Kim Songcheol has teammates. He also has a duty to bring them back alive.

That responsibility was incredibly heavy.

And in front of him was a leader who had lost all his teammates.

Even one who had returned alone.

Their situations were incredibly opposite.

“…”

He met Kim Songcheol’s gaze for a moment. And then he quickly understood. The true intention behind Kim Songcheol’s question.

“Didn’t I say? I’m just desperate, not crazy. I’m not crazy enough to lure you in with lies. Everything I said is true.”

He looked at Kim Songcheol with slumped shoulders and said.

Kim Songcheol read sincerity in his attitude.

More than anything, he felt a sense of injustice.

And if his words were true, it was time to prepare.

“I understand your point. Shall we begin with the enemies? What kind of foes were they?”

“Now you’re making sense.”

He nodded and continued.

“I don’t know where they’re from, but their castle is similar to Earth. There are swordsmen and mages. Four foes wearing armor, two foes using magic. I saw six of them.”

“What kind of armor?”

“Armor like what would be worn in the Middle Ages. Simple metal armor, like knights wear. But two of the four had different armor. Two foes wore good armor, and two foes wore shabby armor. There’s also a difference in power.”

“Swordsman level?”

Lee Yong-chan asked.

“The two swordsmen are the main ones. You’d know it just by looking. Their armor is flashy. Their level is quite high. We just got unlucky. No one can beat them one-on-one.”

He pointed to Lee Yong-chan, Park Ha-su, and himself in turn.

But he tilted his head slightly as he looked at Kim Songcheol and Kang Hye-castle.

“I’m not sure about the mages. We might be able to win. But they’re not low-level. They were using circle magic, and their power was third circle. The only magic I saw was castle attack magic.”

“So, two excellent swordsmen, two average swordsmen, and two average mages? Is that right?”

“Probably. But as I said, I don’t know about the other two. There are clearly eight of them, but I didn’t see two.”

“In the worst case, there could be four excellent swordsmen.”

“…That’s right.”

He nodded nervously.

“Any other information?”

“That’s all.”

“…That means we need at least one more team.”

Kang Hye-castle muttered.

And everyone had to agree with that.

There are eight enemies.

Currently, Team 24C has four people, plus Frank, making five.

Numerically, it’s 8 to 5.

But if they get one more team, they’ll have nine people, giving them a numerical advantage.

Even if power is secondary.

“That’s right. At least one team.”

He put emphasis on his voice. He thought the discussion was going his way.

However.

“I don’t think even one true team will work.”

Kim Songcheol, who had been silent, suddenly spoke.

The situation was like that.

All the hunters they had encountered so far were eager to avoid confrontation.

This is a place where all sorts of schemes and tricks run rampant. You can’t tell who’s an enemy or an ally, and it might even be foolish to trust a promise to fight together.

In that situation, what could they possibly trust to join forces with Kim Songcheol’s team?

“Still, we should try. Let’s move south and recruit any hunters we encounter. Oh, what’s your name?”

“Francis Bennett. Call me Frank.”

“This is Kim Songcheol. Let’s move.”

Team 24C headed south with Frank.

After passing through the rugged Rocky Terrain, a Coniferous Forest unfolded again.

They entered the Coniferous Forest and continued south.

Then, at one moment.

A Hunter’s presence was faintly visible through the Nothingness.

Lee Yong-chan was the first to spot it.

“Let’s talk for a moment!”

As Lee Yong-chan waved his hand and shouted, the Hunter’s presence flinched, turned around, and began to flee.

“Hey!?”

Despite Lee Yong-chan’s call, it disappeared into the Forest without a care.

“It seems like it won’t be easy to find a team?”

Being completely ignored on the first attempt, the outlook wasn’t bright.

“Let’s just keep moving for now. We have time.”

Kim Songcheol said it nonchalantly, but he was actually in a hurry.

There was no guarantee that the Foe would stay in the north indefinitely, and in the worst case, they might have already pinpointed Team 24C’s location.

If there were only six of them, they might have considered a direct confrontation. But the remaining two and the reconnaissance means were too big a variable.

So, they had to secure at least one team as quickly as possible.

‘I think I could talk to that team.’

Kim Songcheol recalled the Spirit User he had met before.

By letting the spirit that had accidentally flown by go, he had proven that he had no ill will.

They also kept their promise to provide information.

It was as if a certain level of trust had been established.

But the problem was that he didn’t know where that team was.

‘Should I send a Telepathic message…?’

Kim Songcheol looked around, hoping a spirit would fly by again.

But all around was silence.

“Tsk.”

Kim Songcheol could only click his tongue and let out a hollow laugh.

“Is there something, brother?”

When Kim Songcheol suddenly stopped, Park Ha-su, who was following behind, asked.

“No, it’s nothing.”

Kim Songcheol vaguely brushed it off.

He couldn’t very well say he had tried to send a telepathic message to a spirit.

***

A Knight in splendid Armor took off his helmet and sat on a tree trunk.

His bright blonde hair, as radiant as his Armor, and his piercing blue eyes stood out.

“What are you doing?”

When he glared, a Knight in shabby Armor quickly rushed over. He took out a cloth and diligently wiped away the blood on the magnificent Armor.

The other Knights were the same.

They rested, attended by a Knight in shabby armor.

The people in the flamboyant armor were a male and female pair.

The female staff member also had blonde hair and new Rupture-like eyes.

It was a noble color, one typically seen only among aristocrats.

“Did you say Petamin Territory?”

When the Blonde Man asked, the Middle-aged Knight with Gray Hair nodded repeatedly.

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“It’s impressive that even a place like that can raise Knights.”

“…Yes, we are indeed training Knights, albeit inadequately.”

“Consider yourselves lucky. Thanks to meeting us, you’ll earn a good amount of Points.”

The Blonde Woman said. Her magnanimous tone was often heard from high-ranking nobles.

In a way, it was natural.

This young pair of Knights were members of the Erune Ducal House’s Knight Order, a highly esteemed group.

All members were aristocrats, and even a rural territory could be swept clean with just a couple of them deployed.

Although these male and female Knights had not been in the Knight Order for long, merely joining guaranteed their future.

“We are nothing but grateful. If we hadn’t met you, I can’t imagine what would have happened; the future felt utterly bleak.”

The Black-haired Young Knight, who was polishing the Blonde Woman’s armor, spoke pleasant words, like a tongue in a mouth.

“Hmph, you speak well.”

The Blonde Man chuckled, pleased.

The two Mages sat quietly, observing the scene. It wasn’t that they had nothing to say, but they chose not to speak.

They were the forces Rupture-patched to assist these blonde male and female Knights.

In terms of status, they were below the blonde male and female Knights.

Remaining silent was the best course of action.

Just then, a young Male Staff Member in leather clothes and a child in a cloak walked between them, into the nothingness.

They were people conscripted from Petamin Territory, territory residents who had entered with two Knights in shabby armor.

The Male Staff Member was a Ranger raised in a mountain village, and the commoner child was a rare Spirit User.

They were exactly the kind of people suitable for conscription.

“We’ve returned from reconnaissance.”

The Male Staff Member bowed to the blonde male and female Knights. His movements were stiff, as if he wasn’t accustomed to showing deference.

The child, utterly terrified, merely watched, trying to gauge the situation.

“You brat, can’t you bow properly!?”

The middle-aged Knight, who had been watching, stood up abruptly and walked towards the child.

He raised his hand as if he was about to slap the child.

“Stop.”

The Blonde Woman spoke.

“He gets one chance to do that, Capital City.”

“My, my apologies.”

The middle-aged Knight hastily lowered his hand and bowed his head.

The Blonde Woman smiled at the child and began to speak.

“Don’t do that again. There’s a Capital City that will really kill you. Understand?”

The Illusion of a smile changed to a full Island in an instant.

“Yes, yes…”

The Ranger gently pushed the child’s head down. The child bowed their head without realizing it.

“I will report.”

The Ranger shifted the gazes that were on the child to himself.

“I found two more Nothingness. Their location is…”

“Stop.”

The Blonde Man waved his hand dismissively, cutting off the Ranger.

“What good are two? Find more. We’ll collect them all at once.”

“Right. The Portal is behind us anyway. There’s no escape.”

The Blonde Woman also nodded in agreement. With a cheerful expression, she pulled out dried fruit and put it between her pearly white teeth.

“Yes, I understand.”

The Ranger bowed deeply and then left with the child.

The two walked through the Forest in silence.

The child’s slow pace must have been frustrating, but the Ranger matched the child’s speed without urging them once.

“What happens to the people I find?”

The child asked.

The child’s name was Pern.

They were 13 years old this year.

“…Don’t ask if you already know.”

The Ranger replied quietly.

The child hung their head low.

They already knew, but they had asked just in case.

In the quiet, only the sound of the Thread’s wings echoed emptily.

The two walked in silence for a long time.

Unable to bear the silence, Pern asked another question.

“So what happens next?”

“…We’ll have to keep doing this work.”

The Ranger didn’t hide his annoyance, but he answered anyway.

“For life?”

“If those two foes die, we might be able to escape.”

If the Knight, the owner of the Slave’s Seal, dies, the two of them will be free.

Then they could escape.

There weren’t many great Knights in Petamin Territory. The two Knights in shabby armor were the strongest, and below them, frankly, were just duds.

It was then.

Rupture!

Suddenly, the Thread began to fly somewhere.

The Ranger quickly looked at the child, but the child just silently watched the Thread.

“Did you send it?”

“No, it’s going on its own.”

“…But why are you just standing there?”

“Because I know where it’s going this time.”

“Where?”

“To that person.”

“That person?”

“The person who saved the Thread.”

The Ranger also recalled the figures in combat uniforms.

They were quite impressive people to him as well.

He naturally thought they would annihilate it, but they really just watched the Thread calmly.

“Why is it going?”

“I don’t know.”

“Are you really a Spirit User? Your spirit is completely out of control. It goes off without even being commanded.”

“A Spirit User isn’t someone who gives orders. They’re someone who asks. And children usually don’t listen well even when you ask them.”

“Like you?”

“Not me. The children.”

“You’re a child too.”

“It doesn’t seem that way to other people.”

The Ranger was speechless.

Because there were clearly foes who had brought Pern to the Dungeon, even stamping him with a Slave’s Seal as a Hunter.

“You only talk back to me well.”

It was when the Ranger was lamenting.

“…Found it.”

Pern said, closing his eyes.

He was mentally communicating with the Thread.

Even if it wasn’t shared vision, he could at least tell what state the Thread was in.

“I hope it comes back quickly… Hmm?”

“What’s wrong?”

Rupture!

Suddenly, wind swirled around Pern. His cloak flapped wildly, and his long hair soared into the sky.

At the same time, a small hawk-like spirit appeared.

The hawk, emitting a green light, proudly displayed its long tail as it landed on Pern’s shoulder.

It was ThreadPain, an intermediate spirit of wind.

“Nothingness, what’s going on?”

The Ranger quickly asked, looking around.

He thought an enemy might have appeared, given the sudden summoning of an intermediate spirit.

“Oh, it’s nothing big. It seems to want to talk. I’ve opened a Wind Path. Just a moment.”

A Wind Path is a means to communicate with someone far away.

Intermediate spirits are at the 3rd or 4th Circle level. An intermediate spirit was needed to open a Wind Path.

Pern closed his eyes and moved his lips.

The Ranger, watching him, grabbed Pain’s shoulder.

“Don’t say anything unnecessary.”

“What kind of things?”

“Like giving a warning. Things that don’t need to be said. If it gets out that we revealed something…”

“I already told them. That we are two of those eight people.”

“What?”

“And I also said that the Knights are bad people.”

“No, why would you…”

“That person can be trusted. Since Thread believes in him, I believe in him too.”

The Ranger just mouthed words, then ran a hand through his hair in resignation.

“So… what did they say?”

“They said if we just tell them the location of the foes, they can be ‘disintegrated’ by a surprise attack? But what does ‘disintegrated’ mean?”

It was translated into Pern’s language, but he didn’t understand the word.

Pern, who grew up as a farmer’s son, had a limited vocabulary.