It’s been several days since I fought Seere.
Fortunately, nothing significant happened during that time.
There wasn’t much of a visitor, apart from one person. And monsters didn’t cause any ruckus either.
Thanks to that, I was able to relax at home and recover from the fatigue accumulated in the city.
Whether it was due to the combat or the stimuli I felt in the city, fatigue hit me as soon as I got home.
It was a reminder that home is indeed the best place to be.
The trophy from Seere, his left arm, was stashed deep in the storage for now.
“The ability is great, but…”
It was just awkward to use.
For all its impressive effects, there were clear constraints.
Once used, it takes about 10 minutes before I can use it again. It means I can’t just use it endlessly like he did.
And not only that, there was a certain range to consider when summoning something.
In terms of distance, it’s about 15 meters from me. It’s not short, but it’s not particularly long either.
He definitely didn’t have these limitations, but it seems the power degraded once it was detached from him.
But still, being a demon’s body, it didn’t seem to decompose.
That was a relief. If his left hand started rotting with bugs crawling out, I would’ve thrown the ability away regardless.
Of course, the shape of the hand was quite inconvenient too. It’s awkward to carry around, and it’s not exactly something you can just hang on to something.
“Isn’t there a way to process this?”
But the shortcomings felt trivial compared to the main issue.
Simply put, I couldn’t use this item in front of others.
Since Seere isn’t dead, if people found out I had his arm, he would definitely come looking for me with a vengeance.
On top of that, being a demon’s possession, knights could potentially raid me too.
So this item was like a double-edged sword that I couldn’t use. Because of that, my storage naturally had to be filled.
Once again, my storage became richer today.
It had been peaceful for several days, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t anxious.
Considering how much havoc I’d caused in the city, my curiosity had piqued.
Speaking of which, had the knights been searching for me?
No matter how much I concealed my identity, I had cut off Seere’s arm. From their perspective, they might be eager to find me.
And what was the Lemegaton cult doing?
Since it became known that I was a wielder, they’d probably be on high alert, scrambling to act.
From the reaction of that guy Lian I killed last time, it seemed having a wielder was pretty significant to that cult.
I could come up with various speculations in my mind.
However, the downside was that it all remained speculation.
Being stuck here, I had limited visibility of the outside situation.
In fact, thanks to the recent incident, it had become awkward for me to disguise myself and go out.
I could change my hair or eye color, but I couldn’t change my entire body shape. As frustrating as it was, for a while, I’d have to stay hidden in the forest.
The good news was, there was someone who could serve as my eyes and ears.
“I’m here!”
Just on time, it was my information supplier.
As soon as she arrived, I bombarded her with questions.
Updates on Seere, the mysterious hooded figure seen in the city recently, and the movements of people, etc.
Of course, I kept the information about myself tightly under wraps.
There was no need to let others know I had been in the city.
Though I felt fine sharing it with her, there was no point in increasing the number of people who knew.
But I was shocked by what she said next.
“Oh, that hooded NPC? No need to hide it. I’ve already heard that Yor went to the city recently and caused some trouble.”
“…Huh?”
She already knew?
Chaerin had changed her thoughts about Yor somewhat.
Although she didn’t really change her approach, she at least intended to visit more often.
She was outgoing and sociable, but like Haneul, she had no romantic experience.
Because of that, even if she wanted to take it further, she didn’t know how.
Still, it was best to keep things to no secrets, so she conveyed the facts to him.
I told him that the hooded NPC causing a stir in the community was indeed Yor. I summarized how she came to know that and told him.
“…Really?”
At first, he seemed slightly taken aback, but soon gathered himself and nodded.
Of course, internally, he was still shocked.
Just what instinct did he have to figure it out so quickly?
Regardless of how often we met, it was quite a scary level of observation.
But thankfully, it seemed he didn’t plan on telling anyone else.
“Anyway, since I’m the only one who noticed, you don’t have to worry.”
Saying that, Chaerin wrapped up the conversation for now.
After that, she focused on her inner thoughts for a moment.
Thump-thump-
She felt her heartbeat slightly quicken.
It wasn’t exactly excitement or anything.
…Actually, maybe there was a hint of it, but more than that, it was a physiological response.
As time passed, the weather had already shifted into early summer.
That meant Yor’s clothing had become much lighter.
While the basic outfit remained short sleeves and shorts… the actual material itself had thinned.
Because of that, the outline of his body was blatantly visible.
Chaerin glanced at him and thought.
‘Wow, he has abs too…’
Well, it made sense that he would.
Seeing the outline for herself was quite the visual shock.
‘Does he really have no self-awareness…?’
She thought, trying to cool her flushed face.
Was it because he could easily sever an arm? There was no sense of caution whatsoever.
After all, what fear would he have when he could just wreck everything?
Generally, ‘men’ would feel embarrassed wearing such thin clothing.
Thanks to this, bystanders were left to hold back their laughter.
Although she fervently denied her attraction to NPCs, Chaerin was still a spirited ‘woman.’
That physiological curiosity always lurked in the back of her mind.
Well… it was a bit lowbrow, but honestly, let’s put it out there.
‘I want to try it too!’
The 19 mode!!!
Experiences related to the ‘19 mode’ were pretty regularly posted in the community.
They said they seduced a rural youth and opened the ‘19 mode,’ or rescued an NPC trapped in a bandit den and got to experience the ‘19 mode,’ and so on.
At times, there were even videos of the ‘19 mode’ uploaded to dark sites.
Each time, players would mix envy and jealousy, hitting dislike buttons.
Especially with the last one causing ethical issues, they received a barrage of criticism.
But still, curiosity was unavoidable. After all, it’s a content made by the game developers, isn’t it right to enjoy it?
‘How do I even show my chest…?’
She pondered for a moment. Even in this world, a ‘woman’s’ chest was considered an attractive part.
But with those thoughts fleeting, she shook her head.
‘No, no way.’
Such one-dimensional seduction could easily diminish a ‘man’s’ interest, and that had been proven before.
If done wrong, it might come off as cheap.
Many stories floating around the internet proved that.
‘Sigh… what kind of seduction could a simpleton like me create?’
Eventually, after struggling with her thoughts, Chaerin let out a sigh and gave up.
For a clueless person like her, the word ‘seduction’ was far beyond her reach.
She decided to just quietly convey the information instead.
“…For now, don’t worry. The knights have no interest in that hooded figure.”
More accurately, they couldn’t focus on it.
They were too busy tackling the Lemegaton and tracking down the runaway Seere.
In contrast, the Lemegaton group was supposedly showing great interest.
They were said to be loitering around the empire, even risking being caught.
“Is it because they cut off the arm of the demon they serve? They seem quite desperate. Though, it seems they don’t have interest in this forest yet…”
“Hmm…”
Yor nodded.
He had anticipated that Lemegaton would become frantic, but hearing it like this felt a bit bitter.
At least the good news was that they hadn’t blown the cover of the wielder.
If they had, Chaerin would’ve definitely asked him about it.
‘This is a headache.’
Surely, they’d be wandering around this forest soon? He hoped that day was far off.
Putting that thought aside for now, Yor reached out to Chaerin.
According to their agreement, he had something to collect from her.
“So, did you bring the holy water?”
Holy water had recently been running low.
It was depleted rapidly due to the recent incidents with berserk A.
Chaerin nodded and opened her inventory in response to his question.
“Oh, yes. Here you go.”
After receiving the items, Yor frowned.
“What? Is this a joke? You only got this much? Why so few?”
It might look like he was trying to rip her off, but Yor had actually paid her and given her a labor fee.
“Calm down! I barely managed to gather these after going around! Holy water has become super rare lately, probably because of the demons!”
“What?”
Yor perked up his ears.
She said that the whole country was fervently buying holy water.
Since it was effective against demons, they were stocking up in preparation for the future.
Because of that, the prices of holy water had surged recently.
‘…Crap.’
It was a devastating blow to Yor.
He had been breezing through the berserk A situations with holy water.
Without holy water, he was bound to face that pain again, right?
While there were still some reserves left, they were running low.
Seeing Yor’s face grow serious, Chaerin tried to cheer him up.
“Don’t worry! I’ll do my best to gather more. The demand can’t stay this high forever!”
Yor nodded.
…But contrary to his hopes, the supply of holy water didn’t bounce back over time.
“…Is this it?”
By the next month, Yor managed to receive just one more holy water.
“…None? Not a single one?”
By the following month, he couldn’t get any holy water at all.
The knight order had contracted for fixed purchases.
Chaerin, a bit flustered, spoke up.
“L-Let’s wait a little longer! Surely the stock will open up eventually…!”
“Ugh…”
Yor cursed internally.
‘Damn Seere…’
Had he known it would turn out like this, he should’ve definitely dealt with him then.
He sincerely hoped to hear some news about Seere’s demise soon.
Days passed once again.
There was some news, though not related to Seere.
It was enough to surprise the world.
It had already been over two months since Yor fought Seere.
And it had been almost a year since the game, [Demon’s Saga], launched.
The developers posted an announcement in celebration of the 1st anniversary.
[Ver 02. Update Notes]
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It was the patch notes.
