The Hero Becomes the Duke’s Eldest Son

Translator: Marctempest
Editor: Rynfinity

Chapter 27

It had been ten days since Aden left the Remes estate.

Upon climbing a hill, Aden saw his destination.

“We’ve finally arrived.”

A long, continuous wall stretched out before him.

Inside the wall, large and small buildings were densely packed.

A big city, incomparable to Marillen, the small town of the Remes estate.

“Makellan City.”

It was the free trade city, Makellan City.

Aden’s lips curled into a meaningful smile.

Upon entering the city, it was filled with the bustling sounds of people.

“Come! Fresh, sweet fruits just brought in from the Horn Kingdom!”

“You there! Have a taste of this wine!”

Merchants were calling out everywhere.

Middle-aged women customers haggled to lower the prices even a bit.

It was a lively commercial city, full of energy.

Underroad’s curse, Curse, even made a comment upon seeing the cityscape.

-Ho, quite a large city. It’s almost on par with a small country.

‘Indeed, that’s true.’

Aden had heard that Makellan City was once the capital of a small country before being annexed into the empire.

Since the capital of a country had turned into a city, it had to be large.

Though it was a story that didn’t concern Aden much.

Seeing the vibrant city streets, Aden’s eyes reflected the past.

“It reminds me of the old days.”

In Aden’s memories, Makellan was already a dead city.

A berserk dragon had rampaged, causing numerous beasts to descend upon the human city in panic.

As a result, many cities were half-destroyed, including Makellan City.

Still, after Aden defeated the dragon, people had hope.

The citizens strove to revive the city, overcoming hardships and standing back up.

‘In the end, it was destroyed again by those Talos bastards.’

At the western end of the continent, the gate of hell, Tartarus, opened, and the Underroad’s army crossed into the surface world.

The entire city was horrifically massacred by those fiends, starving for slaughter and death.

After killing all life within the city, the Talos didn’t even occupy it and moved elsewhere.

Subsequently, Makellan City became a city of death, with only undead corpses wandering due to the influence of dark magic.

Seeing the still-breathing Makellan City made Aden realize again that he had returned to the past.

‘The only thing that changed is me.’

The world remained the same. The only difference was Aden himself.

Without much thought, he acknowledged that the culprit who destroyed the city was residing in his mind, wasn’t it?

Though it couldn’t be said to be entirely him.

-But Dragon Slayer King, where exactly is the exceptional alchemist you seek?

This cursed bastard was surprisingly talkative despite having no mouth.

Though he could speak through the spiritual connection of the magic sword, once the spirit was exhausted, he couldn’t speak.

After a certain time, the spirit of the magic sword needed to recover before communication was possible again.

But this guy used up the spirit energy as soon as it recovered by talking.

“Shut up. Why do you need to know?”

-Oh, how prickly you are, just like a woman. We’re intimately sharing the same body, after all.

“……”

Aden was dumbfounded by Curse’s brazen words.

Even though they were in a truce since neither could harm the other, this bastard was too comfortable with him.

‘He’s like a complete snake.’

Aden clicked his tongue lightly.

If he paid any unnecessary attention, he’d be the one losing.

“You’ll find out soon enough.”

Aden scanned the bustling marketplace, looking for something.

Soon, he found the person he was looking for.

Aden found an old beggar begging in front of an alley between the buildings in the marketplace.

‘Not just any beggar.’

But that didn’t mean the beggar was an alchemist.

Aden sought out the beggar for another reason.

As Aden approached, the beggar extended his hand, making a begging gesture.

Aden handed the beggar two silver coins and said,

“Two silver coins should last you three days.”

Though it was a sudden remark, the beggar naturally moved aside, making way for the narrow alley.

“Go on.”

Upon entering the dark alley, there was a spiral staircase leading underground.

Despite the suspicious feeling of the stairs, Aden descended without hesitation.

Upon reaching the underground, Curse briefly expressed admiration.

-Ho, it’s an unexpected place.

The underground revealed a hidden market, entirely different from the surface.

“Isn’t life filthy? Try this cigarette! You can experience the ultimate pink swamp!”

“Buy the body of the Bolt Death Worm, as electrifying as lightning! One shot can take down an ogre!”

“Now, specially brought in northern wolf tribe slaves! Very fresh! Choose according to your taste!”

With hallucinogens, drugs, dangerous monster corpses, and even various slave races, illegal goods and smuggled items were openly traded in the market.

The black market.

Also known as the underground market.

The underground black market was as large as a small town.

If the commercial district on the surface was the bright side, this was the dark side of the commercial city.

‘This place hasn’t changed either.’

Having received various requests from various locations while working as a mercenary, Aden found this grim place somewhat nostalgic.

Aden skillfully blended into the crowd and headed somewhere.

Here, the alchemist Aden was looking for was hiding.

Alchemists.

They combined various materials to create potions.

In a way, they were similar yet different from alchemists.

While alchemists researched external substances to reach the truth and elevate their status, alchemists focused on the human body to find the truth within and elevate their status.

For this reason, alchemists possessed the most extensive knowledge related to the human body.

However, it wasn’t easy to meet an alchemist in person.

There were very few practitioners, and most lived reclusively within the Holy Fire Sect.

As he walked further, the number of people around decreased until he reached a secluded area with no one passing by.

“According to my memory, it should be around here…”

He walked, tracing his past, no, future memories.

Then, as he turned a corner, a shabby building came into view.

A sign hung above the building’s main door.

Joseph’s Herbal Shop

Aden’s lips curled up.

“Found it.”

* * *

Aden opened the shop’s main door.

A creaking sound echoed as the door closed behind him.

The interior of the shop was filled with shelves, displaying all sorts of strange items.

Dried herbs preserved for storage, jars containing unknown seeds.

Bottles containing creatures resembling frogs and bizarre plants soaked in alcohol, among other things.

To an outsider, it might have looked like a witch’s house.

Underroad showed interest.

-Despair Grass seeds, dried Dream Grass. There’s even Scream Grass pollen. These should be difficult for humans to handle?

Aden was momentarily taken aback.

“Huh, how do you know about such things?”

-You try living for thousands of years. You’ll end up finding all sorts of random things out of boredom.

The thought of Underroad quietly sitting and reading a book out of boredom didn’t match and was disconcerting.

At that moment, a middle-aged man with gray hair emerged from the door inside the shop counter.

His face was flushed, and he reeked of alcohol, as if he had just had a heavy drink.

He frowned upon seeing Aden.

“Hic! We’re closed… Go away.”

Judging by his slurred speech and state, it seemed he hadn’t just been drinking for a day or two.

‘I must have arrived a little late.’

It seemed an incident had already occurred.

But it didn’t seem like he was too late.

‘He looks better than when I saw him in my previous life.’

It meant that not much time had passed since ‘that event’ happened.

When Aden had seen him in his previous life, he had been a man living because he couldn’t die, a complete wreck.

It seemed he had arrived just in time.

Aden spoke again calmly.

“I came to buy some herbs.”

“I told you, we’re closed!”

The man snapped irritably, but Aden ignored him and continued.

“Pieces of Berserk Bee’s hive, Fairy Tree bark.”

“What nonsense are you…?”

“And Mandrake root and Troll heart.”

“……!”

Joseph’s previously dull eyes suddenly gleamed with intelligence.

His face stiffened as he asked Aden,

“…How do you know about that?”

The ingredients Aden mentioned were essential for creating a particular item.

They were hidden and supplied mixed with other herbs to avoid detection by ‘them.’

‘The advanced elixir of the Holy Fire Sect.’

The elixir.

A special potion that could enhance physical strength and build magical power with just one pill.

Unlike potions, which were limited to restoring consumed magic and stamina, elixirs were of a completely different grade.

However, elixirs were difficult to obtain.

The Holy Fire Sect, one of the three most prosperous sects on the continent, strictly controlled the elixir’s manufacturing method.

The elixir was the foundation that had elevated their sect to one of the top three.

Joseph warily asked Aden,

“Are you perhaps from the sect?”

But Joseph soon shook his head.

“No… That can’t be. Then how do you know about those ingredients?”

‘How do I know? You told me, Joseph.’

Aden had met Joseph about two years later in his previous life.

Joseph had been a client who had entrusted Aden with a request when he was known as the new Mercenary King.

He had once worked as an alchemist for the sect but had escaped for some reason.

He was a man who had run away without receiving the binding restrictions that ensured secrecy.

“I came to make a deal with you.”

“A deal, you

say…?”

“Your daughter.”

“……!”

“Joseph, I will save Elise from ‘Cerberus.’”

At Aden’s words, Joseph’s body trembled.

His face showed signs of confusion and agitation.

After a moment, he spoke.

“…That’s impossible.”

“It is possible if you accept the deal.”

“Are you saying you have the strength to defeat them now?”

Joseph’s expression was full of doubt and disbelief.

“Of course.”

But Aden asserted confidently without a hint of wavering.

Joseph looked into Aden’s eyes.

‘I have no idea.’

He had thought he was good at reading people.

But he couldn’t tell what the young man in front of him was thinking.

However, the young man’s black eyes seemed unfathomably deep, making Joseph swallow unconsciously.

Suddenly, Aden sensed someone approaching.

He then smiled in satisfaction.

“If you’re doubtful, I’ll convince you right now.”

“What?”

At that moment.

Bang!

Someone kicked the closed door open.

“Old man! How have you been?”

Three men swaggered into the shop.

The red-haired man who had kicked the door open looked at Aden and sneered with a look of surprise.

“What’s this? A customer? Hah. It’s unusual for a customer to come to this shabby, rundown shop.”