Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: Ruby
Chapter: 20
Chapter title: The Smell of Demons
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Paladin Class Subquest.
[The Ubiquitous Herb]
Like most subquests, The Ubiquitous Herb had no impact on the main storyline.
Even if cleared, the reward was nothing more than five potions—an absurdly underwhelming payoff.
Too small a reward? Not exactly.
In the world of Paogat, potions were extremely valuable.
They weren’t infinite in supply, so even with money, you couldn’t buy them endlessly.
And only a handful of people could craft them.
That was why, unless one intended a no-potion run, it was always recommended to pick up potion-related quests.
The real problem lay in the difficulty setting of this quest.
‘To get five potions, you had to pour in six.’
The math simply didn’t work.
And even those six were the absolute minimum—achievable only by players who followed the most optimized strategy to perfection.
The quest gave a bit of EXP and gold, sure.
But for most veteran players, it wasn’t worth the effort.
So they usually skipped it.
Yet there was one special condition.
‘If it’s a hidden quest, the reward changes.’
Following the story progression, the timing to visit the little herb shop was always the same.
It was the first stop after the fledgling paladin left the Siforeo Archdiocese.
At that point, players hadn’t grown much, so the quest felt like a slog.
But according to players who had dug into the dummy data, things had been different in the original plan.
This herb shop had originally been intended as a mid-game location.
You were meant to come back after many hardships, stronger and higher-leveled.
They said it had been removed because the travel path became too tedious.
‘Not my concern.’
What mattered was that a method existed to unlock a different reward.
Provided the right conditions were met.
And of course, there were always gamers who dug obsessively into such things.
Like how I once obsessed over the demo version.
Some player had gotten hooked on this very quest.
And so the hidden quest became known:
The Ubiquitous Herb, Hidden Version.
‘Truthfully, the hidden one was probably the original.’
To activate it, there were a few conditions:
First, acquire the Ring of Black Thunder.
Second, never visit the herb shop before acquiring the ring.
And lastly—one more condition to resolve inside.
I touched the ring hanging from my left hand.
The first condition—complete.
The second—also satisfied.
‘All that remained was the last one.’
A single chance.
With the resolve to see it through, I stepped into the humble herb shop.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Creeeak.
True to its name, The Little Herb Shop greeted us with a modest door.
And then—
“Snore… kuh! Snore…”
A familiar face appeared.
And so did his familiar snores.
It was Fernandes, the youngest of the three brothers who ran the shop.
Diaz looked at me curiously, her eyes asking what we could possibly need here.
But I thought otherwise.
At this timing, there was no place more efficient.
‘And I’ve been running low on stamina anyway.’
Sensing my determination, Diaz tapped her finger on the counter where the man lay slumped.
Knock knock.
“Ma? Huh? Who’s there?”
Who else but a customer?
Diaz replied with a bewildered look.
“Isn’t this an herb shop?”
“Ah. Herb shop, yeah. Well, not anymore.”
I frowned.
What kind of nonsense was that?
Fernandes rubbed his eyes and spoke again.
But his answer was not at all what I expected.
“I can’t sell. I can’t. If I can’t sell, what kind of merchant am I, eh? Sigh.”
Diaz started to respond, but I stopped her and stepped forward.
“What do you mean?”
“What do you think? Same as the others—I ruined myself.”
“…”
Seeing my blank look, Fernandes sighed heavily.
“You’re not from Rezeta, are you?”
“We came from the capital.”
“The capital? Siforeo? Ah… that explains it. Let me give you some advice: turn back. Things here are a mess. Taxes, taxes… it’s insane. You’ll go broke just trying to enter the city. The toll alone will make you faint.”
He muttered under his breath.
“The mayor’s gone mad, you see.”
I frowned again.
In the original story, I remembered visiting Rezeta.
It had been after the great invasion, and the city had banded together, holding strong under a defensive line.
The source of their strength had been their mayor, Baron Romhadi—a man who had abandoned privilege to fight alongside the people at the front.
The very model of nobility.
And yet now, Fernandes was saying he had gone mad?
It made no sense.
“I haven’t been able to pay taxes, so my shop is seized. I can’t sell anything.”
Diaz tilted her head.
“You mean your taxes are overdue?”
“That’s what I said.”
“That can’t be right…”
At her words, Fernandes’s voice rose.
“Can’t be? Special taxes, trade taxes, tolls. Soon they’ll tax us for breathing! You don’t know anything. Tch.”
“No matter how much authority the mayor has, he couldn’t impose taxes that extreme. Something…”
“Something? Ha. It’s simple—he’s just greedy. Viscount Moden has the reins now. Anyway, the great Viscount Moden has suspended my trade. So I can’t sell. My older brothers went to protest, but… no word yet.”
Viscount Moden.
At that name, Diaz and I exchanged a look.
‘Viscount Moden? But the mayor of Rezeta was Baron Romhadi… what’s going on here?’
The name Moden wasn’t unfamiliar, either.
I had heard it in Oliton, the last city before Siforeo—from Baron Lopenser, the mayor there.
[W-wait! If you kill me, Viscount Moden will never forgive you!]
Those were his last words.
Apparently, Moden was quite an influential figure.
‘I’m curious now… what kind of man is he?’
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The final condition to trigger the hidden quest— was to buy one of the overpriced herbs Fernandes tried to push.
Among his random stock, one herb always carried an absurd price tag.
Buying it fulfilled the last condition.
I had thought it would be easy.
The Order had provided me with more than enough funds.
But then—
[Unless Viscount Moden lifts my trade suspension, I can’t sell anything.]
What a cruel twist.
In the end, I left the shop empty-handed.
Once outside, Diaz wore the same grim look as me.
“This is… too much.”
I nodded.
“Indeed.”
After hearing Fernandes out, even I was left speechless.
By his account, the system itself ensured merchants went bankrupt, no matter how hard they worked.
No honest life could survive in such an environment.
But as unjust as it was, I had no authority to change the city’s system.
Perhaps if I flaunted my title as one of the Seven Knights, I could stir things up.
But in the future, I would surely face many more such injustices.
I couldn’t intervene every time.
I had neither the time nor the freedom.
The era of the great invasion was fast approaching.
‘Still, perhaps I should do what I can here.’
That would be the limit of my meddling.
Besides, the Phoenix Flower—the elixir at stake—was essential to me beyond any sense of justice.
I recalled the name Fernandes had mentioned.
“The Carcus Mercenary Corps, was it?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
According to Fernandes, Rezeta’s security was now entirely handled by the Carcus Mercenary Corps.
“Because the law forbids large private armies, Viscount Moden hired them.”
“And mercenaries don’t count?”
“Not under the laws of Raderun Kingdom.”
“I see.”
“But… if Fernandes is right, and they’re imposing extra tolls and taxes beyond the law, then that’s a serious issue.”
Taxes were tied directly to the Order itself.
The church ran on taxes, after all.
So Diaz seemed well versed in the relevant laws.
“If they keep burdening the people this way, the city will collapse. Naturally, if the crown hears of this, they won’t stay idle.”
I nodded.
“For now, let’s head into the city. I’ll meet this Viscount Moden myself. We need to know more.”
“Understood.”
And so Diaz and I entered Rezeta.
Of course, as a member of the Seven Knights, I wasn’t troubled by the tolls.
But something else did shake me.
A foul stench pierced my nose.
A sickening odor filled the air.
Diaz didn’t seem to notice—no one did.
Only I could detect it.
And I knew at once what it was.
Because I had smelled it before.
‘…The stench of demons.’
But here, in the heart of the city?
What in the world was happening here?
I frowned as I took in the cityscape.