Chapter 59
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: An Unexpected Encounter
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For reference, the total cost of the items Chris requested was as follows.
One million Rupee.
An amount that could buy several mansions even in a large city like Baron.
* * *
Ruina promptly prepared the items Chris had listed.
It was with the lightning speed expected of an auction house owner.
Ruina said, grinding her teeth.
“…If your story about a great disaster happening during this contest turns out to be false, I will be billing you for the full amount!”
Chris shrugged.
‘Why is she making such a fuss? This is only the beginning.’
Ruina couldn't possibly imagine it, but their connection had only just begun.
From now on, she would faithfully serve as his moneybag. If she didn't want to go bankrupt, that is.
‘Don't feel too wronged. Think of it as a tax.’
Just like paying taxes to the army that protects you.
He believed it was a fair price, since the things he would be doing would protect her merchant guild.
‘Anyway, there's a lot to be done.’
Chris recalled the events that were to come.
The horrific disaster of the Gold Cross.
The conflict between the Extreme Poison House and the Dark Magic House.
Jinnok's Incident.
The death of the Old Lord.
The rampage of the Destruction House.
The schemes of the Demon King of the Clear Stream, and so on.
These were all events set to happen in the southern Demonic Nations within a few years. And these were just the major ones.
He had to prevent all of them to stop the first Great War against the Four Kings Castle.
The worst part was that this wasn't the end of it.
Ultimately, he had to reach the pinnacle of the Magitech Empire.
‘Sigh, why on earth am I going through all this trouble?’
Feeling suddenly overwhelmed, he let out a heavy sigh.
‘This is the hardship the Hero was supposed to endure! Why the hell did I regress instead?! Damn it.’
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became.
‘I can't be the only one suffering like this. Someday, I'll meet the Hero's party again and work them all to the bone.’
For now, he was only active within the Magitech Empire.
But there was much to be done on the Alliance's side as well.
When the time came, he planned to find Evan and the rest of the Hero's party and exploit them.
Especially the Hero, Evan!
He was the number one candidate to be worked to death.
‘Just you wait until we meet. I'll work you like a ruthless boss.’
Enough idle thoughts.
When he returned to the mansion, Majin with sharp auras were lined up in formation.
There were thirty of them.
At the head of the line stood a familiar girl with a cold expression, Jupien.
It was the exploration team heading for the neutral zone.
“……”
Jupien stared at him without a word.
Her eyes seemed to ask what he had been doing to be so late.
“Ah, I was having so much fun that I lost track of time.”
At his nonchalant response, the Majin beside Jupien scowled.
They couldn't possibly look kindly on Chris, who had been fooling around in the city right before an important mission.
Ignoring them, Chris just snickered and let out a big yawn.
“I guess I played too hard. I’m exhausted. I’ll just sleep in the supply wagon and follow along. That’s fine, right?”
“!!”
At his insane words, the Majin glared.
Jupien's gaze grew even sharper.
“No, Young Master. Even so, that’s…”
Just then, Jupien raised her hand.
“Enough.”
“But, Young Lady?”
“Whatever that bastard does, just ignore him.”
Jupien said coldly.
In truth, after their brief duel, Jupien had started to see Christian in a slightly different light.
His talent and skill were remarkable, after all.
Of course, if she had properly used her specialty, the Illusion Sword Art, she wouldn't have been defeated so easily. Still, she had to acknowledge what was true.
Though she had a bad history with his younger brother, Jupien wasn't as reckless and unreasonable as Roin. She could recognize a strong person when she saw one.
But now, after spending the entire preparation time acting like a scoundrel in the city, he showed up with this attitude.
Her disgust flared up once more.
‘A guy like that has no right to be a prince of the main house.’
Jupien decided to leave Christian to his own devices.
After all, if he didn't take the mission seriously and failed to achieve anything, he would be the only one to suffer.
“…Depart.”
Jupien murmured, and the horses galloped.
The supply wagon began to move, and Chris lay inside, a faint smile on his lips.
‘It's comfortable, lying down like this.’
Chris thought to himself.
‘Of course, it's going to be tough from here on out.’
He hadn't lain down in the wagon simply for comfort.
There was a reason.
‘You should all be grateful to me.’
This exploration team was originally fated to be annihilated.
To prevent that tragedy, he had to catch everyone off guard. He even had to deceive his allies.
The operation had begun.
* * *
The Dark Magic House ruled over a vast territory.
The same was true for the Extreme Poison House.
Their domains were larger than most small kingdoms.
They divided their territories like national borders, but the problem was that in areas difficult to clearly demarcate, such as forests, demon realms, and mountainous regions, they would both claim ownership, leading to frequent clashes.
As the damage accumulated, such areas were declared neutral zones.
The place where the artifact had appeared this time was one such neutral zone, the Viskin Mountain Range.
A demon realm where high-level demonic beasts appeared.
As they neared their destination, Jupien issued a warning.
“Acting alone is strictly forbidden. Form groups of at least three.”
This order was given because powerful demonic beasts of 4-Ma Class or higher often appeared.
“Yes, Young Lady!”
“But what about Young Master Christian’s group?”
Jupien narrowed her eyes slightly.
Christian was still lying in the supply wagon.
“…Leave that piece of trash alone.”
As they were preparing for the exploration.
In the distance, a cloud of dust kicked up by horses rose into the air.
It was Majin dressed in dark blue robes with a blackish tint!
“It’s the Majin from the Extreme Poison House!”
At their head, a girl with an intelligent and haughty air, Marisa, the young lady of the Extreme Poison House, approached them.
“You’ve arrived at the appointed time. I’m Marisa.”
“I’m Jupien.”
“I assume you’ve heard the rules.”
Artifacts are items imbued with the power of constellations and demons. They are called holy artifacts and demonic artifacts, respectively.
They possess immense power, and their appearance often brought about a storm of blood.
The worst-case scenario is when one appears on the border between two major powers, like now.
It becomes more than just coveting the artifact; it becomes a matter of pride between them. It wasn't uncommon for bloodshed nearing the scale of war to occur.
Normally, this situation would have escalated into such a conflict, but to prevent unnecessary bloodshed, they had agreed to a competition, like a match.
However, to prevent any future disputes, they established perfectly fair rules.
“Setting traps or intentionally attacking the other party during the exploration is forbidden.”
A rule that was unusually fair and just (?) for Majin.
But because they were Majin, such a rule was all the more necessary.
Otherwise, both sides would focus more on killing each other than on finding the artifact.
“Right.”
“…You’re a woman of few words.”
“Aren’t we enemies? Should I speak more formally?”
“…No. There’s no need.”
Marisa cleanly switched to informal speech as well.
“Well then.”
As she was about to turn back, Marisa hesitated for a moment.
Marisa briefly looked over the Majin from the Dark Magic House, as if searching for someone.
Just then, Christian sat up groggily in the supply wagon and let out a big yawn.
Anyone could see he was a pathetic sight, having just woken up.
Marisa pressed her lips together.
Then.
“…Hmph.”
Marisa returned to her own camp with the members of the Extreme Poison House.
The competition was about to begin.
Jupien spoke to the Majin of the Dark Magic House.
“We’re starting the exploration. Follow my orders carefully.”
Jupien gave her instructions.
They were to form groups, stay within a certain range, and immediately call for help if they encountered an unmanageable demonic beast.
No one knew where in the demon realm the artifact was.
They had only 'sensed' that it had appeared somewhere in this mountain range.
Therefore, moving rashly and hastily would accomplish nothing.
Acting impatiently would only lead to casualties.
Above all, this demon realm was too vast and dangerous to move through carelessly.
The standard procedure was to calmly designate sectors and search them one by one.
But then Christian, who had gotten up from the supply wagon, approached Jupien with a big yawn.
“May I go separately?”
“…What?”
“Moving sluggishly like that, how long will it take to search the entire mountain range?”
Jupien’s eyebrow twitched.
She already had a poor opinion of Christian.
But from their first meeting until now, he had been endlessly grating on her nerves.
“…You really.”
“It’s frustrating. It would be a disaster if we missed the artifact by following the Young Lady’s snail-paced orders.”
Jupien’s eyebrows trembled with rage.
However, Jupien did not draw her sword as she had before.
Causing internal strife right before a mission was not wise, so she endured.
“Do as you please. But.”
Jupien said coldly.
“Don’t expect a rescue if you run into a powerful demonic beast.”
Her gaze was like she was looking at a piece of trash.
Chris shrugged.
‘I'm completely hated now. Ah, but I was already hated, so does it matter?’
In fact, it was better this way.
For his 'operation' to succeed, he needed to be out of everyone's sight and able to move with complete freedom.
“Excellent. I won’t be needing this, then.”
Chris tossed a small crystal orb onto the ground.
It was a magic tool for tracking each other's locations in case of an emergency, and he had just thrown it away.
Now, Jupien and the rest of the exploration team could no longer track Chris's location.
“Well then, good luck.”
Fwoosh!
Chris dashed into the mountain range alone.
“That… that crazy bastard…? Is he allowed to do that? Doesn’t he know how dangerous this demon realm is?”
“Isn’t he going to end up a corpse?”
The Majin murmured amongst themselves.
Jupien, too, felt conflicted.
She wondered if it was really okay to let Christian go off like that.
But Christian had already disappeared deep into the mountains.
Jupien bit her lip and glared in the direction Christian had vanished.
* * *
However, Christian faced no danger at all.
‘Why would I encounter a demonic beast? I can just avoid them.’
Chris had traveled through all sorts of demon realms across the world with the Hero's party.
He knew their habits inside and out and how to avoid encountering them.
Especially here, in a neutral zone between the two houses.
It had been thoroughly scouted, so he knew exactly which demonic beasts appeared where. Avoiding them was simple.
‘I have to move quickly. Otherwise, I'll be too late.’
Marquis Langham's plot was already in motion.
As he hurried on, he came across an unexpected person.
“…Christian.”
It was Marisa!
Her eyes widened as she looked at Chris.
‘Damn.’
He was in a hurry, and he'd run into someone he didn't want to see.
‘She's my ex-fiancée, which means she's a stranger now. I should just ignore her and move on.’
He was about to continue on his way without a word when something unexpected happened.
Fwoosh!
Black poison came flying!
Right in the direction Chris was heading.
He hastily stopped in his tracks as the extreme poison sizzled, melting the ground.
“…What are you doing?”
“I have something to talk to you about.”
Chris frowned.
This wasn't a chance encounter.
He realized Marisa had sought him out on purpose.
‘What's with her?’