Chapter 5

Chapter 5
005. The Lady Knight Who Hunts a Drake
A figure rushed forward like a flash of lightning, leaping over my head.
Then she hurled herself toward the harpy that was descending upon me.
It was Emeria.
CRASH!
She slammed into the harpy with her body, knocking it aside before rolling across the ground and rising to her feet.
“Lady Ria!”
“Seon-u, are you injured? Ah, your leg and shoulder…”
“I am fine—!”
Before I could finish—
“How dare a wretched creature lay a hand on my benefactor—!”
The gentle, fragile expression Ria had worn until now twisted into something terrifying.
Was that killing intent?
“Ria, did you not bring your weapon?”
She was empty-handed.
I was grateful she had come despite her injuries, but bare hands against that thing…
“I sensed the presence of a Monster nearby and could not see you, so I hurried.”
“Then you would have been in danger too!”
“It is all right. A weak Monster like that does not require a sword.”
Weak…?
She intended to fight that harpy with her bare hands?
And while injured?
The harpy rose again into the air.
It dove diagonally toward Ria.
At that moment, Ria extended her hands toward it.
-#####
She stretched out both palms and recited an incantation I could not understand. A blue aura flared around her.
The mana gathered before her outstretched palms, forming blue flames.
WHOOSH!
Sensing danger, the harpy tried to veer away.
“Die—!”
She released the flames first.
[SKREEECH!]
The blue fire struck the harpy’s back, and it began to burn midair.
It crashed to the ground, charred black and evenly roasted, lifeless.
‘…I could barely scratch it with everything I had.’
Ria’s strength far exceeded my expectations.
Though her main weapon was a sword, magic alone was more than enough for a harpy.
No wonder she was the daughter of a Hero.
“Ria, thank you for saving me.”
“More importantly, your wounds…”
“Compared to yours, this is nothing.”
The cuts were deep enough to require stitches.
I would need a hospital visit eventually. Even if I was Awakened and unlikely to die of sepsis, it was better to be safe.
“Allow me to stop the bleeding first.”
She placed her hand over my wounds and used something—magic or perhaps a Skill.
A glow flickered from the back of her hand, and the bleeding gradually ceased.
“My aptitude for healing magic is limited. I can only stop the bleeding temporarily. Let us return to camp and disinfect and suture your wounds.”
“You can suture…?”
“Yes. As a former knight, it is basic training. Yesterday, I shaped branches into needles with my sword and used thread from my clothes to stitch my own wounds.”
She stitched her own injuries?
There had been many deep cuts.
I could not have done that.
Not just anyone could become a knight.
Her mental fortitude was on another level.
To be honest, I wanted to refuse and visit a hospital for anesthetic stitches.
“Let us go. I will support you.”
But the firmness in her expression made refusal difficult.
It was kindness, not malice.
How painful could it be? I would endure it.
“All right.”
During my culinary training, I had suffered countless burns from fire and oil.
Supported by Ria, I returned to camp.
Surprisingly, the stitching was not very painful.
Just a slight sting.
‘Her hands are steadier than mine.’
Before I realized it, it was done.
Even the way she wrapped the bandages was precise.
“I shall apply healing magic regularly until the wounds close.”
I had known her for only two days, but she seemed genuinely good-hearted.
She expressed gratitude clearly—and repaid it beyond what was required.
“Thank you. I will repay you with delicious food.”
With my leg injured, I sat in a camping chair and leisurely read a cookbook.
‘With Ria here, I feel at ease even if a Monster appears.’
Reading calmly inside a Rift.
We spent our days tending to our tasks, sharing meals and conversation.
We agreed to speak casually.
Though she had a delicate appearance, her personality was slightly androgynous, likely due to her knightly upbringing.
Having worked abroad for years, I was comfortable with that.
Soon, the sunset painted the sky.
Having judged Ria trustworthy, I revealed the Rift exit I used.
She would discover it eventually anyway.
“To my eyes, it looks like empty space. Even if I step inside, nothing happens.”
She could not see the Rift.
To her, it was merely a hollow cave.
“I expected that.”
If she could see it, she would not have acted otherwise.
“So you travel between here and your original world through that.”
“Yes. That is how I bought your clothes. If you need anything, tell me. I can fetch it.”
“No, that would burden you. I will ask if I truly need something.”
***
Four days passed.
Ria fully recovered from both external and internal injuries.
The wounds the harpy had inflicted on me healed completely as well.
Without scars.
Two more days passed.
“I hope Ria is well.”
I had been unable to enter the Rift for two days.
I had gone to Seoul on business.
First, to attend the funeral of a former Pungjeong kitchen staff member’s father.
Second, to gather information about how Rift parties operated.
‘It is time to earn money.’
I could not keep draining my bank account.
I intended to open a food stall on the second floor of the Rift.
‘I heard there is a Korean Hunter outpost there.’
If I sold a bowl for one lowest-grade magic stone…
A lowest-grade magic stone currently sold for over 300,000 won.
A low-grade one exceeded one million.
Mid-grade, five million.
High-grade, fifteen million.
Each tier multiplied by three to five times.
‘I happen to have one high-grade stone.’
The stone extracted from the superior harpy that attacked me.
Ria had given it to me, saying she did not need it.
In return, I prepared food for her during my two-day absence.
Lamb stew that would not spoil if reheated.
Rye bread I baked myself, salad mix and sauces portioned separately, even fine wine.
And snacks.
Ria had been moved.
Bread and dried meat would have been enough… Seon-u, you are truly kind.
Kind? Hardly.
I was planning to fleece Hunters on the second floor.
‘Of course, my food is worth the price.’
Still, I was no saint.
When I left Pungjeong, I vowed never to be a fool again.
“Time to go.”
I stood before the cabinet.
‘Does it need to stay here?’
The Rift was anchored within the cabinet.
If I moved it, the entrance would move too.
What if I stored the cabinet in my Arkresia?
If the entrance vanished…
‘I will test it later.’
If it disappeared, it would be a disaster.
I would never see Ria again.
Better to try after the fourth floor was conquered.
I stepped inside.
Ria was nowhere to be seen.
“Ria?”
No answer.
She appeared much later.
Covered in blood.
“Oh, Seon-u. It has been three days.”
“Ah… yes. But what happened to you?”
“I had a difficult battle.”
“With what?”
“A drake.”
“…”
“Seon-u, as a former knight, I keep my promises.”
Stubbornly earnest.
She had already repaid me with the high-grade stone.
“So what happened?”
“I won. But even for me, moving such a massive creature is difficult. I left it alive but severed its nerves.”
“…You did?”
It sounded like ikejime—destroying the spinal cord to preserve freshness.
“I will wash first. Then let us go butcher it.”
“All right.”
She must have been embarrassed by the blood; she went to wash.
I had bought two five-ton stainless steel water tanks and filled them at home.
One stood here, connected to a hose and shower head.
‘Arkresia is absurd.’
I still did not know its capacity.
After she returned, we set out.
“It is far. We must hurry.”
“That far?”
“There were no strong presences nearby, so I searched far. Fortunately, I found one.”
“You searched for two days?”
“No. Since before that. Every day you left the Rift, I searched.”
“Injured, at night?”
I pressed my forehead.
Earnest and incapable of deception.
Why rush so desperately?
“I had to.”
“Why?”
“I will tell you after.”
Her expression was lonely.
“All right.”
It took nearly four hours.
We encountered two Monsters. One fled upon seeing Ria.
The other—an aquatic humanoid—charged and lost its head in a single strike.
At last—
“That is the drake…?”
It resembled a Western dragon, larger than I imagined.
Nearly the size of a Tyrannosaurus skeleton, wings included.
Ria defeated this alone?
She was stronger than I thought.
“Use these.”
I retrieved an apron and butchering knives from Arkresia.
“Let us begin.”
She donned the apron and severed its throat.
She opened its abdomen, removed toxic organs, and extracted the heart containing the magic stone.
‘That is inside there…’
The one whose price was whatever one demanded.
The highest-grade magic stone.