“Wow, what a bastard

,” 

Zich grumbled.

‘Ha

h

, my personality has really 

become

 better

. I actually let a guy like that go

.’

If it wasn’t for Snoc, who Sam cared for like 

a

 brother, and the troll that appeared at the right tim

e

, Zich would

’

ve broken a couple of Drew’s limbs by now.

Hans approached Zich and asked, 

“What’s their relationship?”

“

An

 adventurer and a miner. They don’t seem to have much in common.”

“Snoc 

fantasizes

 adventurers. He probably 

followed

 Drew to learn a couple of things. I heard him 

address

 Drew

 as

 ‘Teacher.’”

“Good for him.”

“I’m not sure about that

,” 

Zich 

said

 negatively.

‘There’s no way a guy like that will raise a disciple.’

Moreover, Zich had never heard about an adventurer 

raising

 a disciple

. A

dventurers were people who were too busy with their day-to-day 

tasks

 of surviving

.

‘At best, he will be a 

luggage carrier

, and at worst, a meat shield. If he is unlucky, he will be used for something worse.”

Most people would have lost interest 

by this point, 

thinking, ‘

I

t’s his life,’ but Snoc was someone his friend Sam dearly cared for

,

so

 the matter concerned Zich a tiny bit

—

as much as an ant’s teardrop.

However, he didn’t think of doing something amazing for Snoc. 

It ended at the level of

:

‘Maybe I should give Sam a heads-up?”

“B-By the way, thank you, sir.”

“Huh? About what?”

Hans 

thanked him

 out of nowhere, so Zich stared at him strangely. If Hans 

was 

sp

i

tting out words in a mentally dysfunctional state, Zich was willing to hit Hans

 on the

 head a couple of times to cure him. 

“Didn’t you get angry because you heard him insulting me?”

Not only did Zich treat him much better than 

usual

, but Zich got angry 

in his place

. So Hans felt a tiny bit 

moved

, but

 Zich smiled

 in response. Then Zich 

raised his hand

 and 

struck 

his

 head.

Slam!

“Ah!”

Hans grabbed onto his head.

“Who took your side? Of course, I got mad

. H

e dared to insult 

my

 servant, which is the same as insulting the great me. Truthfully, you are a weak-ass.”

‘What did I expect…’ Hans grumbled inside his mind 

and held

 his head.

“But still, that adventurer was strong, right? He caught a troll so easily.”

To Hans, who was barely 

able to

defeat

 a troll, the adventurer named Drew seemed 

powerful

.

“What?”

Zic

h’s tone was full of displeasure

. 

“Who are you calling strong?”

“Sorry? You know the adventurer…”

Rustle! Rustle!

The bush swayed again.

“Huh? Did they come back?”

“No.”

Zich took out his sword again.

“They are monsters this time.”

Craack!

A thick branch broke off and fell to the ground, and five trolls waddled into view. 

Hans’ face grew pale. Even one troll was frightening, but five was an unimaginable number.  Even that impressive adventurer

, 

Drew, had taken a long time to defeat 

one

 troll

. In a situation like this, m

ost people would have grabbed onto their bladder to stop themselves from peeing and r

u

n away as fast as they could.

Clang!

But Zich was different. 

‘I’m still annoyed, so 

this is perfect

!

’

Zich 

was glad to have some

stress relief

.

Step!

Zich

 jumped

 off the floor.

Uuuuurrrrr!

The trolls shrieked at the human running towards them and raced towards Zich. 

It was easy to

 imagine a scene 

where

 five gigantic monsters surround

ed

 Zich and smash

ed

 him into a juice 

pulp 

with their clubs. However, the result was the opposite.

Swing!

Zich swung his sword widely. His weapon was a 

longsword

, but it looked like a thin, wooden stick compared to the troll's immense body. Yet, the powerful mana that permeated the sword made up for the weapon’s limited size.

Slice! Slice!

The first two trolls split into two. A dead-straight, silver line bloomed out of the troll’s heart and sliced their body, arms, and even their clubs

. E

verything under 

his sword’s

touch

 split.

Splaaaash!

Blood poured out of their wounds and sprayed onto their companions. The trolls 

faltered—t

hey had never 

seen

 their companions split into two pieces 

instantly

. 

On the other hand, 

Zich lowered his body to avoid the blood spray and continued moving.

Push!

He pierced the stomach of the troll closest to him. It would have been a fatal hit for a human, but it was a 

medium-sized

 wound for a troll. The troll simply scowled in pain and didn’t feel a great sense of danger towards its life. But of course, that

 didn’t last long.

Wing!

The mana from Zich’s body traveled through the sword and began to flow into the troll’s body aggressively. 

Blop!

Like a pig’s bladder

filled with water, the troll bloated in an instant. 

In t

he next moment

—

Pop!

The troll’s body burst 

out

. Its skin, blood, bone, and organs scattered all over the place. It was an extremely disgusting scene, but the disintegrated troll

 pieces 

that contained Zich’s mana w

ere

 even nastier.

Glop! Glop! Glop! Glop!

Th

e troll’s

remains

 stuck to the remaining two trolls. The trolls’ regenerative powers activated from the remains, but the consecutive bomb attacks of the remains exceeded their powers. The trolls couldn’t even scream, and they fell to the ground with huge holes in their bodies.

“Hm!”

In a blink of an eye, Zich killed five trolls and turned his back away from the mess of troll blood and remains. Surprisingly, his body didn’t have a single scratch or a smear of blood. After sheathing his sword, Zich 

called out to

 Hans who had his mouth hanging wide open.

“Let’s go.”

“Y-Yes, sir!”

Hans looked at Zich’s back from a good distance away and gulped his sa

liva

 back down.

‘The adventurer named Drew is strong, but Sir Zich is on another level.’

Zich took care of those scary trolls like they were trash on the road

, and H

ans shivered from witnessing his mighty power.

 *    *    *

A night in Iruce Mine was dreary. In the daytime, miners’ hearty cheers and axing rang through the surroundings, but now, it seemed like ghosts would wail out of 

the mines

. However, in 

this desolate and ominous place

, moving 

figures made long shadows on the ground. 

A faint light lit up the mine. Snoc had his shoulders 

hunched

 as he walked 

forward

 with a lamp. It was 

his

 first time 

entering 

the mine without his colleagues.

“W-Will this really be 

alright

?”

Snoc asked Drew who was following him from behind.

“What do you mean?”

“Going inside the mine at night is dangerous…”

“I thought I told you I got permission.”

“Y-Yes.”

Snoc closed his mouth, but he still felt anxious.

“What? Do you not believe me?”

“N-No! I believe it! I believe it!”

Snoc answered out of nervousness. Then Drew stared at Snoc with 

a dissatisfied expression

, but he spoke with more kindness than usual.

“I know you are nervous

, b

ut an adventurer doesn’t know when he will fall into danger. That’s why 

experience is most

 important. 

That’s 

why I keep bringing you

 along for

 my monster hunts. Being an adventurer is not just like the storybooks.”

Snoc nodded. Sam and Zich, who 

weren’t

 really 

adventurers

, also said the same thing.

“

It’s 

the 

same this time. All of this is

 for you. If we have a mine like this, we should 

utilize

 it since there are many dungeons in caves like this. 

You can get

 experience f

rom this

.”

“I 

understand

.”

Drew 

had warned him about the dangers of

 an adventurer and helped prepare 

Snoc’s mind and heart

. 

Snoc pushed down the

 doubts that 

were beginning to appear in his heart

. Furthermore, Drew mentioned a dungeon—wasn’t that an adventurer’s dream? Snoc couldn’t calm his rapidly beating heart.

“Ok, then let’s continue moving.”

“Yes!”

Snoc walked the mine with 

slightly 

more energy than before. From behind, Drew

 made a secretive smile

. They continued to walk inside the mine

, and since

 Snoc knew his way inside the mine, they didn’t need to worry about getting lost. 

Drew asked, 

“Are you continuing to train your mana?” 

The first and only thing that Drew taught Snoc was how to open his mana.

“Yes, I stimulat

ed

 my mana this morning too.”

“Try walking while 

activating

 your mana.”

“Sure.”

Snoc brought out his mana, but because he had just learned to control his mana, it was a tiny amount. Furthermore, if he didn’t concentrate enough, it broke off easily.

“Wah!”

Snoc was so focused on

 his

 mana flow that he didn’t notice a jagged stone and fell to the ground.

“Ughh!”

He scraped his knees, and blood flowed out. Still, Drew didn’t show any signs of concern and ordered him to continue walking. Thus, Snoc hesitantly got up and began 

to walk

 again. Then he fell to the ground once more and 

the cycle repeated

. After walking a good distance, Snoc’s body was covered in bruises and scratches. 

Bam!

“Ugh!”

Snoc tripped over a jagged rock again and barely maintained his balance. He breathed a sigh of relief and lifted his head, but his eyes became still at what he saw. In front of him, there was a new mine.

“What is it?”

“I-It’s nothing.”

Snoc hurriedly 

answered 

and lifted his body up. Then, he began walking again. However, he didn’t even glance at the new mine that just appeared, as if the place was prohibited.

“We are not going that way?”

Drew looked at the mine and asked. Snoc bit his lips and pretend

ed 

to be calm

; then 

he opened his mouth again.

“It collapsed

, so i

t’s dangerou

s. W

e shouldn’t go in. We

’

d only see debris and wrecks there anyway.”

“Oh, is that right?”

Drew didn’t ask any more questions. However, even as he followed Snoc, his eyes remained on 

the

 collapsed mine. His eyes s

parkled

 mysteriously.

“Ah!”

Once again, Snoc had made a wrong step. From his ears, Snoc heard Drew’s exasperated sighs. 

Not wanting to disappoint Drew

, 

Snoc

 ignored the pain he felt all over his body and tried to get up again.

Koo

.

Halt!

Snoc’s body froze when he heard an unfamiliar cry nearby. He quickly picked up his lantern and lit the area where he heard the noise. A small shadow 

was 

crouch

ing

 in the corner of the mine.

Koo

! 

Koo

!

The small figure

pointed

 his nose and sniffed at Snoc.

“Oh, it’s just a mole

,” 

Snoc sighed in relief. However, this mole was strange. Most moles ran away at any sign of movement, but this one didn’t. Instead, 

the mole

 placed 

his

 nose on Snoc’s ankles and kept smelling it.

Koo

!

The mole

 cried as 

he

 looked 

up

. Snoc 

was also 

interested in the mole. However, Drew didn’t let him linger.

“What are you doing? Quickly move.”

“Yes!”

Snoc 

quickened his steps

.

Thud! Thud!

Ta

p

! Ta

p

!

Matching the sound of Snoc’s footsteps, a small animal moved. Snoc looked below him

 and saw that 

the mole was following next to him. 

The mole

 had 

his

 head raised as if 

he

 wanted to meet 

his

 tiny eyes with Snoc’s, and the way 

he

 followed 

Snoc around

 was cute.

Bump!

Snoc pushed the mole away 

lightly

 with the edges of his feet. The mole twitched a bit and tottered behind Snoc again. Snoc bumped 

the mole 

away again, 

but

 the mole came back. He did it again, and the mole came back again. 

Snoc’s

 mind became occupied by their little game.

“What are you doing?”

He heard a chilly tone.

‘That’s right—

I’m

 training right now!’

“I-I’m sorry! I will continue!”

Snoc gathered up his mana again and walked ahead. He couldn’t place his attention on the mole anymore.

Koo

.

However, the mole continued to follow Snoc. As if 

the mole

 wasn’t even aware

 that he could get stepped on

, 

the mole

 kept lingering around Snoc’s feet. And from behind, Drew 

watched 

the whole scene

 with a mischievous smile

.