S-Class Hunter Heals with Monsters - Chapter 174



Only Noblemtl

174. The wings that sprout from the back

Why don’t you fly? Cheon Do-woon laughed at that question. It was a question he had heard many times, even when he was young.

“Kim Na-ri, just like you said, I have wings too. I just don’t like flying myself.”

“Why?”

“If you take out the wings, your clothes will tear.”

“ah…!”

Kim Na-ri’s face became enlightened. It was a simple answer, but the siblings were convinced.

It’s understandable since they also wear baggy clothes on purpose because of their wings.

Of course, Cheon Do-woon didn’t take out his wings for that reason alone.

He said, recalling his childhood.

“Besides, once I take my wings out, it becomes a hassle to clean up. The researchers also don’t like me taking my wings out.”

“The researchers were reluctant?”

The siblings looked surprised.

The researchers they remember were those who were obsessed with investigating the physical changes in the test subjects.

What kind of wings have grown that make such people reluctant?

“I don’t know why, but whenever I take out my wings, the researchers’ expressions turn like rotten cucumbers.”

“Rotten cucumber? What kind of expression is that?”

“It’s hard to explain. Come to think of it, the combat uniforms I was given were all in a form where the wings couldn’t be pulled out.”

Chimera Hunters each have different combat uniform designs based on their physical characteristics.

In the case of winged flying machines, the upper back of the shirt was open.

It has been modified to allow the wings to be taken out at any time.

But Cheon Do-un had never received a combat suit like that.

[17. You don’t have to fly, so your combat power won’t decrease. Just fight mainly on the ground. That’s better.]

Researchers often say that.

The missions given to Cheon Do-un were always ground warfare.

‘What kind of monster’s wings are these?’

Since it’s an undead type monster, maybe its wings are half rotted away.

The moment I was about to say, “Show me,” Blue approached from afar.

“You’re here. Then shall we go?”

Cheon Do-un climbed on top of Blue as he landed.

“Sir, I’m going too!”

As if it were a given, Kim Na-ri climbed on top of the fox while holding it in her arms.

“We’ll go too. We witnessed the World Tree firsthand when it appeared. I remember its general location.”

The siblings also spread their wings and said.

As Blue took flight, the siblings followed behind.

Seok Woo-hyuk and No. 49, who were left in the yard, looked at them with regretful faces.

‘He said everything and left. He hung up at a place I was curious about.’

What kind of wings are these that made the researchers look like rotten cucumbers?

‘I should ask to see it when I get the chance.’

The two consoled each other by promising to meet again next time.

* * *

The forest area is large.

Even though it was in the same forest area, the dormant volcano was quite far from Cheon Do-un’s house.

After riding the Blue for a while, Cheon Do-woon felt a sense of discomfort and looked around.

“Sir, why are you doing that?”

“Something feels strange. The snow has already melted here.”

“Spring is coming soon. Isn’t that why?”

“No. We just flew north. There should still be a lot of snow here.”

Still, the snow had not completely melted. The air was strangely warm.

He looked around and soon discovered the cause.

“That was the cause.”

A dormant volcano where Cheondoun once released Mandragora.

It was no longer a dormant volcano. Smoke rose as if it were about to spew lava at any moment.

A mountain that had been dormant for hundreds of years was about to resume activity.

Blue flew away from the volcano with an instinctive aversion.

“We’ll go and see for you.”

The siblings flew towards the crater to avoid the volcanic smoke. After looking around the volcano, the two landed on Blue’s back.

“It looks pretty dangerous. It’s been a few days since it started operating. It looks like it could explode at any moment.”

There were already places where lava was slowly flowing down the mountain.

Cheon Do-un said while looking at the volcano.

“Rescuing Mandragora would be a priority over finding traces of the World Tree.”

“What does that mean?”

“I have some mandragora that I stole from Joseph’s lab when I was young. I added them to the group that lives in the mountains. There must be dozens of them.”

Mandragora are slow-moving. That’s why they live almost their entire lives in the same place they’ve taken root.

Given those characteristics, it was likely that they were still living on that mountain.

“There will be a procession of Mandragora evacuating. Let’s find them and take them.”

Cheon Do-woon jumped down from Blue. Kim Na-ri followed him.

“Moving together is inefficient. Let’s split up and look for them.”

At Cheon Do-un’s words, the siblings split into left and right.

Kim Na-ri scanned the area and ran in the opposite direction.

Cheon Do-woon took out a sack from his waist bag and placed it on his shoulder.

When it senses the energy of its own kind, Dodak will be the first to react.

He ran along the mountain path, recalling memories from long ago. At the same time, he began to cover the entire mountain with mana and search for it.

The things to detect are small creatures the size of a toad.

‘Detection is not easy. There are too many moving creatures.’

Beasts big and small were running wild, startled by the volcanic activity.

It was difficult to tell them apart as they all rushed down the mountain.

‘I need to change the detection conditions.’

Mandragora is slow. So let’s find a creature that moves slowly in this situation.

As soon as I changed the search direction, I caught something.

There were about 30 of them. They were about the size of a toad. Their movement speed was exactly that of a garden mandragora.

“Found it.”

Cheon Do-woon ran towards the detected location. As he got close, the toad on his shoulder suddenly stood up.

-Phew…!

This is the spirit of the same race. The same race is sending out a signal for rescue.

Dodaki jumped onto Cheon Do-woon’s shoulder.

Mandragora, with strong kinship, never abandons its own kind.

Even if it was not his own group, he did not ignore his own people in danger.

-Ouch, oh yeah!

Dodaki ran through the forest. He was wearing a white striped suit, so he was easy to spot even in the mountains.

‘That’s a good milestone.’

Dodak, who drew on Cheon Do-un’s physical abilities, was fast.

The place we arrived at was in front of a high cliff.

There, about 30 mandragora roots were running in a row.

-Ugh.

-Okay!

-Ugh.

-Okay!

The leader at the front encouraged the young roots. The roots responded to his call.

The roots ran hard. However, the short roots had a limit to how fast they could advance.

There were also many roots that fell over on the uneven ground.

Because of its characteristic of not abandoning its own kind when it falls, the other roots also stopped moving.

A situation where you are running hard but are just standing still.

“What is this… I’ve seen this scene before.”

Didn’t something similar happen in Seolsan before? Cheon Do-woon laughed.

It might have been dangerous for the Mandragoras, but it was a funny sight for Cheon Do-un.

-Whew!

The first to arrive, Dodak, lifted up the fallen roots one by one.

When their kind suddenly appeared, the roots looked surprised.

Their eyes were swayed by Dodak’s striped suit.

It’s a root that looks somewhat unusual. It’s a root that gives off a sense of solemnity.

Such roots were raising themselves up with great power.

-Phew… Phew!

The leader roared. Whoever it was, it was a greeting of thanks.

As Dodak’s eyes met, a majestic atmosphere flowed between the two roots.

‘Anyway, they’re interesting plants. Among them, Joseph’s Mandragora… .’

Sure enough, there must be one. Cheon Do-woon examined the roots one by one. Among them, his eyes met with a particularly plump root.

There was a moment of silence. From the moment Cheon Do-woon appeared, Puri couldn’t take her eyes off him.

The root’s mouth opened slightly.

-Huh…?

It was a small sound, but it was clearly heard by Cheon Do-woon’s ears.

The root took a step closer to Cheon Do-woon. The corners of Cheon Do-woon’s mouth slightly rose.

“It’s you.”

Cheon Do-woon walked towards the plump root.

“You’ve gained a lot of weight. How have you been?”

Unlike 60 years ago, the roots no longer staggered. They were no longer thin.

Thick torso and plump arms and legs.

The root looked up at Cheon Do-un with its healthy body. Its eyes shook slightly.

The unexpected encounter brought my thoughts to a halt. I had a lot to say, but I couldn’t say anything because I was so happy.

-Phew… Phew.

The words that came out were barely a small gasp.

The root regretted that. It wanted to make a healthier and more powerful whooshing sound.

This time, let’s properly appeal to our health. The moment I opened my mouth with that thought, there was a loud explosion.

The volcano began a full-scale eruption. A strong earthquake shook the area, accompanied by a rumbling sound.

-Whew!

-Ouch, oh yeah!

The ground gave way and the mandragoras fell down the cliff.

-Whew!

When Dodak saw that, he jumped down the cliff without hesitation. Dodak grabbed the young root that was falling.

It was a young, youngest root, only 3 centimeters in size. Roots this small can easily be overlooked if you’re not careful.

But that would never happen if I held it.

-Phew…!

The little root in my arms cried out in fear.

-Ouch, oh yeah!

Dodaki shouted too. He roared, telling me not to worry. Even though it was an emergency situation, Dodaki’s eyes did not waver.

Dodaki looked around as he fell.

About thirty mandragoras were falling, bouncing in all directions.

Still, Dodaki wasn’t worried.

-Whew!

Come, helper. I am here.

Dodaki tried to summon his secret assistant.

“Anyway, it’s a plant that requires a lot of care.”

There was no summoning circle or anything, but the helper appeared quickly.

A shadow fell over his head. He looked up and saw his helper jumping off the cliff.

Dodaki grabbed the young root and extended the other arm root to Cheon Do-woon.

-Ouch, oh yeah!

Catch me. At that call, Cheon Do-woon also reached out.

A sturdy hand grabbed the handle.

Cheon Do-woon held Dodak in his arms. The 3-centimeter-long root that Dodak was holding was also brought into his arms.

‘Let’s see. The remaining roots are… 32 roots.’

It bounced off in all directions so I couldn’t reach it.

He tried to catch it by shooting out a thread, but the falling rocks blocked the thread’s path.

There’s nothing we can do. We have to do this one by one by hand.

The moment he made up his mind, a sound of the cloth being torn on Cheon Do-un’s back was heard.

The clothes on his back burst open and wings sprouted.

Wings that had not been used for decades. Yet, he flew as naturally as breathing.

Cheon Do-un flapped his wings and snatched up the falling mandragoras one by one.

After embracing all the thirty roots, he rose into the sky.

Yoo Beom, who had spotted him from afar, quickly flew over.

“Hey, it’s okay….”

Yoo Beom’s voice broke off in the middle. A beat later, his gaze turned to Cheon Do Woon’s back.

“Cheon Do-un, your wings….”

He had sprouted wings. They were quite different in form from his own or Yujia’s.

Cheon Do-woon smiled as he looked at his wings.

“It’s been a while since you took it out. I didn’t know what kind of monster’s wing this was before.”

Large, round, translucent wings. Wings that scatter sparkling powder in all directions with each flap.

“Now I see. These were the wings of a silkworm caterpillar.”

“ah….”

Yoo Beom groaned. Mysteriously, sparkling light dust scattered around Cheon Do Woon.

The sight was just like a fairy tale from a fairy tale book… .

‘What am I looking at right now?’

Yoo Beom’s expression changed to that of a rotten cucumber. He covered his face with his hand as if he had seen something he shouldn’t have seen.

He checked Cheon Do-woon’s appearance again through the gap between his spread fingers.

Flutter, flutter. Every time Cheon Do-un’s wings moved, sparkling light powder poured down.

As the wind blew, light dust spread around him, creating a mysterious sight.

Fairy Cheon Do-un, who holds about thirty mandragoras.

It was a greater blow to the viewer’s spirit than expected.

[Once I take out my wings, it becomes a hassle to clean them up.]

What Cheon Do-un said came to mind.

Of course, if you take those wings out indoors, there will be glitter everywhere and it will be a hassle to clean up afterwards.

[When the wings were taken out, the researchers’ expressions changed to look like rotten cucumbers]

Rotten cucumber. Is that so? That was it. Yoo Beom immediately understood.

If he had appeared with the gloomy wings of an undead, I would have nodded.

But what appeared was the sparkling fairy Cheon Do-un.

“Hmm….”

Fairy Cheon Do-un.

Yoo Beom was sure that his expression had turned into that of a rotten cucumber right now.

On the other side was Yujia, with a face like a rotten cucumber.

“That, that’s…! That’s cool! That’s cool, mister!”

Only Kim Na-ri, looking up at the sky from afar, shouted that.