Chapter 6
Chapter 6
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Living as a Druid in Another World (2)
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It wasn't far from Dotsk to Solen.
Two days.
There were no monsters or bandits in sight, either.
That was only natural.
Here, the mages themselves were the most dangerous things around.
If there were monsters, the mages would have wiped them out...
And no sane bandit would ever try to pick a mage's pocket.
The carriages traveling between Solen and the Empire were packed with dangerous, unidentified items that could kill you if you so much as touched them the wrong way.
So the roads stayed clean.
It was good for me.
Of course, getting into Solen was about twice as hard as entering any other country.
But since I already had my mercenary badge, I was able to prove my identity easily and enter Solen without issue.
The moment I entered the city, I headed straight for an old mansion.
"Are you seriously about to knock on that door?!"
"It's been quiet for a while, but now some lunatic shows up."
"Who's gonna clean up the body..."
Even before I knocked, whispers started drifting in from all around.
It was understandable.
This was the home of Kallid, the mad mage infamous across the continent.
I stared for a moment at the gloomy door carved with a black crow, then knocked.
-Creeeak...
The door swung open with an eerie groan.
'But no matter how crazy he is, he can't surpass that old hag.'
I steeled myself by recalling the horrific memory from the forest, then stepped inside.
After passing through a garden where all the flowers and trees had withered and died, I entered the mansion proper. Two small golems were waiting for me.
'They're a bit unusual for earth golems.'
I followed the two golems up stairs that rose like a tower.
'The place is covered in dust.'
These golems were clearly for experiments, not housework.
"State your business."
No greeting, no introduction—just straight to "state your business."
Mages valued face as much as nobles did. They might be arrogant, but you'd think they'd at least exchange names and pleasantries...
Well, I hadn't come here to chat anyway.
"I've come to make a deal."
"A deal?"
From the darkness emerged a man draped in a long, thick robe.
He was hunched over, and the lower half of his face that peeked out from the robe was covered in a bushy beard.
His voice sounded young, but his appearance was that of an old man.
'I can't read his expression at all.'
I looked at Kallid and got straight to the point, as he seemed to want.
"Black Opium."
A twitch—his hand trembled beneath the robe.
Black Opium was something ordinary people wouldn't even know the name of. Only mages and a select few with knowledge in that area were aware of it. So it was no surprise that he reacted when that name came from the mouth of what looked like a nobody mercenary.
I pulled out the small sachet I'd prepared in advance. Kallid snatched it like he'd been waiting, dumped its contents into his palm. Dried Black Opium petals scattered out. He picked one up, ground it into powder, and sniffed it.
What a madman. Bringing something that dangerous right up to his nose.
An ordinary person would pass out on the spot, but Kallid was fine. If anything, he savored it, inhaling deeply and exhaling with a long sigh.
"Hmm..."
He clenched his fist around the remaining petals in his palm. Soon, shining black smoke rose from it. That was the signature smoke Black Opium gave off when burned.
"It's real."
"Yes."
"How much do you have?"
"Half a bundle."
"There was a massive flood in Niram not long ago. Black Opium has been incredibly hard to come by since."
"Then you're in luck."
I replied calmly, and Kallid grinned.
-Whoosh!
A ring of flames erupted at my feet.
'You crazy bastard...'
But I'd half-expected something like this.
"Calm down. What I want is a deal."
"What I want is to kill you and take the Black Opium."
"Don't insult my intelligence. Do you really think I'd bring the Black Opium here with me?"
Mages were generally cunning, vile madmen. And Kallid was one of the real "madmen" among them—the kind even other mages hesitated to tangle with. Dealing with a guy like that required full preparation.
"Even a worm like you has to have it stashed somewhere. I'll just flip over the inn bed or search the forest."
"The first is wrong, and the second is close but not quite."
-ROAR!
The flames blazed even fiercer.
"I'm a druid, and the forest did me a favor. I swear, if you kill me, you'll never find the Black Opium."
"..."
At the word "druid," the flames died down a bit.
"You mentioned the flood in Niram. That means Black Opium will be hard to even glimpse from now on."
"..."
"I didn't think you'd be the idiot kicking away luck that walked right to your door."
-Snap!
He snapped his fingers, and the raging flames vanished in an instant.
"What do you want?"
Kallid cut straight to it again.
"20 gold."
20 gold was enough to cover a typical family's living expenses for a year.
But for a mage of Kallid's caliber, 20 gold was pocket change.
As expected, Kallid didn't bat an eye or haggle the price.
But what I really wanted was something else.
"And one of your subspatial boxes."
"Huh?"
"It needs cold resistance and fire resistance, plus a locking spell."
"..."
"The heavier the weight limit, the better."
I grinned broadly in response to Kallid's dumbfounded look.
Subspatial boxes varied wildly in price. The most basic ones started at 5 gold, while those with advanced features could easily hit 100 or 200.
And what I'd just asked Kallid for was worth at least 500.
Cold and fire resistance were one thing, but a subspatial box with a locking spell etched to prevent others from opening it? That was 500 gold—maybe even 1,000.
'Did I overreach?'
Kallid wasn't responding, and I started to worry.
But hesitating now would ruin everything.
'According to him, there was a flood in Niram. If the Black Opium fields were wiped out, it'll take at least two or three years to grow more. Prices will skyrocket in the meantime. But rising prices aren't the issue—it'll be impossible to get any at all. Kallid knows that. He has no choice but to take my deal.'
"Wait here."
Kallid suddenly started rummaging through his cluttered desk and drawers.
Then he tossed me a worn ring.
I caught it reflexively. At first glance, it looked old and plain, but a closer look revealed it was made of gold and inlaid with a high-grade gem.
It was valuable, sure, but...
"What I want is a subspatial box."
"Haven't made one of those in ages. That's the closest thing."
Closest thing?
No way...
I slipped on the ring and stroked the intricately cut transparent gem. It sparkled for a moment, and beyond that sparkle...
-Swoosh!
A single coin got sucked right in.
"This is..."
"I said it was similar."
Kallid replied irritably.
A subspatial ring.
Subspatial items usually came as boxes first, then pouches. Even pouches were rare and expensive.
Necklaces, bracelets, or rings like this were far trickier to craft, so most mages wouldn't even bother unless they were top-tier.
'Definitely more convenient in this form.'
A subspatial ring. I'd gotten an item I hadn't even dreamed of.
'Leaving something this precious buried in a dusty drawer...'
Kallid might be a lunatic, but his skill was legendary across the continent, so I trusted it.
Had I scored something way bigger than expected?
Kallid didn't seem to care, though.
"And this."
He tossed me a small pouch. It was heavier than it looked—probably 20 gold inside.
The ring alone was more than enough payment, but no reason to turn down free gold.
Before he could change his mind, I slipped the coin pouch into the subspatial ring.
"Now, take me to the Black Opium."
"Follow me."
With the two golems and Kallid, we arrived at a corner of the small forest encircling Solen. I pulled out a dirt-caked bundle wrapped in the roots of a massive oak and handed it to the golems.
-Snap.
Kallid snapped his fingers, and the two golems merged around the Black Opium bundle into one massive golem.
'Ah, so he didn't bring the golems just to carry stuff.'
Kallid's choice was the perfect way to keep his precious Black Opium from being stolen or detected. You'd have to rip open that monstrous golem's belly to get it.
"Good deal."
"Wait."
Kallid stopped me as I turned to leave.
'Ah, he's not going to try killing me now, is he?'
Asking for the ring might have been too much. Tense, I turned back—and to my surprise, he handed me the sachet that had held the Black Opium sample.
"You don't have to return something like this..."
"Inside are Black Opium seeds."
"..."
Black Opium seeds?
"I don't know what the issue is, but I could never get Black Opium to grow. A druid might be different."
"..."
"Every druid I've met before refused to cultivate it, though."
"But why give them to me...?"
"You're the first druid I've seen who's so money-hungry."
"..."
"If you can grow it properly, I'll pay you any amount."
Was this a compliment or an insult...?
It was common knowledge that druids shunned worldly things and lived in harmony with nature. Of course no druid would take a mage's request to grow Black Opium.
But I was different.
Kallid had seen right through me...
"I'll give it a try."
The old hag would kill me if she found out, but she wasn't around.
Besides, I desperately needed money.
What choice did I have? I'd at least consider the mad mage's offer.
"Good deal."
Good deal for you, maybe. Laying a ring of fire under my feet out of nowhere... I shot Kallid a sidelong glare, then gave a light bow.
"Good deal, Kallid. May Kerayon's blessing be ever with you."