Chapter 11: The uncomfortable road.
“Ugh!”
Jigun Jigun.
Ralph, who woke up holding his fragile head, grumbled for a long time. He couldn’t open his eyes properly because he was very hungover and wondered how much did he drink yesterday.
“Are you up now?”
The low and heavy voice of a man. At first glance, it could have been considered soft, but Ralph, who knew who the owner of this voice was, jumped up from his seat in surprise.
“Huh? Huh?”
Ivan was sitting by the window wiping a necklace. It was an item that fell into his share while clearing the dungeon this time.
“You’re weaker than I thought. I was surprised to see you fall asleep as if you were dead. Of course, you almost died.”
Ralph looked around and saw that the narrow inn was full of people. They were unconscious, each one has a broken limb.
“This is…”
“It’s the result of your careless mouth while drinking last night. Anyway, as soon as they heard that there is a treasure, it was a raid at night. It’s so disgusting that I feel too familar with it.”
In fact, I questioned them, doubting that even this attack was Ralph’s trick, but it didn’t seem so.
Of course, it could just be that Ivan didn’t find any evidence. But he didn’t want to delve too deeply into this. He doubted his colleague until the very end and now just wanted to move on.
“Damn, what a fucking world.”
Ivan, who cynically swore, stood up from his seat.
“No one is dead. I really liked the inn, so I didn’t want to defile it. So, you’ll have to take care of them. If I could protect your life overnight with the friendship we built up while making a request together, I’ve done all of my loyalty.”
“That, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t mention it. Everyone can be weak sometimes. Get through it.”
Ivan, who spat out like that, carried a leather backpack and came outside.
I thought it was time to leave. The food here seemed to be memorable for a while.
‘I couldn’t even stay for a few days after paying for a month’s long stay.’
It was a pity, but this was the life of a mercenary. A life where you never know what will happen. Life is like a dog who gasps and licks food thrown here and there.
After having a light breakfast on the first floor, Ivan left the room and informed the maid that she was leaving.
I had a few days from the month I paid for the room, but I couldn’t get the refund. Because I got a discount on that condition in the first place.
Ivan nodded and headed to the mercenary guild. As expected, the mercenary guild was crowded from morning.
Billy, who was frowning in one corner and yelling at someone, came close to him when he found Ivan.
“It hasn’t been long since you made a big money. Are you here to work? What a diligent friend.”
“I’m not such a sincere person. Last night, my bed was messy.”
Billy, who realized what had happened with that alone, smiled bitterly and comforted him.
“Hey, there were guys that were so quick. Damn bastards, they should have clear the quest that fast.”
“So I’m here to ask where Emin’s accommodation is. Before it gets more troublesome, I will sell the relics to the blue tower.”
“Well, you’re not supposed to tell the customer’s location carelessly.”
Billy, who had been contemplating for a while, nodded and gave him the address as soon as he thought that it wouldn’t matter.
Emin was staying at a high-class inn, which was directly protected by the guards. Feeling threatened by what he experienced in the dungeon, he moved.
I heard that the mercenary guild apologized and offered a free escort, but he refused. Indeed, it was a wise judgment.
When Ivan went there, Emin was having breakfast on the first floor. Apart from realizing the horror of the real world, he, who have trust in Ivan, welcomed him greatly.
“Welcome! Haha, did you eat?”
“I ate. But I’m curious about the food here.”
When Ivan, sitting across from him, finished ordering a meal lightly, Emin smiled brightly and said.
“I slept comfortably yesterday after a few days. It’s really happy to have a night that’s not threatened by the undead.”
“I’m jealous of that. I couldn’t sleep well last night.”
“Hmm? What happened?”
“There are a few unwanted guests at night. When alcohol went in, Ralph’s mouth became lighter.”
“…I see.”
Grilled sausages, fried eggs, white wheat bread and salad, and pumpkin soup.
It was a simple meal, but the taste was neat. It was definitely high-quality because it was a high-quality inn food. Of course, the price was also high. Several times than the inn where Ivan stayed.
“When will you go back to the blue tower? I want to sell the relics I got this time to the blue tower.”
Emin’s expression turned bright at the words.
“Really?”
As Ivan’s performance was outstanding this time, he took a considerable portion. There was nothing happier than that to sell them all to the blue tower.
“I was going to leave right away this afternoon. I was going to get a carriage after eating. Would you like to join us?”
“The faster the better.”
The distance from here to the blue pagoda took approximately 7 days. The two, who finished negotiations with four silver, which include two horses, a wagon, and a horseman. They took out two silver, each and paid.
Tak tak tak tak!
The carriage, which was made with a rough touch of a cheap cart, had no cushioning at all, so it constantly hit her hips whenever it moved.
For a week riding this, I thought it would be more comfortable to get a couple of hits with a stick.
Ivan, who was looking at the slowly moving castle wall, suddenly realized something and narrowed his forehead.
‘Come to think of it, I didn’t get the compensation I had to receive after passing over the head of those robbers.’
Three silver and 75 coppers.
The price of someone’s life, very insignificant and cheap.
Ivan, who was thinking of it, soon turned his head. The price of someone’s life was forgotten in his head.
Ting!
Whoosh!
Deep!
An arrow penetrated the deer’s forehead. The guy who tried to run away falls on the floor.
Cut the flesh, discard the intestines, and remove blood.
After quickly proceeding with the work, the meat was cut into large pieces and placed on a grill.
Squeak! Swoosh!
Salt, pepper, and herbs were sprinkled on the cooking meat. Mushrooms, onions, and potatoes were also being cooked next to it. The delicious smell spreads everywhere.
When I took out a fork, knife, and plate from the inventory, set it up perfectly, and put it out, Emin smiled and accepted it.
“It’s nice to have a dimensional space. I can’t believe I can eat something like this on the road.”
“Well, that’s right. Because you can carry a lot of luggage.”
Ivan used the inventory only once when he took out a new sword at the end of the dungeon, and Emin seemed to have seen it.
Others thought it appeared in the air because it was a magical sword, but even the eyes of the wizard Emin could not be deceived.
As it is not common, I wanted to hide it if I could, but I can’t help it because I’ve already been caught. Ivan was no longer tried to hide it and was using the inventory comfortably.
Hwik!
Ivan, who threw the remaining deer meat into the inventory, bit a bite of the deer steak and swallowed it.
It definitely lived in the wild, so it was tough and smelled bad, but he managed to eat it.
‘If I had cooking skills, this would have turned delicious, too.’
I thought about that for a moment, but Ivan soon shook it off in his head.
He was still riding all kinds of skill trees. If cooking skills are of great help to survival, there is no need to acquire them by using skill points otherwise.
‘Now I have to save some skill points.’
Originally, the skill point was not such a tight game, but if it was a miscellaneous character, it would be insufficient.
Not having a skill point does not mean that I can’t learn the skill at all, and I was able to learn the top skills as much as I want depending on my effort and talent.
Until now, I was busy spending time here and there because I was in a hurry to survive, but I had to save it now. That way, you can learn powerful skills that you can never reach with effort alone later.
Ivan comforted himself and suppressed his hand to go to the skill window at any moment.
“I don’t know if this is a question worth asking, but I heard that tower sells basic magic books. Is it easy? It’s kind of weird if it’s written too hard.”
At that, Emin tilted his head and asked back.
“Where is a magic book that’s easy, but are you interested in magic?”
“Everyone is interested. Isn’t it magic?”
“Ivan, aren’t you a warrior who enshrines the god of Asgard? But learning magic is…”
“Odin is the magic god and the god of wisdom. It is the fate of the person who serves him to always explore new knowledge.”
There was no faith, yet words flowed out smoothly. No matter who looks at it, he seems to be a typical Nord warrior with strong faith in God.
“Hmm, I see. I know a little about the Nord myth.”
Emin, who nodded as if he were convinced, readily replied.
“Originally, even if it’s a basic magic book, we don’t sell it to anyone, but it won’t be difficult because there’s a ball that Ivan set up this time and he decided to sell the relics to our mart.””
“That’s a relief.”
“If you really buy a basic magic book, I’ll teach you for a while. You won’t be able to use magic just because you study for a few days, but it’ll be easier to understand the magical structure.”
It was not easy to get tutoring from a wizard, or a wizard from a tower. If I hadn’t officially entered the school, I would have been broken by the cost of tutoring.
‘I hope I can learn magic and get at least a wide-area skill.’
Of course, I didn’t think there would be any offensive technology to use in the basic magic book, but no matter how trivial it was, it was worth challenging if I could add new technique while saving skill points.
Also, just in case it’s something he didn’t know, maybe Ivan had the hidden talent of an Archmage.
With such a hopeful imagination, Ivan smiled softly.
“Thank you.”
“If it weren’t for Ivan, I might have died. I’m rather sorry that I can only do this to my life saver.”
“That’s enough. It’s something I didn’t even expect.”
At that time, Ivan looked up at the mountain from a distance.
When I focused mana on my eyes to boost my eyesight and looked far away at the ridge, I could see a huge orc looking at him.
The Orc Warrior holding a spear with colorful tattoos all over his body.
He looked at Ivan for a while and turned his head and disappeared.
“Was this area originally Orc’s territory?”
“What? Not at all. But I heard that the territory fight is fierce these days. As you know, our relationship with Greenskin is getting worse.”
Orc, Goblin, Troll, and a few more.
Those with green skin who raised power in opposition to humans’ hegemony.
“Green skin…”
Come to think of it, the main story was in progress. Then something big will happen soon.
Ivan turned his head with that thought.
Whi-ing~
It was windy.
It smelled like a new battlefield.