Genius Corpse-Collecting Warrior - Chapter 133

Orchard (2)

Squeak –

The wooden door opened with an old noise. Dallen walked inside, shaking off the rainwater from his armor.

‘Philopone Orchard’, a store located in the back alley of the Bronze District.

The first impression was that it looked like a branch of a mid-sized company.

“Welcome, sir! Please take your license plate and wait for a moment.”

A neatly organized lobby and counter facing the front door. From customers waiting in chairs to staff guiding in bright voices.

Dallen took the number and waited for a while to dry off the rainwater. The order came back shortly after.

“Welcome to the orchard. “If you need treatment, I’ll take you to the apothecary room upstairs. If you want to buy herbs, I’ll take you to the door on the right.”

As he sat down in front of the counter, the employee greeted him with a flawless smile.

Instead of answering right away, Dallon took a deep breath.

“…hmm.”

The bitter scent of medicinal herbs wafting through the scent of old wood grain penetrates the lungs.

Philopone Orchard was one of the leading doctors and herbalists in the Bronze District.

This is natural since the owner of this place, Shania Philopon, was famous as a skilled pharmacist.

When I was young, I created a deteriorated version of a regenerative potion using only herbs found in the mountains behind me.

It is said that without her, there would have been no herbal bandages favored by mercenaries today, so it was no wonder that they used an entire rare three-story building in a back alley.

but.

‘It’s a drug. ‘Do well-purified drugs have this kind of scent?’

Dallen’s keen senses could not have missed the faint and unique scent seeping from behind the strong herbal scent.

Philopone Orchard, an apothecary in the back alley of the Bronze District, is not a place that only sells ordinary drugs.

If only Yangji had done business in the first place, there would have been no need to be located so deep in a back alley.

If you prove your identity and hand over a considerable amount of money, you will be able to obtain narcotic hallucinogens and painkillers on the second floor and the medicinal herbs used for them on the first floor.

Of course, Dallen didn’t come this far on a rainy day just to do drugs.

He leaned his elbows on the counter and spoke quietly enough for those around him to not hear.

“There is no need for a separate prescription. Just mix steria moss with blood dragon root powder and sprinkle it on. “There was a deep wound on my right knee.”

As I listed the pre-determined secret sentences, the employee’s expression momentarily hardened.

Passwords vary depending on identity and purpose. And the sentence that Dallon recited was something that even most drug dealers would not easily understand.

This meant asking for a face-to-face meeting with Shania Philopon, the owner of an apothecary with deep roots in the Bronze District.

“…I’m sorry, but your wife is talking to a customer. “Can we make an appointment for another day?”

“The customer called me.”

Was it an unexpected answer? The employee with long, flowing hair slightly tilted his eyebrows. She said.

“Can you please wait a moment? “I will ask my wife and come back.”

When Dallen nodded, the employee entered through the back door of the counter. She returned not long after, looking somewhat surprised.

“Confirmed. “Are you Dallon?”

“That’s right.”

“Ma’am asked me to give you a word of welcome. Thank you for visiting the orchard. “I will take you this way.”

***

Dallen walked through the building following the polite guidance of the staff.

Go upstairs, then down a half-story of stairs, through a hallway full of suspicious-looking locked doors, and up a ladder leading to the basement.

In the basement we arrived at, there was only one door leading to another room.

The light leaking through the cracks in the door seemed a bit strange for a basement several meters deep.

The staff’s guidance ended here.

“Madam, you are in the center of the orchard. “Then I’ll leave…”

The employee hurries up with a pale face. Dallen opened the door without hesitation.

Kiyi….

Inside the gate was a vast meadow.

No, it would be more accurate to say outside the door.

As soon as he crossed the threshold, a refreshing breeze greeted him, and the sunlight warmed his rain-soaked hair.

The grass that reached down to my ankles was a fresh color. The orchard was located in the middle of the meadow.

“…….”

It looked completely different from the city where it was raining continuously.

That won’t happen, but if someone were to stumble here, they’d think they were under the influence of drugs and seeing nothing.

Sabak.

Dallen walked inside the orchard, wading through the low grass. It wasn’t long before two people caught his eye.

A white-haired old man sitting in a chair. And it was Sienna standing next to him.

“I’m here? “There was no problem at the counter, right?”

“well. “There was no problem except that I needed a password.”

“Oh, I definitely gave you the password in a message. “Didn’t you get two feathers?”

Dallen frowned. This was a prank by the bartender.

They say he’s a dragon with a strange twist.

“weird. I definitely sent it…”

“Anyway, I guess it worked because I received it well. “This way?”

Dallen looked at the old man sitting in the chair. I already know who they are, but since this is my first time meeting them, it would be natural to get introduced.

“Oh, let me introduce you. This one…”

“I was wondering who Sienna was in love with, and it turned out to be a very handsome young man.”

Sigh.

The old man got up from his old chair. She slowly approached Dallen with her cane and extended her other hand to shake his hand.

“It’s Shania Philopon. “I run a small orchard.”

“It’s Dallon.”

“Yes, Dallen. Nice to meet you. “Have you heard the request?”

“We haven’t talked about it yet. “I think it would be better to come and hear it in person.”

Sienna said. Dallen let go of the Philopon and took out a small glass bottle from his pocket.

“I still came to talk about that.”

A glass bottle filled with thick green liquid.

Philopon’s eyes softened when he saw that.

“…Where did you get this?”

The warm old man’s voice disappeared. Philopon’s eyes were flashing with dark green magic light.

Hwii….

Dark clouds gather in an instant and block out the sunlight. A harsh cold wind blows out of nowhere and begins to stir the branches of the orchard.

The natural environment of a space that moves according to a person’s mood.

This is a phenomenon that proves that this heterogeneous space itself is governed by one person’s will, starting from her image.

It was a moment when I witnessed that the old man in front of me, whom I had only encountered a few times in the game, was not just a simple pharmacist but a high-ranking wizard.

“…Shania.”

“I get it. “Calm down.”

Sienna placed her hand on the old man’s narrow shoulder. Only then did she slowly calm her breathing, perhaps aware of the guests.

Before long, the cold wind also gradually subsided. The old man opened his mouth in a voice with no trace of anger.

“I’m sorry about what happened just now. By the way…can you tell me where you got this?”

“On the way. “It was the end of an unknown vagabond.”

“Holy shit.”

Grumbling.

Wooden shavings fall from the stick in my hand.

The old man, who had completely shed the image of a benevolent grandmother from before, touched his lips with an annoyed expression and spoke.

“It looks like things are getting a bit difficult. “Let’s go to my office and talk.”

***

Philopon’s office was a cabin on a hill not far away. A room full of tree trunks and vines.

On a shelf on one side, various types of tea leaves and unidentified powder were neatly divided and placed in transparent containers. Philopon brewed tea himself and gave it to the two people.

Whoop.

Sienna carefully drinks tea.

Philopon’s cabin had twice as many tea leaves and tea utensils as her office.

It was a sight that made it easy to guess where her taste for tea ceremonies came from.

Dallen did what he usually did in his office at the Crow’s Nest. I drank the steaming cup of tea in one go.

“…….”

“…….”

Sienna and Philopon. They both looked at the action as if they were seeing something strange, but Dallen didn’t care.

Isn’t it all the same when it goes down your throat anyway?

“It tastes good.”

“……I’m glad. Would you like another drink?”

“Thank you.”

Grumble.

Philopon refilled the empty teacup. In the calmness of brewing tea, she seemed to have regained her lost composure.

Sreuk….

When I saw some suspicious powder in my glass, I thought that maybe a screw was missing here too.

“Shania. please. That’s dozens of times the lethal dose for an average person. “Don’t you see that it’s still eating away at your body?”

“Don’t be too hard on the old man. “At this age, your body stops listening to you.”

“That’s the harm caused by the drug.”

“Medicine? I think the customer will misunderstand. “Why don’t you call it a vitality enhancer?”

“…….”

I went to bed with a misunderstanding, and anyone can tell that it was drugs.

Aside from that, as I listened to the conversation between the two people arguing and worrying, I realized once again that the apothecary in front of me was one of Sienna’s benefactors.

This kind of bond was something that couldn’t be felt through in-game interactions that consisted of just a few lines of setup text and a dozen words of dialogue.

‘By the way, he is an archmage who is infinitely close to the hierarchy of the transcendental. ‘It’s such a drug addiction.’

Certainly, powerful beings seemed to have a twisted side that matched their power.

I don’t know if it’s because he gained great power or if he can’t reach that level without such a twist.

‘If you think about it that way, that old man Felber is also a great man. Even with that level of ability, he maintains a normal mindset.’

Suddenly, Felver Valentino from the game came to mind. In every episode, his ending was as an ordinary senior wizard.

The fact that he had the potential to manipulate time was a fact that could not be discovered even after hundreds of rounds of play.

Perhaps these hidden talents may also be one of the keys to preventing the apocalypse. In that sense, it wasn’t just Dallen’s own potential that he had to discover and develop.

In any case, the more diverse the means to confront the apocalypse, the better.

“Then I guess we should talk about the request soon. “As you may have guessed, this request is to eliminate a drug organization.”

While I continued to think, Philopon, who had drunk half of the drugged tea, started talking.

“And as you may have guessed, these guys are no ordinary drug gang. It’s an organization of warlocks who try to sacrifice drug addicts using drugs made with their own secret techniques. Those guys…”

Phew.

The old man spoke with half-opened eyes, as if the medicine was taking effect.

“They will try to summon a demon to this city.”

***

Several days passed.

I received a request to eliminate a black magic organization that was distributing philopon drugs, but it was impossible to start the work right away.

Falcion is an incredibly large city, and the southern district of the Bronze District is where the largest population is concentrated.

Considering the low streets that run underground and the sewers that run even further down, it was a labyrinth in itself.

In a place like this, it is impossible to find drug distribution routes that are distributed as a branch organization using only force and orders.

From the day Sienna received the request, she had been mobilizing all of the Nest’s information network to track their network.

After finishing his morning training as usual, Dallon left the inn immediately.

Just because you don’t jump into battle right away doesn’t mean other things you need to do disappear.

Rather, when you have free time like this, it is time to take care of the tasks you have been putting off.

The first order of the day was to visit the blacksmith shop of Leberon Ahakim, the future legendary blacksmith.

Kang – Kang –

It was still early before business even started, but the cheerful sound of the hammer was echoing outside the blacksmith shop.

Judging by the sound, there are at least five or six craftsmen currently working.

The mithril smelter, which had established its foundation, was now aggressively increasing its size.

Not only did they recruit several craftsmen to increase production several times, but they also acquired the store next door to expand the scale and began construction.

‘This kind of achievement in just half a year. Is a hero really a hero?’

It wasn’t long ago that he was harassed by thugs for just a few gold coins, but he is growing rapidly as if that past never even existed.

It would be a lie if I said that I was not impressed by this growth as the person who provided the platform for me to advance.

“Ugh, it’s heavy…huh? Mr. Dallon! “You came early?”

Just then, Penny, who was moving a large tower shield to the display stand, spotted Dallen in front of the store and shouted.

thud.

The sight of that heavy piece of metal being lifted up onto the display stand with thin arms.

Perhaps because he was the hero’s nephew, he was no ordinary person.

“I thought it would be better than coming during business hours, so I came a little early. “Is the inspiration within?”

“Of course you are! Oh, by the way, you’re talking to an important customer right now…”

“It’s okay. “I’m the one who came early, so please wait a bit.”

LeVeron, if you told him Dallen had come, he would abandon even the nobles of the Diamond Palace and come running. But Dallon didn’t want to go that far.

Considering the impact LeVeron will have on many places in the future, now is a good time to expand his network as well as his skills.

Some of the relationships formed in that way will one day become stronger allies than anyone else when an all-out war against the apocalypse begins.

“I heard you visited the labyrinth this time?”

“Who did you hear it from?”

“To Sienna Sienna! “How much did your sister brag about Mr. Dallon?”

“…I didn’t know that. By the way, are you going to call me sister now?”

“Because I quit my job as a sewer cleaner. “My sister’s information network is made up of low street people and sewer cleaners… Yikes, this is a secret.”

“I knew it. “But I still need to be careful with my mouth so I don’t talk about it anywhere else.”

“Ehehe, working as an informant might not have been a good fit from the beginning.”

While I was chatting with Penny for a moment, I felt a sign of presence in the living room inside. After the story was over, it seemed like he was about to come out.

‘Judging by the fact that no sound came out just a moment ago, it looks like they have a spell or magic tool for security.’

It occurred to me that the customer might be a higher-ranking person than expected. When I asked Penny, I got an unexpected answer.

“Ah, he’s from the Holy Knights! “How shiny the armor was!”

“Holy Knights…?”

Was it a coincidence that the blonde paladin suddenly came to mind?

Dallen chuckled and shook his head. It was a useless delusion.

She, who first possessed the lips of this body, was still at the southern headquarters for training.

“Hehehe, it’s an honor to do business with the Knights. We look forward to your continued support.”

“Our knights are also happy to have a relationship with the artisan of the Mithril Smelter. “I ask for quality weapons from now on.”

Because he thought so, Dallon couldn’t help but be even more surprised when he saw this person coming out of the living room.

Long, flowing golden hair.

Eyes that are bluer and clearer than anyone I’ve ever encountered.

The knight wearing full-body plate armor with the pattern of the Holy Knights elaborately crafted is none other than a hero who will be called a demon slayer in the near future.

“Uh huh…? “Uh-huh?”

“…It’s been a while.”

“Dae Daelon?Why are you here…?”

And a paladin who is quite shy.

Because it was Lucia Castachald.

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