Episode 66

Scop, the warrior in charge of the party’s vanguard, was feeling aggrieved by the current situation.

He was just gambling in a tavern after finishing a job when the fallen hero approached him with an offer.

He thought it was a lucky break, demanding equal pay because it seemed hard to form a party, and she even agreed to it…

“Talk about bad luck… Why does this have to happen when I’m in the dungeon…?!”

“No answer, I see.”

In this situation, even the thoughtless mage who had bolted out had turned into a lifeless undead. The very being who killed her began to stagger towards him, surrounded by other undead.

Since there was no escaping from here anyway, it seemed like he had resigned himself to being boiled alive at their will.

“Silence is consent, they say. Then, may I take it as your application for enrollment?”

“Please, save me!!”

Scop finally screamed and knelt down on the spot.

As a vanguard known for enduring the enemy’s attacks with his body, he was supposed to have strong courage, but the presence before him was powerful enough to crush even such steadfast valor.

Everything it touched quickly lost its vitality, and the magic it spread forced dried-up bodies to rise, making it impossible to find freedom even in death.

“Haha, begging for mercy, how amusing. Saying that makes it sound like I was planning to kill you, doesn’t it?”

Gorgon, the Knight of Famine, laughed mockingly, finding even the fear he induced to be amusing, and soon stooped his gaunt body to meet Scop’s eyes, beginning to taunt quietly.

“I simply need an assistant, so there’s no need for fear. Or do you have a reason you can’t accept my offer?”

“Th-that, well, it’s like…”

“Speak up. As someone who wanders the world seeking knowledge, I have time to listen to those I’ve taken an interest in.”

Gorgon offered.

Encouraged by his words, Scop, with sweat-drenched lips, began to raise a hopeful smile.

‘Could it be a chance to live…?’

The atmosphere seemed somewhat friendly.

At the very least, if he could appease him, there seemed to be a mercy in not killing him right away.

“Well, the thing is, I have a sick mother at home…”

“Hmm, I see. You have a sick mother at home, you say?”

“Yes, yes. I must take care of her. The reward from this mission is supposed to go towards her medicine…”

It was a lie.

In reality, there was nothing for him to protect, as he, an adventurer, would invest his earnings in gambling.

“Well, I must say, you’re quite the commendable young man than I thought.”

But the other party didn’t know the truth behind his words, hoping this lie would move him enough to let him live.

With that hope, Scop felt the Knight of Famine’s hand swiftly moving towards his neck.

“I can’t just let a kind-hearted young man like you go! Since you’ve been so good, I’ll graciously take you to my graduate school!”

“What? Me?! Wait a minute…! Aaaargh!”

His body’s nutrients were swiftly drained.

Soon, his lifeless body convulsed on the spot before weakly rising, beginning to shuffle about.

“Indeed. The world would benefit from having kind-hearted talents like you in the graduate school. Don’t worry about your mother; if she comes with you, she’ll be able to work regardless of her illness.”

Encompassing both the virtuous and the sick in his vision for progress was a principle Gorgon faithfully believed in.

His gaze then began to shift towards a monk who was trembling while watching the situation unfold.

“Next is…”

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

However, facing the great calamity known as the Knight of Famine was enough to push anyone to their mental limits, even those who adventured for spiritual practice.

Ultimately, feeling his faith crumbling, he began to run away in madness, screaming prayers to the deity he worshipped.

“O deity! Please stop this trial! I have yet to find my destined place, and I cannot die like this!”

“To think impure thoughts while serving a deity! This won’t do. I’ll take you to my graduate school and correct your mind!”

“Kkuaaaaaak!!”

Abraham, the monk, was swiftly captured by the Knight of Famine and immediately began to have his essence drained.

Eventually, he became just like the two who had died before him, starting to let out cries of agony in front of Gorgon, his new master.

“Well then, little one. It’s your turn next.”

Ignoring such cries, the next target chosen was the hero Yi Ga-ram.

A young girl, too immature to bear the responsibilities of her inherent powers.

“Eek!”

For such a fragile being, the current situation was too much to bear.

“You’re trembling. Are you afraid of me?”

“Uh, ah. Ahhhh…”

“Kuhuhu, there’s no need to be afraid, little one. Fear is an emotion that arises from the unknown.”

Fear.

For such a dead being, it was an emotion without any meaning.

After all, fear was a sense of crisis brought about by the grim prospect of not being able to protect oneself to keep one’s guard up.

“So, don’t worry too much. If you accept my hand, I’ll give you the opportunity to overcome that fear.”

As the Knight of Famine extended his power-laden hand, intending to share this realization.

Even as it neared her face, the girl, paralyzed by fear and exhaustion, could do nothing but tremble in place.

Yes, everything would end right here and now.

Boom!!

At that moment of despair, a loud noise shattered the undead, blocking the entrance.

Surprised, both the girl and Gorgon turned towards the exit, where a black silhouette wielding a long weapon was rushing towards them.

Boom, boom! Swoosh!!!

Undead were torn apart by furious blows.

Even an undead golem, realizing the situation too late, crumbled to pieces the moment it was exposed to the magic of a spear thrown at its head, before it could even swing its fist.

“What is this? What…?”

Boom!!

A spear blade thrust into Gorgon’s open mouth in surprise.

Following that, an explosion of magical power shattered his head, and the young man in black armor who had burst onto the scene quickly reached out to Ga-ram.

“Grab my hand.”

“Uh, what?”

“Quick, grab it! We have to run!”

It was a familiar face.

No, a face she had never forgotten…

“Go on without me. I’m fine…”

But perhaps due to the urgency of the situation?

Before she could even process her emotions towards the figure, Ga-ram realized her legs had given way beneath her.

Yes, if she were to take the hand of the person who came to save her here, it would only increase the number of people dying from one to two.

“Stop talking nonsense. It’s not just about getting through here. How am I supposed to escape this place alone?”

But he didn’t come here just out of goodwill to save her.

Even with the ability to evade dangers posed by the undead, he knew it wasn’t perfect, having guessed as much while facing the undead that occupied this place.

It was impossible to escape the dungeon alone, especially since he couldn’t incapacitate beings with a semblance of self-awareness or directly controlled by a higher being.

Crackle, crackle.

Therefore, he had considered killing the higher being first.

Yet, despite having his head blown off, the opponent was regenerating his fragments as if nothing had happened, standing up once again.

“Kehehe, this is really… Quite the harsh welcome for someone new.”

It was to be expected.

The undead were beings resurrected from death.

It was not easy to eliminate the strange magic that kept them in this world without a miracle from a god, and destroying the vessel containing that magic was not permitted for beings with great power.

“Young man, why do you wish to take away the one I’ve set my eyes on?”

Gorgon, the Knight of Famine, displayed his stature as if losing his head was no big deal, causing the man to give him a faint smile.

“Sorry, but I’m her guardian.”

“Oh, a guardian, you say?”

If there was a reason he wouldn’t kill them, they had to take advantage of it.

Having encountered such beings before, the man sought to negotiate, pursuing the possibility of persuasion.

“Then, guardian, I propose this. Won’t you entrust that girl to me? I’ll take her to my graduate school and teach her what she needs to survive in this world…”

“Ah, yes. In a credentialed society, having at least a master’s degree would be good.”

Staying alert and appeasing him might just allow them to survive.

Even if the opponent’s thought process was far from normal, fitting into their own world could have a greater effect.

“…But sorry, Professor, this child hasn’t even graduated middle school yet.”

“What?”

“Isn’t it too early to talk about taking a kid who hasn’t even graduated high school to graduate school?”

The man, having roughly gauged the eccentric’s mood, gave the best answer he could.

Observing without showing it, he began to see the undead blink, albeit with flesh stuck to his skull.

“Uh, um. Is that so?”

It worked.

Being obsessed with research, his reasoning was swayed by pointing out such a blind spot.

“Yes, that’s right. After all, a research institution like a graduate school isn’t just for anyone, is it? So, for now, send this child back, and maybe make the proposal again when she’s older and the time is right.”

“Hmm, well. It can’t be helped. One shouldn’t overwork a promising sapling from the start.”

Yes, it was working much better than expected.

Hoping the absurd turn of events would just slide, he, hiding his impatience, prepared to leave with Ga-ram.

“Then, we’ll be off…”

“Wait a moment, young man.”

Damn it.

Swallowing the curse that rose from within, he turned to face him without showing it.

“What’s your name?”

It wasn’t that his mood had soured.

His interest had simply shifted from the girl, who was no longer an immediate target, to him.

“Ah, yes. My name is Woo Hyo-sung.”

“Woo Hyo…?”

“No, not Woo Hyo, but Woo Hyo-s–”

“Oh, I see. You are Woo Hyo?”

Gorgon, despite it being their first meeting, exclaimed as if he recognized him.

The Knight of Famine, smiling with his tattered mouth, propped his chin and began to stare intently at his face.

“Come to think of it, the Knight of Death remembered your name quite distinctly. I also vaguely remember hearing that name. So it’s you?”

“…You heard about me from that person?”

“No need to hear about it. We undead, under our lord’s protection, share the most intense memories we have to some extent.”

The undead, upon noticing his presence for the first time, had reminisced about him for that reason.

Of course, for beings with self-awareness, such memory was just one of many, unlike the undead, who were solely driven by instinct and whose actions were not hindered by dwelling on those memories.

“However, it’s the first time I’ve seen such a stubbornly principled creature have such a memory of the living… Yes, now that we meet face-to-face, it’s quite intriguing.”

But even such a minor thing was deemed too significant to overlook by one who claimed to be a devourer of knowledge.

To live with the foolishness of exploring the world, yet to have in his memory at all times a power that never faded.

Wasn’t it more than enough reason to be obsessed?

“Wouldn’t you like to become a graduate student?”

“…I refuse.”

“Oh, that’s too sad to be rejected so bluntly.”

Gorgon laughed good-naturedly despite the firm refusal.

His step forward, unhesitating, suggested he had already anticipated such a response.

“I saw your eloquence, trying to persuade me out of concern for giving too much responsibility to that girl. If you were to submit an assignment, you would receive the highest marks at any educational institution.”

“No, I just casually used something I picked up somewhere. You don’t have to rate it so highly.”

“Even making something you heard into your own is commendable. Isn’t that what learning is all about?”

“Coincidentally, I’m more suited to physical work than learning from books.”

“Physical strength is needed for learning, too. So, become a graduate student. If you become a graduate student following me, you can remain in this world for hundreds, even thousands of years, continuing your exploration.”

“…I refuse.”

“If you become a graduate student, I’ll guide you myself. You don’t need to bring any baggage; just come as you are, and I’ll accommodate you as much as I can.”

“I refuse, as I’ve said several times. I have too much to achieve while I’m still alive.”

Even the ‘graduate students’ around him hardly looked human.

How could one possibly accept the offer of such a mad, decaying creature as kindness?

“…That answer is a failing grade.”

Sensing his wariness and raising his spear, Gorgon’s eyes flashed as he began to draw a black longsword into his hand.

“There’s no other choice then. Since you’ve had such a foolish thought, I’ll take you to the graduate school myself and enlighten you.”

“You crazy bastard. Why take a failing student to graduate school…?”

Clang!

The clash of weapons swallowed up even his voice, which was filled with rage.

“Become a graduate student!! Woo Hyo!!!”

Gorgon’s gesture, easily overcoming the struggle, was already slashing towards his neck through the gap in the battle.