Chapter 126
Chapter 126
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 126
Chapter Title: 39. Mikhail's Disciple (2)
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3.
When El Pam stepped out of the Mystic Gate, what greeted him was silence.
“Wow.”
His companions, who followed behind him, smiled the moment they encountered that silence.
“Lucky us.”
Among those who challenged and emerged from the Mystic Gate, not a few suffered injuries from monster attacks or even died.
“Glad we don’t have to fight monsters.”
That was why this silence was a welcome one.
Of course, El Pam was different.
“Everyone.”
He said to his rejoicing companions.
“Raise your hands above your heads.”
“Yes?”
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a voice rang out.
“Everyone, hands up.”
Along with that voice, some thirty people appeared, surrounding El Pam’s party.
Those who appeared looked, at first glance, like ordinary adventurers.
“I’ll give you three seconds.”
But the hostility in the voice was anything but ordinary.
El Pam’s party noticed it too.
Yet not a single one of them shrank back at the realization.
‘Boss, what do we do? Fight?’
On the contrary, they were ready to fight at any moment.
To them, El Pam said.
“Don’t think about fighting. Cooperate.”
“Yes?”
An unexpected order.
“It’s the Cygnus Knights. No reason to fight.”
“What?”
But at his following explanation, El Pam’s companions all wore shocked expressions.
And so did those surrounding El Pam’s party.
‘How does he know who we are?’
They had discarded the Cygnus Knights’ signature armor and disguised themselves as adventurers, yet he saw right through them?
In any case, at El Pam’s words, his companions raised their hands above their heads without the slightest hesitation.
If El Pam said so, it must be true.
And if it was true, there was no reason to fight. No, even if there was, they were opponents they had to avoid clashing with.
With that decision from El Pam’s party, no fight broke out.
They simply harbored questions.
‘How did the boss know their identities?’
‘How on earth did he know who we are?’
About how El Pam had figured out their identities.
‘Kasim’s Tomb, disciple of Mikhail.’
Of course, from El Pam’s perspective, it wasn’t hard.
‘If Kiri, another disciple of Mikhail, is buried there too, the Cygnus Knights wouldn’t just leave it alone.’
The place where two disciples of none other than Mikhail had died—would they silently watch those who survived and emerged from there?
In other words, El Pam knew.
No one had anticipated his survival, or that of his companions.
That was why he’d raised his hands above his head the moment he appeared.
Since no one expected El Pam’s party to return alive, if trouble arose, the Cygnus Knights would show no hesitation in revealing their killing intent.
In any case, thanks to El Pam’s measures, there was no bloodshed.
“I’m El Pam.”
Now, only one thing remained.
“I request a conversation with Oz.”
To converse.
4.
“El Pam has returned alive.”
The moment he heard that, Oz unhesitatingly pulled out the envelope his subordinate had brought and lit a fire.
Whoosh!
Using magic, he immediately attempted communication.
It was an expensive spell, but Oz didn’t care. It was a spell he had prepared precisely for moments like this.
Thus, the conversation was established.
“What happened?”
It began with Oz’s question, and a reply came right away.
[We broke in, took them all out, and recovered the relics.]
A curt response.
[Lucky break.]
And that curtness was El Pam’s style.
‘He won’t give details, huh?’
A way of saying, don’t ask any more.
It wasn’t strange.
Telling what happened beyond the Mystic Gate would mean exposing everything about El Pam’s party.
‘They want to keep their strength hidden.’
There was no reason for El Pam’s party—not members of the Cygnus Knights—to reveal elements that could become weaknesses.
‘No obligation to tell, either.’
Nor any duty to disclose.
The contract between El Pam and Oz was solely about retrieving the relics inside; as long as the result was achieved, the process didn’t matter.
Moreover, that wasn’t the important topic now.
“Good thing you made it back alive.”
It was time to settle the results.
“As promised, I’ll prepare identities for you.”
[Give us the additional hazard pay as promised.]
At El Pam’s words then, Oz wasn’t surprised.
It was a one-sided demand, but considering what El Pam had accomplished, he couldn’t just dismiss it outright.
Above all, El Pam had brought it back.
Something very precious.
Paying him sufficient compensation was, in a way, the natural and justified next step.
“Alright. What do you want?”
So he gladly posed the question to El Pam, who answered.
[Mikhail’s armor.]
At that response, Oz’s expression hardened.
An unexpected demand.
Moreover, El Pam’s proposal wasn’t just excessive—it was on another level.
‘How did he know?’
Oz had never once told El Pam that the place was the tomb of Mikhail’s disciple Kasim.
Yet he knew to demand Mikhail’s armor?
That meant he knew its true nature.
‘Kiri, that child?’
Of course, someone who knew was in El Pam’s party.
‘No, even if they died, that child wouldn’t spill it.’
But Mikhail’s disciples never told anyone they were his disciples.
Which meant El Pam had figured it out himself.
From Oz’s standpoint, this was no small matter.
It meant El Pam now knew a top secret that must never be revealed to the world.
And such a person wanted Mikhail’s armor?
Honestly, the answer was set.
‘No.’
She couldn’t accept that demand.
However, flatly refusing here wasn’t wise either.
If she said no, she’d have to offer equivalent compensation.
And that was likely what El Pam wanted.
To make a deal when refusing, you usually had to offer something bigger than the original demand—at least equivalent.
So instead of refusing, Oz asked a question.
“What’s the reason for demanding that?”
She probed for justification.
Of course, Oz was certain.
There couldn’t be any justification.
So the negotiation would have to start from zero.
To Oz, thinking that way, El Pam replied.
5.
“Kiri needs it—Kiri, disciple of Mikhail.”
The moment that answer came, the flames burning before El Pam’s eyes stilled for a moment.
At a loss for words, apparently.
It was inevitable.
El Pam knew.
‘Mikhail’s armor is an outrageous demand just for risking danger.’
That his demand went beyond excessive to absurd.
So when he first laid eyes on Mikhail’s armor, he hadn’t even considered claiming it.
‘But with Kiri, it’s different.’
What changed his mind was Kiri’s existence.
To others, maybe not, but giving Mikhail’s armor to his disciple wasn’t compensation—it would be a master’s consideration for his pupil.
Thus, El Pam was certain.
Oz would accept this deal.
‘It’s a huge opportunity.’
And it would bring him tremendous benefits.
After all, Kiri was plenty strong already. Among Cygnus Knights who had reached the 4th Circle, she was top-tier.
And if she wore Mikhail’s armor on top?
He could guarantee it.
‘An opportunity for Kiri to match Dibo.’
She wouldn’t lag behind Dibo anymore.
‘An opportunity to stimulate Dibo.’
It would spur Dibo to even greater growth.
Of course, what El Pam anticipated most was that.
Unlike the other three, he hadn’t been fully convinced of Kiri’s growth potential.
‘Now that her growth is secured, no reason to hesitate.’
But with that conviction in place, El Pam no longer needed to keep Kiri in mind.
‘Not even a little.’
As El Pam thus revised his plans, text appeared before him.
[Very well. So be it.]
The moment Oz accepted El Pam’s deal.
The deal was naturally concluded.
[I’ll prepare the identities.]
The original promised deal was settled too.
None other than the Cygnus Knights prepared false identities for El Pam’s party.
[But there’s a condition.]
However, Oz didn’t end the conversation there.
[You’ll have to carry out a few missions.]
Those words were apart from the promise.
But El Pam wasn’t surprised.
‘As expected.’
He knew.
‘Creating new identities requires titles.’
Just as she said.
[Creating new identities is no issue, but to make them valid, certain steps are needed. The most reliable among them is none other than titles.]
What El Pam wanted wasn’t just any new identity.
When they headed to the Elnas Mountains, it had to be one that let them blend seamlessly among the adventurers there.
From that viewpoint, a random new identity would only arouse suspicion.
An adventurer with no fame or achievements whatsoever, guaranteed by the Cygnus Knights?
At least 5th Circle adventurers would sense something off.
But with titles, it changed.
If it came with tales of “the party that did this there,” trust would soar.
So Oz’s mentioned missions were a natural progression.
“What missions?”
Thus, El Pam accepted Oz’s demand without hesitation.
[The first mission is in the Magatia region.]
To such an El Pam, Oz revealed the mission.
[A tip came in to the Cygnus Knights. One of Magatia’s alchemy schools, the Neumist School, claims to have succeeded in an experiment.]
And that experiment Oz mentioned.
‘Experiment—gotta be that.’
The moment he heard the word, El Pam knew right away.
‘Chimera.’
[They succeeded in chimera creation experiments. And now that chimera is moving through the underground lab areas, hunting adventurers.]
Chimera.
A very powerful and ferocious lifeform created through bio-alchemy.
Because of that, its creation was forbidden.
That was why.
The tip had come to the Cygnus Knights.
[A party will be formed to eliminate the chimera.]
Guarding Maple World’s rules—that was precisely the Cygnus Knights’ role.
Of course, eliminating the chimera was the Cygnus Knights’ duty, as stated.
El Pam’s mission wasn’t chimera removal.
[Join that party.]
Merely accompanying the Cygnus Knights’ chimera hunt.
But El Pam knew.
‘The knights who set out for that chimera hunt all die.’
What history had unfolded there before his return to the past.
Of course, he couldn’t say that here.
The only thing El Pam could say now was one.
“If I take down the chimera, is there a reward?”