Infinite Competitive Dungeon Society - Chapter 187

Chapter 187

Chapter 187 . Skill Synthesis (6)

I burnt the fruit crawling with worms as calmly as I could, then followed Ren to see the children . Now that I thought about it, there was no way I wouldn’t notice the brain worms’ mana . Of course, it was too late for regrets . The milk was already spilled .

People had eyes in the front of their face so they could look onward . As such, I walked facing onward . (E/N: I think this is a saying?)

“Crown Prince… You have a pretty cute side . ”

“Shut your mouth, Ren . ”

“Scream again, Rookie . One more time . ”

“Shut your mouth, Lebuik . ”

I was annoyed that I seemed to have dispelled the last remaining awkwardness between them . When my eyes got sharp, they finally became quiet as we headed to where the children were sleeping . Of course, they weren’t too far off . They were in a mud hut that Ren seemed to have made . Lebuik lost the lighthearted smile she had and examined the sleeping children .

“Lina, Uruto, Demi… With just Your Highness’ power, they…”

“I lost two children on our way . I still can’t forget the way they looked at me . ”

Ren remarked calmly and patted the children’s heads . There were three beastman girls and two beastman boys . Two of the humans were girls and the other was a boy .

I expected them to be 15 or 16 on average, but all eight of them seemed to be somewhere between 10 and 12 . Perhaps, they were even younger . Ren’s situation was indeed grave… Thinking about how long they’ll need before they could grow strong enough to enter the dungeon by themselves, I sighed .

“Ren oppa?”

“Sleep, Teeke . ”

“Un . ”

A human girl who woke up closed her eyes again after seeing Ren . Ren brushed the girl’s hair and looked up . His eyes flashed sharply .

“I’ll show you the map to the coast, Crown Prince . ”

“I want to hear Ren’s plan . ”

“Do as you wish, Your Highness . ”

Lebuik and I retorted and nodded our heads . Ren also nodded in response, then suddenly looked back at Lebuik .

“Don’t call me that, Sir Lebuik . There is no country anywhere in this continent . ”

“But Your Highness—”

“Call me Ren . That is the only name I have left . You don’t need to address me with an honorific either . ”

“H-H-H-How could I dare call Your Highness’ name! T-T-T-That would be like if we were lovers…”

“… Lovers?”

“It’s just calling each other by name . Stop overreacting… . ”

It was clear as day that Lebuik was in love with Ren, but as expected of Ren who was single his entire life, he couldn’t catch any one of Lebuik’s signals . Come on, Ren! Why do you think Lebuik came back after she abandoned this world!? It’s because she has a lingering attachment, you idiot! I felt like going crazy from wanting to shout this out loud . (E/N: Says you shin)

“Crown Prince, you look like you want to say something…?”

“No, I know I’m not in the position to say something like that, so I decided not to…”

“Crown Prince is truly mysterious…”

Your head is more mysterious!

“Kuhum, Your Hi… Ren-nim, I still cannot, not use an honorific . I hope Ren-nim understands…”

“Don’t talk respectfully either . Talk to me as if I was Crown Prince . ”

“I-In that case… Okay . Is that… good?”

“Excellent . I’m happy, I feel like I’ve gotten closer to Sir . ”

“Ren-nim…”

Lebuik’s breathing became unpleasantly rough . I wanted to leave so she could express her carnal desires, but it seemed she still had a hint of humanity left as she restrained herself .

“I, I’m not a knight anymore, so please leave out ‘sir’ . Just call me Lebuik . ”

It felt like she was just trying to advance their relationship by changing the way Ren called her, but I stayed silent and just looked at the map Ren opened . Ren seemed to be hesitating, but with Lebuik’s persistent persuasion, he conceded and decided to call her by her name . Lebuik immediately messaged me .

[I can die happy! Re, Ren-nim is calling me by my name… Thank you for bringing me, Rookie!]

You don’t need to thank me, just go die .

The distance between the forest we were in, Celbitz, and our destination coast, Mileet, was about 1,000 km . To hide our tracks as much as possible, we would travel through mountain ranges . However, there was about a 50 km long distance from the end of the mountain ranges to the coast where we would be in a completely open area . There, we had to be ready to face attacks from the enemy . I couldn’t help but sigh thinking just how Ren would have made it without me .

“We’ll move about 50 km per day . Thankfully, the children are well-trained for their age, so they can keep up . They were all members of the royalty or the nobility, so they can read, write, and even wield mana . The beastman children are especially outstanding . If needed, they can run while carrying the human children on their backs . Huhu, they’re truly admirable . ”

“Is that how you’ve been traveling through the forest until now?”

“That’s right . ”

I bitterly smiled traveling a thousand kilometers just on foot… I could only laugh in vain . I checked the map again and took out a piece of paper to draw on . Eight small circles and five large triangles . Written with mana, the markings didn’t solidify but floated around like ice on water .

“Let’s speed up . We should be able to since we’re explorers . ”

“That’s true, but what about the children?”

“We’ll carry them . ”

I took the small circles and placed them on the triangles . Ren, who was looking at the paper, asked carefully .

“Crown Prince, there are other dangers in the forest other than the El Patiz . It’s full of strong monsters and monsters that like to ambush . If we’re carrying the children, how are we supposed to react? If it wasn’t for that, I would have carried them in turns . ”

“Hear me out . To protect the children from ambushes, we’ll put Lotte in the back . ”

I took a black triangle representing Lotte and dragged it behind the other shapes . In her human form, Lotte was a lot more mobile and still retained her strengths as an attacker . She would be able to deal with most situations by herself . Even if we met with someone on par with Luka continent’s Demon Army Commander, I believed she would be able to hold on . Of course, to ensure her maneuverability, she wouldn’t carry any children .

“That’s not enough . We might be safe from enemies ambushing us from behind, but what about the front? I can tell that this woman is strong, so wouldn’t it be better to put her in the front to charge forward without caring about our back?”

“Then we’ll have a point of weakness . You can leave the front to me . To be honest, I’m the strongest out of anyone here . ”

I dragged the golden triangle representing me and placed it in the front . Ren nodded in response, while Lebuik’s eyes narrowed .

“What? You may not know, but I’m a level 69 explorer! I acknowledge that you’re strong enough to work as a Dimensional Mercenary, but in terms of strength, I—”

“Lebuik, this… Crown Prince is the guild Revival’s master . ”

“What!? You mean, the savage who toys with an administrative guild master!?”

“Oi, you, meet me outside . ”

5 minutes passed before we got back on track . Ren let out a dry cough, trying to ignore the giant bump on Lebuik’s head .

“Since Crown Prince will be in charge of the front, Lebuik and I will have to carry four children each . ”

“No, the two of you have to guard the sides . ”

I placed two of the triangles on the left and right sides . There was now one large triangle and eight small circles in the middle . Ren tilted his head .

“Crown Prince, sorry, but I’m bad with puzzles . ”

“Rookie, stop beating around the bush and get to the point . ”

“It’s simple . We’ll let someone else carry them . ”

There were five triangles from the beginning . Realizing this now, Ren tilted his head . I grinned and summoned Ruyue . She immediately took my mana, materialized into her humanoid wolf form, and jumped on me .

[Shin!]

“Hi, Ruyue . I’m sorry, but can you materialize in your wolf form?”

[But I like the beastman form more!]

“Please . ”

[Okay!]

I liked that Ruyue listened to whatever I asked her to do . I was thankful that she met a master like me and not one with lecherous intentions .

When Ruyue transformed into a giant wolf form, Ren and Lebuik nodded their heads, finally understanding what I meant .

“So she can transform into different forms . Amazing . She was a beautiful girl, and her wolf form is just as beautiful . ”

“… Grrr . ”

Lebuik seemed to be burning her competitive spirit at Ren’s words, but because I was too lazy to say anything, I just ignored her .

“Ruyue should be able to carry all the children on her back . She has the intelligence to protect them from falling off, and more importantly, she’s quick and silent when she travels . ”

[Shin is praising me!?]

“Of course, Ruyue is amazing . ”

[Ehehehe . ]

I scratched Ruyue’s chin . Ren looked jealous for a moment, then went back to a serious expression .

“So we’ll leave the children to her and focus on guarding them . ”

“Exactly . Much better, right?”

“… Crown Prince really is amazing . I don’t have the words to express my admiration for Crown Prince’s abilities . ”

“Ren is amazing too . No one will be able to win against Ren’s desire to protect these children . ”

“Kuuk, don’t flatter me . ”

Ren blushed and turned his head . His lion ears were twitching, unsure of what to do . Lebuik began to glare at me this time . Wait, was she considering me a competitor!?

Before the sun rose, Ren woke up the children one by one . They all got up silently without a word of complaint, immediately stretching and dusting off their bodies . As if they promised beforehand, they became shocked after seeing me, cheered after seeing Lebuik, and exclaimed in surprise after seeing Ruyue .

“Who’s this cool oppa?”

“What a cool armor! Between Hyung1 and Ren, who wins?”

“Ren oppa is still cooler!”

“Unni, you were alive?”

“Knight noona, I wanted to see you!”

“Look, look! A cool wolf!”

“Wow! What a beautiful fur!”

“Could it be ancestor-nim from the myths?”

“So soft…!”

“Wolf-nim, did you come to protect us?”

Thinking just how overwhelmingly popular Ruyue was, I looked at Lebuik . She was somberly looking at the morning sky .

“I, I’m a deserter… but still, losing to a wolf…”

“They’re kids, Lebuik . ”

“Hu, I only have Ren-nim . ”

“Why don’t you confess already?”

After breakfast, we put all the children on Ruyue’s back . I could handle Ruyue’s materialization with Peruta Circuit’s natural mana recovery, so I didn’t even need to drink Mana Potions . However, the children seemed hesitant to ride on Ruyue .

“Riding on this Wolf-nim’s back…”

“No, Wolf-nim will get our bad luck!”

“What soft fur!”

“Guys, Ruyue doesn’t mind you guys being on her back, so don’t worry . ”

[I hate everyone other than Shin, but I’ll allow it since you guys are kids!]

“Wolf-nim talked!”

“Wolf-nim really was an unni!”

I asked Ren why the children treated Ruyue so respectfully .

“The beastman empire’s founding mythology starts with the meeting of a golden lion and a silver wolf . That’s probably why the children like the girl so much . ”

“Is that why Ren likes Ruyue too?”

“Uk, n-no! I didn’t have any impure thoughts! I just thought she was beautiful!”

“Stop, Lebuik!”

“… Lebuik?”

Ren tilted his head and turned around . Lebuik, who was holding her claymore, quickly hid her hands behind her back and smiled .

“It’s nothing, Ren-nim!”

“Crown Prince, did Lebuik do something?”

“No, nothing . So Ren, what do you think about Lebuik?”

“Mm, Lebuik is extremely beautiful and strong . She became my guardian knight at a young age . Even during a war, many soldiers became lovesick because of her . ”

Lebuik threw her weapon down, put her hands on her cheeks, and squirmed . I sighed in relief and stopped Ren .

“That’s enough . ”

Ren suddenly grinned and whispered in my ears .

“… Are you interested in Lebuik, Crown Prince? Now that I think about it, you did bring her here… Should I introduce you to her?”

“How did you come to that conclusion, you idiot!”

We didn’t have the time for such petty conversations . Once the children got on Ruyue, we quickly set off . Ren was the slowest, so we had to slow ourselves down for him, but we were traveling about 7 times as fast as when Ren was alone .

Like Ren said, we had to deal with the forest’s monsters . Most of them were quite grotesque, and usually popped out from the ground or jumped down from the trees . However, the reason I made a formation that thoroughly protected the children wasn’t to protect them against monsters . Forest monsters no longer posed any threat to me .

[Kiaaaa!]

[What are you trying to achieve by entering this forest!?]

An orangutan-like monster with a melted body that seemed to have bathed in hydrochloric acid jumped down from a tree, while another monster that looked like a spider magnified hundreds of times and wrapped in iron armor popped out of the ground . Ren and Lebuik both held up their claymores and prepared to face them . I, on the other hand, simply stared at them with my eyes .

They became stone and clunked down .

“Ek!”

“What’s this!?”

“What do you mean? They’re stone . What, you’ve never seen Evil Eyes of Petrification before?”

I replied with a hint of sassiness and broke the petrified monsters with my spear . Then, I urged them on .

“Let’s hurry! Don’t just stand there dumbfounded!”

“This is the first time I’ve heard of Evil Eyes of Petrification!”

“Say it earlier if you have such an ability!”

I ran forward as I snickered at the party members who were touched by my ability . They gritted their teeth and followed suit . Whenever monsters appeared, I turned them to stone, and we marched forward as we broke them .

In the end, we covered 700 km in just one day . There was only 300 km left until our destination .