Chapter 30
Chapter 30
Chapter 30
[Translator – Prøks]
[Proofreader – Prøks]
Chapter 30: Evil Eye (1)
1.
“It’s in Henesys.”
Having finished speaking, Bayz rose from his seat. Then, he nodded lightly and said,
“If you have any thoughts, please come to the Kania Guild.”
With that final word, Bayz left.
And for a moment, silence fell over the table where El Paume, Dibo, and Ralph were sitting.
The reason Dibo and Ralph were silent was the same.
‘He’s really going to give us a 10 million meso deposit?’
In fact, it was absurd.
Adventurers, apart from their abilities, were beings who could die at any moment, so investing a large sum of money in them in one go was a very risky business.
So, usually, when making a good offer, they would offer a proposal that would give them a favorable share of the profits from the Mystic Gate in the future.
What’s more, El Paume had just become a 3rd circle, D-rank adventurer, hadn’t he?
The fact that he was offering 10 million meso, which even C-rank adventurers couldn’t easily touch, was frankly unbelievable.
‘If it was Bayz who came to say this, it wouldn’t be nonsense?’
If the person who said this hadn’t been Bayz, an executive of the Kania Guild, they wouldn’t have listened to it.
In fact, that part was even more surprising.
‘No, not just the 10 million meso, but Bayz himself came?’
On the other hand, El Paume’s reason for silence was not that.
In the first place, he was aware that the Kania Guild would come looking for him, and that he was already being tailed.
‘An orange-rank Mystic Gate located in Henesys.’
What was silencing him was the test stage he had to pass to receive the 10 million meso.
‘There’s a high chance it’s the Hundred Scars Gate.’
The Hundred Scars Gate, also known as the Gate of a Hundred Scars.
El Paume was thinking that the Mystic Gate that the Kania Guild had brought out was this Hundred Scars Gate.
‘Because it’s a trap that the Kania Guild put their heart and soul into making.’
The reason he guessed this was because of the nature of the Kania Guild.
The Kania Guild was a place created by followers of the Black Mage, and its purpose was one thing:
To eliminate as many elements that hinder the resurrection of the Black Mage as quickly as possible.
Of course, those elements were adventurers.
In other words, the Kania Guild’s goal was to kill adventurers without regard to means or methods.
This was also the reason why the 100-man Mystic Gate incident had occurred.
Considering these factors, the possibility that it was the Hundred Scars Gate was high.
Of course, the claim that he only had three scars was a lie.
In fact, such lies were common.
Mystic Gate difficulty is based on the number of scars, but those scars could be easily manipulated.
There were various ways to do this.
Some adventurers would deliberately inflict multiple scars to exaggerate their achievements, or they would deliberately inflict multiple scars to make a difficult Mystic Gate look easier in order to discourage other adventurers from attempting it.
On the other hand, there were also many cases where adventurers would deliberately hide their scars.
This was the case this time.
‘They’ll include the assassins too.’
In addition to this, El Paume was convinced that the Kania Guild would move more decisively.
‘Failure is not tolerated. That’s what’s in the heads of those Black Mage followers.’
To the Black Mage followers, the Black Mage is a god-like figure who will change the world.
Anything for the Black Mage, no matter the cost, was not something to be weighed.
In any case, the Kania Guild had set a trap.
Now, all that was left was El Paume’s choice.
El Paume didn’t take long to ponder this.
“Ralph.”
“……What is it?”
“The deposit is 10 million meso. What’s your answer?”
There was no reason to hesitate.
‘It won’t be difficult.’
Now that it was revealed that it was a trap used by the Kania Guild, that it was the Hundred Scars Gate.
‘I’ve already cleared it once.’
None other than El Paume, by his own hand.
That’s why Ralph, in response to El Paume’s question without hesitation, answered with a smile.
2.
“Boss, this doesn’t make sense no matter how I think about it.”
As soon as Dibo left the slums, he couldn’t help but vent his frustration.
“10 million meso to that kind of human? Isn’t that too much?”
It was a fair complaint.
“I’m only getting 1 million meso!”
At least Dibo never denied that he liked money.
But he himself couldn’t even smell the scent of 10 million meso, and he was just giving it away to that guy Ralph?
“What the hell is he worth to spend that much money on?”
The bigger complaint was about the guy named Ralph.
“He’s just a 3rd circle, D-rank adventurer, isn’t he?”
It was true that a 3rd circle Bishop was valuable in a party, but he was never worth 10 million meso.
Of course, there weren’t any D-rank adventurers who weren’t worth that much.
There were plenty of them on Victoria Island.
There were a few D-rank adventurers who were known for their exceptional skills, even among the vast number of adventurers.
For instance, there was Golden Eye, a disciple of Kyrin who was active as a pirate on the Nautilus, and Blue Eyes, one of the children of the archer Helena who was active in Henesys.
[TL/N: this names are not confirmed, will confirm them after I get more info abt them]
There were a few more in the port city of Lis.
However, if Ralph was such a figure, Dibo would have known his name.
“He’s a Bishop, right?”
Honestly, he couldn’t even believe that he was a supporter.
El Paume wasn’t particularly worried about him.
“We’ll see his skills soon enough.”
Ralph had also decided to participate in this test stage.
Of course, El Paume wasn’t worried.
‘Ralph’s lack of fame is just because he hasn’t had the opportunity to make money.’
El Paume knew Ralph’s skills better than anyone.
“But Boss, is it okay? You’ve never done an orange-rank before, even though you don’t have many scars?”
The test stage was now the cause for concern.
“Oh, of course, Boss, you’ll be fine, but as you know, I only have one ring so…”
In fact, the one who was most worried about this was Dibo himself.
The orange-rank Mystic Gate was the domain of 3rd circle adventurers, and it was a tough stage for Dibo, who was still a 1st circle adventurer.
El Paume wasn’t too worried about that either.
El Paume understood.
He recognized Dibo’s talent, that he had the talent to level up to at least 7th circle without any problems whatsoever
Therefore, there was only one thing left to do.
“I’m going to recruit one more person.”
“A new party member?”
Dibo rejoiced at El Paume’s words. After all, it couldn’t hurt to strengthen their power.
“So who are you planning to recruit?”
“This time, Dibo, you know the person too.”
“I do?”
The anticipation grew with his words.
‘Are you going to bring in a super famous adventurer? I’m the warrior right now, I’ve got a supporter, and the boss is a mage, so the only ones left are pirates, thieves, and archers… surely not?’
“Is it a woman?”
“Yes.”
At that answer, Dibo thought back.
‘Golden Eye? Surely not Golden Eye?’
“Boss, is it that person?”
Dibo threw the question full of anticipation, and El Paume replied.
“Yes, Kiri.”
“Excuse me?”
Kiri.
The moment that word came out, Dibo’s expression turned blank for a moment, and then, as soon as he understood, he said with a surprised expression,
“Boss, are you in your right mind?”
It was a fair reaction.
“She’s a Knight!”
Regardless of Kiri’s personality or abilities, she was a trainee of the Cygnus Knights, and therefore, not someone who could join an adventurer’s party.
“She won’t even listen to the offer.”
Those proud Knights hanging out with adventurers? It was an absurd idea.
However, El Paume thought differently.
“She’ll accept the recruitment offer.”
El Paume knows.
“She lost her comrades.”
Why the Cygnus Knights were Knights.
Except for that point, there were plenty of merits to recruiting her.
“Her abilities are undeniable.”
“That’s true.”
For one thing, she was 2nd circle, but her abilities were excellent enough to compare with those of a 3rd circle adventurer.
“And she doesn’t need a deposit.”
“Ah!”
In addition, there were no significant costs involved in recruiting her.
“That’s incredibly appealing.”
From Dibo’s point of view, it was now a no-brainer.
‘It’s the best thing.’
Of course, those weren’t the biggest reasons why El Paume wanted to recruit her.
‘Bringing Kiri in will change their calculations.’
3.
“Master Ivok, El Paume is here.”
At Bayz’s words, Ivok, the guild master of the Kania Guild, showed no reaction.
It would be strange to react to something that was expected of him.
Instead, Ivok’s expression was coldly indifferent.
Did he come here just to see something that was expected of him?
Bayz knew that too.
Even so, the fact that he was here meant that the situation had changed.
“Kiri has also joined their party.”
At those words, Ivok finally reacted.
He turned his head to look at Bayz.
“So all three of them have gathered together.”
“Yes.”
“It’s quite fortunate that all the prey have gathered together in one place.”
“That’s why I have something to ask you, Master Ivok. I would like to deploy an assassin for this operation.”
Originally, the Kania Guild had only prepared a Mystic Gate to eliminate El Paume and Dibo.
And that was enough.
The number of adventurer parties that the Kania Guild had dealt with there so far was a whopping 88!
So in terms of the number of scars, it was a place with 88 scars.
It was practically hell.
Just push the adventurers in, and the Mystic Gate would take care of them. It had never failed before.
Even if they did come out, it didn’t matter.
There was no way that those who came out of that hell would be unscathed, and it couldn’t be that difficult to hunt down weakened adventurers.
So there was no need to do anything more here.
However, Bayz thought differently.
“They are the ones who survived the 100-man mystic Gate.”
He had already thought the same thing back then.
“I want to make sure.”
At Bayz’s words, Ivok nodded.
One mistake is a mistake, but two mistakes are not a mistake, but incompetence.
He could not tolerate incompetence in matters for the Black Mage.
“I will deploy the Viper.”
So Ivok pulled out the card called the Viper.
“Yes?”
And the moment he heard that card, Bayz’s eyes widened like lanterns.
He couldn’t help it.
“Do you mean Nir by the Viper?”
Nir the Viper.
A 3rd circle D-rank adventurer mage, an unknown figure with no fame whatsoever.
That was to be expected.
There was not a single soul who survived seeing Nir the Viper.
He was the most perfect assassin who had never failed a single mission given to him.
That’s how powerful a card he was.
In fact, his existence was thoroughly shrouded in secrecy.
‘I’ve never even seen his face.’
Even Bayz, one of the executives of the Kania Guild, didn’t know if the Viper was a man or a woman.
So the executives of the Kania Guild who knew him described Nir the Viper in this way:
One of the seven cards that Ivok had.
He pulled out the card that he never pulled out unless it was an extremely serious case.
It was an expression of his will.
“I will not leave a single exception.”
Ivok, his will to finish this here.
All Bayz could do in the face of such a will was one thing.
“Yes, then I will prepare the stage.”
[Translator – Prøks]
[Proofreader – Prøks]