Reliable Sun Brother

"Want to touch it?"

Sithran cautiously touched the Summoning Mark. A golden phantom suddenly appeared above it, startling her into hopping backward.

When she stopped touching the Summoning Mark, the golden phantom immediately vanished.

"You can even see what your cooperator looks like?"

She touched the Summoning Mark again and studied the person's features closely.

The figure looked like a man. Why "looked like"? Because he was wearing full armor, so his face was hidden, and his sex wasn't obvious either.

His armor didn't look particularly expensive. It was a very common style. He held a lance in his right hand and a Great Shield that looked reassuringly sturdy in his left.

The name above his head read: Mareda.

"I've never heard of him." Sithran chose to summon him. "Are you not an adventurer?"

After a brief wait, a dazzling golden effect flashed, and Mareda appeared in all his golden glory!

"Hey!"

He greeted her with a grand gesture as soon as he appeared. He seemed warm and outgoing. Someone like that surely wouldn't stoop to sneak attacks.

Of course, this Mareda was also Gong Qiying in disguise.

His appearance was inspired by Mareda, the hostile NPC from Dark Souls II and a good friend of the people.

After all, Gong Qiying looked like a Hollow now, so he obviously couldn't show his real face.

"Hello, I'm Sithran."

Sithran circled Gong Qiying, marveling at him. So summoned helpers turned into golden Spirit Bodies. He looked so cool.

"Are you an adventurer too? Why did you draw a Summoning Mark here?"

She'd finally encountered something unusual, and she wanted to get to the bottom of it.

Gong Qiying hadn't spoken to anyone in ages, so he was quite excited.

"No, no, I'm not an adventurer. I'm just traveling around and training myself."

"As for the Summoning Mark, you need an item called a Finger. Draw the mark on the ground with it, and people who've used Summoning Finger Medicine will be able to see it."

Sithran immediately leaned closer and asked, "May I ask where I can get a Finger?"

As soon as she said it, she realized that might not have been appropriate and hurriedly added, "I can offer you a reward in exchange for the information."

Gong Qiying shook his head and replied warmly, "No reward needed. We're all struggling in the dungeon, so helping each other is just common sense."

She really had met a good person this time.

Sithran hadn't heard the phrase "helping each other" from a stranger in a long time. These days, adventurers were so afraid someone else would get the dungeon's spoils before them that, if they didn't try to swindle you when you met, that was already lucky. Anyone who casually offered a few pointers was practically a saint.

Her opinion of Gong Qiying improved considerably.

Gong Qiying pointed toward the distant fortress. "Go out through the fortress's back gate and enter the village there. Fight your way through all the enemies, and you'll find a Finger by a cliff in the village. Not far from there, you can enter the next area. I think it's a huge tree hollow."

"Huh?" Sithran's eyes widened. "Does that mean you've already conquered that disgusting village?"

Gong Qiying nodded without confirming or denying it. In Sithran's eyes, that was the composure of a strong person.

In an instant, Mareda's standing in her estimation rose.

Sithran gazed at him fervently, as if she'd spotted a treasure. "Could I ask you to help me conquer the village? I'll prepare a reward too. Just name your price!"

She'd expected Gong Qiying to take the opportunity to ask for a reward, but he only shook his head. "I really don't need one. If you want to repay me, just talk with me. I actually haven't spoken to anyone in ages, so I'm not very up to date on what's happening outside—cough, I mean, on the news."

"Leave it to me. I watch the news every day."

Before long, the golden Gong Qiying and Sithran were walking side by side through the swamp. But on closer inspection, Sithran was actually following behind him the whole time.

In the swamp, Gong Qiying displayed unparalleled skill. He often found narrow paths that let them avoid monsters, and even knew a hidden shortcut that led straight to a Beacon Fire. Sithran and her companions had never discovered any of these routes.

Even more impressively, Gong Qiying seemed to know the monsters' detection ranges. He could skirt the very edge of their awareness and stroll right past them as if they weren't there. Sithran was full of admiration.

"You must have spent a long time exploring this place, right?"

"I just explored it a little more carefully."

That was the bearing of an expert!

Sithran admired anyone stronger than her. Even setting strength aside, Gong Qiying's skill at exploring dungeons far surpassed hers.

She was sure she could never have found those hidden shortcuts tucked away at such tricky angles. They were far too well concealed.

Meanwhile, after spending some time together, Gong Qiying gradually filled in the gaps in his knowledge.

Before, he'd only known that Bed City was nearby and that adventurers lived there. Now, from Sithran, he learned about the main members of House of Bede and their individual quirks. Charon was a big oaf, Verde was effeminate, and Sali was simply a beautiful cross-dresser.

Those judgments were pretty subjective.

He also learned about the world's Power Tiers: Low, Middle, High, King, Saint, and Legendary Rank. It was a simple system. There was no limit to how many professions a person could learn in their lifetime; with talent and time, they could keep learning, with almost no restrictions.

Weapons, items, magic, and the like all used the same straightforward power ranking system. This world's setup was almost too easy to understand.

Although Sithran was puzzled as to why Gong Qiying asked such obvious questions, that was all it was: puzzlement. He seemed so reliable that it never even crossed her mind that he might be a monster.

As if a low-intelligence monster could learn human speech.

Aside from these basic facts, Gong Qiying also learned a few things that weren't much use to him at the moment, like gossip about the Adventurer's Guild president.

The strongest human seemed to be a mage named Kowid, a magic advisor to the Royal Family. He had long since reached Legendary Rank, but hadn't appeared in public for decades. Some people said he was dead.

The elves lived in a place called the Elf Forest, ruled by the Elf Queen, who also possessed Legendary Rank strength. But the elves mostly loved peace, so they kept to themselves in their beautiful forest.

The dwarves all liked living in the mountains and had a great talent for smithing and brewing. That fit the common stereotypes about them. They had gathered under the Dwarf King's banner and were a force not to be underestimated.

The wealth of information he'd gained that day left Gong Qiying quite satisfied—so satisfied he almost wanted to burp.

Before long, they reached the fortress gate.

"You opened the gate that quickly?" Sithran looked at him with admiration rather than respect now. He was the first person she'd met who could speedrun the Poison Swamp!

"Get your weapons ready. We're about to fight."