novelzi Chapter 87
Chapter 87
“Just quietly strategize and go in. I’ll turn a blind eye as long as you handle it properly like now.”
With Shin Se-hee’s provocation, Joo Tae-rin had no choice but to remain silent and enter the dungeon.
And rightly so...
“Captain, I don’t think this is it... We got caught during the deal with Cheonhwa at the trading site before, right?”
Indeed.
They had engaged in illegal transactions of contraband goods at the gates previously. The malfunctioning gates were perfect environments for such covert deals. Making overwhelming profits from a single deal outweighed hunting monsters day and night, so not doing it would have been foolish.
However, the problem was getting caught by Shin Se-hee at that scene.
Moreover, as the deal involved the powder of the Laplace Flower, which was an ingredient for drugs, it was enough to be treated as a serious crime. Cheonhwa used it as leverage to thoroughly pressure Joo Tae-rin and her party members.
“...We should’ve dealt with Cheonhwa back then.”
However, due to Shin Se-hee’s background and her own abilities being considerable, they had been cautious, sticking to lower-tier dungeons all this time.@@@@
“But if we mess with them, won’t Cheonhwa expose it...?”
The dealer, who had suffered from Shin Se-hee’s harassment and felt her fear firsthand, spoke with a frightened voice.
Joo Tae-rin was not unaware of that anxiety.
“I’ve realized something today.”
Joo Tae-rin stiffened her expression and spoke.
“...That girl will never let us off, no matter how much we lower our heads.”
“So, we’re all going to die together...?”
“Does anyone here know about her reputation?”
She had conducted a thorough investigation personally to expose Shin Se-hee’s weaknesses.
“Isn’t it strange?”
Joo Tae-rin reasoned.
Shin Se-hee had been desperate to prove herself in a different direction after proving herself in combat. But everyone knew that, despite being hailed as a promising next-generation Hunter, she could never surpass her current S-rank Hunter status, Shin Su-yeon.
So, even if she was called a promising Hunter, it didn’t mean she could surpass a current S-rank Hunter like Shin Su-yeon. She was just enough to be acknowledged as a Hunter from the prestigious Hunter family.
“So she tried to appeal to them in a different way, not with force.”
“And the man who’s leading them this time?”
“He’s probably an heir from a wealthy family. He may have awakened, but he’s a man with meager abilities.”
“And making him the party leader...”
“Yeah, they made a deal with him, turning him into a hero. They pretend to be clean, but behind the scenes, they’re worse than us.”
The party members’ eyes lit up with realization. At least, no one here would question that the members of the guild, Darkness, were worse than them.
Suddenly, the dealer shouted with a contemplative look.
“Wait, Captain! Then shouldn’t we avoid stirring up more trouble? We’re not messing with Shin Se-hee, but with the hunter family Shin!”
“When did I say we’re messing with them?”
With those words, she retrieved a vial of shimmering green liquid from her pocket. She had attempted to resume illegal transactions while Cheonhwa was away at the academy. It was a sample from a client.
“Spinster’s Fragrance.”
It was a potion that seduced monsters and caused them to lose their senses. Of course, it had the disadvantage of quickly sobering up with even a slight stimulus, but it posed no problem now.
The dealer widened his eyes.
“Uh, okay.”
“And this.”
She pointed to the bloodstains on the ground.
“If you look here, there are holes where swords have been thrust in.”
The party members narrowed their eyes and stared at the traces before them. Indeed, there were visible signs of something deeply pierced.
“Jinyu-ha only managed to catch the Black Hedgehogs lying in ambush. While thoroughly protected from behind.”
“Ah...”
As the evidence supporting her claim unfolded before the anxious party members, their faces relaxed. The mention of Jin Yuha, the party leader, being stronger than Kang Do-hee in Shin Se-hee’s interview had already made them uneasy.
“In other words, Kang Do-hee handles the actual combat power. Jin Yuha is nothing special aside from his detection ability.”
“Hehe, so we can really give Cheonhwa a hard time...!?”
Even the dealer, who had been anxious until a moment ago, seemed to express her anticipation at her words.
“Yeah, even though she’s a member of the Shen lineage, they’re not lenient. Even if she doesn’t know the situation, Shin Se-hee won’t get off lightly.”
.
.
.
Whirrr...
With the scent of Spinster’s Fragrance wafting through the air, they had been running for hours. Now, the Black Hedgehogs following them numbered almost a hundred, exerting immense pressure from behind. Jo Tae-rin’s pupils quivered.
“...Have they progressed this far already?”
They had been running without any combat so far, and yet Jin Yuha’s party was nowhere in sight.
Only the corpses of monsters with their crystals and thorns removed indicated their passage.
“At this rate... it’s not good...”
Originally, they planned to throw these monsters at Jin Yuha’s party and quickly head back to their original route to avoid suspicion. But it was becoming increasingly difficult to establish an alibi if they went any further.
However, they couldn’t afford to stop here.
Joo Tae-rin couldn’t help but sweat coldly at the uncertainty of when the Spinster’s Fragrance would run out.
“Ca-Captain?”
“Hm?”
“Something’s strange here. This should be the route we conquered before, but why does it feel unfamiliar...?”
The dealer’s puzzled words made Joo Tae-rin look around.
Realizing that the place she was in was completely unfamiliar, her face stiffened.
“...Did they take the wrong path?”
She said it almost unconsciously.
“No, the path is correct.”
Suddenly, someone’s voice interjected into her musings.
“.....!?”
Turning her head abruptly, she saw a man standing a short distance away, smiling as if he had been waiting.
“Welcome. Is this your first time in the unknown?”