NOVEL NEXT Chapter 26
<26 - Revealing the Purpose>
Mr. Hood climbed the tree and vanished in an instant.
The remaining target was naturally our four-member squad.
“Isn’t that the team with the top scorer in the First Gate?”
“That monkey’s size isn’t ordinary either.”
“That’s a whole group of them.”
Most human hunters who came looking for those who earned points didn’t dare target us.
Thanks to that, we were deep in idle chatter.
“It was worth the expensive money we paid to hire bodyguards.”
“Haha! If you’re grateful, then toss me a little more!”
“Is there something you want to buy?”
“Good liquor isn’t cheap, you know.”
“Liquor?”
My ears perked up.
How could I not be interested?
Beverages are included in the Cookbook.
If it can be a drink, there’s no reason it can’t be alcohol.
Better drink it while I can!
“Oh, what’s this? You want to drink, you tiny thing?”
“I love eating and drinking!”
“Then are you going to try this too?”
Son Ohchun pulled a flask from his waist.
This was the flask he had been carrying from Shinjung Mountain all the way to the First Gate.
“That flask has been with you for ages. Isn’t what’s inside water?!”
“What nonsense are you talking? It’s obviously liquor.”
That drunken fool.
How much has he been drinking?
“Well, how is it?”
“Ugh. The smell.”
Sniff sniff
How much of it do I have to drink for it to trigger a collection?
One shot? One bottle?
If it’s in a liquor bottle, do I have to empty the whole bottle, and if it’s in a flask, do I have to finish that too?
Honestly, I’m confident in my drinking capacity.
I used to drink heartily with my childhood friend Sia until I collapsed—before I was yanked into this world by the Capsule malfunction.
Hearing that line from my drunken friend, that annoyance of how I always ended up being the last one standing was tolerable.
Sometimes I’d grumble she’d make me out to be a lightweight?
“……”
Hmm, I’m starting to feel a little anxious.
In the game, choosing [Drink] would automatically down the liquor within a certain time, causing the [Drunk] status to trigger with a set chance…
But in reality, where I’m putting my limits to the test, luck has no place here.
The body of Oknodie is that of a child.
Children are usually weak to alcohol.
“Please spare the child from drinking. It’s bad for health, and we’re in the middle of a match.”
Still, alcohol is a potential collection item in the Cookbook.
If I get the chance later, I should aim for it.
Um… yeah.
If possible, while that bearded guy is asleep.
After the exam, secretly drinking it late at night.
“Hey, tiny one. Aren’t you worried about getting lost? We can’t even see the lead anymore.”
“Just follow the tracks.”
There are plenty of hints.
[You found the tracks of the advance party.]
[Observation Experience +2]
[Tracking Experience +1]
[You found leaves trampled by muddy feet.]
[Observation Experience +3]
[Tracking Experience +1]
[You found bushes and branches cut with a knife.]
[Observation Experience +1]
[Tracking Experience +1]
Thanks to the tracking mechanism that had me swiftly identifying hints with click click, my pace in chasing after them was quite efficient even in reality.
Honestly, I’m just as confident in tracking as I am in hiding.
“Oh. So, tiny, do you have hunting experience or what?”
“Of course I do.”
“With your size, did you catch a rabbit or something?”
“What are you even saying? I catch monsters too! Sometimes even people, ah.”
“People? You’re joking, right?”
“Of… of course it’s a joke! Hehe.”
Awkward silence
Oh no.
Did I just kill the mood.
Is it already heavy?
The sudden silence thickens the atmosphere.
[The pursuers flee in fear.]
[Scaring Experience +3]
Oh no.
I wanted to gain combat experience, but all I got was a useless boost from foot-in-mouth syndrome.
[The menacing presence recedes.]
Thanks to that, the annoying adversary I was worried about has decided not to mess with us alone after all.
I caught a lucky break, but honestly, what a relief.
Those malicious examinees who like lone attacks can be really dangerous, even if they’re just as bad as Son Ohchun.
“It’s all right. There shouldn’t be any more issues now.”
Did I leave her with a misunderstanding by looking lost in thought for a moment?
For some reason, Isabel patted my shoulder.
“What do you mean by any more issues? Ah, hunting? We’ll have to strike if the situation arises. Otherwise, we can’t pass.”
“It’s all right. Those things are what the older siblings will handle.”
As nice as that is for me, still no!
“What if something happens to your sister?”
Isabel pressed her hand against her chest with a face that said she was touched, stamping her feet silently.
Chuckles, she’s really a naive person.
She doesn’t realize I’m planting the seeds of her being unable to avoid difficult cooking by the excuse of having to help collect for the Cookbook.
If she knew my wicked thoughts, she’d be shocked, wouldn’t she?
Isabel kept looking up into the distance or occasionally dabbing at her eyes with her sleeves.
“Isabel.”
“You can call me sister.”
“Sister. Are you crying?”
“No. I just have a pollen allergy.”
“Aah. That sounds tough.”
“Yeah. I’ll be okay in a little bit so don’t worry.”
Isabel is not only foolish but also a liar.
There aren’t even any flowers blooming in this forest.
She was wiping under her eyes a lot after that.
Oknodie’s training experience began getting more concrete.
Poison resistance training.
Tracking training.
Swordsmanship and archery training.
Hunting animals as well as experiences in human hunting.
“This is definitely assassin training.”
There’s no dodging it.
This is clearly assassin training.
“Hunting, what’s so special about it? I was out hunting orcs at your age.”
“Really?”
“Didn’t I stab one of the deer I caught with a stone axe and claim it was mine? I shoved that very stone axe back into their skulls.”
Son Ohchun tried to lighten the mood.
A relaxed Oknodie laughed and chimed in.
“Oh, that’s annoying when that happens.”
“Hey, tiny one, have you sent a few off too?”
“Not with an axe, but with a bow.”
“……”
“No, it’s a joke! A lie! A joke!”
“… Really?”
Instead of relaxing, the mood became even darker.
In Isabel’s mind, Oknodie’s tragic past began to unfold vividly.
An isolated island.
The enslaved children captured alongside her.
The only child who could escape while the others had to point blades at each other for survival.
Oknodie trying to put on a cheerful face to endure the shock of murder, desperately struggling to forget the horrifying sensation of killing.
‘This child, so pitiful…!’
Despite having gone through such a troubled past, her inherent nature hadn’t completely vanished.
Despite not wanting to kill people, she had to do so for her mission.
Her cheerful and people-loving demeanor can’t be believed otherwise.
“Let’s take a break here for a bit. There’s a brook and cooking minx meat would be perfect here.”
At the mention of meat, Son Ohchun and Oknodie dispersed to gather firewood with their mouths watering.
“Jezel. Wait a moment.”
“Yes?”
“You two are together to help that child, right?”
“Was it that obvious?”
“I figured out something was up with her. She likely has quite a troubled past.”
“Don’t show too much to the child. She’s making an effort to live cheerfully. I want to protect her smile.”
“I understand. So I want to help too.”
“Are you serious?”
“After all, it’s a life I owe. I’ve already saved precious companions in the party. I do fear what’s behind that child, but I want to help as much as I can.”
“If you’ve resolved yourself that much, I won’t stop you.”
Jezel shared stories about Oknodie’s peculiar nature in her travels with the maid and butler.
“Is that so… she was able to easily shake off the guards on the airship.”
“It seems you, Isabel, have a notable past as well.”
“Oh, this?”
While listening to the conversation, Isabel silently skinned the meat and prepared it while deftly removing the insides.
Jezel noticed her skilled butchering and Isabel shyly answered.
“Unlike that child, I’m already 18 and voluntarily learned these skills by begging the seniors to help, wanting to contribute even a little to the adventurer party.”
“Is that so.”
“From my perspective, Jez, you are the interesting one. You have an enormous amount of items in that backpack of yours. You even applied repellent fragrance to chase away mosquitoes, right?”
“Hmm, my past isn’t something I can be proud of. I was a ticket merchant.”
“A ticket merchant? You really decided to take the exams, huh? A single Gold Ticket would fetch quite a price.”
“Haha. That bothers me even more. I used a Platinum Ticket.”
“A Platinum?!”
Isabel, who had collected various tickets with the whole adventurer party, had never obtained a Platinum Ticket even once.
“Um, I’m asking because I’m curious, but you’re not hanging around that child with some ulterior motives, are you?”
“Of course not. She’s a promising assassin trained in a noble family. It’d be downright suicidal for a ticket merchant to interfere.”
“… It seems we’ve all met someone remarkable.”
“Indeed.”
What we’ve been through is irrelevant.
The desire to save Oknodie is the same.
Isabel felt a growing closeness with Jezel.
“Are they dating or something?”
“Don’t ask me, tiny one.”
“Should I take an hour longer just to wander around?”
“Hmm, should I?”
“Hey, you two! If you’ve got firewood, quit the chit-chat and hurry up!”
Jezel called out to the two who were hiding behind the bushes with a smiling face.
Seeing the two’s overtly disappointed expressions, Isabel couldn’t help but chuckle.
[You collected the general recipe [Grilled Mongoose with Brown Tail Sauce] in the Cookbook.]
Isabel’s cooking skills, honed through their adventures, were quite impressive.
“I’m so happy…!”
“I’m glad you enjoyed it.”
Isabel looked at me with a cherubic smile.
As I grinned in a silly way while momentarily taking in her face…
“Wow, quite the crowd coming.”
“I guess they saw the campfire.”
As the men said, quite a number of examinees had gathered around us.
“Look, they roasted meat.”
“You built a fire?”
“Chuckle, isn’t that amazing? Such a luxury.”
Tall with elegant attire, they indeed looked similar to the group we saw at the First Gate.
“Western Noble Union members, what business do you have here?”
“Think carefully about what you say.”
Despite her words being smiling, Jezel’s eyes weren’t laughing.
Son Ohchun stood up, brandishing a rod, displaying his massive stature.
The nobles flinched and retreated under the pressure of the two men.
“It’s a misunderstanding. We’re not here to fight.”
“If it’s not to fight, then what is it?”
As the tense standoff continued, the examinees from the noble union finally spoke up.
“Can you teach us how to build a campfire?”
“We want to eat meat too.”
“I can’t sleep because there are no mattresses. Huh.”
“We need you to chase away mosquitoes. They’re driving us crazy!”
“……”
It turns out the noble youngsters were asking for help.