Vol 5 Chapter 38

Kapros looked at the merchant with a gaze that implied he wouldn't repeat himself. Thinking Kapros was angry, the merchant hurriedly rummaged through the pile of odds and ends.

"M-mage, yes, I have something! So... how about this charm that amplifies magical power? Or I have a ring that can withstand one magic attack. Also, also a clothes clip that can partially conduct electric magic..."

[ How can every single one of them look so useless? ]

Kapros heard Superior sigh. He agreed.

The charm was so tattered that it was impossible to tell what was drawn on it, and the ring was clearly designed to allow one-time use of a shield-like magic. And the clothes clip... was needless to say, useless.

As the merchant continued to pull out other seemingly useless items, Kapros raised his hand to stop him and picked up the cheapest-looking charm fragment. The merchant's expression brightened.

"Are... are you going to buy that?"

"...How much is it?"

"Th-that's 5 gold..."

What?

The price of the nearly torn paper fragment was beyond imagination.

5 gold wasn't an exorbitant amount, but for Kapros, who felt like he was buying trash, it was surprising that something he thought would cost at most a few silver was priced at 5 gold. However, the merchant, though trembling, didn't mention anything about adjusting the price.

Seeing that determined, mouse-like expression, Kapros decided to ask for directions first and then decide whether to buy this or not.

"Well... that's fine. But may I ask you something?"

"Yes."

The merchant's expression brightened considerably at the polite agreement, and he answered with a smile.

"About the mountain range west of Torelit."

"Ah... you mean the Orgen Mountains."

The merchant, who had looked puzzled for a moment at Kapros's question, soon scratched his head and lowered his eyes.

"I'm planning to go there soon. Are there any famous monster habitats?"

"You're going to Orgen? Everyone uses the warp gate to pass through... I think it's better not to go to such dangerous places."

"I'm not that weak... Is it that dangerous?"

Kapros asked, deliberately raising his voice to sound excited while feigning innocence. The merchant nodded with a slightly serious face.

"Not only are there many monsters... I've heard it takes a very long time to cross. Especially 'Gorka's Endless Valley' is said to be a place where even high-level users die and have to leave."

"I suppose that place is famous."

"It's become famous recently. After it was revealed that even Honryu-nim, said to be in the top 5 rankings, died and had to leave, a high-level zone formed around that area. Ah, probably..."

Despite stuttering timidly, the merchant provided unexpectedly interesting information, and Kapros quietly smiled. It seemed that trying to imitate Kran, who was not just cheerful but almost silly, had been useful, as speaking normally might have scared this timid-looking merchant even more.

Thinking he had found an interesting place, Kapros bowed his head in thanks and took out 5 gold from his pocket, holding it out to the merchant.

"Here's the payment for the charm."

"Ah! Th-thank you..."

Kapros turned around without hesitation and quickly walked away.

[ Have you decided to go there? ]

Kapros nodded at Superior's quiet question.

"It might be good to aim for it for now."

[ Even after hearing how dangerous it is? ]

At Superior's seemingly genuinely curious words, Kapros briefly stopped walking and looked at the stick with mixed brown and white bark hanging at his waist.

"If they hadn't said it was that difficult, I wouldn't go. It wouldn't be fun."

[ What? Hahaha! ]

Superior burst out laughing and exclaimed cheerfully.

[ You're right. If it wasn't at least that much, I couldn't call you my successor. ]

In fact, on the way here, Kapros had asked Superior if he could tell him exactly where he needed to go and what he needed to do. Until now, he had only been following the quests Superior had created, but since he was now traveling with the person who had created those quests, he thought he should at least ask about this.

At that time, Superior had remained silent for a while, then laughed as if all the tension had drained away, just like now, and said one thing.

"[ Hey. What kind of test starts with giving away the answers? I'm like the supervising teacher, you know. ]"

Although he still felt a bit disappointed about that, Kapros could only hope that Superior would at least give him hints, knowing more about this quest than he did. And with Superior's laughter echoing loudly in his head, Kapros set off towards the beginning of the Orgen Mountains, located a bit away from Torelit in the eastern part of the continent.

As the merchant who provided the information had said, from the moment he entered that area, the occasional users he saw all looked extremely strong. The entire Orgen Mountains seemed to be a hunting ground for high-level users. The monsters were also very strong and persistent, to the point where it was difficult to kill them completely without considerable effort.

'If I face monsters alone in a place like this, I'll stand out a lot.'

There weren't many users with skills similar to Kapros's current level. For mages, there might be none at all. Moreover, he had unintentionally become known online by the name FM or something like that, and in that state, if he carelessly wandered around alone using high-circle magic and caught people's attention, it might cause troublesome situations.

'Then I guess there's only one way...'

There was a relatively safe and leisurely way to go. He could form a party with people and just follow along appropriately. For this quest, the red dot blinking on the map was coincidentally marked larger than usual, spanning a considerable area of the mountain range, so it seemed better to take that approach to explore the entire area.