At that moment, Calain found Heean staring right back at him with perfectly clear eyes.
'You shouldn't... kill me.'
Met with a gaze that seemed to convey exactly that, Calain regained his composure and looked down at Heean's body. Only then could he see Heean's information.
'...How.'
Calain's sword came to a complete halt.
He couldn't kill Heean.
...The first penalty of Calain's predator ability was 'Strong against the weak, weak against the strong.'
The second penalty was now revealing itself through Calain's frustrated expression.
'Karma.'
It was the exact opposite of not being able to inflict wounds on a strong Hunter. It was essentially a restriction placed to prevent Calain from indiscriminately slaughtering Hunters.
Killing a living being accumulated a negative stack called Karma.
If he killed a Hunter who was too weak, his Karma would multiply astronomically, resulting in a terrible penalty. He would gain a mere pittance of experience points, and the Karma accumulated could be so severe that he might lose the ability to move his limbs for a while.
Heean had predicted this situation even faster than Calain himself.
Despite the urgent situation, he even managed a subtle smile as he delivered the decisive blow to Calain.
"Never seen a Hunter this weak before, have you?"
He was right. Calain let out an involuntary sigh.
Just how beyond saving is this Hunter... for him to be this weak? He probably can't even lift a sword, so what kind of weapon does he even use?
The silence didn't last long.
Having wasted his time twice on a single person, the Royal Knight's chest heaved unstably.
"Ah...!"
The blade Calain drove downwards grazed Heean's leg and struck the earth. Heean squeezed his eyes shut.
Even after drawing blood as if to vent his anger, Calain's frustration wasn't resolved in the slightest. Panting with rage, the knight dropped a chilling warning into Heean's ear.
"Catch my eye one more time, and I will tear your limbs apart by any means necessary."
There were plenty of ways to crush this arrogant bastard without dirtying his own hands. Instigating an executioner, for example...
Calain abruptly stood up. The armor radiating a cold blue light vanished from sight.
Heean, who lay there for a long while, finally came to his senses and let out a low groan. "Ugh..."
Blood was continuously flowing from his wound. His entire body throbbed with pain.
The use of potions was prohibited in this dungeon.
However, he could use them once he went outside. Heean hurriedly escaped the dungeon through his subspace.
He needed to heal with a potion and change his clothes as quickly as possible so Belsus wouldn't find out. Heean was determined to turn his actions into a perfect crime.
---
At that same time.
Archer felt a sense of accomplishment at the considerable amount of EXP he had acquired.
But that was only for a moment. As he recalled his arrow landing precisely in the boss monster's neck, his mind was consumed by a feeling of bitter unfairness.
'My last hit! My last hiiiiit...'
If only his arrow had been a little faster! If only Belsus had been a little slower! The boss monster would have been his!
The very owner of that massive amount of EXP was standing right where Archer could see him.
'So frustrating.'
A sudden thought flashed through Archer's mind. He abruptly chuckled and approached Belsus.
When he tapped Belsus on the back, the man turned around. There was no hostility in his innocent eyes.
"Hey. You wanna talk?"
Belsus's eyes narrowed cautiously. He didn't say anything, but Archer quickly continued.
"How are things with that farmer?"
Belsus's expression instantly hardened.
Reading the tension from the other party, Archer immediately raised both hands to show he meant no harm.
"I'm his friend. He told you not to tell anyone about him, right? But how could I already know everything? Because I'm his friend, that's why."
The guy saying that looked the most suspicious. In fact, he looked far more suspicious than any other Hunter.
Before speaking his next words, the thought that he was being ungrateful briefly crossed Archer's mind, but...
'I didn't attack him! This is just interference between competitors. We have to keep each other in check to some extent, right? That farmer bastard did the same to me!'
"I heard you're boarding there?"
It was true that Archer knew a lot of accurate information. Belsus watched him without any reaction.
"But hey, why are you paying him rent? You already paid for the use of the subspace by sharing your abilities, didn't you?"
"Sharing my abilities?"
"He's using the exact same abilities as you, isn't he?"
This was undoubtedly a rule applied to all rankers and their partner characters. Since the characters provided their abilities to the rankers, the rankers in turn protected the characters so they could grow.
But why did rent have to be involved in that?
Belsus had no obligation to pay rent. Heean was an unscrupulous landlord who, even after receiving the Reading ability, was trying to squeeze money out of him too.
Archer explained with all his heart that Belsus was being deceived and treated like a pushover by that bastard.
"You're getting ripped off!"
Even after delivering such vital, heartfelt advice, Belsus the pushover still wore a blank expression.
Does this punk not understand what I'm saying? Archer, feeling frustrated, was about to drive the wedge in one more time.
"Then, what about the housekeeping Heean does?"
Archer's mouth snapped shut. As if his lips had shriveled, he was suddenly at a loss for words.
"What about the meals Heean cooks for me? Is that free?"
"No, wait a minute. That's... That's not what I meant, though?"
Flustered by the conversation drifting into a completely unexpected topic, Archer tried to cut him off.
"Do you not know the hard work of someone who farms, does chores, and even cooks? Do you think it's a given for someone to cook and clean for you?"
"No, no..."
In an instant, Archer was denounced and treated like human trash. His head spun from the barrage of criticism Belsus was pouring out.
That face only looked innocent and naive when it was calm. Now that Belsus was looming over him, casting a shadow over his head and radiating bloodlust, Archer's knees buckled.
'Ah, shit, did I cross the line too far? He's terrifying. I gotta run.'
Archer gave up on clearing the misunderstanding and bolted. Running away was his only way to survive.
Belsus didn't chase after him. He just stood there blankly.
Although he had been filled with anger at Archer's remarks, once Archer disappeared from his sight, those words unexpectedly became helpful to him.
'How much care Heean puts into cooking for me and creating a good environment...'
He had finally found a clue to the questions he had harbored all this time.
Belsus had once met someone similar to Heean in the past.
That person was a pushover, much like Belsus himself. Living alone deep in the mountains, she let Belsus stay in her house without asking for anything in return.
To avoid being a burden, Belsus had used his Reading ability to gauge her intentions, only to discover that she had developed feelings for him.
That was why she cooked for him with the best ingredients in the house, and why she stopped him when he offered to cook himself.
What about how she would gently smile while watching him eat, only to quickly turn her head away when Belsus caught her?
It was not a good memory for Belsus.
When he realized her romantic feelings, Belsus was extremely flustered. Not knowing what to do, and knowing that rejecting her would only cause pain, he decided to leave.
Before Belsus could even put his resolve into action, however, she passed away due to the schemes of a wicked bounty hunter.
Even though nearly ten years had passed, Belsus still suffered so much that merely recalling those memories kept him awake at night.
However, now that the pain had faded slightly, another lesson came to mind.
No one is as foolishly kindhearted as he is. But there is exactly one exception.
A person in love becomes a pushover specifically for the object of their affection.
— Do you know what boarding is?
What exactly did Heean trust about him to let a penniless beggar into his precious subspace?
— I told you to make yourself comfortable. I like watching you lie down doing nothing the most.
Why would he say such sweet things when he got nothing in return?
— It was a bit... thrilling.
Even when Belsus got angry, instead of getting angry back, Heean was happy, saying he saw a new side of him.
— +6 enhancement! This is crazy!
Heean had even hugged him tightly when something good happened.
'I can't believe this.'
Belsus realized all of this thanks to Archer's remarks.
Just as Archer said, Heean's subspace ability had already been exchanged for Belsus's Reading ability. Then what was the rent Belsus paid to Heean for?
The answer was that it was compensation for the cooking and cleaning Heean did.
But simply calling it compensation for household chores couldn't explain Heean's affectionate words or unhesitating actions.
'Acting like a pushover... is how people behave when they fall in love.'
Everything clicked together like puzzle pieces in Belsus's mind. Belsus let out a sharp breath.
Heean was...
Acting like Belsus's life partner.
Because he didn't know Heean was a transmigrator, and since information related to transmigration couldn't be learned even through Reading, Belsus's train of thought had gone severely off the rails, flowing endlessly in the wrong direction.
Comments Box