Was Happy Being a Despised F-Rank Healer, You Know? - Chapter 132

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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16. An Unusual Omen (9)

“I understand. But… there’s something I’ve been curious about since a moment ago.”
Hyun I-seo, who had looked unusually grim until then, suddenly lifted his head and spoke.
“Why do you keep saying ‘we’?”
It seemed that Lion’s earlier remark—about the habit of guiding other bosses to the Underworld—had somehow escaped his notice.
‘Even if he just became S-rank, he managed to speak in a way that avoided S-rank hearing? At this distance, no less?’
It was a moment when the small lion seemed remarkably capable.
[Well, if there are several of you, there’s bound to be someone a bit short on the uptake. To ask that now of all times.]
“Lion…”
Hyun I-seo seemed fascinated by the afterlife courier speaking so casually, but that wouldn’t do.
I narrowed my eyes, gave him a light tap, and warned him not to be sarcastic. Lion pouted slightly for a moment, then grumbled.
[My apologies, Hali. To answer your companion’s question, we are three.]
“You remember back then, don’t you, I-seo? When we cleared it after going three times. The Baridegi Dungeon isn’t divided into a mid-boss and a final boss—it’s sustained by three individual bosses. I haven’t made contracts with the other two yet, though.”
[It’s virtually the same as having done so! Isn’t that right, Hali? You have me after all! Ha!]
[The one whose mouth I’d like to sew shut is this fox.]
[Such impudence. You don’t know when to speak and when to keep quiet!]
[…If I answered there, my identity would be exposed! Stay silent!]
[…Hmph.]
Watching Lion glance at me, turn his head away sharply, and clamp his mouth shut just as Erich had instructed, I couldn’t shake the thought that his first impression had been a complete sham.
How had he hidden this mischievous nature?
“Anyway.”
I spoke in an exasperated tone, then looked at Hyun I-seo—his expression was odd.
“What was that just now? Why did he suddenly get angry?”
“Mmm. He can be a bit unstable sometimes.”
Yu Hee sighed softly and glanced at my earring with narrowed eyes.
I felt a bead of cold sweat roll down and let out a sigh, deciding to come clean.
“Actually.”
“Yeah? Actually what?”
Hyun I-seo cut back curtly, as if he’d already sensed I was hiding something.
“This one… is a Demon Sword. Erich. He can’t speak in a way everyone can hear like Lion does, but I can talk to him. Seems like he can talk to Lion too.”
“Ah, I see. …Wait, what?”
Hyun I-seo, who had been nodding absentmindedly, startled late.
He wasn’t the only one shocked.
Lee Hae-sol and Seo Jeong-u rushed forward to stand right in front of me and pressed me urgently.
“A Demon Sword? Did you just say Demon Sword, Hali?”
“A Demon Sword? What is that—you’re being reckless carrying something like that!”
“Wait, hold on.”
Hyun I-seo had gotten worked up too, but the two of them were speaking so loudly I couldn’t quite make out what they were saying.
Good grief. This was the first time I’d seen Lee Hae-sol react like this.
Come to think of it, having suffered from a curse all this while, Lee Hae-sol would naturally be more sensitive to something like a Demon Sword.
“You made a contract with it?”
“Yeah. Um… I can’t help with unsealing it, but… I get some assistance with potion crafting in exchange for providing my own.”
Yu Hee, standing with her arms crossed and staring at me, raised one eyebrow slightly.
I sent her a pleading look, asking her not to mention anything about HP.
Yuhan Seong didn’t seem disturbed—he already knew—but when he caught the silent exchange between Yu Hee and me, he paused.
Just as he was about to interrogate her with a narrowed gaze.
Lion cried out in displeasure.
[That one is sealed, and it will never be unsealed for all its days! Would we be standing here if we would tolerate such a thing? You friends worry over peculiar matters.]
With a huff from Lion, the three of them stared at him blankly for a moment.
[That one…. Dammit.]
At Erich’s sigh, I laughed awkwardly and gently stroked the earring, and I noticed that not only the three, but Yu Hee and Yuhan Seong’s eyes narrowed as well.
“What is it?”
But fortunately, before I could answer, Lion read my discomfort and offered a deflection instead.
[A Demon Sword though it may be called, it cannot show disrespect to my master. You seem to have forgotten that we are bosses of a dungeon capable of reducing the influence of destruction. Our Hali is taking sufficient precautions, so do set aside such baseless worries.]
Lion chattered on.
[In that regard, how about making a contract with the second one soon, Hali? Though that one has his tedious moments, he would be superior to me in dealing with a Demon Sword.]
[You cunning fox! Contractor, someday I shall kill this insolent wretch!]
[Ha! Try if you’re able.]
[Is that why you’re being so high-handed now—because you can’t do it at the moment?]
[I can’t?]
“Erich, calm down. Lion, that’s enough too!”
[Ugh….]
[…Yes, Hali.]
“Brats, the lot of you…”
Seo Jeong-u, whose complexion hadn’t quite recovered from the shock, muttered through gritted teeth.
He seemed rather angry as well.
“Hali, you’re really sure you’re okay?”
“Of course! Don’t worry. Erich’s just called a Demon Sword by name, but he’s a good friend.”
“…That sounds incredibly worrying, you know?”
I could see Yu Hee and Han Seong both shaking their heads at the same time.
Lee Hae-sol was holding his head. Hyun I-seo spoke up.
“We’ll keep watch for a week, and if something really seems off, I’m not letting you off easy this time. Understood?”
“Yeah, I got it.”
“You really are. A troublemaker in a different sense, they say.”
“I agree.”
Shocked that it was Lee Hae-sol, not Seo Jeong-u, who agreed, I turned to him with an aggrieved look, and he shook his head.
Then he asked in a serious voice.
“Just one thing. There’s no harm coming to you from this, right?”
“Of course not!”
Yu Hee gave me a hard look, but then she sighed and made a gesture of letting it go.
There were things I’d hidden about Erich, but fundamentally I trusted him—something Yu Hee had come to understand.
A week.
At that pace, it would fly by while I was busy with festival preparations.
‘But during this period, there’s a high chance the Yoo Clan will make a move, so everyone needs to stop worrying about me and look after themselves.’
As Lion suggested, it might be good to hurry the contract with the second boss. I’d think more on that.
I clapped once, then made playful shooing motions to the three of them who’d gotten uncomfortably close.
Seo Jeong-u and Lee Hae-sol stepped back with a faint, reluctant air—what was that about?—without protest.
Hyun I-seo watched Lion intently for a while, then slowly made his way back to his original spot.
“Then we should probably change the training method going forward, right?”
When I smoothly steered the conversation toward what Yuhan Seong was probably thinking, Han Seong glanced at the back of my hand—where the summoning mark had appeared when I’d borrowed Magpie—and nodded.
“Yeah. That’d be best.”
And he continued, fixing Lion with a steady gaze.
“If there’s nothing unusual in a week, training will be held here from now on, in the permitted spaces of Hali’s dungeon. Does that work for you, Hali?”
“Of course!”
Over that week, I planned to thoroughly explore my own dungeon.
I’d nearly finished the necessary potion crafting anyway.
‘Just need to wrap up the finishing touches.’
“And if something unusual does happen?”
That’s when Yu Hee asked.
Everyone waited seriously for Yuhan Seong’s answer.
Yuhan Seong answered without hesitation.
“If it’s because of these beings, we’ll take measures, but otherwise, we’ll move according to the situation.”
“Training?”
“Seems like it’d be better to do it here.”
“Agreed.”
Lee Hae-sol nodded first, looking around the small open field where we’d been chatting cozily.
The others felt the same way, and since I’d been planning to recommend this place for exactly that purpose, naturally I agreed.
Of course, odds were high we’d end up training in the Baridegi Dungeon anyway.
‘Especially if something unusual does happen.’
If that something was a Yoo Clan episode, my friends who worried about me might choose to train in the dungeon for my sake.
Usually that level of concern frustrated me—worried they wouldn’t look after themselves—but now I found it reassuring.
‘Once I’ve investigated and determined there’s no problem, doing it in my dungeon is safer in every way.’
The Yoo Clan episode subtitle was “Assassin’s Assault.”
A twisted incident where they numbered Yu Hee’s precious people and murdered them in order.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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