Chapter 96: Raiding Like Washing Dishes

The cool night air greeted Reiji the moment he stepped out of the shadows.

A quiet alley stretched before him, illuminated only by the pale glow of a nearby streetlight. The neighborhood had already settled into its usual silence while the distant sound of passing cars occasionally drifted through the streets before fading away.

Aoi was already waiting when he arrived.

Dressed in her usual black combat gear, she checked the time on her phone before looking up at him.

Satisfied that he had arrived exactly when expected, she simply turned around and began walking.

Reiji quietly followed behind.

Neither of them exchanged unnecessary greetings.

After several nights working together, they had naturally settled into their respective roles.

Aoi located unattended Gates.

Reiji cleared them.

The arrangement was simple.

The silence between them was no longer awkward. Somehow, without either of them realizing it, it had become comfortable.

Aoi led the way through the quiet streets while Reiji walked a few steps behind, his crimson eyes calmly observing the surroundings.

Detect Presence silently expanded throughout the neighborhood.

A stray cat slept beneath a parked vehicle.

A woman jogged several streets away.

Two Awakeners chatted outside a convenience store before heading home.

Several Guild employees walked past on the opposite side of the road.

Nothing unusual.

The city was peaceful tonight.

Bright advertisements displaying smiling female Hunters decorated several buildings.

One enormous electronic billboard proudly displayed the words:

[Become Strong Enough To Protect Everyone!]

Beneath the slogan stood the image of a famous A-Rank Huntress holding an enormous spear.

Reiji looked away almost immediately.

Advertising really had become ridiculous these days.

"...You’re doing it again."

Aoi’s voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Hm?"

"Looking around."

"I’m always looking around."

"You don’t even move your head."

"I don’t need to."

Aoi glanced at him before quietly shaking her head.

She still couldn’t get used to that strange perception ability of his.

It was probably the reason nobody had ever managed to follow the Night Empress.

The two continued walking beneath the streetlights until the buildings gradually became fewer and fewer.

Nearly fifteen minutes later, Aoi finally slowed her pace.

"There."

She pointed toward a faint blue glow standing between several abandoned warehouses.

An unattended F-Rank Gate quietly rippled in the darkness.

No Association personnel. No barricades. No Guild members.

Exactly as she had predicted.

Reiji stopped several meters away instead of entering immediately.

His gaze remained fixed on the portal while Detect Presence quietly spread through the surrounding area.

His expression beneath the hood never changed.

Everything felt normal.

The mana leaking from the Gate remained stable.

There were no strange fluctuations, no abnormal pressure, no black veins creeping across the surface, and no unfamiliar energy contaminating the surroundings.

He quietly let out a breath.

’Another ordinary Gate.’

After fighting the Desert Tyrant Worm and witnessing the Devil’s Eye, part of him had unconsciously begun expecting every new Gate to hide another nightmare.

Not that he was a masochist or anything.

Standing before this ordinary F-Rank portal, however, he finally realized how unreasonable that expectation had become.

’Not every Gate morphs.’

His eyes remained fixed on the swirling blue entrance.

’Not every Boss mutates. Not every Gate contains an anomaly. Not every Dungeon Break is hiding around the corner.’

A faint smile appeared beneath the mask.

’I guess I’ve become a little paranoid.’

The thought was strangely comforting.

Then he remembered what happened the last time he’d convinced himself a raid would be easy.

A B+ Rank Boss had nearly torn his soul apart.

"..."

’Yeah... let’s not tempt fate.’

Beside him, Aoi noticed the prolonged silence.

"What is it?"

"Nothing."

"That doesn’t sound convincing."

"It wasn’t meant to."

She sighed.

"I really hope one day you learn how conversations work."

"I know how they work."

"You simply choose not to participate."

"I participate enough."

"...That’s debatable."

Ignoring her, Reiji stepped toward the Gate.

Blue light reflected across the hood covering his face.

"Let’s finish this."

Without another word, he walked through the portal while Aoi followed closely behind.

The familiar sensation of crossing dimensions washed over both of them.

A heartbeat later, the damp smell of stone greeted them.

Red crystals embedded throughout the cavern ceiling bathed the cave in a faint crimson glow while water slowly dripped from overhead, echoing through the tunnels.

Reiji calmly swept his gaze across the cave.

Detect Presence activated once more.

Three goblins.

Far ahead.

Weak.

Ordinary.

A faint smile returned beneath his hood.

’Definitely normal.’

The three goblins hadn’t noticed them yet.

They wandered aimlessly through the tunnel, occasionally arguing over a half-eaten carcass lying near the wall.

One scratched its ear.

Another lazily kicked a loose stone.

The last simply sat on the ground with a dull expression as though questioning every decision that had led it to becoming an F-Rank monster.

Reiji looked at them for a second.

"...They’re somehow even less motivated than the last group."

Aoi followed his gaze.

"You can tell from here?"

"I don’t need to see them."

She had almost forgotten.

That strange detection ability again.

Sometimes she genuinely wondered if there was anything that escaped his senses. But she was also glad that her family artifact was able to help her unless she couldn’t have imagined what would have happened to her.

Reiji rested his hand on the handle of the bone sword.

"No core."

Aoi blinked.

"What?"

"The first group won’t drop one."

"...You can predict that too?"

"I can’t."

He shrugged.

"I’m guessing."

"You sounded awfully confident for a guess."

"I usually am."

"..."

Aoi suddenly realized something.

Talking to him required a surprising amount of patience.

Before she could respond, one of the goblins suddenly sniffed the air.

Its ears twitched.

"Kii?"

The other two turned simultaneously.

The moment they spotted the intruders, ugly grins spread across their green faces.

"KIIII!"

All three charged while wildly swinging crude stone clubs.

Aoi instinctively tightened her grip around her sword.

Her body prepared itself to move.

Then she remembered.

Their agreement.

She released the handle again.

’Right... I’m only watching.’

Reiji continued walking forward at exactly the same pace.

Not faster.

Not slower.

His footsteps echoed calmly through the tunnel.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

The goblins closed the distance almost instantly.

One of them jumped first, raising its club high above its head.

Reiji finally drew the bone sword.

SHING!

A single streak of black and amber flashed across the tunnel.

The sound of steel returning to its sheath followed immediately after.

Click.

Reiji never stopped walking.

Behind him...

Silence.

The three goblins remained frozen where they stood.

For exactly one heartbeat.

Then...

Their bodies slid apart cleanly before dissolving into countless blue particles.

Nothing remained.

Not even a monster core.

Reiji didn’t bother looking back.

"I was right."

Aoi stared at the empty ground.

"...You guessed correctly."

"I’ve cleared enough Gates."

His answer was simple.

Matter-of-fact.

There wasn’t even the slightest trace of pride.

To him it really had become experience.

They continued deeper into the cave.

The winding tunnels twisted in several directions before eventually opening into a wider chamber.

Broken wooden crates lay scattered across the ground.

Several rusty swords had long since become part of the rocky floor.

Aoi looked around curiously.

"Every F-Rank Gate feels almost identical."

Reiji didn’t respond and continued forward. He calmly stepped over a broken shield.

"I simply don’t panic whenever I find something I don’t understand."

"..."

That answer lingered in Aoi’s mind longer than she expected.

Most Awakeners feared the unknown but Reiji accepted it as though mysteries were simply another obstacle waiting to be solved.

Detect Presence quietly spread once more.

This time six signatures.

Reiji sighed.

"They found us."

The goblins rushed out from two different tunnels.

Three from the left.

Three from the right.

Unlike the previous group, these ones immediately tried surrounding him.

Aoi watched carefully.

’Let’s see...’

She wanted to understand.

Not his strength.

His technique.

Reiji took one step forward.

His shoulders relaxed.

His breathing remained perfectly steady.

The first goblin swung.

He tilted his head slightly.

The club missed.

Without wasting even a fraction of unnecessary movement, the bone sword traced a short horizontal arc.

SHING!

The first three goblins collapsed.

Before their bodies even reached the ground...

Reiji pivoted.

Another flash.

SHING!

The remaining three split apart almost simultaneously.

Blue particles drifted upward like glowing fireflies.

Silence returned.

"...So fast."

Aoi unconsciously muttered the words aloud.

Reiji looked back.

"Hm?"

"Nothing."

She walked forward before crouching near the scattered particles.

"...Looks like you guessed wrong this time."

A faint crystal rested among the remains.

An F-Rank mana core.

Reiji glanced at it before looking away.

She picked it up and slipped it into the pouch hanging from her belt.

Two raids.

Three core yesterday. One ordinary core today.

She really was making money simply by walking behind someone.

The thought felt strangely unreal.

As they resumed walking, Aoi’s eyes naturally drifted toward Reiji’s back again.

’He’s even more ridiculous than yesterday...’

Yesterday she had assumed he was taking things seriously.

Today she realized he wasn’t.

This wasn’t effort.

This wasn’t concentration.

It was routine.

Like sweeping a floor.

Or washing dishes.

He wasn’t conquering an F-Rank Gate.

He was simply... passing through it.

That realization sent a faint chill down her spine.

Exactly how many Gates had this mysterious man cleared alone?

Before she could continue that line of thought...

Detect Presence quietly informed Reiji of a much larger signature waiting ahead.

He slowed slightly.

Then smiled beneath the hood.

"The Boss."