Chapter 39

Chapter 39: Is This an Undead Subjugation Expedition, or a Date Trip?

Based on what Fenrir and Ria had said, the Lich seemed to be on the level of a Transcendent-Grade Monster in terms of strength. Could Acresia devour it, perhaps?

Since it was a human who had become an Undead Monster, I was not sure how things would turn out.

Soon, I asked about one thing that had caught my attention among what Fenrir had mentioned.

"Fenrir, what is this Land of Death you mentioned?"

"You do not know the Land of Death? It seems you still know very little about this Rift."

"I don't. Neither does Ria."

I had been curious about it anyway.

Fenrir explained.

"This Rift floor has these plains at its center, with various zones along the outer regions."

"I know that much. The north is a snowfield, the east is a desert, the west is a swamp, and the south is a volcanic zone."

"Correct. And beyond the edges of those outer zones lies yet another outer region. We call it the boundary. Beyond that boundary is what we call the Land of Death."

"Why is it called the Land of Death?"

"The first reason it bears that name is that it is a land where not a single blade of grass grows. The second is that miasma flows through it, making anyone who sets foot there feel an instinctive revulsion. I once spoke with a Dragon who now rests in eternal slumber, and that great being said that at the very end of the Land of Death, there is a gate leading to another Rift."

A new Rift gate. If that was the case, did that mean a Fifth Floor of the Rift......?

Fenrir added one more remark.

"That demon from before likely crossed over from the Land of Death beyond the boundary as well."

"So it was a terrifying place."

To summarize: the center was a plains zone, the outer regions comprised various terrain zones, and beyond those boundaries lay the Land of Death, where miasma flowed.

And at its very end, there was a Rift gate leading to either the Fifth Floor of the Rift or somewhere else entirely.

Then Fenrir spoke.

"Help me defeat the Lich."

I looked at Ria.

"What should we do?"

Ria thought it over carefully before speaking to me.

"If we leave it alone, the damage will eventually reach us here."

"That could be true."

"So I will go."

"Hm? You are going alone? Then what about me?"

"I cannot take you to such a dangerous place, Seon-u."

"I feel the same way. I cannot send you to such a dangerous place alone, Ria."

A battle of wills between Ria and me ensued.

Ria, insisting she could not bring me, and me, stubbornly insisting on going together.

To persuade her, I added one more point.

"This could be an opportunity to help Acresia grow, you know?"

"Well, that might be true......"

"Let's go together."

Ria could not answer easily, but after a moment, she took the hand I had extended.

"Alright."

I asked Fenrir.

"When do we leave?"

"The sooner, the better."

"Give me a little time. There is something I need to go retrieve."

"Very well."

And so, an expedition to thwart the Lich's plans was formed.

I then spoke to the S-Rank trio.

"I would like the three of you to stay here and watch over Rin while Ria and I are away."

Bringing all three of them would have been a tremendous boost to our fighting strength.

But then there would be no one to protect Rin and the house.

And taking Rin to a dangerous place was out of the question.

Hence, I was entrusting her to the trio.

"Understood. I will take good care of Rin."

The Sword Saint answered on behalf of the group.

Since Rin was fond of the Sword Saint, I could leave her in his care without worry.

***

I exited the Rift and immediately drove to Artisan Oh Cheon-seok's workshop.

My purpose was to pick up the Drake leather armor I had commissioned him to craft.

'Unfortunately, he said Ria's armor is not finished yet.'

However, I had received word that my armor was completed.

I arrived at the workshop and met Artisan Oh Cheon-seok right away.

"Ho ho! Welcome."

The artisan looked extremely pleased.

"Hello, sir. You seem to be in a wonderful mood."

"Of course I am. I am always in a good mood when I get to hand over fine equipment to a client."

"Fine equipment?"

"Indeed, fine equipment! Ho ho ho!"

He certainly looked very happy.

Had the options turned out quite well?

"I will show you in person, so come along."

"Yes, sir."

I followed Artisan Oh Cheon-seok.

We entered the equipment storage room and soon stood before a piece of equipment draped in a black cover embroidered with gold trim.

"Is this mine?"

"It is. Go ahead and remove the cover yourself."

"Understood."

I grasped the green cover and pulled it aside.

The cover slid away smoothly.

My equipment was revealed.

"Wow......!"

A charcoal-colored leather armor gleaming with a brilliant sheen.

Despite being leather armor, the design was anything but outdated.

"It looks like something a police tactical unit would wear. Like a fusion of medieval armor and a modern full-body stab vest."

"It is a design that appeals to the young people these days. The practicality is excellent as well."

"Your sense of style is quite trendy, sir."

"Naturally. If one does not keep pace with the times, one falls behind. Place your hand on the armor and check the options."

"Yes."

I placed my hand on it.

[Artisan's Drake Leather Armor]
[On equip, Artisan's Masterwork Metallurgy effect: Defense +52, Stamina +6, Damage Taken -21%, Nimbleness -4%]

The options were nothing short of extraordinary.

Among them, the Nimbleness reduction was a mere 4%.

Normally, wearing armor would drastically reduce Agility, meaning Nimbleness, but here the reduction was remarkably small.

"The other options are borderline broken, but the low Nimbleness penalty is what really stands out, is it not?"

"That is partly because Drake leather is lightweight, and partly because a superior-tier option rolled, hitting the jackpot."

"On top of that, with 52 Defense and 21% Damage Taken reduction, would this not deflect even bullets?"

"Ha ha! It could withstand an 8.6mm sniper round without issue. Its defense is higher than most decent heavy armors made from quality materials."

"Wow......"

Even though it had been crafted from Drake leather, the options that had rolled were exceptionally high-tier.

"I am truly glad I entrusted this to you, sir."

"Of course. There is no artisan in all of Korea who can match me."

I stored the armor in Acresia, then spoke to Artisan Oh Cheon-seok.

"Please take care of finishing the women's armor as well."

"Leave it to me."

"Oh, and I would like to purchase a few decent weapons."

"I will serve you well, valued customer. Right this way."

The old man suddenly became very attentive.

Following Artisan Oh Cheon-seok's recommendations, I purchased several daggers, swords, and spears.

Though they lacked enchanted options, they were weapons crafted from quality materials.

All of them were weapons to be used with Acresia's Release Skill.

After purchasing seven weapons worth roughly fifty million won in total, I set off on the road home.

***

Rin must have sensed that we would be away for a long time, because her expression was dark.

I had a hard time trying to comfort her.

"Rin, I will come back as quickly as I can."

"......"

She would not even meet my eyes.

She was properly upset.

But what could I do? This was for our family's safety.

"Rin, do not skip your Health Juice just because we are not here."

"......"

Then, looking sulky, Rin turned to me and gestured.

Did she have something to say?

It looked like she was asking me to bring my ear closer.

As I leaned in to bring my ear close—

Smooch!

Instead of my ear, Rin kissed me on the cheek.

Was it a farewell wish for a safe journey?

Then she turned her back to me again.

She was so adorable that I burst out laughing.

Ria, who had been watching the whole thing, smiled as well.

Ria often kissed Rin on the cheek, so it seemed Rin had picked it up from her.

I stroked Rin's head.

"I will be back soon, Rin."

After that, I bid farewell to the Sword Saint and his companions, asking them to take good care of Rin, and then Ria, myself, and the mother Fenrir set off on our expedition.

Before long, Fenrir spoke to me.

"Male human, your running is terribly slow."

"It is you and Ria who are fast."

We had started running for faster travel, but I was falling behind.

"This will not do. Just get on my back, both of you."

"Your back?"

"Yes."

I had ridden on an elephant's back in Thailand before, but Fenrir's back was another matter.

Still, she was so enormous that it seemed perfectly feasible.

Fenrir crouched down to the ground.

I climbed up onto her back.

Ria followed after me.

Fenrir's stature was easily three times that of an elephant.

"Hold onto my fur tightly so you do not fly off."

"Got it."

Her fur was so thick that the ride was not uncomfortable.

Ria and I each gripped her fur as if wrapping it around our wrists.

"I will start running slowly and gradually increase speed, so try to adjust."

"Understood."

Fenrir began to run.

However, holding on was harder than I had expected.

"Ugh!"

When riding a horse, one could lock the legs around its waist to maintain balance.

But Fenrir's massive back left no way to lock my legs, making it incredibly difficult to stay centered.

As a result, I was holding on purely through grip strength on the fur, my lower back, and my core muscles.

It felt like doing a parallel bars exercise.

Then Ria gripped the fur with one hand and used the other to support my struggling back.

She did not seem to have much trouble holding on at all.

"You look like you are having a hard time, Seon-u."

"Tell me about it. It is not easy."

"This will not work. Let us change positions."

"How?"

"Hold on. Fenrir, stop for a moment."

Ria brought Fenrir to a halt and readjusted their seating arrangement.

"I will ride in front. Seon-u, hold onto my waist from behind."

"Uh......?"

"What?"

"Nothing. Alright."

And so Ria sat in front, gripping Fenrir's fur as if holding reins, seated as though on a low chair.

I sat behind her, my arms wrapped around her waist.

"......"

"......"

Ria's ears, despite her attempt to act nonchalant, had turned red.

It seemed she was embarrassed too.

I was no different, of course.

Then Ria spoke.

"Fenrir, we are ready. Go ahead."

"Understood."

With my arms wrapped around Ria's waist, holding on became much easier.

However, it was difficult in a different sense.

Fenrir's ride was impressively smooth, as if she had built-in suspension, with shock absorption rivaling that of a luxury sedan.

But that did not mean there was zero impact.

Especially when she leaped down from high ground, the jolt was considerable.

Each time that happened, I became acutely aware of my body pressed against Ria's, which was mortifying.

On top of that, the distinctive rosemary-like scent coming from Ria was making my head spin.

'Get a grip, An Seon-u. You are on your way to take down a dangerous enemy right now.'

I had to keep pulling my focus elsewhere, steadying my mind.

Before long, we entered a region blanketed in snow as white as Fenrir's fur.

'So this is the snowfield zone.'

Fortunately, I did not feel the extreme cold like in the ice dungeon.

Whether that was because we were still at the outskirts, I would have to wait and see as we went deeper.

After traveling for quite some time—

'Fenrir is impressive, though. She does not tire at all. As expected of a Divine Beast.'

She had been carrying Ria and me for a long time without a single break.

By my estimate, we had been moving for nearly six hours.

If we had walked and run this distance on foot, it would have taken at least three days.

'The central zone passed by in the blink of an eye, but the outer zones are incredibly vast.'

Compared to the outer zones, the central zone was nothing more than a small patch of space.

Along the way, we had passed by quite a number of snowfield Monsters, and they either could not keep up with Fenrir's speed or fled at the sight of her. It was always one or the other.

As we pushed deeper into the snowfield zone, the cold grew steadily stronger.

"Ria, are you not cold?"

"I am not cold. Someone is keeping my back warm."

"Ha ha...... Same here. Thanks to holding onto someone."

"Ha ha......"

Fenrir then spoke to us.

"It has gotten completely dark, so let us rest and resume moving once it is light again."

Fenrir was the first to suggest a break.

"Sounds good. But is there a place to rest?"

"Plenty. I have secured hideouts throughout the snowfield zone. We will head to one of them."

"Understood."

The place we arrived at was the inside of a cave.

Fortunately, it was a dry cave with no moisture.

We had a simple meal.

For Fenrir, I served a whole raw slab of Korean beef sirloin.

Fenrir ate it with great relish.

Then, apparently exhausted from the journey, she fell asleep first.

Ria and I had a simple open-flame barbecue, chatted for a while by the campfire, and then tried to settle in for the night ahead.

But then.

"The ground is cold."

Ria said, her face flushing.

In truth, we had laid mats on the ground and were covered with high-performance sleeping bags, so the ground was not cold in the slightest.

And yet.

"You are right. The ground is cold."

My answer came out differently.

Ria lightly tapped her mat and spoke.

"Should we...... sleep holding each other?"

"Yeah...... Since it is cold."

It was not actually cold.

And so, Ria and I shared a single sleeping bag.

Is this an Undead subjugation expedition, or a date trip?

I was beginning to find it increasingly hard to tell.