novelraw Chapter 130 : Chapter 130
Chapter 130 : Chapter 130
Chapter 130. Aman (5)
Dungeon, 99th floor.
Mammon was staring intently at one particular surveillance crystal ball among the dozens laid out before him.
On the screen, the country bumpkin youth whom Frank had been so wary of, Douglas Junior, was engaged in a life-or-death struggle with a monster, sweating profusely.
Mammon unknowingly clenched his fist.
A low cheer escaped his lips.
“Go, Douglas! Just a little more! That's it!”
It was a sight that would make anyone wonder.
Wasn't he the very person who had viciously interfered by setting the 50th floor's Floor Master, the Hydra, on him, following Frank's orders?
But after that incident, a subtle change had occurred in Mammon's heart.
The guilt of almost killing a talented young man with his own hands.
And his admiration for Douglas's tenacity in overcoming all those adversities and defeating the Hydra.
That had somehow turned into a feeling akin to that of a fan.
‘No matter what anyone says, I'm on your side from now on!’
Mammon shouted inwardly.
Douglas Junior's current dungeon conquest rank was 5th among all adventurers.
But looking at his growth rate, he seemed poised to break into the top 3 soon.
‘Hehe. Adel and Iris are of course amazing, but I'm secretly hoping you'll take first place, Douglas!’
Just as Mammon was engaged in his own fervent cheering.
A cold voice suddenly came from the communication crystal ball behind him.
It was Anonymous, who was guarding the 100th floor.
Startled, Mammon almost fell out of his chair.
He hastily turned off the crystal ball that was showing Douglas Junior and cleared his throat.
“Ah, no! Slacking off! I was closely monitoring the entire dungeon situation!”
Anonymous replied coldly and cut off the communication.
Mammon wiped his cold sweat, his eyes welling up with tears.
‘Damn it. What a pain.’
But he soon raised the corners of his mouth slightly.
Whispering in a very small voice, so as not to be heard by her.
‘Go for it, Douglas Junior.’
***
Amidst the stern guard of countless soldiers lined up.
I finally stood face to face with the Emperor of the Durani Empire.
An old man whose age was impossible to guess.
His deep, piercing eyes seemed to hold the experience of over three hundred years, along with a terrible obsession with life.
It was the Emperor who spoke first.
His voice was dry, like scraping metal, but the power contained within it was anything but ordinary.
“Are you the Hero who protected this world from the threat of the Demon King?”
“That's right.”
I replied confidently, while still showing respect.
“Have you by any chance received the letter I sent?”
The Emperor observed me for a moment longer with an interested look, then shook his head.
“No such thing has arrived.”
“Then how did you know I was coming and come out to greet me like this?”
At my question, the Emperor wore a smile that felt almost vile.
“Hehe. I hear one of your daughters can foresee the future? We too have an eye that foresees the future. Isn't it only natural to know of the Hero's visit in advance and prepare for it?”
An eye that foresees the future?
I was inwardly surprised.
Future Foresight was an extremely rare ability that wasn't even in the original version.
I thought it was Noemi's unique Trait, but this empire also has a prophet?
It was an unexpected variable.
But the Emperor, regardless, continued with what he had to say.
“Well, let's have our serious talk inside. This way.”
The Emperor nonchalantly opened the way, and I followed him into the grand imperial palace with Noemi, Rude, and Number 1.
The interior was the very definition of splendor.
Pillars and walls decorated with all sorts of rare jewels and gold.
The floor was covered with the finest carpets, so soft that one's feet would sink in.
A unique and extravagant exotic scenery, distinctly different from other royal palaces on the continent.
But I had no time to pay attention to such things.
I was only thinking about how to persuade that old and cunning Emperor to get what I wanted.
When we arrived at the reception room deep within the palace, the Emperor asked why I had come.
“So, Hero. What is the reason for your personal visit to this distant place?”
“It seems your prophet didn't tell you.”
The Emperor nodded his head.
“They only told me that the Hero was coming, and that he desperately wanted something. I couldn't know more than that.”
Then he turned his gaze to Number 1, who was standing quietly next to me, and frowned.
“It's been a long time. What brings a traitor who broke his promise with me and fled to the north all the way here?”
Despite the Emperor's cold voice, Number 1 stood silently without any change in expression.
I got straight to the point on his behalf.
There was no time.
“Your Majesty the Emperor. I need your help right now. I must go to the land across the sea, Reubungwo. But the strait leading there is teeming with vicious marine demonic beasts, making it impossible to approach. I have heard that in Your Majesty's secret vault, there is an ancient magic device that can pacify those beasts and allow safe passage through the strait. I implore you to lend it to me.”
As soon as my words ended, the Emperor's expression changed frighteningly.
The look of interest in his eyes disappeared, and only cold greed and refusal remained.
“You want my things? Don't be ridiculous. That is mine. I cannot hand it over to anyone without my permission.”
“Even if it threatens the peace of the world?”
“That's right.”
The Emperor replied firmly.
“I have no interest in things like world peace. My only interest is myself, and my eternal life.”
It was just as Number 1 had said.
He was a twisted monarch who cared for nothing but his own well-being.
A war of nerves continued in heavy silence for a while.
I racked my brain to find a way to persuade him somehow.
Then, the Emperor spoke again.
“But it's not that there's no way at all.”
His eyes gleamed cunningly.
“If you, in place of those traitors over there, fulfill the promise they originally made with me, I might consider lending you that magic device for a while.”
At those words, Number 1, who was standing next to me, spoke for the first time.
“We don't have time for that now.”
“Shut up, traitor! I am currently conversing with the Hero. This is not the place for the likes of you to interfere!”
I stopped Number 1 and asked the Emperor.
“What exactly is this promise?”
The Emperor said with a satisfied smile.
“Before the place where you are became the new paradise for dragons, there was a paradise for dragons on an island not too far from our empire.”
That's right. There was such a setting.
Was it called Botan Island?
“They say there is an item there that helps with eternal life. Bring it to me.”
The potion of eternal life?
I had played the game countless times, but I had never heard any information about such an item.
Does it really exist?
Or is it a delusion created by this old Emperor, or a lie to use me?
I couldn't make a judgment.
I decided to buy some time for now.
“Please give me some more time to think about it.”
He nodded his head as if it were no problem.
I stood up from my seat and left the reception room.
The Emperor's intense and persistent gaze on my back.
His eyes were like those of an old snake aiming for its prey.
‘This is going to be a difficult journey.’
The footsteps leaving the reception room feel as heavy as a thousand pounds.
Meanwhile, around that time.
Aman was heading west at an incomparably faster speed than before, with the help of the elf escort.
They crossed forests and rivers, and passed through small villages.
At the mysterious appearance of the elves, people showed looks of surprise and curiosity wherever they went, but fortunately, no one showed hostility or attacked them.
Instead, they just watched them from a distance as if they were strange.
But the elf escorts frowned, as if even that gaze was unpleasant.
“Tsk. To think that lowly humans dare to treat us as a spectacle.”
“Endure it. We wouldn't even be dealing with them if it weren't for the elder's orders.”
At their high-nosed complaints, Aman could only swallow a bitter smile inwardly.
Since he was no different from those 'lowly humans'.
He placated the elves and silently quickened his pace.
He had to reach the destination as soon as possible.
And finally, they reached the area presumed to be their destination.
But the scene that unfolded before Aman's eyes was far from the 'Hero's territory' he had imagined.
“…What is all this?”
The entire village was in the shape of insects.
An inn shaped like a giant beehive.
A blacksmith's shop shaped like the horn of a Dynastinae beetle.
And in the center of the village, a building in the shape of a stag beetle the size of a house stood proudly.
Aman, of course, and even the lofty elves, were too dumbfounded to speak.
They even wondered if they had taken the wrong path.
Just then, a child wearing a cute bee-shaped hat on their head approached them as if they were strange and abruptly held out something in their hand.
It was a brown, dried-out insect.
“Ugh!”
The elves who saw it were horrified and stepped back.
“Are you kidding me! You dare to tell us to eat an insect?”
But the child smiled brightly, popped an insect into their own mouth first, and chewed it as if it were delicious.
Then they held out their hand to Aman and the elves again, as if urging them to try it.
The elves shook their heads in disgust, but Aman was different.
Having subsisted on grass and tree nuts for several days, he took the insect the child offered with the desperation of a drowning man clutching at a straw and put it in his mouth.
‘Huh?’
It tasted better than he thought.
It had a crispy texture and a salty yet savory taste.It felt similar to dried shrimp.
At the taste of a 'proper meal' that he hadn't had in a long time, Aman unknowingly bowed his head to the child as if to thank them.
He asked the child with clumsy gestures who had made this food.
The child tilted their head for a moment, then, as if they understood something, took Aman's hand and led him somewhere.
Aman and the elves followed the child into the giant stag beetle building in the center of the village.
The child said something to another adult inside, then shrugged their shoulders as if in a difficult position.
It seemed the person who made this dish was currently away.
The child thought for a moment, then took Aman's sleeve again, came out of the building, and pointed west.
‘West?’
Did that mean the person who made this was there?
When Aman asked again with gestures, the child still couldn't understand his words, but just kept pointing west.
Perhaps they were pointing to where the lord was.
Aman nodded and told the elves to move again.
The child handed Aman a small pouch as he was about to leave.
Inside was full of the dried insects he had just eaten.
“……”
The elves still looked displeased, but Aman placed the pouch preciously in his bosom.
In a situation like this, preserved food was more valuable than anything.
The elves loftily ate only grass, but he was different.
It finally felt like he was eating a proper meal.
Aman looked west again.
It really seemed like he didn't have much further to go.
“Let's hurry.”
He urged the elves and started walking again.
His heart burned even more strongly with the sense of mission that he must meet the Hero.