Isekai Journey Of The Magic Archer

Chapter 828: Story of a lost merchant

[OP: ]

Many years ago, a man lost his way in one of the nine mountains located in the outskirts of the island of magic's wealth.

He was a normal merchant person, someone that had only come to this island for trade and to earn some new fortune.

He was with a group of mercenaries when he arrived in these mountains rumoured to have contained a variety of natural treasures and resources, in search of a particular thing that was extremely popular at that moment: Moonlight Lilies.

"Hmm? Moonlight Lilies? You mean these green flowers?"

"Shuuuu. Don't interrupt the story."

"Ah, sorry…"

He was no special man when it came to fighting with the strong beasts that roam these mountains, but he was certainly a smart individual.

He had money, but he was still not wealthy enough to have owned any property on this unique island. He was an independent dreamer that wanted to live a life of comfort just like any human would desire.

And these special mountains filled with dangerous creatures that threatened all lives that dared to enter here.

"Back then, this place was one of the most dangerous places on the island."

The adventurers' association had not been established here properly back then so it was obvious that this story was more than a few thousand years old.

But, it was a famous tale that those who were old natives of the island would have undoubtedly known about.

{ "Nya, people call that person the (Courageously foolish merchant)." }

He hired mercenaries to accompany him in the obviously dangerous place that they knew they could lose their lives in. And, he was dumb enough to not even make them sign any kind of Oath contract.

"Wait! Did those mercenaries do something to him?"

"Yup."

Most of it went well until they reached their destination.

They were paid a sum in advance, the travel and food expenses were paid by their employer, and they only had to protect him in these mountains as he gathered the things that he was here for.

"They protected him until they reached the heart of the mountain, the place that was considered the border line for the safe zone."

They waited, they saw, and they acted right until they had reached that point and then…

"They killed him?"

"What happened? Did they steal everything he had on him?"

"Don't just stop like that! Continue, please!"

"Haha, yes yes."

Then the merchant tricked the mercenaries, poisoned their food and put them to sleep, and after looting every single thing they had on them, including their weapons, he went on his own way.

"What the hell?"

And then he was attacked by a ferocious bird while he was climbing down the mountain and lost most of the things that he had on him.

Including the last remaining rations.

"What the fuck? What kind of dumb bastard was he?"

"Why did he even do that though? Were the mercenaries going to harm him? Was that the reason he just striked first?"

"Hahaha, we can say that was the case."

He later found out that the mercenaries made it out alive and one of them confessed how they were going to kill him for his belongings.

"Why would they confess though?"

"Because they did not want to do that."

In that era, the only big working structure on this sky island was the academy and the outsiders weren't usually permitted inside.

There were regulations and the island was still being pioneered by the humans unaffiliated with the academy so the competition for survival was fierce here.

"People were developing their own unique structures, there were individuals that monopolised hunting grounds on this island, there were even groups that were doing heinous things behind the backs of humanity here.

And among the many dark things happening here, there were those who had come here in search of riches."

The mercenaries were no different.

They were also here for a chance to earn money, to fill their own stomach, and to provide for their families.

"Those times were different…"

They were no bad people, and the foolish merchant was not either.

"He knew he would have looted him if they stayed together, so he did it first and left them with only the important things that they possessed."

But, perhaps fate did not see his actions in a positive light.

He was attacked by the beast, the items he lost were later found by the mercenaries that were climbing down the mountain, and they found their own stuff, along with the things from the merchant and thought that he had died.

"They used his money to get better, and their experience in those dangerous moments made them famous."

They were able to become a much better team thanks to this incredible incedent but, the merchant was not that lucky.

"Did he die?"

"Why are you so dead set on his death, Tia?!"

"Because that's how old stories usually go! He's obviously just a side character in his prologue!"

"Oh no no."

He was the main character of this story, alright.

It should have been obvious until now.

"One of the richest to have ever lived… he was obviously a main character."

He was injured, he was bleeding, he might have been on the verge of death had he not had his healing potions.

Thankfully, he had a bunch of them in his storage artifact even after he lost most of his stuff.

And, since he had to run in a different direction to survive, he was lost in those mountains.

"He roamed the mountains for three months."

He went around, hid from the dangerous monsters of these mountains, somehow used his sharp intellect to get misguide the creatures and for three months, on minimum food, he somehow survived with whatever food and water he had left on him.

"However, soon after that… food and water both were gone."

He had nothing to eat aside from the little things that he found in the mountains and some herbs.

He still had no water and in this forest, rain was a strangely rare occurrence.

"He was going to die of thirst, so he squeezed water from the moist soil."

"Hmm? What?"

"Isn't that… dangerous?"

"He was drinking poison."

"Of course. And that poison was fast acting as well."

Thirst makes people do crazy things. Even smart people like him fall for the limitations of nature…

Sadly, he had made an extremely bad decision at that point.

"He was on the verge of death."

First of all, the infected water saturated with Mana tore his internal organs and he was vomiting blood for three whole hours.

Potions helped heal these organs but it did nothing to the infection that spread later.

"He was dying."

High fever, extreme body pain, dehydration, and extreme weakness were said to be the initial symptoms, but we don't know just what kind of hell that person might have endured in the hours that he was infected.

"He was in pain…"

He cried, he begged to the gods, he screamed and cried for help, but not even the beasts that he had been running away from all for all those days appeared before him.

"But he was still alive."

He wanted to die.

He had wanted to die ever since he first survived that creature and lost all the money and resources that he had brought with him from his hometown.

The pain and suffering was not worth anything since he only had a small family to leave behind. But, he was a stubborn person.

"He held onto his life."

He suffered, he cried, he shed tears of blood, and coughed fluids under a tree…

He was a strong person.

"And he still died?" They all stopped eating for a moment and looked at the anxious fairy with a helpless gaze.

"Almost…"

Even considering the fact that she did not know who they were talking about right now, from all the clues they had mentioned until now, it should have been clear that the protagonist of the story did not pass away.

But she still asked that, making him smile helplessly at his innocent friend.

"He was on the verge of death."

It was night.

The ceilingless cave was filled with the serene blue moonlight and the special concentrated starlight of the countless stars that had uniquely lit up the entire lake present before them.

They were in the middle of eating their dinner by the lake.

"His heart was going to stop and his brain had nearly stopped working as well."

The creatures present in this cave were either sleeping, or had gathered in the water and on the small island in the middle of the lake.

It was a unique sight, and they were enjoying it along with the unique dinner time story they were telling.

The night breeze carrying the fresh scent of the flowers covering them on all sides, the freshness brought by the wind spirits that filled this cave, and the fresh food before them was making this fresh night an enjoyable, unforgettable experience.

However…

"He was on the verge of death, but then…"

He looked at the curious friends, his companions that were looking at him with various expressions.

"Someone saved him."

He laughed lightly, took one last sip of his glass of water, and after looking at every single one of them in the eye for a moment… looked away at the centre of the lake, at the gathering place of the countless creatures.

"…?"

He did not say anything after that and continued looking at the creatures or the flowers with that mysterious smile on his face.

"Lucifer?"

They were confused.

"What happened after that?"

They were curious.

"Who saved him?"

And they had questions…

However, the smiling storyteller only had one answer for all their questions.

"Them."

He pointed at the Elemental gateway illuminating the cave along with the glowing lake and the illuminating crystals present all over this place.

"Hmmm?"

And when they followed his gaze, in the centre of the lake… what they saw there became something more illuminating to their eyes than any object currently present in this vast lake, inside this vast cave, in this vast mountain, that was present on this vast island in the sky… Stay in the loop with m-vl-em-pyr