38. Arcana Online
38. Arcana Online
After barely shaking off the guards, we headed in the direction the compass was pointing, and I saw something in the distance.
A person wearing a robe and carrying a large bag on their back.
The compass was pointing exactly at that person.
"It's that person!"
"Groan!"
The person who noticed us charging at them, no, Grandpa Kraken's runaway youngest daughter, ran away in fright.
"Kyaaah!! Don't come!!"
Why are you running away?
It's just a slightly giant bear charging at you, why are you running away in such fright? You'll hurt our bear's feelings!
This won't do. I need to clear up the misunderstanding.
"If you stop right now, I'll at least spare your life!"
"Kyaaah!!"
Even with the large bag, she's running away so well that the distance isn't closing.
I stopped the bear and shouted loudly.
"Talk! Let's talk!"
Hearing my voice, she stopped running and looked at me warily.
"What's your purpose!?"
"Grandpa Kraken asked me to find his runaway youngest daughter!"
"Dad did!?"
Hearing my words, she lowered her guard and approached me.
The girl approached, taking off the robe that was covering her entire body.
Is it an item effect? She looked about 170cm tall just now, but now she looks about 130cm, similar to me, a young girl standing in front of my eyes.
"You should have said so earlier! I misunderstood!"
"You didn't give me a chance to speak and just ran away!?"
"How could I not run away when such a huge Warbear was charging at me!?"
Come to think of it, she's right.
The bear looks about 15M tall, so if I imagine a giant robot chasing me, I'd run away too.
We cleared up the misunderstanding through various conversations, and when I handed over the letter that Grandpa Kraken asked me to deliver, she read it for a while and then tore it up?
"Hmph! Do you think I'll go back to that boring sea!?"
A mysterious girl who dislikes the sea despite being a Kraken.
[Quest Clear!]
You acquire experience and affinity.
Well, I cleared the quest, so it's fine. She'll handle it herself.
More importantly, we haven't even introduced ourselves yet.
"Nice to meet you. My name is Yuna. I'm a traveler."
"Lala. As you can see, I'm a merchant."
The young girl with silver hair and red eyes who introduced herself as a merchant smiled and said nice to meet you, but she's clearly human.
Polymorph must be very convenient.
"By the way, can I ask you one thing?"
"Sure! Anything!"
"What's in the bag you're carrying on your back?"
As if she had been waiting for this, she put down her bag and showed me various things.
"It's not every day you get a chance like this! Look at this! It's a knife with a rose drawn on it, and it can cut anything!? If you buy it now, it's only 1 million gold!"
A peddler...?
From knives to dolls, there's nothing that isn't in there.
There are really all kinds of items, but among them, I saw something that caught my eye.
«Divine Dragon's Choker»
A choker once worn by a shrine maiden who served the Divine Dragon.
The last set item I was looking for.
"H-how much is this!?"
Lala, who noticed that I desperately wanted it, grinned.
"That, you see. It was hard to get, so it's a bit expensive, is that okay?"
"How much...?"
"1 billion gold."
I looked at her with surprised eyes at the jaw-dropping amount.
"That's expensive! Give me a discount!"
"No negotiations."
Lala said firmly.
She reached out her hand, saying if I didn't want to buy it, give it back, but I asked her to wait a moment and rummaged through my inventory.
If I sell all the magic stones I have, it should be about right...?
Ah, no! Our Yong-yong and the bear won't leave me alone.
As I was sighing, I noticed an item.
«??? Box»
I don't know what it is.
An item I received as a gift from the old man in the Sage Village.
Now is exactly when I need help.
I opened the box to check the contents, and there was a single note inside.
[The law is far, but fists are near.]
I folded the paper again, put it in my pocket, and as soon as I snapped my fingers, the bear sprang into action.
It raised its huge body and instantly subdued Lala, preventing her from escaping.
"W-what is this!? What are you doing!?"
"Let's start negotiating. I'll spare your life, so give me a discount."
"This is blackmail!"
The negotiations that had been going off track for a while proceeded smoothly due to the bear showing its sharp claws.
It's finally paying off for all the magic stones it ate!
"C-customer. How about 500 million gold as a first purchase event!?"
"100 million gold."
"450 million!"
"100 million gold with 3 months installment."
"That's too much!"
I smiled brightly and shook hands for the satisfactory deal, but Lala was glaring at me.
"In my 10 years of business, this is the first time I've experienced such a fraudulent deal."
"What goes around comes around. You'll be blessed."
"I want to receive money!"
When I put on the choker I received from Lala, a message popped up.
[You acquire the Divine Dragon's Choker!]
«Divine Dragon's Choker»
A choker once worn by a shrine maiden who served the Divine Dragon.
[When equipped, greatly increases the stats of your summon.]
[When equipped, greatly increases the stats of your summon.]
[When equipped, greatly increases the stats of your summon.]
[When equipped, greatly increases the stats of your summon.]
[Set effect (4/4) unlocks special skills.]
[Divine Dragon's Blessing: Increases the abilities of summons.]
[Divine Dragon's Prayer: Restores the health of summons.]
[Divine Dragon's Cheer: Explodes the mood of summons.]
[Divine Dragon's Revival: Revives the life of summons.]
[You can use the power of the Divine Dragon.]
[Divine Dragon Descent: Makes the Divine Dragon dwell in the body of a summon (dragon).]
I acquired new skills with numerous notifications.
Revival revives summons, and Descent makes the Divine Dragon dwell in the body of a summon?
Looking at the character for dragon, can it only be used on dragons?
Can it be used on our Yong-yong since his name has 'dragon' in it?
"Divine Dragon Descent!"
[Special Skill: Divine Dragon Descent effect makes the Divine Dragon dwell in the summon (Yong-yong).]
With the notification, a huge lightning bolt fell from the sky onto Yong-yong, but there was no change.
"How is it? Do you feel like you've become a dragon?"
"Kyuung?"
Our Yong-yong tilted his head and burped.
What? Why is there no effect at all?
After waiting for a while with no change, I was disappointed and used another skill.
"Divine Dragon's Revival!"
[Special Skill: Divine Dragon's Revival effect revives summons.]
However, nothing happened this time either.
I got two faulty skills, but at least I got the choker, so it's fine.
"I'll make good use of this."
I comforted Lala, who was crying and sniffling, and we set out together.
We agreed to travel together to the next village, but the business didn't end.
As if trying to make up for her loss, she showed me various items and said she'd sell them cheaply, but she was trying to sell a high-rank magic stone for 30 million gold.
The regular price is 10 million gold, and she's trying to make a 300% profit!?
"You scammer! You're trying to make a 300% profit!?"
"Mobile sales are always more expensive!"
"That's too expensive!"
*
*
*
New information arrived at the information guild in the commercial city of Thalassa.
News that Yuna had a bounty placed on her.
"Is that true?"
"The Warbear that the benefactor was traveling with was caught trying to enter illegally."
"Sigh, if she had just presented the pass while bringing it in, there wouldn't have been a problem."
I organized my thoughts while drinking a cup of warm black tea.
The benefactor isn't someone who wouldn't know such a fact.
"It seems she has other thoughts, so leave it for now."
I don't know what the benefactor is thinking, but I need to support her as much as possible.
"If any moths try to approach her aiming for the bounty, eliminate them all."
"Understood, Master."
With those words, the shadow disappeared.
Feeling like it wasn't sweet enough, I added more sugar and was about to take a sip when I heard urgent footsteps.
"B-big news!"
"What's the commotion about?"
A guild member who came in panting reported, and to summarize, monsters are coming back to life?
"Th-the monsters that died are coming back to life and causing a rampage!"
"Where?"
Near Cradle Village, the City of Stars, and Thalassa Village, all places where the benefactor had passed through.
There's only one being in the world who could do such a thing.
Only the benefactor.
I organized my thoughts while tapping on the desk.
"Request help from all information guilds and cover it up as much as possible. If you tell them it's the benefactor's doing, they'll cooperate."
"Understood, Master."
There are information guilds in every village and city.
And there's no information guild that doesn't know about the benefactor.
Thinking about the benefactor who has done something spectacular again makes my head hurt, but what can we do?
Really, our benefactor doesn't have a single quiet day, does she?