It was a long conversation. The moment I met Aren, I talked about everything that had happened. Aren nodded as he listened to the story. Once he heard that Aidan attempted to a.s.sa.s.sinate Helena, he expressed deep anger. I was curious about his relations.h.i.+p with Helena.
Then Aren nodded once he heard that Aidan had burned Garbage Village. “...I see. Indeed, the fire in Garbage Village that day was his work.”
“Yes. Currently, the residents of Garbage Village are temporarily settling in the village where I"m the chief. I came here at Helena"s behest.”
“Hah. I didn"t know anything about what was going on. Thank you for telling me this in person.”
“No, I was pa.s.sing by anyway.”
What was this man"s ident.i.ty? His clothes looked pretty expensive so it seemed he truly was a n.o.ble of Fortren. He was just too humble and good-hearted. He was genuinely worried about the people of Garbage Village. It was like the difference between heaven and earth from what Aidan showed the other day.
“No, you made a very difficult decision to accept the residents.”
“That isn"t necessarily the case. Rather, I"m in a position of getting their help now. They are making a tremendous contribution to the development of the village.”
According to Sujeong, the village was developing at a phenomenal pace. The shacks were built in an instant and users had moved in. I would probably be pretty surprised when I came back.
“Hahaha. It is no wonder since all the people have settled in the village. All of Fortren"s buildings were built by them.”
“Hoh.” I was looking forward to seeing it even more. The buildings in Fortren were mostly colorful and huge. Usually, buildings like this weren"t very st.u.r.dy, but Fortren was different. I should check on Metheus after some time. I also asked Sujeong to make a flower store for Muyeol. I didn"t know what happened.
Aren told me, “I"m very sorry for this. I would like to invite you to my place, but I currently have guests at home. Next time, I"ll contact you separately. Please accept this.”
“...?”
I accepted what he gave me and opened the information window.
[Fortren"s n.o.bles Only - Designated Return Stone]
[Rating: Heroic
The highest quality return stone that can determine a designated location as the return location. It is a special item that only the highest ranking n.o.bles in Fortren can have. There are parts of the Parta Princ.i.p.ality"s magic engineering included and after a period of time, the magic power will be automatically charged. You will need at least 50% of the magic power to change the return location.
-Current charging rate: 100%.
The "return" magic is available at 100%.
-Designated return location: In front of the mansion of Fortren"s n.o.ble, Aren.
-The third grade magic engineering "Secret Communication" can be used.]
“This...”
“It is a designated return stone that can only be carried by n.o.bles with a gold spoon. I secretly stopped by the Parta Princ.i.p.ality and had them add the magic engineering "Secret Communication" function to it. I have one more that I will use to contact you. If you look at the back, there is a b.u.t.ton. Press it and the phone book will appear. Please contact me at any time if you need my help.”
I immediately looked at the back of the return stone. There was a small b.u.t.ton as Aren said. There were several strange numbers and sticks beside it. Was this a phone number? I pressed the b.u.t.ton straight away.
-List of Phone Book Registrations:
1. Aren
2. None
3. None
......
It seemed he deliberately grabbed a new one to keep in touch with me since there was only one number. Ah, where were my manners? “Thank you. I think this will be very useful.”
It was true. The return stone that Aren gave me was priceless compared to the one Edward had given me the other day. Windia"s return stone had a limited number of uses while this one was unlimited. It was very interesting to see that a new return location could be set and that there was also a secret communication function.
“I"m glad. Then I"m going back now. Go with caution.” Aren bowed his head politely toward me. I also bowed back at him. I once more felt it—he was a very humble person. Then I had the impression that I forgot something...
“Ah, wait. Excuse me.” I suddenly had a thought and words popped out of my mouth without my knowledge.
Aren c.o.c.ked his head and turned back around. “What do you have to say...?”
I walked toward him while holding Sarah"s letter in my hand.
* * *
Deep in the Wolf"s Plains, located south of Fortren. In the Wolf Forest, known as the werewolf"s home, Supreme Fire Dragon was cutting down werewolves. The surrounding fields had already been devoured by white flames, leaving only black ashes behind. Supreme Fire Dragon raised the burning sword and stabbed the heart of the last werewolf. It wasn"t just once, it was many times.
“s.h.i.+t! s.h.i.+t!” Supreme Fire Dragon repeatedly stabbed his sword to vent his anger. Then he looked up at the sky after the last werewolf disappeared. He just destroyed one of the bases where the werewolves lived. Today"s weather was better than any other day, but currently, his body and heart were full of dark clouds and they weren"t just any normal clouds, but clouds accompanied by rain and wind. It was currently barely holding back the storm that was likely to explode.
“Sigh. Nothing is working out in life.”
He stuck the greatsword in the scabbard on his back and started picking up items. Wolf claws, wolf skin, and wolf teeth...
The annoying thing was that there wasn"t a single piece of equipment that could be used. He recalled what happened yesterday. Once the round of 16 ended on that day, Supreme Fire Dragon got one last chance from Aidan. Fortunately, Kim Jebok was still alive and the cigarette business hadn"t been disrupted yet. He would be finished if that old man wasn"t eliminated in the next match.
"How can I beat that old man?"
He couldn"t come up with a method. He had watched the match and saw that the old man was much stronger than Kim Jebok. It was obvious with one look.
“Why the h.e.l.l is he so much better than Kim Jebok?”
Of course, there were differences in level and equipment. Perhaps it was a matter of compatibility between cla.s.ses. However, Kim Jebok lost in pure control. It was the first time Supreme Fire Dragon had seen him lose with his daggers.
“Hah, it would be nice to see a Star Piece.”
Supreme Fire Dragon scoured everywhere in the werewolf"s home. He wondered if there was anything useful but there was no such thing. It had been one year since Arkstar opened. Many users would"ve already been in and out of this place. Finding a Star Piece in a place like this was nothing more than picking stars from the sky. Maybe he would have to level up a bit more to reach the top hunting grounds.
“It isn"t working out. Nothing is working out...”
It had been like this since he was a child. He was abandoned by his parents and grew up with his uncle. However, his uncle was a drunkard who liked using his hands. As a child, he had to endure abuse. Thus, he started to do manual labor when he was 20 years old. He made money to become independent and escape his uncle"s violence.
“Sigh...”
He took out a daylily cigarette, lit it up, and took a puff. Then he started walking through the fields. He didn"t want to do anything or think. He walked like this for 30 minutes before finding the entrance of a village and stopping. He walked and came here.
It was probably the most popular village in the community these days. He was well aware of the ident.i.ty of the village chief here. The only one who could take away the residents of Garbage Village was the old man. Perhaps his ident.i.ty was Dark Wolf, who had been abuzz on TV these days...
“Sigh. The more I know, the more mysterious I find him. How can he be so strong?”
If he could, he would like it to be added to the world"s top three mysteries. The old man was "Dark Wolf" and he was the village chief here. He was really like a ghost. It seemed like not long ago when he was threatening the old man...
“I don"t know too much about the old man.”
There was a saying in Romance of the Three Kingdoms that knowledge of the enemy made you unbeatable. Maybe it was just because he didn"t know the old man very well.
“Yes. Know your enemy and you can win.”
Supreme Fire Dragon made up his mind. He headed straight into the village. The Sylphid Knights, famous in the community, were guarding the entrance. It was a similar but slightly different outfit to the knight who killed him terribly the other day. Perhaps that knight had a fairly high position in the Sylphid Knights.
Supreme Fire Dragon walked past the square and into the shopping street.
“Selling delicious fruit that was just picked. Try it once~”
“We repair all types of weapons and armor! Please leave it at any time!”
“Selling miscellaneous items, equipment, and skill books~!”
“Please take a look. Look around~”
“We are recruiting guild members~!”
Metheus was a hot topic in the community. Since the village was newly built, there were many things that users could do compared to normal villages. Metheus collected rental fees from players and allowed them to operate a personal s.p.a.ce. This was also welcome from a user"s point of view. Recently, smaller guilds had bought properties and settled here, using it as their base. Based on reviews, they were satisfied because the price was much cheaper compared to other villages. Additionally, it would be very beneficial to sell it in the future when Metheus developed. This was like a financial investment.
“Wow. I"m envious. He will make a lot of money.”
The old man blossomed in his old age.
Supreme Fire Dragon looked into the distance and saw people building at a fast pace. They were all residents of Garbage Village. Supreme Fire Dragon realized that the NPCs he threatened were such great people and felt deep doubts about what he had done.
“Hah, life...”
He was moving when he suddenly stopped in one place. It was a flower store that seemed to have just opened. Supreme Fire Dragon read something that looked like a flyer.
-I don"t have enough workers. This is a new flower store but I hope there is someone who can help me. I hope for your support.
"What is this? No one would apply with such a flyer."
It was too sloppy—the name of the person seeking a worker wasn"t stated, and neither was a salary. Who on earth wrote this? Supreme Fire Dragon was feeling curious when he saw a woman coming out of the flower store.
“......!”
His heart thumped. It was the most beautiful woman in the world. It was the first time in Supreme Fire Dragon"s over 30 years of life that he had this feeling. He felt the emotion of love for the first time. It wasn"t for a person, but an NPC.
“Ah, did you need anything?”
Supreme Fire Dragon couldn"t say anything to her kind question. He heard his heart thumping and thought to himself.
"Don"t let your heart pop out."
Three times, four times. He repeated it five times. Then the first words he uttered...
“H-Hand... Ah, no, flower store. No, I"m here to work.”
Love came suddenly like a traffic accident.