The Relic Merchant (2)
Crackle!
The air shimmered and tore open, revealing a hazy rift. From it emerged a soot-covered man.
“Ahhh! Help me… huh?”
He screamed, frantically rubbing the ring on his finger, but then noticed the shadow looming over him and looked up, bewildered.
Dalen chuckled softly at the familiar face. Meanwhile, Galleos, the merchant leader, looked as if he might burst into tears.
“D-Dalen!”
“It’s been a while, Merchant Leader.”
The last time Dalen had seen him was at the Philoponne Orchard, after the chaos caused by the Vine Witch. Since then, Dalen had headed north on a mission for the Tsar’s kingdom, and in the ensuing war, he hadn’t heard a word about Volcma.
The last he knew, Volcma had capitalized on the aftermath of the Blue Thunder that shattered every window in the western district, buying up glass workshops and raking in chests full of gold. There were rumors he was branching into the art business, but the disheveled figure before him seemed far removed from such ventures.
But that was a concern for another time.
Volcma had used the power of a relic to leap through space and escape, and a group had pursued him all the way here.
“Merchant Leader, get behind me.”
As the merchant leader scrambled to hide, Dalen drew his axe. It was a relic he had received as a reward from the Tsar’s royal family, twice the size of his previous one. Its weight was like that of dozens of axes combined, easily several hundred kilograms.
For Dalen, it was just the right size and weight.
Thud, thud, thud…
The ground began to tremble. The presence of those closing in was unmistakable within his sensory range.
“Dream Pursuit.”
“Gray-White Map.”
A black-and-white map of the surrounding area unfolded in his mind, showing a forest far from the main road. Dalen and Felber had stopped the group on the roadside to catch up with the space-leaping Volcma.
Their numbers were already small, but that was no major issue. Not long ago, Dalen had fought against even greater odds in the far north.
Dalen half-closed his eyes, studying the Gray-White Map, and suddenly spoke.
“Old man. Below your feet.”
“Heh, I know. What do you think I am, a novice from some magic tower?”
Felber replied lightly, forming a hand sign. There was no need for incantations anymore. The archmage’s spell spread rapidly beneath the ground.
Thud, thud, thud―!
Crack!
Roots snapped and vines tore as the spell’s power surged toward the approaching mass.
As the two forces collided, Dalen pushed off the ground.
Whoosh―
Branches and trunks whipped past him as he broke free from the forest’s canopy, looking down from the vast sky.
The first thing he saw was a massive scar carved into the forest’s heart. It looked as if a god had clawed the earth, overturning the land within a radius of over a hundred meters.
For the monsters burrowing below, it was like a bolt from the blue.
Screech!
Gurgle! Gurgle!
The number of monsters writhing in the overturned earth was easily in the thousands.
It was curious how Volcma, who had once run a thriving merchant guild, ended up being chased by so many monsters.
Giant centipedes twisted their bodies, spiders with multiple human faces flailed their legs, and a hairy giant toad’s front limbs resembled excavators. A plump caterpillar’s mouth was lined with hundreds of rotating sharp teeth.
Each one was classified as at least a mid-level monster.
With this many gathered, they could devour a fortress in half a day.
[To cast a spell of that scale without incantation… the prowess of young human mages knows no bounds. Dalen, you should strive harder.]
Dalen chuckled at the muttering of his spear, then lightly swung the relic axe in his hand.
Slash―
The blade left his fingertips, emitting a blue radiance in the air.
Spot!
In the wake of the blue light, the axe multiplied into exactly seventy-eight blades.
Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud─!!
Dozens of axes pounded the ground in unison.
The force carried by the falling metal was enough to tear apart even giants, the strength of a warrior.
Each impact was like a bomb, raining down on the already overturned ground.
Dalen watched the scene quietly, then flipped his body and kicked off the air.
Boom―!
Thunder roared, though he hadn’t summoned lightning.
His body, moving faster than sound, landed like a bomb on the twice-upturned ground.
Quickly retrieving his axe, he swung again at the surviving monsters.
The relic weapon, long dormant in the Tsar’s royal treasury, had the ability of ‘self-division.’
Though the divided state didn’t last long, it allowed for the formation of a barrage with a simple throw.
Spot!
Once more, the blue radiance flashed.
Following the rotation of Dalen’s hand, the axe split into dozens and scattered in all directions.
It was like a blender breaking apart, its blades flying everywhere.
“Return to the Abyss.”
“Ignite.”
As holy flames erupted from the dozens of blades, no monster remained unscathed.
Grr… ack!
Having finished off the dying monsters, Dalen returned his axe to his waist and headed back the way he came.
While he dealt with the monsters, Felber had safely escorted Volcma to the main road.
By now, Volcma should have regained his composure, and it was time to find out what had happened.
Volcma’s appearance was a mess, to say the least.
Covered in dirt, grime, and soot, even his once-proud beard was tangled and unkempt.
Gone were the fine silk clothes and jewelry he usually wore. Instead, the merchant was clad in tattered cloth and leather armor.
He even had a short scabbard at his waist, though the sword was missing, likely lost during his escape.
Dalen scratched his chin and asked bluntly.
“Merchant Leader.”
“Y-Yes?”
“Have you given up on business?”
“What do you mean by that!”
“Well, you look just like a mercenary from the Eastern Guild.”
”······.”
Volcma opened his mouth to protest but then hung his head in defeat.
Unlike a mere mercenary, he was adorned with a dozen magical artifacts, though Dalen knew Volcma could only properly use one or two of them.
“Come now, my friend. Tell us what’s going on. If you need help, we’re here for you.”
Felber laughed heartily. Volcma finally began to recount his tale.
”…That’s how it happened.”
After nearly two hours of confession, Volcma mumbled with his head bowed.
His shoulders slumped in defeat. Felber pondered for a moment before summarizing the merchant’s lament.
“So, after hitting it big in the art trade, you expanded your guild into a trading company and started supplying the Bronze Guard and Silver Knights with your accumulated capital.”
“That’s correct.”
“You formed an alliance with several forges centered around the Mithril Refinery, and the supply was going smoothly… but then you got a bit greedy?”
“In my defense, it was a choice for business expansion. Ordinary weapons aren’t competitive with the Golden Guardians and the nobles in the Platinum District.”
Volcma rubbed his battered beard as he spoke.
His beard, once well-groomed with oil, now stuck out in all directions like a cat’s whiskers, a testament to his hardships.
“Of course, the weapons crafted by Mr. Reberon were attractive enough for the noble houses, but the limited quantity was an issue. So…”
“So you ventured into magical artifacts as well.”
”…Yes, Dalen.”
With monsters and cultists running rampant across the continent, the magical artifact trade was a booming market.
As relics hoarded by the wealthy flooded the market, magic towers also ramped up the production of various magical artifacts.
True to his merchant instincts, Volcma had decided to dive into this market as soon as he expanded his guild into a trading company.
‘And not just by signing distribution contracts with magic towers, but by directly excavating relics himself.’
From herbal medicine to glassware, and now relics—Volcma seemed determined to sell anything and everything.
It was clear that his merchant skills were undoubtedly S-rank.
In truth, his judgment was so sharp that even Daelon couldn’t help but be impressed.
As the game progressed into the later stages, when monsters roamed freely, countless underground ruins began to reveal their hidden entrances. In the game, this phenomenon was depicted as hidden dungeons opening up. Some of these places were indeed ancient magical civilization sites, where one could unearth various treasures and artifacts.
“The problem is, the more rewarding the ruins, the harder they are to excavate, and one wrong move could wipe out the entire excavation team.”
Like the ruins of the Sandstorm Dynasty beneath the main headquarters of the Holy Knights, ancient ruins were equipped with formidable defenses. Numerous traps crafted with ancient technology, guardians protecting the ruins, and sometimes the ruins themselves seemed to swallow intruders whole.
Unless you were lucky enough to find defenses that had weakened over time, the rewards were naturally proportional to the difficulty.
And even for someone as business-savvy as Volkma, personally excavating such ruins was no easy task.
After successfully excavating a few minor ruins, he decided to take a big leap this time, only to end up in a spectacular failure, as the merchant leader recounted.
The excavation team was virtually annihilated. Volkma barely escaped, using every artifact and magical tool he had.
“My friend, excavating artifacts isn’t something you can solve by sitting at a table counting numbers or negotiating with clients.”
”…I understand.”
“Then why not join us? We were headed to the labyrinth city anyway.”
”…”
Volkma hesitated, unable to answer easily. Daelon tilted his head, observing him.
He seemed to value his life, so it wasn’t likely he was hesitating over the lost investment.
Considering the legendary deals Volkma had made as a merchant, his bank account was probably overflowing with gold.
“What was the name of the ruin you were trying to excavate?”
”…It was an unnamed ruin. It was discovered very recently.”
“Can you describe it? Was it a ruin of the Sandstorm Dynasty or an ancient Elven dwelling?”
Volkma hesitated for a moment before pulling out a small stone from his pocket.
“I’m not sure which civilization it belonged to, but… I found this in the ruins.”
The stone was a finely crafted sculpture.
After brushing off the hardened dirt with Felber’s spell, the shape of the sculpture became clear.
Though it had rusted and corroded over thousands of years, it was unmistakably a dragon.
Four pairs of eyes glinted menacingly from its snout, and four pairs of wings spread threateningly.
As Daelon’s expression hardened upon seeing the sculpture, the merchant leader continued, fidgeting with his fingers.
“To be honest, when we opened the door deep within the ruins… all the monsters in the massive chamber began to awaken. The ones you dealt with were just a fraction of them.”
”…”
“If we flee now, we might save our lives, but… I’m afraid those monsters will break out to the surface.”
A deep sigh. Felber, who had been listening quietly, asked skeptically.
“Hundreds of mid-level monsters are just a fraction? Did you perhaps inhale some hallucinogenic substance in the ruins?”
“No, absolutely not! Master of the Tower, I swear on my account password…”
“The merchant leader is telling the truth, old man.”
“Daelon! I knew you believed in me…”
The merchant’s eyes welled up with emotion.
Daelon seriously considered whether to punch that face.
Handing the now-clean dragon sculpture to Lucia, he rubbed his throbbing temples.
Damn it, of all the ruins, why did it have to be a dragon’s lair?