The Academy's FFF-Class Summons are SSS-class Hunters

It stung.

Jinhyuk glanced at the cutlery on his neck. It was a dagger that didn’t look like anything special, but the rough way they approached made a cut.

He was bleeding.

‘To think I’d bleed.’

When was the last time I bled?

With defenses so high, it was practically impossible for Jinhyuk to get hurt, and even if there was any attack dangerous enough, he had Hwan-su-shin technique – Armor of the Black Tortoise (玄武甲冑) to block it.

He has never shed a single drop of blood since he peaked.

‘I did get weak.’

Jinhyuk felt the kind of position he was in. It wouldn’t be easy to resist as long as a knife was on his throat.

“Don’t move!”

The man with a knife to Jinhyuk’s neck shouted. Leira was stunned by the sudden change in the atmosphere.

“W-what the..”

Klang!

At that moment, Jonathan jumped forward and swung his sword, deflecting an arrow. As far as Johnanthan could see, it seemed to have paralytic poison smeared on it.

“My junior, get it together. Now is not the time to be dazed.”

You may not have entered the academy yet, but if you are a swordsman, draw your blade.

Leira quickly drew her sword hearing Jonathan’s words.

Suddenly, claps were heard.

“Damnnn, I was tryna put some pressure on you all. The black one’s a failure.”

“Mo, Mokidi!”

“That’s right, Jonathan. It’s been a long time.”

Jonathan was hostile toward Mokidi, the man approaching with applause.

‘Mokidi?’

Jinhyuk remembered the name of the bandit clan Jonathan had explained. He had said that avoiding them was the only solution, and that seems to be the exact opposite of what they did.

‘I see why he said that.’

The man who had a dagger on Jinhyuk’s neck had good hiding skills. If he had intended to kill him, he would have cut his throat without hesitation. Fortunately, there seemed to be no intention to kill.

Not only that, but he could sense an evil aura from Mokidi as he approached with claps. It wasn’t ordinary magic – it was magic of evil spirits.

‘Is he a demon?’

He still had his consciousness. If he accepted the magic of evil spirits without losing his humanity, then he must be a demon. In any case, it was clear that he was an opponent that Jinhyuk couldn’t win.

‘The good news is that the master lady is safe.’

Jinhyuk glanced over to Lilil. Unlike himself, who was brutally threatened with a dagger, Lilil was only being held captive by a few men.

But the situation was bad. Jinhyuk’s started thinking.

‘These guys had information about us before the attack.’

Lilil had no powers, but Jinhyuk can use special powers as a summon. They saw value in keeping them captured instead of killing on spot.

Something impossible to pull off without some intel.

‘And for him to approach Jonathan with such confidence… ’

Jonathan was being looked down upon.

How would that make sense?

Jonathan is a mercenary of 40 million derats. Even though he was ridiculed by others, it makes sense to be on guard to a certain extent without previous combat experience. Wouldn’t it at least be appropriate to be more vigilant than they are about Jinhyuk, whose strength was unclear?

‘However, it’d be a different story if they knew Jonathan well.’

Jonathan looked at Mokidi and recognized him at a glance. Mokidi also told Jonathan that it had been a long time. With that, it was clear.

That Jinhyuk couldn’t count on Jonathan to do anything here.

‘Well, that’s all assuming that I can’t do anything here.’

Lilil ate a lot of goblin hearts. She’s at least a lot stronger than when she first summoned him.

This kind of crisis was not a problem.

“Can you put this knife away? It stings.”

Jinhyuk said with a sharp tone. The man could cut his throat if he wanted to, but Jinhyuk knew that wouldn’t happen.

“No way. I’d get attacked the moment I get the knife off of you.”

“And if you don’t, I’m going to kill myself.”

Jinhyuk grabbed the blade and brought it closer to his neck. The blade sank deeper in his skin. It was so painful it made his brain tremble, but it didn’t matter.

“I know. It’d suck for me to die, wouldn’t it?”

The man couldn’t answer. It was true Jinhyuk’s fighting ability was unknown, but he knew his ability to generate jewels. There’s nothing gained by killing the golden goose. Mokidi would definitely punish him for it.

“Find. I’ll take the knife away, so get your hands off it.”

“Should’ve said that earlier.”

Jinhyuk lifted his hand. The man lifted his knife, and a stream of blood ran down his neck.

‘There is a lot of blood.’

Jinhyuk touched his neck and checked to find alot of blood on his palm. He understood that he got weak, but for the man at the peak to bleed.

Unforgivable.

Avenge blood with blood. That was Jinhyuk’s principle.

“Motherfucker.”

Jinhyuk took the K-5 pistol from his inventory and immediately pulled the trigger. The man stood still, not knowing what kind of weapon a pistol was.

bang!

With a huge roar, his head was pierced and he collapsed.

“What, what?!”

Mokidi and Jonathan, who were staring at each other, looked at Jinhyuk in surprise. Leira smiled broadly at the familiar sound.

“It’s a big explosion!”

“A big explosion?”

Mokidi was shocked. What was before his eyes was different from explosions he knew, but his cherished subordinate, Meus, died with a loud boom.

He was certain there was at least some bizarre trick.

“Meus was the heart of our bandits clan… ”

The intel from Meus was always accurate, and Mokidi acted according to his advice. Without Meus, the Mokidi bandits could only steal through sheer force, and the success rate was bound to drop.

Meus’ death was a big loss. But even then, he couldn’t command to kill Jinhyuk. He was using a strange power, and above all else, isn’t he the goose that lays golden eggs?

He jumped in trying to get that goose, but to kill it now made no sense. Mokidi was forced to swallow his anger and was about to shout to his bandits to subdue him.

However,

Ba-ba-ba-ba-bang!

There was no other time but to lie down first.

“What, what?”

Musty smell.

If what happened earlier was a big explosion, was this a continuous big explosion? Mokidi gulped and looked around.

All of his men holding Lilil fell with blood on their heads. Not moving.

“W-wait, then… ”

Mokidi turned back slowly. All of his subordinates who had followed him in triumph were lying on the ground with their heads exploded.

“Fuck!”

If he hadn’t dropped on the ground instinctively, he may have died. Mokidi felt chills thinking about it, but his anger in suddenly losing all of his bandits forced an insult out of him.

“You motherfucking summon!”

Mokidi got up and ran towards Jinhyuk.

Jinhyuk was perplexed.

‘Lilil doesn’t have enough magical power to use more bullet time.’

Bullet Time.

A skill that allows one to shoot rapidly by slowing down the sense of time. The explosive sounds were also caused by the sounds of gunfire overlapping.

Even though he only used it for 3 seconds, Lilil collapsed. It looked like she didn’t have the strength to get up.

‘I knew this was going to happen. That’s why I targeted Mokidi too.’

It must be his good instincts that helped him dodge it. It was now obvious that the evil energy surrounding his body would deflect the bullet. Jinhyuk knew, as the monsters that appeared on Earth also protected themselves in that way.

‘I can’t win.’

Jinhyuk decided that there was no chance of victory.

‘But that’s why I hired Jonathan.’

Kakang!

A loud clash between a sword and another. As Jinhyuk thought, Jonathan jumped in and blocked Mokidi’s sword.

“Now is the time. Flee!”

He said flee.

Not that he could win.

In other words, Jonathan was here just to buy some time. It’d be nice if he could win, but even if he couldn’t, buying time is still a mission accomplished.

“There is no danger other than Mokidi Bandits anyway. For someone as strong as you, Mr.Jinhyuk, you’ll make it without a hitch. Don’t mind me, just leave!”

However, Jinhyuk did not expect Jonathan to tell him to run away. He did not expect for him to say that he’ll buy time for them.

Isn’t it obvious? The trust between the mercenary and the contractor is not deep. It’s purely based on the contract money, and without it there is no reason to care.

And that’s exactly what buying time is like. If you die here, money is meaningless. Everyone knows that.

What a strange guy.

“Mr. Jinhyuk.”

Lilil slowly walked over, who seemed to have recovered a bit. He was going to leave it to Lilil to decide whether or not to run away. The summon must fully support their summoner’s choice.

Or so he thought.

“You don’t want to run away, do you?”

He did not. Jinhyuk felt exposed by Lilil.

“You don’t want to run, but worried I might be in danger?”

“… … ”

“As my magical powers increased, I started to feel your emotions. Up until this point, Mr. Jinhyuk had thought of Jonathan as just a business partner, disposable at any time…”

—But, that’s not what you are feeling anymore.

okay,

“You’re right.”

I don’t want to leave him.

“I think that guy is weird.”

Not too far away, Mokidi and Jonathan were clashing their swords together. Anyone could tell that Jonathan was at a disadvantage. It seemed like he was doing well, but room for Mokidi’s attack was opening little by little.

Was there a reason to go this far?

Jinhyuk really couldn’t understand. He was the second most confusing human after Lilil. Their relationship wasn’t any deeper than the money, so why was he trying so hard? It’s been less than a day since they met.

“They might be right that he’s all-face.”

Jonathan was not strong. No, he was on the strong side, but Mokidi was stronger. No matter how you look at it, Jonathan didn’t look like a 40 million derat mercenary.

“But it might not be just his face that set such a high value.”

The same mercenaries ridiculed Jonathan’s value purely for being good-looking. He was despised as a mere bluff mercenary.

In spite of all that, many entrusted Jonathan and commissioned him. Jinhyuk chose Jonathan for his high credibility.

Why would anyone hire Jonathan at an expensive price of 40 million derats?

Jinhyuk couldn’t understand it at first, but he now had the answer.

“responsibility… ”

strong sense of responsibility. Even if it’s built out of a shallow connection, contracts cannot help but like that about him. No matter how strong a mercenary is, it’s impossible to trust someone who strictly views it as a business relationship.

In that respect, Jonathan was the best mercenary.

“To carry out his mission to the end with a sense of responsibility despite being weak. What an idiot.”

However, given that many humans like to shift responsibility when in danger,

“I like that he’s an idiot.”

Jinhyuk wanted to help without running away.

Of course, he couldn’t directly help fight Mokidi with Lilil’s limited magical powers.

But what about indirect help?

“Jonathan! Take this sword!”

He drew a sword from his inventory and threw it at Jonathan. A sword emitting a brilliant golden light flew towards him.

The wounded Jonathan threw away his long sword, fascinated by the light from the sword. Then he snatchedit.

Jinhyuk chuckled.

“Someone like you could wield it.”

—The King’s Responsibility, Excalibur.