Chapter 120
Chapter 120
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 120
Chapter Title: Friend (3)
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It felt a bit odd, but I had no reason to refuse.
I was disappointed we couldn't talk properly earlier.
“Is that all right?”
“Yes. It's fine.”
“I'm not particularly pleased about this, but if you say it's fine, then so be it. Still, we'll stop by my home first.”
“Huh?”
“Misha has a duel tomorrow, so you won't be able to see her.”
Oh, so there's a rule like that.
“Um, in that case, can my companions wait at your home?”
“What? Hyeon-ung, you said you were going on a date today.”
“That's right.”
Timi and Elaine looked disappointed.
A date?
Ah, right, we were supposed to go sightseeing in the capital.
But meeting the Lord of Schutten with my companions weighed on my mind.
“I'll be back soon.”
“It's the festival season, so most shops will be open late. You'll have plenty of time to look around even after you return.”
Thankfully, the lord sided with me.
“Hyeon-ung, are you... ashamed of us?”
Timi puffed out her cheeks as if protesting how hurt she was.
“Huh? The others, maybe not, but you, Timi? Perhaps a little...”
“That's so mean!”
“I'm kidding. I just don't want to give anyone a reason to find fault with us, so please understand.”
When we entered the capital, we got through safely under the guise of being the lord's attendants.
We even watched the martial arts tournament today.
But that was all because we were with Duke Almondeu.
Of course, we'd be accompanying him this time too, but the person we were meeting was another lord who dealt with many summoners.
I didn't want to give her even the smallest opening.
By promising to return early and soothing them until we got back to Lord Almondeu's mansion, I finally managed to persuade them.
Besides, the lord didn't seem to want to stay long either.
I thought we would take a carriage again, but Rachel's mansion was incredibly close to Lord Almondeu's.
In less than ten minutes, we arrived in front of a magnificent estate.
“Hmm... I think this was the house.”
“M-My lord? You don't... not know the way, do you?”
“It's been a while since I've been to the capital. This is probably it.”
As he spoke, the lord placed his hand on a blue crystal set beside the main gate.
I hadn't seen one in Kramis, but it seemed to function like a doorbell.
After a short wait, the gate opened, and an old gentleman dressed in a navy suit emerged.
Judging by his attire and the dignified way he placed a hand on his chest to bow, he seemed to be a butler as well.
“Thank you for gracing us with your presence, Duke Almondeu Syupereuteu. I am Gilbert, the butler of House Marte.”
“Enough with the pleasantries. Just lead the way.”
“Yes, my lord. The banquet preparations are not quite finished, so I will show you to the drawing-room.”
Following the butler, I noticed it was a bit different from the lord's mansion.
It was just as large and luxurious, but there seemed to be a fondness for the color gold.
The main gate earlier, and most of the buildings, were predominantly gold.
Come to think of it, even the butler's suit had gold patterns embroidered on it.
After about a ten-minute walk, we entered a large building.
The corridors and rooms were all filled with gold decorations.
The drawing-room was no different.
Is it real gold?
“Is something the matter?”
“There's just so much gold. Is it the family's symbolic color or something?”
“Ah, that's because the Schutten region has two gold mines, in addition to the Tower of Kershna.”
So it must be real gold then.
Goldie would have loved this.
It had already been two days, but it seemed he wasn't returning early this time.
Anyway, the drawing-room was also decked out entirely in gold.
I wonder how much money she has...
The butler served us each a cup of warm tea, then excused himself, saying he would fetch his master.
“Rachel seems to be fond of gold.”
“Some nobles call her the 'Golden Lord.' Her avarice is quite extreme. It seems she'd betray an angel for the right price.”
“So she's arrogant and greedy.”
“I suspect that her confidence stems from all this gold.”
After about three minutes of idle chat with the lord, the door opened again.
It was Rachel and Sang-yoon.
I was about to approach him, but the guy just gave me a subtle nod, clearly wary of his surroundings.
He seemed to find his lord quite uncomfortable to be around, too.
Well, at least it was better than the situation in the Aurelian Sea of Trees.
Duke Epheli wouldn't have arranged a meeting like this even if Sang-yoon had asked.
I wonder if Ji-seon is doing okay...
“Oh, I didn't actually think you'd come.”
“You have some nerve saying that after inviting me.”
“With your personality, I naturally assumed you wouldn't show. You hate bothersome things, don't you? You don't even associate with other nobles.”
“What is there to gain from associating with them?”
As the tense exchange continued, Rachel's gaze shifted to me.
“Today's match was impressive. Your name is Oh Hyeon-ung?”
“That's correct. Thank you.”
She was a lord, so I spoke formally out of respect.
“That wasn't a compliment.”
“Pardon?”
“Personally, it's my kind of thing, but wasn't it a bit cruel? With such a skill gap, you should have just finished it quickly instead of humiliating him.”
“Ah...”
“Are you just naturally nasty? Like lord, like summoner. You're just like Almondeu.”
What is this nonsense now?
Ha, this woman's way of speaking was perfectly optimized for picking fights.
“Are you looking for a fight right here?”
Lord Almondeu didn't hide his displeasure, his aura flaring.
“If that were the case, I would have invited you to the training grounds, not the drawing-room.”
“Then how about you stop spouting nonsense about my summoner?”
My lord was doing great.
“What's this? Is he a summoner you're quite fond of?”
“Fond of him or not, if you called me here just to pick this kind of fight, I'm leaving.”
No, my lord, that would be a problem...
“Don't get so angry. While I did invite you at my summoner's request, I also have something to discuss with you personally.”
“What is it?”
“What's the rush?”
As Lord Almondeu and Rachel stared intently at each other, I could feel invisible sparks flying between them.
Fortunately, the hostile atmosphere didn't last long.
*Knock, knock—*
“It is Gilbert, the butler. May I enter?”
“Yes.”
Gilbert entered and announced that the banquet was ready.
“Don't be so heated. Let's eat and talk things over slowly.”
It was absurd for her to say that after causing all the trouble, but we left the drawing-room together. Then, Gilbert blocked Sang-yoon and me.
What's this?
“You two, please follow me.”
“What is the meaning of this?”
“What? No matter what, given our status, it's not quite right for us to dine at the same table as summoners, is it?”
Wow, I'd never met a woman who filled me with such disgust before.
Sang-yoon looked accustomed to it, as if he'd experienced this often, but both my face and Lord Almondeu's flushed red with anger.
He rarely got angry... No, I don't think I'd ever seen him make a face like that before...
“Rachel! You invite us here only to treat us like this?”
“My lord, I'm fine.”
He looked like he would explode any second, so I hurriedly intervened.
“What do you mean, you're fine?”
“I think it will be easier for the two of us to talk if we eat alone...”
I found it just as absurd, but after convincing my companions and coming all this way, it would be a shame to leave like this.
And it was true that it would be easier to talk.
Fortunately, Almondeu took my feelings into consideration and backed down.
“Anyway, even the summoner says it's fine, so why don't you cool your temper?”
Can't she read the room?
Wow, I really felt like stitching that smug mouth of hers shut.
“...If you provoke me any further, I will take it as a sign that you want to settle this today.”
When the lord spoke in a low voice, Rachel must have sensed the danger, as she said no more.
Guided by the butler, we arrived at the dining hall.
Being discriminated against felt awful, but the food was better prepared than I expected.
I'd have to taste it to be sure, but it didn't seem much different from what I ate at Lord Almondeu's mansion.
The tableware was clean, and we weren't in some basement; it was just a different room.
“When you have finished your meal, please infuse the crystal orb over there with your mana, and I will return. Please feel free to talk at your leisure.”
With that, the butler immediately left.
“Hey, your lord has quite a temper, doesn't he? Is he hot-headed?”
This punk?
“Your lord started it. Compared to her, my lord is an angel.”
“True. Seeing him back down when you said you were fine, you must be in his good graces.”
It was more than just being in his good graces, but I didn't bother to say so.
“Well, yeah. Your lord really seems to be the type who asks for a beating.”
“She's a pain, for sure. And she doesn't speak nicely. But she's very generous with her support.”
Oh, that was unexpected.
Or maybe it was just because she had a lot of money...
“Let's talk while we eat.”
“Yeah. Eat up.”
“Are you paying?”
I dipped a piece of bread in the soup and took a bite, then tried each dish one by one, and I was surprised.
Honestly, it was more delicious than the food at the lord's mansion.
Almost on par with the restaurant we went to this afternoon.
Money really is great.
“Are you starving? Eat slowly.”
“Aren't you eating? Don't tell me the food is poisoned.”
Sang-yoon chuckled, picked up a piece of bread in front of him, and took a bite.
“You really haven't been here long, have you? I used to eat this deliciously too, at first. But after a while, I got tired of it.”
Ah, right. Koreans run on rice.
“Want some rice?”
“Rice? What rice? I asked my lord, but there's no rice in Elsia.”
“R-Really?”
“But there's something similar to cabbage. It's a plant called Quenshat that grows in the south. I got some and have been making kimchi with it. I even made my own fermented fish sauce.”
Ugh... Come to think of it, this guy was always serious about food.
He especially loved Korean food.
“If you'd come to our side, I could have let you taste it. Want me to tell you the recipe?”
“Ah... no.”
“Why not? You love kimchi. You wouldn't even eat meat or ramen without it. This is about 70% similar.”
He said it with an incredibly proud expression, which made me feel awkward.
If I wanted kimchi, I could just go to Tae-soo's guild and order it through ElsiaPang...
“I'm really fine.”
“I'm offering to just give you a recipe I spent ages researching. If you don't want it, fine. How's Kramis?”
“Hold on.”
I opened my inventory and took out a pack of ramen and some instant rice.
Unfortunately, I didn't have kimchi, but I did have pickled radish.
It's true I like kimchi, but with ramen, I'm team pickled radish.
“N-No way. Where did you get all this?”
Sang-yoon was so surprised that his normally narrow eyes widened to the size of saucers.
“Do you know about ElsiaPang?”
“I know it. The thing where you get points for buying stuff on CouPang and can get in-game currency... Wow, you're telling me there's a summoner who got that as a trait?”
When I nodded, Sang-yoon looked like he was about to die of envy.
“That's why I offered the recipe... Why don't we have a summoner like that...”
“I'll give you a few more. Want some snacks too?”
“Hyeon-ung, you are so handsome.”
Such shameless flattery...
He seemed so different during the duel earlier, but seeing him like this, he was the same as he used to be.
“Holy crap! You have cola too?”
I took out all the snacks, ramen, and cola from my inventory.
“I-Is it okay to give me this much?”
“I can just buy more.”
I gave some to Kang Ji-seon and Jeon Shin-wook along the way, but I brought a lot with me, so I still had plenty.
I had portions for my companions, but they could eat it later, whereas Sang-yoon couldn't...
“ElsiaPang isn't free, though. Let me pay you. How much was all this...?”
“It's fine. We're friends.”
“No, I'm serious, I have a lot of money.”
I smiled and shook my head.
Sang-yoon had been here a long time and was a Pioneer of a region, so his finances probably weren't bad, but they couldn't be better than mine.
But the guy exclaimed, “Just a second,” and then held out his fist.
“W-What is it?”
What he took out was a small brooch.
It looked like it was originally shaped like a wing, but half of it was missing.
It was glowing with a very familiar color.
“Hey, you have a Legendary piece of equipment...”
“For a Legendary, it's not that great. Accessories get fewer stats and abilities than other gear.”
“I know that, but still, this is too much.”
I'd gotten my hands on plenty of Unique-grade items, if not Legendary ones.
Trading a few snacks, some cola, ramen, and instant rice for a Legendary item...
“I brought it because I thought the special effect would be useful, more so than the stats. Besides, there's no one else I'd give it to.”
He insisted, so I picked it up to check its options.
[Brooch of Friendship (Legendary)
Half of a brooch specially crafted by the legendary artifact artisan, Chris, for a friend who went off to war.
Legend has it that the friend died, and only the brooch returned.
All Stats +20, All Curse Resistance +15%, All Elemental Magic Resistance +25%...]
It certainly wasn't amazing for a Legendary, but considering it was only one half, these stats were excellent.
And what's more...
[...
Special Effect
A Friendly Greeting.
—Summons a large crystal orb, allowing communication with the owner of the matching half of the brooch.
(Duration: 30 minutes, Cooldown: 168 hours.)]
So this was what he meant by a useful function.
“I have the other half.”
He held out his other hand, revealing a brooch of the same shape.
“I guess I can't refuse this. Thanks.”
“What are you thanking me for? We're friends.”
Seeing him grin and throw my own words back at me, a smile naturally formed on my lips.
I never thought we were the kind of friends who couldn't live without each other, but it seems we were a little closer than I realized.