Chapter 113
Chapter 113
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 113
Chapter Title: Duke Epheli (1)
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When I first came to Elsia, the angels told me to choose one of three options.
The first was the Kramis Labyrinth.
The second was Kershna's Tower.
The third was the Aurelia Sea of Trees.
I thought we would only meet once we reached the capital...
A moment later, the carriage stopped, and the driver quickly dismounted to open the door.
A middle-aged man with a mustache, dressed in fine leather, was the first to step out.
“Almondeu, so it was you.”
“It's been a while, Epheli.”
He was handsome, with sharp, strong features, and his muscles were no joke.
He seemed to be about my height, but his build looked at least twice as large.
“Quite a crowd. Weren't there only two participants for this competition?”
“They're attendants. The participants are that fellow and the woman over there.”
Almondeu pointed to me and Misha.
We had agreed beforehand that it would be best not to reveal we were a Summoned's companions in the capital, so we decided to say we were the lord's attendants.
“Is that so? You never used to bring many people, calling them a nuisance. You've changed.”
“A lot of time has passed. We were about to eat. Have you eaten yet?”
“We were just about to eat as well. Would it be alright if we joined you here?”
“Let's do that.”
They didn't seem incredibly close, but they didn't seem to be on bad terms either.
Duke Epheli went to his carriage, and a man and a woman stepped out.
Black hair and tan skin.
Anyone could tell they were Summoned.
The woman looked to be in her mid-20s, and the man seemed to be in his early to mid-30s.
They, too, looked at us with curiosity.
“We'll eat here before we leave.”
“Yes, understood.”
Seril moved some burning logs to create another campfire.
“...We could have done that, but thank you.”
“It’s nothing.”
“Wait, is that cup ramen?”
Both the man and the woman looked at the cup ramen we had set out, their expressions a picture of shock.
“It is?”
“How do you have cup ramen in Elsia...”
It seemed there were no Summoned with the ElsiaPang trait in the Aurelia Sea of Trees.
“Cup ramen?”
Duke Epheli tilted his head, showing his curiosity.
“It's a food from the Summoned's world. It's quite tasty, so we've already started supplying it to the capital.”
Oh, so distribution has already begun.
“May I try one as well?”
At Duke Epheli's request, Almondeu looked at me.
“Yes, of course.”
I had packed plenty of ramen.
“Will you two have some as well?”
They didn't say it outright, but they were staring so intently that anyone could tell they wanted some, so I offered.
“Really?”
“Thank you. I've really been missing ramen so much.”
Their faces lit up; it would have been a problem if I hadn't asked.
I took out three more cups of ramen and set them up.
Duke Epheli's attendants were there too, but they shook their heads.
Well, we had many mouths to feed on our side anyway.
I even grilled some sausages and bacon and added them to the cup ramen.
“Please, eat.”
I handed the first one to Duke Epheli. He twirled the noodles with a fork, and his face quickly turned red.
“My tongue stings a bit.”
It was the mild flavor, too.
Of course, if you've never had ramen before, you might feel that way.
It seemed it wasn't quite to Duke Epheli's taste.
“Haha, it feels like that at first. But the more you eat, the more you crave it.”
Lord Almondeu, being used to it, slurped down the noodles with ease.
My companions, of course, were the same, and as for the man and woman from the Aurelia Sea of Trees, it was a slight exaggeration, but they looked as if they were about to burst into tears.
“This is seriously so delicious.”
“How on earth...”
“Have you ever heard of ElsiaPang?”
“ElsiaPang?”
The man didn't seem to know, but the woman nodded.
“Wasn't that an event they did in partnership with Kupang?”
“Kupang?”
“There was an event where you’d get in-game currency if you bought something through their partnership with Kupang. Right?”
“Yes. In Kramis, there’s a Summoned with the ElsiaPang trait, so we can buy modern goods.”
“Oh, then does that mean things like firearms... Ouch! Why did you hit me?”
The woman next to him smacked him on the back.
“Shin-wook, what kind of guns do you think they sell on Kupang!”
“Is that so?”
So the man's name is Shin-wook.
“Come to think of it, we haven't properly introduced ourselves. My name is Oh Hyeon-ung. I'm twenty-eight.”
“Ah, you're right. I'm Kang Ji-seon. You look so young. I'm twenty-five. This is my cousin, Jeon Shin-wook. He's twenty-nine.”
So he wasn't in his 30s.
“Twenty-eight? I thought you were in your early twenties.”
“Haha, thank you.”
“Life’s unfair.”
“What did you do back on Earth?”
“I was a WiTuber.”
“Oh, a WiTuber! I was a physical education teacher. At a sports high school.”
“Oh, I see.”
She certainly did look quite fit.
Jeon Shin-wook was Kang Ji-seon's maternal cousin, and they hadn't looked like a couple from the start.
He had lived in Australia since he was young, went to college there, and then returned to Korea.
He said he taught English at an academy, which was a bit surprising.
Still, after talking with them for a bit, neither seemed to have a difficult personality.
Ji-seon seemed quite friendly, too.
“But aren't participants supposed to go in pairs? Who's the other person from Kramis?”
“That's Misha over there, she's...”
There was no need to reveal she was a former Summoned.
“You don't seem very close. Are you from different guilds?”
“Uh, something like that. Are you two in the same guild?”
Since they were cousins, it was a natural question.
“Yes. I'm the vice guild master, and Shin-wook is the co-guild master.”
A co-guild master, how unusual.
“Summoned from the same place seem to get along quickly.”
Duke Epheli said, looking at us after finishing his meal.
“We’re from the same hometown, after all.”
“Since we're heading in the same direction, we've decided to travel together.”
“Ah, I see.”
I wanted to talk with them more, so this worked out well.
We'd be in separate carriages, but we'd have chances to talk during meals or at night, just like now.
“Wait a minute, is that a Golden Dragon?”
Jeon Shin-wook, who must have just woken up, was startled to see Goldie peeking out of my pocket.
“It is.”
The fact that he recognized a Golden Dragon at a glance meant he must have played the game quite a lot.
“I have a pet, too.”
From Jeon Shin-wook's pocket, a red dragon that looked similar to Goldie revealed itself.
“Kyu?”
“Kuku!”
They stared at each other awkwardly, exchanging glances, before approaching and sniffing one another.
“Poyo!”
Even Nyx, who was in my other pocket, came out, and the three of them played together happily.
“Two pets? I don't think I've seen that bird before.”
Unlike Goldie, Nyx wasn't a pet that appeared in events.
“Seeing that you have pets, you must be the Pioneer.”
I had expected it, but I was still surprised.
Oh, so there were Pioneers in other regions too.
But how did he know just by seeing Goldie?
“All the pets that appeared in Elsia only came from random item boxes.”
Oh, I see.
It was true that both Nyx and Goldie came from random item boxes.
“We've finished our meal, so let's get going.”
As Duke Epheli stood up, Jeon Shin-wook and Kang Ji-seon also quickly drank the rest of their ramen broth and got to their feet.
He snatched the red dragon that was playing with Goldie and Nyx and put it in his pocket. Wow, he was fast.
As expected of a Pioneer.
“Let's go, too.”
“Yes.”
I boarded the carriage with Lord Almondeu.
“What do you think, now that you've met them?”
“I'm not sure yet.”
We hadn't talked for very long, after all.
It was mostly just introductions.
“Aren't you getting a little too friendly with people you'll have to fight soon?”
Misha didn't seem too pleased about me mingling with the Summoned from the Aurelia Sea of Trees.
Come to think of it, she was the only one who sat apart from everyone else during the meal...
Was she feeling left out because she wasn't from the same region?
“We're from the same hometown. And I have things to ask them.”
“The other regions are probably just like Kramis anyway.”
Well, as Misha said, they probably weren't all that different.
Still, building some rapport would make it easier to talk to them later.
“What did you think of Duke Epheli?”
“Other than seeming a bit authoritarian, I didn't have much of an impression. What kind of person is he?”
“We were in the same guild, and from the same generation.”
Oh, then they should be really close...
But even if they were from the same generation, they wouldn't be that close if they were in different guilds.
“Is that so?”
“You didn't seem very close. And he didn't recognize me.”
Come to think of it, he hadn't shown any sign of recognizing Misha.
I had been a little curious about that myself, and Misha had asked the right question.
“We had different ways of thinking, so we weren't very close even when we were Summoned.”
“Ways of thinking?”
“Epheli liked this world from the very beginning. He said he had almost no family or friends back home. He took on administrative duties and rarely went to the labyrinth.”
Judging by his muscles, I would have thought he fought on the front lines, but it turned out he was in a position like Seol-hwa's.
Having no family was something I could relate to.
“He wanted to settle down from the start, so he's very close with the angels. And as you said, he's authoritarian. It's best not to get too close to him.”
Hearing that, I thought I should be wary of him.
Not that I ever intended to get friendly with the ruler of another region, though I might with the Summoned.
****
About seven hours seemed to have passed since lunch.
As dusk began to settle outside, the carriage started to slow down.
Soon, the window connecting to the driver's seat opened, and Seril's face appeared.
“My lord, we've arrived at the Averk Forest.”
Averk Forest?
“We're earlier than expected. Alright, everyone out.”
I woke Elaine, who was drooling on my shoulder as she slept, and got out of the carriage.
In front of us was a massive river and a bridge made of stacked stones.
Beyond it, a dense forest spread out.
“The forest is huge!”
Milli and Timi seemed unimpressed, but Elaine looked on with wonder, saying she had never seen a forest like this before.
“It's the largest forest in the empire after the Aurelia Sea of Trees.”
“Lord Almondeu, are there a lot of monsters there too?”
“There are some. It's not as dangerous as the Sea of Trees, but the forest at night is dangerous. We'll be staying here for today.”
A little ways off, campfires were set up here and there, with people gathered around them.
Several carriages and horses were visible as well.
The ground was flat, and since it was late and this was the entrance to the forest, it seemed most travelers were camping here for the night.
Duke Epheli's carriage had just arrived as well.
While Kasim and Seril lit a campfire and prepared dinner, we set up our tents.
“My lord, shall we help you?”
“It's fine. It's nothing difficult.”
The lord set up not only his own tent but also Seril's and Kasim's.
On the other hand, when I looked over at Duke Epheli's group, only the Summoned and the attendants were moving. The duke himself didn't lift a finger.
Considering his title of Duke, that might be normal, but he certainly didn't give off the vibe of a former Summoned.
As I was thinking he seemed more like a native Elsian noble, Ji-seon approached our group.
“You treated us to cup ramen earlier today.”
I thought she was going to ask for more, but she handed me a large plastic bundle as a thank-you.
When I opened it, I found slightly frozen meat. Wow, I couldn't help but be impressed.
The marbling was on par with top-grade Hanwoo beef.
Most of the cattle in Elsia were grass-fed, so they didn't produce this kind of marbling. It was fascinating.
“This is meat from a Flat Boar raised in the Sea of Trees. It's famous for being delicious even there, so please try it.”
“Oh, Flat Boar! You don't need anything else, just a sprinkle of salt and pepper and it's a delicacy of the heavens.”
Lord Almondeu, who had eaten it a few times in the capital, added an explanation.
Just looking at the marbling, I could believe it.
“You really didn't have to...”
“But thanks to you, I got to eat cup ramen for the first time in so long. You can't even buy that with money...”
Feeling it wouldn't be right to just accept it, I took out two cans of cola and two packs of stir-fried ramen and handed them to her.
“Co... Cola? This is insane. Wow, thank you so much.”
She bowed her head repeatedly, making me feel a little sorry.
Back in the modern world, this would have been a terrible trade in terms of value.
Of course, if I didn't have ElsiaPang, I probably would have reacted the same way.
Kang Ji-seon returned to her camp, looking ecstatic.
“I'll cook the meat.”
“Milli? Have you had this before?”
“I've cooked a lot of meat. Could you slice it about three centimeters... no, since it's a campfire, about four centimeters thick?”
When I sliced it using my will, Milli placed the meat on a plate, sprinkled it with salt and pepper, and rubbed it in.
“How would you like it cooked?”
“I'll have mine medium-rare, please.”
“Uh, me too.”
The lord had the same preference as me.
“Um... for meat with this much fat, it's more flavorful if you cook it a little more.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. If it's undercooked, it can be chewy and greasy.”
She sounded like a real expert.
I put a piece of the golden-brown grilled meat in my mouth and... Wow! It was truly touching.
A rich, meaty flavor exploded in my mouth.
The savory juices and a texture so tender it melted on my tongue.
The top-grade Hanwoo I had tried only once, after a collaboration with another WiTuber, had been the best meat of my life, but its ranking changed in an instant.
“This is really delicious.”
“It seems even tastier than when I had it in the capital.”
“Hyeon-ung, this is so good!”
Seril, the lord, Elaine—everyone was exclaiming in admiration.
“Kabisa steak was complete garbage.”
“Ti... Timi. You shouldn't say things like that...”
I agreed that this was far more delicious, but the owner of Kabisa was Lord Almondeu...
“Compared to Flat Boar, it is. It would be great if it were supplied in Kramis, too. I'll have to talk to Epheli about it later.”
Fortunately, the lord didn't take issue with it.
“Milli, you should eat too, don't just grill.”
I cut a piece of meat, picked it up with a fork, and offered it to her. The rascal took it right from the fork with her mouth.
“It tastes even better because you gave it to me, Hyeon-ung.”
“Hyeon-ung! Why only Milli! I have a mouth too!”
Timi pouted and glared at me before opening her mouth.
“Your breath stinks, Timi.”
“That's so mean. To a lady.”
“You have hands, don't you? Milli is busy grilling.”
Even the lord, and the married couple Kasim and Seril, weren't feeding each other. It was a bit embarrassing.
I had just meant for Milli to take the fork...
After we finished eating, I asked the lord if I could go talk with the Summoned from the Sea of Trees.
“Of course. I'll go with you. I need to ask him about distributing Flat Boar.”
He must have really liked what Milli cooked.
Even Misha, who seemed to have no appetite, had held out her plate for more.
“We'll stay in the tent.”
“Hyeon-ung, please take out the board game.”
I took out the game, and since my inventory was open, I pulled out a few snacks as well.
“Aren't you coming?”
“Let's go.”
Lord Almondeu and I approached Duke Epheli's camp.
*Smack—*
An unsettling sound made me quicken my pace. The atmosphere was incredibly tense.
The attendants stood behind them, their faces pale, while Kang Ji-seon and Jeon Shin-wook stood at attention, their heads bowed.
Moreover, both Ji-seon's and Shin-wook's cheeks were red and swollen.
In front of them stood Duke Epheli, his face contorted in a deep frown.
“Didn't I tell you to behave? That if you don't act properly, you're tarnishing my name?”
“...You did, sir.”
“...I'm sorry.”
“Then what is that? Are you beggars? Did I starve you?”
Duke Epheli pointed to two cola cans lying on the ground.
Was this situation really because of the cola?
It was absurd.
It wasn't like they got it for free; they had traded for it...
He had said his personality wasn't great, but I didn't think it would be this bad...
The Summoned from the Aurelia Sea of Trees must have it tough.
I was thinking of coming back later, but Lord Almondeu strode forward.
“Epheli, that's enough.”