Flames of Vengeance (Part 1) (2)
"Do you require silver equipment?"
Silver equipment! Now that was interesting. It could serve as a perfectly serviceable weapon for ordinary monster hunting, and from the way this merchant was talking, it looked like it would work properly against vampires too!
Right — in the old vampire novels and movies, vampires had always been weak to silver weapons. Next came sunlight. And after that... stakes, was it? Garlic and crucifixes too!
"I require it."
"I shall send you the list. Please check the notification."
The instant those words left him, a notification flared open before my eyes.
Huh? Huuuh? What the hell was this!
"Everyone... have you seen the notification?"
"Ah, yes! Yes! I'm looking at it... but what on earth?"
"Whoa, was it always this cheap? I-I mean, gold isn't exactly easy to scrape together, but... this is nothing like the shop system."
"Is this that farm-direct thing or whatever? Why is it so inexpensive?"
Kim Seyeon, Han Sora, and Yun Mina's reactions were only natural.
Park Seeun must have seen the notification too — her mouth fell open. Why was it this cheap? In the shop system, weapons started at ten thousand gold bare minimum!
When I stared at the merchant as if demanding an explanation, he lowered his head for a moment (almost as if heaving a sigh) before answering in a slow, deliberate drawl.
"...As I mentioned earlier, this is in commemoration of the first successful dungeon clear. Therefore, as a merchant, it would be proper to reflect prices according to the system standard... but for this occasion alone, in honor of the first clear, I have applied a substantial discount to every item. This is a one-time opportunity. I would ask that you consider it as such — it will not come again."
H-holy crap, what a windfall!
The massive rewards alone had already left me overflowing with gratitude — and now I could buy useful gear dirt-cheap for the bastards we'd be tackling next?
Hm? And what was this one? A silver ingot?
"Would you explain what a silver ingot is?"
"...Exactly as the name suggests — refined silver. Using this as a base material, those with the Blacksmith class skill can craft weapons, armor, and the like. That is, of course, assuming they possess the requisite capability — namely, the appropriate level."
Aha, so it was basically the same idea as iron ore? But at two thousand gold a pop...
"With these... we could arm every combat-class resident in the territory."
"Yes, I think that's doable!"
"Let's cave those damn bat bastards' skulls in!"
"B-but... if we buy a silver bow, do the arrows get vampire bonus damage too, or...? I-I don't really know."
"We'll figure it out once we buy one, won't we? Oh — if we buy the ingots and fashion arrowheads out of them bit by bit, that should work fine."
"It's a bit expensive, but it should be alright. Mina — at two thousand gold apiece, I'd have to see the size, but you could at least make dozens of arrowheads from..."
The party was already chattering away, happily debating what to buy. I ought to have joined them and purchased equipment as well, as was only proper...
"Do you also purchase items, by any chance?"
"Dungeon drop items, you mean? Please be advised that all items are treated as stolen goods and will be bought at no more than half their original listed pric— wait, what?!"
Suddenly, the merchant was deeply agitated.
I couldn't see his gaze through the mosaic covering his face, but I could roughly guess. The merchant had reacted violently to what I held in my hand — Samuel Kim's Necktie.
"I was thinking of selling this item to you."
"R-really? Thank yo—! Ahem, ahem... Is that truly so, valued customer? Please, take a seat at the place I have prepared. I insist."
The atmosphere flipped completely, just like that.
The merchant standing before me — who until now had been stiffly professional and dry (no, almost bored) — had transformed the moment he laid eyes on the necktie in my hand into someone astonishingly deferential and courteous.
Wait, when the hell did a little table and two chairs just materialize? This guy was setting up for a full-on business meeting!
For the moment, I handed my gold over to Kim Seyeon (tasking her with the silver item purchases) and carefully took the seat that had been prepared.
The second I sat down, a teacup popped into existence right in front of me, and I nearly jumped out of my skin...
As if! Lawful Good punch! My expression remained ice-cold.
"Hmm... do you prefer coffee, or tea?"
"Coffee, if you would."
"Very well. And how would you like your sugar?"
"Just a little... You lot can consume human food?"
It had been a completely offhand remark. Pure curiosity that had simply shaped itself into a question.
But the merchant before me — Storas — froze mid-motion as he was about to fill the cup with coffee, then slowly turned his gaze my way (or rather, I got the distinct feeling that he had).
"...You know how to ask rather sharp questions, I see. It seems fortune and misfortune have both found me today."
...Come again?
I'd just asked, basically, "You guys don't look like Earth life-forms, so can you even eat the stuff Earthlings eat?" and he called that a sharp question?
Hm? How did I know these bastards weren't Earth life-forms? Let me flip that around. Look at that thing and tell me it looks like anything that was born on this planet! He's got an unnatural mosaic slapped over his face!
Anyone with eyes could tell he was an alien. An alien who could speak our language!
"To begin with — we too are living beings, and so the intake of nourishment is naturally essential. We have no particular need to consume solids or liquids in the quantities humans do, and can sustain ourselves through means such as photosynthesis... but let us call it a matter of preference."
I'd even gotten a fairly detailed explanation. Compared to his earlier terse, dry answers, the difference was night and day — I could guarantee that much.
Seeing him explain things this thoroughly, I got the feeling that maybe... just maybe... the questions that had piled up while clearing the dungeon might actually get answered.
No — the questions that had intensified while clearing the dungeon. This curiosity was the very thing I'd been holding deep in my heart since the day before the catastrophe that destroyed the world.
"Well then — rather than idle chatter... shall we focus on the transaction? That necktie — you may not be able to gauge its value, but I most certainly can. The reason I am being this forthright is, of course, so that we may arrive at a mutually agreeable price and continue doing business going forward. Allow me to add that."
Pretty honest of him. Honestly, I had no idea what kind of value this necktie held that would make this bastard so desperate to get his hands on it.
But one thing I could read clearly. This merchant bastard had acknowledged me. Just for the single reason that I'd gotten my hands on this necktie.
I wondered if certain dungeon drop items held some special significance to these bizarre non-human life-forms.
Alright. If it held special meaning... then I absolutely could not just hand it over without extracting a proper price—
"With that in mind, I'd like to open at one hundred and twenty thousand gold. Does that suit you?"
Geeeeeeeeet outta hereeeee?
Holy shit... what did this bastard just say? One hundred twenty thousand? One hundred and twenty thousand goooold?
Lawful Good, Lawful Good! Poker face! Thank you! From the bottom of my heart!
"So buying the dagger would be more cost-effective... Wait, what did that guy over there just say?"
"Shh. Leave it to Jeong Hoon and let's focus on buying the silver gear. Seeun."
"Hmm... I heard it too, but I'll trust Orabeoni Jeong Hoon and leave it to him."
"I-I think he said something about a hundred thousand gold... A-ah, never mind."
The chatter of my women behind me nearly sent my mind into a full-blown panic, but I managed to hold onto my sanity by a thread.
Hoo... hoo... Okay. Okaaaaaay!
This son of a bitch had just come within a hair of completely shattering my resolve. He really had!
Haha, damn — the title of merchant really wasn't something just anyone could wear. Yeah!
One hundred twenty thousand gold... I genuinely never expected him to step up personally and offer to buy at a price this absurd!
...Thank god.
"...A fine price."
"Is that so? If you find it appropriate, I shall draft the contract and proceed with the exchange at once."
The guy seemed pretty confident. He shouldn't get excited just yet, though. Whether he'd get excited, disappointed, or bored would depend on hearing my proposal first.
Because I intended to demand a rather — no, an extremely — troublesome price.
"However, it is not a price that satisfies me."
"Ah... is that so? Then you are saying an adjustment to the price is needed."
He looked a touch disappointed. Good, good. Time to put him a little at ease.
"Ah, the price is not the issue. On the contrary, I consider one hundred twenty thousand gold a most excellent offer. It is simply that this is not the manner of transaction I desire."
"Hm? Not the manner you desire? Do you mean you wish to add additional goods to the sale?"
No need to drag this out. Time to throw the main point straight at him.
"Information. Along with the gold, I want information."
My sharp eyes caught it instantly — the merchant's previously smooth, deferential posture went rigid in a flash.
It felt like I'd stepped squarely on his Achilles' heel. Perfect.
"Information, you say...?"
"Do not ask the obvious. Information about your kind. Why you brought an apocalypse upon our Earth. Why you imposed this bizarre system and drove people into an extreme survival environment. And what, exactly, you are. That is the answer I desire."
"..."
He was seriously rattled. I could clearly see that mosaic shift color for a split second.
A faint red light had bloomed across it, then vanished just as quickly.
"Even if you ask me here and now — I am a being whose authority is restricted, and so I cannot lay everything bare with complete honesty. I would recommend simply accepting the one hundred twenty thousand gold."
...Aha. So he was dodging it with a roundabout "there's nothing useful you'll get by asking me."
Sure, maybe that was true. But did he have any idea how many times I'd ever gotten a one-on-one conversation with alien life-forms (presumed) like them? Zero times. Zero! That administrator bastard only ever popped up when he felt like running his mouth, spewed whatever he wanted, and left!
I had absolutely zero intention of letting this sudden, precious opportunity slip away.
You'd better brace yourself, Mr. Mosaic-faced Merchant!
"I never imagined I would extract critical, fatal intelligence from you. However... even if only indirectly... I would like you to tell me why you are doing all of this. If that is possible, I would honestly hand over a necktie like this for a mere hundred gold."
"...!"
He flinched just now.
This deal proposal seemed to appeal to him a great deal, didn't it?
Ah, but he brought his hand up to his chin (or what I assumed was his chin). Looks like he was wrestling with it. The merchant's mindset and the underling-of-those-lunatics mindset were colliding hard.
"...Twice. I will answer two questions honestly. And I will purchase it for sixty thousand gold. If you do not accept this proposal, the transaction is off."
The moment I heard that proposal, heavy with deliberation, any reason I might have had to refuse evaporated.
"Very well."
Alright then... what should I ask?
Whoooosh...!
Passing straight through the door that blazed with intense light, it wasn't long before a familiar landscape came into view. Mountains lining both sides of the road, and the sun asserting its presence overhead.
At last — we had exited the dungeon.
"Kim Seyeon, what is the time? How long has it been since we entered?"
The moment we got out, I urgently asked Kim Seyeon about the time.
"Ah, yes. Right now... it's just past ten in the morning."
The time we'd entered the dungeon... had probably been somewhere between 5:50 and 6:00.
After entering, the clear completion had popped up at exactly three hours, fifteen minutes, and forty-eight seconds. Adding the settlement time plus the negotiation and conversation with the merchant... yeah, that roughly checked out.
Good. What a relief. Being able to clear it and get out safely while the sun was still high in the sky was a genuine bless—
"Something came out...!"
"Let's go check!"
...And what the hell was that now?
Voices. Somehow familiar ones. I turned my gaze and found faces that were, indeed, all too familiar.
Still in their ragged clothes, still looking half-starved — the corpse scavengers.
"...Those idiots from earlier. They still haven't left?"
"They probably figured we'd die in there."
Yun Mina sneered with uncharacteristically rough language, and Park Seeun backed her up.
The scavengers came running toward us like they'd just hit the jackpot. Then, about ten meters out, they slammed on the brakes. The excitement on their faces drained away in an instant.
"W-wait, what?"
"What the hell is this. Zombies?"
"You idiot, do those look like zombies to you? Anyone can see they're... alive!? Why are they alive?"
Bewilderment flooded the faces of the scavengers who'd come charging over in such a hurry.
Damn, running into these guys right now was seriously... pissing me off. I was already in a foul mood from the cryptic answers that merchant bastard had given me.
"Get lost. Right now...!"
I fired off a warning as low and loaded with pure hostility as I could manage.
Apparently a bit of killing intent had slipped in, though.
"Eek—!"
Their faces went deathly pale, as if they'd just run into some high-level monster.
"R-run!"
"He's gonna fillet us!"
Thud-thud-thud...!
The scavengers fled just as pathetically as they'd arrived.
At least they had some survival instinct, the miserable bastards. If those scavengers had gotten any more full of themselves and kept pushing, there was a high chance I wouldn't have held back.
"Hoo..."
"Oppa..."
Han Sora came up beside me and rested a hand on my shoulder. She looked worried.
We'd stocked up on silver items at bargain prices... and as unsettling as it was, I'd gotten answers to the carefully chosen questions I'd thrown at that merchant... so why the hell was my mood so thoroughly rotten?
Of course it was. Right before we'd been freed from the dungeon, as if it were some parting gift, that merchant bastard had casually dropped that bizarre line on me.
"D-don't worry, Jeong Hoon oppa! We'll stick right by your side, no matter what!"
"We cleared the dungeon together, didn't we? Whatever happens... we can overcome it. We're strong!"
Taking my grim expression seriously, Sora and Seeun rushed to reassure me one after the other.
I was genuinely grateful for the encouragement... but my worries were pointed somewhere else entirely.
The people left behind in Yeouido...
Please. Let nothing have happened. Let them all be safe.
Or so I'd hoped...
"Jeong Hoon-ssi, Jeong Hooooon-ssi!"
"My Lord, My Loooooord! Hurry, quickly! Something terrible has happened!"
"Hyejin unnie, Hyejin unnieee....!"
Seo Hyejin's guild members came running toward us the moment we entered Yeouido by car, their faces streaked with tears.
The instant I saw them, the composure I'd barely managed to hold together shattered, and my expression went ice-cold.