## Chapter 602 – Scent of Spring

Even with a full set of gear and a backpack, my body felt light.

Mana and muscle training had enhanced my stamina and endurance, turning me into an inhuman marching machine. This is why taking a carriage would be slow. It’s faster to go on my own two feet.

Except for occasional breaks to replenish calories, I ran non-stop towards Schled.

If I ran at night too, I’d probably arrive quickly.

“Ah, damn it. It’s still kinda hot, though.”
“Are you hot?”
“Yeah. Really hot.”

Still, the temperature had warmed up, so I was sweating as I kept running. As I leaned against a tree to chew on some jerky, Hildegard created a magic circle in her hand.

“What’s that?”
“Watch.”

—Zzzzz.

A blue magic circle appeared, and suddenly a cold wind poured out of it. I was about to die from the heat, so the cold energy made my eyes widen.

“Oh, shit!!!”

I immediately stuffed the jerky into my mouth and threw myself in front of it.

—Whoosh.

“So damn cool!!!”
“Hehe! This is just basic! Tell me anytime you’re hot!”
“Thanks a lot!”

Goddamn Hildegard!

The cool wind cooled my heated body, and I started to feel good.

Aside from the heat, there was nothing particularly difficult, and everything was good. If I make money, should I learn to ride a horse and travel on horseback? That might be nice too.

“Hey, Hilde.”

I called out to Hilde while enjoying the wind.

“Yes?”
“Do you know anything about the demons’ movements these days?”
“No. I don’t know anything in particular. I already left Hell, you see.”
“Left Hell? Why?”
“Katt-nim is here, so there’s no need to go to that gloomy place. Last time I checked, the gate didn’t seem to open well either, but I don’t care.”

Come to think of it, Saintess Kadia did say that the gate incident seemed to be over.

But where does this one come from then?

“What? Where do you come from then?”
“I have my own personal space. It’s a succubus ability, and I’m always there.”

Is it different from Hell?

“You could say it’s a pleasure room. Shall we go there together?”
“No thanks. Let’s get moving.”
“Katt-nim. Can’t we go through the mountains? Running is too hard. I want to fly, but I can’t on the road.”
“Then I have to climb the mountain.”
“I’ll keep blowing the wind.”
“We don’t have time.”

I have to climb a mountain at some point, but if I start now, it’ll be too late. The only reason I didn’t take a carriage was to save time.

“Hmph. I guess I have no choice.”
“Going back?”
“No. I’ll just have to run.”
“Then do that.”

Anyway, I ran along the road with Hilde.

Even though she was transformed into a human, she was still a demon at heart, so her stamina was good. Without tiring, we sprinted like marathon runners.

After a few hours, I saw a group of people ahead.

“Humans?”
“Keep your mouth shut.”

There were about five of them.

Judging by their attire, they were all adventurers.
If we were unlucky, they might be bandits.

In fact, Kim Katt’s statistics showed that one in three adventurers you meet in remote areas are definitely bandits. Adventurers tend to turn into thugs if you look easy to take advantage of.

But whether they were bandits or not, five people weren’t really a problem, so I just decided to pass them.

I approached them, pretending to be nonchalant.

Looking at them, they seemed to be heading back to Isvant, so they must be a group returning from somewhere. Their clothes looked neat, so they didn’t seem to have been through much… What are these guys?

“…”
“…”

Both sides were staring at each other.

They didn’t seem like bad guys, but I could feel them being wary of me.

That was natural, and that was it.

Without any major conflict, we passed each other.

Thankfully, they weren’t bandits.

Well, my appearance was obviously wearing high-end armor. I had even taken off my cape because it was too hot, so there was no way I would be bothered.

Hilde behind me was also transformed into a human and wearing mage-like clothes. If they had any brains, they wouldn’t bother someone who looked like they knew what they were doing.

“Ugh, those unpleasant gazes. So annoying, really.”
“What?”

As they disappeared into the distance, Hildegard rubbed her shoulders with her hands as if she had goosebumps.

“Didn’t you feel it, Katt-nim? They were practically licking my body with their sticky gazes… All five of them looked at me like that at the same time! It’s unpleasant, really!”

She seemed quite annoyed.
Did those guys look at her like that?

I didn’t really pay attention, so I didn’t notice.

“Is that so?”
“I would have really liked it if Katt-nim had said something.”
“Sorry. I didn’t know.”

I was just thinking about whether they were bandits or not, and I didn’t think about Hildegard. But if they had looked at my wives like that, I would have immediately drawn my sword.

Damn it, now that I think about it, those bastards are pissing me off.

I’m going crazy…!

“Hey, weren’t you supposed to like those kinds of gazes since you’re a succubus? Don’t you recover energy from that kind of thing?”
“That’s true, but I only like Katt-nim now. I can’t see other men as males anymore… It’s just unpleasant.”

Hildegard’s face turned red as she hugged my arm.

“I’ve been looking around, and I can’t find a male as full of lust as Katt-nim, hehe.”
“My virility is that strong?”
“Yes! There wasn’t even a male who was similar or comparable! So I’d be really happy if you could share some with me.”

No, damn it, is my dick that great…?

I knew very well that my virility and lust had exploded due to continuous muscle training and mana cultivation.

But was it so bad that Hildegard would say something like this?

“You! You’ve been clinging to me because of that!”
“That’s part of it, but now I just like Katt-nim himself. The man I like has the strongest virility and lust, so I think I’m the most blessed succubus in the world.”
“Oh dear.”

What am I supposed to do with this one?
She’s as troublesome as Arin.

“Hehe, don’t worry about it! I’m just talking to myself. Let’s go.”

Anyway, I headed to Schled with Hilde.

* * *

Even after the sun went down, I used the Latras Necklace to light the way and did some night marching. Then, I made a simple tent with the materials I had brought and slept for about four hours before getting up and moving again.

I sent Hilde back when I went to sleep.
I’ll call her next time I need help.

Anyway, aside from killing the small monsters that appeared from time to time, there were no problems.

Checking the map, it seemed like I would arrive in Schled in about two hours.

That meant there was a high probability that there would be a Drake pack in this area.

Perhaps some stragglers were hiding nearby, so I would kill them if I had the chance. They said it was 5 silver per Drake, so I wanted to catch at least twenty.

With that in mind, I moved for about an hour.

—Rustle!
—Rustle rustle rustle!!

Suddenly, I heard something moving violently in the forest.

—The sound of footsteps and bushes being pushed aside.

It was no joke.

I judged that it was at least a medium-sized monster.

That meant it was probably a Drake. Alright, damn it, I found them as soon as I arrived. There were no other medium-sized monsters that would be here at this time. A large pack was moving, so what crazy monster would be left? They would have all been eaten or run away long ago.

—Swoosh.

I threw off my backpack and drew my sword at the same time. At the same time, I saw two bipedal lizard heads with green skin running towards me.

—Thump thump thump thump!!

It was a monster slightly larger than a normal horse.

Its green scales looked hard, and the teeth protruding from its open mouth were sharp.

—Screech!
—Screeeeeech!!!

Those monsters that looked like dinosaurs were Drakes.

“These crazy bastards!!!”

Asking me to kill those bastards for 5 silver each was practically a scam. They were obviously full of muscles, their teeth were damn sharp, and their size was bigger than a horse.

They were definitely D-rank party hunting monsters.

Well, that’s why it was a voluntary request. Since a large group had appeared anyway, they wanted me to bring back their heads while I was there.

—Screeeeeeeeeech!!!!!

The excited Drakes found me and screamed as they charged. Their strong legs dodged vines and tree roots as they kicked off the ground.

It was a fast and powerful charge, but.

“Celestial Demon’s Descent.”

They were no match for me.

—Bang!

I immediately kicked off the ground and charged towards the Drakes. With a single step, I closed the distance of several meters in an instant. The thrust, powered by that fierce speed, was bound to be destructive.

“Supreme Commander Thrust, Dejyaaaaaaaat!!!!!!!!!”

—Thwack!

As I thrust my sword into the Drake’s open mouth, the tip of the merciful killing sword shattered its brain, piercing through its skull and popping out.

—Splatter!

I quickly pulled out the sword, and blood and brain matter splattered around as the Drake’s body collapsed.

It took exactly 3 seconds to kill one.

In the first place, those monsters that charge with their mouths open like that can never break through my sword range. I just have to stick out my sword, and they come to be skewered like skewers.

Of course, this was possible because my strength and guts were backing me up.

—Screeeeeeeech!!!

The other Drake, seeing its companion die, stopped running and turned towards me in anger. It was trying to bite and crush my head at all costs.

—Snap!

“You cheeky bastard!”

Still, it was a strong monster, so its speed of attacking with the intention of hunting was quite fast. It was about to bite my head, so I used the Supreme Commander Footwork to dodge the attack and at the same time, I dug into its side.

—Screech?!

A monster’s movements can’t keep up with a human who has trained their mana.

“Asura Blood Destruction Fist.”

Then, I unleashed the Asura Blood Destruction Fist, coated with fist energy, towards the Drake’s completely empty side. —Thud! I felt the Drake’s bones and muscles being destroyed at the end of my fist, along with a flesh-tearing sound like a mortar being fired.

—Bang!

As a result of the destructive impact, the Drake, which was about the size of a horse, flew all the way to a thick tree in front of it, crashed into it with a loud noise, and collapsed on the ground.

“Hehehe, these weaklings.”

Drakes were relatively strong among medium-sized monsters, but it didn’t take me 30 seconds to kill two of them at once. These bastards can never beat me.

—Scree, screeeech…

I immediately approached the tree, and I saw the Drake unable to get up and flailing wildly, making strange noises, as if its bones were broken in places and its nerves were paralyzed.

“May you rest in peace.”

—Thwack!

I immediately brought down the merciful killing sword and severed its neck bone.

I caught two, so that’s 10 silver. Well, as long as there are monsters, making money seems easy. If I skinned both of them and took all the bones and teeth, I could make some money.

The village, my destination, was right in front of me, so I could sell them there cheaply.

Anyway, I immediately took out a knife and turned over the Drake’s corpse and cut open its belly. I was going to skin it first and then cut off some thigh meat to grill and eat, but

“Oh, oh!”
“Hey!”
“Who’s there!”
“N-no way!”

Suddenly, people appeared from the other side.

They looked like weak adventurers and had surprised expressions on their faces as they pointed at me.

What are these guys?

There were six of them.

“The Drake… is dead.”

One of them came up and looked at the Drake I had killed for a moment and said that. His complexion was not good. Was it this guy’s pet? There’s no way someone who raises a monster head like that is sane.

“We were driving them, but you caught them.”

His expression was dark.

Ah.

“Is that so?”

Were these guys driving the monsters? Come to think of it, it was strange that they suddenly appeared. It seemed that the adventurers who had found the Drakes that had been left behind were driving them for hunting.

But what can I do?

I already caught them.

“We’ve been tracking them for hours…”
“Hehehe, isn’t that how the world works? I caught them, so go find another Drake.”

I immediately said kindly to them.

I didn’t know about the driving, and in this case, the one who catches them is the owner. If I had left the charging Drakes alone and they had attacked me, these guys wouldn’t have taken responsibility.

But since the situation had turned out like this, it would be better to persuade them nicely.
They might have other intentions.

“…”

But after hearing my explanation, the adventurers looked at each other and whispered, then suddenly closed their mouths.

…I have a feeling that something bad is going to happen.

“Listen. This Drake was being tracked by our party for hours.”
“So?”

The guy who seemed to be the leader said to me as if he was arguing.

“What do you mean so? Since things have turned out this way, I won’t ask for everything. Just give us that one.”
“What?”
“I think that’s the right thing to do.”

What the hell are these brain-dead bastards?