EVS Chapter 68

“What’s with that face? What are you unhappy about now?”

The first monster wave, which had been a concern, ended faster and more smoothly than expected.

Geon-joo, who should have been happy for not causing any major incidents and contributing appropriately to handling the wave, had a somewhat deflated expression. When asked, he gave no answer. As if under a gag order, he didn’t utter a single word while cleaning the outer wall and coming into the fortress to rest. Anyone watching might think he’d developed aphasia.

What on earth was the problem?

Trying to figure it out through conversation was futile when the other party showed no intention of talking. It was maddening.

He couldn’t just interrogate him either.

He could have endured for an hour or two, but it had been three hours already. Furrowing his brow at Geon-joo, who had truly become the child he’d been calling him, Sa-yoon tapped the ice table.

Tap, tap, tap.

The intermittent friction sound echoed through the room.

Taptaptaptap.

At first tapping slowly, Sa-yoon soon increased the speed as if demonstrating his impatient nature. Confirming that another 30 minutes had passed since he last asked, he spoke again.

“I’m asking what the problem is, pretty boy.”

His voice was lower than usual. Gritting his teeth because it was difficult to treat him well when the other side wasn’t cooperating, Sa-yoon’s teeth grinding sound made Geon-joo half-turn towards him and answer.

“There’s no problem.”

“……”

What was he supposed to do with that?

It was frustratingly suffocating. His expression was bad, and his eyes were clouded. Anyone looking would think he’d suffered some injury while enduring the wave.

Scratch. Sa-yoon raised his nails and scratched the ice table. Scratch, scratch. Not stopping at once, he scratched the table several times, openly expressing his irritation. Geon-joo sighed. Sa-yoon’s eyebrow raised, having reached his limit in many ways, wondering why Geon-joo was hanging his head like that when he should be the one sighing.

“I just have something to think about.”

“What thoughts?”

“I’ll think about it on my own.”

“……”

Sa-yoon deeply empathized with the feeling of people in dramas who grab their necks and collapse, as he massaged his tightly strung neck to loosen it. He pressed his fingertips firmly and took repeated deep breaths. Having barely succeeded in suppressing his temper, Sa-yoon examined Geon-joo’s expression.

Looking closely, it seemed somewhat resentful. Just like when Geon-joo had gotten angry about the potion in the Den of Disbelief.

What was it this time?

Staring intently at the face of the 22-year-old rookie hunter to figure out what could have made Geon-joo angry like that time, Sa-yoon soon shook his head. Nothing was clearly visible. Knowing that further questioning would yield no answers, he was considering other options when:

A rumbling sound came from Geon-joo’s stomach.

Geon-joo squirmed at the sound from his own stomach. Seeing the previously motionless person suddenly flustered, Sa-yoon realized that Geon-joo hadn’t eaten anything for almost two days.

From when he started fighting aberrants to graduate from special training until now, they hadn’t separately taken time for meals. It was unlikely that Geon-joo had found food to eat on his own.

With no food supplies brought separately, Sa-yoon stood up decisively.

“I’ll go get some food, so you cool your head here, pretty boy.”

“……”

“When I come back, explain properly why you’ve been acting like this.”

It seemed he was indeed hungry, as there was no polite refusal like “It’s okay” or “No need” to the offer of getting food. That was fortunate, but the complete lack of response was unpleasant. Geon-joo, upset about something unknown, didn’t say anything like “Come back safely” or “Be careful” even as Sa-yoon was about to leave the fortress. Wondering what he had expected, Sa-yoon chuckled inwardly and opened the door.

“Just guard the base well.”

Not needing to hear a response, he deliberately closed the door with a bang. Perhaps he closed it too forcefully, as something like a nameplate attached above the door fell with a thud.

“Do kids these days hit puberty late or something?”

He didn’t think he acted like this when he was twenty-two, so he couldn’t understand why Geon-joo was so unnecessarily stubborn.

Shaking his head and muttering about how difficult it was to deal with kids these days, Sa-yoon put his hands in his pockets and headed for the roof of the fortress.

“What should I feed him to make him talk?”

The only times he had fed someone something to get information were with truth serums and poisons. Realizing the uselessness of that experience, he decided to just think about what he wanted to eat. Thinking they should eat something hearty since they hadn’t eaten well for days, he recalled the rabbit meat he had eaten about half a year ago.

The guild members had grilled it, and it had tasted quite good.

“Wasn’t it black-horned rabbit they caught and grilled then?”

Carefully recalling the conversation he had with the guild members, Sa-yoon jumped down from the fortress and used air walking. Mixing in space compression occasionally, he was able to reach the western mountain range where black-horned rabbits lived in 30 minutes.

Though it might sound cute, it was actually an S-rank monster. With a body the size of a villa, the black-horned rabbit reigned as king even in the western mountain range where everything was gigantic. Thinking that catching just one would be enough for grilling and even making jerky, Sa-yoon took out his dagger and hummed a tune.

His pretty boy’s inexplicable problem had made him uneasy too, so he figured he might as well hunt to improve his mood.

Boom!

As the massive body fell to the ground, the earth shook. Screech! The flying monsters residing in the western mountain range took flight with a flap. Sa-yoon looked at the fallen rabbit in front of him and scratched his chin with the tip of his blade.

“…Can’t eat all of this, I guess.”

He had meant to catch just one, but hunting turned out to be more fun than expected, and he ended up catching four. Though it was possible to eat them as they were non-poisonous monsters, he doubted all that amount would fit in their stomachs.

Since taking all of them would just be a burden, Sa-yoon chose the black-horned rabbit that looked in the best condition out of the four and began to butcher it.

—Grrrr!

Perhaps smelling the blood, monsters began to approach. Sa-yoon didn’t bother to drive away the seemingly starved creatures.

He thrust his sword into the mouths of those that charged at him and decorated their abdomens with the horns cut from the black-horned rabbit. The corpses of dozens of monsters piled up quickly. After dealing with all the monsters blinded by hunger and unable to recognize a stronger opponent, Sa-yoon grilled the cleanly butchered meat.

Smoke rose and the smell of grilled meat spread in all directions, but no creature dared to charge in fearlessly. Those that might have were already piled up beside Sa-yoon. As he turned the skewers this way and that, grilling the meat, Sa-yoon took a bite to taste.

It had a slightly burnt taste, but it was still good.

As long as it wouldn’t kill them to eat it, it should be fine.

Thinking this, he suddenly remembered why he had come all the way to this mountain range. Intending to open Geon-joo’s mouth by feeding him something delicious, he was about to finish grilling roughly and clean up when he paused.

The burnt taste probably wouldn’t be very effective. Predicting that something more succulent and delicious might unconsciously improve his mood and make him honest, Sa-yoon challenged himself to grill it deliciously without burning.

“…This is stupidly difficult.”

He grilled twenty skewers and burned all twenty. Grilling directly over fire made it difficult to cook without burning, especially without proper cooking utensils.

Still, feeling like his skills were improving with each attempt, he decided to try just ten more. If Jongsik and Kyungjin knew their Night Rat Guild Master was doing this here, they’d probably weep tears of blood and bite their handkerchiefs.

After grilling five more, he finally succeeded in making a skewer that wasn’t burnt but had a nice fire-roasted flavor. Sa-yoon carefully tasted a piece and wore a satisfied expression.

This seemed sufficient as a bribe to open Han Geon-joo’s mouth.

After successfully making two more skewers, he wrapped them in leaves, packed them up, and cleaned the area where he had stayed. Since taking too much would only lead to spoilage, Sa-yoon gave the remaining meat to the starving monsters and returned to the fortress in a much better mood.

With both his stomach and hands full, he could completely forget about the rudeness Geon-joo had committed.

Now if only his pretty boy could safely get over his anger, everything would be perfect.

“……”

This is trouble.

As Sa-yoon quickly moved from the mountain range to the fortress using space compression and air walking, he noticed suspicious traces. There were bloody footprints near the fortress.

It wasn’t human blood. Judging from the shape, it seemed like someone had stepped on monster corpses, getting blood on their shoes. Concluding that something had happened, Sa-yoon descended to the ground to examine them more closely.

The footprints that started from the forest became more pronounced near the fortress, along with bloodstains, where monster corpses were strewn about due to the aftermath of the monster wave. There were multiple sets of footprints. Some headed towards the fortress, while others led from the fortress into the undergrowth. The latter footprints were familiar to Sa-yoon.

“Han Geon-joo?”

Anyone could see that his pretty boy’s footprints were imprinted on the ground. Thinking he might have seen wrong, Sa-yoon felt them with his hand, but they were definitely identical to Geon-joo’s shoe prints. Judging from the stride, it seemed like he had been running, causing Sa-yoon to click his tongue as he narrowed his eyes, which held a blue-tinged black color.

He had told him to just guard the base, and he couldn’t even do that one thing.

The visible traces were roughly telling what had happened. If he couldn’t deduce what this situation meant after entering the field more than ten times, he would just be an idiot.

Though he had a general idea of the situation, just in case, as he was scanning around the fortress, he sensed movement from deep within the forest. The sound of something running urgently, the sound of bushes being parted, faint labored breathing. All of it seemed like a desperate signal asking to be found, causing Sa-yoon to sigh as he turned his steps.

“I brought food and all, but looks like we won’t even get to eat it. What is he, seolleongtang or something?”

Muttering while recalling literature he had read during his school days, Sa-yoon entered the forest.

Whatever had happened, it seemed he needed to find his pretty boy, who was probably wandering alone in the forest.