Harun

《Three Quests》

 Sitting down by the table in the inner room and after staring at Haroon for a long time, Kaltz finally opened his mouth.

 “Alright! I will make you the antidotes that can detoxify anything, but you will have to bring me an ironsnake first, deal.”

 Finally, a quest was established from Kaltz’s voice. And it was hunting an ironsnake. Haroon inspected the quest info window that appeared before his eyes.

Hunt an Ironsnake

Difficulty: B

 The northern high range of Huk’ran mountains are the habitat of rare snakes called Ironsnakes, and their gallbladders have the effect of great detoxification. While common antidotes are only useful for certain poison types, the antidotes made with ironsnakes’ gallbladder are very effective on every type of poison

Rewards:
Antidotes made with gallbladder of the hunted ironsnake
200 Fame
100 S.P.

Failing the quest loses the herb collectors’ and herb merchants’ trust.

 “Deal. Thank you.”

 Accepting the quest, Haroon heartily thanked.

 Even if he gets good herbs, compounding antidotes by himself was nearly impossible, since all the experience he had was seeing once how his teacher Hector made them.

 ‘Man, I should watch what I say.’

 Haroon recalled mentioning the ironsnake when he was tricking the Quad w.a.n.kers back in the days in the Mercenary Academy. He thought receiving the quest was all good, but what bothered him was that the difficulty was rated at B. He couldn’t understand why the difficulty was so high, as he had no idea how strong the ironsnakes were.

 “Don’t mention it. ‘Cause it will be very hard. Just don’t die and bring the ironsnake back dead, then I will make you those antidotes you want for free.”

 Kartz gave a strange look at him.

 ‘Are the ironsnakes that scary?’

 The only information he had about the ironsnakes were that they were extremely rare.

 “Would you mind giving me some information about the ironsnakes?”

 “Sure thing. To be honest, not even the good gatherers know about them.”

 Nodding, Kartz added.

 “Ironsnakes are a rare species that live in mountain ranges with great volumes of iron lying inside. Their life span is known to be up to 100 years, and because of the habitat they naturally consume iron ore powder from birth. The ones who consume iron ores for more than a decade have skin hardened like a sheet of steel, and they gain strength enough to kill an orc instantly with a single blow from their tail. Also, their poison is strong enough to kill an ogre before it can walk 10 steps after being bitten, no monsters dare to intrude on their territory.”

 If his explanation was right, it truly was a scary monster, being able to kill an ogre that is known to have a level of over a hundred.

 “Moreover, those ironsnakes living in the Huk’ran Mountains have stronger poison and power, so you gotta be extra careful.”

 Listening to his words, Haroon supposed that Kartz has seen one or more ironsnakes by himself.

 “Do you know where they live?”

 “I could give you the rough idea, but no one knows the exact place. We do have a map, though it might not be accurate.”

 Haroon looked at the summits of Huk’ran Mountains in the distance.

‘And I’ve got a lot more to do…….’

 He still had a lot to do in the real world and in Beyond, but doing this quest was inevitable as he needed antidotes to use Brat’s amazing abilities. As Haroon thought in silence, Kartz brought out something for Haroon.

 “This is antidote that I made a long time ago. It won’t be enough to detoxify ironsnakes’ poison, but at least it should buy you some time. Take it.”

 “But you can’t just…….”

 Haroon couldn’t receive the antidote from him with an easy mind.

 “It’s all right. Take it. It’s not the best of all kind, but should be decent enough. Well, it is made with ironsnake’s gallbladder caught in a different place, not from Huk’rans, but no one tops Kaltz’s compounding skill so you can trust me.”

 Katlz made Haroon take the antidote.

 “I will make good use of it, hunting an ironsnake.”

 “Please do so. This isn’t only for me, but tens of others.”

 “I…… don’t think I know what you mean. Do you mind….?”

 What answered him first was Kartz’s eyes showing his mixed feelings.

 “I had five dear friends. We were raised in the same village, and we became friends that we can’t change for anything. When we reached our 20s, we became the best herb gatherers and hunters of the Huk’ran mountains. Back in the days, we had the strong legs of mountain goats, the sharp eyes of the eagles, and the strength of male deers that enabled us to fight the black bears.”

 Kaltz’s eyes were full of tears. But they were not tears of longing or recalling the pa.s.sion of good old days.They were filled with grief, and regrets.

 “We chose something stupid on account of youthful pa.s.sion: hunting an ironsnake. Bluebrain magic tower, the greatest magicians at the time, heard the rumor, and made a commission of 100,000 gold. If we succeeded, we were going to be rich. Moreover, the magic tower was sending two 5-circle magicians and ten expert mercenaries to a.s.sist us, so we accepted the offer.”

 Philip once mentioned that one to three gold is enough to feed a family of six. 100,000 gold was a big fortune, since it would be more than 15,000 gold if they divided equally.

 “Though we had been searching the outermost area of Huk’ran mountains for animals and herbs just as if they were our houses, indeed we feared going deeper into the mountains. But we couldn’t resist the temptation of money. One of us had a wife with a rare sickness, and two of us were about to get married.”

 “I can see why you couldn’t reject the offer.”

 Kartz nodded with sad eyes.

 “Like how our adults used to say, scary monsters and beasts attacked us as soon as we entered the deeper part of the mountains. Fortunately the two magicians and ten mercenaries were very experienced and skilled enough to barely save us from the danger. Searching through the bad weather and chased by monsters, when we found the area that the ironsnakes would live, three months had pa.s.sed. At that time, we already had buried three men underground, and we were running out of food.”

 Presumably a miserable situation. The Huk’ran mountains he’d experienced to begin with were full of dangerous creatures.

 “That mountain had a mine that had exposed iron ores, and there were even glimpse of gold and silver. Maybe the jewelry mine is there too, but we didn’t think of it at that time. But we were sure that we’d found the ironsnakes’ habitat of Huk’ran Mountains that was known to exist only in legends. Rejoicing, we climbed that mountain. We still had 2 magicians and 7 expert mercenaries. But how naive we were to think that hunting an ironsnake would be easy.”

 Haroon swallowed hard. It was an exciting story. Seeing Haroon interestingly listening to his story, Kartz continued.

 “But we couldn’t find an ironsnake. We searched everywhere, day and night, but

we couldn’t find even a trace of them. We were exhausted, searching for a few days like crazy people, and we fell asleep without putting anyone on watch. That was when we got attacked.”

 Haroon swallowed hard once again. He was finally getting to hear the real deal of the ironsnakes.

 “Though it was in the deep night, the moonlight revealed it and its horrifying splendor to us very clearly. It was longer than 10 meters, and so thick that it would need two men with their arms fully stretched to wrap around it. I have no idea how long it lived. If it had wings, I would have believed if someone called it a dragon in legends. Those yellow eyes……. They still haunt me.”

 Kartz really shivered in fear. The other man was shivering as well.

 “Not even bothering to avoid the fire magic being shot at him, it swallowed the magician in one gulp. Later we heard that it was a 3-circle magic, but we saw no harm. Then things went straight to h.e.l.l. A mercenary who got hit by its tail had his back broken, and another mercenary got melted alive by its poison. As soon as we saw it, we figured that it was not something we could fight. While the magicians and mercenaries dealt with it, we herb gatherers ran for our lives. When we climbed down the mountain, we heard its horrifying fear. It only meant it’d completely destroyed us.”

 Kaltz was still shivering, lightly. It seemed it still remains as a vivid, horrifying memory.

 “We hid, all night, shivering in fear. Not far from there, we found three mercenaries who survived the fight and then we got out of the Huk’ran mountains. They were mercenaries who ran away from the fight as soon as it broke, knowing that they didn’t stand a chance. After going through multiple life threatening danger, we were able to cross river Seine.”

 “That’s fortune among misfortunes.”

 Haroon’s word drew sadness that cannot be described to Kaltz’s eyes.

 “Maybe. Since we were not eaten alive. But we found out that another misfortune had been chasing us, after a year from that incident. We realized we were poisoned by the ironsnake, though it was weakened. It was still strong enough to poison our children as we l. And even our children’s children. That poison, melts a part of your muscle. It wouldn’t kill us, but it destroyed our lives.”

 The ironsnake’s poison must have killed the muscle tissue.

 “Well, this shop is one way to get some herbs that limit the spread of poison, but it isn’t that easy since they are rare.”

 As the old man’s long tale ended, Haroon could finally understand how hard the quest was. He wanted to avoid doing it if he could.

 “After that happened, I digged into herbalism like a mad man. I wandered everywhere, meeting the people known to be experts at herbalism. At least I was free to move around as the only affected part was my left arm. But my daughter, and her daughter, a part of their legs melted so they’ve never walked properly and seeing them suffer from periodic pain I couldn’t just stay and do nothing. Studying herbalism, I was able to find rare herbs. I used them to make a good fortune which helped me hire magicians and templars, but they couldn’t fix us.”

 ‘They were poisoned just by breathing in a tiny amount of it. And it was a poison that became heredity and could not be cured with magic nor holiness. It’s truly horrifying.’

 “It was not so long ago, when we learned that which produced the poison can also detoxify the poison. According to my studies and research, the thing that can detoxify the ironsnake’s poison would be its gallbladder. Many books and stories say the ironsnake’s bladder can detoxify any poison, including its own. It seems it has power to nullify any toxic materials.”

 As Kaltz finishes his talk, he started picking up some empty jars of varying sizes from a shelf, and packed them in a leather bag.

 “It would be hard to kill it, but maybe you could gather its poison. If you happen to find anything with its poison injected, bring me the whole thing. We might find a good use for it. Maybe you could trick it by using some food or something.”

 Taking the leather bag Kaltz handed him, Haroon nodded.

 “It would be best if you kill it, but I will consider my request to be somewhat done if you manage to bring an object with its poison injected. Nothing would top the gallbladder, but the poison itself can be used to make decent antidotes.”

 “Understood. I hope you’ll be safe until I return.”

 Feeling sorry about the misfortune suffered by the two old men, Haroon left the shop. Seeing thin, motionless left armed Kaltz waving his right hand gave Haroon a heavy heart.

 Haroon headed to the leather workshop that Kaltz recommended.

 The workshop was bigger than he expected, and it consisted of a shop and two smaller workshops. The workshops had one wall missing for ventilation purposes so he could see inside them. The smell of sweat from the leather tanning workers and the awful smell of leather made Haroon pinch his nose without thinking.

 “Welcome.”

 A middle-aged woman welcomed Haroon as he enters the shop. There were few customers in the shop, browsing daily-life items or armors made with leathers, like hard leathers or leather boots.

 “I was introduced to here by Kaltz.”

 “Oh, really! Take a sit here. I will go call my father.”

 The middle-aged woman rejoiced upon hearing the name and exited the shop through the small door to the workshop. A moment later, she returned with an old man reeking of leather and chemicals.

 “I heard you were introduced by Kaltz?”

 “Yes, my name is Haroon. I’m a mercenary.”

 As Haroon mentions he is a mercenary, the old man looked at Haroon’s armor.

 “That’s a harsh way to treat a good armor. It’s completely worn out. Tsk tsk.”

 Haroon didn’t dislike how the old man clicks his tongue as a craftsman. People with high-esteem for their job should be respected was his thought. Though the old man’s words were rather rude, Haroon felt sorry rather than being upset about it.

 “It worn out from facing quite dangerous ones. It saved my life many times instead, so I owe it a lot. ”

 “Is that so?”

 The picky, mean old man smiled. He spoke with a rather softened tone this time.

 “Well, so who are you to Kaltz?”

 “I agreed to do him a favor.”

 The old man’s eyes sparkled for a bit.

 “And what’s your business here? Fixing your armor? Or purchasing gear? Let me tell you this first though: never dare to ask for discounts mentioning that frowny.”

By his words, Haroon could see that the old man was close to Kaltz.

 “Hahaha, no. I came here to sell some leathers.”

 “Leathers? Where? Oh, is that an enchanted bag?”

 “Yes it is. These are quite rare ones, so I asked Kaltz if he knows any good leather craftsmen. He recommended me this

this place.”

 “Ahem! Nothing tops our shop in this place if it is about leathers. Yeah. Let’s get to the workshop and see what you’ve got.”

 With good expectation, he guided Haroon to his workshop.

 As the old man clapped twice, three people gathered around. It seemed it was one of their signal, as the others keep doing whatever they were doing.

 “They are my sons. There are two more, but they moved out and opened leather shops in different castles.”

 The three men seemed about middle-aged. They all head thick beards and tough bodies so he couldn’t tell who was older.

 “I am Haroon, the leader of the Gusts of Wind, a mercenary guild.”

 After greeting the old man’s three son, Haroon took out the leathers that Serinn carefully skinned and maintained. Seeing five stacks of leathers that were stacked as high as a man, the leathersmiths’ eyes glittered.

 “Oh! Father, this one has almost no scratch.”

 “Holy moly! Check out this one. Isn’t this a lump orc’s, father?”

 One of them recognized a lump orc’s leather.

 “look at how thick it is.”

 “Right. It is a lump orc’s. How did you get it? You have to enter Huk’ran mountains to kill one of those devils.”

 The old man looked back with a surprised face.

 “Holy moly! Bruvs, see here. There are more than twenty of those devil-like orc leathers. And black bear leathers, and alpine fox leathers, and even gryphon’s!”

 The three sons were busy inspecting the leather stacks, but the old man’s surprised eyes were fixed on Haroon.

 “I was on my way down from the Huk’ran mountains. My members are still there. I came alone to sell these leathers and buy supplies.”

 “T-that sounds true. I’ve never imagined there would be a mercenary who would be able to enter the Huk’ran mountains and hunt those monstrous creatures. Kaltz introduced me to a great man this time. Never thought he would be this useful. How odd.”

 “I just got lucky.”

 “No.”

 The old man shook his head.

 “Those devil-like orcs can easily handle the knights. The last time I saw this kind was when I was still very young. At that time some knights of a n.o.ble at marquis rank entered the Huk’rans, only to be beaten almost to death. They brought some of these to me.”

 From his words, Haroon could see how much residents were fearing the monsters in the Huk’ran mountains.

 “I really appreciate you bringing these leathers to me. I will make it worth your while. Who could have ever thought that frowny would do something of worth for me?”

 Smiling, Tarim gently stroke the leather of an lump orc as if it was a precious treasure. Haroon could see the true joy of a leathersmith seeing good materials.

 “I just realized I never introduced myself properly. The name’s Tarim.”

 “I see.”

 There was no big change in the face of the old man belatedly introducing himself, but his eyes were burning with pa.s.sion.

 “By the way, about the lump orc leathers…….”

 “Hmm, what is it? Do you want me to make gear out of it?”

 Tarim was quick at deducing what Haroon wants.

 “Yes, and I would like it to be whole sets if possible.”

 “We can make 10 sets out of these. It is so well maintained that we can’t waste any part of it. Why don’t you be a hunter instead of a mercenary? With this skill you can easily make a fortune out of it.”

 “Thanks, but I’m not the one who skinned those.”

Haroon appreciated Tarim’s compliment with a big smile.

 “We need seven whole sets. And I would like to pay the fee with the rest of the leathers if possible. I can pay more with cash if it is not enough.”

 “Hahaha, this pal doesn’t know anything about how valuable these are. A lump orc leathers worth at least 200 Gold. And what you brought would earn you 300 gold each if you meet a honest buyer.”

 “Are they that valuable?”

 Haroon’s eyes widened. He never thought these leathers would be worth that much.

 He once heard that normal orc leathes were worth 1 Gold 50 Silver each. Also that the leathers of orc warriors, that Haroon defeated once when travelling with Devron, are traded at around 100 gold each.

 “Take a look at this.”

 Tarim helped Haroon to take a closer look at the cross-section of the leather.

 “Do you see how many layers there are?”

 Haroon could see five distinct layers between the outermost layer, the furs, and the innermost layer, that would be closest to flesh or muscle.

 “Their skins consist of seven layers like the ogres or wyverns. And the layers are not the same, in fact they are all different to each other. They have different substance and pattern. Thanks to that, these leathers are tough and solid and cannot easily be cut unless maninjected blades are used. Totally uncomparable to the orc warrior leathers that consist of 5 layers.”

 Haroon was surprised to hear that, and also found it questionable.

 “I see. But what I don’t understand is that my member had no difficulty skinning it.”

 “Skinning is different. Also, if they have sharp skinning daggers or if their skinning skill is decent, skinning the dead bodies is not that hard.”

 “I see.”

 He still found it questionable, but he nodded.

 “We take 100 Gold each for making an armor set out of these leathers. Lump orc leathers are some of the toughest to work with, and they need to be processed with complicated methods with special tools so we gotta take that much at least. But with this much leather, I think I still need to pay you at least 5000 Gold. Alpine fox leathers are really rare, not to mention those black bear leathers.”

 Haroon was glad to hear that. It was the first time for him to find Serinn’s existence rather pleasant. If it wasn’t for her and her skinning skill, the guild wouldn’t have earn this much money.

 “I will leave the math to you, Tarim. I trust you”

 “Hahaha! I really like how open-minded you are. Do you have any idea how hard those outwardly-looking-fine-knights try to cut down the price?”

 But how picky could Haroon be when he didn’t know anything about the price range? Still, it was fortunate that the leathersmiths found Haroon likeable.

 “By the way, what did you do with their lumps?”

 One of Tarim three sons asked, presumably the youngest.

 “A magician of my guild said they are not that useful. So we just threw them away.”

 “That’s unfortunate. With that we can increase the magic resistance of the gear.”

 “Really? Tell me more about it,” Tarim asked.

 It seemed Tarim didn’t know about it too. The youngest son saw Haroon and his brothers questionably looking at him, and explained with proudness of knowing something that the others don’t.

 “This is something I learned 10 years ago, back then when I was working at the imperial leathersmith workshop in the metropolice in exchange of not serving in the military. Making gear with a mixture of bio-tissues and mana stones, like lumps, increases their magic resistance. Imprinting magic circles with a mixture of grinded lumps, mythril and a few other things

other things significantly increases physical endurance, and imbures magic resistance that can block 3-circle magic from 50% up to 80%. I know the recipe, and since Decaros is here imprinting the magic circle wouldn’t be so hard. Also, we can get mythril powders from Milfran Smithy.”

 “That’s news to me. So that will make our hard leathers as tough as a platemail.”

 Tarim showed strong curiosity.

 “Yes, father. Imprinting magic circles on the leathers is easier than doing it on the plates. This will be a good product and price can go several times higher.”

 Four leathersmiths nodded seeing each other’s face. A new product model was just established. Leathersmithing was hard work, and yet it was hard to make a living out of it as leather products are not really demanded.

 Knights and soldiers preferred chainmail, plate mail, or iron armors over leather armors, so until the outlanders started to appear, the leather products weren’t popular nor demanded. Before the oracle, they were barely making a profit from delivering outer clothings to the northern part of the Empire or selling harnesses.

 But things would be different if hard leather products have both physical endurance and magic resistance.

 Lump orc leathers’ defensive power was a bit weaker than steel armors. Considering the weight, wearing sensation and convenience, it was so much better than wearing steel armors. On the top of that, if it has magic resistance, the price was up to the seller.

 “But the problem is getting the lumps,” Tarim added.

 Haroon wanted to give them if he had one, but Brat consumed all of the lumps he had.

 ‘Wait, no! I do have some!’

 Haroon recalled that he and his members killed some lump orcs after evolving Brat. Haroon quickly opened his inventory. But there was no lump. He probably put those in Brat’s subs.p.a.ce.

 He just wasn’t sure if he should open the subs.p.a.ce in front of them. Hesitating to do so, Haroon noticed the leathersmiths exchanging opinions.

 ‘Are they…….?’

 And Haroon’s guess was right.

 “You said you are a mercenary. And your guild was capable of killing 20 lump orcs, so your skill must be above knights, right? I would like to make a request. Please get some of those orc lumps.”

 At that moment, a quest window popped up before his eyes..

Getting lumps from the lump orcs

Difficulty: D+

Tarim and his sons came up with a concept of their new leather product. To make the best hard leather armor with both physical defense and magic resistance, they need lumps, the bio-mana stones. It is your job to get those lumps for them to make the new type of armor.

Objective: Bring 20 lumps from the lump orcs.

Rewards: 
Seven sets of lump orc leather armor for free
Seven sets of leather travel package
150 Fame

Failing the quest decreases Tarim’s interest in you, and the selling cost of the leathers.

 Haroon accepted the quest right away. Even if they didn’t make a request, Haroon was going to get those to them for him and his members anyways. Moreover, he had a few, so he only had to get some more.

 With a smile on his face, Tarim exited the workshop through the back door, and came back with a heavy sack, and handed it to Haroon.

 “I believe you will return with them, so here’s the money I’m paying for your leathers, excluding the armor price. I want to pay you more, but this is all we have for now.”

 “No, you don’t have to pay this much.”

 “I have to. Things reborn as proper goods when they are properly paid. Value of goods are built with trust between people, though I believe it would be same for the others. We want to pay you properly for all these rare materials but we can’t. Instead, we will do our best making your gear.”

 “Thank you.”

 Haroon thanked Tarim wholeheartedly. As Tarim followed only one path in his life, it seemed like he knew the flows of life, and Haroon admired that. It was totally different from Tarim’s first impression, which made Haroon think he was picky and stubborn.

 “Then, farewell. Though these are well maintained, they still need to undergo our touch and that’ll take a few days. A brother of my close friend who came by just happened to be a magician who can cast enchantment spells, so if you bring those lumps we can make great gear for you.”

 “I see. I will return as soon as possible.”

 He left the workshop as the leathersmiths saw him off.

 ‘Now, let’s go and hear what Seryu has to say.’

 With light footsteps, Haroon head to Marmont’s Saloon.

 As it was dinner time, Marmont’s Saloon was full of users. Except for the servers and cook, everyone in the saloon were users, which made Haroon feel awkward as he’d been living with NPCs.

 “Welcome.”

 When he was looking for an empty table, Seryu came down from the second floor and greeted him.

 Though Haroon had a rough idea what the request was going to be, it still felt great that a n.o.ble in real life and a guild master in Beyond greeted him personally.

 “This is not a good place to talk, so let’s go to the quiet inn behind this building.”

 Without waiting for his reply, she headed to the backyard. Haroon also preferred a quiet place rather than a busy one, so he followed her without saying anything.

 “Captain Haroon, it is good to see you again.”

 He could see Biryu greeting him brightly, and another man giving an awkwardly greeting as he entered the separate building. He could see nothing else, except a large table.

 “Take a sit.”

 “Thank you.”

 The table was full of various foods. It seemed they were expecting him to visit at this time.

 “Why don’t we talk after getting something to eat? I feel hungry with all this food ready.”

 “Sounds good. Mercenaries never say no to food.”

 As Haroon had a light meal for lunch, he didn’t hesitate grabbing bread. The other three also started eating food, cautiously and stealing glances.

 “That’s a fast way to eat your meal,” said Biryu, after seeing how Haroon ate.

 “This is the way how we mercenaries eat. Eating a lot and fast while we can. It’s the knight’s rule to eat slowly so they can wield their sword anytime they want. We eat like knights while working, but when the work is done, this is the way we eat it.”

 “I see. I guess that’s interesting to know.”

 She wasn’t acting like usual, much softer actually.

 As Haroon already knew what it was going to be about, he was able to eat the meal well at ease. What would be a problem when he could just refuse anytime he wanted?

 But to the other three, since they were users, eating was no more than an act to fill the hunger meter. As Haroon finishes his meal, they put their forks down on the table.

 Seryu shook a little bell. A staff member came in, removed dishes and brought out cups of tea. Noticing how Seryu was looking for a chance to talk about the request, Haroon asked directly.

 “Let’s hear what the requests about. Byrequests about. By the way, I’ll say no if it is about Huk’rans. The last one was too tough.”

 Haroon was confident that the request was about that, but Seryu’s face was unexpectedly calm.

 “I see. Then I presume that your last mission was successful?”

 “It was. The monsters were tougher than we thought, but we’ve successfully completed our client’s request.”

 On Haroon’s words, Seryu hesitated for a bit, then stated the nature of the request.

 “Our request is exactly about what you have guessed. I can see why you are refusing it, but we have no one if it is not you, Captain Haroon.”

 “Then I refuse. I’ll pay for what I ate.”

 Haroon was about to leave the table at any moment.

 “Woah, you’re so rigid. Don’t you know that bargaining is all about pulling and pushing? How are we supposed to show you our cards if you simply refuse to listen to us?”

 It was the man who was sitting by Biryu, with a rather mocking voice.

 “Who are you?”

 “Mobius. Someone who agreed to help these two ladies until they finish the task we were going to talk about.”

 He was a user with uncommon atmosphere, outwardly and from his name.

 ‘Mobius. Was that the name of some special strip that ends up at the same point wherever they start from?’

 “I told you when we first met, and just a moment ago, that I would not take any request about Huk’ran mountains. You know that the word bargaining only works when the both sides agree on something at least, right?”

 “Of course I do. But how can someone call himself a man when he doesn’t even listen to the beautiful ladies’ wishes?”

 That got on Haroon’s nerve.

 “I was lucky to survive in Huk’ran mountains, and there is no way to tell if I will be lucky the next time. Beautiful ladies. Well, they are. My eyes are perfectly normal. But I’m a mercenary who knows the value of life, not a gentleman, nor a knight who respect a lady. If every man on earth says what you just said, I can rip off my you-know-what at once.”

 His words were rough, but they didn’t allow any objection. Knowing that he unnecessarily interrupted, Mobius awkwardly coughed and sat back on his seat.

 Seryu gave a cold look at Mobius, worrying that he irritated Haroon. Then she spoke again.

 “I will pay 10K Gold.”

 Haroon lost his words.

 At this point, the exchange rate between in-game Gold and cash would be $30 to 1 Gold. Then she was offering a request at $300,000. Then he realized what his guild earned from selling the leathers was more than $150,000. The value was so high in real life that he couldn’t estimate it easily.

 “And this is the map of the place we’re looking for.”

 She handed Haroon a piece of leather parchment. At first glance, he could see it had a long history.

 After thinking for a moment, he looked at Seryu directly.

 “Is it the jewelry mine in the western area of Huk’ran mountains you are looking for?

 “H-how did you know that?”

 Not to mention Seryu, Biryu and Mobius seemed to be surprised to hear it from Haroon.

 “It’s the legend that every native of this place knows.”

 “T-that doesn’t make any…. Mobius! I demand an explanation.”

 Seryu looked at Mobius very coldly, and asked for an explanation.

 “W-Well…….”

 He broke out into a cold sweat.

 “It was you who brought us this intel. Explain it.”

 “I-I had no idea. I only trusted the intel guild’s words. I never thought they would have sold the intel to other guilds, nor knew that this intel was well-known to the NPCs. I’m terribly sorry, m’lady! But I can rea.s.sure you that the map is unique. This was a top-secret intel that I bought at 50K Gold. If the intel guild lied to me about it as well, that intel guild isn’t going to exist any longer.”

 The face of Mobius that keep making excuses was turning very pale. In the end, he brought out a leather sack.

 “I’m paying you back for the mistake I’ve made. This is my whole-fortune, jewels and mana stones that are worth 30K Gold total. I, Mobius, am not a fraud.”

 With a cold face, Seryu checked the content of the sack. Then she eased her tension a bit.

 “Alright. It doesn’t look like you are lying seeing how you’ve acted this way. But the fact that what you falsely convinced us as top-secret intel was actually common does not change. So I’ll take these for your mistake. You can get this much back from the intel guild after all, since you were the one who traded with them.”

 “Y-you are right. I am getting it back. They’ve just damaged my fortune and my credibility, so I will make them pay.”

 Mobius’ face was going back to normal again, knowing that Seryu has forgiven him.

 “Oh! Mobius, you’re so nice! How you gallantly admitted your fault, making an apology even willing to let go of everything you had! I think I’ve fall in love with you.”

 As if Biryu really did and would hug him at any moment, she blushed her face.

 The atmosphere of the scene was changing every second. Of course, Haroon was only an onlooker of the scene

 “10K Gold is truly a great fortune that I want to accept, but Huk’ran mountains is not a place you can just go in, trusting a mere map. You’ll understand what I mean if you have experienced a tiny bit of Huk’ran mountains. I’m sorry I couldn’t accept your request. That much money surely would bring you the man capable of it with time. Thank you for the dinner though.”

 Those as his last words, Haroon stood up to leave the table.

 Seryu and Biryu didn’t try to stop him as they were feeling complicated enough by the mistake Mobius has made.

 “I just need you to reconsider our offer. When are you going back to Huk’ran mountains?” Seryu asked.

 “I have a lot to prepare, so probably after 20 to 30 days.”

 “Then we have a spare room in this building, so you may stay there. Please feel free to do so, since we rented the whole building out for our guild members.”

 Haroon intended to refuse as it made him uncomfortable.

 “You better listen to her. After all, thousands of use-. Err- I mean the outlanders have gathered in this small castle so you won’t get a room anywhere.”

 Haroon nodded on Mobius’ words. It didn’t seem that they were lying just to make Haroon stay with them. More than that, he just wanted to get some rest. Leaping between the trees to climb down the mountain required more focus than he thought, which exhausted him mentally.

 With Seryu’s consideration, Haroon was guided by a member of her guild to a quiet room in the back.

 ‘Can’t wait to see Bell again.’

 As he hadn’t logged out for a long time, he wondered what would have happened in the real world while he was gone gaming. Haroon hurried recalling that Bell once mentioned that he was low on the medical herb supplies.