Chapter 5
Chapter 5
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: 2nd Chapter. Gold Slime (1)
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1.
Gapor Merchant Group.
It was one of the Ten Great Merchant Groups in the port city of Lith, the largest among those based there, having rapidly expanded its influence.
In other words, in terms of history and tradition, it fell short of the other Ten Great Merchant Groups in Lith Harbor.
Yet it used the tallest and grandest building in the port city of Lith as its headquarters.
The number of people coming and going from the Gapor Merchant Group was as vast as the building itself.
“Isn’t that guy over there someone we’ve seen before?”
“Where? Too many people, I can’t tell.”
So many that no one could keep track of who was who.
Not to mention, it was hard enough to recognize adventurers’ faces, let alone remember the name of some slave.
“Hey, that one!”
“Oh, it’s Pam?”
But El Pam was the exception. He was more famous at the Gapor Merchant Group’s Lith branch than most adventurers.
And it was well-deserved.
“He came back alive again?”
“Impressive, surviving as bait slave yet again.”
The fact that he’d been surviving and returning as a bait slave for years, when most couldn’t last beyond three runs.
Seeing El Pam like that, people thought to themselves.
“The fact that he keeps coming back alive means the Gapor Merchant Group must be pretty brutal.”
“Of course. Better to just die than try to run from them.”
The idea that even someone who danced with hell itself wouldn’t flee the Gapor Merchant Group meant it was scarier than hell.
“No, wait a minute.”
But at some point, the atmosphere around El Pam shifted ominously.
“Why’s he coming alone?”
“Alone?”
“No way he survived the Mystic Gate by himself, right?”
In the Mystic Gate era, anyone who returned alone was treated as an ill omen.
Especially since El Pam was a bait slave—the stares directed at him sharpened naturally.
The gazes flying at El Pam were as cutting as blades, enough to suffocate most people.
‘Same as back then.’
But El Pam couldn’t care less.
Frankly, he didn’t even register them.
Compared to the six gazes from the three heads of that monster, Hontail, these weren’t even worth calling gazes.
Of course, before returning, the past El Pam had been different.
‘My head wasn’t right back then.’
Thrown in as bait out of nowhere, watching the adventurers get wiped out, barely escaping Orange Mushrooms swarming in that chaos to find the exit alone—his mental state had been shattered.
In fact, he hadn’t even properly registered that he’d opened his 1st Circle.
He’d just come here in a daze, thinking only that he needed to report it to the Gapor Merchant Group.
But now was different.
“And his expression’s so calm? Doesn’t look like his party got wiped out.”
El Pam walked through the Gapor Merchant Group’s building with a face so coldly impassive it bordered on indifference.
“Hey, hold on.”
And in doing so, he showed them willingly.
“Look at his wrist. No way—that’s a circle, isn’t it?”
2.
Rakan, one of the executives of the Gapor Merchant Group.
“El Pam? Who’s that?”
When he first heard about El Pam, his reaction was pure confusion.
“A slave?”
When the explanation continued, Rakan was surprised.
But he didn’t get angry.
He knew better.
“It’s not like a mere slave surviving alone is reason enough to come to me. There must be something more.”
When a lowly employee of the Gapor Merchant Group came running to an executive like him on foot, there was always a good reason.
“He opened a 1st Circle?”
And upon hearing the details, Rakan finally acknowledged it was worth coming to him.
“Hmm.”
But he wasn’t greatly surprised.
“A bait slave opened a circle...”
It wasn’t the first time something like this had happened. No, surprisingly, it occurred more often than one might think.
More people opened 1st Circles than expected, which was why the adventurer era had dawned.
So the fact of opening a 1st Circle by itself wasn’t a big deal.
“A bait slave.”
The problem was that the subject was a bait slave—someone with no reason to hold goodwill toward the Gapor Merchant Group.
And not just any bait slave.
“Three years?”
He could confidently say this was the bait slave with the most resentment toward the Gapor Merchant Group among those still alive.
That’s what made it a problem.
“If he grows, he’ll be a headache.”
What if this guy became a successful adventurer later? Would that adventurer maintain good relations with the Gapor Merchant Group? Even if he did, it would require no small amount of lobbying to keep it that way.
In other words, from the Gapor Merchant Group’s perspective, eliminating him outright was the most comfortable option.
But that wasn’t easy either.
“Killing him outright feels off.”
The Gapor Merchant Group might do all sorts of dirty deeds, but it was still a merchant group at heart. Trust with contract partners was more important than life itself!
El Pam was no different.
They had a contract with him. Just kill him because things got tricky?
Sure, they could do it on the sly, but if it got out? The risks would be bigger than imagined.
On the flip side, killing El Pam right now wouldn’t benefit the Gapor Merchant Group. Killing an adventurer with the potential to pay off his debts was a loss in itself.
So, some weighing of options was needed here.
“So, how is he? His condition?”
Weighing how much of a threat El Pam posed to the Gapor Merchant Group.
“He walked in calm and collected?”
But the moment Rakan heard the follow-up, his expression changed.
Wipeouts beyond the Mystic Gate were common for adventurers and bait slaves alike, but that didn’t make them trivial.
Most would lose their minds over it.
Yet he walked in with a calm expression?
“And? What? He said since he’s an adventurer now, he wants to renegotiate the contract?”
At the next words, Rakan narrowed his eyes instead of showing surprise.
Truth be told, this was far from a good situation.
As mentioned before, a former bait slave harboring ill will toward the Gapor Merchant Group becoming an adventurer was a massive risk for them.
But a merchant who only feared risks couldn’t survive.
‘He’s got guts.’
One thing was clear: the way he was acting, he was no ordinary newbie who’d just opened a circle.
Of course, Rakan didn’t dwell on it further.
No matter how you sliced it, El Pam was just a rookie adventurer who’d freshly opened his 1st Circle.
From the perspective of the colossal Gapor Merchant Group, he was little more than a slightly larger pebble by the roadside.
Not worth deep concern from Rakan, one of its core executives.
So Rakan sorted it out.
“Hand that El Pam guy over to Evis.”
3.
“So you’re Evis.”
The man extending his hand had his entire face buried under a thick beard.
He was big too.
An appearance impossible to forget once seen.
‘Evis.’
That’s why.
‘The right-hand man of Rakan, one of the current Gapor Merchant Group executives.’
El Pam easily pulled the man’s name and identity from his distant memories.
‘Looks like I hooked a good one.’
And he was satisfied that Evis had come.
‘It means Rakan’s paying attention to me.’
Before his return, when El Pam had opened his 1st Circle, he’d acted more foolish than anyone.
He’d behaved normally, and the Gapor Merchant Group had treated him accordingly.
Just as it was common knowledge that adventurers indebted to the Gapor Merchant Group were used until they died, El Pam had been exploited to the end.
That’s why it had taken him three years to gain his freedom.
His initial debt was one million mesos, but while carrying out their commissions, he’d had no choice but to borrow more money and items from them.
He couldn’t just die, after all. So the debts piled up that way.
That’s why it took three years.
El Pam was one of the better cases; most spent their lives leashed to the Gapor Merchant Group.
‘I have no intention of repeating history.’
Needless to say, El Pam had zero desire to be exploited like that again.
That’s why he’d shown an unusual demeanor instead, drawing the reaction he wanted from executive Rakan.
‘Evis is the best.’
Moreover, he was greatly pleased that his opponent was Evis, Rakan’s right-hand man.
Right-hand man meant one of the closest aides.
‘A guy who wants to be the right hand.’
And yet not content to stay in place.
It played out exactly as expected.
Evis, who had come here, was thinking behind his thick beard.
‘Definitely not ordinary.’
The Gapor Merchant Group had become one of the Ten Greats by handling high-risk jobs other groups avoided.
As such, the adventurers they dealt with were mostly low-quality in various ways.
Having personally met and handled such types, Evis naturally had a keen eye for them.
‘He’s got guts.’
In Evis’s view, El Pam was clearly different from a fresh 1st Circle adventurer.
“You said you want to change the contract?”
“Yes.”
“From slave contract to adventurer contract—nothing to it. I’ll change it. From now on, we’ll treat you as an F-Rank adventurer and revise accordingly.”
“I request E-Rank.”
“E-Rank? For someone who hasn’t even gotten a rank from the Adventurer’s Association yet?”
And something else suited him.
“I’ve adventured the Mystic Gate hundreds of times as bait slave. Even an F-Rank adventurer with that experience deserves D-Rank treatment.”
He had exceptional credentials.
Of course, that didn’t make it an easy ask.
D-Rank treatment was no ordinary matter.
After all, the Adventurer’s Association originally divided adventurers into five tiers.
Novice, Junior, Veteran, Ultimate, Master.
But after the Mystic Gate era began and adventurers flooded in, they needed finer distinctions, introducing ranks from F upward.
So in the old system, D-Rank treatment equated to Junior adventurer—not Novice.
A clear difference in level.
‘Figured he’d push like this.’
But Evis had expected El Pam to act this way.
The reason El Pam stood out, the source of his guts, had to be that bait slave experience.
And as El Pam said, it was undeniably valid experience.
“But it’s still just bait slave experience. You’ve never properly hunted a monster, have you?”
“Hunting monsters is something other adventurers do well. But surviving against monsters? I’m better at that. This time was the same. The other adventurers all died, but the slave me survived.”
An adventurer’s virtue was adventuring and surviving.
The first adventurer had earned his legendary name and fame precisely because he survived.
And merchants like Evis needed adventurers like that.
Adventurers willing to venture where others wouldn’t.
‘Hmm.’
Of course, that didn’t mean El Pam was trustworthy yet.
Surviving three years as bait was impressive, but adventurer talent was a separate realm.
Still, one thing was certain.
‘Too wasteful to just kill.’
Evis had no intention of killing El Pam.
That left one option.
“There’s a Mystic Gate commission. Complete it, and we’ll treat you as E-Rank adventurer.”
A test.
“You said you could even hunt Hontail.”
As Evis brought out the contract and spoke, El Pam replied.
“I’ll show you it’s not just talk.”
El Pam signed the contract.