The Huntress, your Knight next door - Chapter 3

Chapter 03

The entrance to the Herbal Dungeon was at Gangnam Station, but the entrance on the other side of the door was located in a large mountain range.

As they carefully entered the warped gate, the thin air peculiar to the high mountain greeted them. And under her feet, she saw several medicinal herbs sprouting on the slopes.

There was no tree on the slope where the herbs were planted, and it seemed as if there was a big hole in the middle of the mountain range. It was clear that it was a herb field made by someone.

‘This is Level 5.’

Jin-hee looked around. There was no sign of movement around the herb field except for a few wild animals.

Dungeons are rated by expeditions and hunters entering and leaving the dungeon. The Herbal Garden Dungeon appeared a year ago, and its danger was evaluated as the lowest level among the 5th-Grade Dungeons.

The risk is low, but it can be seen as a dungeon with little to gain. So the hunters who use this dungeon were in majority one’s who liked safety.

This Dungeon has a low salary for a hunter, but it is a dungeon that guarantees a large amount of money for the ordinary person.

It’s understandable enough. No matter how great a job with the nickname of ‘Hunter’ is, they are all modern men after all. Some also consider it not bad to consider safeness and doing a comfortable job to make money.

“Tsk, what a boring thing to do as a Hunter.”

“······.”

However, there were definitely quite a few people who hated this kind of Hunter’s activity. People like Lee Si-Young; the boy next to Jin-Hee.

Safety first means not to challenge yourself. Hunters can’t be strong in the usual way. You must continue to use mana and magical power, struggle between life and death a lot of times, and must have as much achievement as you can, to raise your grade.

It is one way to train your body or study, but the fastest way to grow was for a Hunter to fight beyond the gate and gain experience with combat.

However, the hunter named Kim Yu-Jin has claimed to be a herbal hunter even though she is a wizard. It meant that she had no intention of going up.

In fact, it was a very common and obvious choice, but it would seem different to greedy hunters like Lee Si-Young. They would have thought they were just complacent and easily satisfied.

“Young Master, we’re still doing the same hunter tasks. Even if this place is Level 5…”

“Don’t make me laugh. What kind of Hunter task is this? Picking-up herbs just to go back and make small money? Even a passing dog will laugh.”

The hunter named Jun Park seemed to be a relatively polite person. Jin-Hee glanced at him.

Kim Yu-Jin and her partner were already digging for herbs in the middle of the herb field. The other party, who was in charge of the escort, only had to look around.

Park Jun had an expression that said, ‘He’s starting again’, and Lee Si-Young just kept clicking his tongue in a manner that was out of place for his age.

“That’s why I told you to go to a Level 3 Dungeon.”

“Level 3 are dungeons that can only be challenged by Class B or higher.”

“What is that? Do I look weaker than a Class B? I’m going up soon.”

“It’s not that you can’t do it…”

That person is having a hard time, too. Jin-Hee turned her head completely not caring about the duo anymore. It was also fun to watch the whining of a rich kid in real life, not just in a drama, but she was worried that it would cause a stir.

Jin-Hee patrolled in the opposite direction from them.

‘It’s peaceful.’

She can be a party leader after becoming an official hunter and set-off on a dungeon mission alone but she chose to participate in a simple mission like this. However, she didn’t fully expect that it would be an overly peaceful mission.

She walked around without stepping on the medicinal herbs. And when she was already pretty far from the party, she drew the sword hanging from her waist.

A simple sword with little decoration, the length is comparable to a short-sword. People said that the durability and power of this equipment are poor because it is leased by the state, but this was a good enough sword for Jin-Hee.

“Obviously, modern is modern.”

It was on a different level from those swords forged on a smithy that was blended with miscellaneous irons. Even if it was used back in her Bazette days in her old world, this sword could become a famous sword or could be considered as an expensive piece of equipment.

She swung her sword several times to stretch her muscles. Her body was incomparably fragile to that of Bazette, but her talent was still there. Because she lacked muscle strength, she used mana to strengthen and wield the sword, which quickly revealed the talent of the past.

“I wish I had grown taller.”

Bazette was about a span taller than Jin-Hee. The height difference meant that the sword should also be modified.

She’ll have to fix it slowly later. Still, she caught the sword after a long time and felt energized. The moment she was thinking about going into the woods and doing some training.

“Huh?”

She detected something.

“Hmm? Hey, what is that?”

In the opposite direction from where Jin-Hee was, a shadow of a person was seen in the forest on the side where Lee Si-Young and Park Jun stood. Lee Si-Young, who was looking over there, called Jun.

Jun Park turned around, wondering what to say, and as soon as he found it, he took out a small Orb from his pocket.

The orb quickly turned into a spear.

“Come back here, Young Master.”

It was unusual. Jin-hee detected its presence, but Park Jun did not detect them until they came close.

“Who are you?”

“······.”

There was no answer. Numerous people walked out of the shadow of the forest. Wearing black leather armor and masks that looked suspicious, they slowly took out their weapons. Like Park Jun, they used an orb to summon various weapons such as swords, crossbows, and wands.

“H-Hey?”

While Park Jun confronted the unknown people, Jin-Hee quickly ran to Kim Yu-Jin and her companion.

“Run straight to the gate.”

“W-What?”

“It’s not a monster. It’s people.”

The gate is just above the herb field, so at least it’s not a group that entered after the party came in. That means they were waiting inside the gate since before their arrival.

Then the story was obvious.

‘They are assassins.’

“I’ll protect you, so run straight to the gate. And report it.”

“B-But…”

Kim Yu-Jin pointed to Lee Si-Young and Park Jun. The enemies slowly surrounded the two.

“Can you help them?” (Jin-Hee)

“······.” (Kim Yu-Jin)

The word “by your skills” was omitted. But Kim Yu-Jin knows. Even if 100 D-Class hunters like her gather, they were no match for B-class hunters. It was right to retreat.

Jin-Hee stood in front of Kim Yu-Jin with a sword. Kim Yu-Jin said with a small voice, “Good Luck” and ran straight to the gate with her associate.

“…You go, too.”

Jin-Hee slowly walked toward Jun Park. Even though Kim Yu-Jin ran away, no one even glimpsed at them. As expected, the goal is either Park Jun or Lee Si-Young.

As Jin-hee approached, the enemies now surrounded not only Park Joon but also Jin-Hee at a certain range.

“It looks like there’s a lot who hold grudges with you.”

“I don’t think it’s any of your business.”

Park Jun grabbed the spear right away with a tense expression. Jin-Hee glanced at Lee Si-Young. She could see the boy with a puzzled expression on his face as if he hadn’t figured out the situation yet.

‘It looks like he came from a big shot family.’

There are quite a few conflicts of interest between Hunters because of dungeons, but she didn’t expect it to be this open. He didn’t take a B-Class Hunter as an escort for nothing. Jin-Hee grabbed her sword with a carefree expression.

“······.”

The start of the fight was unexpected. As soon as she thought about how long the stand-off would take place, the assassin that was holding the sword in front of them rushed in.

A straight attack with a definite target. It’s Lee Si-Young. Park Joon calmly blocked him, but the weapon that went in their direction wasn’t only one.

A crossbow bolt flies in and a spear is also stabbed from behind.

“…Hot!”

It was a simultaneous attack, but Park Joon was placid. Immediately after bleeding out his words, he pushed the assassin with a spear, and at the same time grabbed Lee Si-Young’s head and pressed it down to the floor.

He raised his fist through the passing bolt and smashed the spear. Before anyone could even realize, a gauntlet was already worn on his hand.

Defense and counterattack at the same time.

Park Jun’s spear turned its direction and pierced the assassin who tried to attack with a sword.

The sword’s owner was stabbed in the chest in a single stroke, and this strike was different from the assassin who used the spear.

‘I don’t even need to help.’

The assassins did not target Jin-Hee. As soon as the battle started, they rushed to Lee Si-Young, but Park Joon was destroying all of them.

Because he was a Class B, his movements were certainly different. It was faster and more powerful than the hunter’s battle video that she occasionally saw on the internet. Jin-Hee was watching modern martial arts for the first time, so she slipped back and observed the battle with a rather intrigued expression.

“…Huh?”

Then she found something strange.

“Don’t lift your head up, Young Master!”

“Y-Yes!”

Park Jun’s effective hits were slowly piling up. The assassin holding the sword was wounded in the chest, and the assassin holding the spear was stabbed in the thigh. The victory was definitely on Park Jun’s side.

He was fighting safely with his ‘luggage’, so it only took more time, but with Park Jun’s natural skills, it should have been decided in a few minutes.

Strangely, however, the enemies did not fall.

The enemy with a cut on his thigh showed no signs of slowing down but rather became even faster. The assassin, whose upper body was pierced, continued attacking without fear of his wound.

On the contrary, Park’s movement was slowing down. He may not feel it, but she could see it because she was watching the fight from a different perspective. Park Jun’s movement is slowing down half a beat, while the enemy’s movement is speeding up one beat.

“Swish!”

A bolt flew again. This time, the target was not Lee Si-Young, but Park Jun.

Park Jun hurriedly bent down to avoid it, but he couldn’t avoid both swords and spears from a low position. He somehow managed to stop the sword while lifting his spear horizontally, but he could not stop the spear from stabbing him.

About half the span of his shoulder was stabbed by the spear.

Clenching his teeth and enduring the pain, he raised his foot and kicked the enemy.

“Argh!”

He escaped roughly at the same time a small window was created. Park Jun clenched his teeth and put his hand on his shoulder. It would have been dangerous if he had been stabbed deeper.

‘…Where is it?’

There’s no time to rest. When Park Jun faced his enemies again, Jin-Hee’s eyes were not on the fight anymore, but scanning the surroundings.

An enemy who does not shake even if he is hurt. On the contrary, the more they get hurt, the weaker the other side gets. After seeing the short battle, Jin-Hee fully understood the situation.

‘Who is the mastermind?’

It certainly is here. The one who controls these dolls.

Found it. Jin-Hee picked up a stone on the floor and threw it toward the middle of the herb field.

“······.”