Chapter 47: Fame (4)

“Hm? What’s wrong?” Ketal asked curiously, noticing her reaction. Both Cassan and Alexandros tilted their heads in puzzlement as well.

“Oh, no, it’s nothing,” Hayes replied quickly, trying to suppress her racing heart.

She alone knew the truth—no one else was aware of Ketal’s true personality. If she betrayed any hint of her knowledge, it could lead to the inevitable death at Ketal’s hands. That fear weighed heavily on her, forcing her to keep her emotions in check.

She spoke as calmly as possible. “I don’t think I’ve changed. My only purpose is to serve Kelosia and follow the will of my god.”

Her response was appropriate for a devout follower, and Ketal nodded in agreement.

Then, as if suddenly recalling something, he said, “Come to think of it, I heard something from Aquaz.”

Ketal paused briefly, searching his memory, before continuing. “Ah, right, Aquaz mentioned that those who serve Kelosia are currently in a period of rest, with only high-ranking members active.”

“What?” Hayes’s face betrayed her alarm.

Ketal turned his gaze to the others. “You all weren’t aware of this?”

“Nope,” Cassan replied, shaking his head.

“I can’t say I’ve heard anything like that,” Alexandros added. “Such internal matters of a religious order rarely become public knowledge.”

The more persecuted a Church, the more insular it tended to be—and Kelosia’s followers were among the most persecuted. For ordinary individuals, there was no way to know such details.

“Oh, Aquaz must have been mistaken,” Hayes said, forcing a smile. “Our Church is perfectly normal. I’m just an ordinary priestess.”

“Is that so? Well, if you say so, then it must be true.” Ketal dismissed the matter with little concern. After all, Aquaz, as an inquisitor of the Sun God, wasn’t a follower of Kelosia. It was entirely possible for her to misunderstand the internal workings of another faith.

Satisfied with his reasoning, Ketal moved on, but Hayes grew even more anxious.

Does he already know everything?

she wondered.

Is he just waiting for me to confess? Or... is he merely toying with me?

She imagined Ketal grabbing her head, his voice cold and unforgiving.

“You dared to deceive me. I’ll crush your skull as payment.”

A shiver ran down Hayes’s spine at the vivid mental image. Before long, the drinking session came to an end. Everyone departed with satisfied expressions—everyone except Hayes, who was left deeply unsettled.

“Good times,” Ketal remarked.

Back in his quarters, he lay on his bed, a look of immense satisfaction on his face. At last, he felt like he was truly becoming a part of this fantastical world. The thought filled him with excitement for the future, and he closed his eyes, eager for the adventures to come.

***

At the end of the cave, the air grew heavy with the damp, musty smell. In the vast hollow chamber, a massive monster lay sprawled. Its thick, brown skin glistened faintly under the dim light. Its muscular frame shifted as it scratched its belly with a massive hand, and the sound of its snoring echoed throughout the cave.

That monster was an ogre. The ogre’s snoring stopped abruptly. Its large, bulbous eyes blinked open, groggy from sleep, as it stared blankly at the ceiling of the cave.

Drip, drip.

Water droplets fell from above, landing with soft splashes. The ogre watched them idly before eventually drifting back to sleep.

This was the ogre’s life. The ogre didn’t know how long it had been in this cave and how much longer it would remain there. It simply existed—neither truly alive nor truly dead, resembling more of an amoeba than a sentient being capable of willful action. Whether its existence was pitiful or contented was a question far beyond the ogre’s meager intelligence to consider.

As always, time flowed in a monotonous cycle for the monster—wake, stare blankly at the ceiling, and return to sleep. It was an endless, repetitive wheel of life. But today, something changed.

Step, step.

The sound of footsteps echoed through the cave. Startled, the ogre instinctively rose, its massive form lumbering upright.

“

Uaah,

” the ogre growled. It saw the intruder. It was a human.

“Oh, my! You’re quite large!” the human said with a wide grin, waving enthusiastically. “Nice to meet you, ogre.”

For a brief moment, the ogre was taken aback. Though it had never encountered a human before, it possessed an innate understanding of humans. However, the human standing before it defied all expectations—he was enormous, both in height and breadth. For a moment, the ogre wondered if this being was even human at all. However, there was no doubt—it was human.

Despite its dull mind, one thing was crystal clear in the ogre’s head: the single, unshakable command imprinted in its mind, which was to kill every human who entered.

The ogre’s eyes, which had briefly shown confusion, filled with a murderous gleam. With a deafening roar, it bared its fangs. “

RAAARGH

!”

The sound was monstrous, a primal cry that could make most humans collapse in fear. The ogre charged forward, its thunderous footsteps shaking the cave.

Thump, thump, thump.

As it closed the distance, the human stood motionless, as though his feet were rooted to the ground.

The ogre assumed the human was frozen in fear, a twisted grin forming on its lips. Raising its massive fist, the ogre prepared to crush the human into an unrecognizable pulp.

“

RAAARGH!

” Confident in its victory, the ogre swung its fist down. But then, the human raised an arm.

Boom!

A deafening sound reverberated through the cave as the impact unleashed a shockwave. The ogre froze in disbelief.

“

Uaah?

” Its massive fist had been stopped—held firmly in the human’s hand.

“Oh, my,” the human said with a laugh. “You’re definitely strong.”

The ogre was startled. It couldn’t comprehend what just happened. The ogre was confident about his power. It knew humans couldn’t possibly withstand its attacks; that was how it was supposed to be.

“RAAARGH!

” it roared, swinging its other fist. But the human nonchalantly raised his other hand and grabbed the ogre’s fist. The ogre’s second arm was caught effortlessly, its momentum stopped cold. Then, with a brutal twist, the human bent the ogre’s arm back.

Crack!

“GUAARGH!”

The ogre let out a howl of pain, its muscles spasming as the human flung its body to the side. The ogre scrambled to its feet, clutching its injured arm.

“You’re quite sturdy, aren’t you?” the human remarked cheerfully.

“RAAARGH!”

Enraged, the ogre charged again, its guttural screams filling the air.

But the human only smiled wider, as though he were having the time of his life. As the ogre swung its massive arm once more, the human caught it with ease. This time, he didn’t stop there.

Gripping the ogre’s arm tightly, the human pulled. The ogre’s massive body was lifted off the ground and slammed repeatedly into the cave floor.

Thud, thud, thud!

“GUAARGH!”

the ogre screamed in agony, thrashing in an attempt to free itself. Its muscles bulged, its arm swelling unnaturally as it mustered all its strength to escape. Intrigued, the human released his grip.

Thud.

The ogre staggered back, clutching its swollen arm.

“Fascinating,” the human mused. “Your arm grew suddenly. Is your muscle fiber structure different? It’s truly remarkable to be this strong using sheer brute force!”

The ogre wanted the human to stop talking. Though it couldn’t understand the human’s words, it instinctively knew the man was toying with it.

For the first time in its life, the ogre felt fear. However, it couldn’t retreat. It wasn’t the blocked cave behind it that trapped the ogre—it was the command etched into its very being.

It needed to kill the human.

It needed to kill everyone who entered this cave.

Like an unrelenting compulsion, the directive drove the ogre forward. Letting out another desperate cry, it charged once again. The human, arms spread wide, welcomed it with a grin.

***

“So, this is an ogre,” Ketal muttered to himself, his voice filled with unmistakable joy. Ogres were iconic monsters that symbolized raw strength in fantasy. They appeared in almost every work of the genre. Not only had he fought such a creature, but he had defeated it.

There was no reason not to feel elated. Ketal was utterly satisfied. “It’s really fascinating.”

The ogre’s strength was extraordinary—far beyond what its sheer physical mass should have been capable of. Unlike Ashetiaar, it didn’t seem to use any sort of magic, yet it could display such overwhelming force.

I’d love to study it,

Ketal thought. With that thought in mind, he stepped over the ogre’s corpse and proceeded to the end of the cave. Awaiting him there was a reward, prepared for the one who could defeat the mighty ogre.

Ketal’s eyes sparkled with curiosity. “Oh?”

Before him was a plant, glowing with an otherworldly blue light. It grew from the hard cave floor as if it were the true ruler of this cavern. Intrigued, Ketal reached out and tapped the plant with his fingers.

“So, this is my reward,” he mused, curiosity glinting in his eyes.

Until now, the rewards had been simple valuables, but this glowing plant was something unique. It seemed fitting for a high-level Dungeon to have such peculiar rewards. Ketal carefully took the plant and left the Dungeon.

***

Upon entering the guildhall, Rosa greeted him with a bright smile. “Welcome back, Ketal. How did the Dungeon go?”

“No issues at all. The ogre was rather entertaining,” Ketal replied casually.

“Entertaining you say,” Rosa chuckled dryly. Ogres were among the higher-tier monsters. Their tough skin deflected arrows and swords, and their brute strength could topple massive trees with ease.

To describe such a monster as merely

entertaining

was absurd to Rosa. Still, she had grown used to his antics over time. Holding up a stack of paperwork, she spoke. “I’ve confirmed the completion of the C-Rank Dungeon. Would you like me to process your reward now?”

“Please do. I have no idea what this thing is,” Ketal said, handing her the glowing plant.

“So, this is your reward from the Dungeon?”

“It seems so.”

“Hmm... Just a moment.” Rosa carefully inspected the plant, occasionally murmuring to herself. After a while, she let out a small sigh. “I’m not entirely sure what this is either. It looks like an herb related to alchemy or magic.”

“Hmm? Do Dungeons often reward items like this?” Ketal asked.

“Not always, but higher-tier Dungeons rarely provide mere gold or silver. Magical items and artifacts are much more common.” “Interesting.”

“For now, I’ll return it to you. I can’t appraise it myself,” Rosa said, handing the plant back to him. In Ketal’s hands, the soft blue glow of the plant seemed even more pronounced.

“How would I figure out what it is?” Ketal asked.

“Typically, you’d take it to an alchemist or a mage,” Rosa explained with a sheepish smile. “But this is a small estate, so we don’t have any high-level specialists like that. You’ll likely have difficulty finding anyone here to appraise it.”

“I see.”

“Still, it’s a reward from a C-Rank Dungeon, it’s bound to be valuable. You should keep it for now.”

“Understood.” Ketal tucked the glowing plant into his pocket, as Rosa pulled out a request board.

“So, will you be taking on another request?”

“I’ll take a look first,” Ketal replied, picking up the request sheet and scanning through it. After a moment, he placed it back down with a disappointed expression. “There’s not much variety.”

“Well, of course,” Rosa laughed as if his complaint were ridiculous. “You’ve been clearing two to three requests a day. There’s no way we could keep up!”

It had been two months since Ketal had settled in the Barcan Estate. In that time, he had hardly taken a single day off, accepting nearly every available job. As a C-Rank mercenary, there were no restrictions on his requests, so he eagerly tackled any task that piqued his interest.

Because of that, he had completed the majority of the estate’s requests.

“This is a small estate, after all,” Rosa continued. “It’s not like there are any grand requests to begin with. Honestly, even the C-Rank Dungeon you just cleared was an unusual occurrence. Most of the time, the highest we see is D-Rank.”

Dungeons appeared where people gathered. The more populated an area, the higher the number and grade of Dungeons that would manifest. For a remote estate like this, the variety of Dungeons was naturally limited. The ogre’s Dungeon and the previous maze Dungeon had been rare exceptions.

“A quiet life can be enjoyable in its own way. You’ve got some breathing room now, so why not take it easy?” Rosa suggested.

“I won’t argue with that,” Ketal said, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

He loved fantasy. This small estate had provided him with endless joy over the past two months. But it only offered the basics—the foundational elements of a fantasy world. There was little opportunity to delve deeper into the mysteries he yearned to uncover.

Someone once said that familiarity breeds boredom. To truly learn magic and explore the Myst, he knew he would eventually need to move on. Even Rosa had said as much—there was no one here capable of appraising an item like the herb he had found.

In truth, he had yet to witness proper magic. Kartos was little more than a distant memory now. For Ketal, magic remained an enigmatic and untapped force.

“Perhaps, I’ll enjoy a bit of leisure for now, as you suggested,” Ketal said with a smile. Then, his tone grew contemplative. “But what should I do next?”

He hoped for some sort of change—something to shake up the routine.