Dirty Work

“…Huh?”

The warriors, who had also perked up their ears, jumped as if their tails were on fire.

“Th-then, is she, the one who will become the Valtael?!”

He only raised an eyebrow at the excited question, giving no answer.
Considering the years I’ve served him, he’s definitely not one to joke about such things.

To think that Valta, who couldn’t find a mate even after searching for years, had finally imprinted.
A murmur quickly spread as the situation was understood.

Gazes of ‘you’re so lucky to have seen the Valtael in advance’ came from all over.

‘…She’s going to be the Valtael? That woman?’

Beneath his dazed expression, the image of the strange, pink-furred woman who had been stealing Nemean nails came to mind.

“Tell him it was dirty being together, and let’s never meet again.”

Amidst the festive warriors, Tegen alone couldn’t decide whether to celebrate or be dismayed.

[…A dichotomous being appears….]
[…A dichotomous being appears….]
[…A dichotomous being appears….]

Unable to take it anymore, I burst out in anger.

“Why are so many of you coming!”

Regardless, the number of clumps falling from the sky was rapidly increasing.

As soon as I left the Nemean garrison, I was surrounded by a dense crowd of Observers, unable to move a single step.
No matter how many times I cast a CC skill and ran, I was blocked by another Observer that appeared at my feet.

“Stop! Stop coming!”

A little while ago, I had safely escaped the Nemean prison and was looking at a map of the habitat.
It was to get more of the Nemean claws I was short of.

I could have actually gathered them all in the prison corridor, but someone who seemed to be one of Karvan’s subordinates kept talking to me.

“Th-those clothes, where did you get them?”
“How do you know our Valta?”
“If you don’t mind, your name is…”

It was annoying to be asked so persistently, so I just handed over Karvan’s clothes and ran away.

That judgment was good, up to a point.

[Wanted level has increased due to fatal skill abuse. (Reason: Contact with a grade 1 dangerous individual)]

It was a bolt from the blue.
Fatal skill abuse.

Could it be because I plundered that man’s skill?

[<Observer> that has recognized your presence is being summoned to your current location.]

Even as I agonized, the rain of Observers continued to pour down.
For every one I took care of, two fell from the sky.
They gathered together so amicably, surrounding me like a fence.

“Isn’t this a bit of an extravagant greeting for seeing you after just one day?”

I felt like a famous celebrity.
Flash, flash, the flashes were going off like crazy.
The problem was that it was the reflected light from their saw-like teeth.

“Spiral of Incapacitation!”

[Failed to cast <Spiral of Incapacitation> skill.]

‘…Why can’t I concentrate?’

I rubbed my blurry eyes.
The skill, which had never failed before, missed three times in a row.

My body felt limp, and I seemed to have a fever.

It couldn’t be a cold.
This world was just a game, and my current body didn’t get sick with things like diseases.

Even if I was injured to the point where my bones were exposed, as long as I was alive, I could recover by drinking a potion or sleeping in a safe bed.

This was just a vessel for my consciousness in a virtual reality.

‘…But, why is this happening?’
My ears were hot, and my body felt languid.

[Special status abnormality <Imprint Sickness> persists.
(※ Sufficient rest is required. Mana and health will be continuously and rapidly depleted.)]

The status window kept displaying a warning message, but it didn’t register properly in my eyes.
My exclusive weapon, the Leviathan, which I would normally wield as lightly as a straw, felt as heavy as a king-sized water bottle.

I struck the two that clung to my back and kicked the one that clung to my front, but my ankle throbbed with a clang.

I staggered for a moment at the tingling sensation, then my neck was grabbed by a rake-like hand.

“Ugh!”

Crack.
The empty face split open like a black bag.
As if to swallow me whole.

I heard a chorus of phantom-like wails in the pitch-black mouth.

[…Executing the first principle: Separate the deserter from the world…]

‘No. I don’t want to die like this. How have I endured until now!’

I desperately tried to swing the Leviathan, but both my arms were restrained.
Another Observer, with its mouth wide open like a black bag, lumbered towards me.

Slice.

The surroundings, which were about to go dark, brightened up.
The head that was about to swallow me whole was rolling on the floor.

An expressionless face beyond the neatly severed cross-section of the body.

“…I didn’t think so. To think you were a Destroyer.”

A cold voice to match.

“Is that why you were running away so frantically.”

Karvan Baharga.
It was him.

The sword, emanating a chilling aura, flashed again, and a few more Observers were cut down.

‘…They’ll just reattach themselves anyway.’

I looked at the body parts rolling on the floor with anxious eyes.

It was one of the reasons I avoided fighting the Observers and just cast CC skills and ran.

They never die.
Even if you shatter them into pieces, they quickly reassemble themselves like slime and attack again.

However, the corpses showed no signs of movement.
The Observers cut down by the man’s hand could not be restored and just rolled around, emitting smoke like dry ice.

“It’s a grim reaper! Everyone to your positions!”

‘…What happened?’
Beyond the Observers, who were as confused as I was, clumps of fur flew in.

They were Karvan’s subordinates whom I had seen in the Nemean prison.

Every time they swung their berserk claws, the Observers were scattered like minced pudding.

I looked at them with horrified eyes.

The people here, the NPCs, couldn’t even properly perceive the Observers.
They were called ‘messengers of death’ or ‘grim reapers’ because they were only seen right before death.

But, how?
As if answering my confused question, an Observer chattered.

[Error: ‘God-Devouring Wolf.’ Varg data. Unrecognized. Disposal code unconfirmed. Unable to process. 0100010 error. Deserter pursuit suspended. Rebooting.]

My thought process stopped at the name that popped out.

The skill the man had was from the Varg.
I had used it once, so there was no way I wouldn’t know.

So for a brief moment, I wondered, ‘Is that man a Varg?’
But I thought it couldn’t be.

Karvan didn’t have the Varg’s characteristic ears or tail, and why would a deleted race be wandering around in the first place?

[New data has been updated.
Varg: God-Devouring Wolf (Data Unknown)]

‘…But, to think he was a real Varg.’

His attitude of ignoring me no matter how much I talked to him.
His tendency to keep his distance.
The way his face turned cold when I asked if he was an Awakener.
All those questionable actions suddenly made sense.

“They’re running away! Chase them!”

Awooo!
Howling sounds were heard from all over, and they chased the Observers who were retreating sluggishly.

As I was staring blankly at the Varg who were running happily like dogs chasing a black ball, crunch.
Footsteps approached.

“I’m sure I told you to wait in front of the Nemea fortress.”

He said, tossing the words as he looked at me sitting on the ground.
His eyes, reflecting the sunlight, glinted a particularly bright yellow.

“Did you mistake the place?”

“…I told your subordinate, didn’t you hear?”

When I spoke bluntly, he tilted his head, looked down at me, and held out his hand.
He was wearing the robe I had sent him on his shoulders.

“I received it well. As you can see.”

“Then, why.”

“It was dirty.”

I flinched at the indifferently spoken words.

“Will you give this to Karvan?”
“It was dirty being together, and let’s never meet again.”

“I-it’s true! You licked me all over like that!”

“Didn’t you hold it out for more at one point?”

‘…Well, that’s true.’
Having nothing more to say, I meekly took the man’s outstretched hand and got up.
I almost fell into his arms from the recoil of getting up, but I pushed him away and stumbled back.

“Ahem, ahem. Thanks for the help. It was nice meeting my cellmate.”

“……”

“It was a good connection. Well then.”

…Ah!
I hurriedly turned around and walked a few steps, then almost sat down.

My right foot tingled as if it had been electrocuted.
Could it be a sprain?
I pretended to be fine and hopped on one foot, but the gravity under my feet disappeared.

“What, what are you doing!”

He paid no mind to my flustered struggles and scooped me up, supporting my waist and the backs of my knees, and sat me on a nearby rock.

“No! I’ll do it.”

I stopped him from touching the decorative string and took off my shoes myself.

My ankle was swollen to twice its size.
It must be the aftermath of kicking the enhanced Observer earlier.

“Ugh…”

Surely it’s not broken?
As I was looking at it in a difficult situation, the man bent down and lifted my ankle.

Thinking he wouldn’t know much just by looking at it up close, I meekly offered my leg, but I was startled by the red tongue that suddenly came out.

“N-no!”

Is he crazy!
Go away!
I pushed his shoulder roughly, and he stopped and looked at me.
It was a look of incomprehension.

“Why?”

“It’s fine. I have potions now, and I can use healing skills!”

“……”

“I’ll take care of the treatment myself, so you go your way… Aaargh!”

He seemed to be listening to my words quite attentively, but he ended up pulling my ankle and rubbing his lips against it.

“Stop! Don’t do it!”

I pushed the man’s shoulder, but he paid me no mind and began to lick my swollen ankle.
A red tongue, unfitting of his cool gaze, moved meticulously.

I thought about kicking him away, but I couldn’t.
The image of the Observer being split in half like a ripe watermelon earlier came to mind.

“P-please. It’s dirty, it’s dirty.”

Why is he doing this.
Really!
I propped myself up with one arm on the ground behind me and covered my blushing face with the other hand.

Even though it was my ankle, I hadn’t been able to wash it, and it was covered in dirt from running away from the Observer just now, yet he rubbed his lips against it and licked it without a care.
He would occasionally look up to check my expression, to see if I was in pain.

“S-stop it…”

I wanted to cry.
What was more pathetic was that the effect was amazing.
The throbbing pain disappeared as if it were a lie.
Every time his persistent tongue touched me, a cool sensation, as if a plaster had been applied, brushed past.

After a long while, Karvan returned my ankle.
The swelling was gone as if it had never been there, and it was clean without a single wound.

‘…How is this possible?’
As I was poking my healed ankle, I heard a voice close by.

“Is there still pain?”

“No. That’s not it…”

“Why do you keep touching it?”

Because it doesn’t make sense for a wound to heal completely just by licking it!
I swallowed the rest of my words and just kneaded my innocent ankle, when I heard a low murmur from my surroundings.

“Isn’t that Valta’s imprint?”
“Ah, are we finally getting a Valtael!”

Only then did I realize that I was surrounded by wolf beast-kin, who I didn’t know when they had returned.