The Last Adventurer - Chapter 4

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Chapter 4: The Golden Slime (1)

1.

Gafor’s Top.

It was one of the 10 largest organizations in the city of Liss, and it was rapidly gaining power.

In terms of history and tradition, it was not yet on par with the other 10 largest organizations in the port city of Liss.

Despite this, it occupied the tallest and largest building in the port city of Liss.

The number of people coming and going from the Gafor’s Top was as large as the size of the building itself.

“Isn’t that person I saw somewhere?”

“Where? I can’t tell with so many people.”

There were too many people to recognize each other.

It was even harder to recognize the faces of adventurers, let alone the names of slaves.

“Hey, there!”

“Oh, it’s Paume!”

However, El Paume was an exception. He was more famous than any adventurer at the Gafor Top Liss branch.

It was understandable.

“He’s back alive again?”

“Amazing, he’s survived again as a bait slave.”

He had been surviving and returning alive for years as a bait slave, a role that was usually difficult to survive for more than three times.

Looking at El Paume, people thought:

“Looking at him come back alive like that, it seems like the Gafor’s Top is really terrible.”

“Of course. It’s better to just die than to run away from the Gafor’s Top.”

Judging by the fact that he didn’t run away from the Gafor’s Top even though he was going through hell, the Gafor’s Top must be even more terrifying than hell.

“Wait a minute.”

However, the atmosphere towards El Paume began to change ominously at some point.

“Why are you coming alone?”

“Alone?”

“Did you really survive the Mystic Gate alone?”

After all, those who returned alive from the Mystic Gate era were treated as ominous beings.

Not to mention that El Paume was a bait slave, so it was natural that the gazes directed at him became sharp.

Sharp gazes, enough to suffocate even the strongest, flew towards El Paume.

‘It’s exactly the same as that time.’

However, El Paume didn’t care.

To be honest, he didn’t even feel it.

Compared to the six gazes from the three heads of that monster, Horntail, this was nothing.

Of course, before he returned, the old El Paume was different.

‘Back then, my mind wasn’t right.’

El Paume’s mental state was destroyed after being suddenly thrown in as bait, witnessing the deaths of the other adventurers, and narrowly escaping the incoming orange mushrooms to find the exit alone.

In fact, at that time, he wasn’t even aware that he had opened the 1st Circle.

He came here with a blank expression, only thinking that he had to report this fact to the Gafor’s Top.

However, it was different now.

“But why is his expression so calm? It doesn’t look like his party was wiped out.”

El Paume walked through the building of the Gafor’s Top with a face so cold it was almost expressionless.

“Now, wait a minute.”

And then, he willingly showed it.

“Is that… a Circle on his wrist?”

2.

Lakan, one of the executives of the Gafor’s Top.

“El Paume? Who’s that?”

His reaction when he first heard about El Paume was one of doubt.

“What, a slave?”

When he heard the following explanation, Lakan was surprised.

However, he was not angry.

He knew why.

“You’re not telling me that a single slave came back alive, are you? What’s going on?”

There was a reason why a low-ranking employee of the Gafor’s Top would come to him, an executive, on two feet.

“He opened the 1st Circle?”

And only when he heard the explanation did he acknowledge that it was a reason to come to him.

“Hmm.”

However, he was not particularly surprised.

“A bait slave opened a Circle…….”

This was not the first time this had happened. No, it happened more often than one might think.

There were more people who opened the 1st Circle than one might think, and that was why the era of adventurers could begin.

Therefore, the fact that he opened the 1st Circle was not a big problem in itself.

“A bait slave.”

The problem was that the person in question was a bait slave, someone who could not have good intentions towards the Gafor’s Top.

Not to mention, he was not just any bait slave.

“Three years?”

It was safe to say that among the surviving bait slaves, El Paume harbored the most resentment towards the Gafor’s Top.

This posed a problem.

“He could become a real pain in the ass if he turns into a successful adventurer later.”

“Would he maintain a good relationship with the Top then? Even if he did, it would require a lot of effort on their part.”

From the Top’s perspective, eliminating El Paume seemed like the easiest solution.

However, that wasn’t so simple either.

“We can’t just kill him.”

“The Top may do some bad things, but it still values contracts. Trust with those who sign contracts is more important than life itself!”

The same applied to El Paume. They had a contract with him. Should they just kill him because he messed up? A secret execution was an option, but the risk of getting caught was significant.

On the other hand, killing El Paume wouldn’t benefit the Top in the immediate term. An adventurer who could pay off his debts was a valuable asset, and killing him meant losing that potential income.

Lakan needed to weigh the pros and cons. How much of a threat was El Paume to the Top? The report mentioned El Paume’s calm demeanor upon arrival.

This was unusual.

Adventurers and bait slaves typically suffered mental breakdowns after expeditions beyond the Mystic Gate.

El Paume, however, seemed completely unfazed.

The report continued, informing Lakan that El Paume had proposed a new contract, one befitting an adventurer.

Surprise gave way to a narrowed gaze on Lakan’s face.

This was far from an ideal situation.

As mentioned earlier, it was impossible for a bait slave to have any positive feelings towards the Gafor’s Top.

From the Top’s perspective, a bait slave becoming an adventurer was a high-risk situation.

However, fear of risk was not an option for a merchant who wanted to survive.

‘He’s a guy with potential.’

Judging from his appearance, it was clear that he was no longer the inexperienced adventurer who had just opened his 1st Circle.

Of course, Lakan didn’t think much of it.

At the end of the day, El Paume was just a novice adventurer who had just opened his 1st Circle.

From the perspective of the gigantic Gafor’s Top, he was nothing more than a large pebble on the side of the road.

He was not someone that Lakan, one of the core executives of the Gafor’s Top, needed to be deeply concerned about.

So Lakan made a decision.

“Leave El Paume to Ebisu.”

3.

“So you’re Ebisu.”

The man who spoke and extended his hand had a face completely covered in thick beard.

He was also huge in size.

An appearance that was impossible to forget once seen.

‘Ebisu.’

That was his name.

‘The left-hand man of Lakan, one of the current executives of the Gafor’s Top.’

El Paume easily recalled the name and identity of the man before him from his old memories.

‘Not a bad catch.’

And he was satisfied with the fact that Ebisu had come.

‘This means Lakan is paying attention to me.’

Before his regression, El Paume had acted like a complete fool the moment he opened his 1st Circle.

He had behaved in a conventional manner, and the Gafor’s Top had treated him conventionally as well.

El Paume had been used to the very end, just like it was common knowledge that adventurers who owed a lot of money to the Gafor’s Top would be used until they died.

That was why it had taken him three years to find freedom.

His initial debt was 1 million mesos, but in the process of completing the Gafor’s Top’s requests, he had no choice but to borrow money or items from them.

He couldn’t just die, after all.

So he ended up in debt again, and the debt grew.

That’s why it took three years.

El Paume was still a better case scenario. Most people lived their entire lives under the thumb of the Gafor’s Top.

‘I have no intention of repeating history.’

It went without saying, but El Paume had no intention of being used like that again.

That’s why he had acted strangely, and executive Lakan had reacted in the way he wanted.

‘Ebisu would be the best.’

El Paume was even more pleased when he realized that the person before him was Ebisu, the left-hand man of executive Lakan.

The left-hand man meant one of the closest aides.

‘He’s the kind of guy who wants to be the right-hand man.’

It also meant that he wasn’t satisfied with his current position.

And that was exactly what he expected.

Ebisu, who had come to this place, was thinking to himself with his thick beard.

‘He’s definitely not an ordinary guy.’

The Gafor’s Top had become a top 10 organization by handling high-risk tasks that other organizations wouldn’t touch.

Most of the adventurers that the Gafor’s Top encountered were of poor quality in many ways.

Having met and dealt with such people directly, Ebisu’s judgment was naturally bound to be exceptional.

‘He has potential.’

To Ebisu, El Paume was clearly different from an adventurer who had just opened his 1st Circle.

“You said you wanted to change the contract?”

“Yes.”

“Changing it from a slave contract to an adventurer contract, well, that’s not a difficult thing to do. I’ll change it for you. So, from now on, I’ll classify you as an F-rank adventurer and change the contract.”

“I request an E-rank.”

“E-rank? For someone who hasn’t even received a rank from the Adventurer’s Association?”

And there was something else.

“I’ve adventured through the Mystic Gate hundreds of times as a bait slave. Even if you call me an F-rank adventurer, with that much experience, it wouldn’t be strange for me to receive a D-rank.”

After all, he had an exceptional track record.

Of course, that didn’t mean it was an easy task.

After all, D-rank treatment was not ordinary treatment.

That was to be expected, as the Adventurer’s Association originally divided adventurers into five categories:

Beginner, Junior, Veteran, Ultimate, Master.

However, with the advent of the Mystic Gate era and the influx of adventurers, the Adventurer’s Association felt the need to further subdivide the adventurer’s ranks, and from then on, they began to use a ranking system that started with F-rank.

Therefore, in terms of the old system, D-rank treatment was equivalent to a junior adventurer, not a beginner.

The difference in rank was clear.

‘That’s what I expected.’

However, Ebisu had expected El Paume to act this way.

El Paume’s background as a bait slave must have played a role in his different attitude compared to others.

And as El Paume said, it was clearly a very valuable experience.

“That’s all well and good, but it’s still just the experience of a bait slave. You don’t have any experience actually hunting monsters, do you?”

“Other adventurers are good at hunting monsters. But I’m better at surviving against monsters. That’s what happened this time too. All the other adventurers died, but I, a slave, survived.”

The virtue of an adventurer is to go on adventures and survive.

The first adventurers were able to achieve such great fame and reputation because they survived.

And it was those kinds of adventurers that merchants like Ebisu needed.

Adventurers who were willing to go where no one else would.

‘Hmm.’

Of course, El Paume wasn’t a reliable adventurer yet.

Surviving for three years as a bait slave was impressive, but the talent of an adventurer was a completely different area.

Instead, one thing was certain.

‘It’s a shame to just kill him.’

Ebisu had no intention of killing El Paume.

That left only one option.

“There’s a Mystic Gate. If you complete the request there, I’ll treat you as an E-rank adventurer.”

It was a test.

“You say you can even hunt a Horntail.”

El Paume responded to Ebisu, who was taking out a contract along with those words.

“I’ll show you that it’s not just talk.”

El Paume signed the contract.

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