Chapter 25

Chapter 25 – Chapter 3: Rescue #8 

Caitlin wasn’t alone . Behind her, the lycanthropes were breathing harshly . Just like Caitlin, they were completely covered with the blood of the orcs .

"Uh, um, save . . . No, I came to help you . ” 

It was an atmosphere where he couldn’t say that he came to save her .

‘Should I have just left?’ 

The Red Lightning tribe orcs were the ones in trouble due to Caitlin and her troops .

Caitlin wiped away the blood on her face with her hands and approached In-gong . Then she noticed Carack and Felicia behind him and cried out,

“Felicia unni!” 

No one could deny the pure emotions in her voice .

The cry contained a mixture of worry and joy, causing Felicia to respond with an awkward expression .

“Uh, yes . Caitlin . ”

She moved her head and gazed at something else . He couldn’t be sure because he couldn’t see her facial expression, but it seemed like she was ashamed .

Caitlin laughed brightly at the sight of Felicia and turned back to In-gong .

“Amazing . This is a huge merit . ”

It was definitely a big merit . Caitlin’s sincere praise was also pleasing but this place wasn’t very ideal . Despite being reduced, the red dots on the mini-map showed that there were still enemies .

“Thank you . That . . . Noona, let’s escape quickly . Chris hyung can take care of himself . ”

The 15 year old Caitlin was strong, but Chris was close to an adult and was more powerful . Moreover, he had more troops under his command, so there shouldn’t be any problems .

Caitlin gazed in the direction where Chris was supposed to be and nodded .

"Yes, Oppa is strong . ”

She said with conviction, and after a long breath, she fixed her expression . Her expression was serious and somewhat cold again, just like the first time he saw her .

"Shutra, lead the way . We will take the rear . ”

“Understood . ”

After In-gong’s reply, he immediately started running towards the Jishuka Mountains with Carack and the orcs . Felicia’s lips tightened and she ran towards the rear with the lycanthropes instead of with In-gong . This was to secure their path of retreat by controlling the flames .

‘Isn’t she kind of sincere?’ 

She snapped whenever he asked her to do something, but grudgingly did it, so it was a little bit cute .

Fortunately, there was no threat on the way back . Part of it was due to Felicia controlling the flames, but the number of orcs in the base also seemed to be greatly reduced .

"Won’t we be going over the mountains at this rate?” 

Once they started climbing the mountain, Felicia joined In-gong again and asked . It was a natural question for Felicia to ask since she didn’t know about the existence of the cave .

"There is a secret passage . We just need to go a little further . ” 

Carack raised his hand and pointed to the middle of the mountain when he answered . Felicia frowned but didn’t ask anymore questions .

After a few minutes . Felicia entered the secret passage and admired the portal .

“Dwarf characters? The cave and portal in the Jishuka Mountains were made by dwarves?” 

Her eyes shone as she asked Caitlin . Perhaps her curiosity as a magician was triggered .

Caitlin laughed and replied,

“Shutra is the one who found this cave . ” 

“Shutra?” 

Felicia looked at In-gong with a frown and Caitlin also stared at him .

It was enjoyable to have two beautiful women staring at him, but Felicia’s gaze was a little burdensome . In-gong shrugged and replied, 

"Let’s talk after we go back . ” 

"Yes, we should return . The operation is a success . ”

Naturally, it was Chris who spoke . In-gong, who was surprised by Chris’ sudden appearance, habitually zoomed in on the mini-map . Chris then laughed and hugged In-gong’s shoulders .

“Oppa . ” 

"Yes, Caitlin . I’m glad to know that you’re okay . ” 

Although he had the blood of orcs all over his body, he didn’t seem to care .

Chris looked at the only uncomfortable face over In-gong’s shoulder .

"It has been a while, Felicia noonim . ” (more formal version of Noona) 

His voice and expression was completely different from when he talked to Caitlin and In-gong .

In-gong swallowed his saliva involuntarily as Felicia looked up . Whether it was a blessing or misfortune, Felicia maintained a calm attitude in front of Chris .

“It has been a while . ” 

Felicia replied briefly and Chris gave a bloody smile like he found Felicia’s reaction interesting .

In-gong intervened the two people .

"Chris hyung, what about General Vandal?” 

In fact, he was quite curious about this . Depending on the result of the battle, the war itself could end .

"It will take a while, so let’s go back and talk . Also, Shutra, can you block the other side of the dwarf portal?” 

In-gong stuttered at Chris’ sudden question .

"Uh, it is possible . ” 

He’d read that there was such a function . It was an emergency function for when the enemy seized a portal .

The conversation flowed naturally, but there was a person who felt goosebumps . Felicia glanced at Caitlin with confusion and Caitlin smiled while replying, 

“Shutra can read dwarf characters . He is also the one who figured out how to use the portal . ” 

Her expression indicated that she wanted to say ‘Amazing!’ afterwards .

Felicia looked even more disturbed as she watched In-gong explain to Chris .

&

“Hurry, Hyung . ”

It took more time than he thought for more than 400 troops to pass through the portal . In-gong waited until the last person was through and blocked the portal, then Seira approached .

“We have organized a place to rest . Come this way . " 

They seemed to have cleaned up all the monsters and taken control of the cave .

Seira showed them to a small room decorated like the tent .

"Thank you, Seira . Please step back . ”

At Chris’ command, Seira obediently left the room . In-gong also glanced at Carack who then left .

Once there were only four people left in the room, Chris opened his mouth .

"General Vandal also won . I think Yakuzan gave up the battle once he saw the base burning . ” 

Yakuzan was the leader of the Red Lightning tribe .

In-gong asked Chris,

"Did Yakuzan surrender?” 

"No, they just scattered in different directions . If he gathers all the scattered Red Lightning tribe members and allies, the battle can still drag on . ”

Beyond the mountain where In-gong’s group was located, there was still Kairam who was Kaichin’s brother . If the split-up troops gathered where Kairam was, their numbers would be significant .

This time, it was Caitlin who asked, 

"Oppa, is General Vandal tracking Yakuzan?” 

“Perhaps . Well, it was just mere chance that he hadn’t caught Yakuzan straight away . ” 

Chris had been fighting at the base of the Red Lightning tribe the whole time . Therefore, he wouldn’t have been able to see the battle between General Vandal and Yakuzan’s army but he seemed pretty convinced the enemy was cornered .

"Anyway, the Red Lightning tribe was hit hard by this operation . Yakuzan’s authority has cracked and you managed to rescue Felicia noonim . . . No matter what anyone else says, the one with the highest achievements in this mission is you, Shutra . ”

Chris tapped In-gong’s shoulders while Caitlin stared at him with shining eyes .

In-gong worried about how to answer for a moment before finally laughing .

"Thank you, it is also thanks to both of you . ”

He didn’t know if it was due to the atmosphere, but the temperature of the room seemed quite warm .

As always, Chris laughed and knocked against In-gong’s shoulder before his expression changed . His cold gaze was directed at Felicia, not In-gong .

"Okay, now it is Noonim’s turn . ” 

Felicia frowned while Caitlin stared into her eyes .

Chris asked with a smile, 

“Why did you come here?”

“Don’t you already know?” 

"I want to hear it . " 

Chris was smiling but his eyes were completely different . In-gong swallowed his saliva .

‘Yes, this is the real Chris . ’

The beast, the beast – a predator hunting his prey .

Felicia bit her lip and sighed . She shrugged slightly and said, 

"I heard news of the battle while studying relics nearby . I came to help but went down the wrong path and ran into them . Do you need any further explanation?” 

Her words were just as expected . Perhaps, Chris also knew he wouldn’t hear anything else .

‘Is it just a quarrel? Or does he want to kill her?’ 

Either option wasn’t good for his mentality . Moreover, the person was Felicia, not Zephyr .

He would prefer drawing her to his side, rather than hurting her feelings .

“Hey, isn’t it time to get some rest? Isn’t everybody tired?” 

In-gong interrupted naturally and Chris nodded .

"Yes, that’s right . Noonim can have this room . People will soon arrive with things to allow you to wash up . ”

“Bah . ”

Felicia snorted but didn’t express any dissatisfaction . No, it seemed like she wanted to wash up as quickly as possible .

"Then we will leave . Have a good night’s sleep, Noona . ” 

In-gong hastily said goodbye to Felicia and tried to leave the room with Chris and Caitlin . It was at that moment . . .

“Excuse me . ” 

“Huh?”

He turned back at the call and saw Felicia who was looking away . She looked down and said in a very small voice, 

"I want to thank all three of you . I'm alive thanks to you . "

“Eh?”

Chris turned back . Caitlin blinked and smiled brightly while In-gong also laughed .

Felicia squinted at all three of them before turning away .

"I don't know, I'm going to rest . Leave now!” 

Her back didn’t show anything, but he could see her embarrassment from how red her ears turned .

In-gong refrained from laughing and followed Chris and Caitlin out .

"She is still cute . She is fine even when making a mistake . ” 

Chris said with a laugh as soon as they left the room . Caitlin smiled again and turned to In-gong .

"It is a good thing . Thank you, Shutra . It is all thanks to you . ”

Their actions towards Felicia seemed to tell a story .

What was the relationship between Chris, Caitlin and Felicia? 

'It seems pretty good just looking at Caitlin and Felicia . . . Is the problem with Chris?’ 

He didn’t have an answer right now . Instead of worrying about it, In-gong scratched his cheek and responded to Caitlin .

“It is the result of fighting together . All the merits are ours . ” 

It might have seemed like flattery, but Caitlin nodded instead of laughing .

Chris placed an arm over In-gong’s shoulder .

"Come, let’s wash and take a break before going to sleep . Tomorrow is likely to be quite busy . ” 

Chris glanced at In-gong . It was a gaze that seemed to be testing In-gong .

‘He isn’t talking about Yakuzan . ’ 

If they were taking care of Yakuzan, there would be no reason to travel back through the portal .

Then there was only one reason remaining .

“Are you talking about Kairam?” 

"Yes, what reason do we have for allowing them to join Yakuzan?” 

Kaichin’s older brother, Kairam – it was his troops that were beyond the mountains and they were likely unaware of what had happened to the Red Lightning tribe’s base .

The reason they weren’t attacking now was because the soldiers were exhausted from today’s fight .

"I am looking forward to your actions, Shutra . ” 

Chris tapped In-gong before going his own way and it was the same for Caitlin .

In-gong was left alone with Carack .

"Prince’s room is over there . I will prepare a bath . ” 

Carack was always the same . In-gong couldn’t help laughing .

"What is it?”

“No, it’s just . I am strangely relieved . ”

In-gong replied and started stretching . It had been a hard day .

He had gained a level, built up his merits and learnt magic .

‘I also found a new alliance candidate . ’ 

In-gong glanced at the room Felicia was in and nodded . Then, he followed Carack’s footsteps .