Chapter 114

Chapter 114. Anticipation is the Root of a Gift (3)

Taragon’s drunkenness completely vanished. His eyes sparkled.

“There’s… another elixir?”

Taragon, covering his mouth with his hand, quietly asked, as if worried others might hear.

Keter spoke in a subtle tone, like someone selling a “feel-good” drug.

“I brought another one just for you.”

Gulp.

Taragon wondered if this was okay. He had already eaten one Cheongryeonghwan that was meant for Anis, hadn’t he?

And now he was about to eat a second elixir?

‘I should probably let Anis have this one. Even after eating the Cheongryeonghwan last time, I still couldn’t catch up to him.’

Unaware that Keter had also sold Cheongryeonghwan to Anis, Taragon felt a sense of defeat, realizing that even with the power of Cheongryeonghwan, he couldn’t surpass Anis.

Keter, who had been watching Taragon’s changing expression in real-time, whispered.

“You’re not thinking of giving this to Anis, are you? Are you crazy? If only Anis advances in the Southern Sword Tournament and you get eliminated, what will people think?”

“Gasp…!”

“Well, as long as I get paid, I don’t care who it is.”

As Keter tried to leave, Taragon grabbed his hand.

“I-I’ll buy it. How much is it this time? Can I write an IOU?”

“170,000.”

Crash!

The chair Taragon was sitting on fell backward. He stumbled as he stood up. Fortunately, the mercenaries, drunk on the atmosphere, didn’t notice.

Taragon’s throat tightened. 170,000. He had already bought Cheongryeonghwan for 90,000, which was already expensive, but this elixir was nearly twice as much.

“What kind of elixir is so expensive?”

“Lava Pill. Not sure if you’ve heard of it.”

“Definitely the first time…”

“It’s not artificially made; it’s naturally formed. So it’s understandable if you haven’t heard of it.”

From Keter’s pocket emerged a glass vial. Inside the vial, made of orange Amantiir, a reddish-brown pill exuded a noble aura.

Pop.

The vial’s lid opened. A wave of intense heat hit Taragon’s face.

“Gasp!”

Taragon, startled, reached out his hand.

Keter closed the lid again. As the heat subsided, Taragon looked around as if he had been hit by magic.

“What was that heat just now? Did it come from that pill?”

“The Lava Pill is formed by the natural condensation of lava’s power inside a volcano. Over a thousand collectors die every year trying to find it. Know why? Because if you find it, you hit the jackpot. It can sell for around 300,000 gold.”

“300,000?!”

“Half of that, plus a bit of service fee, makes it 170,000. You can’t get it at this price anywhere else.”

Keter wasn’t exaggerating. Buying Lava Pill at an auction would require over 300,000 gold.

But in Requir, you could get it for 100,000 gold. That’s partly because Lava Pill could be “harvested” in Requir, but also because it had side effects.

“Normally, eating Lava Pill raw could melt your body and kill you. But if you eat Cheongryeonghwan first, which has extreme yin energy, it neutralizes the extreme yang energy of Lava Pill. The undigested Cheongryeonghwan also melts, allowing you to easily gain nine years’ worth of aura.”

“Nine years! Just like that?!”

Taragon’s voice rose again. He looked around, unsure of what to do.

Compressing nine years into a day, an hour, or even a minute. Without any side effects!

Could any knight resist such temptation? Taragon certainly couldn’t.

Swish.

Keter pulled out a familiar pen and paper from his pocket. Taragon’s eyes were already fixed on the Lava Pill. Without even checking the IOU’s contents, he scribbled his signature.

“Here! I signed it! Give it to me now!”

“Sale complete.”

Keter, holding the IOU, handed over the vial containing the Lava Pill. Taragon, grabbing the vial, was startled.

“Ouch, hot! Is it really safe to put this in my mouth? I can feel the heat even through the vial.”

“Ah, right. Don’t eat it directly. You need to soak your body in cold water first. Otherwise, your body will cook to medium rare.”

“…If I hadn’t asked, I’d be dead, huh?”

“You wouldn’t die. But it would be painfully close.”

“I’ll go first. I don’t think I can face Anis right now.”

Taragon, worried Anis might return, wrapped the vial in a towel and left the dining room.

Keter, picking up a piece of dried meat, also left the dining room. He soon found Anis, who was enjoying the breeze with a troubled expression, and handed him the Lava Pill.

“Who do you think needs this right now?”

* * *

The next morning.

The well-rested mercenaries energetically took to the stage, only to be utterly destroyed.

“Did they eat some kind of elixir? How did they get so strong overnight?!”

Anis and Taragon, who had eaten the Lava Pill given by Keter the previous night, now possessed aura equivalent to a 3-Star Knight.

Originally, Platinum Mercenaries were easy opponents, but now they were completely outmatched.

One arrow per person. Fifteen arrows in total, and Anis, who had defeated five opponents in a row in under a minute, now faced the second team.

The second team, which included Diamond Class mercenaries. Yesterday, they hadn’t won a single match, spending the time experimenting with various tactics.

But now, it was different. Anis, whose overall realm had risen a level, made even Diamond Mercenaries struggle.

The fight with the second team lasted longer than expected. Neither side could easily gain the upper hand, prolonging the battle.

Meanwhile, Keter, who appeared to be simply watching with his arms crossed, was actually practicing “self-harm training.” A servant quietly approached him.

“Young Master Keter. The head of Ultima Merchant has requested an audience. What should we do?”

“Bring him.”

“Yes.”

Today was the day Ultima Merchant visited once a month.

Of course, Keter hadn’t summoned Ultima. Like a thirsty man finding a well, Ultima had come looking for Keter.

Shortly after, Ultima entered the training ground with quick steps. He wasn’t surprised to see the mercenaries filling the area.

A merchant must always be sensitive to the nation’s affairs. He already knew that Sephira had hired a large number of mercenaries.

‘Huh? Wait. That guy, I feel like I’ve seen him somewhere.’

Ultima carefully observed the man standing at the front of the mercenary group, opposite Keter.

‘Sigh, am I seeing things again? Isn’t that Burgundy? Or someone who looks like him? Eh, why would Burgundy be here?’

Ultima, who had connections with the mercenary headquarters, had once seen the head, Maroon, and the deputy head, Burgundy.

But anyway-

‘Keter is… insane.’

Keter’s presence was undeniably unique. Even among dozens of mercenaries, in the desolate land, under the blue sky, he stood out the most.

“Young Master Keter. It’s Ultima.”

With many eyes watching, Ultima knelt on one knee and respectfully greeted Keter.

Swish swish.

Keter casually acknowledged the greeting with a wave of his hand.

Ultima, standing up, whispered quietly.

“Wouldn’t it be better to talk somewhere more private?”

“No. Let’s talk here.”

“There are many ears listening.”

Nearby, there were not only mercenaries but also quite a few servants waiting.

“Move to the other side.”

Keter ordered the mercenaries and servants. Both groups obediently moved to the opposite side.

“Tsk, Keter. You’re still making life hard for yourself. Wouldn’t it be nice to sit on a comfortable sofa and talk comfortably?”

“Did you get the Elixir?”

Keter had placed a separate order with Ultima Merchant. He had requested Elixir and a large amount of food supplies.

“I did my best to get it, even offering extra money. Thirty low-grade, eight mid-grade, and one high-grade. There’s no stock of the highest grade.”

“If that’s the best, it’s a bit disappointing.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You try getting it. Do you think Elixir is some common potion? Even Upper Nobles are desperate for it.”

“Hmm.”

Ultima didn’t realize.

That Keter was testing him.

Keter was checking whether Ultima could “enter and exit Requir.”

‘Well, if he could come and go like me, he would have already been selling Elixir and other potions from Requir to the outside world.’

After just a few words, Keter had gained the information that “even a Grand Duke can’t easily let Requir people out.” He moved on to the main topic.

“Why did you come again? You’re not here to praise me for doing well, are you?”

“I came to give you some information. It seems like you’re planning to train Anis and Taragon for the Southern Sword Tournament…”

Ultima glanced at Anis, who was fighting a Diamond Mercenary, and Taragon, who was waiting.

“They’ve definitely grown a lot since I last saw them. But it’s no use. If you want to save Sephira, it’s better not to participate in the Southern Sword Tournament.”

“I’m participating too.”

“Don’t lie. The registration period ended before you came to Sephira. You can’t participate in the tournament. No matter how much you insist.”

“Don’t believe me if you don’t want to. Is that all the information you have? Are Anis and Taragon just trash?”

“You should know this too. This tournament is meticulously designed to kill Sephira. Even the noble families supporting me have started to move. They’re not hesitating to do dirty tricks. In the city where the tournament is held, the only place Sephira can stay is the stables. I can’t help with that either.”

“So you’re saying they’ll harass us even before the tournament starts?”

“They’ll hire assassins and mercenaries to harass you. It’s best to just withdraw.”

“If that’s all, it’s disappointing. Don’t you have any more creative sabotage tactics?”

Ultima let out a deep sigh.

“I wasn’t going to say this, but Sephira will be eliminated in the preliminaries. There are at least twenty knights targeting only Sephira. All of them are 2-Star Knights or higher. Still want to participate?”

Keter, who had been watching the stage, turned his gaze to Ultima. Then he placed a hand on Ultima’s shoulder.

“Ultima. I think there’s something you need to do.”

“Don’t ask me to help. If you do something so obvious, I’ll die too.”

“No, it’s just that trying to do something with mere 2-Star Knights is pathetic. Don’t the families supporting you have any 4-Star Knights? Advise them to go all out.”

“What? No, you’re crazy…!”

“If there are no 4-Star Knights, at least increase the numbers. How can you stick it to someone with just twenty people?”

“Are you really participating? Is that why you’re so confident?”

Keter might be able to do it. He must have some plan. It’s strange enough that someone who should be stuck in Requir is now in Sephira.

Participating mid-tournament in the Southern Sword Tournament didn’t seem harder than getting out of Requir.

Ultima looked straight at Keter. His chest felt tight. Keter’s presence felt overwhelmingly large and distant.

‘What on earth did this guy do in the past month to become so strong? Is he drinking elixir instead of water?’

To Ultima, Keter’s presence already seemed like that of a 5-Star Master.

“If you’re really participating, then 2-Star Knights won’t even be a warm-up. Alright. If we use this tournament to turn the enemy families’ knights into idiots, Sephira’s chances of survival will increase a bit.”

“Everyone’s an enemy anyway, but what’s the name of the family backing you? I’ll make sure to destroy them especially.”

Ultima pondered for a moment. Whether to reveal the name of the supporting family or not.

But the hesitation didn’t last long.

In less than two months, Sephira had changed dramatically. Not just Keter, but the entire family seemed to be growing together, something you could feel in your bones.

The die had already been cast.

Ultima opened his mouth.

“Delmore, Iwin, Bristan, Galahind. These four.”

“Noted. Oh, and I want to build a new mansion in Sephira. Eight floors above ground, three below. The necessary manpower and materials. Send them as soon as the Southern Sword Tournament ends.”

“If you give me the money, I can get anything. But know this. Even with the cheapest materials, given the scale, you’ll need at least 400,000 gold. I know you’re rich, but you don’t have that kind of money, do you?”

“Ultima. Since when have we lived so stingily? Cheap materials? We have the dignity of nobility. Budget up to 1,000,000 gold. I’ll prepare the blueprints.”

“1,000,000?! Keter, do you really have that kind of money?”

“Have I ever cheated you out of money in Requir? No. So trust me a little.”

“Hmm… A large-scale construction project costing 1,000,000 gold would make Sephira think you’ve finally gone mad. Building a new mansion without any money.”

“If you fudge the books to say you received 2,000,000 gold, everyone would be happy thinking Sephira is about to go bankrupt.”

Ultima nodded. He had already planned to manipulate the books for Sephira’s sake.

At that moment, exclamations erupted from the training ground.

“Wow!”

“It’s over, this is it!”

Anis’s arrow had hit the Diamond Mercenary squarely. Anis raised his bow in victory, a sight that even Keter could see.

Keter, chuckling, placed a hand on Ultima’s shoulder.

“Come watch the tournament. Bite your tongue.”

“Wait, don’t just-”

Wham!

“Get lost, you merchant wannabe.”

Keter, who had been talking nicely with Ultima, suddenly punched him. Ultima, holding his bleeding lip, ran out of the training ground.

Ultima didn’t feel pain or humiliation. He smelled something. The thick scent of money.

‘Keter is the type to create problems out of thin air. And with his personality, he’s bound to clash with the nobles.’

Originally, Ultima had no intention of watching the tournament, but he changed his plans.

Where there’s money, Ultima is willing to go, even if Keter is there.