Chapter 10
A little while later.
라키스 returned.
I had clearly seen him wearing his heavy knight-exclusive armor when he left the house.
But seeing him come back in pajamas in the middle of winter was genuinely shocking.
Even more surprising was the fact that.
White heat was still rising from his body.
Was that something-or-other breathing technique from the royal family of the Aslan Empire capable of raising body temperature as well?
The moment I confirmed that 라키스 had come in.
Swish!
I immediately drew the curtains.
I looked outside the window just in case, but there was no one around.
There was no way 라키스 would have brought people all the way here with him. At least I wasn’t worried about that.
“When did you change into that? Just put the dimensional stones and loot down on the floor for now. Let’s talk first.”
“I changed right after I left, my lord! The temperature was quite comfortable, and I thought I would use the opportunity to run to the dungeon in light clothing!”
“Running. Running… Fine. I understand that much. But why didn’t you change once you got inside the dungeon?”
“Come now! There was no threat that required it! My lord, thank you for worrying about me, though!”
“How is this me worrying about you? I’m scolding you for walking around in an outfit that attracts that much attention.”
“Oh, was that what you meant?”
Somehow, this conversation wasn’t going the way I wanted it to.
라키스 was simply too cheerful.
My mind went completely blank, and I didn’t know what I was supposed to say next.
Of course, both 라키스 and I knew.
There wasn’t even the slightest bit of malice between us.
“라키스.”
“Yes?”
“I’ll tell you what I want, so don’t misunderstand me. I want us to work together in this direction from now on, okay?”
“I will listen carefully!”
“Good. Listen closely.”
I calmly explained what was on my mind.
There were two main points.
First, I didn’t want people to learn every detail about my identity or 라키스’s true nature unless absolutely necessary.
Second, people in this world weren’t that innocent. The more they learned, the more twisted their interest could become.
In other words, we didn’t necessarily have to hide our strength, but there was a need to hide who we were and exactly what we were.
The moment I finished explaining.
Thump!
라키스 dropped to his knees so violently that I could almost hear something cracking in his bones.
Boom!
Then he slammed his forehead against the floor.
At first, I thought it was some kind of performance and didn’t take it too seriously.
But the moment 라키스 raised his head, that thought disappeared completely.
“What the hell?”
Apparently, he had really slammed his forehead against the floor. The entire area that had made contact was torn open and covered in blood.
He shouted as if crying out.
“I am deeply ashamed! You must punish this incompetent servant severely! Only then will discipline truly be established, my lord…!”
“What discipline? It’s just the two of us.”
“Even so, you must punish me severely! Only then can I properly serve you, my lord!”
“I’m not trying to determine who’s right or wrong…”
Just as I was talking to 라키스.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Suddenly, someone knocked on the door.
What was going on?
There was no one who should be visiting our house.
The house directly across from us was empty, so it wasn’t like someone could have mistaken the address.
Had our location already been exposed?
“I’ll handle it.”
Before I could stop him, 라키스 immediately rushed toward the door.
He had clearly run there, yet I couldn’t hear even a single footstep. It seemed like he was even holding his breath.
라키스 took position right in front of the entrance and grabbed the greatsword that had been leaning nearby.
Shiiing.
He drew it halfway from its sheath.
Then he gave me a hand signal indicating that he would kill the unwelcome visitor outside if necessary.
The throat-slitting gesture.
“Calm. Down.”
I stopped 라키스 with my mouth.
We hadn’t even figured out who it was yet.
With 라키스’s strength, he could smash both the door and the intruder in one blow, so I couldn’t afford to overlook the power he possessed.
At that moment.
Ding!
Maha Delivery has been completed!
“Ah.”
Only then did I realize who the unwelcome visitor was.
It was the delivery driver.
The groceries that had been delayed because of the heavy snow had apparently arrived today.
Because there had been an issue with the delay, delivery drivers normally just left the package outside, took a picture, and sent a notification.
Given the circumstances, though, it seemed the driver had knocked on the door to give us a manual(?) notification that the package had arrived safely.
“Phew.”
It was a good thing I had stopped 라키스.
Otherwise, that innocent delivery driver could have gotten himself into serious trouble.
I asked 라키스 again.
“You weren’t followed on the way here, right?”
“I’m certain of it! From the moment I entered the main road, there wasn’t even a single person around!”
“Okay, I understand. Put the sword down first.”
“Yes!”
“I’ll give you a towel. Wipe the blood off your forehead. I’ll put some ointment on it.”
“…Thank you!”
I treated the whole thing as a minor incident.
Then I went back onto the community.
Perhaps because whoever had been trying to track 라키스 had failed, the discussion hadn’t progressed beyond identifying his appearance.
Even the level-700-certified hunter hadn’t been able to find him immediately, and after leaving a comment saying it was unfortunate, he stopped posting.
A little while later.
“Am I really the master…?”
It was ironic.
After having 라키스 do everything because I didn’t want to go outside, I had ended up going outside and was now on my way home.
First, I bought hair dye.
Then I bought a mask.
And finally, I bought the plain, mass-produced combat suit that hunters practically wore as a universal rule.
The place was too close to justify taking a taxi but too far to comfortably walk, so the trip drained a considerable amount of my stamina.
Since I was already out, I even stopped by the market and sold the dimensional stones.
I was practically drained.
My balance had increased to 3.1 billion won.
The loot 라키스 had obtained from killing the Cadaryl Mantis was at home, so I could appraise it after returning.
Step. Step.
I carried everything I had bought in a large eco-bag slung over my left shoulder.
With my right hand, I kept checking the community posts on my smartphone.
The posts looking for me had stopped appearing.
However, posts praising the blond foreigner’s, or rather 라키스’s, abilities were still spreading.
I could understand the atmosphere well.
The reason was that Korea had many skilled hunters in the field of magic, but was often said to be relatively weak when it came to swordsmanship.
Because of that, admiration for talented swordsmen was particularly strong compared to other countries.
Some users were even saying that they should somehow find the blond man and have him become a Korean citizen.
It wasn’t entirely nonsense.
In fact, every country was competing to naturalize talented hunters at the national level.
‘I should have thought about this in more detail. 라키스 is ultimately a summon. How I handle him as his master is important.’
That’s what I thought.
In a way, I considered this an opportunity for me to grow another step.
That was the fate of being a master.
If I avoided the responsibility of managing my subordinate just because it was troublesome, I would ultimately have to deal with the consequences myself.
When I got home.
Just as I had instructed him before leaving, 라키스 had already showered and come out clean.
“라키스.”
“Yes!”
“Put some more ointment on your forehead. And let’s dye your hair black first.”
I needed to change his hair color.
Unless someone had memorized the details of 라키스’s face, changing his hair alone should make him difficult to recognize.
Blond hair stood out too much.
He needed to be localized(?) enough to fit the scenery of Korea so that 라키스 could cosplay as an ordinary person.
“Oh! Hair dye? I’ve always wanted to try it! The special forces wouldn’t allow it because of their obsession with pure blood!”
“Is keeping blond hair what you mean by pure blood?”
“Yes! Black hair was considered the hairstyle of those vile factions of the cursed Belkan Empire.”
“But you want to try black hair?”
“This isn’t the Aslan Empire, is it? It doesn’t matter!”
What was this?
He was surprisingly flexible about things like this.
Either way, I needed to change his hair color quickly.
“I’ll style your hair, too. And whenever you go outside, you must wear a mask. Put on this suit first.”
“Thank you!”
I intended to erase 라키스’s individuality.
I needed to make him completely unremarkable.
If 라키스 were an ordinary summon, I could simply summon him when I needed him and dismiss him when I didn’t.
Then I wouldn’t have had to worry about people’s attention. I could just summon him whenever I needed him and put him to work.
But since he was practically a summon who had crossed over from another dimension, dismissing him meant I wouldn’t be able to summon him again.
He would die or disappear.
Therefore, I had no choice but to keep him in his manifested state at all times, which left me with this as the next-best solution.
Thus began the master’s hands-on care of his subordinate.
Still, what could I do?
If I wanted to put him to work properly from now on, it was much more convenient to make him easy for me to use.
If I thought of it as taking one step back so I could take two steps forward and enjoy even more benefits, it became much simpler to think about.
A little while later.
“You really look like a different person now.”
“Wow! I absolutely love this hairstyle, my lord!”
“This is a style called a leaf cut. I taught myself, but it turned out pretty well, right?”
“I absolutely love it!”
라키스’s hair had changed completely.
Deep black hair.
After cutting off the long hair and giving it a reasonable texture and length, he looked like an entirely different person.
If you ignored his blue eyes, he looked so much like a Korean that no one would question it.
Since I had always trimmed my own hair.
I had tried cutting 라키스’s hair as an experiment, and it turned out much better than I expected.
“You really like it?”
“It looks incredibly cool, my lord! I think black hair suits my features perfectly! It really brings out my beastly aura!”
“Are you praising yourself?”
“It’s all thanks to you, my lord!”
“Just wash your hair and come out. We’ll talk about what to do afterward. I’ll do some appraising first.”
“Yes!”
라키스 went into the bathroom, humming a tune that I hadn’t expected him to know.
Once I was alone in the living room.
I checked the Grade 9 and Grade 8 necklaces that 라키스 had brought back as loot after killing the Cadaryl Mantis.
“The Grade 9 one is just a normal item.”
The Grade 9 necklace wasn’t shining gold, so it didn’t seem to have a separately sealed hidden option.
So I picked up the Grade 8 necklace.
It glittered with a golden light.
I had three appraisal attempts remaining, so there was plenty of room to spare.
I immediately started the appraisal.
[Appraisal complete!]
[A sealed option has been detected.]
[Additional appraisal is required.]
“Another double seal?”
This was already my second experience with it.
It would consume another appraisal attempt, but it also made me expect the item’s configuration to be good enough to warrant a double seal.
I appraised it one more time.
[Necklace of Pride]
Grade: * Grade 7
Strength +20
- Strength +20
- Passive Skill ‘Tough Skin’ is applied.
“It went up one grade, and it even gained a passive skill?”
The necklace had increased by one grade, and another identical Strength stat had been added.
On top of that, a passive skill had been added.
Even its name sounded extraordinary.
[Tough Skin — Passive Skill]
Once per day, damage from attacks caused by external forces is nullified to 0.
“So it’s basically invincible once a day?”
Having played games for a long time, I immediately understood what the description meant.
Once a day, it was basically giving you an extra life when it came to your life.
Its value seemed extremely high.
And there was one more thing.
Perhaps there was something else I needed to know now that I had obtained a passive skill.
The system window displayed a new notification.
Judging by how the Omnipotent Staff was repeatedly flashing, this information was clearly connected to it.
[While in a state of ‘Soul Bond’, ‘Passive Skills’ are also shared with the summon.]
[‘Active Skills’ must be used separately, but ‘Passive Skills’ are automatically applied according to their configuration.]
Not just me.
라키스 had also gained a reliable shield that would protect him once a day.
The necklace that had seemed ordinary had gained one precious hidden option.
Yes.
This was what appraisal was all about.
The fun of opening things up was incredibly satisfying.
