Chapter 160
Chapter 160
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 160
Chapter Title: The Severed Neck
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The neck of the guy coming off.
A sigh of relief escaped me naturally.
'Lucky.'
This guy's strength was clearly superior to mine. But since it had just been born, it lacked experience. It moved purely on instinct. If it had any combat experience, it would've been dangerous.
'Experience, huh....'
That meant this monster had intelligence. That part felt even more chilling to me.
Ssslruk! The guy's corpse gradually dissolved, turning into mana and fading away.
That's when I started sensing presences around me.
'What the?'
I thought maybe the villagers had come up, but that wasn't it.
What appeared were three men and one woman. Their composition was similar to mercenaries, but the difference was that their gear was more thorough than typical mercenaries.
They widened their eyes at the sight of the guy's corpse.
"Lunia, scan it quick!"
"Yes!"
The woman raised her staff and chanted some spell.
'As expected, this world has magic. And it's widespread enough....'
Our continent, where magic barely existed except for holy magic, and the outside world where magic was commonplace. I suspected there was some reason for that discrepancy here.
The woman finished chanting and shouted.
"Scan complete! Danger level 4, Wild Prince! It's a bit weak in strength, but no doubt about it!"
I didn't understand exactly what she said, but judging from their shocked expressions, the guy Günter and I fought was pretty dangerous.
The one who seemed to be the leader of the group approached me cautiously.
"I'm Kelly from the Savior Alliance. If it's alright, could you tell me your name?"
"...Als Ilrain. No affiliation."
"N-No affiliation? Someone who took down a Wild Prince alone...?"
"I didn't take it down alone. More importantly, could you treat our wounds?"
I had barely any injuries, but Günter, who had taken the guy's attacks, was badly hurt.
"I see. Let's head back to the village for now."
At that moment, the corpse we defeated fully turned to nothing, leaving behind a glowing stone.
"This is...?"
I picked up the stone, drawn to it.
Kelly said.
"That's pretty bright. It might've grown into a big one."
"Grown into a big one?"
"You don't... know?"
"If possible, please explain."
"Of course.... No problem."
Kelly explained kindly, though he seemed suspicious of my identity.
I listened to his explanation as we descended the mountain.
The woman named Lunia was talking to Günter too, but he couldn't understand her properly and just looked baffled.
"That stone is called a mana core."
As he spoke, Kelly explained about the surges.
According to him, this world periodically experienced surges caused by mana.
During these surges, dungeons would spawn in various places. If those dungeons weren't cleared, they became lost lands occupied by monsters.
"The mana core is like the nucleus of those dungeons."
"Ooh."
It sounded like some game setting.
'No, this is a game world.'
Back in my original world, things like magic and monsters didn't exist, so it hadn't felt real.
Anyway, the mana core of the dungeon was the root cause of all this and the key to solving it.
"If you leave a mana core alone, it turns to mana and disappears, only to reappear as a dungeon in the next surge. But if you seal and store it, you can prevent it from respawning almost permanently. That's why our Savior Alliance clears dungeons and seals their mana cores."
"Seal the final mana core, and no more dungeons will appear, right?"
"Exactly."
By the time his explanation ended, we had returned to the village.
The villagers, hearing the news of the subjugation, cheered and thanked the Savior Alliance members profusely.
Kelly waved it off, saying the credit wasn't his, but the villagers didn't care now that the problem was solved.
Kelly shook his head and said to me.
"You need to seal that mana core within at least 10 days. If you're okay with it, could you entrust it to me? I'll handle the sealing responsibly."
At that moment, I smelled money.
At first glance, this mana core seemed worthless. It was dangerous, after all. But I thought it had other value.
Maybe it had uses after sealing. Or bringing it somewhere would earn recognition from a certain faction.
I figured Kelly wanted it for the latter reason.
I replied naturally.
"How much are you offering?"
"...."
Kelly narrowed his eyes.
"You said you didn't know anything about dungeons, right?"
"I know how the world works."
"Uh, um...."
Kelly groaned, then tested the waters.
"I'll give you 10,000 rilang."
"No deal. I'll investigate this more and sell it later."
"W-Wait. Then 20,000 rilang...."
"50,000."
I figured that was around the fair price. If Kelly was a natural-born merchant, he might've tricked me even then, but I judged he wasn't.
As expected, Kelly didn't get mad at 50,000. He just looked troubled.
I decided to offer a carrot here.
"Sigh, fine. 40,000 rilang. But in exchange, get me passage on a ship. That's it."
"That works.... Deal."
Kelly grinned and offered a handshake.
This guy. No shame at all about starting at 10,000.
*
*
*
I decided to search the island for about a day. Kelly's group was staying a day too, so I had time.
I left Günter in the village to learn the language and joined the hunters heading into the mountains for food, searching the island, but found no results.
'Better assume the others aren't here.'
If so, I could leave without regrets.
Returning to the village at dawn, I washed up lightly and prepared to depart.
That's when it happened.
"Mind if I talk to you for a sec?"
"...?"
It was Lunia, the female mage.
She spoke with a strange look in her eyes.
I knew that look from experience, so I chuckled wryly. Thinking I smiled at her, Lunia widened her eyes and froze.
"What's up?"
"Ah, uh, yes. That is...."
Lunia shook her head quickly as if shaking something off and started rambling.
"Um, I wanted to ask what kind of magic you used to take down the Wild Prince!"
"Magic? I didn't use any."
"You didn't use it!?"
"Is something wrong?"
"Of course it's wrong! How did you defeat a Wild Prince without magic?"
"Naturally, I used aura."
"Aura...?"
I felt like we were talking past each other.
I subtly drew up my aura to show her.
The energy rose from both hands up to my shoulders. Lunia bugged her eyes out like a rabbit.
"You were using Weapon Spell! Even so, a Weapon Spell at that level! No wonder you took down the Wild Prince!"
"Weapon... what?"
"Weapon Spell. Is it... different?"
"Ah.... Maybe not."
They probably called aura "Weapon Spell" in this world.
"You don't look that old, yet you have a Weapon Spell like that. You only use magic when necessary, huh."
"Yeah.... Something like that."
Lunia thought I knew both aura and magic, as if it were natural.
'Magic, huh....'
If it could boost my personal strength, I'd like to learn it.
I'd always been concerned about my individual power. Top 100 on the continent wasn't weak by any means, but the stage I operated on was so grand that it didn't stand out.
One-on-one duels were out of the question.
I'd clashed with Fisher Partin or Three Great General Lexit, but always with allies.
Aegert was there against Fisher. Eonia and Ymir against Lexit.
I felt limits in my martial arts. No matter how much I trained, I couldn't beat powerhouses like Juras, Anton, or Guderian.
Magic sounded appealing as a supplement.
"Miss Lunia? If it's okay, could you explain magic to me?"
I flashed a deliberate smile.
Lunia's face flushed as she told me everything, true or not.
As I diligently gathered info, time passed, and Kelly appeared with Günter.
Seeing Lunia's expression, they seemed to grasp the situation. Kelly eyed me with jealous reproach, while Günter wailed.
"Don't fall for it! This guy has a pregnant wife! Plus three more beautiful women he's destined for! You deceiver──!"
Fortunately, Lunia and Kelly couldn't understand Günter and just wondered why he was suddenly like that.
I stood up casually and whispered to Günter.
"Günter! I was just extracting information!"
"Huh!? O-Oh, that's what it was. I was worried.... Well, you're different from Ash."
Günter said that but couldn't tear his eyes from Lunia. Looked like he'd fallen for her already.
We headed to the docks with Kelly's group and came upon three ships. One was a fishing boat, the other two passenger ships.
One of the passenger ships was the Savior Alliance vessel Kelly's group arrived on, but the other was unknown.
I asked Rudolph, who was prepping the fishing boat.
"Mr. Rudolph."
"Hm? Oh, Als. Right, you're leaving today. To Dispan, yeah?"
"Yes."
"Shame you're going so soon. I wanted to repay you somehow. Here, take some snacks for the road."
"Haha, thanks. But... what's that ship?"
"That? The kingdom's regular liner, comes once a month. Heads to the South Continent. Elan Kingdom territory."
"South Continent...."
The people of this world clearly knew the world was round.
From this island, north led to the South Continent, south to the North Continent.
"Rudolph, could you tell me about that ship's route?"
If any other retainers were on nearby islands, they'd likely use this ship.
Some might head to the North Continent like me, but others surely to the South.
I didn't want to miss info on them.
In searching for people, the initial response is key.
Like how I found Günter, good early action might locate more.
I decided to consult Günter on that.
He nodded seriously, thinking the same.
Soon, he said to me.
"Als, maybe we should split up here."
"...."
"We probably grasp the situation best right now. And we can make promises."
"Promises... huh."
"Yeah. If one of us agrees to wait at a set point, even if we split, it'll be fine. You do that role, Als. You're the center for everyone. They'll all move to find you. So staying put in one place might be better for you."
It made sense. For seriously learning magic, having a base was ideal.
Searching for missing people was better in a bustling metropolis than wandering aimlessly.
What bothered me was separating from Günter after finally reuniting.
Who knows. He might run into an accident or scam and die or get hurt. I'd regret this choice forever.
Reading my worry, Günter smiled innocently.
"Don't worry. I'm sharper than I look, you know."
"What if that Lunia says to stay here and live together forever?"
"Cough!? Th-That. Well. If she likes me, I'd have to think deeply...."
"Sigh, if not for that, I wouldn't worry."
Whatever, this was clearly the best option now.
So I gave Günter 20,000 of the 40,000 rilang from Kelly, sending him to the Elan Kingdom on the South Continent.
"Don't forget. We meet in the West Continent's major city Vian."
"Got it. I'll tell anyone I meet."
"Survive, Günter."
"You too, don't die. If you go, we'll all scatter."
"I'll keep that in mind."
Günter boarded first. His eyes lingered wistfully on Lunia, but soon he fell for a girl on the same ship and lost interest in her.
"Can't stop him, I guess."
I boarded the ship to the North Continent with Kelly's group.
Hoping to meet other retainers.