Chapter 186

[This chapter is free as it's not really up to par with our new standard. I've already hired the new translator from the previous two chapters. I've also replaced the editor- as some of you have pointed out, the previous editor had been slacking (This chapter is from the old editor. Tomorrow onward is by the new one). The new team is reworking the two chapters in the stockpile, and all the new chapters going forward. This series has had way too many issues with translators and editors. (Nov. 25)]

Evan D. Sherden, Parting with the Legend (4)

The 30th floor boss of the Sherden Dungeon turned out to be Clay Gargoyle. Although it was a golem with a funny appearance made of clay, its mana capacity was beyond imagination.

Whether or not anyone could go beyond the 31st floor of Sherden Dungeon's 'in-depth' would be determined by a mixture of psychotic magic and dangerous earth magic.

Furthermore, the hidden boss on the 30th floor featured Stone Gargoyle, which was several times more powerful than Clay Gargoyle in both mana and defense.

"So, did you kill it safely?"

"If I were alone, I would have suffered more, but I did, all thanks to the help."

Shine, who returned to the Knights Headquarters with Anastasia, had safely grown to level 31.

Shine showed Evan the mana stones from bosses of the 25th and 30th floors. His journey seemed to be successful. Of course, Evan knew Shine could do it, but Shine looked amazing to have cleared to the 30th floor with an apprentice, Druid, at 14. Evan's expectations for him were not wrong!

"I am not sure about the 25th floor, but the 30th floor Hidden Boss must have been pretty tough from the start."

"Yes, that's why it took me a while, but it wasn't something I couldn't do unless I knew the Hidden Boss existed."

That was true, too. Unlike other explorers who were completely unaware of the secret hidden space, Shine had been given a hint about the 30th floor Hidden Boss battle from Evan!

Evan spoke with a slight nod.

"Good work, Shine. And you, too, Anastasia."

"I disobeyed your order and followed Shine by myself... I'm sorry, but I just couldn't let Shine go alone."

Anastasia bowed her head at Evan's gaze. Evan, of course, fully understood her mind, but now he couldn't let it go this way.

"The dungeon, Anastasia, is a dangerous place. I let Shine go over the 21st floor alone because I believed in his skills, not because I wanted him to die. But you are different. It was okay this time, but if this happens again, I don't know what will happen then."

"... I'm sorry."

"Please don't let this happen again. I'll get in trouble if something happens to your body because you are my valuable partner. Would you understand that?"

"I'll keep that in mind."

Anastasia was two years older than Evan, but Evan was now coherently scolding her. He seemed to have become Anastasia's elder brother. Shine scratched his head and spoke.

"It was my fault for not holding her back, Master. Please don't scold her too much."

"Of course, I told you to keep her safe, but you took her to the 30th floor. How can you say something? You're going to get an extra penalty."

"......."

Shine kept his mouth shut. Evan continued, ignoring Shine, who with a sad face.

"Well, I'm glad you're back in time. Both of you should wash up unless you want to join my birthday party like that."

"Yes, yes."

"Yes!"

Evan pushed Shine and Anastasia into the Brotherhood Bathhouse. He sent them off with a calm face, but in fact, he was quite surprised.

When they were completely inside the bathhouse, Evan spoke out the reason.

"She's still level 27."

"From the 27th floor, I don't think she had been recognized properly."

Even if Anastasia didn't clear the Dungeon, it was still possible to go downstairs if she found the stairway.

Anastasia, who failed to achieve enough on the 27th floor, followed Shine recklessly to the 30th floor due to being worried. That was why she was still stuck at level 27.

"But it's amazing enough. Belois, she certainly wasn't a simple apprentice Druid, as you said."

"If she had a little more training, she would be able to fight on the 30th floor.

"But... yes, next time I won't send Shine down to the Dungeon with her. No, I guess she doesn't have to go into the Dungeon anymore because she's already at a good level."

"...That will make her sad."

Belois sympathized with Anastasia because she could fully understand the noblewoman's girlishness.

If Evan pulled her aside and went into the Dungeon, Belois was confident enough to say that she would do something similar.

"I wonder if Shine's going to be the son-in-law of the Duke... Whatever. Belois, let's go to Horta."

"Yes, Master."

Belois, who had been thinking about Anastasia, soon regained focus at Evan's words and followed him.

Belois was sorry for Anastasia, but unlike Shine, Evan didn't pull her aside. A smile formed on her mouth.

* * *

Since Evan's birthday party was due in five hours, Horta busied himself with beating on a lump of metal with the shape of a giant sword in his workshop.

Even though Evan was already inside, there wasn't much time left, so he didn't stop working regardless.

"Will it be okay if I don't put in Leo's mana?"

Bam! Bam! Bam! Every time Horta beat it with a hammer, the sound of a clearing mind rang out in the workshop.

Evan was amazed at the changing metal throughout the process, but he couldn't help but worry about whether such an artifact could be created in this way.

"What he needs... he got them all at that time."

While replying to Evan, Horta's eyes were stuck on the sword. His eyes were filled with focus.

Perhaps the expression 'ghastly' suited him best. Horta was watching a lump of iron so seriously that it appeared as if he was trying to carve the spirit of the weapon.

"What do you know about EB metal?"

"It hasn't opened its heart to me yet, so now it's just so-so."

Sizzle!

After cooling the heated lump of iron in cold water, there ensued more hammering sounds again.

"I captured everything I felt while spectating Master Evan and Sir Leo Arpeta at that time. If the sword felt that, it would respond to me."

Soon Horta had his eyes gently closed. He continued to hammer at the metal. What was Horta looking at now? Even Evan could not guess.

However, like when Horta had made artifacts in his training, he seemed to have a solemn atmosphere. It made it hard for Evan to even consider intervening.

"... Okay. I'll trust you and wait."

"On completion, I'll deliver it to you."

Horta had spoken and soon began focusing back on his work. Evan decided to leave the workshop quietly because he felt that he was being a bother.

"He must be deeply moved by Grandpa Leo."

"It wasn't just Leo... you were there, too. And the blacksmith said he felt something when he saw you and Leo."

"Yes... well, that's true."

Evan blushed at Belois's determined words. Suddenly, what he had said while sparring with Leo came to mind again. 'Believe in yourself,' It was very Leo-like to say such an embarrassing thing.

'I'm not feeling bad, but...'

Evan felt like he was wearing something that didn't fit him. Does he deserve such praise from Leo?

But maybe it wasn't good that he thought so. Then, if it was enough for the 'main character' to say that, then perhaps just a little bit...

"Was I great, too?"

"As I told you before..."

Behind Evan's back, Belois, who had been chasing him with frequent steps, approached and whispered.

"You were wonderful, Master."

* * *

Evan returned to HQ after meeting Horta, had a light lunch, and then talked a little about business with Maybell. It was mainly about the supply and processing of EB metal.

"The Duke isn't aware of just how many alloys he can extract from the ore of the mined metal."

"You won't get caught, so keep it inflated. It's good to arm the Duke, but first, we need to strengthen our dungeon city, so it's not good to provide too much right now."

"Yes, then, I will. The mining itself seems to be going well. It's still well-secured, and only..."

Maybell had a slightly anxious look on her face.

"I think we're moving the precious treasure too casually. There's a possibility of monsters or bandits appearing on the way. We can't keep hiring mercenaries forever, but it doesn't make sense to rent troops from the Marquis. We also need to build our own army."

"Army..."

It was quite a difficult problem. Although Maybell was a noble with a baroness title, simply put, she was only just a baroness.

To build an army was to build a force under her command, which was extremely dangerous. It was feared to be seen badly by other aristocrats. If she did something wrong, she would be found guilty of treason.

"So it makes no sense for me to form an army."

"What about the Dungeon Knights?"

"In principle, they're not soldiers, but rather a force protecting the dungeon city. It's rather small now, so it still gets by. However, it'll become a problem if it becomes an army."

Creating and managing troops is not a simple task. It is a matter of keeping appearances and countless human interests. Labor costs were the least of the problem.

Evan sighed loudly, recalling the faces of those who would have targeted him immediately if he had troops in his company.

"That's what ruined Bayern."

"Oh, come to think of it, just a few days ago, a royal delegation of knights came in person. I've been keeping one or two businesses away from the Bayern Corporation because you told me to do so in advance..."

The Count family, Bayern, in the Silk Line, had been running the country's largest corporation.

However, their business management style had been very violent and had been rumored to be suspicious. Evan had advised the Marquis Sorain to avoid them because he had already known it would be revealed within a few years.

And in fact, it was discovered that they had been secretly training several times as many troops as allowed for the Count family at that time. The family got ruined as a result.

'I could see that they were trying to play tricks on the Brotherhood Corporation, so I took measures a little earlier than I had done in the past.'

Evan had a princess who was on the king's hotline. A little hint was passed through her, and the king did the rest.

In that way, the Brotherhood Corporation overcame the crisis, and rather, it was able to profit from the Bayern Corporation.

"But why did they have so many troops?"

"There was a cult behind them. They must have drawn forces to declare their own country. Unfortunately, they were caught on the way and were ruined."

Again, Evan was the main culprit who had screwed them up.

"... Is that something I should know, Master?"

"There might be some more similar forces in the future."

The main story of [Yoma Great War Series 4 - The Secret of the Rookie Race] had the conflict between the Rookies and humans trying to take advantage of them. There were several more churches, such as the cult that had brainwashed Lin and Lan.

And Bayern had been one of the groups.

"It'd be funny if we screw up on the same thing as them, right?"

"Then what do we do? What about the other corporations? We often don't talk to each other about this kind of problem, so..."

"We often sign exclusive contracts with mercenaries. Or there are quite a few ways to make a profit for a powerful aristocrat and hire soldiers. It's a toll."

"Ugh, I don't like that..."

"Let's think about the problem a little more. There must be other ways."

It was also possible to hire adventurers of the Dungeon City as guards. There was a lot out there who had taken a break from the dungeon. So, it was possible to hire them regularly.

"If I make some children with you, the children will protect the corporation. Argh!"

"... Let's stop talking nonsense and get up now."

Evan put his fist lightly on Maybell's head and checked the time. The time of the birthday party was approaching.

"Maybell, tell me, you didn't happen to plan a big party this time, right?"

"No, it's just a simple gathering in the Marquis's garden."

"Right..."

The garden is over 200 pyeong. (pyeong: Korean area measuring unit. 3.24 square meters) On my birthday next year, I should go into the dungeon... Evan rose from his seat with a sigh. Maybell and Belois, who had remained silent, were behind him.

"It would be nice if it was finished."

"I'm sure it is."

"What? Our engagement ring?"

As usual, Evan ignored Maybell's nonsense and headed to the garden where the birthday party would be held. The time where he would soon part with Leo was fast approaching.