TL: xLordFifth
ED:
“Really! I’m telling you, it’s a mermaid transformation skill! Pyro-ssi, you loved it, remember? You thought it was your weakness, fighting near water! You were excited about the effects it could have underwater, and the potential achievements!”
“Right, I remember. You remember my words so well, yet you ran away without teaching me.”
Pyro’s lips twisted into a bitter smile, sending a chill down Leeha’s spine. The thought of pulling the trigger intensified.
“Really. A promise. I did promise to teach you, and the fish you caught while fishing were a tremendous help during the voyage. Why would I lie?”
Yet, Leeha didn’t pull the trigger. Instead, he lowered the barrel of her Black Bass.
“Just five days and you’re this upset! Isn’t that right? Don’t you trust me? This won’t solve anything.”
Leeha’s suggestion of peace, even in the most dangerous moment, held persuasive power. Pyro’s eyebrows twitched, his fiery brows cooling down. Leeha looked calmly into his eyes, waiting for his response. Did he really need to shoot him? The band around Pyro’s forehead, which had been glowing amidst the fire pillar, started to dim.
Frruk, frruk, frruk—Soon after, a sound like an old car’s engine dying down was heard. The fire pillar, which seemed to reach the sky, began to shrink.
Fsshhhh…
Black smoke and white steam poured from Pyro’s body. The hot but not lethal breeze brushed past Shin Nara and Leeha.
“If it’s a lie again… I won’t hold back next time.”
Pyro slowly approached Leeha.
Finally, Leeha could afford a smile.
“Just give it a try.”
“Again, with that swindler tone-“
“What does the tone matter? As long as I provide you with valuable information, that’s what counts, right?”
“-Grrr…”
Despite feeling uneasy, remembering he had been tricked by such talk during the voyage, Pyro refrained from questioning further.
True to his nickname, he grabbed Leeha’s hand for a firm handshake, choosing to believe her once more.
‘What in the world is happening here…?’
Shin Nara watched, bewildered, as the situation unfolded. Petyr and Chiyou’s meticulous plans to capture them had been completely derailed by Pyro’s unexpected intervention. Leeha’s offer to share information with Pyro wasn’t just a ploy to defuse the situation.
‘What if this person joins our side?’
The thought of having a user with flame magic comparable to Kuzgunak’sh was reassuring beyond words.
Leeha’s genuine smile seemed to unsettle Pyro. He felt as if he’d been caught in another grand scheme.
“Petyr said he knows my location?”
“Yes. You heard him, right, Pyro-ssi?”
“Umm, I was a bit… excited at the time, but I did hear it. Definitely.”
Pyro, with crossed arms, closed his eyes and nodded.
Leeha and Shin Nara exchanged looks, thinking ‘just like his job, his personality is the same,’ but they didn’t voice it. Did his excitement really make him forget everything?
“How could Petyr know my location… Or was it just a bluff?”
“I don’t think so. I’ve… faced him quite a bit.”
Leeha questioned again, but Shin Nara shook her head. Having faced Petyr several times since her days in the Sacred Knights, she knew him well.
‘He deceives, but he doesn’t lie.’
Petyr was a truthful assassin in his words, though not in his actions. He had shaken Shin Nara’s mind more than once with his sharp, cutting remarks, and that was precisely why she suffered.
“Petyr was first with Kidd, Luger… and after leaving there, he followed me? No, there was nothing special in that prairie-“
Leeha’s eyes widened as she recalled something else amiss.
“-Chiyou!”
“Yes?”
“That dancer lady?”
Leeha remembered encountering Chiyou on her way to Shin Nara.
Wasn’t her appearance at that time and place too unnatural? Why there and then?
‘If Chiyou and Petyr were working together?’
They might have switched their targets. The specifics of such a detailed plan were unclear, but at the very least, both were persons of interest to Leeha.
“The dancer lady was no ordinary person either. Crafty as a hundred foxes-“
“Kwiiiit———!”
“-Whoa?! What’s that?”
Everyone, including Pyro, was startled by the sudden commotion.
“Kyuu, kyuu?!”
“Puol? What’s wrong?”
“Kwiit, kwiiit—!”
Puol, who had been grazing nearby, suddenly began to glow. He emitted rough cries, coiling and even headbutting a tree.
Leeha quickly opened her pet window.
‘The loyalty is-‘
Loyalty, which he always maintained around 80%, was rapidly dropping, now at 40%. It continued to plummet – 39, 38, 37% – a pace she had never experienced before.
“Why is it dropping so fast- No, first, food-“
“Kwiiiit———!”
Leeha hurriedly searched for food, but Fuols’ tantrum was faster. Acting completely out of character, he charged towards those nearby.
If puol’s massive body combined with his immense speed collided, the impact would be significant.
“Leeha-ssi?! What’s this- Oof!”
Luckily, the puol’s first target was Shin Nara. As a swift warrior, she barely reacted to its speed. Puols snorted and slowed down, then changed direction.
“Puols, stop! Eat this first!”
“Kyuu, kyuu-!”
Despite Leeha and Blaugrunn’s attempts to calm him, Fuols was beyond reason, ignoring even the food thrown at it and trampling it instead.
‘He is ignoring food?’
An animal that normally chased the scent of meat was now ignoring it.
“Kwiiiit———!”
Puols turned its eyes towards Pyro and charged like a bullet. Pyro had no time to react to the silent surprise attack.
“Cough!”
“Quiit, quiit—!”
Pyro was knocked over by Puols’ headbutt. Holding his ribs, his expression twisted in pain.
“Damn beast.”
Fwoosh!
Flames erupted from Pyro’s hands, but Fuols, undeterred by the threat, squealed and quickly ran off in another direction.
“Puols! Come back!”
[Kyuuu, kyuuu-!]
‘Dududududu…’, Fuols ignored the calls of Leeha and Blaugrunn, continuing to run towards an unknown destination.
Leeha was flustered. Chase after Puols, who even ignored food and fled? It was too late for that. And what about the user currently behind him, preparing who knows what?
“Wait! Pyro-ssi! Don’t do it!”
“What do you mean don’t? If a taming pet goes wild, it’s over! [Will-o’-the-Wisp!]”
“No-“
Fwoosh, fwoosh!
Before Leeha could stop him, Pyro had already used his skill. Two balls of fire that had risen in his hands began to chase after Fuols, rapidly avoiding obstacles even in the thickly wooded forest.
‘Control after casting…?’
Pyro extended his hands, delicately steering the path of the flames like a potter shaping clay. While most skills become independent after casting, the Fire Mage ‘Descendant of the Hero’ had a unique touch.
But the amazement stopped there. No matter how fast Puols was, he couldn’t outrun the projectile.
Boom, boom!
Mixed with the twin explosions, a long wail of a pig was heard.
Leeha squeezed her eyes shut, then reopened them to see the ashen corpse of Fuols in the distance.
“Puols…”
It hadn’t been long. It was almost embarrassing to say she had grown attached.
What Leeha felt was not so much sorrow, but regret. ‘I could have spent more time with him…’
“Ahem, well… I mean… sorry about that. But, as you know…”
Pyro struggled to explain, partly due to Leeha’s downcast mood.
“It’s okay, Pyro-ssi.”
Leeha faced him squarely. What’s lost is lost. Now, it was time to focus on what could be gained.
“Yes, yes.”
“You owe me one.”
“Owe you? That’s not how it is, right?”
Pyro was flustered as Leeha brushed it off. He had expected thanks for dealing with a rampaging monster, not an obligation.
Of course, Leeha had her logic.
“A taming pet going wild doesn’t mean it’s over. Besides, it hadn’t gone wild yet. I could have tamed it again. Do you have any idea how much effort it took to catch that thing?”
“That, of course- for a non-tamer to succeed in taming and maintaining…”
“Exactly. You understand. So, don’t expect unlimited goodwill after recklessly killing my pet.”
“Ha, Haileeha-ssi! Who does that?”
“I don’t know, I don’t know. I was going to help you get a strength and intelligence achievement, even a spot in the Hall of Fame. Now I’m upset.”
As Leeha played hard to get, Pyro was at a loss.
But what could he say in response? The sudden scolding followed by an unexpected carrot was too much for the inexperienced, hot-blooded Pyro to handle.
“Ah, the achievement- then- I’m sorry. But as far as I know about tamed pets-“
“No, that’s okay. No need to argue over a dead pet. Instead, promise me one thing?”
“What is it? If it’s within my power!”
Pyro’s eyes sparkled.
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