Chapter 289: Sky Monster (2)

The duke lightly sighed. "Phew, I appreciate your suggestion, but we have already hired people to hunt Telgia a year ago."

"Then it can't be helped. They must be pretty skilled."

"...It's my kid and his friends."

Seo Jun-Ho immediately understood.

"It seems they need fame."

"They all graduated from the Imperial Academy with excellent grades. They're getting closer to the age where they'll take seats in society. Before that, I think they want to have a decent achievement under their belts." Duke Schubert started to look a little different, from a fastidious negotiator to a troubled father. "But they don't have that much practical experience, so I'm always nervous in one corner of my mind..."

After contemplating for a while Duke Schubert added, "How about this? I heard you played a big part in Blackfield."

"Yes, well..."

"You'll be much superior in terms of experience. Keep an eye on them."

"But if they are the children of nobles, I will not be able to give advice or anything..."

"I'll make sure to give you a high enough position for you to do that, and I'll give you a hundred kilograms of Serium as well."

'A hundred kilograms!'

In Graham's words, Serium was an expensive mineral comparable to mithril.

'If he gives me a hundred kilograms... Isn't that worth more than 10 billion?'

Graham even told him to bring as much as he could.

Everything progressed rather quickly as they came to an understanding. Seo Jun-Ho lowered his head as he pushed the bow toward the duke.

"I look forward to your cooperation."

"I look forward to your cooperation as well, Player."

The deal was made.

***

"Please make yourself at home."

The attendant showed him a magnificent room. At a glance, there were expensive paintings, ceramics, vases, furniture... And it was comparable to the rooms he often used during his Specter days.

"It seems that he's determined to support me."

"There is no parent who can win over their child. In addition, Telgia has been getting the better of them for more than a year now."

"...Yeah, a year." He roughly took off his coat and threw it on the bed before saying, "Frost, do you remember the demon jade?"

"Demon jade, demon jade... Ah! The Blood Kobold Lord?"

"Yeah."

Among the seven Squadrons of the Fiend Association, the job of the Squadron of Despair led by Gu-Shi-On was to implant 'demon jade' into monsters.

"If absorbed, the monster's power becomes dramatically stronger."

In return, the monster would lose reason and run rampant. The blood kobold and the Blood Kobold Lord that Seo Jun-Ho had hunted were like that.

"No matter how much I think about it, I think it has something to do with Telgia."

"Since it has suddenly become violent, then there's a high chance that it's the case."

"Not bad."

If they had been able to implant a demon jade in Telgia, even though it often flew over the clouds, a decently-powerful fiend from the Squadron of Despair had to have done it.

'If I catch their trail and trace them back... I'll be able to reach Gu-Shi-On.'

The Fiend Association was currently in chaos, as no one was in control. It was top priority to break the neck of the leaders before they caused any incidents.

"Let's go, then."

"...But we just came in, though?"

"I should meet the hunter making their father's heart anxious."

They were the academy's top graduates, who would soon be sewn into various positions in the Ruben Empire. If they were better than he was expecting, then he wouldn't have to lend a hand in the hunt.

'In that case, it wouldn't be bad to get along with each other.'

But if they didn't meet his expectations...

"Then, well, they'll be at odds with me."

Seo Jun-Ho was a very thorough and demanding man when it came to hunting.

***

The hunting group was using an entirely separate building as their quarters. It was all because if Telgia showed up, they would be able to immediately make a move...

"But..." As soon as he opened the door of the mansion, Seo Jun-Ho frowned. "No wonder I had a bad feeling about this from the start."

The strong smell of alcohol pierced his nose. While he was walking inside with a look of disapproval, he heard voices.

"...I worked my ass off to graduate from the academy, and they're telling me to go to the Eastern Desert? Does that even make any sense?"

"Oh my, Count Haron must be too strict."

"Hyung-nim, you have to hold it in."

There were three males and two females huddled in the living room. Seo Jun-Ho's eyes quickly scanned the living room. Their weapons were randomly placed on the walls and on the floor, and so were their armors.

'Oho.'

Seo Jun-Ho revealed a vain smile. At this moment, the relationship between him and the group was established.

Bang, bang!

When he hit the wall with his fist, attention was drawn at once.

"...What's going on? I told them not to let anyone in unless we're being summoned."

"Telgia has appeared. Everyone, get ready for battle."

"What, what?!"

At that one sentence, the five men and women began to move in a hurry with expressions of confusion. Bowls were broken, and alcohol was spilled as the bottles were knocked over.

"Kyak! My spear! Where did I put my spear?"

"It's over there! More than that, help me put on my armor!"

"The arrow box is here, but... who moved my bow?"

It was truly spectacular. Seo Jun-Ho stood with crossed arms, and next to him was the Frost Queen standing with her arms crossed as well.

"They are really just playing around."

"Yeah, I guess it's because they're kids, but they're really good—really good at playing."

Seo Jun-Ho checked his Vita. The time it took them to get ready for battle was...

"4 minutes and 12 seconds."

The knight in a silver full plate mail asked, "Where is it? Where's Telgia?!"

"It went up again."

"...What?"

Seo Jun-Ho stared at the man's foolish expression and said, "4 minutes and 12 seconds. It went up while you put on your armor and grabbed your weapons."

"You..."

The face of the knight without his helmet was stiff. Everyone then realized that they had been fooled.

"What are you trying to do?"

"That's what I'd like to ask. What are you doing? Did you come here to have a group picnic?"

"We're just waiting for Telgia to come down, so we can hunt it."

"Oh, really? It looked like you guys were just playing."

"Wait, wait." A handsome man, who appeared to be a mage, walked out with a smile and stopped the knight. "Who are you, by the way?"

"Player Seo Jun-Ho, the general manager of the Telgia hunt."

"Hmm... The general manager?"

The knight received the mage's gaze and frowned. "I didn't hear that from my father."

"I suppose so. It was decided today."

Duke Schubert's son was the knight. When Seo Jun-Ho took out the letter of appointment their mouths closed tightly.

"I heard everyone was an alumnus of the Imperial Academy, so I was looking forward to our meeting, but..."

They were a mess. However, It wasn't because they had poor skills.

'It's rather surprising. They seem to be decently usable in battle despite being young.'

They were in their early 20s, but their levels were around that of High Rankers. However, Seo Jun-Ho was referring to their state of mind.

"Even if goblins come rushing in, I don't think you guys will be able to stop them."

"Don't you think you're being too harsh?"

The female warrior holding the spear frowned, but Seo Jun-Ho ignored her and gestured to the archer.

"Take it."

The archer smiled as he stared at the bow Seo Jun-Ho had extended.

"I'm sorry, but I only use custom-made bows."

"It's the Final Horizon, you don't want to use it?"

"...!"

Everyone's eyes opened wide.

"This is... the Final Horizon?"

The moment the excited archer reached out, Seo Jun-Ho withdrew his hand.

"What, why? Why did you take it away?"

"I'll tell you in advance, but this is mine. I'm just renting it out."

"What? Just sell it to me. If it's money, I can give any..."

"I have a lot of money, too."

"Ugh..."

The archer bit his lips and nodded with difficulty.

"But we can use it until we catch Telgia, right?"

"Of course..."

Receiving the box, the archer inspected it with a happy expression.

"Ooohhh, indeed, it is a famous bow. I can't wait to pull it."

It was a Unique-grade bow, and it was said that an arrow could be shot to the end of the horizon once it was pulled above a certain force. As such, an archer would naturally want to pull the bow.

"And from now on, alcohol is prohibited in the residence. We're going to start training in the gym in the morning."

"What?"

The knight frowned at once.

"This is my home."

"If you want to pose as Duke Schubert's son, leave. This building is an accommodation provided for hunters who gathered to catch Telgia."

"..."

The knight closed his mouth. He simply glared at Seo Jun-Ho.

"I hope your skills are as good as your talking skills."

"Both are good, so don't worry."

When the conversation ended, Seo Jun-Ho left the residence. He didn't forget to ask the servant to throw all the alcohol away.

"Huh? Is your room not this way?"

"Seeing them, I think I should get ready as well."

Telgia was said to come down once a month and destroy the duchy. The last time it came down was 20 days ago, so it was time for it to come down again soon.

"What are you preparing?"

"There is something I need."

His steps led to the duke's office.

***

Seo Jun-Ho would stamp his seal every morning in the separate residence where the noble children gathered.

"...Why are you coming here every day?"

As if he was uncomfortable, the knight asked in a displeased voice while swinging a sword in the gym.

"Duke Schubert told me. He said he was worried about you lot and asked me to keep an eye on you people."

"We don't need surveillance and protection; we're past that age."

The knight coldly replied and began to wield the sword again.

'How cute...'

Kids around the age of 20 were usually like this. They felt they had become adults and were old enough to feel like their parents were meddling in their business.

'The party composition is not bad.'

Seeing that there was no awkwardness between them, it seemed that they were a group that had always been together since their academy days. The three men of the group were the knight, the archer, and the mage. And the two women were the spearwoman and the healing mage.

"If you're bored, do you want to spar?"

Whenever he had time, the knight would ask Seo Jun-Ho to clash swords. It appeared that he wanted to humiliate Seo Jun-Ho in front of his friends. However, the adult Seo Jun-Ho wouldn't get caught in such a cheap provocation.

"No. We'll get scolded by the duke."

"...Hmm, you must not be confident."

The knight clicked his tongue and continued his training with his friends again. After Seo Jun-Ho was assigned to the role of general and monitoring manager, their playing around time had gotten eradicated.

'Well, they have been living together for a year, but they still haven't been able to achieve any results, so it's expected that they're in low spirits. And it's also because they're kids...'

But now, they had 'Final Horizon'. So, they were determined to successfully hunt Telgia this time.

"Hmm."

While they were training, Seo Jun-Ho studied by reading materials. The material was the 'hunting log' the group had recorded over the year.

'Seeing this, it seems that they weren't just playing around.'

It could be because they were the children of nobles representing the empire, but their abilities were pretty good. The neatly organized log also detailed Telgia's characteristics and the course of the day's battles.

"Telgia, Telgia... It's quite a tough monster to catch."

It could cause a storm. Moreover, it was difficult to stand with both legs on the ground when exposed to fierce winds.

'Even when attacked, it flies away above the clouds to catch its breath.'

This was Telgia's most difficult habit to deal with when it came to catching it.

'It's also the reason why the method of piercing its wings first using 'Final Horizon' was suggested.'

"It's impossible to attack an enemy above the clouds."

Whenever Telgia descended to cause havoc and kidnap residents, they would have a two to three-second window to deal enormous damage to it so that it wouldn't be able to escape.

'How would I hunt it?'

He had been spending the past few days running simulations in his head, but then it suddenly appeared.

Swooooosh!

The clouds were forcibly scattered to the side, and a huge shadow was cast on the gym. It quickly flew toward the village beyond the castle.

"It's Telgia!"

"Get ready! Let's end its life today!"

"Hurry, before people get hurt!"

After getting ready in the blink of an eye, they rode their respective horses and hurried after Telgia. They looked a hundred and eighty degrees different from a few days ago when it took them 4 minutes and 12 seconds to get ready.

"Now, they look a bit like hunters." Seo Jun-Ho smiled as he got on a wagon. He then said to the coachman, "Let us depart, too."