Chapter 39
[Translator – Pr?ks]
[Proofreader – Pr?ks]
Chapter 39: Cross Hunter (1)
1.
There were two ways for adventurers to conquer a Mystic Gate.
Either they found it on their own and conquered it, or they got help from the Guild and conquered it.
By simple calculation, it was more profitable to find it on their own and conquer it. This is because they could monopolize everything that came out of the Mystic Gate.
Also, Mystic Gates weren’t that hard to find if you actually looked for them.
However, most adventurers conquered Mystic Gates with the help of the Guild, or in other words, by contracting with the Guild.
The reason was simple.
They could get the protection of the Guild.
“What is the current status of the gate?”
So it wasn’t that strange that the adventurers of the Kania Guild were hiding in the woods near Henesys, around the orange-grade Mystic Gate that had appeared there.
“No problem.”
Of course, their purpose was different from that of other adventurers.
“Remember, if anyone else comes out, we must eliminate them immediately.”
They weren’t there to protect adventurers from beyond the Mystic Gate.
“Not a single one left alive.”
Eliminating the survivors, that was their purpose.
Something that was completely incomprehensible by common sense.
“For the sake of the Black Magician.”
But the fact that they were followers of the Black Magician made it a sensible thing to do.
The followers of the Black Magician were such beings.
Maniacs who would do anything for the resurrection of the Black Magician they followed.
So they had no qualms about killing those who had barely survived their ordeal in hell.
“We won’t have to do anything anyway.”
And they weren’t worried.
“Master Nir will handle it.”
After all, who was in that Mystic Gate but Viper Nir, the perfect follower who had never experienced failure once.
In fact, what the people here were supposed to do wasn’t to clean up the adventurers.
It was just to clean up the place where Viper Nir had left.
So, as the followers of the Black Magician waited for Viper Nir to arrive, hunched down in the darkness of the late night, without a single light on, it was then.
Swoosh!
One of the men who was watching the Mystic Gate gave a signal with his hand.
At that signal, his comrades who had been napping with their eyes closed opened their eyes wide.
It was a situation where it was hard to even open their eyes after a long night of camping, and even then in a forest full of monsters.
Even so, there was no hint of dreaminess in the eyes of the awakened followers.
Killing intent was blazing in their eyes.
They were prepared.
‘If the signal doesn’t come.’
In case the person who just came out was not their comrade.
‘We will eliminate them.’
Even if they were comrades, they were prepared to eliminate them if the pre-arranged signal did not come out.
The archer drew his bowstring, and the pirate aimed his gun.
It was then.
Spark!
Suddenly, a light appeared.
It was a small blue light. The light emitted by a Blue Stone that emits blue light on its own.
The light disappeared again and reappeared.
It repeated this eight times.
Only then did the followers who had their fingers on the triggers and their bowstrings drawn relax.
It was a signal.
‘It’s Master Nir.’
The pre-arranged signal.
‘It’s all over.’
A signal indicating that the hunt was perfectly completed.
Now that everyone was told to relax, they could all see it.
“Fire arrow.”
The fire arrows flew towards them.
2.
“Ten confirmed.”
Dibo, who spat out the words, looked up at the night sky and let out a deep sigh.
“The Kania Guild bastards are really determined.”
The explanation was already over.
That the Kania Guild had plotted to trap El Paume’s party and had left cleaners in this way, just in case.
There was no doubt about that.
“Well, that’s why you tried trolling at the 100-man gate, right?”
The reason for their actions was clear.
On the contrary, there was a separate question.
“But how did the boss know their signal?”
To that question, El Paume replied nonchalantly.
“I asked.”
There was no further explanation.
Because it was true.
‘Using the Blue Stone to send signals is something that followers of the Black Magician often do.’
El Paume already knew well what methods the followers of the Black Magician used.
Much better than them.
So it was easy to figure out.
How many times should it blink?
El Paume asked Viper Nir, before he died.
Of course, Viper Nir didn’t answer with his own mouth, but it wasn’t a very important issue to El Paume either.
Of course, even though he knew the signal, he didn’t think the situation would be easily resolved.
“Great, thanks to you, it was easy to solve.”
Even so, the reason the situation was resolved so easily was simple.
“Because there is Clairvoyance magic.”
That he had obtained a 3-circle magic Clairvoyance magic item from the Mystic Gate this time.
It was an amazing item.
It was far more popular than Telekinesis. No wonder, as the results of Telekinesis varied greatly depending on the user, and most of them only got poor results.
However, Clairvoyance magic boasted overwhelming value by the mere fact that it was Clairvoyance.
Of course, it wasn’t all good.
First of all, there weren’t many mages who could use it. Clairvoyance was a psychic attribute, so only those with the talent to use Telekinesis or Telepathy could use it.
‘The mana consumption speed is quite considerable.’
Also, the amount of mana consumption was incomparably high compared to a 3-circle magic that was quite considerable.
At best, El Paume could only maintain Clairvoyance magic for about a minute at this point.
And that was only if he used Clairvoyance magic alone. If he used it with other magic, he wouldn’t even be able to use it for ten seconds.
That wasn’t all.
“I know Clairvoyance magic is a very difficult magic, but are you okay?”
Clairvoyance magic was more difficult than Telekinesis in a sense.
“Difficult? It’s not that bad?”
“Even wearing glasses with a slightly high prescription makes your head spin, that’s what human eyes are. But you can see through the back of a tree? It’s not just going to make you motion sick.”
As Ralph said, the world that became visible the moment Clairvoyance magic was used was completely different from the existing world.
There were many cases where mages who used Clairvoyance magic for the first time lost their minds.
Even after that, there were many cases where they did not adapt properly and gave up on Clairvoyance magic.
However, El Paume was different.
He used it skillfully.
‘It’s not the first time.’
El Paume did not necessarily answer the truth about that.
‘That he used Clairvoyance magic as well as Telekinesis magic.’
‘That he had even used Horus’s Eye.’
In fact, El Paume had even used Horus’s Eye, the unique item that possessed the strongest Clairvoyance magic.
‘But only for a short while.’
Of course, he didn’t have Horus’s Eye.
‘Because the owner was Laura.’
He had only used it briefly during the process of retrieving the item left behind by Laura, the Wild Hunter, one of the executives of the Cross Hunters, when she died.
In any case, El Paume had no problem using Clairvoyance magic.
And so did his comrades.
“Well, if the boss uses it well, it’s good for us.”
Now they were a community of shared destiny.
“So, boss, what are you going to do? The Kania Guild isn’t going to let us go, is it?”
A community destined to be hunted by the Kania Guild, one of the 10 guilds in the port city of Lis.
“Well, nothing changes. In the first place, me and Kiri were the ones being hunted.”
Of course, Dibo and Kiri, who had already survived the 100-man Mystic Gate, didn’t feel much about this.
“This kind of thing isn’t unheard of, is it?”
The problem was none other than Ralph.
From his point of view, wasn’t this a situation where he had made an enemy of the Kania Guild in exchange for getting into El Paume’s party out of greed for money?
It was only natural that he was dissatisfied in many ways.
No, it wasn’t just dissatisfaction.
This was something that ordinary adventurers would not have been strange to swing their fists at El Paume.
So, the moment Ralph was about to vent his dissatisfaction, Dibo prepared himself.
‘There could be a threat.’
That Ralph might attack El Paume.
That he might show his animosity.
“Being chased by the Kania Guild.”
At that moment, Ralph looked at El Paume, and the moment Dibo was wary of that fact, it was El Paume who moved first.
“I’ll give you hazard pay.”
‘Boss?’
Dibo looked at El Paume with a surprised expression at that answer.
‘What nonsense is this…’
He had made the Kania Guild an enemy, and he had become a target, but he was just going to dismiss it with the word ‘hazard pay’?
“Good.”
‘What?’
However, Ralph nodded his head without any hesitation at that suggestion.
‘What the hell?’
Dibo was simply speechless.
However, it was different from El Paume’s point of view.
‘Ralph is more interested in money than anything else.’
The Ralph he knew was the one who had killed even the Knight Commander of Cygnus Knights just because they offered him money.
For him, the fact that the Kania Guild was an enemy or whatever didn’t matter. What mattered was whether it was worth the money or not.
In other words, all El Paume had to do to win Ralph over was money.
“Boss, wait a minute.”
Of course, the more important thing right now was not to win Ralph over.
“But what are we going to do? If we keep going around like this, the Kania Guild is going to kill us.”
It was obvious that the Kania Guild, who would soon realize the situation, would not just watch El Paume’s party.
“Those guys, the Trolls, will do anything.”
Above all, they were the ones who had committed all sorts of nonsense trolling for their purpose, for the Black Magician.
They were the ones who would cause chaos even if it meant causing trouble.
“We need to find a protector.”
So they had to get under an umbrella that they couldn’t easily touch.
“A protector?”
“I have a good protector.”
Dibo cheered at his words.
‘Is it the Adventurers Guild? Or the Cygnus Knights Order?’
It couldn’t be an ordinary being if El Paume said it was good.
“Where is it?”
To the expectant Dibo, El Paume said.
“It’s the Gafor Merchant Union.”
3.
The executives of the 10 guilds were more impressive than expected.
They were so great that even the 5-circle adventurers with their own names would raise their voices.
They were more likely to experience situations where they had to bow their heads than situations where they could walk around with their heads held high.
Naturally, they didn’t even pay attention to trivial matters.
‘El Paume.’
However, Ebisu, the executive of the Gafor Merchant Union, was now having a more difficult time than ever because of a 3-circle adventurer.
First of all, his superior had ordered him to recruit him.
‘He demanded 10 million mesos.’
Under such circumstances, El Paume’s demands were unbelievable to Ebisu.
In fact, there was no problem up to this point.
‘He’s going to contact the Kania Guild.’
The problem started the moment El Paume contacted the Kania Guild.
At that time, Ebisu honestly thought.
It’s over.
That was because…
“Master Ebisu.”
“I’m a bit busy right now, so if it’s not important, please come back later.”
“Well… the adventurer El Paume has requested a meeting.”
“Bring him in right away.”
The reason Ebisu arranged a meeting place without wasting a second at that request was…
Of course, Ebisu knew at this point.
‘Something went wrong with the Kania Guild. So he came to our side. He’s going to try to negotiate. We hold the bargaining chip. We’ll negotiate with the intention of throwing it away again if necessary.’
There was no need to show a regretful position.
“Master Ebisu.”
The negotiation table where they sat with such determination.
“I contacted the Kania Guild. They said they would give me a 10 million mesos contract fee.”
“Then why did you come to our side instead of contracting with them?”
“The Kania Guild tried to kill me and my party.”
But the moment he heard that…
“By using a Mystic Gate that intentionally hid the number of injuries.”
At that moment, Ebisu had no choice but to throw away his previous determination.
‘The Kania Guild trolled.’
Evidence that could turn the Sleepywood Incident, not an incident, into a premeditated crime had emerged.
‘We can take down the Kania Guild.’
Evidence that could bring down the Kania Guild, one of the top three guilds among the 10 guilds.
“The only place we can trust now is the Gafor Merchant Union.”
Of course, at this moment, Ebisu had no choice.
“Of course, we’re like family.”
“Yes, so I would like to contract with the Gafor Merchant Union.”
To use all means necessary to recruit El Paume.
“We’ll give you the best treatment. What do you want?”
To Ebisu, who had only one choice, El Paume said with a smile.
“20 million mesos. I want 20 million mesos as a contract fee.”
[Translator – Pr?ks]
[Proofreader – Pr?ks]
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