“I’m sorry, but I’d like to have a brief discussion with you.”
“With us? Why?”
“…I have sothing important to discuss.”
“Hmm.”
The man holding the spear stroked his chin and said,
“Well, I suppose we can spare the ti to talk.”
“In that case-”
“However, there is a condition.”
“A condition?”
I had a feeling he might demand food like the previous humans, but instead, he pointed his spear towards the water.
“That one. And that one. And that one over there too.”
“Ah.”
“It seems those fishn are alive.”
The fishn he was pointing at were unconscious and floating in the water.
The battle was over, but there were still so monsters that hadn’t been confird killed.
“Hand over the bodies of those monsters. They were our prey to begin with. I’ll be more inclined to talk if you concede that much.”
“…That’s fine, go ahead and take them.”
“You heard that? Gather them up!”
“Yes, sir!”
At the man’s shout, the human followers began collecting the monsters.
The man himself shouldered one of the bodies and said,
“Follow .”
The atmosphere was rather grim.
My unit and I followed the man holding the spear.
“Sergeant Shin, letting them have the living monsters ans…”
“They must be planning to use them for awakening.”
Based on observing them as we walked through the water, their group didn’t seem as nurous as I had initially thought.
While our unit that entered the dungeon numbered around 150, this group was less than half that.
‘Aside from their high average level, they likely want to increase their forces.’
It was understandable that they needed subdued monsters for the awakening process.
“Here we are.”
After walking for a while, we reached a comrcial building where they seed to be based.
We obediently followed them inside and up to the second floor, to a spot not subrged in water.
“Well then, let’s get down to the discussion…”
“Hold on, no need to rush.”
As I tried to speak to the spear-wielding man, he brushed past and headed to a corner.
There, a shabby-looking middle-aged woman was sitting.
“Ma’am. Ma’am.”
The man called out to her, shaking her shoulder a few tis.
The middle-aged woman slowly raised her head, but her expression was still vacant, her eyes lifeless.
However, at the man’s words,
“I’m coming.”
“Ah… Chang-su is here. What’s the matter…?”
“The ti has co.”
As soon as the man nad Chang-su said that,
“Ah… Finally!”
The middle-aged woman rose with renewed vigor.
Chang-su placed his spear in her hands and gently guided her wrist.
In the direction he guided her, the monster he had earlier placed on the floor was now bound in chains and hanging on the wall.
Kek, kek.
It seed to be struggling to breathe, perhaps because it couldn’t properly respire on the surface.
I was curious that it was still alive despite the breathing difficulties.
It was easy to guess what was about to happen.
‘Awakening.’
Our unit also used to restrain lizards for safe awakening.
It seed they were attempting a similar process.
However, while the prediction was correct…
“Die, die, die, die!!!”
Thrust, thrust, thrust, thrust!!!
‘Ah, damn, what a surprise.’
The woman suddenly let out a wild scream.
The soulless expression from earlier was completely gone.
“Hahaha!!!”
Instead, she seed filled with a sense of euphoria.
Cackling madly, she thrust the spear towards the monster.
It felt a bit different from the awakening process in our unit.
If we had stabbed the lizard in the armpit area to quickly and safely cut off its breathing,
‘They are stabbing it to make it die as slowly as possible, avoiding the vital spots.’
They seem to be aiming to inflict pain on the fishman, even more than awakening.
“What on earth…”
“Aunt Yeong-ja lost her husband soon after giving birth to her children.”
As I stood there a bit stunned at the sight, the man nad Chang-su next to spoke.
“All she had left were her two daughters.”
“Ah, I see, that’s the story of that woman.”
“I heard she struggled trendously to raise those two daughters alone. It wasn’t just the money and effort of childcare, but she also feared her daughters would be hurt due to lack of a father like figure. So, she doted on them and loved them even more than other families. That effort seems to have paid off, as both children grew up to be exemplary, never causing their mother any grief. The elder daughter was even accepted to a prestigious university with a scholarship.”
“That’s sothing to celebrate.”
“Is it? Until they were devoured and killed by the fishn.”
“….”
“Their teeth are so strong, they chewed the bones clean, leaving no trace.”
Only then did I fully understand.
“I’ve heard that fewer people die from drowning or being killed by monsters than one might think.”
“What? You’re quite knowledgeable about the situation here for soone who just arrived.”
“I t so other people before coming here, though the atmosphere was quite different.”
“Well, the statent about fewer deaths isn’t entirely wrong. But just because it’s fewer, doesn’t an there aren’t any.”
The woman continued to madly stab the monster, laughing hysterically.
Eventually, Chang-su nodded as he confird the monster’s death.
“If more people had died like that, our group would be larger than it is now. I’m actually glad our numbers are relatively small.”
Through his words, I could easily understand the kind of people they were.
‘People consud by revenge.’
Their daily lives were destroyed by the monsters.
And they are directing that fury directly towards the monsters.
Perhaps they all have tragic circumstances, but from our perspective…
‘…This is the best, isn’t it?’
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