CH 81

Chapter 81 Ten thousand leaves(1)

Translator: BaeBae Editor: BaeBae

Juan was kicked out of the guild building by the female attendant.

A guild rank was not something that could be attained by beating down someone else with that particular rank. Only through a combination of reputation, credibility and skill could it be earned.

Attaining a silver rank seemed out of the picture since Juan’s name wasn’t exactly a name with a credible reputation among mercenaries nor did he have time to accomplish some deeds to boost his fame.

“………Much pickier than how I remembered them.”

Mercenaries in Juan’s memory were simple beings that were crazy for only money, women and booze.

Back then, it was a frequent sight, seeing ex mercenaries enlist in Juan’s army. They had been a naive systemless bunch, but it seemed many things had changed.

‘Anyways that’s that. How do I get to Drugal.’

The only thing Juan found out about Drugal was that it was a countryside town hiding somewhere in the Manas mountains.

An infamous rumor followed the town’s name.

In the past, a group that had been preparing to revolt against the empire were butchered after falling into a trap.

But soon following came a piece of news, that the remnants had a sizable treasure stashed somewhere underground. This story had mercenaries eagerly searching for the location of the treasure.

Considering that the indeterminate polyhydron was believed to have been found there, rumours of the treasure seemed credible.

The rumours ended there. For Juan, Drugal was a place he’d never heard of. He presumed that it was a land that didn’t exist during his reign or it had been so insignificant that he’d never heard of it.

Time was of the essence and he couldn’t waste it on finding a village deep in the mountains.

“Hey you, black haired young master.”

He heard a voice from over his head.

From the second story of the guild building, a slender looking silver haired woman with a bobbed cut was smiling down at him from above.

On her back was a giant crossbow that seemed to be made from the horns of something.

“Why are you looking for Drugal?”

“You know where it is?”

“If you’re looking to go there for fame or fortune then forget it. There’s nothing like that there.”

“Sounds like you know the place well.”

“Maybe?”

The woman lifted her hair. Underneath her hair was what looked to be what was left of her ear which had been severed. The women giggled then continued talking.

“I got more that’s worse underneath my clothes, but I won’t show you that in the middle of the day. I was lucky that the bastard who sneaked up on me was an asshole with an ear obsession.”

“You got those wounds from Drugal?”

“Yeah. I’m one of the few that have returned from there not long ago.”

“Certainly looks like a dangerous place.”

“Dangerous? Hehe. You really don’t know much, do you. The one who took my ear was someone that I was confident in putting my back against.”

“What? Then why?”

“Don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“I also want to know. All I can say is that land is cursed. From the several that departed with me, I was the only one who managed to return alive. I can’t help but feel that I don’t want to go back to that place. I couldn’t care less about some treasure when your life’s on the line. I’d say less than 1 out of 20 come back with some gold and riches upon going there.”

“It’s surprisingly more than I’d expected.”

“And about four out of five that return with gold, find themselves lured back to that place. All in all, only around 1 out of 100 truly free themselves from the clutches of Drugal. There’s a reason why the guild has put a silver rank restriction for Drugal travel.”

The woman jumped down from the terrace. Seeing her swift movements and quiet landing, Juan then noticed that he was talking to an elf.

Because she was dressed in human attire and her ears cut, he’d been slow to realise. The fact Juan had been slow to see through the cover up made him think that it was enough to fool most people.

The elf woman circled around Juan and grinned.

“So? Why are you trying to get there?”

“What’s it to you?”

“Depending on your answer, I’ll guide you there. Personally.”

Juan’s eyebrows twitched. He didn’t really like the fact that he’d have to explain everything to her but something about a ‘crazy elf woman’ occupied a soft place in his heart.

And plus it was going to be difficult trying to navigate his way to a hidden countryside village on a mountain range.

“I’m trying to kill someone there.”

For more,

The mana that had been depleted during his spiritual transfers had largely recovered.

‘Problem now is that my mana aura has changed.’

The convergence of these varying powers and his original mana had made his aura vastly different from how it was.

For example, Juan could now no longer use Taltere’s blood. That blood had been completely fused.

But if he wanted to, it was still possible to overdrive into the power albeit in a somewhat weaker state than before. This was the same for Grunvalde’s grey cloak as well as Nigrato’s power.

It was fundamentally different to magic. And though limited, he now had access to those god’s unique domains.

But it was a different direction to the power he had as the emperor. Juan didn’t know whether this was a good thing or not.

And of course Juan wasn’t going to let himself lose initiative either.

These were beings that had lost their identity.

What Juan felt was simply a mi-nute concern. That if his mana continued to converge with different powers, then it would eventually change into something different to his original state.

‘And to add to that, I’m not sure what side effects it may bring.’

As the nature of his mana had changed, Juan didn’t know whether this would cause reaction down the line when he’d eventually reclaim his corpse

Thinking that it’d be better to just keep monitoring his body for the time being, Juan kept a tight lid on his mana in order to handle it more proficiently.

*****

Two days had passed since their journey began to Drugal.

The carriage was overflowing with boredom as the surrounding scenery consisted only of dust and red wasteland.

The mercenaries earnestly waited for the carriage to stop so they may stretch their tired bodies.

Whenever the horses needed rest, everyone inside the carriage hurriedly made their way out for a breath and stretch.

But excluding Juan.

“Um, Miss Swallen.”

While everyone was loosening their cramped muscles, one of the mercenaries called out to Swallen.

“Huh, what?’

“So uh. Who exactly is that fellow traveller?”

“Why? Is he getting on your nerves? I thought he’d been rather quiet till now.”

“No I mean, he’s been quiet……but isn’t he too disturbingly quiet? He’s been sitting still with his eyes closed for two whole days. Except when he’d drink some water.”

Swallen flashed a grin.

“And the fact his hair is black?”

“……..I can’t say that hasn’t caught my eye. Yes. The others are also feeling a bit uneasy at seeing how he’s been acting.”

“He won’t cause harm so just ignore him.”

The mercenary turned around with a dissatisfied look. Swallen turned her head and looked at Juan who was still calmly sitting inside the carriage.

Though his expression looked peaceful, she couldn’t grasp what on earth was going through his head.

It was only natural to think that others would feel discomfort. Unless you went up close to him, it was hard to even tell whether he was breathing or not.

Swallen continued to stare at Juan’s face and then stretched her hand out towards his nose. Her finger tips had been about touch when Juan suddenly opened his eyes.

“Someone’s approaching.”