Chapter 29: Cave and the King of Rats

“Phew.”

Only after layering the ninth barrier could I finally let out the breath I had been holding.

There wasn’t any real reason I had to hold my breath, but it was a bad habit of mine when I was concentrating.

“Is it all done?”

It was a time-consuming process, but this time, she quietly waited until the end.

“Yes. It’s just a little short of my record, though.”

The calculations went a bit off on the eighth layer, making it impossible to go beyond nine.

If I forced it, the effectiveness would drop, or worse, the strain on my body would increase, possibly causing a mana clash that would halve the barrier’s duration.

“I guess my skills have dulled a little over the past few years.”

Of course, considering ten layers was my record, nine seemed more than enough.

But the process was quite different.

The reason ten layers was the record was because it was the most efficient.

To go beyond ten layers, the strength of the first barrier would inevitably be ridiculously weak.

At that point, layering barriers would become meaningless, which is why ten was the optimal maximum.

If efficiency wasn’t a concern, theoretically, I could go up to fourteen layers easily.

Though the first or second layer would be weaker than a wooden shield.

But now, because of a miscalculation, I couldn’t layer any more at all.

I hadn’t made a mistake like this since the early days of my journey.

“Still, that should be enough, right?”

For a moment, I found that question cute.

She knew well the effectiveness of these barriers.

And yet she still asked—that must mean yesterday’s events had shaken her quite a bit.

“Of course. As long as the Demon King doesn’t resurrect again, that is.”

Preparations were complete.

Unfortunately, that excellent horse I really liked had burned up, so tracking wouldn’t be easy, but if my predictions were right, they wouldn’t be too far.

“Then, I’ll be off.”

I raised my hand and lightly tapped the surface of the barrier.

“As you know, there’s no need to worry.”

She smiled.

But still, some unease remained in her eyes.

“Alright. Go safely.”

The crystal activated, and the surrounding scenery shifted back to that place from yesterday.

What I saw in daylight was different from what I had seen at night.

The traces of the explosion from the Lunatic Explosion and the soot, as well as the signs of battle, still remained—even though I’d thought the magic bugs would have erased everything.

I had ordered them to devour everything, and I felt how faithfully they followed the command through our soul link.

But looking now, there were definitely remnants.

Blood splatters on the ground, glinting fragments of blades and spearheads in the sunlight.

I started walking slowly toward the direction where the red-haired man and Hailer had disappeared.

At first, it was hard to find any traces, but the further I went, the easier it became.

Footprints and surface marks had been mostly erased by time and weather, but some unnatural traces remained—deeper and more vivid than necessary.

“They either didn’t trust my tracking skills or were just that desperate.”

I didn’t know which it was, but one thing was certain: they were flustered by the unexpected situation.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t have left such obvious traces behind like they were begging to be followed.

“They took Hailer in case I ran away, and even left behind these open tracks. Seeing this, I almost feel sorry for them.”

They must have been so nervous that I might just return to Lowell.

With a gesture, green symbols floated in the air, and through them burst a large white creature.

Larger than most carriages, with tough skin like armor,
a wide face covered in eight sharp horns, and three pairs of sturdy legs planted firmly on the ground—

This beast’s name was Duramino Kordos.

In the eastern dialect of the Kenner region, I think it meant something like “ill-tempered white brute.”

“Hrrrgh!”

It snorted harshly, showing its displeasure.

Maybe I interrupted its meal or mating—either way, it didn’t matter.

With a soul bond, the beast soon lowered its body in submission before me.

I climbed onto its back.

“Well then, let’s go.”

There was no saddle, so it wasn’t exactly comfortable, but I already knew how to position myself to make it manageable.

Whenever I had to go somewhere rough or carry heavy loads, I would summon this creature.

As we traveled some distance, the traces started to change.

Faint hoofprints appeared, along with stake marks and remains of campfires, suggesting many horses had been tied there for a long time.

After that, the traces became more natural.

They seemed to have calmed down a bit.

The trail was less chaotic now.

Still, it wasn’t hard to follow.

Though the traces were more natural, to me, they still looked like desperate breadcrumbs pleading to be followed.

I had expected the place to be nearby, but following the traces led me much farther than I had anticipated— to the entrance of a cave.

“Of all places, a cave.”

A bitter smile came to my lips.

I’ve hated dungeons and caves ever since the last journey.

Not just because of the cramped and dark space, but because they were filled with traps— and in the worst case, the cave itself could become a giant grave.

This area was completely unfamiliar to me, and I had no idea how deep the cave went.

The trail ended here, but I wasn’t even sure if they were actually inside.

It could very well be a monster’s nest—like Battle Ants or Red Ants.

Or maybe the whole cave would collapse the moment I stepped in.

Even just thinking about possible dangers, I could list four or five off the top of my head.

“I really wonder who their actual target was.”

To walk into such a cave without hesitation—they must be either very stupid or extremely confident in their abilities.

I had pondered it several times on the way here,
but I still couldn’t understand what that red-haired man’s goal was.

He didn’t get paid by Hailer—in fact, he even said he paid on his behalf.

So money clearly wasn’t the motive.

Even though they were a high-ranking assassin guild that killed anyone for the right price, they weren’t united by any ideology—just a group driven by individual profit.

Still, I was one of the companions of the Hero who saved the world.

How much money would it take to target someone like me?

And if he himself was a high-level assassin, why would he spend a fortune to hire his own guild to take me down?

Even if I was just a step in some greater plan— how exactly does my death help achieve that goal?

Alright, let’s think this through.

If I were to die, never mind the political aftermath — Lowell and the others wouldn’t sit idly by.

I can guarantee that even Orcan, the one I got along with the least, would immediately set out to avenge me the moment he heard of my death.

Of course, the leadership of the High Assassins Guild might naively believe that as long as the assassination is successful, they can manipulate the information as they usually do.

No — they’re stupid enough to definitely believe that.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t have joined in on something that threatens the very existence of the guild.

“…Are they planning to destroy the High Assassins Guild?”

It was a sudden thought, but even to me, it sounded plausible.

Maybe they’re not even members of the High Assassins Guild at all — maybe they’re just pretending to be — and this whole incident is part of an elaborate plan to use the hero and his companions to bring down the guild from within.

“No, if that were the case, they wouldn’t need to actually kill me.”

Right.

For that kind of plan, there were too many casualties, and their attacks were too sincere.

If that was really their goal, it would’ve been enough just to make it seem like they were trying to kill me — not go this far.

“Well, if I really stretch it, maybe they wanted to actually kill me to provoke the hero’s wrath to the maximum…”

It’s a bit of a stretch, but it’s possible.

There’s a big difference between a comrade being attacked and a comrade dying.

Still, even if that were true, it doesn’t explain why they lured me here of all places.

Like I said, there’s no way they planned this far ahead.

If they were that strategic, they wouldn’t have wasted troops on such a clumsy initial attack.

And even after losing most of their forces, they still lured me here.

That means this trap is even more dangerous than yesterday’s large-scale assault — and if they already had this more dangerous and efficient trap, it makes no sense that they’d stage that earlier attack at all.

This is clearly a trap meant for someone else.

And if the goal was to destroy the High Assassins Guild by killing me, then there’s no reason for this trap to even exist.

“Then am I just bait? Is Lowell or another one of my comrades the real target?”

No — now that’s a dumb idea.

Sure, I’m the least skilled and least accomplished among us, so it might seem believable that I could be tricked… but to kill them with a trap?

We took down the Demon King’s castle in the last war, and after that, we climbed to the top of the Tower of Destruction and defeated Nyx.

What kind of trap would anyone think could possibly kill them?

Maybe — maybe — if the Demon King or Nyx came back from the dead again, but even then, they’d resurrect in the Tower of Destruction, not in some random cave nobody knows about.

“Well, I guess I can just go in and ask.”

I dismounted and sent the creature back to its home in the forest.

It was far too big to fit inside the cave anyway.

“So what should I summon?”

Honestly, I wanted to just collapse the cave, but I couldn’t when I didn’t even know whether they were really inside.

Plus, collapsing an unknown cave structure was dangerous.

I’d learned that the hard way when I once collapsed a Battle Ant nest without thinking — the whole surrounding area almost caved in.

But charging in recklessly would be even more foolish.

The best course would be to send in my summons first to scout out the structure and situation.

The problem is, I’d risk losing those summons to traps.

For a summoner, summoned creatures aren’t things you can just endlessly call and control.

If its like Grendels then that’s one thing.

But to control them, I have to either carve a contract sigil into them in advance, form a separate pact, or forcibly subjugate their spirit under mine.

In other words, even with low-tier monsters like mimics or gremlins, if a contracted gremlin dies, I have to summon a new gremlin and make a new contract all over again.

“Morotai would be ideal…”

He wouldn’t die from a simple trap, and even if he did die, I wouldn’t feel too bad about it.

So he’d be perfect for this situation — but unfortunately, he’s too big to fit in there.

“Sending in the insectoids isn’t a bad idea, but… this one’s even better.”

With a gesture, a sigil floated in the air.

But unlike the complex array of multiple sigils that usually appear, this time only one tiny symbol appeared just above my hand — and soon, a small black creature walked out of it and perched on my palm.

“Squeak!”

It was a black rat.

The kind you’d see in city sewers, graveyards, rooftops, or warehouses.

Except this one wore a cheap ring like it was a crown, held a rusty fork like a trident in its front paws, and stood upright on two legs like a person.

“It is an honor to meet you, oh King of Rats.”