Vol 3 Chapter 22

"...Do you think that guy is definitely related to our quest too?"

If he meant 'that guy,' was he referring to Un-o?

"I don't know. It might be best to ask after we meet him."

"I guess that's the best way... hmm..."

While Kran was slowly nodding, Kapros suddenly raised his head and noticed someone's silhouette standing on the path in front of the forest. Un-o was there, looking at them.

Kapros thought he had gone ahead... Had he been waiting there all this time?

Kran also seemed to have noticed Un-o, as he wore a slightly surprised expression. Anyone who remembered the extremely fierce and sharp Un-o from their first meeting would have reacted the same way.

While his single-minded personality and prickly attitude didn't make him a particularly pleasant person, Un-o wasn't a bad guy. Inside, there was a stubborn person who had put up hedgehog-like spines to protect his family and who struggled not to give up despite having eyes tired from hardships that would have been difficult to endure at his age.

As they approached and faced each other, Un-o properly bowed his head in greeting.

"It's been a while."

As Kapros spoke first, Un-o briefly showed a faint smile in his eyes before erasing it and replying.

"I couldn't greet you properly earlier because I didn't expect to see you in a place like this."

"Have you been well?"

At Kapros's question, Un-o slowly nodded.

"Have you been well too, Master Instructor?"

"Just call me hyung."

It felt a bit odd to be called that even here.

"Ah, and... speak comfortably too."

It was better to say it clearly now rather than continue to be called Master Instructor. Un-o was silent for a moment before nodding.

"...Alright, I will."

Though he agreed, Un-o's slightly averted gaze suggested he felt a bit shy. Un-o and shyness... Kapros doubted his own eyes for a moment. It was the first time, even if just for an instant, that Park Un-o had shown behavior fitting his age.

'That guy seems to have changed a bit while I haven't seen him...'

After roughly breaking the awkwardness, as the three of them walked towards the village together, Kapros properly reintroduced Kran and Un-o.

"Say hello. This is my friend Kran. This is Un-o, a younger acquaintance. You remember seeing him last time, right?"

"I'm Un-o."

Un-o bowed with a very disciplined posture.

"Oh... uh... hello."

Kapros chuckled at Kran, who seemed surprised by the polite greeting that was rare these days, his eyes wide. Feeling Un-o's gaze on him, slightly furrowing his brow after hearing the laugh, Kapros felt the need to explain.

"It's the sports team style."

Unlike Kran, who was curious about this unexpected comment, asking "What? What is?", Un-o immediately made an expression of realization, saying "Ah..."

At Suun High School, Kapros's alma mater which was a sports-oriented school, the education on manners between seniors and juniors was particularly strict, perhaps due to the many sports teams. Kapros still vividly remembered giving and receiving such greetings. Seeing Un-o greet them in that way brought back old memories, making him smile.

Come to think of it, that guy was also a junior from his high school. He had forgotten.

Kran displayed his incredible sociability once again on the way to the village. It was a level of sociability that could only be described as truly amazing. Even Kapros, who had seen this scene more than once or twice, thought it could be classified as a kind of skill.

And like others, Un-o couldn't escape Kran's skill. For the ten minutes or so they walked with Kapros between them, Kran kept talking to Un-o with a friendly smile. At first, Un-o didn't hide his wary gaze towards Kran, but in the face of Kran's exquisite conversational skills that drew out responses without burdening the other person, he eventually opened his locked lips.

"You talk a lot, don't you?"

"..."

For a moment, Kran wore an expression similar to when he had been faced with Yu-wan's coldness before, but he quickly recovered and returned to his previous conversation.

"...So, you look like a hunter, but also like an archer. I was really curious, haha. Which one is it?"

"...I'm a hunter, but closer to an archer."

Kran nodded at Un-o's explanation of his job, saying, "Hmm... I see." Kapros inwardly chuckled as he listened to their conversation.

Perhaps for Kran, who could cheerfully converse even with someone like Kapros without a single complaint, this was nothing special. For Kapros, who had expected a very fierce atmosphere when he first saw Un-o earlier, the current situation could only be seen as him underestimating Kran.

In this atmosphere, even Un-o appeared less like the dark figure Kapros had seen before, and more like a guy with cool eyes who was just a bit ill-mannered.

"Oh, an archer. They say that's really hard without extraordinary concentration. That's amazing. By the way, why did you come here? We're here because of a quest."

Kapros almost stopped in his tracks at this crucial question that came out of nowhere.

'What are you thinking?'

He quickly looked at Kran, but he was just smiling as if there was no problem. Un-o was just looking ahead without saying anything. As Kapros tensed, wondering if the situation would become volatile, Un-o broke the momentary silence with an answer.

"I'm here for a quest too."

The atmosphere remained the same, but Kapros instantly read the slight tension passing between them.

"What kind of quest?"

At Kran's question, Un-o's gaze slowly turned to them. For a moment, Kapros thought he saw a light of experienced scrutiny in those eyes that didn't match his age, but it quickly disappeared. Though Kran must have seen it as clearly as Kapros did, he showed no sign of being shaken. A moment later, the corners of Un-o's tightly closed mouth turned up.

"'Inheritor of the Electric Knight's Traces'."

Kapros's eyes widened in surprise. Even Kran let out a strange exclamation, as if surprised by the answer he had provoked.

"..."

To be honest, Kapros had formed many hypotheses before Un-o's answer came out, but he hadn't expected such a direct admission of being a quest user. As his vague suspicions were confirmed as fact, curiosity arose along with surprise.

"Then, in this village...?"

Un-o glanced at the large bow on his back in response to Kapros's question.

"...It's because of this. For an intermediate quest to learn archery from the elves..."

Ah... so that was it. Come to think of it, elves were known as a race skilled in archery, and there were many elves carrying bows in the village. As Kapros nodded in understanding, he sensed Un-o's gaze as if he wanted to say something.

When their eyes met again, Un-o hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"It seems you two are also involved, shouldn't you explain exactly how you're related?"

Even though his gaze had softened considerably since they last met, Park Un-o was still Park Un-o. Although he didn't seem to intend to pick a fight, his cool tone that could be perceived as confrontational by the listener made Kran click his tongue, saying "Huh..."

"That guy... You said you knew him offline before, right?"

When Kapros responded with a "Yeah" to Kran's low whisper, Kran glanced at Un-o.

"...Is he always like this?"

"He's not a bad guy."

As Kapros cut him off firmly, Kran tilted his head, saying, "Well, I felt that too, but..." before returning to his place. Kapros quietly opened his mouth towards Un-o.

"You're right about that. I'm sorry. I'm the Lord Superior quest performer, and Kran is the Shine Knight quest performer."

"No need to apologize."

Upon hearing the answer, Un-o's face was a mix of surprise and an expression that seemed to say he had expected as much. A moment later, he responded with a subtly furrowed brow. Seeing that somehow troubled face, Kapros just blinked a few times before saying, "I see..." and moving on.

Kran also fell silent, perhaps feeling there was no need to force conversation now that he knew what he wanted to know. After walking in silence for a while, they naturally came to a stop as they entered the village.

"I think I need to go that way because of the elf I was supposed to meet earlier."

"We're going to the empty house they gave us. You come there too when you're done with your business."

Normally, Kapros would have just left without saying anything, but he had heard there were no other empty houses in this village besides where they were going, and he felt that given Un-o's personality, he definitely wouldn't come unless told. At Kapros's words, Kran briefly showed a slightly surprised expression before quickly erasing it, while Un-o nodded seriously without any change in expression.

"Alright."

As they turned to go their separate ways, Kran, who had momentarily floundered, unable to decide which direction to go, soon stuck close to Kapros's side.

"Hey, Un-o! Take care!"

Although Kran said goodbye, Un-o had already gone far away. Kran scratched the back of his head awkwardly, then spoke with his arms folded behind his back.

"That guy, he's really fast. Ah... But hey, Kap. How old is that guy?"

"Nineteen."

"Nineteen? Huh? You mean he's a high school student? He doesn't look it. Are you sure he didn't repeat a few years?"

"Not as far as I know."

Kran's eyes were full of disbelief as he looked back several times in the direction Un-o had disappeared. Seeing this, Kapros chuckled.

"Hmm... Anyway, you must have been surprised too. To think someone you know was part of this rare quest..."

"Well... yeah..."

As Kapros vaguely agreed, Kran grinned.

"So what are we going to do now?"

He's asking such a ridiculous question again...

"Train."

"W-wait a minute! We just did that! Yesterday too! If we've done that much, we should obviously rest now!"

Kapros stared blankly at Kran, who was protesting vehemently as if in disbelief. Suddenly, Kran's face turned slightly red.

"Uh... what I mean is..."

"I'm going to practice the magic I just received from Ilumine, so you don't need to help. Go and rest."

Kran mumbled timidly, "No, that's not it, I mean I'm worried about you..." Looking dejected as if caught off guard, Kran trailed off as Kapros shook his head and walked ahead.

To think he hated helping with training that much. It made Kapros feel a bit sorry. He decided he should refrain from training with Kran from now on.

Soon after, Kran regained his senses and called out to Kapros desperately from behind, but Kapros paid no attention this time either, as it had become a familiar pattern to hear Kran's occasional inexplicable cries while traveling with him.