Chapter 207
Chapter 207
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 207
Chapter Title: A Brief Rest for Advancing 6 Spaces
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“Hassan! Look at this! It seems like there’s an article about me!”
Luna pointed to one page of the leather newspaper with her slender index finger.
“Let me see.”
When I looked where her pale cherry blossom-colored nail was pointing, sure enough, there was a string of text running down a thin, cornered spot like a filler column.
*Suspicious Elixirs Circulating in the Market Since Last Month: Uncovering Their Effects and True Nature ? Potion Master.*
The first thing that caught my eye seemed to be the article title, and it looked like it was about Luna’s elixirs.
Is Potion Master the reporter’s name or something?
“Hassan, what does it say?”
For some reason, Luna didn’t have the courage to read the article herself.
Well, I’d grown somewhat accustomed to others’ gazes and judgments after living in the 21st century, but for someone like Luna, seeing an article written about herself was probably a first.
I could understand if she was too nervous to look, heart pounding at the thought of what it might say—especially if it was something bad.
So, I decided to read the newspaper article in place of the tense Luna.
“Wait, I’ll read it for you.”
Everyone has probably heard at least once about the foul-tasting elixirs that have started circulating in markets and alchemy guilds. Ideophe’s Elixir, which tastes utterly revolting but preserves stamina for a day or two without sleep.
“Oh, it’s written pretty factually?”
“What? What does it say?”
“It says your stamina elixir works well.”
“Really? Then it’ll get even more publicity! Does it mention the workshop? Like where it’s made or who makes it!”
“I’ll have to read more first.”
At Luna’s eager urging, I shifted my gaze back to the small print. What was written there was content enough to furrow my brow.
Curious about this astonishing effect, the author requested a component analysis from the Alchemist Guild to verify if it was made with proper, legal ingredients. The result: twelve blasphemous material components were discovered.
Blasphemous material components?
I wasn’t sure exactly what that meant, but the nuance was clear: a precise analysis revealed something deeply problematic.
A faint chill crept up my back.
The rest was filled with keywords like illegal, harmful to the human body, unethical—content that seemed nothing but malicious.
“Hassan, what does it say?”
But how should I tell this to Luna? Telling her the truth might shock her too much.
Anyone would feel down if something they poured their heart into was harshly judged.
“It talks about how the elixir works well. And some rather cold evaluations.”
“Really? Then I’ll read it myself!”
“Uh, well…”
If Luna read it herself, she’d end up shocked anyway. I was panicking about what to do when…
“Nah, forget it.”
Luna readily gave up on reading the article.
“If I hear too much praise, I might get arrogant. They say brewing elixirs requires a humble heart.”
“Humble heart?”
“Yeah! You have to brew them with sincerity!”
I knew well that Luna put her heart and soul into making elixirs.
She was sloppy in daily life, couldn’t even keep things tidy, but in her professional field, she showed real efficiency—that was Luna.
“If you brew carelessly, the quality suffers!”
“Really? Do you, uh, use good ingredients too? Like fresh ones?”
“Of course! No matter the cost, I always select only the best!”
I honestly couldn’t imagine Luna, answering so confidently, putting illegal components into her elixirs.
Just looking at the ingredient jars on the first floor, most were ordinary things like bones or plant roots.
Maybe the secret ingredients made with Paranoya are the problem?
I had no way of knowing.
I should visit the newspaper office soon.
* * *
Two days had passed easily since returning from subjugating the Goblin King.
Though two days had gone by, all I’d done was wander near the cabin, tend potatoes in the yard, and get a back massage from Luna stepping on me.
It might sound like I’d just lazed around.
In fact, that’s exactly what I’d done—lazed around.
If I had to make an excuse, it wasn’t laziness; my body was filled from toe to head with something like utter lethargy.
Was it backlash from the mismatched forced training over several days?
Or maybe using Necromancy came with a serious aftereffect?
According to the Goblin King Gogrid’s words, Necromancy involved sharing one’s life force.
If that was true, it made sense why my body was suffering such intense lethargy.
Meeem, meeem, meeem—.
Twenty, twenty—.
Zzzzzzz—.
I gazed out the open window on the second floor at the noisy cicada sounds from outside. The cloudless scorching sun really brought the summer vibe.
Though I was resting at home now, it was the peak of summer anyway, with the weather growing hotter by the day.
Apparently, guilds and public offices often took long vacations for respite at times like this.
The whole city felt eerily quiet, like it had hunkered down in cool shade to escape the heat. Was I finally enjoying a vacation in this world for the first time since arriving?
“Hassan, your turn now.”
“Oh, yeah? One card—!”
“Eek, Hassan, that’s dirty!”
“The world of competition has no dirty or fair.”
“Lady Luna, please play your Joker…! If Master Hassan wins, you’ll get a painful knuckle rap…!”
“Hey, isn’t teaming up like that cheating?”
“No cheating in competition! Hehe, one card—! Done! Shoot! I win! Now Paranoya’s last! Forehead smack!”
“Euu, no more hits please…”
Thwack—.
“Hiiiik—!”
We were playing indoor games in the cool shade of the cabin’s second floor.
Things like carving chess pieces from wooden boards or hardening thin leather into cards for poker.
With no phones, TVs, or even radios in this world, board games were the way to have fun indoors.
In that sense, the refined 21st-century games seemed hugely enjoyable for Luna and Paranoya.
Board games I’d roughly recreated from memory—things 21st-century folks used to electronics might scoff at as outdated—had Luna and Paranoya’s eyes sparkling like they were brand new.
“That was fun! Nice to have some leisure time!”
“Lady Luna is always right.”
Luna and Paranoya also had fewer elixir orders lately, so they could afford to relax.
Was the drop in orders related to that newspaper article? Should I tell Luna the truth?
As I worried a bit, Luna pulled out a thin wooden board-like thing from the corner.
“Hassan, now let’s play Monopoly!”
“We did that last night. You sure about another round? It takes forever per game.”
“This is my favorite! We’ve got plenty of time anyway!”
Even games I’d already grown tired of were fun in their company. Board games with girls—what a thrill.
Shit, during my college days, this was the kind of event only popular guys got. Thinking I was living it now made my heart swell with pride.
I mentally checked off “Board game cafe date with girlfriend” from my bucket list.
“Set up the board quick! Paranoya came last in One Card, so sort the coppers, silvers, and golds too!”
“Ugh, sorting’s a pain…”
Paranoya grumbled while organizing the money. Of course, this “money” was the fake currency from our bootleg world-travel Monopoly.
Wooden coins I’d carved myself.
The board was a thin wooden panel with black ink squares drawn on, labeled with this world’s cities like Sodomora, Delphi, Calcuta.
Unfamiliar to me, but fun for Luna and Paranoya familiar with the locales.
As we prepped for a while, a tinkling bell rang—clang. It was the entry chime I’d set up in the yard yesterday.
Someone’s here, I said.
Peering out the window at the garden, I saw a long-haired woman in thin clothes, her red skin glistening.
“Samaritan, you haven’t shown up for training these past few days. What’s going on?”
“Well, lately I can’t even twitch a finger.”
“Whining after catching a few goblins? Because of what you stirred up, Minerva Guild folks are swarming, keeping Mars Guild swamped.”
The visitor, Hippolyte, had apparently come because I’d skipped training lately.
Sensing her presence at the cabin entrance, frowning, Luna peeked her head out from the second-floor stairs.
“Hassan, who is it? Someone here?”
“It’s me, Hippolyte.”
“Oh! Here to pay back my 3 silvers!”
“No, not that—”
“Then come up! Let’s play Monopoly together!”
“Mono…?”
Hippolyte raised one eyebrow in confusion. But curious about the presences of Luna and Paranoya upstairs, perhaps.
She eventually climbed to the second floor of the cabin and eyed the game board spread on the floor.
“What’s this? Explain what you’ve been doing with these two.”
“It’s, uh, a board game I made. It’s actually pretty fun once you try it.”
“Games? You’re not a child. Skipping training for this—your grit’s dulled, Samaritan.”
“Hippolyte, join us! More players, more fun!”
“Lady Luna, money’s sorted… We can start now…”
“Money? You’re calling those wooden discs money?”
The word “money” piqued Hippolyte’s interest a bit. But Luna quickly covered the wooden coins with her hand so Hippolyte couldn’t see.
“Hippolyte, no stealing! I carved them hard!”
“…Even I, short on cash as I am, wouldn’t steal those. Fake money games, huh. More sophisticated than I thought. I’ve seen similar boards in nobles’ social halls before.”
And so, we four began the board game.
Clatter.
The bone dice rolled. Hippolyte’s roll: a whopping 12.
“Nice, double sixes. Mars warriors always charge ahead!”
“Shoot, Hippolyte to Tartarus again! Dice confiscated for three turns! Awesome! At least I won’t be last!”
“Damn it—.”
“I’ve got a Tartarus pardon from Golden Key. 50 gold?”
“What? 50 gold? No need.”
“50 gold to escape hell’s a bargain! Stay stuck then! Hehe, hehehe—! Paranoya’s turn.”
Paranoya rolled the dice again.
Clatter.
“Golden Key…! Let’s see. ‘Congratulations—you’re invited to the Argo ship expedition. Go around the board once, then to Ideophe Archipelago.’ Oh, I, I’m an Argo hero…!”
Paranoya placed her piece on the Ideophe Archipelago space. Hippolyte, trapped in Tartarus, bristled at the sight.
“What? Even I wasn’t invited to the Argo expedition, and a soft nymph like you gets in? Impossible. Argo crew are all great heroes!”
Luna frowned beside her.
“Hippolyte, it’s just a game. Why get so immersed?”
Ignoring that, Paranoya claimed the Ideophe deed.
“Hehe, I’ll pay 50 gold for Ideophe Archipelago too. Now, I, Paranoya, hold lands like a kingdom count—!! Pay tolls crossing my turf!”
“My homeland, and you buy it, Paranoya! Give it back!”
“This line’s all Paranoya land now. Cry all you want, no use. I’ll erect my statues everywhere…!”
Everyone chattering away was noisy, but it felt like a real vacation. If only every day were like this.
Still, a nagging thought: is it okay to slack like this?
Plenty of issues left unresolved.
Like the Hell Lords, for instance.
While Paranoya, who came last, reset for the next game, I casually asked Hippolyte, who was sneakily peeking at Golden Key cards.
“Lady Hippolyte, ever heard of famous monsters?”
“Famous monsters? Like that Goblin King you took down?”
“Do you believe that story, Lady Hippolyte?”
“Believe? Named monsters are commonplace. Gogrid, was it? Tough foe, but you managed. My training paid off?”
I couldn’t admit I’d swarmed Gogrid with Necromancy minions.
“Uh, you could say that. So, know where similar monsters might be?”
“Hunting named monsters isn’t your level yet. Reach Silver Tier adventurer, and you’ll get info on them.”
“I see.”
“Resting like this makes you itch for a fight, huh? Hates training but loves real combat—amusing. That’s Samaritans for you—.”
Truth was, I didn’t love combat. But I had reason to ask about named monsters.
From Gogrid’s tale, I’d realized Hell Lords like Gigas possess strong monster bodies to manifest here.
So, if I eliminated all famous monsters that could be their vessels?
But as Hippolyte said, named monster hunts were for seasoned Silver Tier adventurers.
Still out of my league.
“By the way, Samaritan. Antiope said a man named Weiss Vine is looking for you.”
“Weiss Vine?”
The name rang a bell. Antiope had mentioned him—a Temple Knight Order member staying in the city.
Weiss Vine.
A powerhouse occupying the 9th seat in the Temple Knights.
Devotee of Bacchus, god of wine.
“Why would he want me…?”
“He was investigating the Goblin King. Probably that. Anyway, my turn, Noxdoty. Pass the dice.”
Clatter.
“One, two, three. Whoa, Hippolyte to Tartarus again! Dice gone for three turns!”
“Ma…manipulation. My dice were rigged!”
“Nope. Hippolyte sucks! Puhuhu—! Hassan’s turn.”
I took the dice from Luna and rolled them casually.
Clatter.
Boldly, double sixes.
“Hassan, Golden Key! What’s it say? What’d you get?”
Landing on Golden Key, I drew a small placard and read it.
*You were invited to Bacchus’s fervent party and indulged in revelry. But savage hangover prevents rolling next turn.*
“Fun.”