Chapter – 22
A tavern in the back alley’s depths.
Inside Black Carrier Pigeon.
‘Damn it! What rotten luck.’
Marcus, the owner of Black Carrier Pigeon and an information broker, grumbled as he wiped dishes.
At the end of his disgruntled gaze sat a boy with ash-gray eyes in the middle of the hall.
Seven times now. That was how many times the boy had shaken his head at people who’d approached to sell information.
‘I thought he’d exchange a word or two and leave.’
The boy who’d just entered the tavern had a refined appearance despite giving off quite a naive atmosphere.
He’d sensed it immediately. A sucker… no, a good customer.
It happened occasionally. Situations where kids who knew nothing of the world drifted into this place.
And such guys’ desires were equally naive.
Simple curiosity about rebellion, childishly manifested inquisitiveness. Or if not that….
‘Trying to get grades for free.’
So most desires could be simply wrapped up by tossing out a few plausible words.
The coins smeared with snot easily slipped into his pocket.
That assumption had been his mistake when he’d readily offered the boy a good seat. The boy showed no signs of getting up.
Three customers already couldn’t be served because the tables with privacy spells were full.
‘This won’t do. If he turns someone down again this time, I’ll have to tell him to leave.’
Marcus was grinding his teeth and roughly setting down a dish.
Clatter.
The tavern’s entrance opened. Behind the curtain hung at the doorway, a graceful but still young-looking silhouette appeared.
Why were so many kids coming today of all days?
Marcus clicked his tongue disapprovingly and stood up. He intended to issue an eviction order.
He didn’t want to see any more naive guys. At least not today.
“……”
However, the person at the entrance didn’t come forward. Marcus was about to ask about the situation with a puzzled face.
From behind the curtain, a hand holding a silver coin extended, and a low voice flowed out.
“Please bring me the second burden for hunting birds of paradise.”
“…!”
Marcus froze in place and blinked.
Prepare items to hide your identity. What reached his ears was broker slang carrying such meaning.
From a mask and robe to even a voice-changing magic tool.
The protagonist’s intuition was excellent, so he needed to prepare for being discovered. Mikhail was putting on the disguise items he’d received from Marcus when he glanced at the middle of the hall.
“……”
Ethan sat vacantly at the table.
With an appearance firmly caught in some contemplation, a face he’d never shown at this time before.
‘What on earth happened?’
Mikhail finished the disguise by putting gloves on his left hand. He emerged from behind the curtain and approached Ethan.
Thud.
Ethan, sensing a presence, turned his head. The two people’s gazes locked.
“!”
In an instant, Ethan’s shoulders flinched. Mikhail pretended not to notice and sat in the seat across from him.
“What information do you want?”
He went straight to the point. Adding more words would only eat up time. Ethan seemed a bit flustered but opened his mouth without particular objection.
“Do you know anything about a power or anomaly that suppresses regeneration?”
…Regeneration? Anomaly?
What was this even about?
Mikhail narrowed his eyes. The content he’d just heard was also something never mentioned in the original story.
He’d need a bit more. Clues to infer the circumstances.
“Well… could you tell me in more detail?”
When he asked back with a deliberately vague tone, Ethan responded with a somewhat more serious tone.
“Do you know the weed called revive grass?”
“Yes.”
“Then you must also know about the tenacious vitality that revive grass possesses.”
Mikhail nodded and said.
“Yes, I know it well. A vitality that doesn’t die even when trampled, cut, or even burned.”
“Then this will be easy to explain. I discovered a power that completely exterminated revive grass. In a nearby location.”
…His heart started pounding.
“Complete extermination means….”
“Exactly what I said. It withered black, then turned to ash. Without leaving even a single fine root.”
It felt like something heavy was striking his mind.
Mikhail barely managed to pull together his vision that was becoming distant.
‘No way, this is.’
Mikhail swallowed dryly and slowly asked.
“Did that happen in Haeohreum Forest by any chance?”
“!”
The ash-gray eyes widened greatly. Surprise spread across his face like wildfire. Ethan urgently leaned forward.
“Yes, that’s right! Do you know something related to that incident….”
“Wait, just a moment.”
Mikhail stretched out his hand to stop Ethan and dropped his head with a thud. He bit his lip hard.
The inner workings that had only been vague were starting to take shape.
The core of the problem. The sudden variable. It was precisely….
‘Ethan discovered traces of my power.’
Mikhail swallowed an empty breath and pressed down inside. His thoughts that had frozen for a moment began to flow again.
Now that he knew the full story, what he had to do was respond and handle things. He had to somehow turn the story back to the original flow.
The progression where Ethan stopped chasing the Abyss and focused solely on academics. The development exactly as in the original.
Mikhail, having resolved himself, was raising his eyes again.
‘…Huh?’
What entered his eyes was the back of Ethan’s left hand.
Skin that was only smooth as always.
But in reality, a diamond-shaped pattern should have been there just like his own.
If it followed the original progression, Ethan would have been the first to complete Stage 5 combat training. But why….
…Ah.
“Ha.”
“?”
This was a mess.
Mikhail pressed his throbbing forehead. He could guess what had happened.
For the past few days, Ethan had been busy chasing traces of the Abyss.
So naturally he’d become somewhat negligent in training, and the Stage 5 clear time was delayed as well.
‘One mountain after another.’
Mikhail clicked his tongue. Right now was a time when not much remained until entering the first event of the main storyline.
Before then, no matter what, he had to supplement the lacking growth.
‘At this point, the optimal place would be….’
The forest located southwest of the academy.
The Firefly Cavern at its center.
If it was there, he should be able to gain sufficient experience along with appropriate rewards.
However, if there was one thing that bothered him.
‘It’s pretty far from the main storyline progression location though.’
Mikhail, who’d been briefly tracing what would happen by going to the cavern, finally steeled his resolve.
‘I’m not in a position to be picky about my options, so I’ll just have to hope no unexpected anomalies occur.’
Mikhail slowly raised his head and faced Ethan, who was waiting for an answer.
“I seem to have the information you want.”
“…!”
“There’s no reason I can’t provide the information either.”
“Then right now…!”
Mikhail interjected into the heated voice.
“However, please grant my request first.”
Ethan paused and closed his mouth. He stared silently as if trying to gauge the person behind the robe.
A rather sharp gaze.
However, Mikhail calmly waited for an answer.
‘He’ll accept. He’ll be in a mindset to grasp at straws.’
The silence wasn’t long.
Ethan exhaled quietly and sat back down.
“Understood. Please speak.”
Mikhail nodded.
“Good. I’ll tell you my side’s request. …From what I see, you seem to be a Salvator student.”
“How did you….”
To the question-filled response, Mikhail pointed between Ethan’s hood. It was where the academy badge was revealed.
“You don’t seem accustomed to transactions in places like this.”
“……”
“Anyway, you must have skills beyond an ordinary mercenary. I’d like to request your company.”
Ethan asked while sheepishly arranging his collar.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going from the Singing Forest to the Firefly Cavern. I’ll be checking records about a special power there.”
“A special power. Are you perhaps a scholar or explorer?”
“Well, roughly similar.”
Mikhail trailed off and rummaged through his inner pocket.
While pulling out various odds and ends, he also casually took out the spoils of war he’d received from Elsi and showed it.
For a moment Ethan’s gaze touched the pendant’s surface….
Mikhail pretended not to notice Ethan’s eyes that had widened slightly, and tossed over a gold coin.
“The time for accompanying me is the second weekend of next week.”
Thud.
Ethan caught the flying gold coin. Mikhail subtly raised the corner of his mouth.
“Take the express carriage that departs first from the platform. Use what I just gave you for the fare.”
Clatter.
Mikhail gave a nod and stood up from his seat, then headed toward the entrance. Then for a moment….
“Ah.”
A single sound that suddenly burst out.
Mikhail turned toward Ethan.
“Come to think of it, I heard the area near the Firefly Cavern is quite unsettled. …Something about a large shadow appearing or something.”
Ethan had no particular answer. However, strength went tightly into the hand holding the coin.
Mikhail shrugged his shoulders and added a comment.
“I hope it’s just a rumor, but since you never know, it wouldn’t be bad to prepare.”
Five days passed from then.
Early afternoon before the weekend. Inside a personal training room.
[Stage Completion Condition]
: Destroy 10 Level 7 Training Dummies (0/10)
“Heok, huk.”
Mikhail bit his lip and gasped for breath. Above his extended hand, dark blue mana was condensed.
‘It’s not just Ethan who needs to prepare for unexpected situations.’
Clatter. Clank.
Meanwhile, what surrounded him were training dummies.
The training dummies creaked as they formed a circular formation, then stopped standing still while looking at Mikhail.
They crouched as if aiming for an opening once. Then for a moment….
The instant mana surged above his hand, the training dummies wielding weapons drove into both of Mikhail’s sides.
Swoosh!
Flashing blades rushed in.
“……”
Mikhail remained standing in place.
However, in one moment, he strongly clenched his extended hand.
Crack!
The dark blue sphere shattered like glass. Fragments of irregular sizes rushed toward the training dummies that had approached close.
Crack, crunch!
Explosive sounds filled the hall. The training dummies broken apart in midair fell like rain.
“……”
Amid training dummy pieces scattered everywhere, Mikhail stood in the spacious hall.
Before his eyes, messages announcing training progress and quest completion were appearing one after another.
[Stage Completion Condition]
: Destroy 10 Level 7 Training Dummies (10/10)
【Quest: [Sub] Complete Stage 7 Training Course】
- Completion Reward: Shop Currency +1
Mikhail, having confirmed the content, exhaled a relieved breath and sat down in place.
‘Can I now even overlay expansion magic?’
It was a result reflecting his efforts until now.
Among them, if he had to pick the most decisive growth factor, it would be the rise in mana quality.
Pop!
【Character Stat Change Notification】
- Impact Reduction: E → E+ (Tier increase)
- Spell Accuracy: C → C+ (Tier increase)
What suddenly broke through his thoughts was a message announcing growth. Mikhail smiled slightly.
“……”
However, the sense of achievement that rose satisfyingly was only brief.
Mikhail looked down. What formed above his pupils was a palm that had lost warmth and trembled.
An appearance proving complete combustion of mana.
‘Well, the current method was quite inefficient. I only forced it in, couldn’t apply spells that would be joints to the mana modulation.’
…Combination, coordination, extraction, enhancement.
If he learned those kinds of skills, it would be somewhat better.
‘But I can’t obtain them yet.’
Mikhail withdrew his gaze from looking at his palm. He looked up at empty space again.
Come to think of it, hadn’t the real-time quest just been completed? He should have gathered 10 Shop Currency.
‘Then it should be Hidden Shop unlock now.’
Pop!
- Current Shop Currency Held: 10pt
【Hidden Shop function activated.】
The moment his thought ended, the message that appeared began to shine brightly.
Content different from before was carved in the air.
[LV.1 Hidden Shop]
[Check Sale Items ▼]
(1) 〈Blessing: Area Defense〉
(2) 〈Secret Manual for Emergency Treatment〉
(3) 〈Old Tree’s Young Stem〉
.
.
A total of twelve items.
‘Among these, the one I’ll use most effectively would be….’
Mikhail chose one item as soon as he looked at the list.
He’d already decided which one to take.
