Chapter 247: Why Yujun Is Looking for Reban...
The reason Yujun was looking for Reban was simple: he was anxious. Dying in an event didn't mean dying for real, so there was no need to rush—but what came right afterward was the problem. If anything happened to Reban, Yujun would know exactly where the Synchronization Marble was and still be unable to get his hands on it. That was why he felt he had to find the man quickly and keep him pinned down.
I already heard from Dokgo Minsu what Reban looks like, so I won't walk right past him.
The Golden Race, though, was another matter. He couldn't pick them out by eye alone, so he decided to leave that search to Paranet and Dolf.
"I do not believe they are among that lot, Master."
At Paranet's words, Yujun turned to Dolf.
"None of the faces I saw last are there."
"Yeah? Then we move on."
Dolf was one thing, but Paranet's senses weren't something to dismiss. It wasn't the first day, or even the second, that he'd been leaning on the fellow's instincts. Yujun turned on his heel without hesitation.
He rose into the sky on flight magic and drew his mana up. Finding the crowds was his job, and he began a search on a massive scale.
The Golden Flower Garden was vast, but there were plenty of players in it as well. This event allowed only those above level 600 to take part, and he honestly didn't expect their numbers to be small. Of all of them, only two belonged to the Golden Race. Finding those two would be no easy thing.
Nothing for it. I'll have to look the whole place over.
The moment he decided it would take a fair while, Yujun dropped back to the ground.
"What? You find them?"
Dolf asked, puzzled.
"No. We'll look while we run. Take it slow."
"Why bother?"
"There's a reason. You'll see."
Yujun started harvesting the golden flowers. It was a harvest so swift it hardly bore comparison to the beginning—all the blooms he'd gathered in the meantime had driven a dazzling improvement.
"......What."
Dolf was aghast. As one of the Golden Race, he knew perfectly well that the flowers of the Golden Flower Garden could never be marred, that they were indestructible things. And yet Yujun, a mere player, was snapping them and pulling them up as if it were nothing. He couldn't understand how it was possible. The man was clearly using some method Dolf didn't know, and still there wasn't a single item in his hands. Unable to hold the curiosity in, Dolf asked.
"How are you breaking the flowers?"
"Family secret."
"Tell me just this one thing. Are you breaking them with some ability you have?"
"Yeah."
"Couldn't you share the trick?"
"You said just the one thing. Crossing the line again."
"......"
"And if I told you? Planning to use it?"
"I am. Unlike you, who goes back where you came from once the event ends, I have to stay here. If I said I didn't covet that ability, I'd be lying."
Dolf spoke plainly. If he truly had the power to break golden flowers, claiming every bloom in the Golden Flower Garden wouldn't even be a dream. He would have that much time. Yujun's case, by contrast, was a one-shot chance. No matter how hard he tried, taking every flower in the garden within the event period was close to impossible. No—even walking away with a tenth of the area's worth would count as a success.
"Sorry. Even if I told you, it isn't something you could use."
He wasn't looking down on Dolf, not in the least, but he couldn't imagine the dwarf ever wielding Chaos. On top of that, a high-grade Touch of Healing would be required. It might be possible without Touch of Healing specifically, but what mattered was Chaos.
"You never know. I'd be grateful if you told me."
"There's an energy called Chaos. Know what it is?"
"I don't."
"Then that's the end of it. Telling you wouldn't mean a thing."
"If I obtain it later, I'll try it, so please—just tell me. I'm begging you."
Dolf was desperate.
"Why do you want it that badly? Is gold even valuable in the Golden Flower Garden? The place is carpeted in the stuff."
"As you know, I am of the Golden Race."
"Right. And?"
"The gold I hold becomes power. I mean I can strengthen my abilities and my strength with the gold in my possession."
"......Is that so?"
What an astonishing ability. Even Yujun couldn't help but covet it—all the more so now that he'd already pocketed a heap of gold on this trip. He could only envy the Golden Race for being able to turn gold into strength. But the one who was truly envious was Dolf. Yujun was sitting on a mountain of the very gold Dolf didn't have.
"I can't just tell you for free."
"How...... how do I get you to tell me? I'll give you everything I have. Please, please, please, plea—"
Dolf dropped to his knees and started begging. Watching a fellow who wouldn't have bent even under a threat to his life fold his pride made Yujun soften.
"Can't be helped. I'll tell you. In exchange, think hard about what you can give me."
"Of course! But couldn't you say, specifically, what sort of item you want?"
Yujun shook his head and left Dolf even more desperate.
"I can't do that."
"Why...... why! Why not!"
"You know the reason well enough. Think carefully about the item you'll be giving me."
"I said I'll give you anything! Just name it!"
"No. Don't rush it, friend."
"I said I'll give it! Agh!"
"Friend Dolf. Are you getting angry at me right now?"
"I am not."
"Why does every one of the Golden Race seem so hot-blooded."
"I apologize."
"I'll be gathering a bit more gold for now. You take a good look through your inventory."
"A-all right. Leave it to me!"
Knowing full well how desperate Dolf was, Yujun let a smile touch his lips.
Looks like I'm about to get an item for free.
No. One wouldn't be enough to satisfy him. Dolf probably didn't have anything terribly precious, so Yujun meant to wring out as much as he could.
Dolf really is naive. He could've just said he was curious. Instead he comes right out and admits he can grow stronger with gold...
Yujun's smile grew steadily more wicked.
"Dad!"
It happened while Yujun was deep in the harvest. Harp, who had been enjoying a sound sleep, had at some point opened bright, sparkling eyes and spoken up.
"Hm? What is it?"
"I can feel a divine beast's presence not far from here."
"Yeah? I didn't feel anything. Is it close?"
"I'm sorry. It's actually a bit far."
"Why'd you lie?"
"Because I wanted Dad to come with me......"
Harp's voice trailed off. That guilty-puppy face was enough to melt whatever irritation he'd had.
"Then you should've said so from the start."
"You'll look for it with me?"
"Of course. It's a request from my Harp."
"Thank you! I love you, Dad!"
"Yeah......!"
Love. That little word made his chest swell.
Because of Equanimity, he had sometimes worried he might turn into a psychopath, or a sociopath, or simply a man without feeling—but from the moment he gained Harp, that worry vanished completely.
Equanimity definitely doesn't seem to cut my feelings away.
If anything, it let him feel joy purely when he was happy, and only clamped down with dramatic force when something negative came along.
Equanimity really does look after me.
As his level rose and he gained high-grade skills and traits, he sometimes forgot about it, but Equanimity was a cheat of a trait, the kind that transcended grade itself.
Yujun pushed the range of his senses to the maximum and moved toward where the divine beast was, not forgetting to harvest golden flowers along the way. He could no longer take every bloom as meticulously as before, but gathering only the flowers along the path he was already walking actually seemed to increase the yield. It wasn't just a feeling. The amount of gold stacking up in his inventory really had grown a great deal for the time spent.
Not looping around—just going straight—is more efficient.
Thanks to Harp, his work had gotten more efficient too. Yujun kept stroking the head of his commendable little companion. But only for a moment. The hands that had to harvest golden flowers soon left Harp's head.
"Is the divine beast still moving?"
"No! It's staying in one place!"
"My Harp must have sharp senses. Dad can't feel a thing."
"Hehe. It's curled up deep underground. I think it's in a lot of pain."
"Pain? Where?"
"I don't know that. But it's suffering."
"Are there any other living things around it?"
"I don't know that either."
"You can only sense a divine beast's presence?"
"Yes!"
"Is it usually easy for divine beasts to find each other?"
"Yes! But my senses are sharp because I inherited Dad's abilities just as they are. I don't think every divine beast is like that."
"I see."
It was true that every time he grew stronger, Harp grew noticeably stronger as well—noticeably enough that the little beast looked new every time he laid eyes on it.
"Does the divine beast you found seem like it wasn't born long ago?"
"Yes! Probably about the same as me!"
"Yeah?"
Then it really was at the level of a newborn. Not much time had passed since Harp hatched from the egg, either. Which meant...
If this divine beast has never once seen a player, there's a chance I could become its master.
Having more divine beasts couldn't hurt. Harp might get jealous, but looking at the little one now, that didn't seem likely.
I've got a good feeling about this.
Did one divine beast draw another in? And so the search for Reban was pushed to the back. Whenever he spotted a crowd he still slipped over to check, but he no longer went out of his way to hunt them down.
"...Ugh."
Dolf, dragged along bound in Yujun's mana, let out a groan.
"What's wrong?"
"Ugh, I'm dizzy. Motion sick."
"You were fine earlier."
"I keep checking my inventory while we're bouncing around..."
"Then it can't be helped. Endure it."
"Got it."
The secret to picking golden flowers. With that held over him like a hostage, Dolf couldn't so much as squeak.
Just as Harp had said, the divine beast wasn't close. It was very far—far enough that, at the speed Yujun was running, it would take a full half day. Of course, a large part of that was the golden flowers keeping him from his proper pace.
"Harp. About where is the divine beast? In the ground?"
"Yes. It's so deep...... it's hard to explain the exact spot, so I'll dig it up myself!"
"All right. Dad'll wait while he picks flowers."
That was when Dolf stared at Yujun with a dumbfounded face.
"What?"
"You really don't rest for even a moment. More than that—do you never get tired? How high is your stamina stat?"
"Hey. Gold is lying around everywhere. How am I supposed to rest? Would you rest, if you were me?"
"I understand. I'd have done the same."
The truth was, Yujun wasn't hard up for money, but gold always had a use somewhere. And the size of his inventory was close to infinite. Even if he piled the gold up like a mountain, he had nothing to lose.
"How admirable you are, Master."
Something flickered through Yujun's mind at Paranet's words.
"Paranet."
"Yes?"
"Follow me around and put this away."
To think he'd been doing it all by himself when he had such a fine laborer on hand—no, such fine undead labor. Yujun let out a sigh.
"M-me?"
"Who else but you. What are you doing? You're not putting it away?"
Even as he spoke, Yujun's hands kept moving busily. Paranet hurried to his side and took the vessel Yujun held out. Gold melted and poured into the bowl the fellow offered.
"Good. You're doing well."
"My thanks!"
"Though you seem about half a beat slow. Hey, what are you doing? You just spilled two drops!"
"Forgive me! Forgive me!"
"There. Yes. That's it."
"Heh-heh. I shall apply myself all the harder!"
That was when it happened.
"Dad! I found it!"
Harp's shout came from far off.