out love and curses in her heart and streamed cold sweat like tears, the other party continued speaking.

"Is slave your profession?"

"... No...?"

She had only brought it up in the sense of, "Oh, you can work me like a dog, so please just spare me, hehe."

What slaves would there be in a country under the rule of law these days?

"Ah, of course, I mean, secretly... hush-hush, I've heard stories that some rich people, um... illegally buy and sell slaves..."

"That is horrible."

"R-right. It's horrible. Oh, they're very bad people, just awful."

"How frightening."

"..."

At that polite, elegant "how frightening" that did not contain even a speck of fear, or any emotion at all, Cha A-ra was truly rendered speechless.

But she felt like she was starting to get it.

'... Is he doing this because he's trying to imitate humans right now? Is he pretending to be scared?'

It was something she had truly never imagined, so she realized it late, but when she thought about it, it made sense.

'The greeting earlier, exchanging names, the way he's trying to empathize with me...'

It was so formulaic that she could not even tell what he intended, and it simply felt strange.

'Maybe he's trying, in his own way, to behave like a human?'

No, ah, no.

'This is unfair, though??'

Fuck, even if it's an imitation, he should seem a little human so I can at least pretend to be fooled and go, "Ah, fuck, I see!"

'This isn't even a variation on a past exam question. Fuck, imitate it in a way that lets me at least figure out the test maker's intent. Who would fall for this?'

Even the leader bastard who had abandoned her made jokes whose intent was easier to grasp than this.

'If he does all that and then feels proud, thinking, "Wow, I'm doing an amazing human imitation right now," I think I'll be genuinely dumbfounded.'

At that strange sense of unfairness that was hard to feel even once in a lifetime, Cha A-ra stammered as she opened her mouth.

"Yes, th-that's right. You're right, it is frightening."

Once she realized the other party was imitating humans, she could roughly understand the situation.

'The fact that he didn't answer me until I returned the greeting, or repeated himself, might have been similar. Like learning how to use a machine...'

He knew that when humans greeted each other, they returned the same greeting, but Cha A-ra had not reacted that way.

'Is it like smacking a broken TV to make it work again...? Like repeating the same question to an AI that won't answer...?'

When she examined it one by one like this, she felt sorry because it seemed he had studied humans and was earnestly imitating them in his own way, but honestly, she did not understand him at all.

Whether he knew how Cha A-ra felt as she fumbled, unsure how to respond, the monster, who had been holding the Anti-Cat to his chest and stroking it, opened his mouth again.

"I will not kill you, Ms. Cha A-ra."

"..."

"I will not hurt you, and I will not make you sad."

"Uh..."

"I did not wish to frighten you either."

The monster draped in a black cloak continued.

"I wanted to make a friend."

"... A friend?"

What?

'Does he mean he's wandering around looking for a sacrifice to drag into the afterlife?'

The word itself was very mild, but the other party's aura was not mild at all, so suspicion rose on its own.

Even though she could barely see his figure, this being with such a heavy, breath-stealing presence that made her heart feel as if it would stop wanted a "friend," and it did not seem to mean ordinary companionship at all.

'He looks kind of like a chief mourner at a funeral or a grim reaper too, so could it be...? Is he really looking for a companion on the road to the afterlife...? Something like that...?'

Before Cha A-ra's suspicion could even reach a conclusion, the monster continued.

"You are too young to take as my friend, Ms. Cha A-ra."

"..."

If being young meant no, maybe he really had been looking for a companion to the afterlife.

'... No, more importantly.'

At the monster's attitude, which seemed to use the words young and weak as synonyms, Cha A-ra faintly furrowed her brow.

'I'm not exactly young, but since he's not human, I guess he doesn't know things like that.'

At eighteen, Cha A-ra was already old enough to be married.

She was treated as a proper adult, so the fact that he saw Cha A-ra as nothing but young made her feel that sense of alienation once more.

'... Still, he said he wouldn't hurt me...'

It was foolish to trust a monster's words, but she could not help feeling at least a little relieved.

"Are you here alone?"

"... Ah, ah, yes. I'm alone."

Surely he would not kill her because she was alone.

Cha A-ra suddenly tensed.

That monsters had their own rules was basic knowledge known to every Hunter in the world.

Many of those rules felt absurd and cruel from a human point of view.

'And they said humanoid monsters are especially bound by those patterns...'

A monster that killed only Hunters who were alone, for example?

"Oh dear."

Fortunately, it seemed that was not the case.

"I was aware that, in ordinary cases, people in dungeons act in groups. Was I mistaken?"

"Uh..."

He was describing people like some pack of dogs.

She really thought he spoke in a damn monster-like way, but Cha A-ra's sense for reading the room was first-rate.

Because his voice was so terribly polite that it felt all the more alien, she noticed the faint goodwill within it.

It did not seem to be directed toward Cha A-ra personally, but rather broad and impartial goodwill toward the entire human species, but still...

'He doesn't have no emotions at all.'

Her heart eased a little.

That was because dealing with a monster that had emotions was far less frightening than dealing with one that did not.

"... No, you know correctly. It's just, I wasn't alone originally either... But somehow, my party abandoned me and left. I didn't have the strength to leave the dungeon alone, so I was wandering around..."

"..."

"... Then I saw the Anti-Cat..."

Ah, fuck, so that was it.

'That... That black cloak wanted a friend or a sacrifice or whatever, so the Anti-Cat brought me, a human, to him.'

Then was this humanoid monster the unknown boss monster of this dungeon?

'It's not uncommon to see monsters cooperate with each other...'

But it was not all that common for one to obey unilateral orders.

'Since I haven't learned anything, fuck, I can't define this. I never thought I'd see a humanoid monster in my life, ah, fuck. I really want to go home.'

It was just as she began to grow depressed on her own.

GROWL!

"..."

It was a damn loud stomach alarm.

"... I'm sorry."

"It seems you are hungry."

"I'm sorry...!!"

Cha A-ra learned for the first time today that humiliation and terror could visit at the same time.

Since the other party was trying so hard to match human standards, the fear was still fear, but it seemed she had gained enough room to be embarrassed too.

"I haven't eaten for the past three days..."

"Three days?"

"Yes, it's been a little over thirteen hours since I was abandoned. But as for food, since then..."

"Three days?"

"..."

Wh-what is this?

'Did I touch something wrong?'

Humanoid monsters were not obvious monsters that appeared in the Hunter Association's textbooks.

Their rules differed by individual, so no one could know what absurd rule the unseen monster before her might have.

But fortunately, the monster did not seem angry at Cha A-ra.

"They are bad people."

GURGLE.

Cha A-ra was startled by the new voice.

"Hyugh, wh-what was..."

"My son."

"Pardon?"

"..."

The monster was silent for a moment, then lifted the Anti-Cat with one hand and moved his other hand behind his head.

Because of the darkness, she could not see well, but...

Cha A-ra soon realized where the cry from a moment ago had come from.

"Honey."

Pardon?

What?

"You should say hello."

COO.

"What a good student."

"..."

Before the nonsensical words "good" and "student," something entered Cha A-ra's eyes.

On the monster's pale hand sat a little bird the sweet color of honey, filled with all kinds of jewels.

"..."

... C-cute.

"... Its name is... Honey?"

"Yes. He bites."

"He bites?!"

He did not look like that at all, but he bit?

"But since I do not wish it, he will not bite."

"Uh... I see..."

"Honey, let us go home now."

It was at that moment.

FLASH!

"...!"

The little bird's body shone fiercely and illuminated everything in the cave.

"... W-wow..."

The jewel cave revealed itself plainly.

'It's beautiful.'

It was fantastical.

At the beautiful sight that was hard to see even once in a lifetime, Cha A-ra forgot that she had been terrified and stared in awe.

'So this is what the Jewel Vein really looks like.'

Gemstones of every size and kind were clustered together like a single body, and the paths of the cave had been bored through like an anthill.

It was a space full of dreamlike, fantastical chaos, beautiful and yet disorderly.

Cha A-ra saw the true form of the Jewel Vein for the first time.

"..."

Thanks to that, she also realized what a monster "Honey" was.

'... He pushed out all the darkness bugs that live in the Jewel Vein.'

The "darkness bugs," which did not physically attack but were impossible to eliminate unless one was a priest of A-rank or higher.

They absorbed all light except the light from some luminescent jewels, and that little bird had illuminated them in an instant.

It felt as though an enormous shaft of sunlight had descended.

"..."

"Ms. Cha A-ra."

"... Uh."

Only then did she see the monster's face.

"We have met before."

"... Uh, uhh...!"

Just as he said, Cha A-ra had seen the other party before.

"Back then, the jewel...! The portrait...!"

"I am glad you seem to remember."

"... You were a monster?!"

"I am human."

"Th-that's not, no, I suppose that's true, but...!"

Cha A-ra quickly agreed because she did not dare offend the monster.

He seemed determined to appear human somehow, and she did not want to die by stubbornly insisting, "Don't bullshit me, what kind of human are you?"

"..."

After hesitating, Cha A-ra asked.

"... Am I... going to die now...?"

"You will not die."

"..."

"Good people should be repaid."

"Um..."

Cha A-ra suddenly realized.

'That monster... is trying to treat good humans well.'

The "good student" from before, the way he called the party who abandoned Cha A-ra "bad people," and so on.

Even Cha A-ra, who had not learned much, could tell that the other party was sensitive to good and evil.

"I am sorry I frightened you last time."

"Uh..."

"It had been a very long time since I saw a kind student like you, Ms. Cha A-ra, so without realizing it, I ended up following behind you. You must have been displeased, and I would like to take this opportunity to apologize."

"Ah, no, you don't need to..."

"I did not intend to frighten you this time either. But people seem to be strangely afraid of me, and in truth, you are the first person to be as afraid of me as you are, Ms. Cha A-ra, so I did not know how to respond. I apologize as well for the discomfort you suffered because of my confusion."

"..."

He was a damn polite monster.

'Doesn't he know that being this courteous actually makes me feel sorry?'

It was a strange feeling.

The monster who had introduced himself as "Seo Jio" looked like an ordinary human.

'No.'

He looked like an extremely handsome human.

But the pressure and vastness wrapped around the black cloak were so great that such things did not even enter her eyes.

How could a mouse standing before a giant praise the other party's appearance?

No matter how fragrant the scent, from the position of a lowly creature, she did not even have the mind to evaluate it.

"..."

He was very gentlemanly.

And at the same time, he was so vast that he was an alien being.

'... It's like the universe is pretending to be a person...'

She had no idea how to deal with him.

Then, as "Seo Jio" adjusted the little monsters in his arms, he said to Cha A-ra,

"I intend to return home."

"... Ah, yes, I-I see. Home..."

Huh?

'He has a separate home?'

Wasn't this his home?

'The gift he gave me last time was a jewel too... and the Anti-Cat follows him like that, so I thought that monster might be the true master of this dungeon.'

Or did it mean there was another habitat deeper inside this anthill?

"..."

"If it is all right with you, Ms. Cha A-ra."

"Yes?"

"Would you permit me to invite you?"

Invite?

"What do you mean, invite...?"

"You are young, Ms. Cha A-ra. This place is dark, and there is nothing to eat. You look exhausted and hungry, and I do not wish to pass you by. I would be grateful if you allowed me to serve you a meal."

"I-I'm, um..."

"I swear that I will not harm you, and I promise that after one meal, I will return you to Seoul. I say this upon my child Honey, so I hope you will not doubt me."

"Ah."

"Would that put you somewhat at ease?"

It was not that she trusted the monster.

"..."

But even so, as "Seo Jio" had said, Cha A-ra herself seemed to still be young and weak enough that she could not reject the plainly visible kindness.

"... Please."

She was tired of being left alone.