IDWGT 10

Chapter 10

For now, I decided to clear up the misunderstanding. There was no real need to, but judging by Manny’s eyes, it seemed he would press the issue to the end otherwise.

And I didn’t much like the idea of making an enemy of a merchant over an unnecessary misunderstanding.

Above all, I wanted an apology for the unpleasantness.

“Actually…”

When I stepped forward to explain, Manny finally became flustered and bowed to me down to his waist.

“I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry. I never imagined this little one was a Gigantes.”

Still, he seemed to have some basic manners, and his polite apology put me in a slightly better mood.

“It’s fine. Given how this one looks, no one would ever think he’s a Gigantes.”

Even as I spoke, I felt somewhat bitter. And Manny’s next words made me feel even more bitter.

“I just assumed the parents had their little child play the game and then, out of worry, dressed him in full-body armor so he wouldn’t get hurt.”

“I-I see.”

I couldn’t really refute that. I had just had a similar thought myself.

But that was when an unexpected situation occurred.

“Gigantes!”

At the loud shout from behind, I turned my head.

*’Someone must have brought a Gigantes.’*

That was my first thought. But I could tell right away that wasn’t it.

Starting with a user pointing from a short distance away, the gazes of the people gathered in the plaza all turned toward me at once with the shout.

To be precise, they were directed at Dark, who was with me.

And before I had time to assess the situation, exclamations burst out from all over.

“Is that tiny thing a Gigantes?”

“Wow! This is my first time seeing a Gigantes in person—how cool!”

“Kyaa, so cute! Oh my gosh!”

In an instant, a huge wall formed around me. People had swarmed like clouds to get a look at Dark. There seemed to be at least several hundred of them.

Their reaction left me dumbfounded.

*’These people who didn’t care at all before.’*

Until someone’s shout revealed that Dark was a Gigantes, no one had paid Dark any attention.

Who would have thought such a tiny guy was a Gigantes?

It was a moment that drew another sigh from me.

Dark’s popularity was explosive.

Gigantes were usually favored more by men, but in Dark’s case, his compact size made him explosively popular with female users as well.

“He’s like a doll!”

“Please let me hold him just once!”

That kind of thing.

“Hey! Don’t touch him!”

I blocked the hands of the female users reaching toward Dark.

It wasn’t just that none of the girls were my type—the atmosphere felt like once I allowed it, it would be completely out of control.

The users’ blazing eyes looked ready to snatch Dark and run off at any moment.

I didn’t welcome Dark’s popularity at all.

*’A guy I can’t even sell—what’s the point of being popular?’*

Watching the users’ heated reaction actually made my stomach boil. If I stayed any longer, I couldn’t guarantee what I myself might do.

“Mr. Manny, let’s meet again next time. It was nice meeting you.”

“Huh? Yes, understood.”

“Then, goodbye.”

After saying farewell to Manny, I immediately put Dark into my inventory and logged out right there.

That was the only way to escape that crowd.

***

After coming out of *Legend World*, I took a nap, woke up, washed roughly, filled my stomach with ramen, and logged back in.

Fortunately, the plaza had returned to its normal state.

“I wasted unnecessary time. Though thanks to that, I did get a nap.”

With a small sigh thinking about what had happened during the day, I looked for shops in the plaza associated with the Kride Royal Trading Company. It was to buy goods cheaply using the title I had obtained in the morning, “Slayer of Rebels.”

The Kride Royal Trading Company was a large-scale trading company that controlled over 70 percent of the Kride Kingdom’s commerce, so finding an affiliated shop wasn’t difficult.

Arriving first at the weapon shop, I changed my title before entering the building.

“Title change! Slayer of Rebels.”

[You have changed to the ‘Slayer of Rebels’ title.]

*Creak—*

As I opened the door and entered, an NPC with a generous-looking impression, who appeared to be the owner, greeted me—and quite excessively at that.

“Oh my, a precious guest of the royal family has arrived! Goodness, please don’t just stand there—come inside.”

The effect of wearing the Slayer of Rebels title was beyond what I had imagined. It seemed to have the effect of making me appear as a precious guest of the royal family to merchants belonging to the royal trading company.

Thanks to that, I was able to easily purchase a dagger and a longsword at a cheap price.

The armor shop and general goods store I visited next were the same.

Even repairs at the blacksmith applied a 10 percent discount.

For me, who wore down item durability every time I used a skill, this was truly welcome news.

At first I was simply happy about this, but little by little that feeling faded.

*’This is like someone showing generosity before a road of hardship.’*

With that thought, my steps toward the hunting ground were not light.

The place I arrived at to hunt with Dark was the Blazing Black Land, a hunting ground for around level 160.

The Blazing Black Land, an area made up of black rocky mountains, was a hunting ground where statue monsters of various levels appeared, ranging from level 100 to 160.

It had the great merit of being scenic and letting one encounter various monsters in one place, but during the day it wasn’t a place many users visited because of the rocks heated hot by the sun.

Instead, when the weather was cloudy or when night came, users increased.

*’As expected, there aren’t many users today.’*

Even setting aside the Blazing Black Land specifically, the weather was fairly hot and humid, so there weren’t many users hunting nearby.

The moment I stepped into the hunting ground, tremendous heat wrapped around my body.

“Whew, hot, hot.”

The heat radiating from the rocks heated by the sun was no joke.

I had been here a few times before, but this heat was not easy to get used to.

*’Should I just go to another hunting ground? Eh, never mind. It’s the weekend, so other places will obviously be overflowing with users.’*

Personally, I wanted to go to another hunting ground. But since it was the weekend, almost every hunting ground would be crowded with users.

The territory of the rebels would be quiet even on a day like this, but because of the Maximus matter, I was a bit reluctant to go there for the time being.

*’Who knows what kind of trap there might be.’*

Recalling the nuance in what Maximus had said, it seemed he was desperate to catch me.

If I hunted carefully, it wouldn’t be impossible, but with Dark, with whom I still hadn’t properly coordinated, it was too much.

*’For now, let’s focus on raising Dark’s level while getting coordinated with him.’*

The Blazing Black Land was a suitable hunting ground in that respect. With various types of monsters appearing, it was good for gaining experience and for avoiding people’s attention.

“Even if it’s hot, I’ll have to endure it. Hoo.”

I fanned myself vigorously with my hand and went inside.

Once I went fairly deep, users were almost nowhere to be seen.

“I think this is far enough.”

Soon after, I opened my inventory and took out Dark, and Dark, once out, raised his shield and jumped up.

[Kuu!]

“Yeah, Kuu.”

[Kuu kuu!]

“Listen carefully. From now on, we’re going to do a few experiments.”

[Kuu?]

“If you don’t listen, I’ll take that shield away.”

[K-kuu!]

*’This guy—did he just stutter? Oh ho, so his weak point is the shield. Good.’*

At the mention of taking his shield, Dark tensed up, hid the shield behind him, and looked up at me intently.

“Looking at me like that won’t help. If you don’t do it properly, I’ll throw the shield away.”

[Kuu!]

“Then let’s begin.”

As I went around a large rock, the statue of a brutish orc warrior came into view. It was a stronger, higher-level monster than the orc warrior that had once given Dark his first defeat.

“Dark! Take care of it!”

[Kuu!]

*Dadadadada! Boom!*

The moment I finished speaking, Dark charged toward the orc warrior statue. And he rammed the orc warrior statue with his body.

He looked as if he would not fear even death.

*’In that respect, he’s really dependable.’*

*Thwack thwack thwack thwack thwack thwack!*

“Seeing him get beaten like that just makes me sigh.”

After the body slam, Dark was beaten again. It was a situation I had expected anyway.

“Since he’s holding a shield, he should last a bit longer. Then, shall we try an experiment?”

With my back against a large rock, I tried putting Dark into the inventory.

For ordinary items, putting them into the inventory was possible with just a simple thought. Dark, too, was usually put into the inventory that way.

But what I wanted to test now was the distance.

*’Hmm, it doesn’t work here. Is it really because the distance is too far? Or…’*

I poked only my head out from behind the large rock. Then Dark, being thoroughly beaten by the orc warrior statue, came into view at a glance.

Watching Dark, I once again thought about putting him into the inventory. It seemed it wasn’t just about distance.

And this thought of mine proved correct.

*Clang!*

*Tilt?*

Because Dark suddenly vanished, the sword swung by the orc warrior statue struck the ground uselessly.

Then, seeing the orc warrior statue tilt its head, I nodded.

*’So basically, Dark can only be put into the inventory when he’s within my field of vision. It’s a bit of a penalty, but being able to retrieve him even during combat is decent, isn’t it?’*

When I opened the inventory, sure enough, the vanished Dark was inside.

I took Dark out of the inventory again.

The guy who came out of the inventory was exactly as he had been while being beaten.

But as I tried to lightly kick him to his feet, I had to pause. Dark’s body was trembling faintly, to a degree that couldn’t be noticed unless one looked closely.

My mood instantly worsened.

*’Damn it, this makes me feel like I’m doing something cruel.’*

Cursing internally at the developers who had programmed even this detail, I helped Dark to his feet.

Only then did Dark notice me and tilt his head.

[Kuu?]

“Let’s try it once more.”

[Kuu kuu!]

*’Damn, he really listens well.’*

At my words, Dark faithfully charged once again toward the orc warrior statue.

And the two became tangled again.

Pushing down the feelings that had welled up, I moved from the rock where I had been hiding. This time it was my turn to check the distance at which retrieval was possible.

***

I spent nearly a full day researching how to use Dark.

For example, I gave him a sword instead of a shield or had him hold a bow, but Dark couldn’t handle any equipment other than a shield at all.

If I tried to give him a sword, he would use it as a substitute shield after body slamming, and if I gave him a bow to attack from range, he would charge at the monsters within a few minutes—so each time I could only look at him with bewildered eyes.

*’That thing about his body trembling faintly at first—I must have seen it wrong.’*

After a day of experimenting and analyzing, I reached one conclusion.

And that was that hunting from now on would by no means be smooth. *Haa…*

Because I had thought so much my head was throbbing, I took another deep sleep and then logged into *Legend World*.

And before hunting, I took out Dark.

[Kuu!]

“Kuu kuu!”

[Kuu!]

While playing around with the guy, I looked around.

Just then, a group of monsters caught my eye. They were called Spirits of Black Darkness, and about six of them were flying around in a group.

Looking at them outwardly, they were like black balls of fire, and they were very tough; their specialty was attacking by flinging nearby rocks.

Their level was roughly around 120.

I said to Dark,

“Let’s catch those. We’re going with Pattern 1. You remember Pattern 1?”

[Kuu kuu!]

“Then, charge!”

[Kuu!]

Pattern 1 was simple enough.

Just like when we dealt with the rebel rangers, it was all about body slamming and then lying flat on the ground with the shield up.

In other words, it was the usual way Dark had shown during hunting.