Chapter 47

Chapter 47

“......Well.”

I had not expected another survivor to be hiding nearby.

Regardless, the trainee who had run out of the opposite building lifted the girl who had been asking for help into his arms, then returned to the place where he had been hiding.

“Whew. That is a relief.”

“It really is.”

Oh Taegwon and Park Seokho let out sighs of relief.

“Was that not too much?”

SMACK!

Kim Seunghye shook off my grip.

“There is a limit to being cold-hearted. That was too much. Do you have neither blood nor tears? How could you even think of ignoring a little child asking for help?”

“Hmm.”

Kim Seunghye.

At a glance, she looked timid, but when she actually had to step forward, she had good initiative and a quick temper. She was unmistakably a tank through and through.

When I looked closely, it was clear that she had quite a temper.

That was probably why she had been able to slap Ra Sihyeon several times.

“Why are you silent? Is surviving alone all that matters?”

“Keep going.”

“Do you think I cannot, just because you tell me to? Earlier, you called corpses lumps of flesh and whatnot too. Just because you have a mouth does not mean you can run it however you w—”

Ra Sihyeon suddenly stepped in and blocked Kim Seunghye’s path.

“Why don’t you stop?”

“What?”

“Do you think Eunseong Big Brother did that for no reason?”

W-What was this?

Why was she suddenly acting like this?

“He must have done it because there was a reason. Has Eunseong Big Brother ever been wrong? Have we ever suffered a loss because we listened to him?”

“Who said otherwise? But that and this are different matters. How can you ignore a child asking for help?”

“There must be a reason.”

“And yet, whenever you did not like him, you glared at him with dagger eyes?”

“W-When did I ever!”

Ra Sihyeon raised her voice.

“I can let other things pass, but not this. If you turn away from even a little child like that, do you not lack even the minimum qualifications to live as a Hunter?”

“Why is that something you get to decide?”

“Ah? Then I suppose you think it is right to turn away from a little child like that?”

Kim Seunghye took a step toward Ra Sihyeon.

Perhaps because she remembered being slapped before, Ra Sihyeon stepped back once, but this time, she took a defensive stance as if she would not let it happen again.

It was a hair-trigger situation.

“Stop.”

If I had followed my feelings, I would have let them hit each other, but given the situation, I intervened.

“Both of you, stop.”

“Yes, Big Brother.”

Ra Sihyeon backed away without complaint, but Kim Seunghye did not.

“I can let other things pass, but not this.”

“What?”

“The fact that you turned away even when a little child was begging to be saved.”

“So?”

“This must be as far as I go.”

Kim Seunghye picked up her equipment.

“S-Seunghye!”

“Please calm down first. It is too dangerous outside.”

Oh Taegwon and Park Seokho tried to dissuade her, but Kim Seunghye was firm.

“I am not trying to criticize you.”

“Then?”

“Our convictions are simply different.”

When I asked back, Kim Seunghye answered that way, then turned away without hesitation.

Judging by the look of it, she seemed to be planning to cross over to the building across from us, where the girl had been taken.

“I am going. Thank you for saving me. I will definitely repay the debt later. I do not know whether I will get the chance to............”

BANG, BAANG!

Gunshots rang out from the opposite building.

“......!”

Everyone except me was startled by the sudden gunfire.

TAT-TAT! TAT-TAT-TAT! TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!

The gunshots rang out one after another.

“......Gunfire calls enemies.”

An immutable truth flowed from my mouth.

In this particular case, though, the true source of the [Call] would be something other than the gunshots.

“O-Over there!”

Park Seokho pointed out the window.

“Kyaaaak!”

“Kyaaaaaak!”

All sorts of monsters burst through the fog and charged toward the building across from us.

Some crawled.

Some ran.

Some charged on all fours.

Their forms were all different.

BANG, BAAANG!

CRASHHHHHHH!

Under the monsters’ attacks, not only the steel entrance door but even the bulletproof glass windows were shattered.

Soon, the monsters poured into the building.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!”

“S-Save meeeeeeee!”

BANG, BANG! BANG, BANG, BANG!

TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!

Desperate screams and gunshots mixed together.

And the screams and gunshots faded in what was truly an instant.

As if no commotion had ever occurred, silence arrived like a lie.

“Kyaaaaaak!”

“Kehehehehehe!”

As if proving the slaughter they had just carried out, monsters covered in blood and flesh emerged from the opposite building, then disappeared back into the fog.

And then.......

“S-Save me! Please save me! Sob, sob! Sob, sob, sob! I am so scared! Sob, sob, sob!”

The same girl from earlier walked out of the opposite building and began wandering around again, asking for help.

“Th-That is impossible.”

A shocked murmur spilled from Kim Seunghye’s mouth.

“The First Law of Transference Zones.”

I slowly parted my lips.

“Suspect everything until the very end.”

“......!”

Kim Seunghye froze.

***

Kim Seunghye sank down to the floor and said nothing for a long while.

“......”

The Bravo Team members were silent as well.

Even Ra Sihyeon, who had opposed Kim Seunghye, said nothing after seeing how the atmosphere had changed.

“I am so scared! Is anybody there? Save me, save me!”

Amid the heavy silence, only the girl’s voice could occasionally be heard.......

“......I am sorry.”

Kim Seunghye slowly rose and gave me a formal apology.

“My emotions...... got ahead of me. I should have assessed the situation calmly first......”

Kim Seunghye’s shoulders trembled.

Above all, the thought that she had almost driven not only herself but also Bravo Team to annihilation seemed to have turned her mind completely blank.

“It was...... all my fault. I am truly sorry. I nearly put the team in danger. And...... for being rude to you...... I apologize again. I am sorry.”

Kim Seunghye’s voice trembled.

“Do not worry about it.”

“But how can I......”

“Forget what you said to me. Instead, never forget what you just learned.”

“Suspect everything until the very end......”

Kim Seunghye repeated the lesson I had given her like a chant.

“But, Big Brother.”

“What?”

“Would it not have been better if you had just told us?”

Ra Sihyeon spoke cautiously.

“Then it would not have been engraved into your mind as deeply. People need to get burned. At the very least, their hearts need to sink.”

“It was...... education, then. You were teaching us not to be swayed by emotions.”

“Our enemies use that against us.”

“Ah!”

Ra Sihyeon let out an exclamation as if she understood.

“That said, I did not intentionally arrange it that way. I did not expect another survivor to be hiding nearby. The situation simply turned out like this. Unfortunately.”

“I understand.”

Ra Sihyeon nodded.

“Is anybody there? Save me! I am so scared! Sob, sob! Sob, sob, sob!”

Even then, the girl’s voice continued endlessly.

“Brother, should we not help her?”

“There is a child outside.”

Oh Taegwon and Park Seokho spouted nonsense.

As if they had completely forgotten what had happened only moments ago.......

“W-We have to help her......”

Kim Seunghye murmured as if bewitched.

“What is wrong with all of you?”

Ra Sihyeon glared at Kim Seunghye, Oh Taegwon, and Park Seokho in an irritated voice.

“It is because their Anti-Magic Power is low.”

“Anti-Magic Power?”

“The power to resist magic. That thing’s voice has the power to bewitch people.”

“Aha!”

“Then what exactly is that thing?”

“A Calling Ghoul.”

“A Calling Ghoul......?”

“It disguises itself in various forms and makes humans approach it, then reveals its true nature. At the same time, it calls in the monsters hiding nearby.”

“Ugh.”

Ra Sihyeon flinched, shuddering as if she had goosebumps.

“As I said, the Calling Ghoul’s voice contains the power to bewitch people. If it is an ordinary person, they will fall for it nine times out of ten. Hunters are better off, but if their grade is low, they can fall for it without realizing it.”

“I can understand that you are fine because you are strong, Big Brother, but I am perfectly fine too.”

“You are a Mage. Your innate base Anti-Magic Power is high. You can consider yourself immune to most forms of mind control.”

“I-I see.”

In truth, it was not as if I was completely unaffected.

From deep within my heart, an inexplicable voice slowly crept up.

A child is alone out there. Are you going to leave her to die?

No matter what, she is still a child. Are you going to throw her to the monsters as prey? Just so you can live?

Have you fallen that far?’

Seriously, how noisy.

‘Shut up.’

The whisper vanished as if it had been a lie.

A cheap trick like this could go to hell.

I had passed through far too many battlefields to be bewitched by the voice of a mere trash mob.

“Hold the team members here. I am going to deal with it.”

I was fine, but for the sake of the team members, I decided to step out.

Otherwise, they would keep being toyed with by the Calling Ghoul’s tricks and waver back and forth.

WOOONG!

Ra Sihyeon activated her magic and bound the team members.

“Ugh!”

“W-Why are you doing this!”

“Let go! I said let go!”

SQUEEEEZE!

The team members struggled, but the more they did, the more tightly the restraints constricted them.

“It will be dangerous. Are you sure you will be all right?”

“It is easy.”

“Huh?”

“I will be right back.”

“Please be careful.”

Leaving Ra Sihyeon behind, I stepped outside the building.

***

Dealing with a Calling Ghoul was surprisingly easy.

That was because its weakness was clear.

The Calling Ghoul liked to use a method where it bewitched humans, made them lower their guard, then ambushed them.

At the same time, it even called in nearby monsters, so its hunting method could be called rather vicious.

Paradoxically, such a Calling Ghoul was vulnerable to surprise attacks.

Because it believed the approaching human had been bewitched by its voice, it devoted itself to acting while completely defenseless.

On top of that, the Calling Ghoul’s terrible defense was another weakness.

Its attack power was considerable, and its agility was tremendous, so once it revealed its true nature, it became extremely troublesome to face. But dealing with it before then was not especially difficult.

Assuming one could behead it or split it cleanly in two while it had its guard down.

“O-Over here! Sob, sob! Help me!”

The Calling Ghoul found me and waved.

“Right, right. I will save you.”

“I am so scared! Sob, sob, sob!”

The Calling Ghoul cried even more sorrowfully and trembled pitifully.

Tch.

It was trying so hard.

Yes, wait just a little longer.

I would come over there and split you vertically in tw—

CRACK!

All of a sudden, the Calling Ghoul’s head burst into pieces.

“......!”

Even I was surprised by the unexpected situation.

Then.

Swoosh.

An old man holding a lantern in his left hand and a staff in his right emerged through the fog.

Lumos.

He was the Card Spirit of the [Search] card.

“How dare a mere evil spirit try to bewitch the Young Master!”

Lumos growled as he looked down at the corpse of the Calling Ghoul, whose head had been smashed apart.

Behind Lumos stood Helkiyan, who had taken on my appearance.

Beside him were three survivors.

And even Jeong Hobin.

‘It went according to plan.’

A smile naturally rose to my lips.