Genius Corpse-Collecting Warrior - Chapter 44
Settlement (2)
“…Oh my.”
The man’s expression hardened slightly as he said a few short words.
But he soon smiled again, showing interest.
The leisure that comes from hundreds of years of time was not so shallow that it could be broken by a single unexpected reaction.
“Shall we say that this is indeed a warrior whom the gods are keeping an eye on?”
“The great apostle and the devil keep mentioning their gods. Are the gods of this town some kind of voyeur?”
The man’s expression hardens slightly again.
And after a while, the smile on his lips became even clearer than before.
‘also.’
Dallen laughed softly to himself.
There was a reason why I deliberately tried to shake the transcendent’s composure, which was so thick that it was difficult to break, little by little.
Eberron Rachtala.
This is because the transcendental person, commonly called ‘the face of a world-changing cartoon’, was a person who was interested in things that were beyond his expectations.
‘The more you show that you are a being that even the transcendent cannot predict while maintaining an appropriate line, the easier it is to attract favor.’
And for a person of transcendental status, it is natural that his favor alone would be worth more than hundreds of gold coins.
The reason Dallen put everything aside and went to the management office was not simply because of the hundreds of gold coins he would receive as a reward.
“It sounds quite profane coming from the mouth of a great warrior who crossed over from the Northern Frost Highlands.”
Eberron said with a calm smile.
Dallen responded in a light tone.
“Because I’m not very religious.”
“well. Wouldn’t it be more appropriate to say that there is no faith at all?”
After a short interval, Eberron opened his mouth again.
“You’ve never crossed the Frost Highlands in the first place, have you?”
Draw a gentle arc for the eyes. The corners of his mouth were pulled up a little more.
The expression and tone of voice seem to be wearing a mask of a smiling face.
The meaning was clear.
‘I know everything about you.’
So, if you can, try to guess what I expected.
No matter how extraordinary a person is, it is natural to be defeated in the face of such an attitude of a transcendent person.
Although I can’t even feel any flow of power in the man’s body.
Because every expression, gesture, and tone of voice contained the pressure that had melted away over hundreds of years.
And in the face of that pressure.
“Phew.”
Dallen couldn’t hold back and burst into laughter.
“…What’s so fun?”
Subtle emotional cracks began to appear on the man’s smiling face.
“No, no.”
Dallen did not hide his smile. Before he knew it, his fingers were tapping the table.
‘How will I react here?’
In a short moment, dozens of options pop into my mind and then disappear.
Although only a few words were exchanged, this question and answer was a test born of the curiosity and interest of the transcendent.
If so, you will have to fully live up to those expectations.
At the end of a moment of silence.
Dallen asked back in a voice clearly filled with laughter.
“Did that seer say that I have never crossed the Frost Highlands?”
“yes?”
“The white-eyed seer. “It was about whether that thousand-year-old fortune teller told you about me.”
In that one word.
The equanimity of the transcendent that had been maintained until now is shattered.
The hand that was reaching for the coffee cup stopped like a still image, and the unwavering expression collapsed to the point where it was miserable.
“…This is unexpected. “I never thought you would know the pioneer.”
Eberron said in a trembling voice.
One of the twenty-six transcendental beings, and the most veiled being among those transcendental beings.
Dallan’s words, as if it were obvious, about a being whose nickname is not even known to the public.
It was impossible for even the face of a comic book that has lived for more than two hundred years to be relaxed in front of those words.
“It is truly a miraculous being.”
Pupils still trembling slightly. Inside, there was a mixture of interest, embarrassment, even greater curiosity and fear.
In front of him, Dallon was just sipping coffee in a ladylike manner.
“I feel the same way about you as I do with my friends who you call transcendents.”
Dallon laughed lowly at that honest sentiment. It was natural for Eberron to feel that way.
It may be an unexpected situation, but the current meeting is one that I have experienced many times on the other side of the monitor.
Because even before the conversation started in the first place, he was already in control of the flow and initiative of the conversation.
And that wouldn’t have changed no matter who sat in front of me.
No matter what secret entity it is, it is just an entity that has already gone through countless contacts and strategies to Dallen, who was an observer outside the monitor.
“The coffee is delicious. “Do you have another drink?”
said Dallon, who was tipping the empty kettle. Eberron snapped his fingers with a slightly bewildered expression.
The staff member waiting outside the room came in and quickly replaced the refreshments.
There was only a clattering noise on the table for a while.
Sweet.
It was after the employees had left and he had taken a sip of his new coffee that Eberron opened his mouth again.
“You said you brought the devil’s essence, right? “Can I take a look?”
The words are said with a calm expression, leaving the confused emotions behind.
But the calm smile on his face told him that Dallen had passed his test and won his favor.
***
Cheolkeong. Clap.
A tightly locked chest makes a heavy noise.
Dallen smiled slightly at the weight he felt in his hand.
In his hands was a chest slightly larger than a thick book.
It was a chest containing 180 gold coins as a reward for handing over the devil’s essence.
In fact, the reward, which would normally have been only about 150 coins, was given a lot more.
Recalling the fact that the favor of the Transcendant was worth more than a few dozen gold coins at best, Dallon patted the chest.
‘Almost two hundred gold coins.’
It was a moment when my emotions became overwhelming.
It seemed like only yesterday that he was collecting frogman stings from the sewers to earn a few more silver coins, but now he had enough gold coins in his hands to overflow.
This is enough money to buy one or two relics from the Magic Age or weapons made by legendary craftsmen on the black market.
‘I’ll have to gradually think about how to use it.’
Anyway, the most important task after leaving the labyrinth was completed.
Dallen stopped by the Magic Tower and took the safe and other loot, then went straight to the Bronze Zone.
The place he headed was the crow’s nest.
It was still before business hours, so the hall was quiet. Bartender Bourbon was alone behind the bar table, polishing glasses.
Dallen naturally sat down at the table and ordered.
“A glass of Melonde Highlander.”
Bourbon put down the glass he was cleaning and began pouring the drink with skillful hands. Dallen watched it quietly and suddenly asked.
“Is Sienna inside?”
Nod.
A small nod returns. And it wasn’t long before Dallan could feel it too.
Two figures came out of the thoroughly soundproofed office and walked down the hallway.
Two signs.
There was one passenger.
“…Anyway, I hope you convey it well.”
“Do not worry. “I heard that you came out of the labyrinth, so I’ll probably stop by here in a few days…”
Sienna trailed off as she opened the back door and came out. Her eyes were fixed on Dallen at the bar table.
Dallen chuckled and raised the glass he had just received. Sienna shouted.
“Dallen!”
“My ears are going to fall off. Nice to meet you too.”
“Ahahaha sorry. “It came quicker than I thought.”
A laugh filled with pleasant lightness.
Dallen smiled lowly at her, then raised his drink once more when he saw the person coming out from behind her.
“Dallen? “Is this really you?”
“It’s been a long time, Sang Sang-ju.”
“Oh my God, Sisela! “I heard you went down to the labyrinth, but you’re fine!”
Volkmar Galios, the owner of the Galios Merchant Marine, shouted so loudly that the bar almost rang loudly.
Anyway, he is a person with a good voice. Dallen said with a grin.
“Then where did you think you would leave even one of your limbs?”
“Haha! How could that be! “A great warrior like you would have swept through the labyrinth!”
Volkmar waved his hand with a look of joy on his face. He naturally sat down next to Dallen. Bourbon gave me another drink as I was used to.
Meanwhile, Dallon took a sip of his drink and asked.
“But what’s going on here?”
“That’s it…”
“I’ll tell you.”
It was Sienna. She pulled a chair over and sat down next to Bourbon on the other side of the bar table. It was facing the two people.
She gently clasped her hands together on the table and began to talk.
“Do you remember what I asked you to find out? “An elixir, ritual, or spell that can increase physical strength.”
Dallen nodded.
Those were the rewards he offered as a condition when selecting nomination requests.
At the time, my physical strength was still seriously lacking.
Since he needed to increase his stamina even for a moment, he left a message to Sienna asking her to look into it separately, even if it had nothing to do with the request.
“Personally, I looked into spells and rituals, but there wasn’t much success. “Most of them were either virtually impossible to obtain or had extreme side effects.”
“Right.”
In fact, the Holy Knights’ sacred tattoos were a unique case, and most rituals or spells that increased ability levels required excessive fees.
In fact, in the case of sacred tattoos, unless it was a special case like this one, it was an item that required a chest of gold coins to be received.
“So I mainly looked into medicinal herbs. “Focusing on methamphetamine orchards, herbalists and merchants in the western region.”
“And I did something there.”
Volkmar, whose glass was half empty, chuckled with a red face.
What, are you drunk already?
“Do you know a small town called Lvivach in the southwestern part of the Union of Cities?”
“I’ve heard of it. “Isn’t the nearby mountain area famous for producing high-quality medicinal herbs?”
Lvivbach.
It was a small city located at the southwest end of the city alliance centered around the labyrinth city of Falcion.
Although it is a town with a population of just over 5,000, it is a place that stands out as an important event in the game.
Volkmar responded to Dallen’s words with a harsh voice.
“That’s right! There you go! Since you are well versed in geography, you are a special warrior. Anyway, this time I heard valuable information about that city.”
“what?”
Dallen asked, taking another glass of bourbon.
The owner of the top had a sinister look on his face and lowered his voice as he spoke.
“Hehe, don’t be surprised. “It is said that a colony of dozens of mandrake was discovered near Lvivbach!”
It’s the legendary herb that even a dying old man can revive and even the high-ranking wizards of the Magic Tower can’t eat because they don’t have it!
Dallen asked Volkmar, who was shouting out excitedly to himself, in a slightly shaky voice.
“…Really?”
“Really! I am Volkmar Galios! “I can confidently say that I am ahead of anyone else when it comes to rumors about money!”
Volkma shouts with a face dripping with intoxication. Dallen slowly tilted his glass with a slightly stiff expression.
Sienna, seeing that, gently rubbed her temples and added a word.
“Dallan, it could be nonsense. No, it’s most likely just a rumor.”
“But if it were true, it wouldn’t be a waste to say it was a quick win! Just know that with every opportunity comes risk, and the stronger the risk, the sweeter the reward!”
Dallen didn’t answer. He just slowly placed his empty glass on the table.
He tapped his glass and was lost in thought.
‘Lvibach’s Mandrake colony.’
Dallen knew.
As Volkmar, whose face was red from intoxication, said, this was not just a rumor.
In fact, if we only look at the truth of the rumor, in reality, even the rumor that has now spread has a tendency to be reduced.
In the rumored Mandrake habitat, there would be close to a thousand Manddrakes growing there, not dozens.
But Dallon’s focus was not on the truth of the case.
‘This isn’t an event that will already happen.’
Because he knew very well that this incident would not simply end with a good Mandrake harvest.
Mandrake is a legendary herb that increases stamina and magical power.
But at the same time, it was also a screaming monster that destroyed people’s hearts.
‘And the Forest of Screams, where the demon world was cursed, created by nearly a thousand mandrakes gathered together.’
The sudden appearance of this demonic realm in the middle of the continent was a sign that the game was entering its mid-stage.
This is an incident in which the screams of thousands of mandrakes cover the nearby area, and in the aftermath, the city of Lviv is transformed into a graveyard for its residents overnight.
Because it was a sign that the Ash Witch, one of the worst enemies in the mid-game, would begin her activities in earnest.