Chapter 58: Lupenia Treasure House

"I can see light," a Fishman guard at the entrance of the Demon's Lair said.

"Move the barrier out of the way," Lupenia's Champion, Radium ordered.

Two of the Fishman guards opened the barrier on both sides wide enough that someone could get through.

The shimmering floating crystal was the first to leave the Demon's Lair.

Next came Grano, Kang Oh, and Eder in that order.

"You worked hard," Radium greeted Kang Oh's party, his turtle face smiling.

"We did. The smell of Gureko's mouth was horrendous," Kang Oh smiled and said.

"Haha, I've smelt it before myself. It really is terrible," Radium agreed.

"Here."

Kang Oh passed him Gureko's Core.

"Thank you."

Radium took it and passed it over to his subordinate.

"Send it to the Shaman."

"Yes, sir!"

His subordinate received the core and immediately set out.

"Who is this Shaman?" Eder asked.

"The Shaman is responsible for purifying and managing the core," Radium replied.

"Is she beau..." Eder began, but he stopped once he recalled Queen Roane's face.

Kang Oh stared at him, seemingly saying, 'You sure don't give up' and said to Radium, "I'd like to see the queen."

Give and take.

He'd defeated the Seed of Calamity and brought them its core, so now it was time for him to receive his reward.

"The queen should be waiting for you."

Kang Oh, being led by Radium, headed for the queen's chambers.

There were no changes with the queen's chambers. The room was still draped with the cloth that hid the queen's appearance.

"My queen, Mr. Kang Oh and his party have returned after clearing the Demon's Lair."

The cloth was lifted and Lupenia's Queen, Roane, was revealed.

"You finished quickly. You truly are his heir."

Her voice, as ever, resounded clearly. Of course, her face, which appeared like an alien's, was still the same as well.

"Mr. Kang Oh," Roane called.

"Yes," Kang Oh acted politely and replied curtly.

"And the rest of you, thank you for all your hard work."

"It was nothing."

Kang Oh bowed his head.

"Now it's time for me to uphold my end of the deal," Roane said.

Kang Oh's eyes gleamed.

"Mr. Kang Oh. I give you permission to take any one item from the Lupenia Treasure House."

"Thank you very much."

Kang Oh lips curled into a smile.

'It's a treasure house, so it should be filled with, at the very least, A-rank equipment. There should be expensive materials and gemstones in there too.'

A visit to a treasure house! How exciting.

"Please don't forget my request," Roane entreated.

All he needed to do was see Burkan and relay Roane's request to Valan to him.

"Good. And I will repay you two as well, Mr. Grano and Mr. Eder. Runo."

"Yes, my queen?"

An old Fishman that stood beside her like a folding screen took a step forward.

"That thing I told you to prepare earlier, please bring it to them."

"I understand."

Runo clapped their hands twice and in between the fluttering cloth, two female Fishman appeared carrying trays.

Conch shell shaped crystals radiating rainbow light lay atop the trays.

"This is our (Lupenia's) specialty, the rainbow crystal. Please take them," Roane said.

"Thank you very much."

Eder and Grano politely said.

Grano sported a smile, as he felt like his wife would like this crystal as a present.

"Mr. Kang Oh, would you like to go to the treasure house right away?" Roane asked.

"Yes."

I'd like to go right away!

"Radium, please take him to the treasure house. Runo, please prepare a resting place for Mr. Grano and Mr. Eder," Roane said, looking at Grano and Eder.

"Thank you."

Grano bowed his head.

"Please follow me."

Kang Oh followed Radium whilst Eder and Grano followed Runo.

Thus, Kang Oh left the queen's chambers.

* * *

The Lupenia Treasure House was located underneath the Lupen Crystal Palace, and the treasure house itself was locked behind a thick stone gate.

Radium placed the coral shaped key (which had hung on his neck) into the stone wall. The thick stone gate creaked as it opened.

"Ooh."

Kang Oh quivered in excitement. Treasure, treasure!

He followed Radium past the stone gate.

There were rows and rows of display stands showing off various treasures.

Coral armor, a shark-shaped helmet, a sword that looked like a seven-branched sword, etc.

It was a treasure house indeed; it was filled with treasures that Lupenia had collected.

"Please take your time and look around. When you're ready, pick one of them and tell me."

"I understand."

Kang Oh began to appraise the items within the treasure house.

[Mekhal's Mysterious Helmet]

A helmet that the renowned adventurer, Mekhal of the aquatic tribe, Calodia wore.

If the helmet is worn, it is said that occasionally, you will be led to a mysterious location in the sea.

...

Minimum requirements: Fishman only

'Next!'

Kang Oh passed the shark-shaped helmet. It was because it was a Fishman only item.

If a piece of equipment was restricted to a specific race like this one, then a human player would be required to send it to a master craftsman to modify it.

Modifying the item required various materials and one would have to pay the master craftsman for his services as well.

So, pass!

[Sturgeon Armor]

Armor created by processing a sturgeon, which is tougher than steel. Although it was created by an unskilled craftsman, it is light due to the quality of the materials.

...

Minimum requirements: Fishman only

'This is Fishman only too. Next!'

Kang Oh examined the next item.

It was another Fishman only piece of equipment. The next one was too!

Kang Oh examined the items within the treasure house for quite some time and the complexion of his face changed.

'It couldn't be?'

All the items here couldn't possibly be Fishman only, could they?

"Mr. Radium."

Kang Oh came over to Radium.

"Have you already chosen what you want?"

"No. I'd just like to ask you something. Are all the items here Fishman only?"

"Not all of them, but most of them are."

Kang Oh relaxed a little. At least there were some items that weren't Fishman only!

"Could you please tell me which items aren't Fishman only?"

"I understand."

Radium began to show him the equipment and jewelry that wasn't Fishman only.

The more time passed, the more Kang Oh's face stiffened. That's because he wasn't satisfied with the items Radium was showing him.

'The best item is A-rank, but it only requires a level of 50.'

The items that Radium had shown him were definitely not treasure. If put up for auction, they would either not sell or they would be sold for dirt cheap.

"Why are these considered treasure?" Kang Oh couldn't contain himself and asked.

"In the sea, items that come from land are precious. You see, they are different to procure," Radium said.

"Ugh. Then are these all the items that aren't Fishman only?"

"There are a few others."

"Please show those to me too."

"I understand."

Kang Oh followed him and examined the last remaining non-Fishman only items, but there wasn't anything that piqued his interest.

"Have you chosen?" Radium asked.

"Hmm. Please let me take another look around."

"Of course. Take as much time as you need."

Kang Oh postponed his decision and looked through the treasure house once more.

* * *

Eder was currently resting within the room that Runo had led him to. He removed his equipment and leaned on a comfy sofa.

Then, the door opened and Kang Oh entered.

"You're back?"

"Yeah," Kang Oh replied curtly and examined the inside of the room. He didn't see Grano.

"Where's Mr. Grano?"

"He left to make sure the absorber is working properly," Eder said.

"Really?"

Kang Oh sat down on a sofa.

"How was the treasure house?" Eder asked.

"It was worse than I expected."

"Why is that?'

"Most of them were Fishman only and what wasn't Fishman only wasn't good," Kang Oh explained simply.

"So what did you pick?"

"This."

Kang Oh took out blue flippers from his inventory, which were decorated at the ankles.

From a single glance, one could tell that it was a Fishman only item meant for use in the water.

"So you ultimately picked a Fishman only item?"

Eder smiled.

"It may look like this, but it's an S-rank item."

Amongst the Fishman only items, there were a few that were S-rank.

He had chosen these flippers because their level 100 requirement was the highest and it also had three abilities as well.

"It would cost quite a fortune to modify an S-rank item."

Eder hit where it hurt.

"Ahem, that's right."

Kang Oh wanted to pick a non-Fishman only item if at all possible. However, the other items were just too terrible.

"If need be, I'll use it for Gluttony."

If an S-rank item was consumed, then Gluttony would be amazing, but it would be such a waste.

"It seems like there wasn't anything worth taking."

Eder smiled.

"Yeah, they really got me."

Kang Oh smiled too.

"Ah, right, here."

Eder passed him the conch shell shaped crystal that Roane had gifted him.

"What about it?"

Kang Oh looked at the crystal blankly.

"You're not going to take it?"

Kang Oh had always taken everything. Therefore, Eder believed that Kang Oh would take this too.

"No, you can keep that."

"I'm sorry?"

He'd even bought him equipment. What was going on with this guy?

Eder felt like this must be some sort of trap.

"From now on, if you get a reward, you can keep it," Kang Oh said.

"Excuse me?"

No wait, why was this guy doing this? Was he just saying this and then claim that it was all a lie later?

"And I'll pay you 3 gold a day from now on too."

Kang Oh passed him three gold coins.

Eder looked at those coins and looked anguished.

"Mr. Kang Oh, why are you being like this!? What did I do wrong this time?" Eder yelled.

Why are you suddenly being so out of character!? Is this a new type of torture?

Kang Oh scowled.

"Want to die, or want to take it?" Kang Oh said seriously and Eder quickly shut his mouth.

Eder meekly pocketed the gold coins whilst Kang Oh was looking.

"You're a lot more useful than I thought," Kang Oh said.

Eder, who'd become a Curse Knight, was a lot more useful than he'd expected. Especially his AoE curse that reduced his enemy's defenses.

"I paid someone as useless as Darion 3 silver a day, so you're entitled to 3 gold a day," Kang Oh said.

Eder was rich. No, he was rich.

He'd seen all those gold bars within Eder's private safe!

Therefore, he hadn't given Eder any pay thus far.

However, Eder had told him he was broke in the abandoned mines.

Eder wasn't rich anymore.

That's why he'd bought him equipment and was paying him a wage too.

Above all!

'If I want to get his 4,000 gold, then I have to give him a way to live in the meantime.'

Although Eder was an undead, he still needed gold from time to time.

What if when he did, he was completely broke? It was obvious he'd spend some of the 4,000 gold in his bank that was meant for him.

In order to prevent that from happening, Kang Oh decided to pay him a wage.

"Ahem, Mr. Kang Oh."

Once he realized that Kang Oh was being genuine, Eder sported an effervescent expression.

If you misbehave yourself all the time, but then act kindly all of a sudden, the effect of that kindness becomes even greater.

"Oh, right. If you need any money, just tell me. I'll lend you some money using your mansion as collateral."

Kang Oh grinned.

"That's a little..."

Why don't you give a cat a piece of fish instead?

At that moment, the door opened and Grano entered.

"I'm back."

"Is the absorber working properly?" Kang Oh asked.

"Yes."

"Then shall we return to Altein?"

"Alright."

It was time for their sea and deserted island vacation to come to an end.