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Chapter 214: The Quest of the Wandering Merchant (3)

They kept asking Ketal about various things after that.

Who he met and what he did in the sanctuaries of Kalosia, the mermaid village, and the elven sanctuary.

The more Ketal answered, the more astonishment and shock appeared on their faces.

Just as they were beginning to understand what kind of person Ketal was, they arrived at the mountain with the dragon\'s lair.

* * *

“This is the place.”

Seraphina murmured.

They were now right in front of the mountain of the dragon\'s lair.

She looked at the Spellweaver.

“Do you sense anything?”

“…I feel nothing.”

The Spellweaver stroked his beard.

The Mercenary King narrowed his eyes.

“Same here. If a dragon were present, there should be a strong wave of power, but it\'s dead quiet. Instead, perception is being forcibly disrupted.”

“The information was accurate.”

A dragon\'s lair exists somewhere in the world.

But no one had found its location.

Its power was perfectly concealed, making it impossible to trace the dragon\'s lair through power and energy tracking methods.

The Magic Tower had persistently pursued the dragon\'s lair for decades but had gained no information.

Even though the Master of the Tower did not participate, if the Magic Tower, where all the world\'s wizards gather, failed, there essentially was no possible group left.

Thus, they had to move in person, which was also impossible.

There was only one reason.

The mountain with the dragon\'s lair had a powerful perception disruption spell.

“What a peculiar sensation. It\'s clearly in front of us, but my consciousness wants to disperse elsewhere.”

“If you lose focus, you\'ll immediately drift away to another place.”

Even they, the highest-ranking superhumans, had to concentrate intensely to be aware of the mountain before them.

For anyone below them, it would be impossible to perceive.

Moreover, the mountain was in a remote area where no one had set foot.

In reality, there was no way to find it.

These conditions were why the dragon\'s lair had remained hidden until now.

Hence, they couldn\'t help but be impressed by the wandering merchant\'s information.

“As expected, things that have existed since the Demon War. Where on earth does he get such information?”

“We paid a hefty price and were asked to catch a dragon, so we had complaints, but… for information like this, there’s nothing more to say.”

“Indeed.”

They conversed.

And Ketal sensed something strange.

‘Paid a hefty price?’

Their words implied they had paid something to the wandering merchant.

And it wasn’t a small price.

But Ketal hadn’t paid the wandering merchant anything.

He had just received a quest to catch the dragon.

The location of the dragon\'s lair was just one of the pieces of information for the quest.

‘Hmm.’

Ketal remained silent.

The Mercenary King grabbed the sword at his waist.

“Then let\'s go in. According to the information, it might be quite dangerous.”

“Right. That... Ian, was it?”

Seraphina cautiously spoke.

The boy following them hurriedly nodded.

“Yes, yes…”

“What about going back now? It’s very dangerous ahead. Even we cannot guarantee your safety.”

Ian was an ordinary boy with no power.

He was too weak to endure the journey ahead.

But Ian, trembling, shook his head.

“N-no. I will go with you…”

“Hmm…”

Seraphina sighed.

In her opinion, the boy shouldn’t come along.

She wanted to send him back forcibly.

But the wandering merchant had said the boy would be no problem.

This meant he was part of their group.

Excluding him recklessly could cause issues.

While Seraphina was pondering what to do, the Mercenary King nonchalantly spoke.

“Let him do as he pleases. The boy made his choice.”

He was a mercenary.

One who risks life for profit.

To him, Ian’s choice was insignificant.

“Whatever he desires, he chose to follow us. So, let him follow. Whatever happens, he has to bear it himself.”

“But he’s a child.”

Seraphina objected.

She was a follower of the god.

Protecting the weak and caring for children was her duty.

“So, are you going to forcibly send him away? Who knows how the wandering merchant will respond?”

“But I cannot expose a child to danger. We need to call the wandering merchant again and discuss this.”

“He already said it wasn’t a problem. I’ve never heard of the wandering merchant going back on his word.”

Their ideologies and values clashed.

The Spellweaver asked casually.

“…Aren’t you going to intervene?”

“Intervene? Why?”

Ketal’s face was one of sheer enjoyment.

A mercenary and a priest of the god.

Two contrasting figures in a fantasy, their values colliding.

It was a very entertaining sight.

Ketal wanted to keep watching.

“…I see.”

The Spellweaver’s expression turned uneasy at Ketal’s attitude.

He was the only one who could mediate.

He cleared his throat and intervened.

“From my perspective, both sides have valid points. There’s no need to argue. How about this?”

The Spellweaver looked at the trembling boy.

“The boy seems determined not to back down. In that case, he’ll have to come with us. Seraphina, how about you protect him as much as possible?”

“Hmm…”

“Let’s do that.”

Neither side strongly opposed.

They both knew that this was the most reasonable solution, as the Spellweaver had said.

But they were leaders of their respective groups.

If they easily yielded to the other, it would diminish their group’s prestige.

Therefore, they refused to back down to the end.

However, if someone suggested a compromise, they could accept it without losing face.

The fact that the Spellweaver was not someone to be easily dismissed also played a role.

And Ketal was watching the entire process.

“Interesting. Don’t you think so?”

“Well, I suppose…”

The boy named Ian answered hesitantly.

“It seems to be settled. Then, let’s move on.”

Ketal said, smiling as he started walking.

* * *

They entered the dragon’s lair.

And what greeted them were powerful monsters.

[Uoooooo!]

[Kaaaa!]

“It’s like the monsters are holding a grand ball. What a spectacle.”

The Spellweaver chuckled.

“The information was correct.”

Not much was known about the dragon’s lair.

But it wasn’t completely unknown.

Before the dragons disappeared, there had been a few dragon hunts, so some information was available.

One such piece of information was about the mountain of the dragon’s lair.

The mountain of the dragon’s lair was not an ordinary mountain.

It was a den of powerful monsters from all over the world.

When dragons created their lairs, they kidnapped monsters and sealed them in the mountain.

Whether it was a personal hobby or a collector’s impulse was unknown, but most of the mountain where the dragon’s lair was located was filled with monsters.

Since these monsters were brought by dragons themselves, the ones before them were all formidable.

“Basilisks, wyverns, drakes… even a hydra. Quite a collection. An ogre looks like a mere underling here.”

An army would be annihilated if it tried to enter.

Releasing even one of these monsters would bring disaster to the area.

Even the strongest of the superhumans would struggle to progress through this place.

But it posed no problem for them.

[Kiaaaa!]

A hydra charged at them.

A beast with nine heads.

Unless all its heads were cut off, it would not die.

Its hide was so tough that ordinary methods would leave no mark.

The hydra’s venom was so potent that one would die within three steps of contact.

It was a formidable monster that even superhumans could not easily deal with.

Typically, it only appeared in AAA-level dungeons.

“A hydra. It’s been a while.”

But the Mercenary King calmly drew his sword.

He then launched himself forward.

As he moved to the opposite side of the hydra, it turned to bite him, but its body started to fall apart.

[Kaaaa?]

The hydra’s body was cut into dozens of pieces and fell to the ground, its blood spilling.

The Mercenary King shook the blood off his sword.

[Kiaaaa!]

[Kaaak!]

Dozens of wyverns charged at them.

Seraphina quietly muttered.

“O sun god. Let your radiant light shine here.”

With her prayer, a shining orb rose in the sky.

Its intense light and heat scorched the wyverns, burning their wings and causing them to plummet.

Even though it was a simple prayer, its power surpassed that of the sacred scriptures of Aquaz.

“Hmph. Precious monsters.”

The Spellweaver looked at the monsters with a fond gaze.

He waved his hand.

Then shadows stretched out like tendrils.

Despite the sun being high, the shadows engulfed the entire ground.

[Uooooh!]

The monsters began to be sucked into the shadows.

They struggled to escape, but the shadows swallowed them like a swamp, right up to their heads.

The Spellweaver looked satisfied.

“I’ll have to use this for my research later.”

“Ooooh.”

And Ketal marveled at their power.

The heretic inquisitor of the sun god, Aquaz.

The magician from the Magic Tower, Baker.

And Swordmasters Maximus and Cain.

Each of them was a powerful figure in their respective fields.

But the people before him now were far stronger than them.

‘Is this what the peak of the superhuman level looks like?’

Ketal had never seen the peak of superhuman level humans before.

He had skipped directly from superhuman to hero level.

He had met several demons, but their powers were so unique that direct comparison was difficult.

Therefore, it was hard to gauge their power, but seeing it now, there was a definite difference in class.

Ketal marveled at their combat prowess.

And they, too, were impressed by Ketal.

Of course, Ketal was not directly engaging in combat.

But he wasn’t just standing around either.

KABOOM!

Crimson flames, primordial fire, swept through the forest.

Powerful monsters were reduced to ashes without even screaming.

Yet the flames caused no harm to the natural surroundings.

The Spellweaver exclaimed.

“Is that the power of a highest-ranking spirit!”

“Indeed, it’s strong.”

The Mercenary King and Seraphina also looked astonished.

Highest-ranking spirits could only be contracted by elves.

But they never left their territories.

So it was the first time even they had seen the power of a highest-ranking spirit.

“At that level… it’s almost on par with me.”

They continued to marvel as they observed Piego.

And Piego, feeling uncomfortable with their gaze, wielded his power even more fiercely.

[Damn it. What the hell is this.]

It felt like being a monkey in a zoo.

He never imagined he’d find himself in such a humiliating situation.

What made Piego even more flustered was something else.

“Ooooh. Very strong. Is this the peak of superhuman level?”

It was Ketal, continuously marveling at the others’ battles right beside him.

[…What are you doing?]

“I’m watching. They are indeed strong.”

[Well, they aren’t weak.]

Seraphina and the Spellweaver.

The Mercenary King’s strength was exceptional even in Piego’s eyes.

Such strong figures would be hard to find on the surface.

But Ketal was stronger.

Their strength was on par with Piego’s.

And Ketal had reverse summoned him with a single strike.

Those others wouldn’t be much different.

To Ketal, all their strength was akin to children’s play.

Yet he was sincerely admiring and praising their strength.

To Piego, who knew Ketal’s true strength, it was incomprehensible.

[Are you serious?]

“I am. They are very strong. I want to learn their techniques too.”

Ketal was genuinely admiring them.

Piego murmured sincerely.

[You’re insane.]