Episode 18
“It’s good from the start, right?”
Lian laughed as she looked at the subspace pouch in my hand.
“If this is enough from the beginning, isn’t there going to be a legendary staff somewhere in the future?”
“No, it won’t be.”
“You don’t know. Why are you so sure?”
I immediately responded to the guy’s words.
“This alone is already very unusual. This won’t happen twice.”
Yes.
It is very unusual for a ‘compensation’ to appear in the middle like this.
It’s not just this tomb.
13 Tombs of Asar.
It was good to see that there were very few cases where the tomb came out as a reward in the middle like this.
Even if there was, there must have been a reason for it.
‘If so… …’
I turned the pocket inside out.
just as expected.
A sentence engraved inside the pocket was glowing blue.
“What is that? No matter how I look at it, it’s the first time I’ve seen a text… …”
“It is an ancient text. I don’t think it’s too difficult to interpret.”
I checked the pocket some more.
“Offer your greatest greed.”
“avarice?”
Lian tilted her head.
“Yes, that is what it means. I guess I need to think more about what that means.”
“Hmm.”
The boy stared into his pocket for a moment and murmured.
“It is the greatest greed…”
“There will be meaning.”
The butler took his words.
“If you think about it carefully, it’s strange that a magic tool like this suddenly falls in a dungeon like this.”
“Hmm…”
I’m sure it’s a hint to attack the next gateway.”
Also, the butler is quick-witted.
Well, if you’re going to be my father’s assistant, it’s only natural that you have this level of insight and knowledge.
greatest greed.
I thought about what that meant for a moment.
It wasn’t long before I got a sense of what that meant.
“Goblin Chief.”
“…huh?”
Lian tilted her head.
“Goblin Chief? No, why did it come out all of a sudden?”
“This place never lets things ‘out there’ pass through. It’s a law that can only be attacked with only the dungeon.”
Wasn’t that the case at the 1st gateway too?
Only materials that existed in the dungeon were used for the raid.
It is the same this time.
This ‘greatest greed’ must, of course, exist within the dungeon.
“Besides, goblins are known to be the closest to ‘greed’ among monsters.”
“Oh, so the ‘greatest greed’ is the Goblin Chief?”
“That’s it. but…”
After answering that, I approached the corpse of the Goblin Chief lying around.
“Simply offering a corpse would not be a good idea. It’s not even big enough to fit in your pocket.”
“then…?”
“I have to extract the magic stone.”
‘Magic Stone’ is like a mark on a powerful monster.
In the case of the Goblin Chief, since the magic stone exists, you can offer it.
But that was then.
“Hey wait.”
Ryan called me.
“Come to think of it, extracting magic stones from monsters requires extremely precise skills. Wouldn’t mine be better then?”
“no.”
“No no! It’s common sense that a guy who has eaten a little knife is better at cutting a knife than a guy who carries staff?!”
Oh yeah.
It was useless, but being stubborn was a characteristic of this guy.
Then the boy grinned.
“A good idea came to my mind.”
“What.”
“These subspace pockets are incredibly expensive.”
“It is unspeakable.”
“therefore.”
The guy proposed to me with a spirited expression.
“Let’s bet on this.”
* * *
Lian has always lived with family expectations as a ‘genius’.
Of course, he is also very proud of his talent.
‘As planned.’
Ryan smiled contentedly.
Mikhail accepted his offer more simply than he thought.
It doesn’t matter if it’s forced.
He understood that Mikhail had greater insight and knowledge than he did.
Even if you understand one thing, if you fully understand it, then it is not.
‘Let’s make sure we do it here.’
Mana control is one’s own organ.
If he loses here too, he will definitely admit it.
This was an important issue.
For the sake of enlightenment towards the next realm, it is better to completely end this trivial delusion.
Mikhail said then.
“So, let’s make a bet on who can retrieve the magic stone from the chief’s body more efficiently.”
“Yeah, you said you were quite confident, right? Then it doesn’t matter.”
“That’s right.”
Mikhail nodded with a sad expression.
“Just hanging a subspace pouch with something like this. If you lose, it won’t be such a big loss.”
It was as it was said.
subspace pouch.
To borrow Mikhail’s words, it was so valuable that even Walpurgis only had one.
Certainly too valuable a thing to bet on such a bet.
But it didn’t matter.
‘I didn’t even consider it mine from the beginning anyway.’
Wasn’t it Mikhail who destroyed the goblin army and discovered the true entrance to this dungeon?
In such a situation, Lian wasn’t brazen enough to claim ownership of such an item.
Rather, I thought that if I could propose a bet like this as an excuse, it would be a surplus business.
“We need to be clear about the dungeon reward anyway, right? Rather, it is better to make it clear in this way.”
“You are not wrong.”
Mikhail raised his hand with a somewhat convinced expression.
“Then let’s begin.”
Minor mana begins to gather at the fingertips.
A bet that whoever skillfully extracts the magic stone from the chief’s body wins.
A total of two chiefs were found.
‘Okay.’
Lian raised his sword and swung it at the body of the chief.
Swift (迅速)
Without time to notice, his sword quickly swept past the chief.
The location was immediately identified.
In the end, the key is how safely and neatly the magic stone is extracted.
The magic stone found was smaller than the nail on the ring finger.
In order not to make any scratches here, a lot of concentration is required.
‘Whoa!’
In order not to make even the slightest scratch, Lian focused all his mind on the tip of the sword.
and after a while
“haha!”
In the palm of his hand lay a magic stone without even the slightest flaw.
won!
It is hard to find a higher quality product in such a neat condition.
He shouted, looking in the direction of Mikhail with a commanding voice.
“How are you, Mikhail! Even if this is enough for you… …Uh hmm?”
But that momentum didn’t last long.
The moment Lian’s gaze turned toward Mikhail’s magic stone.
“…ah.”
Lian couldn’t help but stare at the magic stone that Mikhail extracted in a daze.
…light was flowing.
Not only was it unblemished, but even the remaining mana that should have remained after death was not disturbed.
“What is this…“
The magic stone you extracted isn’t quite bad either.”
Mikhail evaluated his magic stone with a carefree face as if he had expected it.
But the win is clear.
“…Oh damn.”
Ryan scratched his head and sighed.
I have to admit this
It was his own defeat.
* * *
After finishing the bet, I put the magic stone I extracted into the subspace bag that was completely mine.
At that moment, the subspace pocket emitted light once and then spat out something.
What came out of the subspace pouch was a black-sized key.
“Hoo.”
The butler looked at it and said to me with his eyes shining.
“Oh, this looks like a key, but it’s more like a sophisticated magic tool than a key, right?”
Yes. A key-shaped magic tool.
That was the identity of the object that the subspace bag had spat out.
That wasn’t too surprising.
There must have been riddles like this in the process of attacking various tombs before returning.
“First, let’s take a closer look. With a magic tool this sophisticated, of course it would take time to see through the structure… …”
“The analysis is over.”
“yes?”
Jiing.
A blue light flashed, and a door suddenly appeared in the air.
“…Huh no.”
The butler looked at me.
I was making the same expression as when Rian saw me earlier.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“her.”
The butler was about to say something, but then he laughed.
“…Well, if you’re more surprised, what are you doing? Yes, I have to adapt.”
“Yes, the butler has to adapt.”
I roughly accepted the butler’s words and turned my head toward the door.
“Then it’s this way now.”
One thing is certain.
It’s definitely not the place I set foot in before returning.
Then there is only one thing left.
‘If I were to say it was a space I hadn’t accessed, there would only be 4 gates.’
You’ll know what’s inside.
“Will you just go in?”
“There is something strange.”
I went straight through the door.
The butler said something behind his back, but it’s not my part-time job.
And let’s look around… ….
“under.”
Laughter came out of nowhere.
This was proof that my predictions came true in a good way.
“her…?”
“Hoo.”
The two of them entered after them and opened their eyes wide, looking around.
Beyond the door was a long passage.
The outside was reflected transparently on the wall, so I could clearly see what was outside.
A golem armed with mighty weapons.
All kinds of pitfalls.
Even all kinds of twisted monsters.
Originally, the trials we should have overcome.
But they are just beyond the wall. It was clearly cut off from us.
“This can’t be…“
Yes, it is as you see. I know for sure where this is.”
I was sure
The 23rd gateway is no longer an ordeal that we have to go through.
“We found a shortcut.”
* * *
“Mmm.”
Ryan stared blankly down the aisle and sighed.
Quite peculiar.
The aisle was transparent and I could see the light outside.
And on the other side of the wall, they could see the ‘2 3 gates’ they should have challenged.
“…That means we should have dealt with them originally.”
“yes.”
Unlike himself, Mikhail sees them casually.
It was worth it.
It must have been entirely thanks to Mikhail that I was able to come this far so easily.
Obviously, if he had challenged without him, his family would have had to endure huge losses.
‘What is he really doing?’
Ryan looked at Mikhail’s back with confused eyes.
First impression was the worst.
The rumors were so bad, and in his eyes, Mikhail seemed to be bragging about the same thing.
…But no.
Should I say Walpurgis?
The knowledge and situational judgment befitting the successor to the magical family… …
Yeah, I had to admit it.
The rumors about him were wrong, and he was fascinated by them and looked down on him at will.
That was obviously a fatal mistake.
He approached the butler who was walking side by side and said,
“Hey, old man.”
“Why are you like that?”
“That Mikhail, that guy. What the hell is it? No matter how I look at it, I don’t look like my age.”
“well. To be honest, I’m not too sure… …After saying that
, the butler looked at Mikhail with strange eyes.
“If it’s about the young master… …Well, there was nothing different from the rumors that were spreading around the world.”
“Wait, so you really said the rumors were true?”
“Yes, obviously the former Bocchan has skills, charisma and insight. It was clear that everything was under-contained.”
After saying that, the butler smiled and shrugged.
“Ah, this is because the young master said it was okay to say this. There is no other reason.”
“Ah yes…”
He is quite an oddball.
In normal cases, I’m intent on hiding my embarrassing past, but that guy doesn’t try to hide it at all.
‘Even that is himself.’
The mindset of not denying even the ugly side of oneself.
Isn’t it pretty tight?
But then the butler spoke with a meaningful voice.
“but…”
“Yes?”
“You have suddenly changed too much. Even I am embarrassed.”
The butler was staring at his little master’s back with strange eyes.
“It’s obviously not something that has changed, but how is it so different…”
“Are you old?”
“Oh, it’s nothing special. It looks good to me.”
The sense of incongruity that had occurred just before was gone in an instant.
The butler just continued with a light smile on his face, just like when he saw him for the first time.
“For now.”
Great mage who transcends by regression
