Chapter 72
Chapter 72
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: Oson's Misadventure
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*Tap-.*
*Tap, tap-.*
Do-jae moved swiftly, combing through the ruins.
*Smash-!*
He maintained his speed, kicking and crushing the heads of zombies that appeared in his path.
‘Considering the first leaf, it’s unlikely it was just hidden away somewhere.’
*Whoosh-.*
*BOOM-!*
Just then, something flew toward Do-jae’s feet and exploded on the spot.
It was a magical attack of considerable power, but he had sensed it in advance and dodged, avoiding any damage.
"Groooaaan!"
A zombie, its flesh rotting away to reveal glimpses of white bone, was preparing another spell.
‘You’ve got to be kidding me… A zombie that uses magic?’
Perhaps it was because this was once a kingdom that prospered through magic.
He was witnessing the bizarre phenomenon of a mere Grade 9 monster, a zombie, casting spells.
‘I wonder if Sari and old man Tahul are okay.’
It hadn't been long since they split up, but he found himself a little curious about their situation.
However, Sari and Tahul were Gray Elves, a physically superior race, and both seemed well-versed in magic, so he wasn't particularly worried.
‘What a fascinating world. If it weren’t for the Leaf of Arcturia, I’d want to take my time and look around.’
It was a rather leisurely thought to have while facing a flood of oncoming zombies, but Do-jae was genuinely intrigued by this world.
Since arriving here, he had only gathered fragmented information in his single-minded pursuit of the Leaf of Arcturia.
He imagined that a world where various non-human races lived together would have a different kind of charm than Earth.
Hadn't Tubaln itself been a beautiful city, with its unique architectural styles creating harmony and balance within its walls?
*Whiz-.*
*Smash-!*
Without breaking stride, Do-jae used the Nerves of the Golem to hurl collapsed stonework at the zombies.
After nearly ten days without the aid of his skills, his ability to manipulate mana had, if anything, grown sharper.
"Gaaahk…."
A zombie with half its face caved in let out a grotesque sound as a large chunk of rock slammed it against a wall.
‘This feels a lot weirder than the zombies from dungeons.’
He had cleared dungeons full of zombies many times in the past.
But back then, he had thought of them as just another type of monster.
Now, the thought that these zombies were once real people who lived here was, admittedly, a bit unsettling.
*Thump-!*
Do-jae approached the wall and brought his Golem Armor-clad fist down on the zombie’s head.
Using the mana compression technique Tahul had taught him, the zombie burst apart as if struck by a cannonball.
‘May you find peace.’
***
*Trudge, trudge-.*
"You have returned, Master! I…."
Oson greeted Do-jae with a deferential voice.
Having searched the ruins all day, Do-jae had returned to the carriage as dusk fell and it became too dark to see.
"Do-jae… my legs hurt so much."
"Lady Sarieta, shall I give them a rub?"
"Eek! Grandpa!"
Tahul eyed Sari’s legs with a lecherous gaze.
Do-jae was about to say something to Tahul but decided against it.
Tahul’s face, too, was etched with exhaustion.
He felt bad about scolding the old man after putting him through so much trouble.
"Thank you all for your help today. This wasn't something you two should have had to deal with."
"Waaah! I'm so tired! How are we supposed to find one tiny leaf in this huge place? This isn't the adventure I imagined!"
Sari stomped her feet and whined.
As she said, the inside of the city was vast and wide.
The royal castle of Tubaln had been sizable, but this place was on a completely different scale.
Even though Do-jae had spent the entire day running around with the Nerves of the Golem extended to its maximum range, there was still so much ground left to cover.
"I'm sorry, Sari. But I did check everything from that side all the way up to the top."
"I took the area below where Do-jae mentioned. I kept my eyes wide open, but I can't be sure I didn't miss a nook or cranny."
"And I searched the area above where the young man pointed. Tsk, tsk. At this rate, this will take days. Making an old man who can't even stand up straight work so hard."
Even combining the areas Sari and Tahul had checked, they hadn't even covered a quarter of the city.
And as Sari said, they might have missed spots.
"Let's get some rest for today. Tomorrow, I'll search more thoroughly."
At this rate, he had no idea how many days they would have to spend here.
Do-jae knew he needed to find a new approach.
"Master!"
"Oh, Oson. Everyone's tired, so could you get a fire going? But don't go inside the ruins."
"Understood. But about that…."
"And let's just have cup ramen for dinner tonight, so you don't need to go find any rocks. How does that sound, Sari? Is cup ramen okay?"
"Woohoo! Yes! I'm always up for cup ramen!"
Oson looked like he had something to say, but the exhausted Do-jae ignored him and took out cup ramen, bread, and jerky.
He and Sari tore open the ramen cups and sprinkled in the soup packets.
Having eaten it a few times now, Sari prepared her cup ramen with practiced ease.
"I've gathered it all here! But about that…."
"Thanks, Oson. Let's eat first."
*Click-.*
*Fwoosh-!*
Do-jae used a lighter to set some leaves on fire. The dry leaves quickly caught, erupting into a strong flame.
"I've been thinking this for a while, but that's a very convenient item. To create a flame so easily. A coveted item indeed."
"Would you like one?"
"Hoh! I won't refuse."
"This is how you use it."
*Click, click-.*
Do-jae showed Tahul how to use the lighter.
As he did, he happened to see the face of Oson, who was diligently blowing on the campfire.
"Oson?"
"Yes, Master."
He hadn't noticed in the dark, but as the flames grew brighter, he got a clear look at Oson's face.
Bruises and cuts.
Not only that, but his clothes were covered in filth.
"Oh my, Oson! What on earth happened to you? Do-jae, my bag!"
Do-jae retrieved Sari's bag from his subspace and handed it to her. Sari took out a small container and opened the lid.
Inside was a dark brown, viscous liquid. She immediately began to apply it to Oson's face.
"Oson, what happened?"
"Ack! Well, that's what I've been trying to tell you…."
Oson flinched with a strange yelp.
Then he began to recount what had happened to him.
***
After Do-jae, Sari, and Tahul had left, Oson led the horses to a nearby river to drink.
He then returned to the carriage and fed them.
After tending to the horses, he watched as they began to fall asleep one by one.
Seeing the horses, and with the warm sun and cool breeze, Oson leaned back in the driver's seat and dozed off.
"We were running around all day!"
"Urk… I apologize for that."
A nap of an hour or two was one thing, but after some time, Oson woke up.
With nothing to do, he sat idly for a while before a thought struck him.
Wasn't this the golden opportunity to escape?
Their continued eastward travel had brought them closer to the town, and he figured it would be difficult for them to catch him if he fled with the carriage.
Still, having spent several days with Do-jae and Sari, he had grown a little fond of them, so his conscience pricked him. He decided he would just take one horse and flee.
"So that's what you were thinking… Oson?"
"M-Master! There's still more to the story…!"
Oson immediately unfastened a horse's harness from the carriage.
He moved quickly, wanting to get as far away as possible from Do-jae, who could return at any moment.
But while unharnessing the horse was easy enough, he faced a major obstacle when he tried to mount it: his own short stature.
Still, he was determined, and he had to get on the horse somehow. After some effort weaving a rope, he managed to climb atop it.
However, another problem arose.
Oson didn't know how to ride a horse.
It was a completely different skill from driving a carriage.
"Heh heh heh, to think you even considered riding a horse."
"Don't even start, old man. You have no idea how hard I tried to get on that thing."
"So? Don't tell me you failed to escape because you fell off the horse? If that's the case, you…."
"No, sir! The beast wouldn't listen to me, but it wasn't violent. These injuries are from protecting it."
Clinging desperately to the horse's mane to keep from falling, Oson let the animal take him where it would.
As fate would have it, the horse wandered into the ruins, and Oson found himself face-to-face with a horde of zombies.
To protect the horse, he had no choice but to fight.
Of course, Oson was a proud dwarven warrior.
Zombies were no match for him. Oson butchered them with tremendous swings of his axe.
A fierce battle ensued, and after he had finally chopped up all the zombies, he was about to leave on the horse. But perhaps he had struck the ground too many times with his axe.
A large hole formed, and the ground beneath him collapsed.
"At that moment, I swung my axe and struck the wall to slow my fall. Quick thinking, wasn't it?"
"Just keep talking."
"Yes, sir…."
Having fallen alone into a deep pit, Oson tried to climb back up by embedding his axe in the wall, but the wall was too soft and kept crumbling under his weight.
Eventually, instead of climbing up, he moved inward through an artificial tunnel.
The tunnel branched out like a spiderweb. A small stream of water flowed along the floor, and light filtered in through cracks in the collapsed ceiling.
Oson pressed onward and, by a stroke of luck, found a ladder and climbed up.
"And that's where I found it! The leaf you're looking for, Master!"
"Whoa! Really? That's amazing, Oson!"
"Is it true? Is it really the Leaf of Arcturia?"
"Yes, it was a leaf that looked exactly like the one you showed me earlier!"
"Well done. You saved us a lot of time. So, where's the leaf?"
"Heh heh… about that… I couldn't actually bring it with me…."
"Huh?"
"Heh heh heh."
The place Oson had climbed up to seemed to be a former secret passage.
Following the passage led him to the back of a grand hall.
There, he found a skeleton sitting on a throne, and resting on its lap was the Leaf of Arcturia.
Overjoyed, Oson completely forgot his escape attempt and went to grab the leaf.
But at that moment, skeletons suddenly appeared. Thinking they were simple skeletons, Oson began to fight them.
But to his surprise, these skeletons wielded swords and used magic, quickly cornering him. Realizing he was outmatched, Oson made a hasty retreat.
"But I confirmed its location! If you go south from that large tower over there for about thirty minutes, you'll find a palace with six pillars. It was inside there!"
"I didn't go in that direction."
"Me neither! We were searching the complete opposite side, weren't we?"
Do-jae, Sari, and Tahul had all headed north from where they split up, so none of them had been to the location Oson described.
"I did good, right, Master? Hehehe."
"Yes… Oson. You did well… but."
*Crack-.*
Do-jae cracked his neck from side to side as he rose to his feet.
"It seems our Oson has forgotten the sting of my golems' fists."
"Eh?"
"I don't believe I've received anything from you yet… but since you found the location of the Leaf of Arcturia, I suppose I can give you a bit of a discount. So, how many hits will it be?"
"M-Master?"