Howling.
That was undoubtedly his.
Because in this dungeon teeming with Mutants, he was the only one who would pull off such a crazy stunt.
Among the veterans in the dungeon who had their own nicknas, he was known for his exceptionally strange behavior, so there was no room for mistaking him for soone else.
That sound just now was definitely him.
‘…To think I’d find him right away.’
I had co here to find clues, but since I didn't have any clear information, I expected it to take so ti.
To think he’d let out a howl like this himself.
If things were unfolding like this, there was no need to waste ti searching for rumors about him.
I just had to move towards where the howl was coming from.
Awoooo—
Convinced by the sound of his characteristic long, drawn-out howl echoing once more, I imdiately pushed aside the tip of the spear pointed at .
Seueuk—
And tried to move my feet in the direction of the sound.
Teok—
But I couldn't take more than a few steps before a hand grabbed my shoulder, forcing to stop.
Looking back at the fearful touch, the 1-star Hero who had been trying to block and rob berated with a deeply scowling face.
“Are you crazy?”
“……”
“Do you even know what that is before you go running off?”
…As if I wouldn't know.
When I gave a rough nod to his question, he stared at with a look of disbelief.
“…Hah. You know my ass.”
“……”
“That’s the Mad Dog. I guarantee you, if you go there now, you’ll die for sure. Got it?”
“……”
“Even if you don’t go there, you’ll die just sitting on your ass here, you idiot.”
…It wasn't that I didn't understand why this man was reacting this way.
Because within the Darkest Dungeon, the aning of the ‘Howling’ made by the Mad Dog could be described as nothing short of a ‘disaster.’
His howl didn't just end as a simple cry.
Within this dungeon, sound was the primary ans by which Mutants detected their prey.
In particular, his howling consistently emitted a sound at a specific frequency that stimulated the Mutants’ senses.
In other words, like thunder following lightning.
It was a foregone conclusion that countless Mutants would soon swarm this place, following his howl.
“Hah… a guy who knows nothing…… Cut the crap and act like a Hero candidate if you are one. Don’t get yourself killed by acting tough for no reason.”
This was ultimately why the man was reacting this way.
The rule that one must imdiately flee the area when a howl is heard was as good as law for those living in this dungeon.
…Of course, it wasn't particularly important to .
The principle of avoiding the Mad Dog's howl was one for the people living in the dungeon to follow, and I was planning to leave this place soon.
Still, the fact that he didn't just run away by himself and warned didn't seem to co from a bad place for a convict, so I didn't bother getting rough with him.
However, I had no intention of being held back again, so I expressed my refusal curtly.
Pfft—
“…Don’t give advice. You bronze-league bastard.”
* * *
At the spacious dining table on the first floor of the Guild House.
The morning after U-jin left, the four residents of the Guild House sat facing each other there.
For so reason, Eliya and Jerry were having a staring contest, Loxy was clutching her head with hollow eyes, and Shim Cheong sat among them with an even more serious expression, her arms crossed.
“……”
“……”
It was none other than Eliya who had arranged this awkward and uncomfortable gathering.
Before U-jin’s arrival, they had rarely left their assigned rooms, at most coming down to the first floor one by one at altis.
But as soon as U-jin left, for so reason, she had gathered the group.
“Everyone… did he tell you all sothing separately?”
Breaking the uncomfortable silence, the one who spoke first was Eliya, who had gathered them here.
At the sudden question, Jerry asked her, “…What are you talking about?”
It wasn't a question asked out of genuine confusion, but rather one to confirm if the guess in his head was correct.
“Anything. I don’t think I’m the only reason the Hero went through the trouble of getting a leave of absence to co here.”
“……”
“If I’m not mistaken, I figured he must have said sothing to each of you as well, which is why I arranged this eting.”
“……”
Shrug—
“I don’t particularly like it, but… from my position of having to assist the Hero, I also have a need to get to know you all better for the future.”
“……”
“I can’t just know you as a bat, a life-force thief, and a Murim outcast, can I?”
“…That seems like quite a leap in logic.”
“I don’t like you, so I talked you down a bit.”
“……”
“But it’s not entirely wrong, is it?”
Eliya, dismissing Jerry’s retort with a shrug of her shoulders, changed the subject and raised a hand.
“So, to clear up those leaps in logic, let’s take turns asking one question each. Point to the person you’re curious about.”
Having made the arbitrary proposal, Eliya imdiately asked Jerry.
“Then I’ll start.”
“……”
“What was the last conversation you had with the Hero?”
“…Are you talking to ?”
“Yes. Mr. J. J.”
“……”
At Eliya’s abrupt question, Jerry, who had been looking down and reminiscing with a blank face, answered with a slight twitch of his brow, as if recalling sothing unpleasant.
“Garlic.”
“…Excuse ?”
“…He told to get rid of the garlic in front of my room. It was a bundle of very pungent raw garlic, too. It’s horrible just thinking about it again.”
“No…”
Frowning at Jerry's out-of-the-blue ntion of garlic, Eliya added with a sigh.
Haaa—
“…Besides crap like that, there must have been a more aningful conversation you two had alone. At that ti….”
“……”
“You two were definitely alone while preparing for the barbecue. You weren't just holding hands and playing patty-cake, were you?”
After Eliya’s addendum, Jerry, who paused as if to organize his thoughts, answered quietly, “…We talked about the Beastkin under my command.”
“The Beastkin?”
Nod—
It wasn't a bad keyword.
Eliya had also been wondering why Jerry commanded so many Beastkin.
It was sothing she didn't understand even before she knew he was a descendant of the Vampire Clan, but after finding out, she found it even more incomprehensible.
A mber of the Vampire Clan commanding Beastkin was, from a general perspective, sothing difficult to accept.
Of course, the Vampire Clan was also technically a tribe belonging to the Beastkin… but that was strictly a matter of ‘species classification.’
For soone who knew the background between them, there was nothing stranger.
The Vampire Clan and the other Beastkin.
The two considered each other mortal enemies who wouldn’t be satisfied even if they chewed each other to bits.
“Why the Beastkin all of a sudden….”
Just as Eliya was about to press for more, seizing the opportunity, he cut her off.
“…Didn’t you say one question each just a mont ago?”
“……”
“It’s my turn now.”
This ti, Jerry asked a question back.
“…I understand that considering the harsh environnt of the Darkest Dungeon, inmates are allowed to declare and possess three items beforehand.”
“That’s right.”
“What are the three things our partner took into the dungeon?”
Answering Jerry’s question, she folded her fingers one by one.
“The earring that you, J. J., are still wearing, that broken sword hilt… and cigarettes.”
Ppajik—
“…And ‘cigars,’ at that.”
“……”
“Don’t ask why. They were items that I couldn’t understand at all either.”
“…I see.”
At Eliya’s answer, Jerry nodded, murmuring quietly, ‘As I thought….’
Seueuk—
After Jerry’s nod, without anyone having to say anything, both of their gazes shifted to the side.
“…It’s your turn, Loxy.”
“…It’s your turn.”
Hearing her na, Loxy raised her hollow eyes, briefly t their gazes, and then said,
“I… pass.”
She lowered her head with a *puk—* and waved her palm.
“I’m not curious about anything. So even if you ask , I have no intention of answering.”
“……”
“If that’s all the business, I’ll be heading up first. I haven’t slept a wink since last night… no, wait, since the night before last, so has it been three days already? Huhu.”
Then she abruptly shot up from her seat and went up to her room, repeatedly muttering ‘damned human’ to the empty air.
“……”
“……”
With Loxy gone after skipping her turn, the order naturally passed to Shim Cheong.
“Hmm…”
Shim Cheong was still frowning deeply with her arms crossed, just as she was at the beginning.
All eyes were drawn to her serious expression, and Eliya secretly hoped she might ask a profound question, but.
Kkoreureuk—
The answer that followed ca not from her mouth, but from her stomach.
“…This one seems to have had sothing to ask you all as well… but I am too hungry to concentrate.”
“……”
“What is the nu for lunch?”
Then, she suddenly asked Eliya for the lunch nu.
“…Curry.”
“That sounds fine. I recall its spicy kick being not bad, better than pumpkin porridge.”
“……”
“Ahem. Well then…”
Shim Cheong, who raised the corners of her mouth for a mont as if imagining the curry in her mind, then stood up from her seat.
“This one shall take her leave first. It would be a disaster if the seasoning is off, would it not?”
“……”
“I shall personally make the sacrifice, so please continue your pleasant chat.”
Watching that shaless back head towards the kitchen, Eliya muttered quietly.
“…How in the world is that the infamous successor to the Demonic Cult…”
Faced with one unexpected action after another, Eliya montarily wondered what on earth her Hero was thinking, bringing these people in.
Hwik—
“…At this rate, it seems Mr. J. J. is the only one I can have a normal conversation with.”
“…Is that so.”
“It seems so.”
Sighing, she turned her head toward Jerry, consoling herself with the fact that it was at least her turn again.
“I’ve been curious for a while, but what is your relationship with the Beastkin out there, Mr. J. J.?”
“……”
“And… what exactly was that story about the Beastkin you ntioned earlier?”
Feeling sothing was off about Eliya’s consecutive questions, Jerry tilted his head and briefly brushed his eyebrow.
“…Didn’t we agree to one at a ti? Unless my ears are mistaken, that sounded like two questions just now.”
“The rule just changed. To two each.”
“……”
“If you don’t like it, you can ask two questions next ti, Mr. J. J.”
At Eliya’s fiery gaze, Jerry muttered, ‘…Like Hero, like Priest, I suppose,’ and let out a light sigh.
‘…My relationship with the Beastkin.’
In truth, it was a question he had never been asked before eting U-jin.
He rarely ever showed his true self, and the scale of the Beastkin under his command was far from ordinary.
So, without him having to say anything, people naturally assud he was in a business related to Beastkin slaves.
But recently, Jerry had been getting this question quite frequently.
The question Loxy had asked back in Shandong not long ago was of a similar nature.
…Of course, Jerry was not unaware of the difference.
Unlike the people he had t until now, they knew he was a ‘descendant of the Vampire Clan.’
From the perspective of soone who knew what the ‘Vampire Clan’ ant to the Beastkin, it was only natural for them to feel puzzled seeing him command Beastkin.
If anything, U-jin’s case, where he still hadn't asked about it, was the more peculiar one.
‘…Partner probably…’
Well… based on the data he had gathered so far, he had a vague guess that U-jin might already know the circumstances.
“…It’s not a special relationship. They are simply individuals I purchased from the slave market to satisfy my personal desires.”
“…Personal desires?”
“…That is what I said.”
He answered her follow-up question imdiately, as if it were nothing.
For a mont, contempt flickered in Eliya’s eyes.
It wasn’t hard to guess the reason.
Beastkin slaves, personal desires.
The image created by the combination of those two words was quite uniform.
“…I thought it wouldn’t be for ‘that’ kind of reason.”
As if confirming Jerry's guess, Eliya barely managed to withdraw her scornful gaze and asked.
“Is it… so kind of revenge?”
“……”
It seed she had already defined Jerry in her mind as ‘a guy who relieves his vengeful feelings through perverted acts.’
“…Think whatever you like. This is all I can tell you about them.”
“……”
He didn't bother to clarify further. It was what he had intended in the first place.
…It was more comfortable to be misunderstood like this.
『Don’t hate them too much, Jerry.』
『…….』
『There is just a slight misunderstanding…….』
Because even Jerry himself wasn't yet confident that he could clearly explain the reason for his paradoxical actions.
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