Chapter 91
Chapter 91
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 91
Chapter Title: The Warrior Heads Out on Patrol
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Seeing Ferguson perfectly in sync with the Sword Saint clone, I finally gave him permission to start fighting.
"Finally..."
"Yeah, finally."
Nearly a year.
Ferguson had grown tremendously in that time.
Who could've guessed this Chew-Gay bastard would turn out so reliable!
It was straight-up touching...
Anyway, we couldn't fight inside Ferguson's shop, so I created a dedicated field for it.
"Th-the layout's exactly like the shop? But it's so much bigger..."
"Having a familiar space will make it easier for you to fight."
It was modeled after the PVP map from a famous dot-game known for its action thrills.
Looks like the second-in-command here was pretty pleased with it too.
"From now on, you can handle anyone you don't like on your own."
"Got it, Balrak hyung! But I'm wondering if those guys I hate will even show up."
Oh dear, our second-in-command is still too naive about the world.
That's why the law of idiot conservation exists!
"They just haven't stumbled into this place yet by sheer luck. The longer time goes on, the more of them will come. Especially since golden spirits drop early-skip passes—the odds of them showing up are only gonna get higher."
"And I'll take care of them."
"But don't forget, you're the shopkeeper. If someone rubs you the wrong way like before, just shortcut them straight to me."
After that, I told him about the upgraded magic tool that lets him summon this field, and we even had a quick sparring session here for him to test it out.
How much time passed while we were chatting like that?
"Balrak, sir, I've brought the custom order you requested."
"Oh! Skeleton merchant, you're already here!"
"It was just linking two magic tools together from the start."
The item I'd commissioned from Karian while making the Sword Saint clone was finally complete.
I gave it a test run to see if it worked properly.
"Open up, Wind Blood!!!"
Whiiiiiirrrrr!!!!
This magic tool created an insane suction force, sucking up living beings and flinging them upward while shoving everything else into its built-in sub-space.
And why did I commission this custom job?
"Now it's time to judge the illegal street vendors."
"There have been a lot of peddlers swarming Sky Island lately."
"They're exploiting the dungeon's revival system. To deal with them properly, we need something like this magic tool."
That's right! The dungeon's revival system!!
According to Karian, anything recognized as the challenger's 'possessions' gets fully repaired and respawns around them upon revival.
That's why no matter how much the maknae snipes them with storm arrows, the really valuable stuff stays safe on their bodies.
Illegal street vendors suffer zero real asset loss when they die!
Of course, suppliers flocking to areas with demand is only natural.
It might even be adding more content in a way.
But! I've seen what happens if you let them run wild—from my past life!
"Just a bit longer, and those illegal vendors will start price-fixing their goods."
"Plus, product quality will drop, or they'll just sit around rotting because of infighting."
The dungeon merchants are too honest right now, but merchants in general treat conscience as an afterthought when profit's on the line.
And these peddlers invading the mini-dungeon aren't big corporations like dungeon merchants!
No rules, rampant scams.
They're just in it for the quick buck, so prices will skyrocket endlessly.
In my past life, conscienceless merchants built illegal stalls in no-vendor zones or valleys, did every dirty trick to hog the market.
Then when the government cracked down—even though it was blatantly illegal!
Even with the law right there saying no!!
—they threw tantrums about their 'rights'(?).
Ah... total JOATs.
Leeches who only think of themselves.
And there's no law or government here!
Things will get way worse than in my past life.
Right now, the scale's small, so Orek handles it fine, but as the weather warms and rumors spread outside, it'll blow up.
"A grateful system that lets heroes keep challenging even if their gear breaks, abused like this!"
"Then shall we head out now, Balrak, sir?"
"Right away!"
Daring to set up illegal stalls in my dungeon?!
Time to collect the bill!
****************
I arrived at the mini-dungeon with Karian.
Then, from afar, Orek approached us in the form of a massive bird.
"Big bro, you're here? Sorry... I lack the power to..."
"It's not your fault. The problem's those peddler scum exploiting the dungeon system."
And capitalizing on the situation is what pros do!
I explained to Orek the plan Karian and I had just agreed on.
"So... the stuff big bro sucks up goes into chests in the ocean?"
"Isn't this a pretty great recycling method?"
"Those dud chests floating around the sea didn't seem like total duds lately—this'll make it official."
From now on, the chests drifting in the sea would have a higher ratio of trash.
Of course, blame the illegal vendors—hate them if you hate it, players!!
"Odongsaeng, Zephira. When you find where the vendors are gathered, shoot an arrow into the sky."
"Got it!"
"Leave it to me!"
Alright, crackdown time!
Boom!!!
As I took to the skies, the kids around greeted me.
"""Uncle Balrak! Hi!!!"""
"Hahaha! Long time no see!"
The kids' greetings have gotten so bright lately!
They must not have been able to resist collecting praise stamps to become golden spirits!
Anyway, with the kids cheering me on, I zoomed toward the Sky Island where the illegal vendors clustered.
And there they were in the distance, up to their bullshit!!!
"No way—a dagger like this for 5 spirit stones?!"
"If you don't like it, don't buy."
"Or buy it outside."
"Tch, you should be grateful we're even opening shops in a dangerous place like this—instead you're bitching nonstop? Just fuck off."
"Th-that's..."
Unbelievable! Illegal vendors already spewing nonsense!
And clearly price-fixing too.
I don't know spirit stone prices outside.
But unjust profits get judged!!
Boom!!
"""Wha...?"""
"Th-that's?!"
"Vacuum Wave!!! Open up, Wind Blood!!"
Whiiiiiirrrrr!!!!
All the trash the illegal vendors had scattered on the ground got sucked right up.
The merchants got sucked in too, and everything except their clothes got shoved into the sub-space.
Now the utterly shameless bastards floated up into the sky with nothing.
"Kaaaaah!! My, my spirit stones!!!"
"N-nooo!!!"
"Our dreeeeams!!!"
Fall protection was active here, so those guys would survive!
But if I rampaged too much, vendors elsewhere would sense something off and bolt!
I'd prepared for that too, though.
Suddenly Karian teleported beside me and snapped his fingers.
Snap!
Boom!!!
No idea what principle it worked on.
But the heads of the falling illegal vendors exploded mid-air.
Blood rained down while blue powder scattered in the sky—it looked seriously creepy.
This might be a bit much for the nearby kids!
This place had newbies burning to death.
Or getting sliced up all over.
Crushed by rocks!
Even drowning!
Kids living that hardcore life—something like this wouldn't faze them.
"Hmm, raising them tough, huh."
"Balrak, sir, this area's cleared. And there's an arrow flying up over there."
"Let's go then!"
Boom!!
Ping!
Like that, I normalized Sky Islands all day.
Of course, some newbies hanging around with the merchants got culled too.
But you can't fuss over every egg when making a big omelet!
Toughen up, newbies!
***************
That night, word spread across the city: Balrak had appeared in the mini-dungeon and stripped the peddlers of all their goods.
The peddlers found it utterly unfair.
But the world was ice-cold to them.
"Yeah, like Balrak would tolerate those sky bandits~"
"Guys charging one spirit stone for a single bun complaining? What do they have to be mad about?"
"Serves 'em right~"
"Ahh... feels so refreshing."
They were the peddlers pulling off the miracle math of turning corn into diamonds.
So no one outside took their side either.
But they didn't give up.
Peddlers have dreams—they'd find a way eventually!
"We got too greedy this time."
"Sigh, we took that rumor of Balrak showing up on Sky Island too lightly."
"No more big markets like before."
"Should we go more stealthy then?"
"That sounds best."
Thus began the peddlers' mini-dungeon攻略.
And this satisfying tale made for prime gossip, spreading straight to the imperial palace.
"No laws in the dungeon, so stuff like this happens."
"D-dear, let me down so I can read the paper..."
"Shh."
Boom!
Currently, Beren couldn't leave the bedroom.
Of course, before his furious wife devoured him, he'd doped up and taken the lead.
But even a man can't go days nonstop without rest!
When they finally emerged, you could see haggard Beren alongside an empress whose skin sparkled brighter by the day.
How a 70-something Beren mustered his youthful vigor puzzled the palace men.
Even his sons were impressed by the tale.
In the end, he revealed his secret to the manly courtiers begging for wisdom.
"It's like this..."
""""Oh.""""
Thus, the palace men took great interest in the Abyssal Depths.