CH 308

“But that…… why is Kuzy going to…… Red Mountain?”

“There’s something I have to find there.”

“Hmm. Is it a quest?”

Seeing his indifferent attitude in the beginning, Leeha wanted to be hard on Kuzy, but his looks made it hard to do so. No matter how one looked at it, he looked old. It was difficult to speak casually because he looked like a user in his mid-40s or older with a face that might be similar to Browless and Tale.

“But why do you want to go with me? Aren’t you curious about my level or items?”

“I am curious.”

“Huh… Then why didn’t you ask? Are you curious or not?” 

Leeha tilted his head when he saw Kuzy’s vague attitude.. At this point, Leeha couldn’t understand why he needed him.

‘At level 183, his items look good. It’s probably a dealer-tank system.’

He appeared to have a warrior-related job and had no shield so he must be a dealer-tank, most importantly, the two curved swords strung across his back.

‘What does he want with me? What is his plan, he won’t make me into sacrifice, right?’

He was someone who knew about dragons. If he received a dragon quest that asked him to bring a human sacrifice, it was possible. Kuzy, who was walking beside Leeha, seemed to have no thoughts, but Leeha was thinking of various situations and preparing countermeasures.

“Can you see my nickname?”

“Ha Leeha’’

“U-uh, that’s right.”

Isn’t he from Minis?

Seeing Kuzy’s unchanging attitude even after seeing Leeha’s name, Leeha fell into a labyrinth of thoughts.

What the hell did this man do?

‘I don’t know. Well……While preparing, let’s just think that I also found someone to rely on for insurance purposes. We have nothing to talk about for the time being.’

Two people left Radcliffe and headed for the Red Mountains, although there were hunting grounds in between, it wasn’t their purpose, so they were able to move quite quickly.

Quite a while had passed after they started to climb the Red Mountain within the border of Minis and pass through hunting grounds.

For more than a few hours, no conversation occurred between them.

Occasionally, Leeha tried to remove the awkwardness one word at a time, but Kuzy did not show any reaction. His purpose appeared to be literally nothing other than exploring the ‘Red Mountains’.

“Oh, a griffin. Should we catch it?”

“No.”

“Cough, then we should sit down for a moment.”

Leeha intuitively understood. Entering these ridges will completely cross Minis’ border.

In other words, they would now go to an unexplored territory.

It meant reaching the place where Fernand and the dwarves once went looking for ores.

‘If there is a chimera, it will start to appear from there.’

He heads to prepare in advance. A chimera is an artificial monster. There was no guarantee that a griffin, which usually appeared in the Red Mountains, would not be used as a material to combine with the characteristics of other monsters

“Phew……. It’s very fast.”

With the head of an eagle, and the body of a lion, its very presence felt like a chimera. Of course, it was just one of the unique monsters in Middle Earth.

Leeha took out his Black Bass and quietly aimed at the sky.

Pheww- The griffin, who was flying in the air, had yet to find Leeha and Kuzy, and Kuzy watched Leeha from the side with his arms crossed.

‘Is it’s speed similar to the golden eagle that Jin Gonggong had transformed into? No, it seems a little bit slower than that. It reminds me of the Golden Eagle from Candle Castle.’

While pulling the trigger at the target with a distance and height that would be difficult for a normal ranged dealer to hit, Leeha had one thought.

‘Will he ask me to share the items? I caught it alone. No, is this actually scaring me?’

Baaaaaang—–!

Even though he pulled the trigger while thinking of such nonsense, the griffin’s neck bent.

A level 170 griffin was not able to withstand a single shot from Black Bass.

The speed at which the beast fell was very fast.

“Amazing……. Its a dangerous weapon.”

Kuzy’s pupils dilated a little, it was an expression of wariness rather than surprise. 

Leeha quickly held the Black Bass and asked.

“Is this your first time seeing a musket?”

“That is a musket? It is different from what I know.”

“Hmm, well. It’s because there are different kinds of muskets.”

Leeha sneaked a glance at Kuzy. In fact, the Black Bass was a completely different firearm from other muskets and rifles.

IT was not easy to confuse the two even if one only knew the concept of either a modern weapon or a musket.

‘If you’re a Korean, you’ll know it’s a rifle as soon as you see it. Even if you are a citizen from a country that doesn’t require you to serve in the military, it’s still easy to know.’

It was surprising for Leeha that Kuzy, who even says he knows about muskeeters, couldn’t figure out how Black Bass and muskets were different.

‘Khmm, more than anything, it’s really sad that he couldn’t recognize Fibiel’s Hero, a person that raised his reputation in the national war.’

It’s easy to move because he doesn’t recognize me, but it’s also true that I feel a bit sad. After looting the sundries from the griffin, Leeha moved with Kuzy again.

“But where will you explore? Can you just walk blindly like this?”

“It’s still far. I have to go near the dragon.”

“Near the dragon…. Are there any other monsters out there? Not griffins or harpies.”

“Another monster?”

By the time they crossed another ridge, Leeha spoke to Kuzy. Now, users do not even come to the area, and even monsters that occasionally appear have decreased in appearance.

It was because it was a point where the monster ecosystem changed.

“Well…… Like a chimera or something?”

“Did you come to find chimeras?”

“I did not necessarily come looking for it, but I asked just in case. Because I thought Kuzy knows.”

“I’ll let you know if you promise to help me.”

“Huh? You know?”

At Leeha’s question, Kuzy nodded. As expected! Leeha was delighted that his guess was correct.

“What is it? What can I help you with?”

“Nothing. I have to investigate something near the dragon’s lair, and we just have to go there together.”

It was an unlikely proposal.

Leeha looked at his face, recalling the imagination that he had earlier 

-being offered as a sacrifice to a dragon and to achieve Kuzy’s purpose.

“……Then what if the dragon comes out?”

“You can use a teleport immediately. I only need to go near the dragon’s lair, I don’t have to meet the dragon. I will tell you where the chimera is if you promise to take care of the monsters on the way and wait for me until my task is done.”

He looked a little angry, but at least there was nothing suspicious about his words.

Most importantly, didn’t Leeha know 2 users who gained experience and improved their skills in a similar way?

‘Is his job similar to Fernand or Jin Gonggong……? Well, Jin Gonggong’s druid is a dealer-tanker, so maybe he is the same. It’s just that being a dealer-tanker-healer is vague.’

Jin Gonggong also looked for Leeha’s help because he needed someone to protect his surroundings while he investigated.

If that was true, then Leeha had nothing to lose from Kuzy’s proposition.

They were supposed to move together anyway, and most importantly, there’s no reason to refuse getting the location of the chimera just by making a promise.

“Okay. Then, how about catching the Chimera first and moving it around?”

“Really? Good. This way.”

As soon as Leeha finished talking, Kuzy quickly increased his speed.

‘Do I trust people too much…?’

There was no need to emphasize on keeping promises, they did not even bring out a <Contract>.

“There’s a chimera nearby, but no one can find it. Usually, they hide inside a barrier.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“That’s right.”

Kuzy took Leeha to a place where they needed to travel for more than 2 hours. Now, in an empty space where no other monsters could be seen, red ocher and redwood trees were growing thickly on the floor. After arriving at a place that fits the name Red Mountain, Kuzy stopped.

“Is your purpose to kill the chimera?”

“Ah, yes.”

“Then prepare.”

Kuzy took out the two swords from his back and held them up. This is the first time Leeha saw Kuzy’s fighting stance after leaving Radcliffe. Leeha swallowed dryly while lifting the Black Bass. It was a preparation for the chimera, but at the same time, it was an action to keep Kuzy in check. Kuzy looked around for a moment before heading towards a nearby redwood. Among the redwoods that stretched high into the sky, there was a thick lone tree.

“There”

Swhiiiiiit-!

At the wooden pole thicker than a human torso, Kuzy swung his second sword.

It was so fast that the blade could not even be seen, and at the same time, it was a swordsmanship of monstrous strength that cut down the entire tree itself.

“Wow!? Wow?! Uwaaaaah!”

Admiration from the swordsmanship, surprise at the scene where the barrier was peeled off on a terrain where there was nothing before, and lastly, shock at the Chimera.

“Shouldn’t you have mentioned that there would be so many?!”

The number of artificial life forms, which seemed to be well over fifty, turned their heads toward Leeha.

“Grrrrrr!”

“Grrrr, Graaaawr!”

“You’re crazy!”

With a click, he immediately pulled the bolt and fired at one of the chimeras, and the Black Bass’s bullet pierced its head. However, its movement did not stop. It was because the chimera still moved despite having its long neck attached to its broken head. As he spat from another head sticking out of his side.

“What a terrible monster-”

Hwiiiik!

At that moment, the face on its side spat out something. Thick liquid dripped from the place where Leeha, who lifted the Black Bass, jumped out of the way of, barely avoiding it . As soon as it touched the ground, it began to corrode the pebbles and floor.

‘Poison, no, acid!’

Was it atrocious, not only in its appearance but also in terms of functionality?

“Get away!”

Baaaaaang!

As the Black Bass’ gunfire rang once more, another chimera’s head exploded.

Even though its internal organs have probably been torn, with the face on its side, the chimera did not stop moving.

‘Shit……. This is a big deal, it isn’t the chimera he had thought it was!

Wasn’t it too difficult to deal with even more of the fifty chimeras? Leeha licked his lips.