Ending Maker Chapter 80
Ending Maker Chapter 80
Chapter 27 - The Kaplan Effect
Even Yuder had a conscience.
"Really?"
"Why are you acting like this has nothing to do with you? You're an accomplice too, you know."
"Cordelia doesn't know anything. She just followed her daddy."
Cordelia was blatantly acting cute and playing innocent, but Yuder couldn't help it.
"Hehe, it can't be helped since I'm really cute, right?"
"No, it's not that."
"Hehehe."
Cordelia giggled obnoxiously and poked Yuder's chest with her finger.
"Anyway, so you do have a conscience after all."
Yuder's conscience.
Yes. Even Yuder had a conscience.
After receiving the Blessing of the Earth and then extracting well over twenty magic tools from both sides combined, trying to squeeze something else out of the Fairy Queen as additional quest compensation was too much even for Yuder.
'Actually, it's because there's nothing left to squeeze out.'
There were surely a few more treasures, but the Fairy Queen also had things she could give and things she couldn't.
There was no need to ruin a good relationship (?) over pointless greed.
"So this is what you got?"
"It's enough."
Yuder answered with a grin and spread open the map he had received from the Fairy Queen.
"The Magic Kingdom of Magellan."
A mighty magical kingdom founded by the High Elves, also called the Ancient Elves.
The map recorded in detail not only Bladebeak Canyon but also the geography of the former capital of the magical kingdom—Magic City Endymion.
"Lena's probably somewhere here, right?"
"Probably. Even if she isn't...... to save Lena, we have to know Endymion well."
Cordelia nodded at Yuder's words, then turned her gaze to the left corner of the map and smiled from the heart.
"This is the hot spring where we are now. And this is the bath marker, so...... hehehe, there are over ten baths in Endymion alone."
They probably wouldn't be as perfectly preserved as this place managed by the Wild Fairies, but the fact that there were bathtubs was what mattered.
"That's great."
"Yeah, I'm so happy."
Seeing Cordelia's bright smile put Yuder in a good mood too.
"Let's stop by on the way. Anyway, that meeting was a huge haul."
"Yeah, it really was."
The Blessing of the Earth, the Echo of Spells, and all the other magic tools, plus the map of Magic City Endymion.
'And information on top of that.'
What kinds of monsters inhabited Bladebeak Canyon, what terrain in the area required caution, and so on.
Yuder and Cordelia had obtained far more than they had expected.
"First, let's change our equipment setup. Take out anything that cancels out, and let's set it up for maximum efficiency."
"Leave it to your big sis. I'll set yours up for maximum efficiency too."
While Cordelia pounded her chest and sorted through the equipment they had brought, Yuder approached Kaplan, who was still lying unconscious on the floor.
"How's Kaplan?"
"He looks fine. He's just sleeping soundly."
Yuder answered Cordelia, but still checked Kaplan's pulse once before untying the ropes.
'Indiana Kaplan.'
An adventurer and archaeologist from the Argon Empire.
He was a character you met at least once while exploring ruins in the Argon Empire, and because trouble always followed him, beginners called him a god of disaster while rotten fossils called him a god of fortune.
"Should we wake him?"
"We need to talk to him."
What was Kaplan's reason for coming to the Wild Lands?
What and how much did he know about Magic City Endymion?
"Wait, if we're waking him up, let me do it with magic."
Cordelia dumped the equipment she had been sorting into the new magic bag and walked briskly over to Yuder.
"Awake."
She gently stroked Kaplan’s shiny bald head and whispered, and the effect soon activated.
"Ughhh...... uh......."
Kaplan opened his eyes with a groan, dazed for a moment, then abruptly sat bolt upright.
"Huh?! Where am I?! The monster?!"
Yuder and Cordelia left him alone for the moment, and Kaplan gasped for breath as he looked around before calming himself down.
"A, a bathhouse? In the High Elf style?"
As expected of an archaeologist.
Yuder smiled without realizing it and spoke to Kaplan, who was drenched in cold sweat.
"Sir Indiana Kaplan. Am I right?"
Kaplan flinched at the gentle address but soon nodded.
He had been so flustered that he hadn't properly seen Yuder and Cordelia sitting right beside him.
"I am Indiana Kaplan. This place...... ah, no. I remember now. I was being chased by a White Giant Bear......."
"Yes, we rescued you, Sir Kaplan."
"We saved you. If it weren't for us, you would have been eaten by the White Giant Bear."
Cordelia was emphasizing the fact that they had saved him without even being asked.
'Why?'
'No reason, I'm just proud.'
She's grown up well.
Though a corner of his heart stung slightly, as if he had corrupted a pure child.
Either way, Cordelia's emphasis on the favor was effective.
"Oh! So you two are my saviors! Thank you so much! I'm alive thanks to you."
"Yes, that's right."
"Ahem, anyway."
Yuder gently restrained Cordelia, who was nodding eagerly, and stepped forward.
Because Kaplan was not a fairy.
Emphasizing the favor was fine, but being too blatant about it could backfire.
"It is an honor to meet Sir Indiana Kaplan, the renowned archaeologist."
"Hoho, I've merely gained a little undeserved fame."
Kaplan stroked his beard as if embarrassed, but praise could make even a whale dance.
His mood had clearly improved.
"I am Yuder, and this is my fiancée, Cordelia."
"I'm Cordelia. It's an honor to meet you."
As Cordelia offered her greetings, Kaplan's face grew even warmer.
"Your fiancée is truly a remarkable beauty. I envy you."
"Hahaha, thank you."
In truth, Cordelia didn't think much of it and didn't realize, but Yuder made a point of emphasizing the fact that she was his "fiancée" every time they met someone.
At any rate, with the atmosphere now amicable, Kaplan spoke.
"But...... you two don't seem like people who dwell in the Wild Lands."
"No, we're from the Saelun Kingdom."
"Oh! Saelun! The Saelun Kingdom has been at war with the barbarian tribes for ages, so how did you come all the way here......."
"There were various circumstances...... but the biggest reason is to explore the ruins."
"Ruins exploration?"
"Yes, ruins exploration."
At Yuder's answer, curiosity and tension appeared simultaneously on Kaplan's face, which had been simply chuckling.
"And these ruins would be......."
"The capital of the Magic Kingdom of Magellan. Magic City Endymion."
"Oh! I knew it!"
Kaplan sprang to his feet with sparkling eyes, and Cordelia immediately added.
"Did you come to investigate Endymion as well, Sir Kaplan?"
"That's right. I've been wandering a bit because I didn't know its exact location...... but seeing you two gives me hope."
Endymion was somewhere in this vicinity.
"Yes, Endymion really exists. And this place where we are now is also part of Endymion, if you look at it broadly."
"Oooh! I knew it! So this really is a High Elf bathhouse?"
"Yes, that's correct."
"Woohoo!"
Kaplan, now thoroughly excited, rushed over to the wall and began examining the murals, the embossed letters, and the decorations adorning the bathhouse with careful touches.
"He's totally excited."
"He's an archaeologist."
It wasn't an unpleasant sight, but Yuder still needed to continue the conversation they had been having.
He approached Kaplan and continued speaking.
"Cordelia and I are researchers at the academy located in the royal capital of the Saelun Kingdom. We came here after obtaining a map of Bladebeak Canyon and the Endymion area by chance."
"A map? You have a map?!"
"Yes, a map."
When Yuder took out the neatly folded map, Kaplan immediately lunged for it.
But Yuder did not hand it over.
"Before that, Sir Kaplan. There are a few things we would like to know as well."
"What is it?"
"Nothing major. We simply want to exchange information."
What did Kaplan know about Endymion?
Was his reason for coming all the way to the Wild Lands simply to see Endymion?
"Hmm...... as you two surely know, the Magic Kingdom of Magellan is a legendary existence. It's not that there are no records at all, but they're so sparse that its very existence is doubted."
That was true.
Yuder and Cordelia themselves hadn't even known of the Magic Kingdom's existence until they heard about it from Gentle Snow Breeze.
"Since the kingdom's very existence is doubted, the cause of its destruction is also passed down only as legend."
Long, long ago.
The Infernal Lords who descended in the era called ancient times.
"According to legend, the last queen of the Magic Kingdom, Anzerone, gathered all the kingdom's power to stand against the Infernal Lords. But in the end, they were simply outnumbered. The Magic Kingdom was ultimately destroyed by the hands of demons."
But they had not simply been trampled.
The High Elves of Magellan had succeeded in inflicting a fatal wound on the Infernal Lord.
"Moreover, the war between Magellan and the Infernal Lord was not something that happened in a day or two. During a war that lasted at least a year... possibly several years, the Wizards of Magellan researched methods of fighting demons again and again."
It was a convincing story.
As expected, Lena's reason for coming here was clearly to obtain the anti-demon measures developed by the High Elves of Magellan.
"After the tragedy of the Paragon Kingdom, demon worshippers have begun running rampant in the Argon Empire as well. The number of people concerned about the descent of powerful demons has also increased."
"So......."
"Yes, finding a way to oppose demons is a task not just for the Argon Empire but for the entire world. As a scholar, the reasons to act are more than overflowing. Of course, there were also requests from sponsors."
The way he cleared his throat with an "ahem" at the end was oddly endearing, even though he was a middle-aged dwarf.
"I see. Our reasons are actually similar. Demon worshippers, including the Devil’s Hand, have been running rampant in the Saelun Kingdom for a long time as well."
"Hmm... as expected. Demon worshippers are a problem for the whole world, not just any single nation."
"Yes, so Sir Kaplan. Let us explore Endymion together. Setting aside our positions as a citizen of the Saelun Kingdom and a citizen of the Argon Empire, and transcending even our races as human and dwarf, as people living together in this era."
"Ooh...... very well. I shall do so."
Kaplan gripped Yuder's outstretched hand firmly and nodded, and Yuder glanced back at Cordelia, who gave him a thumbs-up.
'As expected of our family's con artist!'
'Call me a magician of words, please.'
After finishing their eye-contact conversation, Yuder spread out the map and showed it to Kaplan.
"Sir Kaplan, we plan to rest here today and begin the exploration tomorrow. So please rest well today as well."
"Ooh...... understood. I shall do so. Still, may I look at the map just a little longer?"
"Of course. Take your time examining it."
Yuder readily handed the map over to the thoroughly excited Kaplan, then walked back to Cordelia and spoke.
"Let's rest now too."
"We need to bathe and do laundry. You should wash up too. You smell like sweat."
"Huh...... really?"
"Yeah, really. So don't come near me until you've washed. Got it?"
Cordelia said primly, then spun around and walked toward the bathtub in the corner, while Yuder sniffed himself and hurriedly headed to the bathtub on the opposite side.
And the next morning.
"Uh...... we're going like this?"
"Yes! We're going like this!"
"We're going like this!"
The hot spring entrance.
Yuder and Cordelia stood close together, while Kaplan stood far away from them.
Nearly thirty meters separated them.
Moreover, he wasn't just standing far away.
A rope was wrapped around Kaplan's barrel-like waist, and Yuder held the other end.
"Don't worry. If anything happens, we'll save you just like yesterday!"
"You'll be fine since we're connected by this rope!"
"Well, that's true, but......."
Kaplan took the lead, and Yuder and Cordelia followed behind.
But being tied up with a rope like this, how should he put it—it felt like being bait dangling from a fishing rod.
"Let's depart!"
"Let's go!"
Kaplan made a subtle expression at Yuder and Cordelia's urging, but soon nodded.
After all, these two were his saviors, and hadn't they even handed him the map while he took the lead?
The value of a map detailing the geography of Magic City Endymion was truly worth its weight in gold, so the thought that they were simply using him as bait did not occur to him.
'They must have their own reasons.'
These two were skilled enough in combat to save him from the White Giant Bear.
There had to be a reason they were following at this distance.
Kaplan convinced himself with effort and looked straight ahead with shining eyes.
Magic City Endymion.
The capital of the fallen Magic Kingdom.
The last city.
For an adventurer and archaeologist, those words stirred Kaplan’s blood.
'Let's go!'
Kaplan strode forward with confidence, and Yuder and Cordelia followed thirty meters behind him.
About an hour passed like that.
Cordelia suddenly raised her head, and Yuder smiled from the heart.
"Aaaah! A monster!"
"Ooh! A White Grizzly, a rare monster!"
"And it's a named one! It has two horns! As expected of the Kaplan Effect!"
While Kaplan screamed and ran back toward them, the two beaming people yanked hard on the rope to reel Kaplan in, then cracked their necks and stepped forward.
Named-monster fishing using Kaplan, the man burdened with bad luck who dragged disaster around with him.
You encounter rare monsters that are normally hard to find.
And among them, you encounter named monsters that are even harder to find.
This was called the Kaplan Effect.
"Shall we reel in a big catch, my princess?"
"Yes, Daddy. Let's milk it for all it's worth."
The two rotten fossils smiled brightly at each other and stepped forward. The named monster sensed the ominous atmosphere, flinched, and shrank back—but it was already too late.
Yuder and Cordelia.
The two rotten fossils’ exciting fishing had begun.