Martial 27

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The Next Day, Unicorn Sighting Location

The day before, Eugene had finished his dinner and immediately set off to arrive early in the morning at the place where the unicorn was sighted.

“Huff!”

“Damn it… Huff…”

Eugene exhaled heavily after using up his inner strength to perform the Heaven Folding God Step (天摺神步) and stood in place, sighing. He had spent a full three hours to arrive where the unicorn was, but what the heck?

The unicorn moved at an unbelievable speed. No, more accurately, its intuition was incredible. Although Eugene was faster, there was no faster movement than the Heaven Folding God Step (天摺神步) even if his inner strength was insufficient. Despite such swift movements, Eugene couldn’t catch the unicorn. The reason was all due to the unicorn’s intuition. The unicorn sensed where Eugene was coming from and moved away in advance. Because of this, Eugene only wasted his inner strength and kept taking futile steps.

He had spent an entire day to get here, so he couldn’t just leave…

Now he was determined.

“If it were just running away, that’d be one thing, but…”

The unicorn kept circling around him. It was almost as if it was taunting him to catch it.

‘I could catch it if I used Ghost Illusion Steps (鬼幻神步)…’

However, he wasn’t yet skilled enough to perform Ghost Illusion Steps (鬼幻神步), which created ghost-like movements, making it seem like there were multiple people. If he could use that technique, he could block the unicorn’s path and corner it. But for now, that was impossible.

“See, I told you I’d help.”

Taeje, sprawled on a rock, spoke softly as he watched Eugene panting heavily.

“Get lost.”

“The great Heavenly Demon sulking just because I teased a bit…”

Taeje clicked his tongue as he elongated his claws to clean his ears. A few hours earlier, after being mocked several times by the unicorn, Eugene had been taunted by Taeje, who had said, “Need help?” but had done so in a mocking manner. 

‘The Heavenly Demon is being toyed with by just a horse.’

‘The Heavenly Demon is ancient history.’

‘The horse toyed with the Heavenly Demon, so we should call that horse the Heavenly Demon now.’

‘The Heavenly Demon (天魔) is gone, and the Heavenly Horse (天馬) has emerged.’

Taeje kept making puns, scraping Eugene’s nerves. That’s why Eugene responded to Taeje’s offer of help by telling him to get lost.

‘That damn Heavenly Horse… No, that damn unicorn… If only I could kill it, it would be much easier…’

Grinding his teeth, Eugene alternated his glare between Taeje and the unicorn. The unicorn’s horn had to be cut off while it was alive to retain its effectiveness. If the heart stopped or it felt pain, the magic in the horn would disappear, making it worthless. Because of this annoying peculiarity, the unicorn had to be captured alive to cut off its horn.

“Cutting it off while it’s struggling is fine, but not when it feels pain? Where’s the logic in that?!”

“Who are you talking to…? Have you finally gone mad?”

As Eugene shouted into the empty air in anger, Taeje shook his head and started mocking him again, saying, “The Heavenly Demon has finally gone mad.”

At that moment.

Rustle.

Someone pushed through the bushes beside Eugene and walked forward.

“What are you doing here?”

“That’s what I’d like to ask… Who are you?”

Eugene looked at the person who had appeared in front of him, bewildered.

It was a dwarf.

“I’m lost.”

Why was he saying that so proudly?

“That’s not something to be proud of…”

“We dwarves always speak our minds, no matter where we are.”

Thump. Thump.

The dwarf in front of Eugene pounded his broad chest.

“Well then, goodbye. I’m busy…”

“W-wait!”

Thud.

The dwarf suddenly grabbed Eugene’s passing arm.

“What is it?”

“I said I’m lost.”

“So?”

“Please help me find the way out.”

“Huh…”

Eugene almost nodded at the dwarf’s overly confident attitude. What a shameless human, no, a dwarf.

“I need to get that unicorn horn, so I’m busy. Just go straight that way, and you’ll find the path. Now let go and leave.”

“Hm? A unicorn?”

The dwarf leaned towards Eugene’s words and looked at the unicorn grazing in the distance.

“Sniff, sniff.”

“What… what are you doing?!”

Eugene recoiled in surprise as the dwarf suddenly started sniffing him.

Why did he stop looking at the unicorn to do this?

“You must have had a hard time trying to get that unicorn horn, judging by your strong sweat smell… Shall I catch it for you?”

“Pardon?”

Eugene’s eyes sparkled involuntarily at the dwarf’s words.

“Considering how strong the sweat smell is, you must have been at it for hours.”

Eugene involuntarily took a step back at the dwarf’s confident words.

Isn’t this guy a pervert?

‘How does he know how long I’ve been here just by the smell of my sweat?’

“Don’t misunderstand. I’m a blacksmith, so I’m quite familiar with sweat.”

“Hmm…”

But Eugene still looked at the dwarf with lingering suspicion.

“Anyway, if I help you get that unicorn horn, will you guide me?”

“Well… if you do that, I would gladly help you.”

“Ha ha, it’s a promise. Just trust me.”

The dwarf laughed loudly, seemingly excited, and carefully walked towards the unicorn with his sturdy body.

Step. Step.

Twitch.

“This is far enough.”

The dwarf, slowly walking towards the unicorn, stopped when he saw it twitching in the distance and reached into his bag.

Rustle. Rustle.

“It was here… Is this it… Ah, found it.”

After rummaging through his bag for a while, the dwarf took something out and placed it on the ground beneath him before stepping back.

“What is that?”

Eugene asked, looking at the item the dwarf had placed on the ground.

“That’s called a rainbow carrot.”

“No… I can see that… I mean, what are you doing with it?”

Eugene asked again, his voice tinged with exasperation.

He could see that it was a rainbow carrot with his own eyes.

A specialty of Seifran in the Bevel Kingdom, the rainbow carrot is known for its different flavors depending on its color and is loved by many as a delicious ingredient.

“You know it well.”

“But why did you put it there… Are you planning to lure it?”

Eugene barely suppressed the curse that almost slipped out.

What kind of person is this dwarf?

Rainbow carrots are popular with people, not animals or monsters.

Even a five-year-old knows that.

Due to their variety of flavors, animals tend to avoid them, and no one has ever heard of capturing a unicorn with a rainbow carrot.

Even monster manuals available in the market state that unicorns have no particular favorite food.

“And with just a carrot like that…”

“Shh.”

The dwarf suddenly nudged Eugene to be quiet.

“Oh…”

What unfolded next was a surprising sight.

“Neighhh.”

Munch. Munch.

The unicorn slowly approached and started munching on the rainbow carrot on the ground.

‘What is happening?’

The unicorn looked as if it was eating the most delicious food in the world.

“What are you doing? Hurry and cut off the horn.”

“Oh!”

Eugene, snapping out of his daze at the dwarf’s words, used his swift steps to approach the unicorn in an instant.

“What? It’s not running away?”

It was truly amazing.

The unicorn had calmed down just from eating the carrot.

Swoosh.

Crack.

Eugene took out a cheap dagger he had bought on the way and swiftly cut off the unicorn’s horn.

The unicorn’s horn would grow back even if it was cut off.

So Eugene cut it off without hesitation.

“Give me one more of those.”

Whiz.

The dwarf tossed another rainbow carrot to Eugene.

“Uh… here, eat up.”

“Fuhihing.”

Crunch.

The unicorn happily accepted the rainbow carrot from Eugene’s hand and, after a while, feeling much better, trotted away cheerfully into the distance.

“What did I just see…?”

Even though the unicorn had disappeared, Eugene remained rooted to the spot, still in shock.

Does only that unicorn like rainbow carrots?

Or do all unicorns like rainbow carrots?

If all unicorns like rainbow carrots, why hasn’t this fact been known?

Eugene was trying to find answers, bombarding himself with questions.

“See? Didn’t I tell you to just trust me?! Hahaha.”

“Th-thank you.”

Eugene thanked the dwarf, still looking puzzled.

“Do unicorns like rainbow carrots?”

“As you saw.”

“Then, why hasn’t this fact been known to people?”

“Well, because only a few people, including myself, know about it.”

“Ah…”

Only then did Eugene nod his head.

If the few who knew kept quiet, it was natural that people wouldn’t know.

“Now, could you guide me?”

“Ah, yes. Of course.”

Eugene smiled softly at the dwarf’s words.

Since he had received such great help, he could guide him a dozen times over.

How much trouble had he gone through for hours?

Being teased by Taeje and even being mocked by the unicorn.

He really felt like he was being rewarded for all that time by the dwarf.

“By the way, who are you? I don’t even know your name yet.”

As Eugene retraced his steps with the dwarf, he asked the dwarf’s name.

“Did I not mention my name? Allow me to formally introduce myself. I am Hedonte, the blacksmith.”

“Ah, I am Eugene Bedia… What?! He-Hedonte?”

Eugene nodded at the dwarf’s words, then suddenly looked up in shock at the dwarf’s face.

“Wait, what is the king of the dwarves doing here?”

Indeed.

The dwarf beside him was the king of the dwarves.

The king of the many dwarves spread across Seifran, an extraordinary being also known as the god of blacksmiths.

Such a being was standing right in front of Eugene.

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