Chapter 81
Chapter 81
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 081
Chapter Title: Chapter 26. The Prince's Tomb (3)
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6.
“Ariant Kingdom is recruiting adventurers to explore the Prince's Tomb!”
When that news first broke, the world was shocked.
And then they thought.
“Isn't this a joke?”
“Someone's spouting nonsense again.”
That it was a lie.
That was the extent of it.
“The Prince's Tomb being opened? No way.”
It was so unbelievable that a lie seemed more realistic. The Prince's Tomb story was that absurd.
As a result, the storm it stirred up quickly died down.
“Under the great lord of Ariant, Abdullah VIII, we are recruiting adventurers to conquer the Prince's Tomb!”
“Oh my god, it's real!”
But the moment Abdullah VIII's name was mentioned, the dying storm roared back to life.
And the storm that returned was even bigger.
“Abdullah VIII's name? That means the king himself is offering the reward?”
“A reward from the royal family! Just how much will it be? A unique item?”
“Don't talk nonsense. It can't be just that! It's about gaining the royal family's recognition!”
Naturally, the news spread across the entire Maple World, and renowned adventurers below the 4th Circle began gathering in Ariant Kingdom.
The whole world turned its attention to the Prince's Tomb.
El Pam's party was no exception.
“Boss.”
To his companions, El Pam didn't hide it.
“Our plan remains the same. We enter the Prince's Tomb.”
His companions were stunned.
‘The boss is going in after all.’
‘We got dragged into something huge.’
‘Ever since joining this party, nothing fails to surprise me.’
‘Following this guy was the right choice. Money's pouring in!’
They were surprised, but also worried.
“Boss, is this really okay?”
“Seems pretty dangerous.”
“Everyone's saying it's weird, but isn't this the worst-case scenario? Not just dangerous. Shouldn't we be convincing our leader otherwise? Yeah? To me, it looks like we're just diving into a tomb to die together?”
As Miner put it, conquering the Prince's Tomb this time was more difficult than ever.
“Isn't it? The Prince's Tomb, no one's ever cleared it. A hellhole.”
It wasn't just that the Prince's Tomb was difficult.
“And now it's full of greedy, skilled adventurers going in together?”
The real problem was the competitors.
Those gathered competitors weren't there purely to conquer the tomb.
A brutal fight to the death between them was obvious.
“Better for just the five of us to go in. All monsters with names are coming. Nothing like the Jack Rich Tomb.”
Moreover, the adventurers coming this time were surely the best below the 4th Circle.
“And plenty of them will be after us.”
Crucially, El Pam's party was currently under threat from the Trolling.
“Hey, gold-eyes. You don't trust the boss? Huh? His skills?”
“I don't doubt the leader's skills.”
Of course, Miner acknowledged El Pam's abilities.
What he'd shown was beyond common sense.
“What I'm doubting is you and me. I don't have confidence we'll do it right.”
But the rest of them, including himself, were different.
“If you're betting on trusting her and me, think about it seriously.”
Because of Miner's words, no one else could argue.
Not even Dibo.
Of course, El Pam was different.
He trusted his companions. He had to.
He knew what kind of people his companions were better than they knew themselves.
El Pam also knew.
What the Prince's Tomb really was.
But he couldn't tell them here.
“I have something to rely on.”
So El Pam revealed it.
“Something to rely on? What's that?”
7.
“Hermes' Boots.”
The boots Prince Kashan picked up as he spoke looked utterly ordinary brown leather boots.
No distinctive features.
The kind you'd leave on the street and no one would bother picking up.
“An amazing item, isn't it?”
But the value of those Hermes' Boots was indescribably immense.
“Wear them, and you receive Hermes' blessing. In that moment, everything speeds up.”
Acceleration.
That was the power of Hermes' Boots.
“Not just movement speed, but action speed.”
And the acceleration here meant everything.
“Even skill casting speed.”
It even applied to mana.
It was truly absurd.
Just faster feet alone offered massive merits for adventurers.
Casting speed on top? Beyond common sense.
That's why.
Everyone unhesitatingly rated this item legendary, the highest grade.
It could elevate an adventurer's level by a full circle or more.
“And any adventurer can use them.”
There were no equip restrictions on Hermes' Boots.
That's why everyone coveted them.
‘I searched everywhere.’
Even the Last Adventurer, El Pam.
Not just searching, but.
‘Sacrificing countless people.’
At tremendous cost.
It was unavoidable.
Hermes' Boots could boost chances of victory against distant monsters like Hontail by 1 percent—a miraculous item.
Life or death hinged on having it.
‘But I couldn't find them.’
Yet he couldn't.
It wasn't just regrettable.
It wasn't something to sum up as mere regret.
Failing to find them led to the birth of the Last Adventurer, El Pam.
‘To think they're in Prince Kashan's hands.’
But now, that item emerged from Prince Kashan's hand.
El Pam hadn't expected it.
‘Giving this away.’
Even more unexpected was Prince Kashan pulling out this incredible item for El Pam.
Honestly, from Prince Kashan's position, it wasn't something he could easily part with.
It was an item that could sway his life.
Yet he brought it out?
“I originally intended a different item.”
There had to be a reason.
“Honestly, compared to what you've done, this item is too meager. So I can't just give it.”
Prince Kashan made a demand.
“Bring me Saleh Prince's will from the Prince's Tomb. Then I'll give you this.”
Survival, and more.
El Pam answered that demand.
8.
“So you accepted?”
El Pam's companions, hearing about his talk with Prince Kashan, looked at him in shock.
Honestly, it was an absurd request.
Surviving alone was hard enough, let alone more?
But no one raised doubts.
Instead, they looked.
At the boots El Pam pulled out.
“Wearing these really makes you faster?”
Everyone knew the value of this item.
“Even casting speed? By how much?”
“50 percent.”
“……50 percent?”
That's why.
“Boss, you're not messing with us, right?”
They couldn't believe it.
“Just trying to reassure us.”
Of course, they all knew.
El Pam wasn't the type of leader to joke about something like this.
So whatever he said had to be true.
And when they reached that point, El Pam's party could be certain of one thing.
‘If the boss equips that.’
‘He becomes an unbelievable monster.’
No one could rival El Pam using Hermes' Boots.
It wasn't wishful thinking.
‘How do you even catch the boss?’
El Pam's biggest weakness was mobility.
That weakness turning into a strength?
“It's real.”
“If it's real, then yeah, it's something solid to rely on. Right, gold-eyes?”
“Yeah, nothing more trustworthy than that.”
No one questioned El Pam's decision anymore.
“How do you catch a monster like that?”
There were practically no adventurers who could catch El Pam.
Of course, there were exceptions.
“Unless a horde of Hasashins comes.”
This world had more than just adventurers.
El Pam knew that too.
“Right.”
“What?”
“The Hasashins. They're targeting us this time.”
9.
“We'll use the Hasashins.”
Queen Areida's expression as she spoke was colder than ever.
A declaration of will.
“We need to teach that child, Prince Kashan, a proper lesson this time.”
A declaration that she wouldn't let Prince Kashan's provocation slide.
The Hasashins were more than sufficient for that declaration.
They were the strongest assassins born from the barren land of Nihal Desert.
Of course, hiring Hasashins wasn't easy.
First, even meeting them was hard.
Ariant royalty had special channels due to deep ties, but only for protection.
For assassination, even Queen Areida had to negotiate anew.
And pay a greater price.
The biggest price was that.
“Now the Hasashins have a weakness on us.”
That Queen Areida was targeting Prince Kashan—a massive weakness the Hasashins would learn.
That's why Hasashins were most feared.
They kept not money, but the absolute secrets of why they were hired.
That's why they were close to Ariant royalty.
They knew more bloody secrets of Ariant royalty unknown to the world.
So even for Queen Areida, using Hasashins was burdensome.
In other words, she wanted to crush Prince Kashan this time for sure.
Revealing the Prince's Tomb to the world was for that too.
“I don't know what he's preparing.”
She'd heard.
That Prince Kashan was using the Prince's Tomb for something.
“Prince Kashan will learn his lesson this time.”
The moment she heard, Queen Areida ensured he couldn't do anything.
A nightmare for Prince Kashan.
“Queen Areida.”
And a nightmare for Ebob standing before her now.
“Ebob. Sorry, but you won't get your chance.”
She'd given Ebob a chance, but he blew it. Now she had no intention of giving him another.
Hiring Hasashins meant that.
That Ebob was no longer useful.
And the end for the useless was obvious.
“Please reconsider.”
In other words, Ebob could thrash about till the end without issue.
Of course, Queen Areida wouldn't waver for him.
“Sorry, but now it's important to me too.”
Queen Areida's position wasn't good either.
Prince Kashan had conquered the tomb of the seventh prince, whom she'd secretly eliminated.
He surely held the seventh prince's will, traces of her actions.
If Prince Kashan moved with that will, she couldn't respond leisurely.
“If failures continue, they will move.”
Then those behind her, the legion commanders leading the Black Mage's followers, would act.
Her position would change completely.
No time to think of Ebob.
“I know.”
Ebob knew that best.
That's why.
“Which is why Hasashins won't do.”
“They won't?”
He advised.
“Unless you deploy at least ten Hasashins, it's hard to have faith.”
Queen Areida's eyes narrowed at the advice.
Hiring one Hasashin was burdensome enough; not three or four, but ten?
“And.”
But Ebob's proposal didn't end there.
“Deploy a Martyr.”
Queen Areida scowled.
Absurd plan.
Especially using a Martyr wasn't simple.
In a situation watched by so many, like now, it was very burdensome.
If Martyrs were exposed, adventurers wouldn't flock to Mystic Gates like now.
That would shake the plan to revive the Black Mage itself.
“Ridiculous…….”
So Queen Areida tried to crush Ebob's proposal outright.
She surely intended to.
Swish!
Until a spider descended on a web between Queen Areida and Ebob.
The spider that appeared was utterly ordinary.
The kind you could smash with a palm.
But the moment they saw it, Queen Areida and Ebob knelt in horror, bowing their waists.
They knew.
“W-We meet you, Lord Will.”
It was the proxy of Will, one of the legion commanders leading the Black Mage's followers.
The spider soon climbed back up the web.
Naturally, Queen Areida and Ebob's gazes followed to the ceiling, where they saw it.
[Follow Ebob's words.]
Written in spider silk.