Chapter 224 – The Wizard and the Swamp Monster

I just heard a fucking voice from somewhere?
When I looked around with my doubts, my prediction was correct. Outside the carriage window, the ugly face of Grendel, whom I had seen before, was looking at me.

“Hhhhh!! It’s a monster!”

Rebecca, who was sitting next to me, was the first to scream, and the rest of the party also screamed. Everyone is bound to be surprised when an ugly monster suddenly pokes its head out of the wagon.

“Here again! I-that monster is here again!”
“I’m going to have a heart attack-!”

One more surprising thing was that the carriage was now running on the road in the great forest. That’s what it means to keep seeing an ugly face outside the window. That Grendel was running down the road at the same speed as the wagon!

‘Is it a joke? Is it a ghost story?’

I peeked out and looked out of the carriage. As expected, Grendel was running fiercely on the road with a huge body of 3m. He was waving his legs like a swan floating on water, but the expression on his ugly face was calm. It feels like watching a surreal painting right in front of you.

“Uh, um… What?”

I pretended to be calm and opened my mouth. If you surprise me, that monster might be offended. It’s been a few hours since I’ve been pretending to be a countryman, but it doesn’t make sense to suddenly treat me like a monster. Let’s start with a conversation here.

[I asked if using strong words makes me look weak.]
“Yes! Even when a weakling talks, it only seems like he’s bluffing. It’s a national rule that a guy who speaks up is the first to die. There’s a saying that silence is golden. If you stay still, halfway through.”
[Whoa, that’s an interesting point of view.]

What’s interesting? I don’t know, but I managed to get Grendel’s attention. I was watching me with sultry eyes.

“Kuhm.”

Is this really what it feels like to be voyeurized by an Overlord? Since I’m showing Grendel the inside of the carriage, I feel like my privacy is being invaded. I cleared my throat and opened her mouth to Grendel.

“Is your curiosity satisfied? Why don’t you get off the wagon now?”
[I get it. Understand my curiosity, my horned fellow. After waking up from a long sleep, there are so many things I want to know. The world has changed a lot.]

When I asked him to leave, Grendel meekly withdrew from the carriage. I stopped running on the road and sent the wagon we rode. I peeked my head out the window and saw Grendel, who was already far away.

That’s a very curious monster.
Chasing a wagon to find out what I said? It means you had no business other than that. It’s useless to surprise and fuck people.

“Why does that monster call Luke his brother?”
“I don’t know. I don’t remember ever having friends with a monster like that. I think you’re misunderstanding something.”

I thought I would never see Grendel again. But I never thought he would find us from the other side just three hours after we broke up. It was only natural that the attention was unwelcome. Who would want to be friends with a man-eating monster?

‘Should I rather clean things up the next time we meet?’

It might be better to get rid of it than to continue to suffer from anxiety. But what if I ambushed and failed to deal with Grendel? It was clear that turning him into an enemy would endanger the journey in the Great Forest.

A giant up to 3m.
The ability to transcend space.
A physical specification that allows him to run at the same speed as a running wagon.

Even with the abilities he had discovered so far, it was an extraordinary monster. If you’re going to kill him, make sure you finish it so there won’t be any aftertaste. Of course, the best course of action is to never run into him again. Until I met the phantom thief, I wanted to avoid unnecessary fights as much as possible.

“Mongma-sama. Will that monster come again?”
“…Well, please pray that they don’t come.”
“Yep-.”

Time passed and it was late at night. It must be dangerous to keep running on the road in the middle of the night. Eventually we decided to camp out and hide the wagon in a corner of the woods.

It was a cold winter, but I didn’t have to worry about freezing to death while camping. Bella’s wagon had a thermostat that kept the cabin warm.

It’s completely different from the days when I slept on a blanket on the street. We just had to be wary of attacks by wild animals or monsters.

“I’ll set a trap around and come back.”

I wandered around the camp and set up magic traps in the way the enemy might enter.

[Spark Trap]. It was a trap that released electricity when stepping on the ground enchanted like a mine. It is also a general-purpose magic newly learned from Rumi.
It was while I was painstakingly setting [Sparktraps] On the ground.

“Luke-sama. The spirits keep talking to me. They say the monster I saw earlier is still hovering around us.”

Wendy came down from the driver’s seat and spoke to me. When she heard her words, she couldn’t help but feel horrified.

“Really? Grendel is still after us?”
“I sent the sylphs into the sky and had them look around. I said they were big, gooey monsters, so it must be clear. What the hell are they doing to keep stalking us?”

Why Grendel is chasing us.
To be precise, they are not chasing ‘us’, but chasing ‘me’. The only person he tried to talk to was me.

“Wait a minute, Mr. Wendy. Let me think about it.”

Let’s consider Grendel’s position for a moment. Let’s get into the reverse mood and think about why Grendel is stalking me.

“I am a monster…”

“It’s a monster that woke up after 500 years.”

Wendy furrowed her brow as she watched me sway.

“Why are you suddenly muttering to yourself?”
“I’m empathizing with Grendel. It’s my own way of reasoning, so please watch.”
“The reasoning method is quite noisy.”

She listened to Wendy’s scolding through one ear and concentrated on thinking. It is a monster that has been resurrected after a long time has passed. Of course, the world that has changed a lot is bound to feel unfamiliar. Then, while wandering in the great forest, he met a dreamer who felt like a compatriot.

‘You’re the only compatriot I can talk to. He broke up with Albert who brought him back to life. Of course there are many things you want to ask. You must want to know how the world works now.’

So, it is informative.
Grendel is trying to make me an informant. If you think about why he kept chasing after you, that was the only reason.

‘Should I run away? You can’t keep walking around with a tail.’

It was terrifying to think that Grendel would continue to appear before us in the future.

But is there any need to be blindly afraid? Being able to communicate means that you can get the information you want from this side as well. If he managed to coax Grendel, he could get information about Albert.

I still don’t know Albert’s purpose.
Why is Albert stealing all over the continent? I can let go of the knife as soon as we meet, but that won’t solve the question.

Shall we try to communicate with monsters?
It was when I was in trouble.

“Yes?”

There was the sound of the grass shaking nearby. I saw a huge figure approaching us, saying that the tiger is also coming. The moment the hideous face emerged from the darkness, the downy hair stood on end.

“Heehee profit.”

Wendy, who was by her side, was startled. She was quite far from the carriage, so Wendy and I were the only ones here.

Should I say I’m glad there wasn’t much fuss?
Or should I say it’s unfortunate because the party doesn’t get together?

[Could you give me a minute? Compatriot.]

Grendel thrust his hideous face at me out of the darkness. She runs into her at night, so she gets even more goosebumps. Her appearance was so sudden that she was speechless.

A fundamental question arises.

Can I have a proper conversation with this monster? If you get caught acting, don’t you get eaten on the spot? I don’t know if it’s better to get rid of it now. Her resolve wavers before the horror seeping into her heart.

“After-.”

I took a deep breath as I met Grendel’s eyes. I thought it would be unsightly for sure. Like students putting on a clumsy play at a school performance.

But the moment you open your mouth.
A surprisingly calm voice came from inside me.

“I can give you any amount of time. You’ve been just hanging around me since before. You don’t have to be awkward with your fellow countrymen, right? If you have any questions, just ask.”

Yes… ?
Is it different from what you thought?

The tongue rolled as smoothly as if it had been greased.
A greeting that I hadn’t thought of at all came out on the spot.

The moment I decided to cheat on him, I no longer trembled.

“Nice to see you again.”

He relaxed his expression and smiled softly as if he were addressing an old friend.
I had no idea that I had such a talent for acting.

“Lu, Mr. Luke?”

Wendy looked at me with a puzzled look at the suddenly changed atmosphere. If you just see Wendy here, your immersion will be broken.
I listened to Wendy’s words in her ear and focused on looking at Grendel’s face.

[As expected, only my compatriots welcome me. I apologize if being around has bothered you. I needed time to clear my confused mind.]
“It’s the same for me. It was absurd to run into a fellow countryman I thought had died suddenly. Can I call you Grendel? A witch who was active during the Great War.”
[Yes, nameless compatriot. I want to hear the story of the world that has changed from you. How did the Great War end? Albert didn’t tell me much of the world. You are fortunate through words.]

As expected, what Grendel wanted was the information of this era.
My prediction was right.

[What is your name?]
“Luke Wiseman.”

Asking for his name, Grendel reached out. A large hand approaches me. Judging by the notice, it means to shake hands with fellow countrymen. Without hesitation, I shook hands with the gooey monster’s hand.

‘It’s disgusting.’

I feel sick to my stomach.
The sticky feel was unpleasant.

However, it was possible to maintain a softly smiling expression.
As if the outside and the inside were separated.

To be honest, I was also amazed at how I looked.

“Let’s live while helping each other. I also want to ask you a lot. You should have died once, but how did you come back to life? What’s going on in the Great Forest right now?”
[Good. Help each other Ask and answer.]

A dark night in the Great Forest.
Suddenly, a question and answer session with the legendary monster began.