Hunters Keep Coming To My House - Chapter 115

Chapter 115

The direction indicated by the map guided Boom-ba as she swiftly flew, parting the wind. 

The following chick squawked loudly, perhaps enjoying the flight.

The noise was ear-splitting, but I paid no mind and simply stared intently at the map. Memories surfaced faintly in my mind.

“It’s a reliable map.”

This was only the second time I had used this map. The first time was when I retrieved it with Cha Jae-joon to find the Blue Ego Sword.

It was when Cha Jae-joon and Ellie Kim went to scout for a temporary home. I did something during the time I was alone.

Back then, no matter how much mana power I poured into it, the sword didn’t respond or appear on the map. So, I teased Cha Jae-joon that he was cheated by the system.

At the time, Cha Jae-joon casually replied, ‘Hmm, I expected that. Strangely enough, the system seems to dislike me.’

It was a response that instantly turned the tables on the teasing person.

I remember quickly changing the atmosphere.

Well, anyway… I was quite surprised that the map, which I had thought was just a joke by the system, was working properly.

Actually… I didn’t recall the memory of desperately trying and failing to summon the map at all.

‘I was lucky.’

Still, I should ask Allen about this map later. There might have been a system error.

I felt relieved knowing that there was a knowledgeable system administrator. I scrutinized the map while giving Boom-ba continuous directions.

Boom-ba astonishingly understood my instructions and moved in the correct direction.

Soon.

“…Huh?”

I could faintly sense Arvani’s mana power. Judging by the distance, it wasn’t far.

“Ah! Found it! Boom-ba, let’s descend!”

Swish!

Boom-ba immediately began to descend at my command. A sharp wind grazed my cheek. By the time tears welled up in the chilling wind, we could land on the ground.

It had been about three hours since we set out to find Arvani.

Thanks to the map, we found it much faster than expected.

I handed over snacks to Boom-ba, who must have been exhausted from the continuous flight. Boom-ba opened its beak, breathed heavily, and then quickly gulped down the snack in my hand, widening its eyes.

It must have been delicious because Boom-ba cheered and kicked its feet.

“Then, I’ll bring Arvani right away.”

Hm?

“I don’t know why, but maybe because Arvani has become an adult. Now that you also have a chick…”

I had never seen Arvani in its true form. I only knew it had grown through messages and its intensified mana power.

If Arvani in its true form was as intimidating as those dragons, it was right for Boom-ba to wait here.

After giving more snacks and water to Boom-ba, I walked towards where I could feel Arvani’s mana power, occasionally checking the map.

I had lingering anxiety about whether Arvani and the Ego Sword might be in different places. However, fortunately, Arvani and the Ego Sword were together. Although they had similar characteristics, I could sense different mana powers emanating from the same place.

At first, I was walking, but gradually I picked up speed. Before I knew it, I was running at full speed. Just separated for a moment, yet why did I miss him so much?

In the distance, Arvani’s majestic figure began to appear. The thick blue scales glimmered in the light, almost blinding, and the surrounding air became cold to the bone.

Indeed, Boom-ba had done well to wait. As I approached Arvani, intending to call out his name loudly, I froze in place.

“…Gruh.”

…It was because Jung Tae-il, whom I didn’t even know was there, collapsed limply. His clothes were torn to shreds.

“…What happened?”

It was an incomprehensible situation. Why was Jung Tae-il in such a miserable state? I couldn’t sense any strong monsters around him that could have caused him to be in this condition.

That means…

‘…Could it be Arvani?’

Did our Arvani…?

In disbelief, I blinked rapidly.

‘…Why would Arvani attack Tae-il? There’s no reason for him to attack at all.’

Could it be that Arvani attacked Tae-il for the Ego Sword? The Tae-il I knew wouldn’t covet others’ belongings.

So, how did this situation come about?

Amidst the confusion, my thoughts came to a halt. With my brain stopped, my body became a fool as well.

Even so.

“…Move, move.”

I slowly closed the distance with them, one step at a time, maintaining a high level of concentration to avoid tripping or falling.

In doing so, my body quickly relaxed from the tension. My mind, overwhelmed with confusion, now only had the thought of resolving this situation.

That’s how I soon reached Tae-il. I urgently checked on him. His breathing was very rough, his arm was frozen, and he had a severe blue wound on his abdomen.

This was an injury.

And it was a trace of Arvani’s chilling mana power.

“Mr. Tae-il! Wake up!”

I shook Tae-il’s shoulders. He was unconscious. Thankfully, there didn’t seem to be any life-threatening injuries.

‘…It’s not fatal, so he’ll recover soon. He seems to be in shock from a strong impact…’

With a recovery potion, he would quickly heal from this level of injury. I took out a recovery potion from the ones Tae-il had given me before and slowly poured it into his mouth. Since he was unconscious, he mostly vomited it out again.

‘…Should I feed it to him?’

While I was contemplating, Jung Tae-il let out a groan, instinctively swallowing a small amount.

Now that Tae-il would recover on his own, I left him be and called out.

“…Arvani!”

I stood up and shouted towards Arvani, who was still in his adult form, exhaling freezing breath.

Arvani, who had been motionless like a statue, finally lowered his head and looked at me upon hearing my voice. His gaze, reminiscent of chilling mana power down to his bones, pierced through me.

My entire body was reflected in his deep and transparent blue eyes. He stared at me intently, exhaling a long breath that frosted over my body.

Although it was chilly, it wasn’t too cold. This meant that Arvani was controlling his power for my sake.

…He wasn’t out of control or forgetting me; he was perfectly aware.

…Is this kid rebelling because he’s grown up?

Although his eyes squinted for a moment, persuasion was more appropriate than coercion now. I spoke kindly to Arvani.

“Arvani! Mom’s here! Let’s go back now!”

…Hmph.

“If you don’t come back now, Mom will be really mad! There won’t be any beef for a while!”

…Kwuh.

Arvani paused for a moment. It seemed like he was thinking hard about something before finally moving his large front paw.

Towards where I was.

If he continued like this, I would be crushed to death.

However, I gazed at Arvani with a stern expression, conveying the message of why he was trying to attack Mom here.

But Arvani, indifferent, simply lowered his front paw.

Alright, give it a try. I won’t budge.

Just before his front paw touched the ground.

Kyuu!

White smoke billowed out as Arvani returned to his smaller form and fell into my arms. I reflexively caught Arvani and held him close.

“…Arvani.”

Phew, Mom’s heart won’t last like this…

But for now… is everything roughly settled? Oh, where’s my Ego Sword?

I looked around frantically. There, where Arvani had been, the Blue Ego Sword stood magnificently.

Confirming that the Ego Sword was also unharmed, I heaved a sigh of relief and moved to retrieve the sword. As soon as I safely stowed it in my inventory, my whole body relaxed.

Then, pain struck me all over again.

‘…I haven’t rested properly since I collapsed earlier.’

…I’m definitely going to catch a cold.

I need to hurry home… Well, I won’t be able to rest anyway.

Now that I’ve found Arvani, I need to do other quests. I have a plan in mind, so it’s not urgent, but it would be more comfortable to take a break after finishing everything.

But wouldn’t it be better to rest for now?

After all, I have a patient to take care of.

Glancing at Jung Tae-il, I took out my phone from my pocket. Familiarly, I made a call to someone.

“Yeah, Seung-hoo. Want to come over to my place?”

…Sorry, but can you be a nurse for the day?