Chapter 40
Chapter 40
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: Chapter 13. Cross Hunters (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1.
There were two ways adventurers tackled Mystic Gates.
They either found them on their own and cleared them solo, or they did so with the help of a merchant group.
Simple math said going solo was more profitable. You could monopolize everything that came out from beyond the Mystic Gate.
Finding a Mystic Gate wasn't that hard if you actually went looking for one.
Yet most adventurers teamed up with merchant groups—signed contracts with them to tackle Mystic Gates.
The reason was straightforward.
Protection from the merchant group.
"What's the current gate status?"
That was why, in the forest near Henesys where an orange-grade Mystic Gate had appeared, adventurers from the Kania Guild were lying in wait, holding their breath.
"No issues."
Of course, their goal was different from other adventurers.
"Remember, if anyone comes out, eliminate them immediately."
They weren't there to protect adventurers emerging from the Mystic Gate.
"Not a single one left alive."
Their goal was to eliminate survivors.
It made no sense by any common logic.
"For the Black Mage."
But the fact that they were followers of the Black Mage made it perfectly reasonable.
That was what followers of the Black Mage were like.
Madmen who would do anything for the resurrection of the Black Mage they served.
Killing those who had barely escaped hell alive gave them no qualms whatsoever.
"We probably won't even have to lift a finger anyway."
And they had no worries.
"Nir will handle it."
Because beyond that Mystic Gate was none other than Viper Nir himself—the flawless follower who had never once failed.
Truth be told, these people here weren't even meant to clean up adventurers.
They were just there to tidy up after Viper Nir left.
And so, the Black Mage's followers waited in the pitch-black late night, shrouded in thick darkness with not a single light lit, holding their breath for Viper Nir's return.
That was when it happened.
Swoosh!
One of them, monitoring the Mystic Gate, gave a hand signal.
At the signal, his comrades—who had been dozing lightly with eyes closed—snapped their eyes open.
After long hours of camping out, staying awake through the night in a monster-infested forest, even opening their eyes was a struggle.
Yet there was no trace of sleepiness in the followers' eyes as they awoke.
They gleamed with venomous intent.
They were ready.
"If no signal comes."
In case the one emerging now wasn't one of their own.
"Eliminate."
Even if it was a comrade, if the prearranged signal didn't come, they were ready to eliminate them.
Archers drew their bowstrings taut, pirates aimed their gun barrels.
That was when it happened.
Flash!
A light suddenly appeared.
A small blue glow. The light from a Blue Stone emitting its own blue radiance.
The light vanished again, then reappeared.
It repeated eight times.
Only then did the followers ease off their triggers and bowstrings.
It was the signal.
'It's Nir.'
The prearranged signal.
'The hunt's over.'
The signal that the hunt had been perfectly completed.
Now the signal to relax. Everyone let their tension drain away, and soon they saw it.
"Fire Arrow."
The fire arrow flying straight toward them.
2.
"Ten confirmed."
Dibo spoke as he gazed at the night sky and let out a deep sigh.
"The Kania Merchant bastards really went all out."
The explanation was already done.
How the Kania Merchant Group had schemed to trap El Pam's party.
How they'd left a cleanup crew beyond the Mystic Gate just in case.
No questions about it.
"Well, that's why they tried trolling in the 100-man gate."
Their motives were clear.
The real question was something else.
"But Boss, how'd you know their signal?"
El Pam answered calmly.
"I asked."
No further explanation.
It was the truth.
'Using Blue Stones to signal is a common trick among Black Mage followers.'
El Pam knew well the methods Black Mage followers used.
Far better than they did.
So figuring it out was simple.
How many flashes?
El Pam had asked Viper Nir that before he died.
Viper Nir naturally hadn't answered with words, but that wasn't much of an issue for El Pam.
Of course, knowing the signal didn't mean he thought the situation would resolve easily.
"You're amazing. Thanks to you, it went smoothly."
Yet the reason it had gone so smoothly was simple.
"Because of the clairvoyance magic."
He'd obtained a 3rd Circle clairvoyance magic item from beyond this Mystic Gate.
It was an incredible item.
Far more popular than Telekinesis. Results with Telekinesis varied wildly by user, and most got mediocre outcomes.
But clairvoyance magic? The sheer fact that it let you see through things gave it overwhelming value.
Of course, it wasn't without downsides.
Not many mages could use it. Clairvoyance was a psychic attribute magic—like Telekinesis or Telepathy—so only those with the talent could wield it.
'Mana consumption is intense.'
The mana drain was beyond comparison to typical 3rd Circle spells.
Right now, El Pam could sustain clairvoyance magic for just over a minute at best.
And that was using only clairvoyance. Pair it with other spells? He wouldn't last ten seconds.
That wasn't all.
"I hear clairvoyance magic is incredibly tough. You okay?"
In some ways, clairvoyance was trickier than Telekinesis.
"Tough? It's a piece of cake."
"Just wearing slightly strong glasses gives people headaches. Seeing through trees? It won't stop at nausea."
As Ralph said, the world you saw the instant you cast clairvoyance was utterly unlike the normal one.
Plenty of first-time clairvoyance mages passed out from it.
Many more gave it up afterward, unable to adapt.
But El Pam was different.
He handled it with ease.
'Not my first time.'
He didn't bother telling the truth about that.
'Using clairvoyance magic.'
That he wielded it as well as Telekinesis magic.
'I even tried the Eye of Horus.'
He'd even used the Eye of Horus once—that unique item with the ultimate clairvoyance magic.
'Briefly, though.'
Of course, he hadn't owned the Eye of Horus.
'Its owner was Laura.'
It was during recovering items left by Wild Hunter Laura, one of the Cross Hunter executives, after her death. He'd used it just for a moment.
Either way, clairvoyance magic was no problem for El Pam.
And the same went for his comrades.
"Well, if the Boss can use it well, that's good for us."
Now they were a community of shared fate.
"So, Boss, what's the plan? The Kania Merchant Group won't just let us go."
A community fated to be hunted by one of Lith Harbor's top ten merchant groups.
"Well, nothing changes. The Boss, me, and Kiri were already on the run."
Of course, Dibo and Kiri—who'd survived the 100-man Mystic Gate—felt nothing about it.
"Isn't this not in the deal?"
The problem was Ralph.
From his perspective, he'd joined El Pam's party out of greed for money, only to end up enemies with the Kania Merchant Group.
It was natural for him to voice complaints.
No, it was beyond complaints.
This was the kind of thing where any ordinary adventurer might swing a fist at El Pam without it being strange.
So when Ralph started grumbling, Dibo got ready.
'Threat incoming.'
Ralph might attack El Pam.
He might show open hostility.
"Being hunted by the Kania Merchant Group."
Ralph looked at El Pam then, and as Dibo tensed, El Pam moved first.
"I'll give hazard pay."
'Boss?'
Dibo stared at El Pam in shock.
'Such bullshit...'
They'd made enemies of the Kania Merchant Group, become hunted, and he thought to brush it off with "hazard pay"?
"Fine."
'What?'
But Ralph nodded without a moment's hesitation.
'What the hell?'
From Dibo's view, it was absurd.
But not from El Pam's.
'Ralph puts money above all else.'
The Ralph he knew had killed even a Cygnus Knight commander for that one reason: money.
To him, the Kania Merchant Group being enemies didn't matter. Only whether it paid or not.
In other words, money was all El Pam needed to win Ralph over.
"Boss, hold on."
Of course, winning Ralph over wasn't the priority now.
"So what do we do next? If we wander around like this, the Kania Merchant Group will kill us."
The Kania Merchant Group would soon grasp the situation and not just watch El Pam's party.
"Those guys are total psychos. They'll do anything."
Above all, they'd pulled off all sorts of insane trolling for their goals—for the Black Mage.
They were the type to unleash a bloodbath.
"We need a protector."
So they had to get under an umbrella those guys wouldn't dare touch.
"A protector?"
"I know a good one."
Dibo brightened at those words.
'The Adventurer's Association? Or the Cygnus Knights?'
If El Pam called it good, it wouldn't be ordinary.
"Where?"
To the expectant Dibo, El Pam said,
"The Gapor Merchant Group."
3.
Executives of a top-ten merchant group were more impressive than one might think.
Even notable 5th Circle adventurers spoke to them deferentially.
They experienced more people bowing to them than the other way around.
Naturally, they ignored most matters.
'El Pam.'
But Evis, an executive of the Gapor Merchant Group, was currently enduring more headaches than ever over a single 3rd Circle adventurer.
His superior—no one else—had ordered him to recruit this man.
'Demands ten million mesos.'
El Pam's demands in that situation were laughable from Evis's perspective.
Up to that point, no real problem.
'He even made contact with the Kania Merchant Group.'
The trouble exploded the moment El Pam contacted the Kania Merchant Group.
Evis had honestly thought then,
We're done for.
That was why.
"Sir Evis."
"I'm nursing a headache right now. Unless it's urgent, come back later."
"It's... Adventurer El Pam has requested a meeting."
"Bring him in immediately."
Evis had prepared the meeting without wasting a second on that request.
Of course, Evis knew then.
'Things fell through with the Kania Merchant Group. That's why he's here. He'll try negotiating. We hold the knife. If needed, be ready to ditch him.'
No need to show weakness.
"Sir Evis."
That mindset at the negotiation table.
"We made contact with the Kania Merchant Group. They offered ten million mesos as a signing bonus."
"Then why not sign with them? Why come to us?"
"The Kania Merchant Group tried to kill me and my party."
But the moment he heard that.
"Using a Mystic Gate where they deliberately hid the wound count."
Evis had to abandon his prior mindset in an instant.
'The Kania Merchant Group trolled.'
Evidence that turned the Sleepywood disaster from a tragedy into premeditated crime.
'We can destroy the Kania Merchant Group.'
Evidence that could topple one of the top-ten merchant groups—one of the top three in prestige.
"Now, the only place I can trust is the Gapor Merchant Group."
Naturally, Evis had no other choice at that moment.
"Of course. We're practically family."
"Yes. So I want to contract with the Gapor Merchant Group."
Mobilize every means to recruit El Pam.
"The best terms. What do you want?"
To Evis, who had only one option, El Pam smiled and said,
"Twenty million mesos. Twenty million as the signing bonus."