Rise Of The Hoarder

>BOOOOMMMM!!!<

My fist easily tore through the monster, killing it in one hit.

I felt awe, surprise… and fear gathering on me from behind. The people who powerlessly sat on the floor had their eyes on me—watching as I subdued a creature they had so much difficulty with.

Monster parts scattered and its blood gushed out, staining the immediate area in the green liquid that leaked out. It only took a few seconds before every vestige of the monster vanished from sight.

Appearing for a moment, before vanishing, was a Demon Core. It gleamed brightly, then entered my [Subspace] in a flash.

‘Aaand, it’s done…’

With that thought in mind, I gently landed on the ground, making my smooth fall. I could still feel the countless stares behind me, but I ignored them—or at least, I pretended to.

“A-ahh?!”

“H-he killed it… in one… hit?!”

“W-who is that…?!”

I could overhear that surprised gasps, making me give a little amused smile from within my mask.

Using my compound sight, I observed the two I just saved turn to face Terry. Their expressions told him they had lots of questions and blame for him. The timid idiot simply gulped.

“I-I went to get help! Y-yeah! I met this Masked Man, and he agreed to help!” Terry gave his excuse.

His tone sounded so flustered that—even if I wasn’t observing the whole thing from the start—I would still know how pathetic his lie was. The same guy who cried and ran from danger due to his cowardice now proclaimed he simply took one for the team.

“S-shut up…”

“Still… good timing… t-thanks…”

The surviving two gave hesitant responses, and then slowly turned in my direction.

They must have reasoned that now wasn’t the time to allot blames to Terry. It was also true that he brought me along to help, so they must have been conflicted on whether to blame him for abandoning them or thank him for doing the same.

I saw them move in my direction, treading nervously and cautiously. The looks on their faces told me they were tremendously grateful… but fear remained in their eyes.

‘I guess this is my queue…’

Turning in a slow manner so as not to completely frighten the group. Even with my quiet movements, they still shuddered.

“Are you guys alright?”

As usual, my voice was deep, powerful, yet gentle. Enough to soothe the people and provide them some sort of security.

“A-ah, yes. Thank you for saving us.” The one called Darwin spoke first.

“Y-yes. We really appreciate it. Without your assistance, there’s no way we would even…” Tia spoke in a grave tone, turning her face down to look at the girl who was on the ground—Sara.

They had also lost their leader. It must have been a huge blow to the group.

“No, it’s fine. I suppose you should thank Terry. He told me to help you people. Apparently, he had been desperately seeking help.”

The eyes of the two—Tia and Darwin—darted in Terry’s direction. Their gazes showed a bit of surprise… mixed with animosity.

“Y-yeah… I mean… you’re my precious—”

“You left us to die!

“Calm yourself, Tia. Please, not in front of our savior…”

Watching the three Party Members squabble made a weird feeling to permeate my heart. It had been quite some time since I had to relate with people, so… perhaps memories of a distant past were manifesting.

“It’s fine. I don’t mind…” My voice was calm—as always.

“Still…”

“Thanks for coming to save us, really!”

“Even though we have nothing to give in return…”

I smiled underneath my mask, glad that the two of them felt indebted to me. After all, this whole elaborate scheme would be stupid if they didn’t feel this much affinity toward my person.

“That’s fine. I’ll be taking the Demon Core. That’s okay with you, right?”

Of course, it went without saying that I had claims to it since I landed the hit. But, a few idiots existed that believed their loss warranted some form of consideration and compensation.

Fortunately, these guys didn’t belong to that category.

“Sure!”

“It’s yours to begin with!”

“I have no complaints either…”

The moment Terry spoke, Tia and Darwin sharply turned to give him a disapproving look that could only be translated to; ‘Don’t even speak since you bailed on us, dipshit!’

“Hm. That’s good, then…” My eyes trailed to the girl on the floor as I spoke.

Tia kept glancing in the girl’s direction, and I could tell that she was worried. If I helped them out with Sara, wouldn’t they feel even more indebted to me? That thought alone gave me a bit of motivation.

‘Alright, then…’

“Your friend there… let me help you with her.”

As I approached, the team moved a step back in slight nervousness, but slowly regained their nerve.

“What happened to her?” I spoke while kneeling to examine Sara.

“She used too much Mana in summoning her Familiars. Sara is, erm… she’s a Tamer. She used up all her energy before you arrived. And, well, the mental shock she received after losing all of them in so little time rattled her.” Tia rushed her explanation, showing how much she was worried for the little girl.

All Tamers had mental links to their contracted summons—Familiars. The shock of losing one would make the Tamer to get a little dizzy. It was reasonable for the death of so many to put her in such a state.

In that case, then all I had to do was…

I summoned an Item from [Subspace], though to these people they must have thought I was using INVENTORY.

The item was a vial containing a liquid that looked golden in color. Of course, the golden luster it had was faded—not entirely as bright as actual gold.

“T-that is…?!” Tia was the one who first exclaimed… and then the others also made an uproar.

“Is that really a Full Restorative Potion?!”

Tia’s voice was trembling, so full of emotion. The disbelief in her eyes showed me how valuable she thought the Item was.

‘Good. If their reaction is like this then it’s perfect!’

To me, this Item had very little value, but it seemed to mean the world to them. Since that was the case, then…

‘… I can use them well!’