novelNo Matter What it is, Having a Good Bait is Important (1)
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A fancy restaurant in Avanguarde.
People keep looking this way. Especially women.
I guess it is a weird visual. Kaicher, the priest of the Ares Temple is so cool that it wouldn't be surprising for him to be glowing, but me, the person sitting across from him, looked like a total bum.
But neither Kaicher nor I put any thought into the gazes.
"Why didn't you tell me from the beginning?"
The reason I earned my infamy.
I had been hiding it until now. This was finally the moment I told Kaicher.
"Rumors have a tendency to be twisted and exaggerated. I wanted to see if the rumors about you were like that too. In order to find out for myself, I needed to hide the truth for a while."
"What a nasty person!"
"No need to feel wronged. It's good for you to get fresh air like this once in a while instead of being cooped up in the temple."
"Is the cat thinking about the mouse?" [1]
Is that how it ends up?
But he should still be feeling refreshed on the inside. As long as Kaicher is human, he'll feel the same things.
"Either way, the promise was spending four days with me. You're not going to go back on your word now are you?"
"A priest does not break their promises."
"I'm relieved. Let's eat."
Kaicher did not talk much at all.
I was the same way. Rather than saying I didn't talk much, it was not my style to find small talk when there was nothing to say.
So of course it was really quiet.
But it wasn't awkward at all. Rather, both Kaicher and I enjoyed the quiet atmosphere as we finished eating.
I then suddenly remembered something. I need to stop by the Slave Trading Post before returning to the Northern Mines.
"Have you ever seen this image before?"
I put water on my finger and drew the three layered circle with embroidered points. No matter how many times I look at it, it looks like an hieroglyphic representing the sun.
"I'm not sure. What is it?"
What good will it do if you ask me?
"A tattoo on some slave's shoulder. I don't know the origin either. That is why I was asking."
"Slave?"
"I need to stop by the Slave Trading Post anyways so come with me. Shall we get up now?"
We left the restaurant and headed to the Slave Trading Post.
The Slave Merchant was shocked after seeing Kaicher. The Warrior of Light Kaicher was really a famous figure. He then saw me and was surprised again.
"You are that person from......!"
At his response, I showed him the mark on my wrist that showed I completed the quest.
"Wait how......?"
"Where is my slave?"
"Huh? Ah. Yes. Just a moment......"
A bit later, the girl from that time showed up.
"Go. This man is your master from now on."
The girl showed tears of joy as soon as she saw me. She kneeled in front of me and bowed her head.
"Thank you. Thank you very much."
It looks like nothing happened to her while I was away.
"You said you will do anything I order you to do, right?"
"Yes. Just tell me what to do."
"Then this is my first order to you."
It's actually something I just thought about. It was the first thing I wanted to fix after seeing the girl.
On one hand, it was also something I came up with thinking about Kaicher. I'm sure he is evaluating me with everything I say and do.
Of course I would have given the same order even if he wasn't here.
"Don't kneel."
The girl raised her head to look at me. She was confused as it was an unexpected order.
"My slaves do not kneel in front of anyone without my permission. That includes me as well. So stand up."
"......Yes. Thank you."
The girl slowly stood up.
"No need to thank me. I will make you work your worth. Let's go."
I shared many stories with the girl as we headed to the Magician's Tower.
The conversation was pretty much only between the girl and me.
Kaicher, who was normally quiet to start, became even quieter once a dolled-up girl joined us. In fact, he started to leave some distance between us as we walked, almost as if he was avoiding women.
Perhaps......?
Ay, how would that be possible? It must be because he is a priest. The greatest enemy to a training man is a young and beautiful woman.
I didn't force Kaicher to talk or tell him to get closer. Everybody had their own way of doing things. It'll just push them further away if you try to change their method.
"Do you have a name you remember?"
"No. I heard that we lose all of our memories the moment we become a slave."
Is that how it works?
That must be why none of the slaves know any information about themselves when I first buy them. I've been living with Jul Goo for over a year; I can't believe I didn't find this out until now.
"Is there a name you want?"
"If you will permit it, I would like to be called Eruni."
"What does it mean?"
"I'm not sure. I just know that Eruni keeps popping up in my mind from a long time ago."
"Then let's go with Eruni."
Northern Mines.
Since I returned without sending a message, it should have been a surprise.
But everybody already knew I was coming back. There was no shock and only joy.
"Hwi Ram, you're back? We were waiting for you."
"Hey everyone. The Tunnel Supervisor-nim is here. Come on out."
What happened?
I soon found out the reason. The architects from the Volcanus Temple had arrived before I did. There were even three of them.
"You must have been stalled. Where do you plan on building the Blacksmith shop?"
"Over here."
I first showed them the location of the Blacksmith shop. It was the grassland underneath the waterfall.
"It is not a bad location. Is there anything specific you would like to include? We will make sure to include it as we build it. You don't know how much the bishop asked us to take good care of you."
Why would the bishop ask them for such useless things? I'm only building this shop to complete the quest.
In reality, there won't be any hammering or fires being lit here.
Not that I had a reason to tell them about this.
"I have nothing specific in mind. I just hope you can finish it quickly."
"We understand. We will go as fast as we can."
I could finally have a proper reunion with the miners.
It was naturally loud. Jonnan, Batoom, Goultan, as well as all of the other miners surrounded me and took turns touching my face and body.
"How hard was it the last few months?"
"You're really amazing. It's unbelievable."
"You're not hurt anywhere?"
"Oh mys. Your face is half the size it was before."
My heart keeps fluttering. I'm getting teary as well. Their voices, expressions, and gazes, as well as the way they held my hand showed me they were being sincere.
It's not good if they keep doing this. If I get too close, it will make it more difficult to make the difficult thoughts and decisions.
But if you think about it, it couldn't be prevented.
How much time have I spent with them in Royal Roader? In the real world, it was only around four months, but here, it was over 3 years. Especially going in and out of the roughest environment possible, the mines.
It would be weird if we didn't build a bond.
Thanks to that, I completely forgot about the 'I will ask them this first' question that I planned on asking as soon as I arrived.
Each and every one of them held my hand and shared the joys of our reunion. This warm feeling that I had never felt even in the real world kept attacking my heart.
Once I grabbed hands with Jonnan once more, I finally remembered the things I wanted to ask.
"Is the mine decent?"
"The quality? There are many high quality deposits. And as you mentioned, Chief has been playing a very important role. Thanks to him, each miner is mining approximately 3, 000, 000 won worth of minerals a day."
This is only the beginning stages of the development. As time goes on, the gains will only go up.
But for it to already be 3, 000, 000 won a day per person. It looks like a greater jackpot than I expected will happen.
"Did you perhaps find anything like the Jewel of Luck?"
"Jewel of Luck? You still haven't let that go? That doesn't come out in this area."
I guess they haven't found it yet.
But they will soon find it. Once they find a deposit, there should be quite a few in there.
But Jonnan said something weird.
"Either way, it is amazing. How did you erase that much infamy so quickly? We've been gathering money for nothing."
"Gathering money?"
"How hard is a S grade temple quest? So we've been setting aside a tenth of our gains for your donation. We've already collected over 3, 000, 000, 000 won but I guess I need to return it to everybody."
Ah, why! I'm really weak with things like this!
My heart that I just managed to calm was hurting again.
Why do you keep shaking someone's heart like this?
"You did something unnecessary. If I needed that type of help, I would have let you know. But still, thank you."
"No. Rather, we should be thankful to you. Thanks to you, we are all going to be rich! Isn't that right?"
"Yes. Of course. Plus, isn't this just a virgin mine that has barely started to develop? It should last at least 50 years."
At Jonnan's question, Batoom stepped forward speaking loudly. It must mean that the amount of minerals in the Northern Mines has been very satisfactory.
"I'm glad."
"But who are the people that came with yo?"
The miners finally showed some interest to Kaicher and Eruni.
But these miners were really simple. They couldn't even recognize The Warrior of Light Kaicher, whose fame should have spread throughout the continent.
It's probably better for them not to know. Kaicher doesn't seem to like people treating him differently because of his fame either.
"He is my friend. And this is Eruni. I brought her from the Slave Trading Post."
"Is that so? You've come a long way."
"If you are our Tunnel Supervisor-nim's friend, you are our friend as well. Welcome. Have you eaten?"
"Yes, I have."
"But we can't just treat a guest like this. At least bring something out to drink."
The miners treated Kaicher very warmly. Almost like they were treating him as family from the moment he arrived.
Of course they were the same way to Eruni.
"You met a great master. Just pretend everyone is family and relax."
"Thank you."
"Jul Goo here met our Tunnel Supervisor-nim at a Slave Trading Post as well."
"Ah yes. I think we met last time. Right?"
"Yes. Hehe."
Jul Goo couldn't even look at her properly, but was already sticking to Eruni like gum. After introducing himself, he couldn't get away from her.
Because of that, the other miners just focused on Kaicher again. It was only for the reason that he was my precious guest.
But Kaicher surprisingly seemed to have a lot of feelings.
Especially when he was shaking the rough as pine tree hands of the veterans. He showed a lot of emotions every time, as if he was holding his own dad's hand.
I've never seen Kaicher be this emotional around anybody. Not that I've been around him for a long time.
Still, I think it was a good idea to bring him with me.
With this, he should have understood just what type of person I was, right? When I negotiate with Kaicher in the future, this image will help a lot.
This should be enough for Kaicher.
'Then is it time to meet Humbley?'
The colossus representing Avanguarde.
Someone who has a sales network beyond the Batoru Kingdom and throughout the continent.
But he has yet to reach the highest level and is forever stuck in second place.
He is a man with determination who is always trying hard to become the greatest.
If I can turn him from an imugi to a dragon, I can ride that dragon and ascend as well. [2]
But to make that happen, I need to create an opportunity to meet Humbley, but I currently don't have the status to make that easy to accomplish.
It'll be easy if Kaicher steps in, but Kaicher isn't the type to do that.
So after thinking long and hard, I created another method. Although I don't know if it will work.
"Senior, do you by chance know a merchant named Humbley?"
Batoom should know since he has spent many years as the owner of a mine.
But an unexpected name came out of Batoom's mouth.
"Of course. Isn't he one of the greatest merchants in the continent? I think Parison is one of Humbley's people as well."
"Parison?"
"The merchant in charge of trading the minerals from the Batoom Mines. He is a really good person. If you trade the mineral from the Northern Mines with him as well, it'll be good."
A good person my ass.
But that scammer is one of Humbley's people?
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[1] Korean saying that means it's unbelievable, just like how a cat would not care about the mouse
[2] Korean folk mythology states that most dragons were originally imugis, or lesser dragons, which were said to resemble gigantic serpents.
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Translator: Miraclerifle
Proofreader: Miraclerifle
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