The Hero Becomes the Duke’s Eldest Son

Translator: Marctempest
Editor: Rynfinity

Chapter 74

< Boss monster, the Basilisk, has been defeated.>
< Achievement, Basilisk Hunter, has been achieved.>

“Huh?”

Aden was puzzled by the sudden appearance of the system window.

For a moment, he thought he might have seen it wrong, but the message was clear.

– Boss monster, the Basilisk, has been defeated.

[Basilisk Hunter]

A title given in recognition of defeating the high-level dragon species, the poison dragon Basilisk, known as the king of poisonous snakes.
All abilities increase by 10% when fighting dragon species.

After a moment, Aden erased his surprised expression and calmed his face.

“So that’s what it was….”

Aden had felt a sense of familiarity from the mana’s abnormality ever since he first stepped into the Forest of Death.

He wondered why that was, but it felt similar to the sensation when entering a dungeon.

“This entire Forest of Death was like a dungeon.”

It was something that happened occasionally.

A powerful monster would dye the surrounding terrain with its mana, turning it into a dungeon.

In other words, this place was an open dungeon called the ‘Forest of Death.’

The one who brought down the Basilisk was the Black Knight, but the one who ensured its complete death was Aden, so the Forest of Death recognized Aden as the conqueror.

If he had cleared out the other monster tribes, the system would have reacted.

However, since the monsters were killing each other due to the monster rush, the system didn’t react.

Aden, now immune to all poisons, moved towards the Basilisk’s head.

He aimed to extract the Basilisk’s fangs.

The Basilisk lay dead with its mouth wide open.

Aden used Baalzebul, wrapped in Aura Threads, to cut around the fangs and pull them out.

Poison from the poison glands flowed out of the extracted spot, and Aden took out glass bottles from his Subspace Pouch and filled them with the poison.

Aden was pleased as he held the hefty fang, still with some flesh attached.

“Good. The size and condition are just right.”

Having lived for hundreds of years, it was quite sturdy.

The Basilisk’s fangs were excellent material for weapons.

Given the compatibility with the poison blood Aden possessed, finding a good blacksmith would result in an interesting weapon.

‘A blacksmith….’

When it came to blacksmiths, the best ones came to mind.

It would be good to form connections with them later.

With other materials like Leonberger’s leather and Fairy Silk, it was necessary.

“Hmm?”

Aden frowned as he noticed something.

“This is dark magic?”

Like when he confirmed the curse implanted in the High Priest Kertel’s body, he saw thick dark magic emanating from the fang.

‘Why is this coming out from here?’

The Basilisk had no relation to dark magic.

Why was dark magic flowing out of its fang?

Unable to understand, Aden closely examined the fang.

He then saw something embedded in a small crack at the bottom of the fang.

It was from that object that the dark magic was emanating.

“What is this?”

He exerted force with his hand to pull out the embedded object.

“A jewel…? No, it’s a Demon Stone.”

It was a black Demon Stone intricately crafted into the shape of a leaf.

Once extracted from the fang, the dark magic from the crafted Demon Stone intensified.

‘So this was the cause.’

This level of high-purity and intense dark magic surely belonged to a high-ranking Talos at the legion commander level.

‘But this shape, it looks familiar… Ah.’

Aden recalled the object he had stashed away in his Subspace Pouch and immediately took it out.

It was the pendant he had obtained from the dungeon where the Lich resided.

“As expected.”

The shape of the engraved groove inside the pendant matched perfectly with the crafted Demon Stone.

At that moment.

Brrrr.

The pendant and the crafted Demon Stone began to tremble as if resonating with each other.

Then, they floated away from Aden’s hand into the air.

Then soon…

Clack!

The pendant and the crafted Demon Stone snapped together as one.

“Did they merge?”

The pendant briefly emitted a light, then, as if having a will of its own, it draped itself around Aden’s neck.

Once the pendant and the crafted Demon Stone became one, the dark magic that had been seeping out ceased completely.

Aden stared at the pendant hanging around his neck with a bewildered expression for a while.

A system window appeared in front of Aden.

<[Pendant of ?, Barak]>

It increases the wearer’s health recovery speed, enhances affinity with dark and demonic attributes, and quickly recovers mental fatigue.

It is still a sealed item with many hidden functions.

It is a bound item and cannot be removed until the owner dies.>

Aden frowned after reading the description.

‘It doesn’t show the name?’

Such cases usually meant the item had deep connections with an entity of a higher level than Aden.

It implied that the item or the person it belonged to held a status beyond the access rights of the system Aden possessed.

Aden tried to remove the pendant, but it wouldn’t budge due to a powerful repulsive force.

‘I knew it was an artifact, but….’

He never expected it to be a bound item.

Now, Aden would never be able to take off this pendant until he died.

‘And it enhances affinity with dark and demonic attributes?’

That meant it was a warlock-exclusive item.

His face hardened at the uncontrollable situation.

But eventually, he let out a sigh of resignation.

‘If it’s a bound item, there’s no way to remove it unless I die anyway.’

It wasn’t uncommon in his mercenary days to be bound by such cursed items.

Aden was familiar with wearing two or three cursed items in his past life.

‘If it turns out to be truly harmful, I can neutralize it to some extent with the Ring of Antimagic.’

Despite the concern about it being a warlock-exclusive item, its characteristics weren’t bad.

For a swordsman, the quick recovery of mental strength and health was akin to a blessing.

‘The owner of the Basilisk….’

He wondered why the Basilisk was in the north, and now it seemed it had an owner.

Given the item’s characteristics, it was likely a warlock.

Considering it was an item belonging to a warlock who tamed a high-level dragon species, it probably still had many extraordinary functions hidden.

To sum it up in one word.

“It’s a fortuitous encounter.”

That was the only way to describe it.

* * *

After finishing the extraction of the fangs and poison glands, Aden summoned the Spirit Merchant to sell the Basilisk’s corpse.

Since the entire Forest of Death was classified as a dungeon, summoning a Spirit Merchant was possible.

Poof!

The rabbit Spirit Merchant, Rabbits, popped out of the air.

He intentionally summoned Rabbits, the inexperienced novice merchant who had sold him the location of the Ent village.

“Hello! Welcome to the Kind Spirit Trade Company…!”

“Long time no see, Rabbits.”

– ……?

Rabbits looked horrified, as if he had seen a ghost, at Aden’s greeting.

Rabbits pointed at him with a trembling finger.

“Eek! Y-You’re that core swindler! How are you alive? Are you a ghost?”

“Don’t call a living person a ghost. And a swindler? That’s you.”

At Aden’s point, Rabbits flinched.

“Haha. W-What are you talking about….”

Rabbits tried to laugh it off, but it was no use.

“I know you deliberately told me the location of the Ent village, where survival was least likely. Selling information with such tricks is hardly honorable for a Spirit Merchant, don’t you think?”

“W-Wait a minute. Let’s calm down. There seems to be some misunderstanding. I can explain everything….”

“Hat Merchant.”

Flinch!

At his words, the rabbit’s ears twitched.

Aden smiled meaningfully.

“If I inform the Hat Merchant about this, I wonder if you’ll still keep your novice merchant status.”

“W-Who the heck are you? How do you know about that person and the core!”

“You called him ‘that person.’ I’ll make sure to relay that too.”

“Eek!”

Rabbits’ face turned pale.

Realizing he was in a vulnerable position, Rabbits immediately bowed his head in submission.

“This lowly merchant dares to deceive a heaven-like customer! I will compensate in any way possible! So please…!”

“Fine, I’ll forgive you.”

“R-Really?”

Aden’s straightforward forgiveness.

Rabbits’ face brightened with joy as he bowed in apology.

But it was brief.

“Instead, enter an exclusive contract with me.”

“E-Exclusive contract?”

“Yes, you heard me right.”

An exclusive contract was a deal a Spirit Merchant made with a specific customer.

The customer could only sell dungeon by-products to the contracted Spirit Merchant, and the Spirit Merchant could never disclose the customer’s information to others.

And if possible, the Spirit Merchant had to fulfill all the customer’s requests.

“B-But….”

Rabbits hesitated, sweating profusely.

A Spirit Merchant could only have one exclusive contract, making it a rare practice.

Signing a contract with the wrong customer could lead to significant losses and even end their spirit life.

And Rabbits knew Aden Remes wasn’t just any wrong customer.

His merchant instincts warned him that Aden was the kind of person who would squeeze the merchant dry.

Contracting with him would surely be the end.

‘But if I refuse….’

If he refused, it would literally be the end of his merchant life.

‘Since he knows about the Hat Merchant, it’s certain.’

No matter which choice he made, it was the end.

Aden smiled brightly.

“If you’ve made a mistake, you have to repay it, right? I’ll use you ‘properly’ for ‘life,’ so don’t worry.”

“Aaaah!”

The rabbit screamed in despair.

Thus, the spirit merchant became bound in an exclusive contract with Aden.

* * *

Successfully signing the exclusive contract, Aden sold the Basilisk’s corpse to Rabbits at a very ‘reasonable’ price.

Afterward, he called the hidden Taion and the people to the ruined Ent village.

Taion looked at Aden with an exasperated expression.

“Thinking of causing a monster wave, Aden Remes, you’re truly insane!”

He looked at the monster corpses and the bodies of the warlocks scattered around with a sickened expression.

It was surreal to think that just a few humans had caused such an incident.

“Is that a direct insult? Anyway, how are the people?”

“…Fortunately, everyone’s in good health. Thanks to you.”

The recently freed people were resting in the relatively intact Ent houses for stability.

“I set off a signal flare, so people from the Slash-and-Burn Village will come soon. But everyone’s memories are jumbled.”

Those freed from the dark magic remembered their recent experiences vaguely or not at all.

Taion had a grim expression.

“In a way, it might be fortunate. Remembering would only bring long-lasting torment.”

Among them were not only residents of the Slash-and-Burn Village but also many recent missing persons.

He planned to return them home with proper compensation.

Taion, looking at Aden with a displeased expression, sighed.

“If you hadn’t come up with such a bizarre plan, it would have been hard to save the people. I sincerely thank you for your help.”

“If you’re grateful, give me something.”

“Damn it, you really ruin the mood. I was planning to give you something anyway!”

Taion irritably rummaged through his belongings and handed something to Aden.

“Take it.”

“This is….”

“It’s our family’s pledge token.”